Servants

[ryandunny]

Hi all, just a quick question..  I was wondering if Officers servants would generally sleep in the same dug outs and billets as their officers or went back to the other ranks? And would they be with their officer pretty much everywhere apart from when sent on errands ect?

my great grandad was the servant of Ralph Hamilton the master of Belhaven, and although mentioned frequently in the book it would be nice to know if he was present in most of the depictions in the diary.

 

thanks all

Ryan

[FROGSMILE]

1 hour ago, ryandunny said:

Hi all, just a quick question..  I was wondering if Officers servants would generally sleep in the same dug outs and billets as their officers or went back to the other ranks? And would they be with their officer pretty much everywhere apart from when sent on errands ect?

my great grandad was the servant of Ralph Hamilton the master of Belhaven, and although mentioned frequently in the book it would be nice to know if he was present in most of the depictions in the diary.

 

thanks all

Ryan

They would not usually sleep in the same dugout but in one as close as possible nearby.  Most infantry battalions once they went into the line adopted company messes where all the officers of a particular company messed together with the officers bunked according to rank.  The OC and 2i/c usually in separate spaces, but the subalterns often in one larger area together.  This is sometimes well depicted in film adaptations of RC Sheriff’s “Journey’s End”.  
When out of the line some battalions (especially regular) insisted on a battalion mess (battalion OCs sought overall cohesion), but the billeting facilities had to be suitable and that wasn’t always the case.  The key point is that officers servants were to be as close by as possible, but not usually sharing the officers living space.  This is all assuming a centralised mess of some sort, and there were recorded incidences of no mess being available and the officers had to split up and use smaller dugouts.  Again, servants as close by as possible, but not cheek by jowl.  I’m sure there must occasionally have been exceptions, but intimate living between officers and ORs, even servants, was greatly frowned upon and would have been policed by the OC (today CO) through his Adjutant.

Edited 17 August , 2021 by FROGSMILE

[WhiteStarLine]

1 hour ago, FROGSMILE said:

but in one as close as possible nearby

Agree. My great uncle's brigade commander in 1914, was in Beukenhorst Chateau (Stirling Castle) for First Ypres.  The area was persistently shelled and the servants remained with them, one being wounded while they went to another part of the chateau to escape shelling.  I would venture that your great grandad was present in most if not all events.  Here's a quotation from Stiling Castle in 1914 talking about servants:

[FROGSMILE]

Yes there’s no doubt that in most chateau type formation headquarters (only rarely below division level) the servants would usually be in the same ‘building’ but of course that’s no different to a hotel or stately home, i.e. servants lived in garrets in the roof space, not in the main house.  Messing arrangement was no different in that regard.

Edited 17 August , 2021 by FROGSMILE

[ryandunny]

brilliant. thanks both for clearing that up. In the case of being present in most events, it's special to have the Major's diary and see exactly what he would have been doing during his time over there. I know they had a special bond, as I hear a lot of officers had with their servants.

[FROGSMILE]

5 minutes ago, ryandunny said:

brilliant. thanks both for clearing that up. In the case of being present in most events, it's special to have the Major's diary and see exactly what he would have been doing during his time over there. I know they had a special bond, as I hear a lot of officers had with their servants.

Yes by all accounts the bond and mutual affection was usually genuine.  Although not sleeping in the same space, they were spending many hours of the day together, especially during meal times.  However, there were of course occasions where the officer was doing rounds or visiting superiors and thus often without his servant and equally times when the servant was busy cleaning kit, brewing tea or cooking a meal. They weren’t cheek by jowl 24/7.

Edited 17 August , 2021 by FROGSMILE