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Temporary Gentlemen: The Masculinity Of Lower-Middle-Class Temporary British Officers In The First World War, Magdalena J. Hentel

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

During the First World War, the high mortality rate of officers led to an officer shortage. This, in turn, resulted in the Army promoting officers from the ranks rather than drawing on the traditional supply of upper-middle-class, public-school-educated officers, giving lower-middle-class men the opportunity to obtain temporary commissions. In an effort to standardize the process of granting commissions to rankers, the Army created Officer Cadet Battalions, which offered a four-month crash course in the art of being an officer to candidates recommended by their commanding officer in the field. Drawing on letters, memoirs (published and unpublished), oral interviews as well …