제1차 세계대전기 영국육군 장교단의 양적 팽창과 인적(人的) 재편성 (The Expansion of the Officer Corps of the British Armyand Its ‘turnover’ Process)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국서양사학회
· 수록지 정보 : 서양사론 / 104호 / 275 ~ 310페이지
· 저자명 : 강창부

초록

This research aims at presenting an analytical outline of the exceptional expansion of the officer corps of the British Army and of the scale of its officer casualties in the First World War. In addition, it describes how infantry battalions in the front line underwent the ‘turnover’ process in their officer strengths. Ultimately, It critically assess how much is it valid to find out a critical reason of high casualties in officers-in particular, in subalterns-from a supposed claim of the continuous deterioration of their qualities as officers. The official statistical documents issued by the War Office in regard to the British war efforts, officers’ service records at the National Archives, Kew, Army Lists, and War Diaries have been consulted as major primary sources for this research.
Carrying out the War, the officer corps of the British Army was transformed into a gigantic organization, expanding its size more than nine times in comparison to that at the outbreak of the War. The massive expansion of the Army, indispensable to carry out a war dragged on for more than four years, and high casualties among officers-in particular junior ones-forced the officer corps to open its door even to men who, in normal circumstances, might never have contemplated seeking a commission. Nearly 93 per cent of those commissioned during the course of the War were ‘temporary officers’ or ‘temporary gentlemen’ commissioned to serve for the duration of the War only. Approximate 14.6 per cent of officers who served with the British Army during the war lost their lives. In major infantry regiments, around 73-74 per cent of officers whose deaths took place before the day of the Armistice were killed in action and nearly 75 per cent of death casualties were subalterns. Meanwhile, officers became casualties in the ratio of 1:23.9 in comparison to other ranks in the infantry of the Regular and Territorial Forces in France.
The first year since their commissions was the period during which subalterns were exposed to the highest possibilities to become casualties. In the case of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, over 52 per cent of officers whose deaths occurred while carrying out operations were killed within the first year of their careers as officers. However, the myth of ‘three-week subalterns or pilots’ was a serious exaggeration of the real experience of junior officers. On the contrary to the myth arguing that the life expectation of an infantry subaltern in the front-line or a fighter pilot was no more than three weeks, the life expectation of killed officers in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment was l year 2 months. More importantly, officers whose deaths took place within first month of their commissions already had a fair amount of military experience rather than being sheer green hands at military duties. High casualties among junior officers were rather an expected result of their duties and roles accompanying the highest risk of being casualties than a cumulative effect of their inefficiencies, and inexperiences. The increase in the numbers of battle casualties among officers during the later stage of the war was rather a reflection of multiple factors, such as the increased scale and frequency of military operations and the massive expansion of the wartime officer corps than that of the deteriorated qualities of wartime officers.

영어초록

This research aims at presenting an analytical outline of the exceptional expansion of the officer corps of the British Army and of the scale of its officer casualties in the First World War. In addition, it describes how infantry battalions in the front line underwent the ‘turnover’ process in their officer strengths. Ultimately, It critically assess how much is it valid to find out a critical reason of high casualties in officers-in particular, in subalterns-from a supposed claim of the continuous deterioration of their qualities as officers. The official statistical documents issued by the War Office in regard to the British war efforts, officers’ service records at the National Archives, Kew, Army Lists, and War Diaries have been consulted as major primary sources for this research.
Carrying out the War, the officer corps of the British Army was transformed into a gigantic organization, expanding its size more than nine times in comparison to that at the outbreak of the War. The massive expansion of the Army, indispensable to carry out a war dragged on for more than four years, and high casualties among officers-in particular junior ones-forced the officer corps to open its door even to men who, in normal circumstances, might never have contemplated seeking a commission. Nearly 93 per cent of those commissioned during the course of the War were ‘temporary officers’ or ‘temporary gentlemen’ commissioned to serve for the duration of the War only. Approximate 14.6 per cent of officers who served with the British Army during the war lost their lives. In major infantry regiments, around 73-74 per cent of officers whose deaths took place before the day of the Armistice were killed in action and nearly 75 per cent of death casualties were subalterns. Meanwhile, officers became casualties in the ratio of 1:23.9 in comparison to other ranks in the infantry of the Regular and Territorial Forces in France.
The first year since their commissions was the period during which subalterns were exposed to the highest possibilities to become casualties. In the case of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, over 52 per cent of officers whose deaths occurred while carrying out operations were killed within the first year of their careers as officers. However, the myth of ‘three-week subalterns or pilots’ was a serious exaggeration of the real experience of junior officers. On the contrary to the myth arguing that the life expectation of an infantry subaltern in the front-line or a fighter pilot was no more than three weeks, the life expectation of killed officers in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment was l year 2 months. More importantly, officers whose deaths took place within first month of their commissions already had a fair amount of military experience rather than being sheer green hands at military duties. High casualties among junior officers were rather an expected result of their duties and roles accompanying the highest risk of being casualties than a cumulative effect of their inefficiencies, and inexperiences. The increase in the numbers of battle casualties among officers during the later stage of the war was rather a reflection of multiple factors, such as the increased scale and frequency of military operations and the massive expansion of the wartime officer corps than that of the deteriorated qualities of wartime officers.

참고자료

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