Casualties by rank

[Petroc]

i seem to remember this being discussedf some years ago, and the answer that was arrived upn was padre's, now what demonation or class i don't know, but something worth baring in mind, i would contact Dr Michael Snape at Birmingham university re this

matt

i could of course be wrong!

Interesting comment Matt.

I was unaware of the earlier thread, and hope mates will forgive me for not bothering to search for it now (packing for trip to the Somme tomorrow!) but it adds another fascinating aspect to the current topic...thus, if we are discussing the average British infantry battalion on the Western Front (and I do hope our friends in Canada, SA, Oz, NZ, India, France, Belgium and Germany would care to contribute their own findings and opinions), what was the MOST DANGEROUS JOB within that avaerage fighting battalion?

It was, for instance, unlikely to be the shoemaker or cook, vital as these roles were....but was it the stretcher bearer, the bomber, the rifleman, the Lewis Gunner, the attached FOO, etc.....? I personally would suspect that battalion runner was the most 'at risk'

And, with regard to the original question about casualties by rank, what of the other 'national' regiments (RA, ASC, RE, RAMC, etc)?

[phil andrade]

Regarding your invitation to our Continental friends to supply info., I would like to point out that a quick glance at German statistics indicates that an officer in the Kaiser's army was even more likely to be killed than his British counterpart. While they deployed far fewer officers in relation to enlisted men than the British, the proportion of fatalities among those officers was higher still. Surely the same applies to the French : indeed, I would guess that their officer mortality was higher than the German.

Phil.

[Richard Jones]

Forum Pals,

Before I set to with my calculator, I would like to make an appeal for some more data to include in the calculations, please. What I would like is a similar (To Ron and mine) breakdown of an Embarkation Roll. How many of each rank in a complete battalion (Bn.).

Anyone interested in a photographic record of a complete Bn.. Treat yourself to a look at a superb set of photos in the Worcestershire Regiment Website (All free). Someone in their wisdom, decided to photo the whole Bn. in detail. Each Platoon is photo'd and numbered. The detail is so good, if you have a relative in the 1st Bn. Worcesters in 1913 you will easily be able to pick him out ! There are separate photo's of the Sgt.. the Cpls. The Machine Gun Section. The Band. The Drummers. Staff section. Etc.

Just superb. When you get to the "Home" page click on the "Battalion" drop down, then on 1st Bn. and Hey Presto .

Regards Mike Jones