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Remembered Today:

Promotion to Captain - C.W.S. Circular Memo 384


A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy

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Attached is a letter informing my grandfather of his promotion to Temporary Captain.

I love how the writer begins to address him as "Lieutenant", then thinks better of it, and addresses him as "Captain".

However my question relates to "C.W.S. Circular Memo. 384 (Instructions for the Promotion of Officers) ... Sect. iii para. 5" - what does C.W.S. stand for, what sort of instructions did the memo contain, and what, in particular, was "Sect. iii para. 5"?

I struggled to read the signature and status of the person writing the letter at first, but then concluded that a letter of this sort would probably be written by the Adjutant. Is that right? I have worked out from the relevant War Diary that at the time the Adjutant of the 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers was Captain G.C. Hutchinson, and I think that I can just about get that from the signature.

My full transcription of the letter currently is: 

Captain Hall. Application for your temporary promotion to rank of Captain has been approved. Divisional Commander approves of your assuming badges of this rank in anticipation of London Gazette. C.W.S. Circular Memo. 384 (Instructions for Promotion of Officers) is forwarded for your information with reference to  Sect. iii para. 5. G.C. Hutchinson Captain Adjt.. 2/5 Lan. Fus. 26.5.16.

Any help will be gratefully received, particularly as to the Circular Memo.

 

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It’s not a W but a D and so reads CDS.  Note how the D in Divisional Commander and the D in CDS have both been rendered in his peculiar style of handwriting to look like W joined at the top.  The CDS would refer to Chief or Commander Divisional Staff.

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Thanks, Frogsmile, I can see now that it is a D.

I presume therefore that the Memo would only have applied to the 55th Division, rather than more widely throughout the Army, and so may be rather obscure, and difficult to run to ground now. The fact that there were at least 384 of them also suggests to me that each would have dealt with one rather small point of detail, and would probably not be especially interesting.

I also presume that the word "Staff", which appears in the title to the Memo, means that it would have been issued by the administrative staff answerable to the Divisional Commander, rather than by the Divisional Commander himself (who I believe was at this time Major General H.S. Jeudwine).

Am I right in thinking that it would have been the Adjutant who would write to inform officers of their promotion, and that the hyroglyph in the final line will be Adjt.? 

I don't know whether the handwriting of Captain Hutchinson is more difficult to decipher than that of most officers at the time - it's certainly harder for me to read than my grandfather's manuscript.

After the War Major G.C. Hutchinson  began collecting papers together to compile the Regimental History, The History of the Lancashire Fusiliers 1914-1918, which was ultimately completed and published in 1949 by Major General J.C. Latter - no doubt because Geoffrey Hutchinson had by then been diverted into politics, becoming an MP in 1937.

It always impresses me that, of all the Battalions in the Lancashire Fusiliers Regiment, it was these two officers, belonging to a Territorial unit, both (along with my grandfather) original members of the 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers'  cohort of 31 officers in 1914, who committed themselves  to recording the WW1 history of the entire Regiment.

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Yes, as a divisional circular the memo would only have applied to the 55th Division.

 

Such orders and instructions were written by the divisional ‘Staff’ on behalf of their commander. Promulgating and disseminating them was a routine part of life in a divisional HQ.

 

It was indeed the Adjutant’s responsibility to communicate AG and MS matters such as promotions and he has signed off his letter/memorandum according to the usual staff protocol as GC Hutchinson, Capt, Adjt, 2/5 Lanc Fus.  I agree that his handwriting is not the easiest to decipher.

 

It’s been notable in British military history that only a relative few professional army officers have been good writers of history.  My theory as to the reason behind this is two fold, first the profession did not attract that many academic types (although there were of course some), and second from the time that a general staff was created and a staff college established, the officers who graduated were taught to write with economy and follow the maxim accuracy, brevity and clarity.  Such a mode of writing became ingrained and was not the most attractive style to use when writing a history that you actually wanted people to enjoy reading.  There were of course some exceptions, but generally the best histories have often been authored by men who were not professional soldiers, and that seems to have been the case with 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers.

Edited by FROGSMILE
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