TF Transfer to Indian Army, 1917

[PJS]

I am researching an officer from the Manchester Regiment, Territorial Force who served in Gallipoli and later transferred to the Indian Army in November 1917. Looking through the Indian Army Lists there appears to be quite a large number of such transferees and Indian Army Order 511 of 1917 stipulates several conditions, one of which was losing 9 months of seniority. Superficially, it doesn't seem particularly attractive but there are so many of them that it must have been a "thing".

Does anyone know why, or have any ideas why, all these officers would be want to transfer or indeed be allowed to transfer since there was plenty going on in Europe at the time?

Thank You

Peter

[kenf48]

1 hour ago, PJS said:

Does anyone know why, or have any ideas why, all these officers would be want to transfer or indeed be allowed to transfer since there was plenty going on in Europe at the time?

Army Order 206 1917 invited officers to apply for transfer to the Indian Army as they were badly in need of commissioned officers. At the time ethnic Indian men were barred from receiving the King's Commission, a bar which was lifted later in 1917.  The Army Order invited officers already commissioned into the Special Reserve,TF and New Armies to apply for transfer.  The age limit was set at twenty eight years.

Promotion in the Indian Army was governed by time scale which is why reversion to a previous rank was intended to to level up those officers joining from the Military College at Quetta or Sandhurst.  This, as you have observed meant take up was limited but we can only speculate why an individual junior officer would take advantage of the AO and apply for a transfer.  

It's possible to suggest two options, after two years on the Western Front a Temporary 2/ Lieutenant might find his odds of survival more attractive.  Whilst the 'six week subaltern' has been discussed previously here and largely dismissed as a myth there is no doubt junior officers were frequently in harms way.  Another reason may have been to obtain a permanent commission in the Indian Army where it was perceived, and probably actually was, easier to progress in the Indian Army (again due to the time scale rule) than the British Army.

Another condition noted in the AO was that on cessation of service a successful applicant would receive a comparatively generous gratuity irrespective of length of service.

One notable officer who, in 1919 secured a permanent commission in the Indian Army was Field Marshal Viscount Slim of Burma. In at least one biography it was stated he was unlikely to have afforded financially or been granted a commission  in the  post- Great War British Army in spite of his undoubted bravery in that conflict.

It was an individual choice, rather than a compulsory transfer so I guess you have to put yourself in the shoes of a young man seeking to progress a military career, increase financial prospects or escape from another winter in the trenches of the Western Front, to answer the question.

[PJS]

19 minutes ago, kenf48 said:

It's possible to suggest two options, after two years on the Western Front a Temporary 2/ Lieutenant might find his odds of survival more attractive.  Whilst the 'six week subaltern' has been discussed previously here and largely dismissed as a myth there is no doubt junior officers were frequently in harms way.  Another reason may have been to obtain a permanent commission in the Indian Army where it was perceived, and probably actually was, easier to progress in the Indian Army (again due to the time scale rule) than the British Army.

Another condition noted in the AO was that on cessation of service a successful applicant would receive a comparatively generous gratuity irrespective of length of service.

Thank you for that comprehensive explanation. In my officer's case, he fought in Gallipoli and then spent 1916/17 in the UK. At first with his 3rd line battalion and then as an instructor at an Officer Training College in Ireland, which is where he transferred from. So of the possible suggestions you offered, in his case, it would be more of the latter rather than the former. As you say, we'll probably never know his motivation but I wondered if there was some kind of "recruiting drive" or such like.

Regarding the gratuity, was that a one-time payment or are you referring to a pension? Is there some way for me to discover what his pay, pension and/or gratuity would have been? I know his basic information from the IA List and so if there's some documentation (Army Order or such like) I should be able to get a good idea of his compensation. I'm just not sure quite where to look for that.

Thanks again

Peter

[kenf48]

There are experts on pay and gratuities on the GWF I regret I'm not one of them.

There are many newspaper accounts in 1919 concerning payment of war gratuities to Indian Army Officers (and British Officers) but the actual amount depended on the rank held when demobilised.