in the field

[Guest david]

have come across a rash of enlisted in the field entries for members of the r.e. and r.a.s.c. on soldoers died.

only seems to be one outside these two units.

any definitions/ideas as to 'in the field'?

[Greenwoodman]

Might it be similar to locally recruited personnel, where the army found it easier to recuit local specialists rather than bringing them out to whichever theatre it was from UK?

[Tom Morgan]

I think it might be a "clerical convenience" to account for the transfer of soldiers from other regiments, especially if the soldiers concerned were specialists such as miners, telephone experts (signallers) and so on.

[Paul Reed]

It appears that a number of men were actually recruited in France during WW1; a lot of British subjects were working in France before 1914, and in the early years of the war it was seemingly possible to join the BEF once it was established in F/F - most seem to have been men with specific trades, which is why you have found them in the REs/ASC.