wilkokcl Posted 20 September , 2005 Share Posted 20 September , 2005 I'm researching a R.F.A. officer and wonder if anyone can tell me how the promotions operate (I've done a search but can't find any old threads that explain this). This soldier was an acting Captain for 3 months in 1917 and then made acting Major for 18 months after that. Why not just make him a Captain or Major? My interpretation is that an 'acting' position was more like a temporary position and perhaps like being on probation - why not give him the full title? It can't be that he wasn't good enough or he wouldnt have been 'acting major' for such a long period of time. And does it mean he was technically neither a Captain or a Major? So if anyone can tell me why he wasn't just promoted to a standard Captain/Major i'd be most grateful. Also, what uniform would he have worn? Thanks, Mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 20 September , 2005 Share Posted 20 September , 2005 Hello Could it be a scam to avoid paying the going rate for the full rank Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 20 September , 2005 Share Posted 20 September , 2005 Mark, to start the ball rolling! I think an acting rank is just that - your man would be commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant, then promoted to Lieutenant (in peacetime, I think after a period of time). promotion was then by seniority (i.e., length of time in post), exam (in some cases) and ability, and there were set ages by which certain ranks had to retire - the idea being that if you hadn't made Major by 45, you weren't up to much. In wartime, with casualties, rapid expansion, and so on, ranks were more quickly available, so if you had a battery under a captain and he was killed ot wounded, a replacement was needed rapidly. In that case, the best Lieutenant would be given the acting rank of captain - in order to command the battery. He would be junior to other captains (of 'substantive' rank), but senior to lieutenants. His captaincy might be made substantive (i.e. permanent), or it might not. It was not uncommon to have acting Brigadier generals who were lieutenant colonels (or less) as a substantive rank, and would, in time, revert to that rank (probably at the end of hostilities). The uniform and rank badges would be that of the acting rank. You also get 'temporary' ranks - I believe that this was a sort of probation, so you could have a chap who was acting major, temporary captain, substantive lieutenant. No-one said it was easy or straightforward! Others may be clearer.... Steven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilkokcl Posted 20 September , 2005 Author Share Posted 20 September , 2005 Excellent - thanks for that as I don't really understand how it worked at all. The soldier in question was Acting Captain at 20 and Acting Major at 21. He was also awarded the DSO and MC and mentioned twice in Despatches and reported wounded. That makes me think he may have been in the thick of the action where replacements to command may have been required in a hurry. I just can't quite see why he'd stay in a 'temporary' position for 18 months and not have it formalised. Maybe it was just that at 21 he was too young to be taken seriously as a Major.......? Much appreciated, Mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 20 September , 2005 Share Posted 20 September , 2005 Mark - who was he? The DSO 'bible' will have biographical details on your chap, and that might lead to a bit of extra information. Ian - you're a cad, sir. What a scurrilous suggestion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilkokcl Posted 20 September , 2005 Author Share Posted 20 September , 2005 Mark - who was he? The DSO 'bible' will have biographical details on your chap, and that might lead to a bit of extra information. Dick Flory has kindly filled me in with details as follows: On 26 February 1917, he was appointed as an Acting Captain "whilst employed as 2nd in command of a Battery" and served in that position until 6 April 1917. Served as Acting Major while in command of a battery from 27 April 1917 to 18 October 1918 Those dates just struck me as strange as it's such a long timescale for his appointments, hence this post. Cheers, Mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilD Posted 21 September , 2005 Share Posted 21 September , 2005 Hi Al, Just to add credence to what has gone before, a soldier granted acting rank is under a period of probation before they either revert their perious rank or granted substantive rank. Acting and sub ranks have disciplinary and financial implications as well NeilD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rflory Posted 21 September , 2005 Share Posted 21 September , 2005 Acting ranks were used extenively by the Royal Artillery during the Great War especially at the Acting Captain and Acting Major level. Officers were appointed as Acting Captains while commanding a (4-gun) battery or while 2nd-in-command of a battery, and to Acting Major while commanding a (6-gun) battery. Usually these appointments were for the specific period of time that the man held the particular position. Acting appointments had little, or no, connection with either temporary or substantive ranks. Dick Flory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilkokcl Posted 22 September , 2005 Author Share Posted 22 September , 2005 Many thanks for the info chaps - I can always rely on you experts out there to point me in the right direction! Mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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