Standard Requirements in the British Army

[owilki1984]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone can tell me where I could find (or if they have come across) information on the standards imposed on British soldiers immediately before and during the First World War.

I’m interested in things like accommodation allowances in barracks/training camps (air space, floor space etc), dietary requirements (calorific intake), medical provisions, clothing provisions. Specifically I am interested to find out what these were when the men were in camps (training camps like Etapes, barracks in Britain, and temporary camps in France, Belgium etc).

I would also be very interested to hear if anyone has come across comparable information within the German Army?

Has anyone ever come across a secondary history with such information in? Has anyone come across this sort of stuff in any archives? Or can anyone point me in the right direction of where to look.

Kind Regards

Oli

[Mauve]

I have a photograph of a display board at the Tank Museum which shows "The Official Daily Ration" for that regiment. I can email it to you if it would be of any interest.

[owilki1984]

That would be great. I will PM you my email address.

Thanks

Oli

[Ron Clifton]

Hello Oli

For primary sources, you may need to have access to the British Library, the National Army Museum, or one of the older university libraries.

The positions as at August 1914 can be found as follows:

Scale of rations, including forage for animals: Field Service Pocket Book 1914 (reprinted 1973 by David & Charles).

This book also has useful summary information on some of your other topics, but calorific value was not a concept used directly by the Army. It was more like "a pound of meat, twelve ounces of bread, some tea, and whatever vegetables you can get hold of." I think that the scales were slightly reduced in 1917 as a result of the shortages caused by the U-boat campaign.

Scale of barrack accommodation, fuel etc: Allowance Regulations 1914

These regs also cover hospital diets.

Scale of clothing: Clothing Regulations 1914; Equipment Regulations 1914 for arms and accoutrements. Part 2 of Equipment Regs was divided into several parts, depending on the type of unit, e.g. Section I for infantry, Section X for RE, and Sections XI(a) to (e) for the Gunners.

I have not seen a copy of the Training and Manoeuvre Regulations for the period but no doubt these would cover the aspects of life in camps.

For larger units such as an infantry battalion, medical care was provided by an officer of the RAMC attached to the unit, who was in effect their GP. For smaller units, they would be iunder the care of a designated RAMC officer "nearby", e.g. for the companies of engineers and signals attached to a division, there was a medic attached to HQ Divisional Engineers.

All of the above were official War Office publications. They were issued to units, and officers were expected to buy their own copies of those relevant to their particular arm of service.

Good hunting!

Ron

[Ian Riley]

Oli,

In addition to Ron's posting above have you tried a search on this Forum on ration+scale or rations+scale ? (The query is not part of the search, the addition sign is and remember to untick the 'only in this forum' box) There certainly seem to be suggestions there in previous posts with the calorific intake being mentioned (in excess of 4000 but, as Ron indicates) a later assessment based on official scales.

My recall is that the average soldier was better fed in the army than he would have been at home as a civilian (either before or during the war).

I didn't think Training and Manoeuvre regulations (1911 ish?) give camp details although I have seen something on camp details somewhere and it may well be there as Ron suggests. Unfortunately most of my pamphlets and training publications (inc T&M Regs) are on loan at the moment to someone 150 miles away

Ian

[kenf48]

Hi all,

Specifically I am interested to find out what these were when the men were in camps (training camps like Etapes, barracks in Britain, and temporary camps in France, Belgium etc).

Has anyone ever come across a secondary history with such information in? Has anyone come across this sort of stuff in any archives? Or can anyone point me in the right direction of where to look.

Oli

Secondary sources include forum pal Geoff Bridger's Great War Handbook 'for students and family historians'

Tommy The British Soldier on the Western Front Richard Holmes

Eye Deep in Hell Daily life in the trenches John Ellis

All easily accessible.

As for Etaples bit like Eurocamp I guess

Ken

[owilki1984]

Thanks all for replies. You have given me plenty of avenues to pursue.

Thanks

Oli