Does "enlisted" imply "volunteered"?

[rolt968]

Does the word "enlisted" imply that the man concerned had volunteered. I have always interpreted "enlisted" as something like "joined up" but does not necessarily mean voluntarily. What do other people think?

 

The second draft of the report on a man I am researching reads like this:

 

On 22 August 1916, X, then working as a ploughman …….. was refused an extension to an exemption from military service by the Loamshire Military Service Tribunal. The tribunal recommended that he not be called up until November. “He enlisted on 22 December 1916”.

 

(The last sentence is a quote from de Ruvigny - hence the quotation marks. )  What do people think?

RM

 

 

[RussT]

Under the MSA conscripts were deemed to have enlisted.

 

Russ

[tullybrone]

Hi,

 

From the dates he appears he was conscripted under MSA ie called up for service

 

IMHO Enlistment term refers to voluntarily joining the forces.

 

Steve

[rolt968]

Just now, RussT said:

Under the MSA conscripts were deemed to have enlisted.

 

Russ

That's what I thought, but thought I would check.

 

I am happy with the wording (with or without the quotation marks), but it must sound a bit odd to some people.

RM

[clive_hughes]

Russ is right, the headings of service records of men called up under the MSActs contain that phrase.  It's only another word for "joined" or "joined up".   It's just that they had limited choice in the matter, since legally they were held to have joined whether they wanted to or not!  

[Bordercollie]

Do by all means call me a pedant but this is the position. The Military Service Act 1916 provided that, subject to certain criteria, a man was deemed to have been duly enlisted from the appointed date and to have forthwith transferred to the reserve. This device ensured that when he was later called up for full time service he would already be subject to military law as a reservist. It appears that X was granted a conditional certificate of exemption which had expired or been withdrawn on or before 22^nd August 1916. He would then have been deemed to have enlisted on or before 22^nd October 1916 (two months after his exemption expired).  Therefore on 22^nd December he did not enlist but was called up for full time service.

[clk]

Hi RM,

 

On ‎14‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 21:30, rolt968 said:

On 22 August 1916, X, then working as a ploughman …….. was refused an extension to an exemption from military service by the Loamshire Military Service Tribunal.

 

Per the above, if he had volunteered, I guess that he wouldn't have applied for an extended exemption. 

 

Regards

Chris

 

[nigelcave]

So far as I can see of the United States (not all that relevant, apart from the word), their usage appears to be 'enlisted' for all service personnel who joined up  (minus officers) during WWI - i.e. there does not seem to be any distinction between volunteers and those who were called up/conscripted.

[rolt968]

1 hour ago, Bordercollie said:

Do by all means call me a pedant but this is the position. The Military Service Act 1916 provided that, subject to certain criteria, a man was deemed to have been duly enlisted from the appointed date and to have forthwith transferred to the reserve. This device ensured that when he was later called up for full time service he would already be subject to military law as a reservist. It appears that X was granted a conditional certificate of exemption which had expired or been withdrawn on or before 22^nd August 1916. He would then have been deemed to have enlisted on or before 22^nd October 1916 (two months after his exemption expired).  Therefore on 22^nd December he did not enlist but was called up for full time service.

Thanks.

Oddly enough that had crossed my mind.

 

I suspect that the information in de Ruvigny was supplied by his grandfather who probably didn't understand that. It complicates using the de Ruvigny quote. I had toyed with using "according to de Ruvigny".

 

An interesting question: If the suggestion to delay until November was carried out would they have delayed the date on which he was deemed to have enlisted or only the date on which he was actually called up? (The more I read the reports of tribunals, the more I think that the lay members of the tribunal were not always clear what they were doing.)

 

RM

 

Edited 20 December , 2018 by rolt968

[rolt968]

15 hours ago, nigelcave said:

So far as I can see of the United States (not all that relevant, apart from the word), their usage appears to be 'enlisted' for all service personnel who joined up  (minus officers) during WWI - i.e. there does not seem to be any distinction between volunteers and those who were called up/conscripted.

Thanks.

 

I have seen "enlisted" used quite a lot in obituaries of men who clearly joined up after conscription started. I have always understood it to mean joined the army voluntarily or not, but have always wondered if the authors of the obits wanted to imply something else. Hence this thread.

RM

Edited 20 December , 2018 by rolt968

[Bordercollie]

The 1916 Act is quite specific that the man would be deemed to have been enlisted two months after the expiry of the certificate of exemption. It appears to me that the tribunal could vary the date on which the man was deemed to have been enlisted only by granting an extension to the certificate of exemption. As the man was a farm worker I think the tribunal's recommendation that he should not be called up before November was to give him the opportunity to complete his work on the harvest and put his affairs in order before being called up. Perhaps there was a view on the tribunal that the man should be granted a further short extension but the majority did not agree and the recommendation was a compromise solution. 

 

I think you are right that tribunals did not always have a clear idea of what they should be doing. The guidance they were given in the 1916 Act on the grounds upon which they could grant an exemption was fairly general. The legislation for conscription in the Second world War was more prescriptive, for example introducing the concept of reserved occupations, and that suggests the authorities were not entirely happy with the way the system had worked in the First world War.

[PhilB]

I enlisted in 1955. I certainly didn`t volunteer.