interpreting "To Duty" in Army Service Records

[Brian1949]

I have just received my grandfathers service records and have several questions about them. I will detail each separately in the future. 
The first thing I would like to ask about is the term "To Duty" used in his statement of services.
A little background about him might help
He was called Fred Johnson and he joined the regular army in 1908 (the West Yorkshire Regiment) and served in India and Malta before the outbreak of the First World War. 
He was in Malta when war was declared and they immediately sailed for home and arrived in the UK at the end of September 1914. They sailed for France on the 4th November 1914.
He was wounded (probably near the end of December 1914 ) and was sent home to recuperate on 4th January 1915.
The "To Duty" entry is for the 31/12/1914 so is this linked to his wounding.
I enclose a copy of the record in question. 
Any comments would be appreciated.
Brian


 

[mmm45]

My take on it is that he was awarded two lots of punishments so those dates are forfeited towards time served both are about two weeks long so he would forfeit the time Under punishment then return "to duty" after that time.

Ady

[Brian1949]

I think you are probably correct - in my head I was trying to link it to him being wounded and missing the obvious.
Does anyone have any idea what "Awarded 14 days No. 1 by CO" means.
Thanks for your response
Brian

[jds1949]

He was awarded a punishment of 14 days field punishment number 1 by his commanding officer - see here for further details:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_punishment

jds1949

[Brian1949]

Thanks jds1949 that's very interesting. I wonder what he did to get such a punishment. No.1 Field punishment does not sound very pleasant.
On his release papers in 1923 he was described as a "clean, hard working and reliable NCO"
Brian

[jim1]

According to his record he was AWOL 24-28/10/14 while in the UK.
Probably failed to return from home leave.
I can see only one FP no.1 awarded on the 17th.
The 2nd. Batt. first saw action (18th.) while he was serving his FP so he missed that as he didn't return to duty until the 31st.
Could he have been wounded when he transferred to the 3rd.

[Brian1949]

Yes jim1 I saw that but they look to be 2 separate punishments. I assumed that his absense punishment probably had something to do with being late back from leave or he was not allowed leave and took it anyway. This short period between arriving back from Malta and being sent to France was his first time in the UK for 2 years.

[jim1]

No not 2 punishments but reasons for his loss of pay "absence" 24-28th. & FP no.1 for being "absent" same period.
Reading on he transferred to the 3rd. (Training Batt. UK based) 11/2/15.
On the formation of the 1st. GB (Garrison Batt.) he got transferred to that 31/7/15 & went back to Malta for the duration.

[Brian1949]

Thanks Jim that's really helpful.
He was returned to the uk because he had a gunshot wound to the knee and a shrapnel injury to the shoulder (according to family stories). He was sent to a convalescent home at a place called Gilsland in North Northumberland. This was where he met my grandmother.
He was sent to Malta so they could not get married until December 1917.
Until I received his records I had not realised that he had been sent back to Malta and had assumed he had returned to the Western Front.
Could it have been his wound that meant he was sent to be part of a garrison battalion rather than sent back to the front?