Post
by Temujin » Sat Jan 04, 2025 12:23 pm
When reading these records you also have to look at the DATES……the dates on this part of the record seem to be “out of order’. This happens quite a lot in records, as the unit clerks add this information “when they can get around to it’…plus sometimes there is more than one clerk adding info…….so the first guy gets information date the for the 12 Dec and adds it to the record, then the next guy gets information dated the 11 Dec the next day and adds it AFTER the 12 Dec…….
So you can see very confusing……you just need to read all the DATES
And to add another twist to it……….the records stored at LAC Ottawa for a specific man is ALL the records, gathered together and put in one file.
A man has MORE THAN ONE SET OF RECORDS, this is because his UNIT kept a record……then behind the lines in Division or Corps, they ‘may’ also hold a record…….and CMHQ (Canadian Military Headquarters) in LONDON also kept a record……..and sometimes the SAME EVENT has a different date on ALL 2 or 3 records. Normally you can tell the CMHQ records, as they are all “typed’ and easier to read……..so if your having and issue with the hand written records……look in his file to see if their is another record, they typed record and you can compare and figure out what the record is saying. Multiple records were kept in case on was lost (due to enemy action, lost in transit in the field, a bomb or artillery shell hit the admin unit etc etc. so the man’s records are still available.. after the war ALL these records were put in ONE FILE for the man….so multiply pages saying “almost’ the same thing.
As for the dates, if one record is saying the 11 Dec and another record (for the same item) is saying the 12 Dec……then you just make a decision on which one you use. Normally I go with the Unit record…………but what I do is read the “records’ after and before comparing the dates with all, and sometimes I can tell that one is more accurate than another……
Finally, you need to look at the “effective date” column, this is another “date” for the same record, but these tell you WHEN the item is “effective from”……..so a man may get posted to another unit or X-list etc, this date says “when it takes effect” but the other date (the first date) is usually the date the clerk put the information on the man’s file, so they may be different……but the ‘effective’ date can sometimes help sort out the ORDER the records should be in.
Also (just to add to the confusion, and your thinking ‘why did I ask this question’) some ‘effective dates’ may be days/weeks/ or months previously…….for example, a man gets a promotion which the recommendation was sent to CMHQ, these have to approved at CMHQ for “permanent promotions”……so the man is told he is a Sgt on the 12 Dec 1944…….put the request went to HQ’s a month ago, HQ’s approved it 1 day after receiving it (and if you believe ANY HQ’s can approve something in 1 day, you have to be smoking something exotic)……so the “effective date” is the 15 Nov 1944…..and the UNIT doesn’t get this confirmation (usually by mail…..military mail) a month later. So when they put it on his record on the 12 Dec…..he really was promoted a month earlier…….AND (this is the good news for the man) his SALARY for the promotion is “back dated” so he gets PAID extra next month to cover when he was “effectively promoted”
AND (not more confusion right…….stop already) the Unit has the authority to promoted men into “Lance positions” (Lance Cpl or Lance Sgt)…..sometimes these are “with pay or without pay”. They did this so the man (and the Unit) could “try out” the man in a specific role……if it didn’t work out, he reverted to his original rank…or if the man didn’t prefer it (Not every man wants to be a Leader) he goes back to his original rank. If it works out, the Unit can request his promotion to a “permanent rank” (Cpl or Sgt) but there has to be a VACANCY in the WAR ESTABLISHMENT of the unit to allow this. VACANCY means when a position is empty by either that previous man was posted elsewhere, wounded, KiA or other reason…….so the WAR ESTABLISHMENT position is now VACANT, and we can fill it with another man.
REMEMBER, the Army, Navy and Air Force are PART of the Government of Canada……and every dollar spent has to be approved……so WAR ESTABLISHMENTS are made for two reasons…..to give each unit the “type” of men they need (trade, rank, duties, qualifications etc etc) AND it sets the BUDGET for any unit………clerks in Ottawa are calculating EVERY DOLLAR that DND is spending which has to be ‘approved’ by the Government of Canada parliament each year in their Budgets. When you are AT WAR, you spend what you need…….but AFTER THE WAR, Governments start adding up the cost (both in Lives and money)
I’ll stop now, I’m getting tired of typing
But it can get confusing, my head hurts just telling you all this
Good luck
