War Diaries Talk

commission

  • erik.schaubroeckscarlet.be by erik.schaubroeckscarlet.be

    Being granted a commission; is that somekind of promotion?

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    It's when somebody is made an officer - they receive the Queen's (or at that time, the King's) commission.

    Posted

  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

    I would say it is a promotion. As on the tag list for the diaries i.e

    #commission - use this tag for instances of officers being promoted from the ranks, e.g. Company Sergeant Major recommended for commission following conspicuous gallantry after all company officers either killed or wounded.

    I notice the Author has crossed out ...Left to take up a commission... - margin remarks.

    Posted

  • erik.schaubroeckscarlet.be by erik.schaubroeckscarlet.be in response to marie.eklidvirginmedia.com's comment.

    Should I also tag the crossed out one?

    Posted

  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

    Personally, I I would tag the names of the 2 men who have been crossed out as Other, then their there names will be recorded.

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    Good call, Marie. Yes, use the Person tag for the names of those men with Other for the reason.. We don't know why they were crossed out but it could be that they either didn't get the commission after all or just that they did not leave right then. Still, we want to capture as many names as possible.

    I think that Lt. Godsall was perhaps already a temporary lieutenant and word just came through that he had a regular commission now. You can see how f0rbe5 used the hashtag in his comment.

    Erik, commissioned officers start at 2nd lieutenant and go up the ranks from there. NCO means non-commissioned officer which includes corporals, sergeants, and warrant officers. So it's a good jump to go from being an NCO to a commissioned officer.

    Posted

  • erik.schaubroeckscarlet.be by erik.schaubroeckscarlet.be

    About the crossed out names: the first one could be cpt Herbert Philip Wynne Humphreys (no sign of him being a sergeant) and the second one could be cpt Percy John Stallard (he was a BSM according to Lives in first world war). Both are a member of the RFA, so why does the diary mentions "left to take up a commission"?

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator in response to erik.schaubroeckscarlet.be's comment.

    It was general practice to send a newly commissioned 2nd lieutenant to England for a training course before putting them in command of a group of men. They then were often assigned to a different battalion, or in the case of the RFA, brigade so they would not be commanding men that used to be their peers. That situation can create a great deal of resentment among the ranks or lead to a new officer giving out special privileges to his friends.

    Posted