A Miscellany of Advice to Subalterns

In an attempt to save new subalterns [during WWI] from social pitfalls, the veterans began to publish little books of 'useful advice.' Besides listing those taboos which survived from days of duelling--no mentioning of ladies' names in the mess, no unsheathing of swords in the ante-room—these authors offered detailed instructions on the drinking of toasts and the circulation of the port. In his Straight Tips for Subs, Captain A. H. Trapman added these:

Don't salute the bandmaster;
Never address a captain by his military rank alone--it is only tradesmen who do that;
Don't resent being fallen in for drill with ordinary recruits;
Always say 'Good morning' when returning a soldier's salute;
When marching with your men you may salute ladies and personal friends unless your men are marching to attention;
You are not expected on entering the mess to invite anybody to have a drink--so don't do it;
When the senior subaltern speaks to you seriously it is wise to listen and to take notice, for he has the power to convene that totally illegal assembly, a subaltern's court-martial, if your general behaviour gives him any excuse.
The author of The Making of an Officer, who signs himself 'C. N.', is anxious that no subaltern shall spend his leisure time 'motor-cycling with females' or becoming a 'kinema creeper, bookworm, or bar-loafer.' He pictures a senior subaltern haranguing a newcomer who is showing signs of slackness—and the period, be it noted, is 1916:
'You have got to adjust your ideas. By the mercy of Heaven, you've come into the finest regiment in the British Army. You are on trial--if we don't like you, you will have to go. Up to date you've done very well; you haven't talked too much or butted in when other fellows were gassing--but now we want a bit more. This regiment hunts; we always have hunted, we always shall hunt. You need not drink, you need not smoke if you are hard up--but hunt you must. If you are hard up you can quit toddling up to town for the week-end; nothing runs away with money like that. You can keep two horses on what you spend on a couple of week-ends in town; and in this regiment we will have fellows spending their money the right way. It's the tradition of the regiment . . . When you can ride hard without turning your head there's plenty of time to think of messing about with girls.'

- E.S. Turner, Gallant Gentlemen; a portrait of the British Officer 1600-1956, 1956

Subalterns should treat their seniors as they would a rich uncle from whom they have expectations. - Royal Canadian School of Infantry, Hints for Young Officers, Halifax, N.S., May 1931

We all pulled what strings we could get a grip on [to rejoin our Regiments in France], with a fair measure of success, since the War Office, in the last days of Kitchener's dictatorship, was in considerable chaos. One of my friends overcalled his hand by appealing to a great-uncle whom he had never met, a very elderly field marshal, and received this reply or words to this effect: 'Field Marshal Sir Evelyn Wood acknowledges receipt of a letter from 2nd Lieutenant So-and-So, and begs to inform him that he (the Field Marshal) spent many years at the War Office combating the baleful effects of private influence'. - Charles Carrington, Soldier From the Wars Returning, 1965

Egad! Those Young Officers!

Even when I was one of them I never cared for young officers as a species. An innate instinct for the truth warned me that theory counts for nothing in comparison with practice, and the grave and silent smiling of elderly captains bade me beware of the poor science that can be learned in a few days' reading. In the regiments in which I served I liked listening to these old officers whose bent backs were still reminiscent of a soldier's, weighed down with a pack full of clothes and ammunition pouches. They told me old stories of Egypt, Italy and Russia, which taught me more about war than the Ordinance of 1789, the Service Regulations, or all the interminable instructions, beginning with Frederick the Great's to his generals. I found, on the other hand, a certain tedium in the idle, ignorant and confident conceit of the young officers of the period, who smoked and gambled eternally, were orators of the cafe and billiard saloon, caring for nothing but the nicety of their appearance, expert in nothing but the cut of a coat. - Alfred de Vigny, "The Military Necessity" (1835).

I reported to the orderly room [of the Black Watch in Aldershot, Nova Scotia] and discovered that the adjutant was the terror of all subalterns and especially new ones.

"Where's your regimental kit?" he demanded sternly without really looking up from behind his desk.

I was dressed precisely as directed by the School of Infantry: boots, puttees, battle dress and a shocking red beret. I thought in my embarrassment that the least my instructors could have done was to have warned me about this particular adjutant. I started to protest, but that would have been an obvious mistake. He glanced through the door of his office and spied an orderly officer busily shoving his stick into the top of his puttees.

"Mr. Manuel, take this officer away and get him properly turned out. He can't see the commanding officer dressed like that." He took a closer look at me, his eyes bulged slightly, and as I left the room I heard him mutter to himself; "My God, he looks like a bloody RCR!" - A.H. Matheson, Requiem for a Regiment, the Atlantic Advocate, June 1970

The first thing a young officer must do when he joins the Army is to fight a battle, and that battle is for the hearts of his men. If he wins that battle and subsequent similar ones, his men will follow him anywhere; if he loses it, he will never do any real good. - Montgomery of Alamein

To square training with the reality of war it becomes a necessary part of the young officer's mental equipment for training to instill in him the full realization that in combat many things can and will go wrong without it being anyone's fault in particular. - S.L.A. Marshall, Colonel, AUS, Men against Fire; the Problem of Battle Command in Future War, 1947

A subaltern [in the 1920s and 30s] could not marry without obtaining permission from his commanding officer. The reasoning was that he might get into debt, for he would not be entitled to either married quarters or a marriage allowance. And he would spend too much time with his wife and neglect his horses, guns, and men. The mess, too, would suffer from his absence. Subalterns were at the bottom of the regimental totem pole. In his senior term at the RMC he had been warned that the first claim on the gunner officer's loyalty and attention was the infantry or cavalry unit that he was assigned to support. Next came the guns with which he gave support, the horses that took the guns into action, and the men in the gun detachments. The battery and regiment embraced all these, and the private affairs or preferences of young subalterns were of no importance. - Dominick Graham, The Price of Command; A Biography of General Guy Simonds, 1993

Rule Number 1: Know your enemy and avoid him.
The subaltern's natural adversary is, of course, the Adjutant....
Rule Number 2: Know your enemy and supervise his bath.
There are many units that employ a fifth column in the shape of a ‘senior subaltern.' ...
Rule Number 3: Know your enemy and charm her.
The Commanding Officer will be married ...
Rule Number 4: Know your enemies and join them.
Passing reference has been made to the wives' club ... the [successful subaltern] offers his services to the wives' club as its ‘Military Coordinator.' ...
Rule Number 5: Know your enemy and don't be his assistant.
The bane of every young officer's life is the extra-mural jobs that he is given on top of running his platoon or troop. ...
Rule Number 6: Drink water in the Sergeant's Mess. ...

- Sustainer, How to be a Successful Subaltern, British Army Review, Number 60, December 1978

The care and cleaning of lieutenants is NCO business. - General Frederick J. Kroesen, in "For NCO's: Leadership, Hard Work and TRAINING." ARMY, Oct 1980

When you join your organization you will find there a willing body of men who ask from you nothing more than the qualities that will command their respect, their loyalty, and their obedience.... Commissions will not make you leaders; they will merely make you officers. They will place you in a position where you can become leaders if you possess the proper attributes. - Maj Christian Bach, address "Leadership." 1918

While an officious officer is most objectionable, especially when inexperienced, no officer should perform his Regimental or Garrison duties in a perfunctory manner, whether through boredom or because he is loath to create trouble. - Royal Canadian School of Infantry, Hints for Young Officers, Halifax, N.S., May 1931

Canadian Army Training Memorandum, No 37, April 1944

The Essential Qualities of a Junior Officer

(From ATM 47) (A senior officer commanding overseas considers the following attributes to be vital in the make-up of a company or platoon commander, if he is to lead his command with success in battle.)

1. Speedy decision based on careful reconnaissance, and the capacity to take aggressive action without waiting to be told and without wasting time. 2. A knowledge of manoeuvre; how to put in a quick flanking attack when it is required, and how to avoid throwing troops away by pounding straight ahead against well-organized resistance. 3. A high standard of map reading, including foreign maps. 4. An accurate knowledge of the use of the compass and of other aids to the maintenance of direction. 5. Ability to handle his command at night in the approach march, forming up, night attack, silent approach, and bayonet assault. 6. Capacity to reorganize on an objective.

MAXIMS

Never do other people's work unless you are driven to it if you do, you will get an evil reputation for liking it.
Always ask for leave at al times and in all places. In the end, you will acquire a kind of right to it.
Remember that there is a time to work and a time to play. The time to work is when you are being watched.
Abandon every hope of individuality. In the Service it is considered indecent, and verges on insubordination. Most young officers join with a distressing amount of "originality," and it is only on reaching the status of member of the Army Council that an officer can be said to be completely purged of it.
Study the fads of your superiors. If the General is looking on, be assiduously practising his little hobby. It does not matter how foolish it is — in fact the sillier it is the more he will like it, as he fully appreciates the fact that you are making a fool of yourself for his benefit. The same rule applies to the C.O.. Only in a lesser degree. The higher the rank, the more abandoned your antics should become. This is why so much leave is required in the Army, the mental strain on the zealous officer being excessive. - The Young Officer's Guide to Knowledge, by Senior Major, Fourth Edition, 1915

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