Officers' Promotion: Temporary Rank and Acting Rank

[Muerrisch]

4 hours ago, ss002d6252 said:

 

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

 

Slight pedantry here, but I think worth a brief mention:

 

regular soldiers commissioned from the ranks immediatley previous to, and early in the war, had to fulfill conditions.

 

From memory: 1st class education certificate, unmarried, recommended, and corporal or above.

 

The "marriage" qualification was dropped as from Declaration, but not the rank.

 

Later, for ALL commissions, there was an additional big hurdle "would you have this man back to you as an officer"

[rflory]

Further to Muerrisch's comments above given below are the ranks of the 1626 RA other ranks promoted to 2nd Lieutenant "for service in the field" at the time they were promoted:

 

Serjeant Major: 70

Temp. Serj. Major: 4

Acting Serg. Major: 45

Acting Regimental Serj. Major: 1

Battery Serj. Major: 499

Acting Battery Serj. Major: 17

Company Serj. Major: 5

Squadron Serj. Major: 7

QM Serjeant: 6

Battery QM Serj.: 205

Company QM Serj.: 1

Acting Battery QM Serj.: 5

Squadron QM Serj.: 2

Acting Sqdn. QM Serj.: 1

Farrier QM Serg.: 1

Staff Serj.: 4

Farrier Serj: 1

Serjeant: 623

Acting Serj.: 12

Corporal: 86

Corp. Saddler: 1

Acting Corp.: 2

Lance Corp.: 1

Bombardier: 20

Acting Bombr.: 5

Saddler: 1

Farrier: 1

 

Interestingly the last two ranks (appointments) are equivalent to Gunner (Private) and below the rank of Corporal as are the 26 Acting Bombardiers, Bombardiers and Lance Corporal.

 

 

 

 

[Muerrisch]

Thank you very much. Your "below corporal" commissioning dates would interest me and indeed others I think.

 

I should have been more clear ............. the "corporal" qualification was certainly dropped, but I had no idea when. I was also not sufficiently clear on emphasising "regular" soldiers. I am away from my records at the moment but I believe that I have data on pre-war regulars of RWF commissioned from "below corporal" late in the war.

[rflory]

Muerrisch:  My mistake on the Sadder and Farrier as in rechecking they are a Saddler Corporal and a Farrier QM Serjeant.  Below are the dates of promotion to 2nd Lieutenant of the 20 Bombardiers and the five Acting Bombardiers:

 

Bombardier:

23 Oct 14

22 Dec 14

1 Jan 15

19 Feb 15

19 Mar 15

27 Jul 15

30 Aug 15 (2)

8 Sep 15

28 Jun 16

3 Jul 16

4 Dec 16

17 Feb 17

14 Mar 17

11 Apr 17

16 Apr 17

30 Apr 17

5 Mar 18

13 Apr 18

13 Jul 18

 

Acting Bombardier:

31 Dec 14

1 Apr 15

26 May 15

16 Aug 17

25 Aug 17

 

 

[Muerrisch]

Thank you. The early ones are very interesting indeed. I am away from home at the moment but will hope to pursue the matter when I get back.

 

Very interesting!

[kevinrowlinson]

Bombardier was a rank so I wonder who was the Lance Corporal in the RA?

 

Kevin

 

 

[rflory]

Lance-Corporal E H Allen, RGA

[kevinrowlinson]

It's just one of those things that stick out. There wasn't, and I am sure you will agree, an appointment during the war for L/Cpl in the RA. One would have to conclude that someone made a mistake. I would suggest he was probably a Bombardier, and an Acting Corporal when he went overseas, although his MIC suggests he made Sergeant before being commissioned.

 

Kevin

 

Edit; Looking at the actual MIC he was actually in the Royal Engineers before being commissioned in the RGA, so may well have been L/Cpl if they used this appointment, although one would have to ask why when they had 2nd Corporal.

[kevinrowlinson]

The penny has just dropped.

The L/Cpl was the appointment before 2nd Corporal, equivalent to an Acting Bombardier.

 

Kevin

[Guest]

Slightly related to the Op: criteria for applications for permanent commissions. This extract was recorded in the 8th Bn East Surrey Regt war diary 15 Sep 1915.

 

"Officers desirous of recommendation to permanent commissions to have completed 6 months service and not less than 6 weeks in the field unless invalided through wounds or sickness. To have attained standard of matriculation; to have attained age of 19 and not 25; to be specially recommended by C-in-C of one of the Expeditionary Forces in the Field."

[Keith_history_buff]

As mentioned on other threads, by various contributors, there was a surge of recruits who enlisted under Special Reserve terms of service as ORs and NCOS in 1914, with subsequent enlistments falling considerably. The army preferred that volunteers enlisted under Regular terms of General Service, for the duration of the war.

In contrast, a trawl of the forum reveals many instances of officers who were commissioned into the Special Reserve of officers.

I have a particular interest in George Tatham Paton VC MC (1895-1917)

1. He started the war with a TF commission, served with 2/17th Battalion London Regiment, and was eager to serve overseas. He applied for a Special Reserve commission and he was gazetted on 28 January1916
2. It sticks out to me that he entered the Grenadier Guards, and the Brigade of Guards did not have a pre-war Special Reserve battalion

 

As I understand it, different time period and different (Senior) Service, but in WW2, there were no ratings enlisting in the RNVR, yet many men commissioned for the duration of WW2 were gazetted with RNVR commissions.