Desk job military in WWI

[shanreagh]

From Shaun:

It means that he was serving in the 8th Battalion. Since the entry does not specify 1/8th or 2/8th (as is the case with 2Lt Lawson, four names above his in the Army List) we cannot be sure which unit he was with in 1916.

All the more reason to be a bit circumspect in any write-up about this person. 

From Shanreagh
Please be careful to be bland and factual in the descriptions and not  put a gloss/denigration, that would not have been exhibited by fellow soldiers to those who served but who were too old or who were more valuable to the Armed forces held back because of other skills .......

[Vimeira]

Thanks for all that very helpful information, Andy.

I think he was Assistant District Commissioner in Nigeria, not District Commissioner, but happy to be corrected.

It’s of interest whether he went overseas just to envisage what he was actually doing, Shanreagh.

[alan o]

Here he is in the August 1916 list. Column 1036a, just to the left of "Cockburn High School Cadet Corps"

https://archive.org/details/monthly-army-list-1916-dec/page/n649/mode/2up

Good spot my searches for Todd did not pick that one up. 

He was certainly not in the 1/8 nor 2/8 or he would have been in France and by dint of even setting foot in France would have qualified him for 2 medals in addition to his SWB which he claimed.

Due to his age then he may have been in the 3/8th which was the depot battalion and that was home based.  The 3/8th would have been responsible for managing new recruits and reinforcements beings sent to the other battalions and also discharging soldiers,  This would tie in with the idea that he was at a administrative desk job.

[Vimeira]

Thanks Alan, that would make a lot of sense.

[alan o]

The 8th Battalion was not the Regular Army but was one of the Territorial Battalions.  As such he had a wartime commission with the substantive rank of Lieutenant.  From the Find my past links in the earlier post he was given Temporary rank of Captain and then temporary Major to reflect the responsibility of the jobs he was doing in 1916.  He was clearly one of the more senior officers in the depot if he was a T/Major. 

In Sep 1916 the 3rd Battalions of the 7th and 8th were amalgamated so I suspect he was retired from that job as he was not needed in the merged battalion.  So that would explain why he was placed in the TFR is even though as he was below the age limit.

[Vimeira]

Thank you - he seems to have been adjusted up and down a lot. The Yorkshire Post, 13.7.1916, has him under ARMY SERVICE CORPS - "Territorial Force Reserve - Infantry, Sec. Lt (temp. Major) C. W. Todd from West Yorks regt. to be sec. lt."

And then up to temp Captain, 16.8.1916 (Gazette).

[ShaunJ]

he may have been in the 3/8th which was the depot battalion

Presumably that's what the "3-8" signifies

[alan o]

Shaun

Yes you are correct.  He is in the depot battalion that was amalgamated in mid 1916. When that job ends he is not selected to be in the newly merged unit so his temporary rank is removed and he is transferred into the TFR as a sec(ond) lt (lieutenant) before being given temporary Captain rank a month later. I suspect in reality his reduction to 2Lt was an admin measure and he went from wearing Major ranks crown down to Captain's pips.

Alan

[Vimeira]

Thank you both. I think you have him sorted.

On the matter of his using his Captain title after the war, I read that it was disapproved of but not illegal. I feel it was a bit presumptuous given the number of active Captains who died or were disabled. I don't know how it went down locally - there were a number of fatalities, mostly privates, Sergeant being the highest rank.