NCO to Officer

[CSMMo]

Living on the west coast of the states, I have had to hire researchers to dig through the PRO/NA to find records/data on my grandfather and, now on the unit he was in. It occurred to me that there may be two sets of records, so I'll pose this question to those knowledgeable regarding the records system of The Great War.

[CSMMo]

Sorry about that! Now for the question.

Would there be more than one record for my grandfather? He was a Territorial soldier many years before the war, mobilized with his unit, was promoted to Sergeant, then commissioned in October 1915. Were records consolidated when a soldier was commissioned or was a new record begun?

[gord97138]

Hi,Welcome to The Forum.

Could you post some details of your granfather you might have-

name,rank,serial number,where from,ect.

This may help you with some of your research,

as there are some very knowledgable members here.

gordon

[Muerrisch]

Records were consolidated into the officer file, and are often fabulous treasure troves of information about his life as an other rank/ enlisted man. It seems the weeders of files rarely had the time and patience to weed other than the officer part. I have had half a dozen such, a centimetre thick with information. Good luck!

[Guest Simon Bull]

I am much less experienced than Langley Baston, and I have only ever looked at the records of two officers. One of those officers had been promoted from the ranks. I have to say that my experience was the exact reverse of that described by Langley Baston -- there were approximately 2 references to the fact that the relevant officer had been in the ranks. It was almost as if his experience in the ranks had been deliberately expunged.

Given what Langley Baston says I presume that my experience was atypical. This is encouraging as a third officer whose records I am interested in seeing was also promoted from the ranks.

[CSMMo]

Thanks for the very interesting information. My only contact with the records at PRO/NA was through a researcher. The first set of records he sent to me got lost in the mail and he apparently gathered a second set that contained a good deal of interesting information, for which I am grateful, although not all of the data sent was about my grandfather. In other words, I have not seen what's in the record. What was sent had no reference to his NCO/OR experience despite the fact that he had been in that same Territorial Force unit since about 1910 when he was 16).

Name - Daniel Morrison, Rank at end of war - Lt.

DOB - 5 July 1894 in Rothesay, Isle of Bute, Scotland

Unit - 4th Highland Mountain Brigade, RGA, TF and (at least) the Bute (Mountain) Battery and the Argyll (Mountain) Battery.

I tried the NA staff and got (and paid for) a good deal of records of another Daniel Morrison (!) - Live and learn.

Input from experienced researchers is gratefully acknowledged as I will probably have to go to Kew in the future - possibly if the Dollar ever recovers!