Officers' Promotion: Temporary Rank and Acting Rank

[laughton]

I though this might be interesting for your analysis. My grandfather was a Cadet when he was made a Temporary 2nd Lieutenant (October 1916). In battle he was then changed from a Temporary 2nd Lieutenant to be an Acting Captain while commanding a Company (August 1917). As soon as that was over he relinquished his rank of Acting Captain (October 1917).

He had previously been a Private with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Wounded at Bellewaerde Ridge on May 10, 1915 he was hospitalized in the UK, attended Officer's school and joined the R.I.R. where his two brothers were both Lieutenants. He was from Belfast before coming to Canada. In March 1918 he became a Guest of the Kaiser.

On return to Canada he went back down to the rank of Private, the highest rank he had held with the PPCLI.

In reverse order:

[Gibbo]

The website unithistories.org includes biographies and promotion records of a large number of WWII officers from several different armies, including senior ones who also served in WWI. There are some gaps, e.g. Slim's promotions between 2nd Lieutenant and Colonel are not given, but the promotion records to 1919 of 4 Field Marshals from varying military backgrounds are copied below:

Alexander (Guards)

2nd Lt. 23.09.1911 [17884]

Lt. 05.12.1912

T/Capt. 15.11.1914-06.02.1915

Capt. 07.02.1915

T/Maj. 22.10.1915-01.11.1915

A/Maj. 10.12.1916-02.03.1917

Maj. 01.08.1917

A/Lt.Col. 03.03.1917-22.05.1917, 15.10.1917-19.12.1918

T/Lt.Col. 01.07.1919-08.06.1920

Auchinleck (Indian Army)

2nd Lt. 21.01.1903 [115611]

Lt. 15.12.1905, seniority 10.07.1905

Capt. 21.01.1912

A/Maj. 21.02.1916-24.02.1916,
08.04.1916-04.05.1916,
11.07.1916-30.11.1916,
21.01.1917-23.02.1917,
07.03.1917-11.03.1917

Maj. 21.01.1918

A/Lt.Col. 24.02.1917-06.03.1917

T/Lt.Col. 23.05.1919-26.08.1919

Bt. Lt.Col. 15.11.1919

Brooke (Royal Artillery)

2nd Lt. 24.12.1902

Lt. 24.12.1905

Capt. 30.10.1914

Maj. 24.04.1916

T/Lt.Col. 20.09.1918-31.03.1919

Bt. Lt.Col. 01.01.1919

Montgomery (line infantry)

2nd Lt. 19.09.1908

Lt. 01.04.1910

T/Capt. 14.09.1914-13.10.1914

Capt. 14.10.1914

T/Maj. 22.01.1917-15.07.1918,
12.04.1919-02.09.1919

Bt. Maj. 06.08.1918

Maj. 25.07.1925

T/Lt.Col. 16.07.1918-11.04.1919,
04.09.1919-05.11.1919,

I have little knowledge of the subject but have used this website when researching WWII and hope that those with more knowledge might find its contents helpful in answering the question.

Edited to make data clearer.

Edited 26 April , 2016 by Gibbo

[Muerrisch]

I believe [correct me if I am wrong] that laughton's scans of KR 1917 are the Canadian edition [reference to Militia etc]. Nevertheless we would expect them to closely align with th British version 1914 as amended.

The core of the problem is that the thorny problems of seniority and precedence described by Martin G., Ron and Charles were never predicted or addressed in the balmy days of peace, so there was no adequate regulatory framework in an era that positively demanded a regulatory framework where everyone knew their place, even in Church.

The next problem was that of the temporary commission ............. we might wish that the War Office had called it something else!

KRs do not acknowledge, for example, acting promotions at all.

The Reserve of Officers was mentioned above. I believe that this comprised the "army reserve officers" in KR 236 & 7, who "on being called out for army service ..... placed in bottom of his rank in regiment to which posted ....... and distinguished in regimental list as "army reserve officer".

We have collectively opened a can of worms, have we not?

[Muerrisch]

Gibbo's example of Alexander is interesting if the detail is accurate and may possibly narrow by a little the period in which Temporary was perhaps replaced by Acting.

T/Major to 1st Nov 1915,

A/Major from 10 December 1916.

He then has periods as an A/Lt Col, and when peace breaks out we have T/Lt Col.

[Guest]

Some thoughts/observations.

1. At the beginning, the existing pool of Officers was insufficient and was rapidly exhausted. Temporary commissions in the shape of a massive expansion of Special Reserve commissions were the 1914-15 fix.

2. Lots of subalterns in the Special Reserve were subsequently 'gazetted' again as subalterns in the same substantive rank but in the Regulars. This would appear to indicate some form of transfer (for want of a better legal term) from the SR to a Regular commission. I assume that this simply dealt with the 1914-15 expansion of the Army and the mass recruitment of Officers into the Special Reserve with temporary commissions.

3. At some stage (correct me if I am wrong) Officers were no longer granted commissions through patronage into the SR and all Officers went through organised and centralised Officer Training according to a set syllabus. This meant at some stage in the war (early 1916?) there was only one type of regular commission (ex QM types). Thereafter the need to promote SR commissioned officers diminished and as 90% became casualties they gradually faded out of the equation.

The above is based on observations in diaries and a lot of trawling of the London Gazette. If my understanding is awry I would be grateful if someone could correct me. Some very rough data below. Using various search terms here is the number of returns on the London Gazette:

Search Term......................1913..........1915..........1916..........1917

Temporary Lieutenant*........142...........1,814.............489............65

Temporary Captain..............138............3,627.........1,152..........176

Acting Lieutenant..................272.............370.............358..........226

Acting Captain......................269.............548............378...........324

* Note: temporary Lieutenant captures temporary Lieutenants + temporary Lieutenant Colonels. The data takes this number and nets off the returns for Temporary Lieutenant Colonel.

The data above does not indicate a mass transition from Temporary to Acting. It suggests that Temporary spiked in 1915 and fell off sharply. A further breakdown of the data by Quarter might be useful.

Note:

• A 73% reduction in the mention of Temp Lieutenant from 1915 to 1916
• A 63% reduction in the mention of Temp Captain from 1915 to 1916

4. One thing is an absolute certainty; regiments in 1914-15 differentiated between regular and SR commissioned Officers. The monthly returns of the more diligent record keepers were careful to annotate the Special Reserve men with the suffix SR. One obvious explanation is their relative lack of training compared to the Sandhurst commissioned men. We also see rather differing treatment of promotions to each type in 1915. As the Army's ability to train Officers at Sandhurst was outstripped by the casualty rates of this sub-set, it is easy to see why the gaps in War Establishment were filled with temporary promotions of SR officers.

To my mind there has to be a strong link between Temp promotion and the Special Reserve Officers. If this is the case we should be able to see it in the data. I have over 400 Guards Officers and their LG details on a database, so it should be relatively easy to check

[Muerrisch]

Martin, I have only one minor observation.

It is regarding: Temporary commissions in the shape of a massive expansion of Special Reserve commissions were the 1914-15 fix.

What makes you believe that SR commissions were, or became, temporary, please? I have never had a whiff of that. I have the immediate pre-war Special Reserve Regs and have had a good shufti at the relevant sections.

[Guest]

Edit: The data below is incorrect 12/5/16.

Here is the quarterly (calendar) breakdown of the number of 'hits' on the London Gazette website searching for "Temporary Lieutenant" and "Temporary Captain". Note this is a rather crude and unsophisticated methodology and does not count the number of Officers, merely the number of announcements. Note that some announcements included dozens of officers. Regardless of its obvious weakness, the data is clearly showing that the use of Temporary rank plummeted in 2Q 2016 2Q 1916. It is worth relating this to the Routine Orders highlighted in the first post. It suggests that this is where the fault-line was.

Any mistakes are mine.

Edit. Same chart with Lieutenant and Captain fatalities (as a proxy for permanent battle casualties this would probably need doubling). Note the exceptionally high attrition in 1915. More Officers in these ranks died in 2Q and 3Q 1915 (Neuve Chapelle, Gallipoli and Loos) than in 3Q 1916 (Somme). That surprised me. A lot.

Note also that the massive permanent casualties of the Somme in 1916 were not replaced with Temporary promotions.

[trajan]

... the data is clearly showing that the use of Temporary rank plummeted in 2Q 2016. ... Any mistakes are mine.

Stress added, if only to show that many odd-bod's are following yet another interesting thread - when they can!

Julian

[Guest]

Stress added, if only to show that many odd-bod's are following yet another interesting thread - when they can!

Julian

To err is to be human.

[Muerrisch]

so ......................

we are looking for a big increase in Acting as Temporary dwindles, or did Acting not make the LG?

Martin please did you see my #31?

[Guest]

so ......................

we are looking for a big increase in Acting as Temporary dwindles, or did Acting not make the LG?

Martin please did you see my #31?

see typed table on Post #30. Acting Lts and Acting Capts remained relatively stable (with a slight decline 1915-1917) The collapse in Temp Ranks was not offset by a surge in Acting Ranks.

Temp Ranks were most definitely concentrated between 4Q 1914 and 1Q 1916. We can be absolutely certain that the instructions changed and/or the interpretation of the instruction changed in 1Q 1916. That is a step in the right direction and also illustrates why later 'personal experience' with regards to promotion protocol in the Great War is not relevant.

Right now my learning curve is almost vertical.

I do not have a left-handed clue what the difference is between Temporary and Acting. Acting was often (always?) associated with a specific role and only applied while in that role. On that basis I am not sure why Temp was even required.

MG

[Guest]

Martin, I have only one minor observation.

It is regarding: Temporary commissions in the shape of a massive expansion of Special Reserve commissions were the 1914-15 fix.

What makes you believe that SR commissions were, or became, temporary, please? I have never had a whiff of that. I have the immediate pre-war Special Reserve Regs and have had a good shufti at the relevant sections.

ref SR Commissions handed out after Kitchener's call. Were they not for the duration of the war? i.e temporary (=non-permanent). The commissions handed out by patrons to schoolboys were initially on probation, and then made Temp 2nd Lt. Given the large number of transfers from SR to Reg I assumed (possibly incorrectly) that their terms of engagement were different (as well as their training v Sandhusrt commission regular infantry officers) Happy to be corrected. Ron or Charles will certainly know.

[sheldrake]

The website unithistories.org includes biographies and promotion records of a large number of WWII officers from several different armies, including senior ones who also served in WWI. There are some gaps, e.g. Slim's promotions between 2nd Lieutenant and Colonel are not given, but the promotion records to 1919 of 4 Field Marshals from varying military backgrounds are copied below:

Brooke (Royal Artillery)

2nd Lt. 24.12.1902

Lt. 24.12.1905

Capt. 30.10.1914

Maj. 24.04.1916

T/Lt.Col. 20.09.1918-31.03.1919

Bt. Lt.Col. 01.01.1919

The entry for Brooke raises some questions.

There are plenty of orders for 18 Div HQRA from Summer 1916 signed "A F Brooke" as "Captain RA" but from mid September he was signing himself as "Major RA"

Brooke signature.pdf

This does not fit with the dates listed above.

It seems a little odd for a Major to sign himself as Captain. Is it possible that he hadn't been told? Or did he and the CRA consider that he could fulfill the role of Brigade Major as per the earlier comment? Or was the promotion to Major 20 April 1916 applied retrospectively, say to his appointment?

Edited 26 April , 2016 by sheldrake

[Muerrisch]

Martin thank you.

SR commissions pre-war were most certainly not for the duration according to SR regs. However, after that, I just do not know. I don't see a logical reason why they should be hostilities only. I will have a look at my continuous timeline of Army Lists for RWF with a view to looking at the SR men. That must wait until tomorrow.

Given that the continuing need for officers to step up a rank or two to fill exigent gaps after the decrease in Temp promotions, perhaps the comparative lack of Acting in the LG is due to the very brevity of the Acting period. And I don't think we know if Acting carried any extra pay, do we? Or do we?

[Guest]

Martin thank you.

SR commissions pre-war were most certainly not for the duration according to SR regs. Yes, obviously, but SR commissions pre-war were not handed out to schoolboys with certificate A or B by their father's friends. This might indicate that the terms of an SR commission might have changed. Pre-war an Officer had to serve at least 6 months (possibly more?) in the Militia/SR before being eligible for a backdoor regular commission. Q. what were the terms for Officers in Pals Battalions locally raised? When the units transferred what type of commissions did the hold and did these change when transferred to the War Office?

However, after that, I just do not know. I don't see a logical reason why they should be hostilities only. Because the Army did not need a massive Army after the war ended. These terms applied to the ORs so why would they not apply to the Oficers. As you point out the SR terms for the ORs disappeared in Sep 1914. Did they disappear for the Officers or did they continue? The suffixes Spec Res in later LGs might simply reflect the legacy. It will be interesting to establish if and when the ARmy stopped Officer recruiting for the SR .

I will have a look at my continuous timeline of Army Lists for RWF with a view to looking at the SR men. That must wait until tomorrow.

Given that the continuing need for officers to step up a rank or two to fill exigent gaps after the decrease in Temp promotions, perhaps the comparative lack of Acting in the LG is due to the very brevity of the Acting period. And I don't think we know if Acting carried any extra pay, do we? Or do we? I think it simply reflects two things: 1) the backlog in paperwork had been dealt with by 2Q 1916 and 2) Acting provided a specific clausee that it was for a specific appointment that KR required was done be an officer in a specific Rank.

Responses/thoughts in blue. I may well be wrong. It is a dark space and my Army List is May 1915. I dont have later editions. MG

[Guest]

Here is an interesting thing. By 3Q 1918 (the last full quarter of the war) there were only a handful of London Gazette announcements mentioning Temporary Lieutenant. In all the ones I have checked they relate to foreign medals awarded at some stage earlier in the war. Temporary promotions had disappeared.

Edit. Confirmed. Not a single temp promotion in 1918. All legacy ranks mentioned for Officers when they were awarded a foreign medal. Presumably this was reflecting their rank at the time they were awarded. Lots of foreign Govts appear to have been showering the British with Medals from July 1918 onward. Nothing like being on the winning side.

I have not yet checked in sufficient detail , but I strongly suspect the mentions from 2Q 1916 onward are legacy ranks and not gazetting to Temporary rank going forward. It is distinctly possible that promotion to Temp Lieutenant and Temp Capt had disappeared by March 1916. I will revert once I have trawled the LG. Help!...

Edit. 99% sure that promotions to Temp Lt after 1Q 1916 were legacy announcements of events that happened in 1915, early 1916.

The later mentions seem to have a concentration in the RMA and RMLI and RAMC so later announcements might also be skewed towards these anomalies. We shall see. MG

[Guest]

Latest thoughts on Temp Promotions.

I am not 100% confident that Temp Lts were for specific appointments. King's Regs makes it clear that all Temp Lts were subordinate to substantive Lts and it did not make sense to have a Coy 2IC as a junior. It would be more likely that a Lt was in the role and the Temp Lt a platoon commander. Added to this the 3rd Bn Coldstream had five Temp Lts when it had sufficient Captains and Lts to fill the OC and 2IC roles in the Companies. Some must have been platoon commanders which rather jars with my previous assumptions.

According to Guards Brigade Routine Orders, if an officer became a casualty, the next most senior officer stepped up. After 30 days he was automatically promoted with temp rank. Of this I am certain, however the Routine Order only gives absent Lt Cols and absent Captains as examples – two ranks whose appointments within a battalion as CO and Coy OCs required a specific rank. No mention of Majors or Lts. The Captains doing Majors’ jobs was discussed in Parliament (Hansard) and the view was that Majors and Captains were interchangeable and there was no need for temp promotion. This is itself slightly odd as the LG has lots of Temp Major promotions in 1915.

As already pointed out, the regulations had not anticipated the expansion, the huge attrition and the need for a mechanism to promote officers quickly. The handbrake was the LG announcement and the huge backlog. I would guess that the practical solution was to use the Temporary Ranks to solve immediate problems. Temp rank existed pre-war. If the Guards (and others) chose to use this as the temporary solution (excuse the pun) until clearer guidelines were issued (i.e. up to Jan 1916) is it distinctly possible that they simply applied this one-step temp promotion right down the rank pyramid. This would explain the existence of Temp Majors and Temp Lts - there were 1,848 LG announcements for promotions to Temp Lt in 1915 alone.

Some were simply ‘supernumerary to establishment’ until the casualty had been struck off. As we know, recognizing a permanent casualty often took some time. The Guards Division Routine Orders later in early 1916 also reminds the battalions that casualties should be struck off unit strength after 30 days. This implies it was not happening prior to this date and might explain why Temp Rank was being held for many months. Added to this the huge attrition meant that few would likely have to relinquish the temp rank (I have only 20 examples of relinquished temp rank for the whole of 1915). After Jan 1916 the confusion was sorted out and we saw a collapse in the number of temp promotions particularly for Temp Lt. Of the 293 Guards subalterns some 41 (including the 15 on the roll) were temp Lts at some stage (14%). Spread across 13 battalions that equates on average to 3 per battalion spread over 18 months. The distribution across regiments suggest no asymmetry. All used the temporary rank in the same proportions in 1915.

This theory relies on the idea that the rules were applied all the way down the officer rank pyramid and not just for Maj (temp Lt Col) or Lt (Temp Capt).

Lastly I don’t think that the ‘supernumerary to establishment’ necessarily means they were extra regimentally employed. Some were but most were not. If they were they would not be on the battalion nominal rolls. There are 15 Temp Lts on the rolls of which 5 (all Coldstream Guards 3rd and 4th Bns) were ‘supernumerary to establishment’ yet all appear on the rolls. Interestingly the only Temp Capts on the roll were all Coldstream guards (nine of them). The Coldstream may well hold the answers.

A casualty at the top of the pyramid sometimes triggered a knock-on of temp promotions – one at each rank – all the way down to Lt; this was later stopped in Jan 1916 as the rules over Temp Promotion were clarified. The evidence for this step-change is the collapse in the number of LG announcements on Temp Lts in 2Q 1916. . The evidence in the Guards Div supports this theory.

[Guest]

Temp Lt - Supernumerary to Establishment - Guards

I think I have partially solved the Temp Lt (supernumerary to establishment) conundrum. In August 1914 there were a series of Army Order that cut short RMC Sandhurst Cadets' training and catapulted them into immediate service in anticipation of a large expansion of the Army. All the third term RMC Sandhurst cadets were commissioned in August. The Guards of course only expanded slightly in terms of battalions. This meant that their establishment didn't change until the decision was taken to form the Guards Division and increase the number of Guards battalions. Consequently when these young officers were commissioned they were parked in the Reserve battalions until they were brought into battalions as casualties mounted.

There is an extremely high correlation between these early Temp Lts and the formation and deployment of the additional battalions for the creation of the Guards Division.. As new battalions were added, war establishment would increase, however most of these officers were commissioned months before these battalions were raised and were consequently supernumerary to establishment. When the paperwork was done, they quickly came onto the establishment.

The group of subalterns in question were all RMC Sandhurst commissioned in 1914 and received their temporary promotions in March and April in the aftermath of heavy Officer casualties however most did not arrive in France until the Guards Division formed. MG

Edited.

Edit 2. The tables below show the distribution of Officers' ranks across each battalion. The data is based on 1914 Star, 1914-15 Star disembarkation and resolved against the diaries and London Gazette. This ensures any officer in temporary rank who is described without the prefix is captured. A few observations:

• No Temporary ranks when the original battalions deployed in 1914
• No Temporary Majors (although the LG shows some did exist in 1915)
• Temp Capts and Temp Lts tend to appear where battalions are bottom-heavy with 2nd Lts and short of Capts and Lts. This should not be a surprise and perhaps shows that the Temp ranks was being used to simply balance the proportions of Captains, Lieutenants and 2nd Lieutenants
• 13 battalions at establishment of 29 Officers would require 377 Officers. The Division was 15% short on formation.

Note that the lower table is a snapshot when the Division was formed in Jul-Aug 1915. Immediately after this a number of battalions promoted some subalterns to redress the imbalances largely created by casualties. At risk of stating the obvious, the military factory was creating 2nd Lts, however attrition was impacting every rank in roughly equal proportions in 1914-15. Captains could not be replaced with raw 2nd Lts (altough there are examples of 2 Lt (T Capt)), and it is easy to see how the more experienced (1914 disembarkation) and RMC trained were pushed up the rank structure.

Any mistakes are mine.

[Muerrisch]

Given that New Army commissions were temporary, war only, and that such officers were designated "temporary 2nd Lt", "temporary Lt", "temporary captain" etc, and that the LG "promotes" from one such to the next,

what on earth were such officers to be gazetted as when, after 30 days of filling a senior's shoes, they were granted temporary promotion?

Temporary Temporay Captain rings no bells, does it?

[Guest]

Given that New Army commissions were temporary, war only, and that such officers were designated "temporary 2nd Lt", "temporary Lt", "temporary captain" etc, and that the LG "promotes" from one such to the next,

what on earth were such officers to be gazetted as when, after 30 days filling a senior's shoes, they were granted temporary promotion?

Temporary Temporay Captain rings no bells, does it?

The New Armies deployed in mid 1915 and suffered heavy casualties in Aug (Dardanelles) and Sep (Loos). By Jan 1916 'temporary' was effectively replaced with 'acting' if the LG data is any indication.....so the change might simply have been made to circumvent the issue you have just described and to avoid confusion. My speculation.

[rflory]

Martin G wrote: "By Jan 1916 'temporary' was effectively replaced with 'acting' if the LG data is any indication"

Martin: The London Gazette may well have stopped publishing 'Temporary' appointments after January 1916 but that does not necessarily mean that there were no 'Temporary' appointments after that. A quick perusal of the Quarterly Army List for October 1918 shows numerous appointments of officers to 'Temporary' appointments well after January 1916. For example:

2nd Lt Frank A Pike, Glouc. R., 'Temp. Lt. Serv. Bn, Glouc. R., 1 May 17'

2nd Lt Herbert Grenfel King, MC, 'Temp. 2nd Lt. 22 Jan 17-21 Aug 17'; Temp. Lt. Serv Bn, North'd Fus. 20 Jul 17-23 Feb 18; Temp Lt. Terr Force Bn, North'd Fus., 24 Feb 18.

2nd Lt John Ernest Thomas, Temp. 2nd Lt, 29 Jan 16-3 Mar 17; Temp Lt, 4 Mar 17-25 Nov 17

Those three examples are from just two pages of the list.

Dick Flory

[charlesmessenger]

I have just been getting up to date. Post #27 is revealing in showing that Temporary rank was still used after mid-1916, but applied, I think, only to Regular officers. It clearly remained in being until the postwar Regular Army had properly come into being, which was not until 1920.

At some stage in 1916, I suspect with the introduction of conscription, many wartime only officers were commissioned as temporary 2Lts into Special Reserve bns, although they then served in Service (Kitchener) battalions, the SR bn acting as their depot. I have details of all officers who served with 8th Royal Fusiliers and, when I have a moment, I'll do some analysis and see whether any sense can be made.

Charles M

[Muerrisch]

My understanding (KR) is that the LG was THE authority regarding commissions promotions & appointments ....... strange ......

[charlesmessenger]

Dick

I think that is because T/2Lts were automatically promoted T/Lt after 18 months commissioned service, unless there was a blot on their record.

Charles M

[Muerrisch]

Charles in effect and indeed name the old SR battalions quickly became Reserve bns and holding units for all manner of officers and men, sick wounded underage untrained and awaiting drafting.

I am sure that you are right about the interim destination of new T 2nd Lts.