"Specially enlisted"

[Mike in Cumbria]

Could anyone explain the meaning of the term "specially enlisted"? please.

My great uncle, a shoeing smith originally signed up for the ASC but was then posted into the RFA and the words "specially enlisted" were added to his form.

Later, when he was ill with malaria in India, there was debate about how much he should be paid, and the issue of special enlistment was brought into the argument.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Mike

[centurion]

Special enlistment was a way of getting men with special skills into service ASAP and also avoiding some of the restrictions on enlistment. Thus men who were under height or over age could be got in and once in by passed much of the basic training being employed in their trade as quickly as possible. Whilst requirements varied depending on the stage of the war (and how much the army was training men already enlisted) I have noted the following trades/skills being subject to special enlistment.

• Motor vehicle drivers
  
• Railway men (especially foot plate men and signalmen)
  
• Electricians
  
• Motorcyclists
  
• Bakers
  

And I'm sure there were many others if one looks.

The men were usually employed in places and on jobs where it was unlikely that they would have to engage in direct combat (so that missing out on musketry and bayonet training wasn't an issue). The ASC and the RE seem to have been the main users of special enlistment.. Many specially enlisted men were promoted to Lance Corporal or Corporal relatively quickly.

[Mike in Cumbria]

That's interesting. He was 5 feet five and a half inches tall - was that below the regulation height?

[centurion]

5ft 3 inches was the minimum at the beginning of the war. He would be likely to have been specially enlisted because the ASC needed men to keep their horses on the road and he could start plying his trade as soon as he was recruited and this allowed the by passing of basic training.

[Ron Clifton]

5ft 3in was the minimum height requirement for INFANTRY. The limits varied for other arms and, in particular, for the ASC HT Section there was a MAXIMUM height of 5ft 5in (and a minimum of 5ft).

Mike's man was therefore above, rather than below, the regulation height range, but I suspect that the need for his particular skills was the real reason for his special enlistment.

Ron

[centurion]

Yes as I thought I said in an earlier post special enlistment was to enable men with needed skills avoid restrictions.

[Mike in Cumbria]

Thanks both, that's very helpful and useful.