ddycher Posted 17 June , 2014 Share Posted 17 June , 2014 All I have been looking at the returns of the Wessex Division before and after they sailed for India. I have been amazed at the number of raw recruits that went out with these battalions. Was not uncommon for upto a third of the battalion to be unqualified recruits. It took some of the battalions as long as 6 months to complete the training of these recruits and bring themselves upto Indian Establishment. The returns also show that a large number of Imperial Service Effectives were left behind in favour of bringing such a large contingent of recruits. Does anyone know if there was a deliberate policy in force with respect to no's of effectives vs recruits going out with these battalions ? Regards Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 17 June , 2014 Share Posted 17 June , 2014 Just a thought, but I assume you refer to the 1st Wessex (43rd) Division? Is it possible that the effectives were used to bolster the 2nd Line battalions which also went out - as they had only relatively-recently been raised, I suspect they might have needed experienced men. Given that there was little expectation of action for these battalions, I suspect sending recruits out wasn't necessarily likely to be a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddycher Posted 17 June , 2014 Author Share Posted 17 June , 2014 Stephen Yes I am refering to the 1st Wessex. I honestly dont know, the numbers I have dont add up. It would seem that relatively few remained in the 2nd line (in the case of the 5th Devons only 100 from 759) but the returns for 1st and 2nd line effectives before and after embarkation dont correlate and it would apprear than a significant number left the battalion prior to the Wessex sailing. I have been looking for postings either to other TF battalions or the the Spec. Res, but have found nothing significant yet. Pure speculation but it would seem that they were divided between those that embarked, those that remained in the second line and those that "went elsewhere". Numbers across the returns I have vary. The v.large number of recruits and newly commissioned officers is interesting though. You have to wonder how effective these units were on landing in india. Regards Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 17 June , 2014 Share Posted 17 June , 2014 The v.large number of recruits and newly commissioned officers is interesting though. You have to wonder how effective these units were on landing in india .I would have thought that it was , as suggested above, a way of keeping the experienced men where they were most needed and letting the newer recruits make up the strength. At the time the battalions in France were going through every man they could get to try and keep up to strength (and failing in this in many cases) so I'd suspect they were either used to bolster units at home or they were transferred and shipped off to France (more likely the former I would have thought). Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 17 June , 2014 Share Posted 17 June , 2014 Just a thought: they might not have signed up for Imperial Service. Just because the battalion reached effective numbers doesn't mean every man did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 17 June , 2014 Share Posted 17 June , 2014 You have to wonder how effective these units were on landing in india. Regards Dave How effective did they need to be? Their role was as a sort of gendarmerie: there was no expectation of a war in India. The Russians were on our side, and policing the frontier was a largely Indian task, so in reality the presence of the TF units was to keep the peace. There was little expectation of real trouble, and the existence of a lot of men, semi- or un-trained was the key. I suspect they were up to the job, and it is apparent that once they arrived a lot of training went on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddycher Posted 18 June , 2014 Author Share Posted 18 June , 2014 Craig / StevenThanks for this.The numbers I ref above are only for the IS effectives. The HS men are counted seperately on the returns where the no's I ref come from. It does seem that from the IS effectives that they were divided into the three buckets above. Two weeks after the first line embarked a further ~200 men had left the battalion and had not gone to India or remained in the 2nd Line Reserve. Have not yet found out where they went but agree with Craig that the Spec. Res. makes most sense. Will keep digging.Stephen - I take your point on the effective levels in the Bn and the gendarmarie nature of their role. Makes sense. They were though replacing regular battalions (in this case the 2nd RWK) so the difference must have been felt. Atleast one RWK officer was attached for a period of time after they arrived at their station.Still it would be interesting to see if there was some concious policy with respect to the selection of the men sent to India. Spent the last couple of days working through what I have and have not found anything yet.RegardsDave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 19 June , 2014 Share Posted 19 June , 2014 Two weeks after the first line embarked a further ~200 men had left the battalion and had not gone to India or remained in the 2nd Line Reserve. Have not yet found out where they went but agree with Craig that the Spec. Res. makes most sense. Will kep digging Martin or Grumpy may have come across them in their work so it may be worth asking them. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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