Astonishing Facts....
Discussion
Moonhawk said:
RizzoTheRat said:
Field Marshal William Robertson joined the army as a private and is the only person to have held every single rank in the army.
Is that even possible given NCO and Officer ranks run in parallel?
Old but still very amusing.julian64 said:
V8LM said:
VEX said:
Pub quiz answer that I have never forgotten (i got it right btw)
In computer terms a byte is 8 bits
And 4 bits is a nibble!
V.
And 48 bits is a gobble.In computer terms a byte is 8 bits
And 4 bits is a nibble!
V.
RizzoTheRat said:
It's quite common to commission from the ranks, although I doubt many get to WO1 before commissioning, and I'm not sure if they're ever a 2nd lieutenant these days.
That was kinda my point. If you commission from an NCO rank - would you start from the bottom of the commissioned ranks - or would you jump in at whatever the equivalent level was (e.g. Sergeant to Captain)Moonhawk said:
RizzoTheRat said:
It's quite common to commission from the ranks, although I doubt many get to WO1 before commissioning, and I'm not sure if they're ever a 2nd lieutenant these days.
That was kinda my point. If you commission from an NCO rank - would you start from the bottom of the commissioned ranks - or would you jump in at whatever the equivalent level was (e.g. Sergeant to Captain)There is an alternative route from lower ranks as a direct entrant to Sandhurst. Usually soldiers without degrees who show significant talent for leadership, advised to apply or picked out from the ranks. But these lads probably wouldn't get to SNCO, and almost certainly not to Warrant Officer before being recognised. There are a lot of rules/criteria on age/time served/time left on careers to meet as well.
Whilst I'm pretty sure we no longer have any Field Marshals, I'd be astonished if anyone could possibly hold every rank in the army these days. Too many hurdles, to many rules holding them back.
Most LE Officers don't end up directly commanding troops "in the field" either. Well not in the Royal Engineers, at least. They tend to be commissioned from the QMSI (Quartermaster Sergeant Instructor - or technical warrant officer) career stream, and usually go into support or instructional roles. Sometimes we'd have a Sandhurst officer as our Squadron OC, with an LE Officer as 2i/c, but that was unusual. But the LE officers often know their trades inside out, so they're given the responsibility of developing the new generation of soldiers (or overseeing the development of new equipment/tactics). That's why they get an LE Commission - to retain their knowledge beyond the point where they've served a full SNCO/WO career and would normally be shown the door with a pension.
As an aside, I cannot find a claim for Field Marshal Sir William Robert Robertson having held every rank in the army. Not even Wikipedia claims this for him. It does, however, state that he was the only man to have risen from the rank of Private to the rank of Filed Marshal. The highest non-commissioned rank I can see claimed for him was Troop Sergeant Major. Roughly equivalent to Colour Sergeant in today's terms, and certainly well short of the upper limits of the Warrant Officer Class 1 rank. It would be interesting to see the dates of promotion and a list of all the ranks he did hold, and how they fitted into the way the army was organised in the late 1800s, because I'm pretty sure there have been a lot of changes since then. Troop Sergeant Major, for instance, is a defunct rank now. It was briefly revived in 1938 (as Warrant Officer Class 3) to give command of a Troop to a non-commissioned rank. No-one was promoted to the rank beyond 1940, and most holders of the rank were commissioned as Lieutenants.
Edited by yellowjack on Tuesday 23 January 17:17
AstonZagato said:
thainy77 said:
Ayahuasca said:
The top 100 fighter pilot aces were all Germans.
I didn't believe that so had to check but the Germans absolutely dominated the list, crazy!Eric Mc said:
RizzoTheRat said:
Which reminds me...
In the film The Longest Day, Richard Todd plays Major Howard, who led the attack on Pegasus Bridge. Before his Hollywood career Todd was a Para and was part of the force that parachuted in to reinforce Todd's position. I believe Howard went on to be become Todd's battalion commander. In the film apparently he wore his own beret that he'd worn on D-Day.
Richard Todd was born in Dublin.In the film The Longest Day, Richard Todd plays Major Howard, who led the attack on Pegasus Bridge. Before his Hollywood career Todd was a Para and was part of the force that parachuted in to reinforce Todd's position. I believe Howard went on to be become Todd's battalion commander. In the film apparently he wore his own beret that he'd worn on D-Day.
ks. I can see what you're trying to get at.....but you're way off!cuprabob said:
Actor Audie Murphy was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of WW2. Quite a life he had and even played himself in the film about his military career...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy
Remember seeing that film with my dad (To Hell and Back).https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy
My dad told me it was based on the true story of AM.
yellowjack said:
Moonhawk said:
RizzoTheRat said:
It's quite common to commission from the ranks, although I doubt many get to WO1 before commissioning, and I'm not sure if they're ever a 2nd lieutenant these days.
That was kinda my point. If you commission from an NCO rank - would you start from the bottom of the commissioned ranks - or would you jump in at whatever the equivalent level was (e.g. Sergeant to Captain)There is an alternative route from lower ranks as a direct entrant to Sandhurst. Usually soldiers without degrees who show significant talent for leadership, advised to apply or picked out from the ranks. But these lads probably wouldn't get to SNCO, and almost certainly not to Warrant Officer before being recognised. There are a lot of rules/criteria on age/time served/time left on careers to meet as well.
Whilst I'm pretty sure we no longer have any Field Marshals, I'd be astonished if anyone could possibly hold every rank in the army these days. Too many hurdles, to many rules holding them back.
Most LE Officers don't end up directly commanding troops "in the field" either. Well not in the Royal Engineers, at least. They tend to be commissioned from the QMSI (Quartermaster Sergeant Instructor - or technical warrant officer) career stream, and usually go into support or instructional roles. Sometimes we'd have a Sandhurst officer as our Squadron OC, with an LE Officer as 2i/c, but that was unusual. But the LE officers often know their trades inside out, so they're given the responsibility of developing the new generation of soldiers (or overseeing the development of new equipment/tactics). That's why they get an LE Commission - to retain their knowledge beyond the point where they've served a full SNCO/WO career and would normally be shown the door with a pension.
As an aside, I cannot find a claim for Field Marshal Sir William Robert Robertson having held every rank in the army. Not even Wikipedia claims this for him. It does, however, state that he was the only man to have risen from the rank of Private to the rank of Filed Marshal. The highest non-commissioned rank I can see claimed for him was Troop Sergeant Major. Roughly equivalent to Colour Sergeant in today's terms, and certainly well short of the upper limits of the Warrant Officer Class 1 rank. It would be interesting to see the dates of promotion and a list of all the ranks he did hold, and how they fitted into the way the army was organised in the late 1800s, because I'm pretty sure there have been a lot of changes since then. Troop Sergeant Major, for instance, is a defunct rank now. It was briefly revived in 1938 (as Warrant Officer Class 3) to give command of a Troop to a non-commissioned rank. No-one was promoted to the rank beyond 1940, and most holders of the rank were commissioned as Lieutenants.
Edited by yellowjack on Tuesday 23 January 17:17
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