On 1 Sep at 15:13, "Gordon" <gordonwb@argonet.co.uk> wrote: <snip for brevity> > This not unusual as there are three "types" of rank. > > 1. Substantive which means the rank was permanent and he was paid for > that rank. Only lost by being demoted for committing an chargeable > offence against regulations. > > 2. Acting which means as it says, usually paid at that rank but could > be lost on posting. If he behaved well and performed well at the rank > it could easily become substantive. > > 3. Local which is unpaid and lost on leaving the unit where the rank > was held. > > I too ordered a will which came in a couple of days. My soldier too > only wrote a couple of lines leaving all to his mother. This does not > surprise me as most youngsters would not have owned much in those days > and only married (and/or older) men would have possibly made more > detailed wills. Scouring through the London Gazette for my father's military service, I found he had a: 1. A substantive rank, 2. An acting rank, 3. A war substantive rank, 4. An honorary rank. And to that must be added local (above) and brevet, though I am not sure if brevet had any currency in WW2 let alone now. Sounds like six types of rank. -- Tim Powys-Lybbe tim@powys.org for a miscellany of bygones: http://powys.org/

"Tim Powys-Lybbe" wrote in message news:mpro.msh24q0un65xg0g1x.tim@powys.org... On 1 Sep at 15:13, "Gordon" <gordonwb@argonet.co.uk> wrote: <snip for brevity> > This not unusual as there are three "types" of rank. > > 1. Substantive which means the rank was permanent and he was paid for > that rank. Only lost by being demoted for committing an chargeable > offence against regulations. > > 2. Acting which means as it says, usually paid at that rank but could > be lost on posting. If he behaved well and performed well at the rank > it could easily become substantive. > > 3. Local which is unpaid and lost on leaving the unit where the rank > was held. > > I too ordered a will which came in a couple of days. My soldier too > only wrote a couple of lines leaving all to his mother. This does not > surprise me as most youngsters would not have owned much in those days > and only married (and/or older) men would have possibly made more > detailed wills. Scouring through the London Gazette for my father's military service, I found he had a: 1. A substantive rank, 2. An acting rank, 3. A war substantive rank, 4. An honorary rank. And to that must be added local (above) and brevet, though I am not sure if brevet had any currency in WW2 let alone now. Sounds like six types of rank. I've heard of brevet rank, it might have been a temporary commission as an officer given to "other ranks" which would be taken away when it was no longer required by the military, unlike a full commission, others might know for certain. This certainly happened quite a bit in wartime. War substantive is what it says, for the wars' duration only. Honorary is as it says, it is not a "working" rank given to serving soldiers. Good hunting Gordon