What programs in place to help after discharge/ demob?

[Ottawa1880]

I am hoping I can prevail upon the wisdom of this forum? I have been trying to find out if there were specific programs/ scholarships/ training for servicemen after discharge or demob? My grandfather attended Aberystwyth University between 1920-24 after serving in the RFC/RAF from 1917 to 1919. He was a lad from the mining village of Felinfoel, Carmarthenshire and had finished school in 1916. He was discharged in 1919 at the rank of Lieutenant (pilot). He probably had savings during his time as serving officer but were there also programs to assist veterans to get into universities or to finish school? Paul.

[charlesmessenger]

Paul

Indeed, there was a scheme to get ex-officers into university and, as such, they had a fairly high priority when it came to demobilisation. Courses were also run for them in industry.

Charles M

[Ottawa1880]

Charles, thank you for the reply - any idea where I might look for the details? Paul.

[centurion]

There appear to have been a variety of schemes at different levels for example the Lord Kitchener Memorial Fund provided "commercial scholarships for suitable ex-officers and men to enable the holders to study commercial methods" and the Goldsmiths' College Delegacy suggested "the award of training scholarships to disabled soldiers of sufficient general education who may desire to take up teaching as a profession" this was taken up by some County Councils in conjunction with .their county War Pensions Committees. I've also seen an account of a man receiving a scholarship for ex officers to Trinity Dublin to take an English degree. I get the distinct impression that there was no single unified national scheme but if the records of the appropriate County War Pensions Committee still exist they might throw further light on matters.

[centurion]

There is a book written by a former senior RAMC officer "The future of disabled soldiers" that provides some useful information but primarily about the disabled as the title suggests.

[Ottawa1880]

Thanks Centurion. Interestingly, my grandfather completed his studies in maths and physics and then took a certificate in education - he went on to be a science master and then school headmaster. Paul.

[centurion]

Thanks Centurion. Interestingly, my grandfather completed his studies in maths and physics and then took a certificate in education - he went on to be a science master and then school headmaster. Paul.

I've seen references to the 1918 Education Bill which greatly extended school education in England and Wales in which worries are expressed that there would not be enough teachers to meet the increased needs in secondary education and suggestions were made that ex officers could be trained to fill the gap. However I've seen no definitive references as to how this was done. Possibly this was the motivation behind the Goldsmiths' suggestions.

[Ottawa1880]

Centurion, on a side note - but related to the concerns you mention about a shortage of teachers - my grandmother went to St. Mary's College, Cheltenham in 1916 to complete a teaching diploma.

[calibre792x57.y]

Some years back I used to visit a veteran in an old Peoples Home whenever I was passing. He had been a Lieutenant in the MGC and had fought on the Somme and at Ypres. He was eventually wounded by a shell splinter and returned to the U.K. He received his discharge in 1918 and went to Oxford where he obtained a degree in accountancy on the basis of his war service. There was definitely some national scheme in place to at least assist commissioned ranks. - SW

[dycer]

From a War Diary.

26th November 1918-Revd. Wm. Gillieson lecture the Battalion in Concert Hall in the afternoon. Subject-"From War to Work".

9th December 1918-Education Classes begin.

George

[centurion]

Some years back I used to visit a veteran in an old Peoples Home whenever I was passing. He had been a Lieutenant in the MGC and had fought on the Somme and at Ypres. He was eventually wounded by a shell splinter and returned to the U.K. He received his discharge in 1918 and went to Oxford where he obtained a degree in accountancy on the basis of his war service. There was definitely some national scheme in place to at least assist commissioned ranks. - SW

I'd agree that men did go on scholarships to major universities, I quoted an example with Trinity Dublin, but do you have evidence that this was a nationally organised scheme rather than a series of bursaries provided for ex officers by the individual universities ? Looking at the way education was financed at the time it's difficult to see where the money came from if it were centrally organised. In the case of the training for teachers I mentioned the thing there appears to have been organised at a county level (much the same way that university grants were still being handled in the 1960s.)

[pebbles]

Among the objects of The Officers' Association was is the resettlement of ex-officers and at the start provided job finding services as well as loans to ex-officers to start businesses. The Regular Forces Employment Association was founded well before WW1 to help those who were not commissioned and continues to do this today. Both support the veterans from present day conflicts as they did for WW1.