Harry Plumb - 2nd Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment

[Neil Arnott]

39 minutes ago, Keith_history_buff said:

He was contractually obliged to serve with the colours from January 1905 to January 1914. The regiment wanted men to finish colour service sooner, and it seems likely there would be a payment to encourage them to do this. 

From the time of his transfer from colour service to the reserve, he was a civilian, but liable to be mobilised in the event of an emergency. This liability continued until January 1917 in principle, by which time he would - in principle - have been "time expired."

On or around 5 August 1914, he would have been mobilised, and would have had to report to the regimental depot. Not all men who were mobilised were in the peak of their health. I think it likely that whilst he was not graded A1 medically, he could be put to use in a Garrison Battalion, hence his return to India in 1916.

This is speculation until such time as you can get his service record, but he may have been mobilised, and as an NCO sent to a newly formed New Army battalion. They were training until 1915. It could be the case that he had no issues with his medical grade until 1915, with the result that a downgrade would prevent him deploying with his battalion, and being reassigned to a Garrison Battalion.

Although a slightly different scenario, I have been researching older soldiers who reenlisted in 1914, many being Boer War veterans. In many instances, they were deployed to France, but in 1915 they were transferred to a Garrison Battalion. 

Again - thank you so much. Extremely helpful!!