Temporary gentlemen (sometimes abbreviated to TG) is a colloquial term referring to officers of the British Army who held temporary (or war-duration) commissions, particularly when such men came from outside the traditional "officer class".
Historically the officers of the British
Army were drawn from the gentry and upper middle classes and the expensive
uniforms and social expectations placed on officers prevented those without a private
income from joining. The outbreak of the
First World War required a rapid expansion in the size of the army and a
corresponding increase in the officer corps. During the war more than 200,000
additional officers were recruited, many on temporary commissions. Many of these
were drawn from the lower middle and working classes. They came to be referred to as "temporary
gentlemen" with the expectation being that they would revert to their
former social standing after the war. At the end of the war, many were
unwilling to return to their former positions on reduced salaries and there
were too few managerial positions to provide full employment, resulting in
considerable hardship. Some former temporary gentlemen became leading literary
figures and temporary gentlemen featured in many inter-war stories, plays and
films.
The term was revived in the Second World
War, which saw a similar increase in the number of officers holding temporary
commissions. A staggered demobilization at the war's end helped alleviate some
of the issues faced by their forebears. The term continued to see use for
officers commissioned from those conscripted for National Service, which lasted
until 1963. It has also been used as a translation for miliciano, a term used
to describe conscript officers in the Portuguese Army of the 1960s and 1970s.
Background
Until the Cardwell Reforms of 1871 officers'
commissions in the British Army were achieved by purchase, except for those in
the artillery or engineers. A substantial sum of money was required to enter
the profession and to progress via promotion, when the new commission had to be
purchased. The official price ranged in
the line infantry from £450 for an ensign to £4,500 for a lieutenant colonel. Cavalry commissions were more costly, and
those in the foot guards the most expensive at £1,200 for an ensign and £9,000
for a lieutenant-colonel. The purchase
was handled by an auction house in London and buyers were often required to pay
a supplementary over-regulation or "regimental" price, which varied
depending on how popular the regiment was. Sometimes this was many times
greater than the official rate; James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, was
reported to have paid £40,000 in 1836 for the lieutenant colonelcy of the 11th
Hussars. The profession was therefore
only open to the wealthy; it was popularly chosen for the younger sons of the gentry
and aristocracy, who would not inherit the family estates and who could sell
their commissions upon retirement (provided they did not die, were not promoted
to general rank or cashiered for poor behaviour). The purchase system also meant that the
government did not need to provide a proper salary or pension to officers,
saving costs.[1]
Landed families developed traditions of
service, successive generations serving in the same regiment. Such men were considered gentlemen, a term
encompassing the upper portion of the British class system, inheriting this
status from their fathers and holding it for life no matter their behaviour. Due to this close connection, holders of
officers' commissions generally came to be regarded as gentlemen by
association, as reflected in the phrase "an officer and a gentleman". Many of the traditional "officer
class" had attended public schools, and sometimes universities, with Officers'
Training Corps (OTC) units and so had been in training for the role from the
age of thirteen.
Even after the purchase system was
abolished the profession of army officer remained largely the preserve of the
landed classes. Officers were required to take part in expensive sports, such
as polo, and pay high mess bills. This required a significant private income
which precluded the lower classes. Officers
also had to purchase their own uniforms and equipment, which cost at least £200
in the infantry and £600–£1,000 in the cavalry, and, depending on regimental
practice, pay subscriptions to provide coaches, bands, theatre tickets, wine
cellars and packs of hunting hounds. In
1900 it was estimated that a junior officer in the 10th Royal Hussars, renowned
as the most expensive in the army, required a private income of £500 per year
as a bare minimum. The Coldstream Guards
considered £400 per year as a requirement of entry for new officers and the
rest of the Household Brigade £300. In
unfashionable regiments (those less popular to new officers) such as the
artillery and engineers and some infantry regiments it was considered possible
to live on a private income of £60–100. Officers'
pay had not increased since 1806 with the most junior officers receiving a
salary of £95 16s 3d (£95.81) per year, much below what professionals earned in
the private sector.
Efforts were made to reform the
profession in the early Edwardian era but were stymied by resistance from
serving officers and a reluctance by the government to provide funding for
subsidies to those without the means to maintain the lifestyle. Only a small number of men from outside the
officer class were granted commissions, often those acting in professional
roles such as veterinarians or paymasters.
In contrast, the other ranks were almost all drawn from the working
class and in the ten years from 1903 an average of just 11 officers per year
were commissioned from the ranks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporary_gentlemen
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