Figure 2: Brigadier General Edwyn Sandys Dawes Martin’s medal group.

of Ypres. He was appointed commanding officer of the 5th Cavalry Brigade Machine Gun Squadron on October 6, 1916, remaining with them until the end of the war. In addition to receiving the Military Cross, Martin was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and twice mentioned in despatches for his World War I service. After the war, Martin served as Adjutant, 5th Dragoon Guards, passed Staff College, and held several administrative appointments within the Army. He commanded the 5th Dragoon Guards from 1937 to 1939. Martin received the Order of the Crown in 1938 during an inspection by King Leopold, Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment. At the start of World War II, he was appointed Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General of the East Africa Force headquartered in Kenya. Martin later commanded the 28th Armored Brigade, retired in 1946, and died in 1954.

Martin’s 1914 Star is impressed to LIEUT. E.S.D. MARTIN. 5/ D.GDS while his Great War pair are impressed to MAJOR E.S.D. MARTIN. Martin was not promoted to the permanent rank of Major until 1924. However, he was given the temporary rank of Major in 1918. As a result, his Great War pair are named using this rank, although the medals do not indicate that this was a temporary rank, and in fact should not.

RANKERS

A ’ranker’ was an enlisted soldier who had risen from private to become an officer in the British Army. The most common form of ranker was a soldier who had first advanced to the one of most senior non-commissioned officer (NCO) positions such as regimental sergeant major or quartermaster sergeant before being commissioned.

After serving for a number of years, this senior NCO might be commissioned to an appointment reserved for those who had once been enlisted. In the cavalry, examples of these appointments were quartermaster, paymaster, and riding master. After serving a number of years in one of these appointments, a ranker might automatically be given an honorary rank such as captain or major. For example, after ten years as quartermaster, a ranker could be promoted to honorary captain and quartermaster. This promotion had little practical effect. The ranker was still the regiment’s quartermaster and his duties did not change because of the addition of an honorary title although, no doubt, he took pride in being able to wear the insignia of his new rank. Although a quartermaster continues to appear on a regiment’s establishment to this day, the appointment of paymaster (as an officer) was abolished in 1881 while the appointment of riding master was continued until the 1920s.

Aless common ranker was one who had been commissioned as a second lieutenant. Serving as an officer in the cavalry was expensive and an independent income was required to pay expenses. In addition, the British Army, more so than the Royal Navy, was dominated by class distinction. The officer who had risen from the ranks inevitably had difficulty overcoming these double hurdles. Once of the few exceptions was William Robertson, who was the only private to become a field marshal. Robertson received his first commission as a Second Lieutenant in the 3rd Dragoon Guards.

A subcategory of ranker was the gentleman-ranker. This term was used to describe a man promoted from the ranks who was considered a ’gentleman,’ but who had

14 JOMSA

enlisted because of an embarrasing incident or because his family did not have the financial means to pay for his commission. (The purchase system, where an officer had to buy his commission and most subsequent promotions, was abolished in 1871.) Today, the word gentleman is used to describe a man who is courteous and honorable. However, in the Victorian era, this word more commonly described a man of good family with the right social connections. The Earl of Cardigan of the Crimea War’s Charge of the Light Brigade fame often is cited as an example of an officer who was a gentleman but was, by today’s standards, no gentleman.

A medal to a ranker typically was named using his honorary rank and appointment, or sometimes just his appointment.

EXAMPLES

Honorary Major Frederick Charles Butcher

Medal entitlement: Egypt Medal, no clasps; Queen’s South Africa Medal, five clasps: Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Belfast; King’s South Africa Medal, two clasps: South Africa 1901,

South Africa 1902; 1911 Coronation Medal; Khedive’s Star (Figure 3).

Frederick Charles Butcher was born on June 5, 1851 and enlisted in the 7th Dragoon Guards on June 5, 1872. Butcher rose rapidly through the ranks, becoming Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) on July 31, 1881, after only 9 years of service. Butcher remained RSM

for 14 years before being commissioned into the 7th Dragoon Guards as Quartermaster on October 26, 1895. He served with the regiment during the Boer War, and was mentioned in despatches and granted the honorary rank of Captain for his Boer War service. He retired from the 7th Dragoon Guards on June 23, 1906, when he was employed as Quartermaster for the Denbighshire Yeomanry. He was granted the rank of honorary Major on August 5, 1908 and retired from the yeomanry on March 25, 1914. Butcher was re-employed during World War I, remaining in England throughout.

Butcher’s Egypt Medal is engraved to 1303 REGT. SERGT. MAJ. F.C. BUTCHER, 7/DN GDS. His QSA/KSA pair are engraved to CAPT & QR. MR. F.C. BUTCHER. 7.DN GDS and CAPT & QR. MR. F.C. BUTCHER 7/DGN GDS, respectively. As was common for the era, the Boer War pair are named using both Butcher’s honorary rank and appointment. Butcher’s Egypt Medal is named using his appointment (RSM), not his rank (warrant officer).

Honorary Major Adolphus Egbirt Vincent Huxtable

Medal entitlement: British War Medal; General Service Medal, 1 clasp, Iraq (Figure 4).

Adolphus Egbirt Vincent Huxtable was born 1871 and served in the ranks for nearly 14 years. He was serving as Squadron Sergeant Major (Rough Rider) on the Cavalry Depot Staff when commissioned as Riding Master in the 7th Dragoon Guards on June 17, 1903. Huxtable was an accomplished equestrian and won numerous riding competitions, including events at the Royal Naval and

Figure 3: The medal group of Honorary Major Frederick Charles Butcher.

Vol. 62, No. 1 (January-February 2011) 15

Figure 4: The British War Medal (left) and General

Service Medal with IRAQ clasp to Honorary Major

Adolphus Egbirt Vincent Huxtable.

Military Tournament. Huxtable commanded the 7th Dragoon Guards depot in India during World War I and his Medal Index Card confirms the British War Medal and General Service Medal pair as his complete medal entitlement. He retired in 1922.

Huxtable’s British War Medal is impressed to R.M. & CAPT. A.E.V. HUXTABLE and his General Sercice Medal is impressed to R.M. & MAJORA.E.V. HUXTABLE. Like Butcher, Huxtable’s medals are named using both his honorary rank and appointment. Since the riding master’s primary duties were training recruits and breaking in new mounts, they rarely were deployed on active duty. Consequently, medals named to riding masters are rare.

WARRANT OFFICERS

Within the British army the rank of warrant officer was usually held by a soldier who had been promoted from sergeant and who, when promoted, was 40 years old or younger. A warrant officer inevitably was a soldier of outstanding character who displayed a level of professionalism considerably above his peers. Although a warrant officer might be popular among the men, this quality was incidental. First and foremost, a soldier had to impress his commanding officer to achieve the rank, since the commanding officer was responsible for recommending most promotions to warrant officer. The rank of warrant officer was a bridge between officers and the men and this was reflected in the regulations. For example, a warrant officer might wear a uniform

that looked more like an officer’s uniform but would not be identical. A warrant officer would be addressed like an officer (i.e. sir) but not be saluted. A warrant officer typically would not dine in the Officers’ Mess or the Sergeants’ Mess.

Although the rank of warrant officer existed throughout the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, the regimental appointments associated with the rank of warrant officer changed several times. Most frequently, a cavalry regiment had three warrant officers: regimental sergeant major, bandmaster, and schoolmaster with a fourth warrant officer, farrier sergeant major, added later.

The regimental sergeant major was the senior noncommissioned appointment within a British cavalry regiment. Originally, the regimental sergeant major was simply addressed as "sergeant major." However, since a regiment had more than one type of sergeant major, this caused some confusion. To resolve this, the appointment of sergeant maj or was renamed regimental sergeant maj or (usually addressed as RSM) during the late Victorian era.

The band held a place of honor within a British regiment. During the Napoleonic era, a band could be commanded by a civilian. However, it was felt that having soldiers under the orders of a civilian was awkward. As a result, the appointment of bandmaster was created. Initially, the bandmaster was made a non-commissioned officer position, but eventually it was given the rank of warrant officer.

Each regiment was expected to maintain its own school to educate its soldiers and their children. The head of the school was the schoolmaster. Originally, a regiment’s commanding officer appointed a soldier from within the regiment to serve as schoolmaster sergeant. As might be expected, this somewhat arbitrary appointment produced mixed results. The Corps of Army Schoolmasters was created in 1846 to produce properly trained schoolmasters. These appointments were given the rank of warrant officer in order to attract well-educated candidates. In 1863, schoolmasters were reassigned to senior NCO status. As might be expected, this move was highly unpopular among schoolmasters. As a compromise beginning in 1881, a schoolmaster with at least 12 years of experience (later reduced to eight years) could be promoted to warrant officer.

Throughout most of the Nineteenth Century, the veterinary surgeon was responsible for the care of a cavalry regiment’s horses. However, when this appointment was abolished in the 1880s, the farrier

16 JOMSA