Officers' Promotion: Temporary Rank and Acting Rank

[Guest]

SR Officers and Regular Officers were certainly treated differently and the 1914-15 diaries went to great lengths to ensure they were identified in their separate groups. What is noticeable is the transfer of some (but not all) SR Officers from the SR to Regular commissions in 1915. ...2nd Lts and Lts being gazetted with no change in rank but simply reflecting the transfer. MG

[rflory]

Charles wrote: "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: Except that officers holding Temporary commissions in the Regular Army are not listed in Quarterly Army Lists (only permanent Regular officers). Officers holding Temporary Commissions in the Regular Army are only listed in the Monthly Army Lists.

[themonsstar]

I been looking at ACI from 1914, but they are all over the place but I will post them as they may help.

[themonsstar]

Next

ACI 50/ Jan 1916.

ACI 217 1917.

ACI 289 1917

ACI 289 1917 No2.

ACI 399 March 1917

ACI 749 1917

ACI 894 June 1917

ACI 908 June 1917. I will look for others as I get time. Cheers Roy

[kevinrowlinson]

Deleted 11.40am

Kevin

[Guest]

Roy

Many thanks for these excellent additions. My main focus is the protocol for Temporary promotion, particularly from 2 Lt to Temp Lt and from Lt (or Temp Lt) to Temp Capt for Regulars (including SR) in 1914-15.

From the ACIs shown so far and other sources, it is clear that certain appointments allowed a Temporary promotion; Company Commanders could be Temp Captains, and from the examples above it seems that Brigade appointments such as Brigade Bombing Officer, Brigade MGO, Brigade Signalling Officer could all be raisd to Temp Rank.

The darkest area relates to promotion of Regular and SR subalterns (not TF or New Army) to Temp Lt. So far I have not found any appointments that required Temp Lt, and given 2 Lts and Lts were interchangeable, one even wonders why Temp Lt existsed. That they did exist (in the regulars and SR) suggests some driving force - as yet not established. War Establishments in 1914 did not proscribe the relative number or proportion of 2 Lts and Lts in a Battalion. This may have changed, or the regulations may have allowed the original proportions to be maintained - meaning a Lt casualty could be filled by promotion a 2 Lt to Temp Lt. My speculation.

One other potential driver is the 1916 instruction that Officers taking on the role of a more senior Officer who had become a casualty could be promoted to that Temp rank after 30 days. The examples I have seen relate to Maj (Temp Lt Col) and Lt (Temp Capt) for CO and OC appointments. Nothing for Temp Maj or Temp Lt, although both certainly existed. My instincts lead me to believe this 'stepping up' from Maj to Lt Col, may have cascaded down the officer ranks, so for every Major made a Temp Lt Col, a Captain could be made Temp Maj and a Lt promoted to Temp Capt if the roles were being fulfilled. My speculation.

The critical period was late 1915 and early 1916. The number of LG announcements relating to Temp promotions collapsed in 2Q 1916 (see earlier posts with the data). This might simply be that the announcements consolidated more Officers in one single announcement as the authorities rationalised promotion. It is a very complex and potentially confusing area of study.

Any further examples would be very gratefully received. Thanks again. MG

[Guest]

The May 1914 Peace Establishments for a Line Infnatry Bttalion specified

Lt Col..........1

Maj..............4

Capt............5

Lt................9 (including MGO)

2 Lt.............8

Adjt.............1

QM..............1

Which at least suggests the number of Lts and 2 Lt was established at some stage. It remains to be seen if this was carried into the War Establishments or whether 'Subalterns...16" was open to interpretation as 8 Lts and 8 2nd Lts. If this was the case it would explain why there were scores of Temp Lts in 1915 in the regulars.

[Guest]

Peace establishment of a battalion of Foot Guards

Lt Col..........1

Maj..............4

Capt............4

Lt................10 (including MGO)

2 Lt.............8

Adjt.............1

QM.............1

3rd Bns of GG, CG and SG would only have 9 Lieutenants.

Again this indicates the numbers and proportions of Lts and 2nd Lts was established pre-war (May 1914) at least for Peace Establishment in the Line Infantry and the Foot Guards.

Edit. In Aug 1915 the nominal roll of the newly formed 1st Bn Welsh Guards shows the proportions of Lts and 2nd Lts in these exact proportions, suggesting this Establishment was carried into its War Establishment.

[Muerrisch]

Martin the WE only specifies "subalterns", even for MGO and TO.

I wonder if this was a matter of "everyone knows what it means" without the need to spell things out?

[Guest]

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1915/jul/19/temporary-rank#S5CV0073P0_19150719_HOC_265

TEMPORARY RANK.

HC Deb 19 July 1915 vol 73 cc1179-80

Mr. J. MASON

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether the step of temporary rank given to officers commanding battalions for thirty days or more and to subalterns commanding companies for thirty days or more dates from the first day of the command or from the thirty-first day?

TENNANT

From the thirty-first day.

PETO

Is it not a fact that no officers from the Cavalry have yet been gazetted, and that some of these officers have been in command for seven months or more?

TENNANT

That may be perfectly true, but it arises from the fact that we have been waiting for the lists from the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief.

Mr. MASON

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether, when a senior officer is taken prisoner or reported missing and a temporary new rank is necessary, the step goes throughout the unit, so that in the case of a lieutenant-colonel being reported missing or a prisoner the senior major becomes a temporary lieutenant-colonel, the senior captain a temporary major, and the senior subaltern a temporary captain; and whether, when a senior officer is promoted and his duties take him away from his regiment or battalion, as when a lieutenant-colonel is promoted to be a brigadier-general, the senior major is promoted to be a temporary lieutenant-colonel, and the senior subaltern is promoted to be a temporary captain, but no temporary promotion is given to the senior captain and, if so, for what reasons are senior captains promoted temporarily in the one case and passed over in the other?

TENNANT

The answer to the first two parts of the question is in the affirmative. In answer to the last part of the question, the reason is that in one case the captain is promoted into a vacancy in the Establishment, in the other case he is not.

[Muerrisch]

Nice find Martin. I note that 2nd Lts do not get a step up.

Guards WE is indeed same as all infantry .......... "subalterns" only.

[rflory]

I entered this discussion relatively late and have read all of the posts, but must admit I am still somewhat confused as it sometimes appears that all types of Temporary commissions and promotions are being discussed as a single entity. My research experiences center on Great War Royal Artillery officers and at least in that regiment there are three distinct types of Temporary commissions/appointments/promotions:

1. Officers who receive a Temporary commission in the Regular Army for the duration of the war (rather than as permanent Regular officers). These officers are commissioned as Temporary 2nd Lieutenants and are later promoted to Temp. Lieut.; Temp. Captain, etc. up to Temp. Lt. Col. These Temporary officers are listed in the Monthly Army Lists in a separate section titled "Temp. & Acting (rank)" within the Regular Army listings. They are not listed in the Quarterly Army Lists (list only permanent Regular Officers). Officers holding these ranks are shown with a single date on which the rank was effective.

2. Regular officers appointed to Temp. ranks over a particular period of time. The appointment to this Temp. rank is shown in both the Quarterly Army Lists and Monthly Army Lists as a Temp. rank with the beginning and ending dates of the period over which they held that Temp. rank (a quick perusal of the November 1918 Army List appears to indicate very few, if any, temporary appointments of this type for Special Reserve and Territorial Territorial Force officers - only Acting ranks).

3. Regular officers who held a Temp. rank of the type listed in #2 above appear to have been promoted to a Temp. rank after holding the Temp. appointment for a certain period of time. These are listed in the Army Lists with the Temp. rank followed by a single date.

[charlesmessenger]

Dick

I think that is a pretty good summary. You don't, however, mention the Royal Regiment Special Reserve and I wonder how this was handled during the war. I note that a number of officers were given probationary commissions in it during the first couple of months, but how did it operate after that?

Charles M

[rflory]

Charles: Commissions in the Special Reserve of the Royal Regiment of Artillery are almost as complicated as the Temporary officers. In the pre-Great War Royal Artillery there was a 'Special Reserve' of officers for both the Royal Field Artillery and the Royal Garrison Artillery which appears to have worked similarly to the Reserve of Officers after the Great War as many of the officers listed appear to have had active service prior to the Great War (promotion dates vary from 1900 to 1914). The officers in the Special Reserve have their own special listing in the Monthly Army Lists and the number of officers listed is quite small (in the August 1914 Monthly Army List there are 31 Captains, 24 Lieutenants and 55 2nd Lieutenants listed in the RFA Special Reserve and in the RGA Special Reserve there are one Lt Col, three Majors, 15 Captains, 12 Lieutenants and ten 2nd Lieutenants listed - not a very large number of officers!

During the Great War a large number of officers were commissioned into the Special Reserve, most of them as 'Supplemental to Regular Units or Corps'. In the November 1918 Monthly Army List the listing of officers in the RFA Special Reserve take up 22 pages and those in the RGA Special Reserve take up 24 pages, most of them listed under the heading "Special Reserve - Supplementary Officers'. In the pre-war period and during the early part of the Great War some of the 2nd Lieutenants who were commissioned into the Special Reserve were initially given probationary commissions but by November 1918 none appear to have probationary commissions. As I noted in an earlier post a perusal of the listings of officers in the RFA and RGA Special Reserve the November 1918 Monthly Army List appears to indicate that they were appointed to Acting ranks rather than to Temporary ranks.

I would also note that in the early part of the Great War RA NCOs who were promoted 'for service in the field' were given regular commissions but as the war went on many of those so commissioned were given commissions in the Special Reserve. This may have been due to the fact that most of those commissioned in that manner late in the war were not 'Regular' NCOs. Many of those who were commissioned from RFA and RGA Cadet Schools were also commissioned into the RFA and RGA Special Reserve.

Regards, Dick Flory

[charlesmessenger]

Dick

Many thanks.

Charles

[Guest]

For anyone interested in better understanding the complexities of Officer promotions there are two books that are worth reading;

"Playing the Game: The British Junior Infantry Officer on the Western Front 1914-18" by Christopher Moore-Bick

"Tommy: The British Soldier on the Western Front 1914-1918" by Richard Holmes.

The complexities go much further than those already discussed. In the Infantry, promotion was supposed to be done by seniority with a Regiment. Clearly this provided challenges for Regiments with multiple battalions spread across many theatres of war. At one stage it appears this was resolved by promotions based on seniority within a Battalion. Separate to this was the fact that Special Reserve officers were promoted by their seniority within their regimental Special Reserve. This parallel system was the source of much controversy. As the Special Reserve expanded rapidly the prospects for promotion was greater. This meant that a SR officer who enlisted after the War started with no front line experience could end up in a battalion of experienced regular officers but holding a higher rank. This caused awkwardness both ways, with examples of SR officers offering to drop a rank.

One other complexity was created by the fact that a SR Lt or Captain transferring to the regulars would start as a 2nd Lt. The loss of rank and pay deterred many from making this step. Lastly, Temp rank was automatically relinquished when an officer became a casualty. This was the source of much anger.

I am increasingly being drawn to believe that the treatment of promotion in 1915 and the heavy reliance on Temp rank for regulars and SR promotions was a stop-gap, using the existing framework until a better system could be worked out. The anecdotes from the books highlighted above do show some rather maverick approaches that were clearly beyond the established rules and regulations - being allowed to retain rank when it should have been relinquished for example - , however it is clear these were not the norm.

[themonsstar]

I'm very busy at the moment so I will post as and when I can (Great Post Martin)

Roy

[Guest]

I'm very busy at the moment so I will post as and when I can (Great Post Martin)

Roy

Thanks Roy. Anything relating to Officers' promotion in 1914-15 would be of greatest interest. This is an incredibly complex area - far more complex that I would ever have imagined. MG

[Guest]

Post #32 showing a perceived collapse in the number of announcements relating to Temporary 2nd lts and Temp Lts is erroneous.

The LG switched from "Temporary Lieut" to "Temp. Lt" and the latter was not captured. Here are the returns searching the LG Indexes by calendar quarter on all terms. Note these will include a very small number of Temp Lt Cols and Temp Lt Gens in each sample. A salutary reminder of confirmation bias at play. Inhindsight, given the New Armies were all Temporary Commissions and promotions were Temp 2 Lt, Temp Lt, Temp Capt, Temp Maj etc, I should not have fallen into this trap. MG

Number of hits searching LG Indexes:

Period Temp 2Lt Temp Lts*

4Q 1914 8,257 5,554

1Q 1915 8,196 7,078

2Q 1915 7,432 6,957

3Q 1915 2,138 4,350

4Q 1915 1,945 3,666

1Q 1916 5,220 6,992

2Q 1916 2,366 6,792

3Q 1916 4,425 7,393

4Q 1916 13,226 13,868

* all abbreviation variants.

[Muerrisch]

Early notificiation, Cambria Daily Leader 11 Feb 1915

Sorry I cannot get rid of the formatting.

Mr. Tennant (Under Secre- tary for War) replied to & number of points raised in the previous day's de- bate. Regarding the pay of oiffcers on temporary promotion, he was glad to be i able to inform the House that the War Office proposed to make some changes. It was proposed that where the promotion oi an officer took place because the officer in the higher rank was killed -he should be given substantive rank; where the higher officer ffas taken prisoner or mis- sing temporary rank would be made per- manent. That applied to all ranks Under the new proposals not only would an officer who was entitled to receive j promotion, but his successor who was: doing the work would also get promotion. He thought the War Oifice had dealt with, this matter in a generous spirit. All oiffcers who obtained temporary rank would get the pay.

Sorted for me by Laughton, to whom many thanks.

Mr. Tennant (Under Secre- tary for War) replied to & number of points raised in the previous day's de- bate. Regarding the pay of oiffcers on temporary promotion, he was glad to be i able to inform the House that the War Office proposed to make some changes. It was proposed that where the promotion oi an officer took place because the officer in the higher rank was killed -he should be given substantive rank; where the higher officer ffas taken prisoner or mis- sing temporary rank would be made per- manent. That applied to all ranks Under the new proposals not only would an officer who was entitled to receive j promotion, but his successor who was: doing the work would also get promotion. He thought the War Oifice had dealt with, this matter in a generous spirit. All oiffcers who obtained temporary rank would get the pay.

[Muerrisch]

The Biter Bit! The usual whinge was from officers on active service being outranked by base-wallahs. Here we have the base-wallahs suffering when they arrive at the sharp end.

SPECIAL RESERVE BATTALIONS (SERVICE OVERSEAS).

HC Deb 21 June 1917 vol 94 c19701970

§104. Mr. COOTE

asked the Under-secretary of State for War if he is aware that officers detailed for service overseas out of Special Reserve battalions of both Irish and English regiments whose battalion headquarters are permanently at home are liable to be sent to any battalion serving at the front, and that in consequence of their being detached from their own battalion they are of no interest in point of promotion to a commanding officer of the battalion to which they are sent; is he aware that although vacancies frequently occur in their battalions, and not withstanding recommendations for promotion by their commanding officers, they are being superseded by officers of the battalions to which they become attached, who are, as a rule, their juniors in point of service; and will he endeavour to place the promotion of these officers on the same basis as at present exists in Service battalions?

§Mr. MACPHERSON

Officers of Special Reserve battalions are eligible for substantive promotion in their own battalions, irrespective of where they are serving. They are also eligible for, and frequently receive, acting promotion in battalions at the front. I am afraid that the suggestion in the last part of the question would not be practicable.

[Muerrisch]

Please shoot these thoughts down if I have come to the wrong conclusion.

1. Peace Establishments for Foot Guards were for Lt x 10 ; 2nd Lt x 8 excluding adjutants, who might be any rank up to major but were usually Lt or captain, and excluding a Lt as MGO

2. But War Establishments did not distinguish "subalterns" for platoon command, specifying x 16 plus one subaltern as MGO.

3. Original Welsh Guards war ratio 1915 was as Peace.

4. The tabulations provided by Martin G at #43 in no way suggest that the Peace Establishment ratio was maintained, or attempted, even by use of Temporary Lts.

Conclusion: the cascade of temporary promotions following the "casualty" of a senior officer did not necessarily reach below Lt, although a shortage of officers to command companies and be 2 i/c companies might result in the elevation of 2Lts to these roles.

Also, I have not found evidence that temporary promotions [and temporary higher pay] took effect before 30 days of performing the task.

[Guest]

Please shoot these thoughts down if I have come to the wrong conclusion.

1. Peace Establishments for Foot Guards were for Lt x 10 ; 2nd Lt x 8 excluding adjutants, who might be any rank up to major but were usually Lt or captain, and excluding a Lt as MGO

2. But War Establishments did not distinguish "subalterns" for platoon command, specifying x 16 plus one subaltern as MGO.

3. Original Welsh Guards war ratio 1915 was as Peace.

4. The tabulations provided by Martin G at #43 in no way suggest that the Peace Establishment ratio was maintained, or attempted, even by use of Temporary Lts.

Conclusion: the cascade of temporary promotions following the "casualty" of a senior officer did not necessarily reach below Lt, although a shortage of officers to command companies and be 2 i/c companies might result in the elevation of 2Lts to these roles.

Also, I have not found evidence that temporary promotions [and temporary higher pay] took effect before 30 days of performing the task.

Grumpy

The period in question is further complicated by the fact that new battalions were raised (1st Bn Welsh Guards) and/or converted from reserve Battalions to service battalions (2nd Bn Irish Guards). In addition in mid 1915 Machine Gun Companies were formed which absorbed some officers. while a number of MGOs and Bde MGOs were simply transferred/posted to the MG Companies, some were newly arrived Officers, including a few at Temp rank. There is some consistency in that the Temp Lts were proportionally distributed across the regiments and battalions.

There also seems to be a propensity for Sandhurst commissioned officers (2nd Lts) or officers with prior (pre-war) military experience (Militia and/or pre-war Special Reserve), so there is a possibility that in 1915 Temp Lt was simply a way of providing some tangible means of seniority for those with experience to differentiate them from the flood of newly created 2nd Lts from Schools and Universities.

in Aug 1914 the course at Sandhurst was cut short and at least two intakes were commissioned fairly rapidly. This means in Sep/Oct newly commissioned Sanddhurst officers were rubbing shoulders with schoolboys who had been commissioned under the patronage system. Clearly they had rather different amounts of experience and training, but their commissions were roughly similar dates. There was a spate of Temp Lts in early 1915, roughly 6 months after these accelerated commissions and it is possible that these promotions were in some way linked to elevating the more experiences junior subalterns. My speculation. MG

[Guest dodger123]

Sorry if I'm in the wrong forum, new to the site.

Question.  My grandfather was commissioned during WW1 from a Corporal to a 2nd LT and I was wondering why he would have been promoted several ranks.  Any help much appreciated.  He was in the Royal Scots Regiment.

[ss002d6252]

2 hours ago, dodger123 said:

Sorry if I'm in the wrong forum, new to the site.

Question.  My grandfather was commissioned during WW1 from a Corporal to a 2nd LT and I was wondering why he would have been promoted several ranks.  Any help much appreciated.  He was in the Royal Scots Regiment.

 

A man or NCO of any rank could be considered for commission as an officer if the army thought him right for the commission.
Craig