Hi Looking for some specific expert information. Would a man wishing to undertake non-combatant roles HAVE to register as a CO first and go before a tribunal to argue this case or would he be able to state at the Labour Exchange on enlistment that he was willing to serve in the army as long as it was in a non-combatant role? Could you request the RAMC without first saying you were a CO? Thanks
Are you talking outside of a war ie not drafted. If so, he could join a Corps direct, such as RAMC, or RASC, etc. From 1st Jan 1940 you had to go before a tribunal.
Thanks The date for enlistment for men of his age in Colchester was 17th Feb 1940 and by 24th Feb he had had his medical and passed `A1'. By 15th March he was on his way to Leeds for initial training. That does not sound a long enough timeline to have been registered as a CO, be called up to Cambridge for a tribunal etc. I have spoken to his 96 yr old cousin who was a CO, and he thinks that the man in question made provision when he enlisted to go into the RAMC, and it was easier for the army to put him straight in there than go before a tribunal. Also I have been through reports of CO tribunals in the local paper from 1940, and found no mention of the man in question, whilst there are reports on plenty of others.
