From enlistment to the front

[Dirty Harry]

Hello,

if a soldier enlisted in October 1915 how long would his training last ? And when roughly would he arrive in France?

im trying to guage men who didn’t qualify for the star, but most likely arrive in France in February or March of 1916, but I’m thinking October could be pushing it 

 

thanks,

paul

[PRC]

13 minutes ago, Dirty Harry said:

if a soldier enlisted in October 1915 how long would his training last ? And when roughly would he arrive in France?

The Derby scheme was launched in mid-October 1915 because the numbers voluntarily enlisting had dipped drastically.  Man who signed up under that scheme would serve a day and then be discharged home to await mobilisation, which in some extreme cases didn't come until 1918.

After that you are looking at the arm enlisted into, the mans medical category, progress through the training scheme, assuming no delays through ill-health, whether there was previous military experience and individuals not being subsequently siphoned off for specialist training - the Machine Gun Corps was still in it's early days and the Royal Engineers were regularly on the trawl. Not quite "how long is a piece of string" answer, but that sort of thing.

However I did check out my Norfolk Regiment records and I did come a few men who enlisted in October \ November 1915 and who were out in France by the end of March 1916. But quantity wise they were far outnumbered by married men opting for home service only with the Territorial Force Battalions.

I suspect this is a loaded question and you have an individual in mind. If that is the case then I'd recommend doing a near number search looking for men with surviving service records. This should hopefully clarify whether the Derby Scheme is a factor, and the average training period.

Cheers,
Peter

[Dirty Harry]

thanks for the detail Peter. I should have said this would be irish volunteers.  Does sound like its possible but would need evidence.