The British Officer Corps, 1914–18

Abstract

The British officer corps of the Great War was an heterogeneous body consisting of seven varieties of regimental officers. First, there were Regular officers with peacetime service; second, officers who were granted permanent commissions during the war years; third, civilians who were granted Temporary commissions valid for the duration of the war only; fourth, Territorial officers commissioned in peacetime. In addition, there were ‘prewar’ ranker-officers, men who had served in the ranks of the Regular army before the war and ‘prewar Territorial’ ranker-officers, men who had served as privates or NCOs in TF units before the war. The final category of officer was the ‘wartime Temporary’ ranker-officers. The latter term does not necessarily indi­cate that an individual was of the class that had dominated the ranks of the prewar Regular army, for large numbers of middle- and even upper-class men served in the ranks of the army in the first few months of the war.