From Australian WO to British Officer

[alf mcm]

I am researching Patrick Wilfred Steuart. He was born in Scotland and served 9 years in the Royal Scots before the War. He was married in England in 1908 and emigrated to Australia between then and 1914. He enlisted at the start of the war as a Gunner in the Australian Artillery. Within 2 weeks he was promoted to WOII! He was commissioned as an Officer in the British Army at the end of 1915.

My questions are - why was he not commissioned in the Australian Army? Was it because he was born in Britain? Was he given a choice as to which Army he was commissioned in?

Any information would be appreciated.

Regards,

Alf McM

[Peter J]

Hello Alf,

It looks as though your man was imprisioned for six weeks for 'larceny' by a court in Cairo, in 1922. He was apparently 'deprived' of the rank of Lieutenant as a result. There also seems to be some sort of forfeiture of all medals... perhaps you can shed more light on this.

Regards,

PJ.

[Peter J]

Alf,

Also found a mention of him the the London Gazette of 1899, wherein he is listed under the 8th Volunteer Battalion, The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) as a Second Lieutenant - dated 4th Januay 1899.

THIS LINK will take you to the 'Mapping Our ANZACS' section of the National Archives of Australia website, where you will be able to view Patrick's Army service records (if you haven't already).

THIS LINK will take you to 'our' National Archives website, where Patrick's court case is recorded (FO 841/213 / obtaining money by false pretences) as part of the Foreign Office records.

Without having read through all this material, it may be the case that Patrick was not NOT commissioned by the Australian Army, but that he was stripped of his rank. I maybe wrong about this, but as I say, I have not gone through all the details. Further scrutiny of his case may reveal the answer for you.

Cheers,

Peter.

[Terry_Reeves]

Like Peter , I have found this quite interesting. His medal index card gives part of the story as Peter has already indicated. The November 1918 Army List shows him as a Special Reservist who was an Honorary Lt in the RFA in 1912? I query this as my copy is a a little worn, however he is definitely an Honorary Lt in the same list with a date of 1 July 1917.

As it happens he has a file at the National Archives in WO 339/45815 which should prove interesting.

TR

[Michael Johnson]

I have a similar case where my wife's great aunt married a British-born man who emigrated to Canada, returned with the CEF,and was commissioned into a Territorial battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment. I suspect that there was more of a need for replacement officers in the British Army. The CEF probably had a surplus of officers given the breakup of most CEF battalions to furnish drafts, Not just officers - I have a pair to an RSM who dropped down to get to France, and ended the war as a Lance Sergeant.

[David B]

The following link will give you a copy of his AIF service documents, 43 pages in all.

http://naa12.naa.gov.au/NameSearch/Interface/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=1922125

There was no discrimination regarding his country of origin as far as service goes in the AIF, in fact, about 90 percent of them had either British origins

or were immigrants from UK. I would suggest that he just answered a call for officers for the British Army and was accepted.

David

[rksimpson]

Hi

Sorry RGA your link times out, but the link that Peter J has done for mapping our Anzacs has a link in it to his service records

regards

Robert

[David B]

Robert,

That's a newie on me, (I checked, and it does too) but since the records can be obtained elsewhere I'll leave it for now.

David

[alf mcm]

Thanks to you all for your replies.

David, your reply answers all the questions in my post.

With regard to Patrick’s career I already have a copy of his Australian records. He claimed when he enlisted that he had served 9 years in the 1^st Royal Scots. It is strange he didn’t mention being an Officer, and the mention of him in the 1899 Gazette is a bit confusing.

I am assuming that Patrick had left the Army by 1922, and he had been allowed to use the honourary title of Lieutenant since leaving the Army. This may explain why, as a civilian, he was tried by the civil court in Cairo. I wasn’t aware that the trial records had survived, they would make interesting reading. Interestingly Patrick was declared bankrupt on 25^th July, 1919, on account of his creditors not being able to find him! I am hoping that his British Army service records will answer some questions. I should have these records soon, thanks to a generous offer by Verrico2009. They will make interesting reading.

With regard to his medals I take the reference on the medal card to mean that he had to return medals claimed from the British Army, and claim them from the Australian Army. He was serving in the Australian Army when he gained his entitlement for the 1914-15 Star, and also the other 2 medals.

Regards,

Alf McM

[headgardener]

With regard to his medals I take the reference on the medal card to mean that he had to return medals claimed from the British Army, and claim them from the Australian Army. He was serving in the Australian Army when he gained his entitlement for the 1914-15 Star, and also the other 2 medals.

Maybe. Medals would often be confiscated in the event of a man being convicted of a criminal offence (generally, in my experience, something relating to dishonesty and involving a prison sentence). I can think of a couple of instances of this relating to men I've researched. So it would be helpful to look at the date that they were returned.

If it was his British army medals that were returned then there should still be a record of their issue and subsequent return in the British Medal Index Cards at the National Archives. It should also give an indication of the reason for their return (possibly in the form of a 'code' relating to the relevant section of King's Regulations governing the return of campaign medals).

[mhifle]

Hi,

Here are the London Gazette links

Regards Mark

LG 1923

lg 1899

LG 1916

[alf mcm]

Thanks Headgardener.

Thanks Mark,

The 1923 link is interesting since it says that Patrick was 'late R.F.A.', implying that he had already left the Army.

Regards,

Alf McM

[headgardener]

The 1923 link is interesting since it says that Patrick was 'late R.F.A.', implying that he had already left the Army.

I'd say that it confirms that he'd left the army. When he relinqished his commission he would have been granted permission to retain the 'honorary' rank of Lieutenant. This notice in the LG is official notification of him being deprived of this privelige. This was a standard procedure in caes such as this (there were almost identical notices in the LG for the other men that I mentioned earlier).