Odd Rank on my Dads papers

[Mike_E]

I've been going through my Dads army records and picking out the interesting stuff to add as facts on his record in the Family tree, but one promotion is to W/Sgt. I've never heard of this before.

he has all the usual, Gunner (he was in the RA), Bombadier, Corporal, Sgt, then this W/Sgt, then WO, WOII BMS.

Any Idea's? It's not poor writting either, it's as clear as day on a few documents.

[suedent]

Warrant Sargeant??

[Mike_E]

Warrant Sargeant??

Not heard that before, I know as a WO he held the Queens warrant, now I'll need to go look up some ingo on that.

Ta Muchly sounds feasable to me.

[Ladkyis]

I just know an expert will correct me but perhaps warrant sergeant was what staff sergeant is now. What do I know?

Actually I know that Staff sergeant comes above sergeant and below Warrant Officer cos my son is one, a staffy I mean

[neil1821]

WOII BMS I think should be WOII BSM - Warrant Officer 2nd Class, Battery Sergeant-Major
Can't think of another rank that fits.

Must admit I've never heard of a warrant sergeant.

[suedent]

I just Googled "Warrant Sergeant" and came up with a few hits including a man in the HMS Hood Crew List. It does seem to be more widely used in the US Army rather than the British Army.

[Mike_E]

WOII BMS I think should be WOII BSM - Warrant Officer 2nd Class, Battery Sergeant-Major
Can't think of another rank that fits.

Must admit I've never heard of a warrant sergeant.

Yup, I can't type for toffee, should have been BSM.

[Forrest Anderson]

I've been going through my Dads army records and picking out the interesting stuff to add as facts on his record in the Family tree, but one promotion is to W/Sgt. I've never heard of this before.

he has all the usual, Gunner (he was in the RA), Bombadier, Corporal, Sgt, then this W/Sgt, then WO, WOII BMS.

This may well be Wheeler Sergeant, which was one of the many appointments listed in King's Regulations that could be held by Sergeants. Wheelers originally made wheels, and was a very old trade in the Royal Artillery. It was also used in the Army Service Corps, and you could also get Wheeler (with the rank of Private), Wheeler Corporal, Wheeler Quartermaster Sergeant etc.

For an example of a Wheeler Sergeant - in this case written as Sergeant (Wheeler) - see http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=476975 for James Thomas Power of the RFA who died in WW1.

Forrest

[mack]

I've been going through my Dads army records and picking out the interesting stuff to add as facts on his record in the Family tree, but one promotion is to W/Sgt. I've never heard of this before.

he has all the usual, Gunner (he was in the RA), Bombadier, Corporal, Sgt, then this W/Sgt, then WO, WOII BMS.

Any Idea's? It's not poor writting either, it's as clear as day on a few documents.
the W stands for WAR,hes a war sergeant,the government were worried that they may be stuck with thousands of unwanted sergeants who may want to stay in the army after the war ended,so they used the W/SGT as a reference to state that hes only in for the duration of the war.
mack

[Mike_E]

the W stands for WAR,hes a war sergeant,the government were worried that they may be stuck with thousands of unwanted sergeants who may want to stay in the army after the war ended,so they used the W/SGT as a reference to state that hes only in for the duration of the war.
mack

Good catch there, I've been back through the records and the dates all tie in with what you say.

He is shown as W/Sgt up to late 46 when he is discharged, and then when he joins up again in 50 he has to do basic training all over again!, but gets promoted double quick time back up to Sgt.

[Blenkey]

Hi

new to this site but was looking for my relatives on Ancestry.co.uk and was searching ww1 records. One of my relatives was listed as Wheeler Sgt, and was a wheelwright in civilian life before going to war. Hope this helps