how long was training?

[grahamwilkinson]

from a man enlisting, roughly how long would it be before he would be sent abroad?

Thanks

Graham.

[bill24chev]

Length of training would depend on regiment or Corps (As in ASC or AOC)

TF units partly trained pre-war went overseas from September 14 to take over Garrison duties or reinforce the defence of the Suez canal in the case of 1st East Lancashire (42nd ) Division, so must be trained and presumed at least capable of those duties.

Artillery, RE and Army Ordance Corps would probably be longer than for Infanyrt having to becaome a trained soldier then carry out further ttraining in their specialism.Having daid that some Miners recruited from the Coal and Tin Mining industtry were recruited and then digging tunnels in F&F within a week.

Recruits with civillian skills such as Driverof horse transport for RA & ASC and Driver Mechanical for ASC would have needed only military training before being deployed.

[grahamwilkinson]

the soldier in question trained as a Royal Fusilier

[Ron Clifton]

Hello Graham

It would also depend on when he joined up, and whether it was to one of the original Kitchener battalions, a TF battalion (probably not in your case) or one of the locally-raised battalions.

In the early days, when civilians were joining up in large numbers but there was a shortage of equipment and existing soldiers to train the recruits, it could be up to a year before formed units were sent abroad. Many of the men in these di=visions will have had plenty of training but, being allocated to a particular division, they would not go abroad until the whole division was ready. In the meantime they would be employed on home defence.

Later in the war, especially when conscription was introduced, men could be trained in a more efficient way, but as they joined up at 18 and were not normally sent abroad until they were 19, the same conditions applied. Older men might be sent out much earlier - after three to six months' training.

My grandfather, a railwayman in civil life, was conscripted in August 1916 and was serving in France six weeks later, in a labour battalion. He did not need to be taught how to fight in the front lines.

Ron

[Muerrisch]

the infantry syllabus was ten weeks individual training then the balance of six months collective training. This was shortened during the war, sometimes unofficially I believe.

[johnboy]

Training continued in France. In fact it seems training was available throughout the war. Soldiers could be sent on courses to improve their skills.

Musketry for instance was a regular drill.

[saw119]

The 1st West Yorks war diary has them training very regularly throughout their time on the western front but annoyingly doesn't record when new drafts of soldiers were introduced into the bttn. The impression I've got from the. War diary is that it was an ongoing process for everyone including men who'd been fighting on the frontline for months, if not years, as new techniques and skills were implemented. As an aside, I am currently doing some research into 310 brigade RFA who were a TF brigade and were raised in 1915 but not deployed until 1917, they entered the frontline immediately with no training upon arrival in France.

[adk46canada]

In the second half of the war, the official training period for a new recruit was fourteen weeks, but the exigencies of the situation might mean men were sent to the front with as little as six weeks training, as during the Somme campaign. In the Canadian Expeditionary Force, the training period was ten weeks prior to 1917, but increased to the standard fourteen weeks from 1917 on. During periods of high casualties or expected losses, the training period could be truncated to as little as nine weeks.

Thanks

Bill Stewart

[ss002d6252]

The minimum I have seen with the the 6th DLI (T.F) was approx 3 months (with a couple of exceptions for old soldiers). -

Craig

[robigunner88]

My Great Great Grandfather enlisted on the 17/05/1915 according to his SWB records and arrived in France 01/09/1915 according to his MIC Card. Although according to the 1/7th Northumberland Fusiliers war diary, a new draft wasn't received until the 06/09/1915 and these were men previously wounded earlier in the campaign. It wasn't until 18/09/1915 that it states that new recruits had arrived from base and so I assume that this would have been when he reached his battalion. So it seems that it was four months for my Great Great Grandfather.

Jamie

[Guest]

Army Order dated 21st August 1914 for the Augmentation of the Army - the approval of the six divisions of Kitchener's Army includes a training schedule in Appendix C:

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[robigunner88]

Does anyone have an idea for the length of training for an Officer? Did they all go through the Royal Military College?

Jamie

[johnboy]

I think many were Officer Cadets from their school.

[grahamwilkinson]

big thank you for all your help,

Graham.