Army Orderlies learning how to cook at St Albans

Orderlies, 23rd T.R.B.

Military

This picture shows a group of orderlies, described as "23rd T.R.B." All are carrying a cooking implement - apart from the one in the back row carrying a large beef bone.

They were photographed by Lea Latimer Christmas from his St Albans address (1915 or later).

Does anyone know what "T.R.B." might stand for? There was a Military School of Cookery at St Albans during the First World War, and it is know that classes were given numbers.

Obviously it would be nice to able able to identify some of the individuals but that is a long shot. However you may know of similar pictures of orderlies being trained to cook at St Albans - perhaps with different class(?) number? There was also a set of photographs of the School of Cookery but I only know of some of the numbered copies, and would love to know the titles (and even better have images) of the missing numbers.

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Peter has drawn my attention to the relevant page of The Long, Long, Trail, and I have updated the main site with:

The Training Reserve Battalions were created in September 1916 as part of a significant reorganisation of the infantry reserve battalions. "The TR units dropped the cap badges and shoulder titles of their former regiments and instead wore a large General Service button on a red disc on the cap and the letters TR as a shoulder title." An examination of the picture shows that one of the soldiers has a "TR" shoulder title. The 23rd Battalion was formed out of the 10th (Reserve) Battalion, the Royal Sussex Regiment, which was based at Shoreham. In May 1917 there was another reorganisation and the Battalion became the 25th Young Soldier Battalion.