Regulations for Admission to Sandhurst Section VIII: What is this about?

[rolt968]

The following appeared in the Standard of 29 Janauary 1914 and a number of other newspapers:

Can someone please explain the significance of Section VIII of the regulations for admission to the Royal Military College?

RM

[Ian Riley]

I suspect that King's Regulations for the Army might provide the answer but there was obviously a system for nominating pupils from schools , today replaced by selection procedures such as the Army Officer Selection Board (previously the Regular Commissions Board) 

A question was asked about nominations to Sandhurst in the House of Commons in 1911 to which Richard Haldane produced a pretty bland answer

Royal Military College - Hansard - UK Parliament

and a reference to 'nomination' in respect of an officer, coincidentally from my old school, who survived but a week on the Western Front

Charles Wilfrid Banister, 2nd Lieutenant, Royal Fusiliers | Jesus College in the University of Cambridge

[Ian Riley]

Unfortunately King's Regulations proves to be a dead end 

King's Regulations 1912 para 717

For information regarding admission to the Royal Military Academy and the Royal Military College , reference should be made to the special regulations , published in pamphlet form, regarding these institutions

Edited 3 June , 2023 by Ian Riley

[Ian Riley]

Annals of Sandhurst (published 1900)    [pdf at https://ia801604.us.archive.org/35/items/annalsofsandhurs00mockrich/annalsofsandhurs00mockrich.pdf )has a sections at the end on Rules for Admission (p 274 et seq) but these stop at Section VII with no mention of 'nomination' The prime method of gaining admission was by competitive exam . Even those nominated by the Chief of the Imperial general Staff or the First Lord of the Admiralty or others had to take the examination unless they had a university certificate. but there are exceptions for   Section VIII might be a later addition.  Possibly some system of preferential nomination developed after 1900

 

[rolt968]

11 hours ago, Ian Riley said:

Annals of Sandhurst (published 1900)    [pdf at https://ia801604.us.archive.org/35/items/annalsofsandhurs00mockrich/annalsofsandhurs00mockrich.pdf )has a sections at the end on Rules for Admission (p 274 et seq) but these stop at Section VII with no mention of 'nomination' The prime method of gaining admission was by competitive exam . Even those nominated by the Chief of the Imperial general Staff or the First Lord of the Admiralty or others had to take the examination unless they had a university certificate. but there are exceptions for   Section VIII might be a later addition.  Possibly some system of preferential nomination developed after 1900

 

Thank you!

I had come across the competitive exam while researching another officer (which in turn reminded me of Young Winston where Lord Randolph (Robert Shaw) ticks off young Winston (Simon Ward) for not having passed high enough to get into the infantry).

The "after 1900" is interesting since the other officer was at Sndhurst before that.

12 hours ago, Ian Riley said:

I suspect that King's Regulations for the Army might provide the answer but there was obviously a system for nominating pupils from schools , today replaced by selection procedures such as the Army Officer Selection Board (previously the Regular Commissions Board) 

A question was asked about nominations to Sandhurst in the House of Commons in 1911 to which Richard Haldane produced a pretty bland answer

Royal Military College - Hansard - UK Parliament

and a reference to 'nomination' in respect of an officer, coincidentally from my old school, who survived but a week on the Western Front

Charles Wilfrid Banister, 2nd Lieutenant, Royal Fusiliers | Jesus College in the University of Cambridge

Thank you.

Bland but very interesting.

It implies that there were "approved" (public) schools who were allowed to make nominations. Presumably there was a system of selecting from the nominations.

My particular interest is Arthur Henry (Harry) Augustus Jacob, son of Violet Jacob (m.s. Kennedy-Erskine) the Scottish author and poet (also a great great grandson of King William IV).

RM

[kenf48]

There are a number of references in Hansard concerning admission to Sandhurst though none refer to Section 8 but the answer to this question which refers to Regulation 31 may be relevant

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1921/apr/12/woolwich-and-sandhurst-entrance#S5CV0140P0_19210412_HOC_47

As for certain schools it appears they had to have a Cadet Corps.

[Ian Riley]

4 hours ago, kenf48 said:

There are a number of references in Hansard concerning admission to Sandhurst though none refer to Section 8 but the answer to this question which refers to Regulation 31 may be relevant

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1921/apr/12/woolwich-and-sandhurst-entrance#S5CV0140P0_19210412_HOC_47

As for certain schools it appears they had to have a Cadet Corps.

Thanks very much - 'Nominating schools' to have a Cadet Corps would make sense.   The introduction of 'Nomination by Headmasters' having been introduced only  in 1911 would explain whuy there is no mention in Annals of Sandhurst (1900). 

I have looked (rather 'scanned through') through David French's Military Identities (Oxford: OUP, 2004) in the hope of finding some reference to nomination for the Royal Military College in the chapters on 'Basic Training' and 'Leadership of the Regimental System'   and but he concentrates more on the nature of training in RMC (or lack of training at some stages) and attitudes to military education within regiments once an officer was commissioned. 

I have looked in the RUSI Library catalogue (in any case  - closed in 2023 for refurbishment) and the National Army Museum catalogue for regulations for admission to Sandhurst nut no sign. Possibly the library at Sandhurst could help or the Defence Academy at Shrivenham

[rolt968]

Thank you both for the excellent research.

(Arthur Henry Augustus Jacob was at the "The Army School", Holyport, Maidenhead (a crammer mentioned in another thread) at the time of the 1911 Census. He went on to Imperial Service College. His time at Sandhurst must have been brief.  He was commissioned into the Royal Fusiliers on 1 October 1914. He went to France to join 4 Royal Fusiliers on 8 Decemeber 1914. I'm not sure if any of that adds anything to the discussion.)

One after thought: In 1911 to 1914 did the marks scored in the competitive entry examination still decide whether a candidate could be commissioned in the infantry or cavalry?

RM