Officers' Promotion: Temporary Rank and Acting Rank

[Guest]

If anyone has access to any official publication or orders relating to Temporary Rank and Acting Rank I would be grateful if you could post them here.

The treatment of Temporary Rank was complex and is not well understood. It changed during the war and was debated in the House of Commons at length (see Hansard). The snippet below from the 7th Div Routine Orders was a revelation. If the substantial evidence in the war diaries is any guide, Officers being promoted to Temporary Rank in 1914-15 were able to 'put up' rank ahead of the London Gazette announcement for the immediate purposes of command and control. Their promotions were expedited and gazetted much faster than substantive promotions and antedated to the date they were initially approved in the field by the Div commander.

A later Routine Order shows that the antedating allegedly stopped in early 1916. I am trying to trace the official rules and regulations through orders, GROs, ACIs and AOs etc. My sense is that it changed considerably between 1914 and 1916, and possibly beyond. Related t this, but of secondary interest is the treatment of Acting Rank. I have not yet done a thorough study of the diary evidence, however initial trawls indicate that Acting rank was rarely used in 1915 and very quickly became de rigeur in early 1916. this might be in same way related to the changes in Temp Rank no longer being antedated. My speculation

If anyone has any hard evidence, particularly in official documents I would be a grateful recipient. MG

[kevinrowlinson]

I would suggest one of the first to see is AO 201 of 1915, Rank and Precedence of Officers; Temporary Rank below Colonel. Perhaps Themonsstar would be kind enough to look it up to see whether it is relevant.

Just going through the indexes of WOIs, ACIs and AOs looking for specific entries can take some time, not least because some may be listed under headings that may be different to those that one would think were the obvious ones.

Kevin

[Muerrisch]

Army Estimates 22 April 1915 ...................

I come now to the filling in of some of those details myself, and in doing so I shall refer to those points of criticism which have been directed against the administration. In the first place, it has been said that we have neglected the interests of the regimental officers. I should like, at the outset, to join in the glowing tributes which have been paid to the feats and the devotion to duty of our regimental officers. The charge of neglect brought against us has been based on the ground that whenever we asked an officer to undertake work which belongs to a higher rank, neither the substantive nor temporary rank with its consequent emoluments has been given to that officer. I have explained upon more than one occasion the steps which are being taken or have been adopted to meet the situation where an officer is killed, wounded or taken prisoner. The junior officer next to him who takes his place upon recommendation is, in the event of the death of his senior, gazetted to the rank at once, and in the case of missing and prisoners of war the gazette is issued in three months. In the latter case where he is missing or a prisoner of war involves the creation of a new rank of temporary major or captain, as the case may be, becomes necessary. I have to announce a new departure which I have already indicated in an answer to a question. In the case of a lieutenant-colonel being appointed a brigadier-general, or his being wounded or sick, the next senior officer will command for a month in his previously existing rank, and if the vacancy extends beyond a month he will then commence to draw the pay and allowances of a lieutenant-colonel, and he will be granted the temporary rank. Similarly, a subaltern who has to command a squadron, battery, or company for more than a month will get temporary rank and pay of captain after the first month. It is not proposed to give any temporary promotion from captain to major, as the work of captains and majors is usually considered interchangeable. In the case of vacancies caused by officers being taken prisoners or being reported missing, the step will go throughout the unit It will be temporary for the first three months, and if the officer, prisoner or missing, has not rejoined by the end of those three months the promotion will be made permanent from the end of the three months.

§Mr. PETO

Are those alterations and regulations retrospective?

§Mr. TENNANT

Yes, I think that is so, during the War.

[Muerrisch]

I have searched my extracts to as far as July 1916. Not a great deal of use! Herewith.

AO 486 Dec 1914: Temp Promo officers in New Armies .......promotion will be temporary and for duration of war. Regulars serving with New Armies will continue under existing regs.

AO 35 Jan 1915: w e f 5^th August 1915 officers holding temp commissions, TF officers, and SR officers shall take rank with regular officers according to date of appointment to that rank. [and a little wriggle room for the relative positions held on date of embodiment]

AO 73 Feb 1915: Rank of Officers ......reserve officers etc recalled will take rank as if from 5^th Aug 1914

AO 276 Aug 1915: Temp rank counting for widows pensions ..............if an officer dies or is wounded or injured while holding temp rank any resulting grant pension etc to be paid at temp rank rate not permanent rank

AO 201 June 1915: officers holding temporary rank below colonel to be regarded as holding temp commissions in that rank and to take precedence according to date of that temp rank.

[Muerrisch]

OFFICERS' PROMOTION (TEMPORARY MAJORS).

HC Deb 19 July 1915 vol 73 cc1169-701169

§62. Colonel YATE

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the fact that lieutenants commanding companies at the front are to be promoted to temporary captains and officers 1170commanding battalions to temporary lieutenant-colonels, but that no captains are to be promoted to temporary majors, and considering that the widows of senior captains who may lose their lives will thus be deprived of the higher pensions that they would have been entitled to had their husbands been promoted to the temporary rank of major, he will issue a notification that the widows of captains who would, in the ordinary course have been entitled to promotion to temporary majors shall not be deprived of their majors' pension by reason of their husbands not having been gazetted to that temporary rank?

§Mr. TENNANT

Promotion to temporary major is given in cases where a captain is left in command of a battalion; but it is not practicable to impute to an officer a rank which he did not hold, in cases where such promotion is not given, in order to pay his widow a higher pension.

Quote§Colonel YATE

Was not the whole object of this temporary promotion to give higher pensions to widows? Are not all these officers specially deserving of every consideration as regards pensions to their widows?

Quote§Mr. TENNANT

Higher rank, of course, carries higher pay, and the whole object was really to do justice. I really do not think any injustice is done.

[Muerrisch]

ARMY OFFICERS (ACTING RANK).

HC Deb 19 June 1918 vol 107 c356W356W

§General CROFT

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether an officer in the field granted acting rank is deprived of such rank if another officer is drafted into his unit; and, if so, whether he will consider the desirability of allowing all officers who have held acting rank on active service for three months to retain such rank whilst they are serving?

§Mr. MACPHERSON

An officer granted acting rank is only given such rank during the temporary absence from duty of the substantive holder of that rank. The suggestion in the last part of the question is not considered desirable, as it would result in creating more officers in the higher ranks than are required.

[Muerrisch]

Hansard 10 Feb 1915

Sir C. WARNER

A battalion is ordered abroad. It has its full complement of officers. Half of them, including most of the senior officers, are killed, but you are not going to promote these men 625who have served and run the risk of being killed. You are going to give them temporary promotion and keep them there for three months

§Mr. TENNANT

No, my hon. Friend has entirely misconceived the situation. Upon the death of any officer the man who succeeds him gets substantive rank there and then. Upon the senior officer being taken prisoner or being missing his successor will receive temporary rank at once, and at the end of three months will receive, substantive rank. That is the whole point. My hon. Friend has quite misunderstood it.

§Sir C. WARNER

I am sorry my right hon. Friend has misunderstood what I said. When I used the word "killed" I meant removed by any casualties. When an officer, whether he is taken prisoner or wounded, is removed from the front the next man has to take his place, and you are withholding from the next man the permanent promotion that he is entitled to for commanding in the field, and it is an injustice to the men who have command of regiments for two months or one month without the substantive rank of colonel that the other officers, the seconds in command—majors, captains, first lieutenants, second lieutenants—are all held back for three months because you say that the officers who are nominally to retain their rank are prisoners of war, wounded or missing, and may come back again. It is all very fine! The battalion is fighting at the front all the time and the battalion requires its officers. You cannot have the officers who may come back again commanding at the front, and it is not fair that the officers commanding at the front should not get the rank they are acting under and entitled to.

§Mr. TENNANT

Temporary.

§Sir C. WARNER

Only temporary. I think temporary rank ought to be kept entirely for those who are not in the Regular Army. Whatever my right hon. Friend says, I hold that this is an injustice to the regimental officer, who is already not treated too well and who has the brunt of the work and who runs much greater risks than the staff officers and has a much more disagreeable life, and if it was not that I should not like to see the House disagree on any subject I should move a reduction. I think it is most unfair and I hope the right hon. Gentleman will not stick to his position, which he would 626realise, if he only knew the Army as I do is really an injustice to the regimental officers.

[Ron Clifton]

"I am sorry my right hon. Friend has misunderstood what I said. When I used the word "killed" I meant removed by any casualties. "

With that kind of attitude, I am surprised that Sir C Warner was quibbling about the use of "temporary".

Ron

[Guest]

2nd Devon's War Diary

26th August 1916 Routine. Furnished RE Working parties. Capt. G.L. Jones, R.A.M.C. proceeded on 7 days Special Leave.

The undermentioned Officers promoted Temporary Captains whilst in charge of a company.

Lt H Archer 7/ 7/ 16

2nd Lt AH Smith 1/ 8/ 16

2nd Lt. R.J. Andrews 2/ 8/ 16

2nd Lt. J.H. Vincent 2/ 8/ 16

[Ghazala]

TEL and his 'Temporary' rank of Colonel..

The following extract is from a letter TEL wrote to Robert Graves and Basil Liddle-Hart......

I was gazetted a CB for taking Akaba and promoted to field rank (Major) from Captain so as to be eligible for the CB. Wingate recommended for the VC instead, but it was quite properly (and and much to my relief) refused. My report to Clayton admitted no individual effort of the VC character. It is not given for good staff work, or brainy leadership, but for courage of the fighting sort - and I am not a fighter.

My lieutenant colonelcy came in early 1918, to put me on the level,with Joyce, who was GSO 1 for liaison with the Arab Regular Army, as I was GSO 1 for liaison with bedouins - a scheme worked out by Dawnay. It isn't true to say I accepted it. I just went on working whatever they called me.

My odd pip to full Colonel, came when I wanted to return to England after Damascus. I went to GHQ and asked for the promotion. They were surprised. I explained it was to get a berth on the staff train through Italy. So they told me to put it up - special, temporary and acting. I called it the 'Taranto' rank.

[Muerrisch]

Something seems to have been ordered regarding "temporary" being superceded by "acting" as early as 3rd July 1915 regarding certain officers.

INDIAN TROOPS (FIELD ALLOWANCE).

HC Deb 13 June 1917 vol 94 c969W969W

§Colonel YATE

asked the Secretary of State for India whether Indian troops, both Cavalry and Infantry, of the Aden Field Force have not been granted the extra field service allowance similar to that granted to other expeditionary forces; whether temporary promotion with pay to an officer acting in a higher appointment, who holds that appointment for thirty days or more, has also been withheld from the Indian troops of the Aden Field Force; and, if not, will he take steps to have these differences rectified with retrospective effect?

§Mr. CHAMBERLAIN

The Government of India report that their recommendations regarding special field allowance for Indian troops at Aden are on their way to me. They also report that by an Order of 3rd May the rules regarding acting promotion (formerly called temporary promotion) were brought into force at Aden with effect from 3rd July, 1915.

[Ron Clifton]

There may have been differences between British and Indian regulations as to the use of the terms "acting" and "temporary".

In the Cambridge University Library there is a book giving the composition of HQs in the British Armies in France. It is noticeable that most of the ranks shown are described as "temporary" except those of RE officers, where the term "acting" replaces it.

Ron

[Guest]

The Guards Div Routine Orders barely mention 'Acting' ranks in 1915, and suddenly in late Jan 1916 we start to see a sharp increase in the numbers 'Acting'. Doubtless they were still dealing with the large backlog of Temp promotions from 1915 which might explain the overlap of 'Temp' and 'Acting', but there are indications of a significant change.

Q. Could Acting simply be for Officers taking on the role of a senior Officer away on leave or a course. i.e. a Major (Acting Lt Col) in command of a battalion while the CO is on Blighty leave. Contrast with Maj (Temp Lt Col) in command of a battalion whose CO is MIA for at least 30 days.

I am also intrigued by the possibility that Temp ranks were largely the preserve of the Special Reservists. I have seen Hanszzzzzard commentary about the 'injustice' of Temp promoted SR Officers subsequently being made substantive after 3 months, leaving regular Officers who later arrive being leapfrogged in the overall seniority. I suspect the transition of Temp to substantive on time served in the rank (3 months?) may have cause even more complication s and an even larger Gordian Knot to unties by the Military Secretary's branch

I note that the Guards Div HQ had a Mil Sec Branch in theatre, who presumably were on top of and approving/rubber-stamping the Temp promotions. At one stage in 1915 it is clear that the effective date of temp promotion was the approval by the Div commander. The paperwork would swiftly follow - presumably expedited by the Div MS Branch.

One thing is very clear from the subsequent LG announcement and effective dates is that Temp promotions were processed much faster. In some cases by the timeof the LG announcement the individual had already relinquished the temp rank. Alos examples of men promoted while still in a Temp rank two notches up. See example below. 2nd Lt promoted to Temp Capt and subsequently promoted to substantive Lt but still a Temp Capt. Edit. Also note three names above Lt Winter (since died in action) being promoted to Temp Capt. Effectively the LG reflecting the earlier Temp promotion while acting as a Company Commander in this specific case. Diesd at Loos.

2nd Lts as Temp Captains is another very interesting area. There was clearly some confusion over the eligibility of a 2nd Lt to be promoted to Tem Capt at one stage in 1915.

Lots of moving parts. MG

[charlesmessenger]

Just a couple of thoughts. Acting rank was introduced, I suspect, in that all wartime commissions, apart Sandhurst, Woolwich, prewar Regular ex-rankers, and the early Special Reserve, were Temporary and this became confusing, ie a T/Lt being made T/Capt as a company commander, compared to a Regular.Lt being made T/Capt. Acting rank was confirmed after 28 days in post, but was relinquished when the officer left that post Promotion to Temporary rank came to mean that the officer could not be demoted from it during the war. It thus had more permanence than Acting rank

Please shoot me down if you have evidence to the contrary.

Charles M

[Guest]

Just a couple of thoughts. Acting rank was introduced, I suspect, in that all wartime commissions, apart Sandhurst, Woolwich, prewar Regular ex-rankers, and the early Special Reserve, were Temporary and this became confusing, ie a T/Lt being made T/Capt as a company commander, compared to a Regular.Lt being made T/Capt. Acting rank was confirmed after 28 days in post, but was relinquished when the officer left that post Promotion to Temporary rank came to mean that the officer could not be demoted from it during the war. It thus had more permanence than Acting rank

Please shoot me down if you have evidence to the contrary.

Charles M

Very interesting thoughts Charles. Worth pursuing. I do like the idea of the confusion between Temporary commissions and subsequent promotions with the idea of a temporary (i.e. not reversable) promotion. I sense this is a step closer.

It also fits the timeline of the expansion in 1914-15 very nicely. MG

[Guest]

Thread title changed to encompass Acting Rank

[Muerrisch]

A few thoughts.

I have no visibility of "Temporary" Special Reserve commissions ever being granted. The prime purpose of the SR and the SR of officers had been fulfilled by, say, Loos, nearly a year into the war. The SR other ranks were no longer being recruited [even as early as Christmas 1914 although I have no official cessation] and the New Armies were absorbing all their potential recruits. Similarly the SR of O had done its job and been more or less consumed in the flames with the regulars.

Nevertheless, the Special Reserve battalions had a War Establishment, and SR officers could only be given a substantive promotion to fill a permanent established post as it became vacant. SR Officers posted to regular or New Army battalions were unpromotable in those battalions except as temporary, although, like Robert Graves, they could also find themselves substantive captains [of the SR] serving in a regular battalion alongside vastly more experienced 2nd Lt regulars.

I also know nothing about Charles's "28 days" for acting rank to be confirmed in post and this may be a crucial fact if there is evidence for it. Such a rule seems illogical if the senior officer was away and expected to return, of course.

I have had a reply from Graham Stewart who has kindly searched his AO indices and found nothing relevant for commissioned officers. I have not yet heard from theMonsStar.

[ss002d6252]

A few thoughts.

I have no visibility of "Temporary" Special Reserve commissions ever being granted. The prime purpose of the SR and the SR of officers had been fulfilled by, say, Loos, nearly a year into the war. The SR other ranks were no longer being recruited [even as early as Christmas 1914 although I have no official cessation] and the New Armies were absorbing all their potential recruits. Similarly the SR of O had done its job and been more or less consumed in the flames with the regulars.

Nevertheless, the Special Reserve battalions had a War Establishment, and SR officers could only be given a substantive promotion to fill a permanent established post as it became vacant. SR Officers posted to regular or New Army battalions were unpromotable in those battalions except as temporary, although, like Robert Graves, they could also find themselves substantive captains [of the SR] serving in a regular battalion alongside vastly more experienced 2nd Lt regulars.

I also know nothing about Charles's "28 days" for acting rank to be confirmed in post and this may be a crucial fact if there is evidence for it. Such a rule seems illogical if the senior officer was away and expected to return, of course.

I have had a reply from Graham Stewart who has kindly searched his AO indices and found nothing relevant for commissioned officers. I have not yet heard from theMonsStar.

The Indian Army Orders often contain further instructions etc for British army troops.

If I get a chance I'll have a look later and see if anything was mentioned in them.

Craig

[Guest]

If the Army List is any guide, most infantry regiments in mid 1915 had hundreds of Officers - a mixture of Regular, TF, SR and Reserve of Officers.

The Grenadier Guards pages show the regular Officers, in order of precedence by rank and substantive promotion date. The subalterns have a variety of annotations against their names.

Captains. The Captains are listed in order of the date of their substantive promotions (as we would expect). The last on the last is dated '8 Feb 15'. He is immediately followed by four Captains '(temp)' Of these three are also annotated (Lt Res of Off) followed by dates.

Lieutenants. The list of Lieutenants is headed by four '(temp Capt *date*)'. The dates of the substantive promotions to Lt run chronologically down the list, the dates of the temp promotion to Capt are not chronological. The order of precedence/seniority is dictated by the date of substantive promotion to Lt viz

Lt Thorne, T F J N....................... (temp Capt 11 Feb 15).... 29 Sep 10

Lt Mackenzie A K..........................(temp Capt 26 Dec 14)....19 Nov 10

Lt Aubrey-Fletcher H L MVO.......(temp Capt 26 Jan 15)...... 8 Nov 11

Lt Greville C H...............................(temp Capt 30 Jan 15)..... 27 Jul 12

Note that Thorne is higher up the list despite his temp Capt happening after Mackenzie. The list of Lieutenants runs for another 33 names with a smattering of 'Res of Off' and 'Spec Res' suffixes.

2nd Lieutenants. The list of 2nd Lieutenants starts with five Officers who are '(temp Lt)'. Again the order of seniority is based on their substantive promotion to 2nd Lt and not the promotion to 'temp Lt'. Again we have senior 2nd Lts whose temporary promotion happened after less senior colleagues. It does at least provide hard evidence that the chronological sequence of substantive promotions and temporary promotions was occasionally out of step. None of this should be a surprise as temp promotions were given to those who were immediately available, rather than the strict order of seniority. Clearly as subalterns were subsequently cross-posted, this might have caused some awkwardness where subalterns held higher temporary rank to their slightly more senior substantive ranked colleagues.

Special Reserve. The list of regular battalions' officers ends with a separate section for the Special Reserve officers. One Captain (Capt ret pay), and four Lieutenants of whom three were 'Late G Gds'. They are followed by sixty 2nd Lts. Those 'on prob' appear randomly within the list. There seems little correlation between the 'on prob' and their commissioning dates. Three 2nd Lts (on prob) 15 Aug 15 are rubbing shoulders with fourteen 2nd Lts 15 Aug 15 No mention of being on prob despite the same commissioning date and despite them all being SR. This might relate to prior experience such as OTC? Most have numbers next to their names or numbers in parentheses. These denote the battalions they have already been posted to or the battalions (in parenthese) they are attached to [see page xxxviii 'Explanation of Abbreviations']

Reserve Battalions. The Officers serving in the 4th (Reserve) Battalion Grenadier Guards are headed by officers with ret pay as suffixes augmented with a number of Res of Off. The subalterns are a mixture of regulars (presumably unfit or recovering from wounds or sickness) Res of Off and Spec Res. The list of Lieutenants ends with a temp Lt.

The total number of officers is around 200. Some appear twice: under the regular battalions and under the Reserve Battalion as the 4th Bn transitioned from being a Reseve battalion to a service battalion.

Cross-Posting. The first three Grenadier Guards battalions started in three separate brigades in three different Divisions. The opportunities for swift cross postings were limited in 1914 and early 1915. In July 1915 the Guards Div formed by consolidated thirteen Guards battalions, including four battalions of the Grenadier Guards. Contrast this with the four regular battalions of the Middlesex Regiment whose Officers were serving in four different Divisions. Cross-posting within the Guards would have been significantly easier in the aftermath of actions with asymmetric casualty distribution. One might argue that the challenges smoothing the substantive seniority and temp promotions were easier within the Guards than other regiments with multiple regular battalions such as the Royal Fusiliers, KRRC, Worcestershire Regt, Middlesex Regt and Rifle Brigade.

I wonder if the changes to temporary and acting rank were made in response to the potential problems of more senior officers being faced with more junior officers carrying higher temporary rank. It is worth remembering that there were 2nd Lts serving as Temp Capts. When faced with a substantive Lt posted in having returned from being wounded, one might imagine some rather tricky reshuffling of responsibilities and temp ranks being relinquished by one and raised by the other at the same time. There is some hint of this in the LG announcements.

Just some aspects that have been troubling my understanding of the process. MG

Edit. Supernumerary to Establishment is another more complex aspect. At first glance it would seem to have been used for the creation of new units - later subsumed into the war establishment, when we see the temp ranks become substantive. However there are examples where these officers are serving within battalions. One possible explanation is that Officer MIA ere still regarded as being part of the establishment until assumed POW or KIA - a process that could take up to a year or more. My speculation. MG

[Ron Clifton]

Martin

I'm not sure that "temporary" rank could be relinquished. Previous posts suggest that it was virtually permanent for the duration of the war, whereas acting rank was often linked to a particular appointment, e.g. "whilst in command of a company" and would cease when the appointment ceased.

The Pay Warrant provides information on additional duty pay when an officer was "acting up", but is silent on any actual promotions, though it does mention giving temporary higher rank to general officers to enable them to exercise their level of command.

Kings Regulations seems to confine itself to the relative seniority of substantive, army, brevet, local and temporary rank.

Ron.

[Guest]

Martin

I'm not sure that "temporary" rank could be relinquished. Previous posts suggest that it was virtually permanent for the duration of the war, whereas acting rank was often linked to a particular appointment, e.g. "whilst in command of a company" and would cease when the appointment ceased.

Ron.

The LG has lots of examples of temp rank being relinquished. I have at least 20 from recent trawling of the LG. An example below.

[laughton]

In the beginning .... still in the Manual of Military Law in 1914:

[laughton]

King's Regulations & Orders 1917 (sorry I do not have an earlier version)

210 and 231 apply

[charlie962]

A reference I came across for 1916 refers to general routine order 1520; Idon't know what that is in detail but a google produced the second snippet.

source War Diary 15Div

source Jefford Observers and Navigators

Charlie962

[Guest]

Martin

Previous posts suggest that it was virtually permanent for the duration of the war, whereas acting rank was often linked to a particular appointment, e.g. "whilst in command of a company" and would cease when the appointment ceased.

Ron.

I think the axiom that temp promotion was rarely relinquished stems from the fact that casualty rates remained very high in 1915. The 1914-15 Star cohort of infantry officers had 40% fatalities and 90% battle casualties, with a very heavy skew towards the first 12 months. Temporary promotions became substantive simply because the incumbents in those higher ranks was being systematically eroded through attrition at a very fast pace. War establishment allowed for immediate temporary promotion in the event of the death of someone [edit] of a higher ranking officer becoming a casualty after 30 days.The temp ranks would become substantive (edit) when gaps in war establishment were identified (i.e. when someone MIA was confirmed POW or KIA). The challenge here is that the senior officer available at the time might not have been the senior officer at a later date. If the promotions were automatically being made substantive, a more senior (in precedence) officer of the same rank recovering from wounds might return to his battalion to find his more junior colleague now one substantive rank higher.

Clearly on occasion, as battalions from the same regiments consolidated in the same formations (viz Guards) the prospects to balance out the promotions across the battalions occurred. An attempt to regain some correlation with seniority/precedence is also witnessed by the many subsequent LG announcements that realigned officers' precedence within ranks within regiments. My guess is that temp ranks subsequently made substantive with the effective date backdated may have caused further chaos in the original order. Late 1915 and early 1916 in the London Gazette bear witness to a substantial amount of admin that simply realigned the precedence of officers. MG

Edited. Spelling.