British Company in 1914

[Captain Chip]

Hello, I am wondering what would the strength be of a British Company in 1914. And also how would that company be organized? What were the ranks and what equipment it would have? I am trying to recreate one of these companies using miniatures. If anyone could help that would be great.

[RussT]

Welcome to the Forum

Here is the Establishment of an Infantry Battalion (comprising 4 Companies) in 1914.

Regards

Russ

 

Article - 1914 Battalion War Establishment.pdf

[Captain Chip]

Thank you Russ, I am going through it and I must ask, why would there be drummers out on the field? I have never heard that there were drummers even in ww1.

[RussT]

They wouldn't be playing their drums & bugles out on the field - not in WW1 in any case !

Most Battalions were permitted a Band on their Establishment - as per the Article.

They acted as Regimental Stretcher Bearers in the field.

Regards

Russ

[Captain Chip]

Ah ok just like in the Civil War. Got it. And with the reinforcements, would they go along to where the Battalion went, or act like a recruitment party for the battalion? And then as the battalion takes casualties, they fill the vacant ranks? 

P.S. Sorry for asking so many questions. Just been doing Civil War research and thought I would try to learn more about WW1.

[RussT]

I'm no expert - it might be best to have a search around the Forum and see what other members are saying about it.

My understanding is that upon mobilisation the members of the Band were distributed about the 4 Companies and went about their duties accordingly as per their Company's activities - but I'm sure there would be occasions when they merged to form a more efficient bearer capability.

They naturally suffered casualties and hence depletion and would thus be replaced as and when necessary depending on circumstances and availability of replacements. An Infantry Battalion was almost always under establishment and this no doubt extended to the official stretcher bearer complement - but I assume all sorts of improvisations were made in the heat of the action and to the benefit of their comrades in times of need.

Regards

Russ

[Captain Chip]

Ok thanks for the information Russ.

 

[FROGSMILE]

22 hours ago, Captain Chip said:

Thank you Russ, I am going through it and I must ask, why would there be drummers out on the field? I have never heard that there were drummers even in ww1.

Drummers were separate to the band and trained as soldiers.  For line regiments other than light infantry and rifle regiments, in peacetime they routinely sounded the bugle at various stages of a working day to delineate the activities and stages such as parading and dinner calls.  As well as the bugle they could play the military flute (fife), but their primary instrument was the drum.

The light infantry and rifle regiments had buglers, who had no formal responsibility for other instruments, but focused on acquiring the very highest standards of bugling, also sounding the routine of the day in their battalion, as earlier described.  Unlike bandsmen both, drummers (line) and buglers (light infantry and rifles), were trained as soldiers in every respect.

Men of the regimental band were separate and not trained as soldiers, although they did practise musketry to compete in unit competition.  Instead they focused on music and commonly played more than one instrument, while at the same time having a premier instrument considered to be their best strength.  When not practising music they carried out stretcher drills and practised first aid skills such a applying field dressings, bandaging and simple splinting.

In the event the high casualty rates of WW1 quickly caused profound problems, and as well as high casualty rates (especially during the retreat from Mons), it was realised that the physicality of bearing was not always a good choice for musicians. Eventually bandsmen were withdrawn and a system introduced of deliberately recruited and selected stretcher bearers who were better suited to the sheer physical effort.

Conversely, drummers and buglers (and pipers in Scottish regiments) remained with their battalions throughout the war. 

Edited 26 December , 2023 by FROGSMILE

[Captain Chip]

Huh... ok. And if I may ask now. What about runners? Were they the batman, or did they just randomly assign a private to do this task?

 

Edited 26 December , 2023 by Captain Chip

[FROGSMILE]

1 hour ago, Captain Chip said:

Huh... ok. And if I may ask now. What about runners? Were they the batman, or did they just randomly assign a private to do this task?

 

Again there was no rigidly fixed way of selecting runners.  An officer might use his batman in some circumstances, but increasingly as the war went on men who were trustworthy, with good initiative, and physically fit, seem to have been specially selected and became pseudo specialists.

Some units marked runners out with coloured arm bands, or shoulder straps.  Occasionally a direction was given in Divisional orders to that effect.  The system used could and did vary between regular army battalions, Territorials, war-raised Service, ANZAC and CEF units. 

Edited 26 December , 2023 by FROGSMILE

[Captain Chip]

If I may ask again. There are 8 Sergeants. Where would they go in the company and what were their duties? I may sound dumb but I am trying to understand so I can not only create this company in miniatures but also try and write a full-on story following the men of one company. I just want to get everything right and understand fully.

[FROGSMILE]

52 minutes ago, Captain Chip said:

If I may ask again. There are 8 Sergeants. Where would they go in the company and what were their duties? I may sound dumb but I am trying to understand so I can not only create this company in miniatures but also try and write a full-on story following the men of one company. I just want to get everything right and understand fully.

They were ‘platoon sergeants’ with the usual duties of being deputy and right hand man to the subaltern platoon commander, and specifically responsible for discipline, daily routine, and the soldierly competence of his men, developing their training as necessary.  He also covered administration of his platoon and kept an overwatch (supervised) the corporal section commanders in his charge.  The other platoon sergeant positions were filled by ‘lance sergeant’s’ (substantive corporals acting one position up as a sergeant) as I have explained earlier.

Edited 30 December , 2023 by FROGSMILE

[Captain Chip]

21 minutes ago, FROGSMILE said:

They were ‘platoon sergeants’ with the usual duties of being deputy and right hand man to the subaltern platoon commander, and specifically responsible for discipline, daily routine, and the soldierly competence of his men, developing their training as necessary.  He also covered administration of his platoon and kept an overwatch (supervised) the corporal section commanders in his charge.  The other platoon sergeant positions were filled by ‘lance sergeant’s’ (substantive corporals acting one position up as a sergeant) as I have explained earlier.

So there were 2 sergeants per platoon. One sergeant was the second in command for the subaltern, and the other sergeant overlooked the corporals and their sections. Is that correct?

[FROGSMILE]

On 30/12/2023 at 17:39, Captain Chip said:

So there were 2 sergeants per platoon. One sergeant was the second in command for the subaltern, and the other sergeant overlooked the corporals and their sections. Is that correct?

I can understand your confusion.  In January 1914 the recently reorganised infantry battalions were operating what was initially called a double-company system that was in essence the previous organisation [of 8 companies each of 100 men] with the company’s paired to to form four large[r] companies.

For that previous 8 company structure (think Zulu war as a template) every structural aspect of the infantry battalion’s organisation was divided into two, ergo a binary organisation.  Each battalion had two wings (or half-battalions).  Thus a wing comprised four companies.  A company was divided into two ‘half-companies’, (later on described as platoons), each of which was further divided into two sections.

Half-companies (i.e. large platoons) were commanded by subalterns aided by sergeants, each with a corporal to assist him**.  There also existed in each section a lance corporal who was unpaid.  His role too was to assist the sergeant with various duties.  This structure gave some degree of resilience against the effect of casualties.

The newly introduced double-company organisation simply merged the old A and E company, B and F, C and G and D and H, thus forming new A to D companies in double strength.  Of the now two colour sergeants in each new company, one became company-sergeant-major and the other company-quarter-master-sergeant.  The four double-companies (A to D) each had four platoons, each platoon commanded by a subaltern, with each platoon consisting of two large sections, each commanded by a sergeant, thus totalling the 8 sergeants mentioned. 

To see the organisation that was used to fight the vast bulk of the war (1915 onward) you would really need to see the subsequent establishment table, which introduced warrant officers of a second class, smaller sections commanded by corporals, and that then continued to evolve with various tweaks until the end of the war.  It was this organisation that I was referring to in my previous posts, as I had not opened the link Russ provided.  I hope that helps.

**there was traditionally at least as many corporals as sergeants so that as a minimum every sergeant had a corporal specifically to aid him. 

Edited 2 January by FROGSMILE

[Captain Chip]

Now it makes some sense. Thanks.

 

[FROGSMILE]

On 30/12/2023 at 18:58, Captain Chip said:

Now it makes some sense. Thanks.

 

I’m glad to help.  The new organisation was in the midst of introduction in 1914.  The regular army largely had it in place, but the auxiliary Territorial Force battalions (equivalent to US National Guard) were still often converting as they arrived in France.  Thus it took until the end of 1915 before it was fully in place BEF wide.  It is sometimes overlooked that this was a transitional period with significant organisational change taking place.  For subsequent changes see: https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/infantry-platoons-in-offensive-action/

Edited 1 January by FROGSMILE

[Muerrisch]

One more complication was that there were often not quite enough officers to command all the four platoons of a company, not even in August 1914. In the rare event all posts were covered, one of the sixteen in the battalion had a major other duty, that of Transport officer. Thus it was not at all unusual for a platoon to be commanded temporarily by the [senior] platoon sergeant.

There were no drummers established in the New Army ["Kitchener's} organisation of 1915, and no band, but many units just happened to find a way. They had 16 stretcher bearers as such, totally inadequate as events turned out.

The old regular army battalions more or less clung to their August 1914 organisation. Incidentally, the typescript 1st Jan 1914 organisation attached upstream is not very helpful, potentially misleading even. Too much of a digression to analyze it here: if the official version is wanted, PM me.

 

Edited 1 January by Muerrisch
supplement

[Captain Chip]

Ok... If I may ask about the Company Sergeant Major. Was he a staff sergeant or a Colour Sergeant?

[FROGSMILE]

38 minutes ago, Captain Chip said:

Ok... If I may ask about the Company Sergeant Major. Was he a staff sergeant or a Colour Sergeant?

In 1914 his rank was colour sergeant and his appointment company-sergeant-major, a new position for the infantry as a whole apart from the West Indies Regiment that long had a different organisational structure.  It was already a familiar position in the Royal Engineers and the Army Ordnance Corps, so it was not an entirely new term.

In 1915 a new rank was introduced titled warrant officer second class (there had previously, since 1881, been just a single class of warrant officer).  From that point the CSMs were elevated to the new rank, as Warrant Officer Class II, with the appointment of Company-Sergeant-Major**.  The badge adopted for this rank was the plain crown that had previously been the badge of a single class warrant officer and worn on the lower sleeve.  At the same time the previous single warrant officer grade became a Class I and allotted a coat of arms badge to be worn on the lower sleeve as before.

**there were, simultaneously, a range of other appointments introduced that might be held by a Warrant Officer II across the Army as a whole.  The badge was standard but the appointments differed.

NB. The diagram below shows the situation as at the outbreak of war in 1914.  By the end of 1915 the most senior ranks had changed significantly.

The sleeves illustration demonstrating the infantry battalion changes of 1915 is courtesy of forum member Muerrisch. 

Edited 3 January by FROGSMILE

[Captain Chip]

Where would Staff Sergeant fit in then?

 

[FROGSMILE]

17 minutes ago, Captain Chip said:

Where would Staff Sergeant fit in then?

 

Staff sergeant was used in two ways, generic and specific.

Generically all senior sergeants employed in specialist roles within sub-unit and unit headquarters were collectively staff sergeants**, just as officers similarly employed such as adjutants, quartermasters, riding masters and medical and veterinary officers, were all staff officers.

In the specific context senior sergeants in specialist corps such as, e.g. Ordnance, Service, plus those in departmental corps such as Medical and Veterinary, were individually a staff sergeant.  It was the rank immediately above sergeant in those corps.

**examples within an infantry battalion would be the musketry instructor sergeant, the pioneer sergeant, the sergeant drummer, the cook sergeant and the shoemaker sergeant.  There were several more.  Only some of them had special badges of appointment. There was a pecking order that had originally been divided into classes, but by 1915 this had been superseded (made irrelevant) by the introduction of the new class two warrant officer. 

Edited 3 January by FROGSMILE

[Captain Chip]

Ok, thanks.

[FROGSMILE]

1 hour ago, Captain Chip said:

Ok, thanks.

There was a further change in 1918 and just after the war with the final result as illustrated below (although there are errors, e.g. the Irish Guards sergeant is actually a ‘drill sergeant**’).  Nevertheless, it gives a pretty good idea.

It’s important to understand that warrant officers and staff sergeants generally had a rank and an appointment.  The former showed their status and the latter showed their role (employment).

**a specialist on the battalion HQ staff unique to the Foot Guards.

Edited 3 January by FROGSMILE

[Captain Chip]

Ok. Then what about the batman and drivers? What were their ranks? And would company musicians be technically private or have a higher rank? 

Edited 4 January by Captain Chip

[FROGSMILE]

Just now, Captain Chip said:

Ok. Then what about the batman. What were their ranks? And would company musicians be technically private or have a higher rank?

Batmen were generally private soldiers and certainly prewar were expected to have at least one good conduct badge (inverted cuff stripe).

Musicians (bandsmen) were administered on a separate roll for promotion, as they were not trained as soldiers.  They learned only music, at least two instruments, efficient drills for stretcher bearing, and how to administer first aid.