martin_sole Posted 6 November , 2013 Share Posted 6 November , 2013 Question for those wot knows... The lead protagonist in P.B. was apparently a sergeant major. Is he rather too young for that to be plausible? Or were there really baby faced Warrant Officers in the war? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPT Posted 6 November , 2013 Share Posted 6 November , 2013 The actor, Cillian Murphy, is actually 36! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin_sole Posted 6 November , 2013 Share Posted 6 November , 2013 The actor, Cillian Murphy, is actually 36! Blimey. I'd have put him as 26 at a push. Damn these fresh faced, even toothed, un-mustachioed leading men Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Upton Posted 7 November , 2013 Share Posted 7 November , 2013 Question for those wot knows... The lead protagonist in P.B. was apparently a sergeant major. Is he rather too young for that to be plausible? Or were there really baby faced Warrant Officers in the war? War-time extingencies meant many men who proved their mettle moved up through the ranks far faster during the course of the war than might be the case in peace. Even in peace it wasn't unheard of for a competent soldier to do well if he put his mind to it - for example, Frank Bourne (of Rorke's Drift fame) enlisted when he was just a little shy of 19 years old, and went from Private to Colour Sergeant in only 4 years, making him the youngest Colour Sergeant in the British Army at the time, and earning him the nickname "The Kid": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Bourne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin_sole Posted 7 November , 2013 Share Posted 7 November , 2013 Any idea what the average age of a sergeant major was by 1918? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDS Posted 7 November , 2013 Share Posted 7 November , 2013 There's a 19 year old CSM Iredale DCM MM 29/08/1916 buried in the Connaught Cemetery so yes it wasn't uncommon to find capable men promoted despite being young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPT Posted 7 November , 2013 Share Posted 7 November , 2013 CWGC has 783 CSM casualties in 1918. I skimmed through about half. Those with ages given range from several 19 year olds through to a 51 year old. Most were between 25 and 35. I'd estimate an average age of around 30 overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scalyback Posted 7 November , 2013 Share Posted 7 November , 2013 Was there not a LT col under 30 at one point? Didn't get the rank back regimental til late 30's, boys name rings a bell. Side point you can get young Sgt majors today, techy lads in the main. Getting Staffy rank at about 25 same as Bourne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPT Posted 7 November , 2013 Share Posted 7 November , 2013 I wonder if the 19 year olds were very big, tough lads or more officer types? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin_sole Posted 7 November , 2013 Share Posted 7 November , 2013 Could anyone with experience estimate the average age of a CSM in today's army? Shooty types rather than techy types? Is the skillset demanded for the position broadly similar now compared to 1918? Thanks for all the replies so far btw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scalyback Posted 7 November , 2013 Share Posted 7 November , 2013 CSM is an appoitment as WO2. Mainly infantry appoitment. As I said WO2 tech grades can be young, they can be old. Depends on age joined, when obtained qualifications and Glasgow saying yes. Then LE commision comes into it, however army2020 may change this again. So all I can say Horses for courses be it Great war or present or even WW2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandy hall Posted 2 October , 2014 Share Posted 2 October , 2014 Peaky Blinders is back, starts on BBC 2 in a few minutes. Mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 3 October , 2014 Share Posted 3 October , 2014 There's not much that makes me shy away, but the tongue incident, well that had an effect !! Great stuff though, im still lovin it. Regards, Sean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 3 October , 2014 Share Posted 3 October , 2014 Went to a talk by Professor Brian Bond (Kings College, London) at Wolverhampton on Wednesday night. As an aside he mentioned just how disappointed he was with the recent crop of broadcast items set in or around the dates of WW1 "ranging from mediocre to dire" I think he said and when asked which ones were the direst he answered "The Crimson Field and Peaky Blinders" of the latter saying "good Birmingham accents but that's all you can say for it" The talk itself was based on his new book "Britain's Two World Wars against Germany: Myth, Memory and the Distortions of Hindsight " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 3 October , 2014 Share Posted 3 October , 2014 I find PB very entertaining. No doubt full of factual issues but it is drama. It knows it's pastiche. I've gotten more impatient in my old age and start to fidget unless a programme moves along with pace. PB certainly does this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 3 October , 2014 Share Posted 3 October , 2014 I agree with Ian, it is a drama and WW1 really had little to do with it other that set the scene for that particular series. I happen to like Brian Bond as an historian, but I rather suspect he extemporised. TR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandy hall Posted 3 October , 2014 Share Posted 3 October , 2014 There's not much that makes me shy away, but the tongue incident, well that had an effect !! Great stuff though, im still lovin it. Regards, Sean. It was rather violent last night. Also still lovin it. Mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scalyback Posted 3 October , 2014 Share Posted 3 October , 2014 Loved it. No classic lines so far in this series. Thought you was dead? Nah I was living in London, same thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 10 October , 2014 Share Posted 10 October , 2014 So we learnt he saved thousands of lives at Mons and also served on the Somme and at Verdun. An interesting career in the Great War. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 10 October , 2014 Share Posted 10 October , 2014 Never saw it, but if you're saying he was a medical chap, there were apparently British Army medical personnel at Verdun, so I suppose it's possible? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPT Posted 10 October , 2014 Share Posted 10 October , 2014 He was a tunneller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 10 October , 2014 Share Posted 10 October , 2014 He was a tunneller. That's some tunnel from Mons to Verdun, nearly 110 miles? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deerhunter Posted 10 October , 2014 Share Posted 10 October , 2014 Very entertaining but could have been better thought through. Revealed last night: Tommy Shelby was in the Warwickshire Yeomanry but was also a Tunneller (not impossible but not at the same time in the same unit, I think). He served at Mons where he saved thousands of lives, also on the Somme and also at Verdun. The latter raised an eyebrow, but there you are. It's easy to be an armchair critic but it's not a Great War historical drama, it's a gritty drama with a lot of references to the Great War. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPT Posted 10 October , 2014 Share Posted 10 October , 2014 Well quite. No doubt there are people on classic car forums complaining that the inverted overhead mangleshaft on the Morris Snodbury Mk II wasn't introduced until 1927. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scalyback Posted 10 October , 2014 Share Posted 10 October , 2014 There may be more back story but where the Garrison pub is located appears to be in the heart of industrial Brum, Steel making etc and near the canal system. Not any indication of a underground(no pun regards his underworld past) trade. The Yeomanry is plasuable given the horse background the family is based in be it trackside but in the very first episode started with some excellent horsemanship from him. The Somme and Verdun is stretching it. Churchill was prone to stretch the truth sometimes! Overall it is a crime drama for me with refrence to WW1. I enjoy it and so does the wife(even if it is a bit grusome). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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