Books on WWI Initial Officer Training?

[boctok]

I'm looking please for recommendations on books that have a good survey of initial officer training... I have the Battalion war diary for my grandfather, and so once in the field I have a reasonable sense of where he was and what he was exposed to. But what was a 'typical' experience for day one for an officer? How did training proceed? 

 

I am interested in what the 'typical' experience was... how they were treated... how long it took etc from the first days on the parade ground, weapons training etc.

 

And upon arrival in France, I understand it was typical for officers to have another course of training before heading to the front. (Etaples was one such base I understand).

 

My grandfather's history was end 1914 / start 1915 with the 2nd Bn East Surrey Regiment. (Shorncliffe etc)

 

Arriving in France 22 April 1915 - ironically the day that gas was first used at Ypres.

 

There seems to be a gap between his arrival in France, and his arrival with the regiment in Ypres. My assumption is that there was a fortnight of training in France. It seems that the Surreys had a base of sorts at Rouen? 

 

Later he had a special course at the Machine Gun Corps school in Grantham, and possibly another in situ in France.

 

If anyone can recommend some titles I'd much appreciate.

 

Patrick

[Nick Thornicroft]

Patrick

 

John Lewis-Stempel's book 'Six Weeks' follows many junior officers from their school/university days to joining up & then through their training to the front line. It's very detailed & well researched with plenty of eye-witness accounts, & should cover most if not all of the experiences you mentioned in your post.

 

Nick

[boctok]

Nick - that sounds a great book to start with. Many thanks indeed! Patrick

[Buffnut453]

7 hours ago, Nick Thornicroft said:

Patrick

 

John Lewis-Stempel's book 'Six Weeks' follows many junior officers from their school/university days to joining up & then through their training to the front line. It's very detailed & well researched with plenty of eye-witness accounts, & should cover most if not all of the experiences you mentioned in your post.

 

Nick

 

Nick,

 

Thanks for that insight.  Would the general training curriculum outlined in "Six Weeks" also apply to officers commissioned from the ranks?

 

Many thanks,

Mark

[Nick Thornicroft]

Mark

 

I'm fairly certain that it would. 'Six Weeks' tends to focus mainly on the individuals who became officers straight after leaving school or university. I believe that at different stages during the war (depending upon how desperate the need was for new officers) the length of time spent training fluctuated, but the general basics were still adhered to.

 

Nick

[Buffnut453]

Thanks Nick.  That's pretty much what I expected.  Appreciate your clarification.

Kind regards,

Mark

[kenf48]

On 27/04/2019 at 06:17, boctok said:

'm looking please for recommendations on books that have a good survey of initial officer training... I have the Battalion war diary for my grandfather, and so once in the field I have a reasonable sense of where he was and what he was exposed to. But what was a 'typical' experience for day one for an officer? How did training proceed? 

 

As always a good place to start is the LLT

 

1. Officer training https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/training-to-be-a-soldier/officer-training-in-the-british-army-of-1914-1918/

and,

2.re your query as to a 'base of sorts' Rouen was the Infantry Base Depot for the 28th Division at the time of your grandfather's embarkation

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/other-aspects-of-order-of-battle/infantry-base-depots-in-france-1914-1918/

 

There was no one route to a Commission however in 'A Nation in Arms' Becket and Simpson have an essay on 'The Officers' which although not strong on the syllabus has a good reflection of the attitudes to the Regular Army to the 'temporary Gentlemen'.

 

Between August 1914 and March 1915 20,577 junior officers were commissioned from the OTC, and 12,290 men who had been trained in the OTC served in the ranks.  

The OTC was considered to provide men 'of intellectual and moral attainments for officers'.  Very few were commissioned from the ranks at this time unless they were amongst those who had served in the OTC.  New Army officers, especially in locally raised battalions tended to be the managers and supervisors in peacetime.

 

This COMEC  paper discusses the OTC and its training syllabus, again in the period mentioned this is the type of training a junior officer would have followed whether or not he had been in the OTC prior to August 1914.

http://www.comec.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/occasional_paper_no_4_no_crop.pdf

 

I have no quibble with Stempel's book as an introduction except for the oft quoted and inaccurate title, but it is popular history based mainly on secondary sources and it has to be said not especially well received on the forum

 

You mention your gfather was at Shorncliffe, as was Charles Sorley around the same time.   Sorley wrote a number of letters from there which although they do not detail training reflect the attitude and confusion of the time

https://archive.org/details/lettersofcharles00sorluoft/page/n8

 

Training was continuous as the Army adapted to war, and leaflets and booklets published on tactics and deployment, above all the junior officer had to learn how the Army worked and communicated.

 

 

Ken

[boctok]

Thanks very much Ken - much appreciated - a lot to get my teeth into there.

 

I didn't realise that Rouen was the base at Divisional level, not Regimental level. That's very helpful.

 

Many thanks!

 

Patrick

[Charles Fair]

Hello Patrick - late to this thread. The best summary of officer selection and training is a chapter of that name in the late Charles Messenger's 'A Call to Arms'.  There is further detail in a chapter on officers in the Beckett, Connolly and Bowman book on the British Army in the First World War.  There is also a section in Gary Sheffield's 'Leadership in the trenches' and he is good on the experience of the OCB system.

If you don't mind waiting a few years my thesis will give chapter and verse on this subject.

[Keith_history_buff]

  

On 09/04/2022 at 18:21, Charles Fair said:

I have a chapter on the evolution of the OCB system out of the OTCs and Schools of Instruction in the newly published (Feb 2022) volume of essays edited by Spencer Jones, 1917: The Darkest Year.

 

I am guessing the above is now the way to go, to read more about the OCBs that came into existence from February 1916, and their predecessors - Schools of Instruction - which is of particular interest, as a result of going down a rabbit hole with research. The soldier I am looking at was a university student who enlisted in the ranks. He appears to have been wounded at Loos, evacuated to the UK, spent 5 weeks or so in hospital, was posted to a Reserve battalion of the regiment, and was commissioned on 9 December 1915.

The need for the quick commissioning and training of officers is not something I have looked at in the past.

On 12/08/2023 at 23:55, kenf48 said:

1) The shortage of officers in the British Army was recognised as early as January 1915 as a consequence of attrition in battle and expansion at home.  A four week course was introduced for NCOs and other ranks recommended by their Commanding Officer for a temporary commission.

This system was not sustainable and in February 1916 the selection and training of junior officers was organised through the Officer Cadet Battalions. Men selected had to have served in the ranks or an OTC, with some exceptions for specialist qualifications.

A quick commission for the following, to perform rear-echelon duties in France in the Lines of Communications, presumably

Interesting to read that some officer training was being undertaken in France, in addition to the existing Schools of Instruction in Great Britain