Enlistment,tTraining and length of service for British Amy Drummers c 1934

Hi
I am researching a soldier, who in 1935 was a 19 year old Drummer, believed serving in 2/6 Warwickshire Regiment at Inkerman Barracks, Woking. By the time of the 1939 Register he was a civilian, but from around April 1940 onwards he was back in the Army and serving with with 2/6 Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey), fighting with them in Italy, where he was wounded and ended the war as a POW.

In relation to his service as a Drummer, is anyone able to tell me:
a) How old would he have to have been to enlist as a drummer?
b) How long would he have to have signed on for? Would it have been 7 with the colours and 5 on the Reserve, or would he have had a different period of service?
c) What sort of training would he have undertakenand what would hsi role have been in the Battalion?

Best regards

Mike

 

Hello Mike,

Until the more technical information comes along, to help with background, have a look at Norman's early army life (and not just from the webpage I've linked to for you).

You will find parallels with your man "drummer boy" wise.

"Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, OBE (1915 - 2010) was raised in extreme poverty and by the age of 11 he ended up in a children's home in Deal from which he ran away. Wisdom enlisted into the army as a drummer boy and, in 1930, was posted to Lucknow as a bandsman. The army helped him gain an education, he learned to play the trumpet, the clarinet, to ride horses and become the flyweight boxing champion of the British Army in India."

https://events.restless.co.uk/event-calendar/norman-wisdom-the-successful-failure/

Good luck with your research, always,

Jim.

 

Boys could enlist at 14 years to be trained in an army trade - musician, tailor, cobbler etc.

The boy would automatically be enlisted on man’s terms of service on reaching 18 years of age for 12 years regular army service - line regiment terms would be 7 years colour service and 5 years in the reserve.

Your man clearly left the army prematurely. There could be a variety of reason for that - you’ll need to have sight of his service record. Subject to his subsequent fitness he would be eligible to voluntarily reenlist or be subject to conscription.

I can’t comment on the training regime for a drummer. He would be trained in other musical instruments - flute etc - and likely in first aid to fulfil the wartime role of stretcher bearer.

Not all boy soldiers automatically continued in a musicians role when they started man’s service. If there was no vacancy they would soldier on as an infantryman in a company until a vacancy occurred. Conversely some musicians reverted to the infantryman role of their own volition.

Steve

 

Here you go Mike, getting closer to what you are after hopefully.

All courtesy of public domain thesis from 2017, the work of (and all credit to) D B Hammond, with "King's Regulations" footnotes and references that can be followed up on if you wish.

Full pdf. link here (hopefully the link works as it is too large a file size to attach to a post)

https://oro.open.ac.uk/55240/1/20180514-Thesis_complete_(binding)-V3_2-F-Hammond(X9015607).pdf

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Thank you everyone for your help. It's certainly put me on the right road. just need to get his service record from the TNA!
Best regards
Mike