regular officer
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Is that a professional officer?
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Yes. This link has information re the Regular Army.
The British regular army of 1914-1918 Link: http://www.1914-1918.net/regular.htm
‘The regular army is the name applied to the units and formations of men who joined the army for a paid job - professional soldiers. Up to the declaration of war, most men joining the regular army enlisted for a total of twelve years, made up of a period of full time service with the colours followed by a period on reserve. Although the makeup of these twelve years was adjusted on a few occasions between 1902 and 1914, in general the term was seven years colour service and then five years on reserve’.
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by
cyngast
moderator
in response to erik.schaubroeckscarlet.be's comment.
I'm not sure which officer you mean as there is mention of an officer in charge of records and also several RAMC officers at the bottom of the page.
It sounds like the Officer in charge of Records was an administrative position, but he would have been a regular army officer posted to wherever that office was.
RAMC officers were both doctors and officers. Doctors who volunteered to serve in the army during the war signed up for one year at a time. At the end of the year, they could renew their contract for another year or return to being a civilian doctor, who were also in high demand during the war years.
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by
ral104
moderator, scientist
It looks like he's complaining that he only has four regular officers detailed to the unit, but would like another more senior one. And yes, Erik, the regular officers were the professional ones who were soldiers before the war. The benefit of having them attached to the field ambulance would have been that a. they knew the military system and b. they may have prior experience of dealing with the aftermath of fighting, which medical officers joining from the civilian medical profession might not have had.
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