§ 25. Captain LOSEBYasked the Secretary of State for War whether any temporary promotions of officers serving with the Armies of Occupation have been made under the provisions of Army Order 286 of 1919; and, if not, whether it is intended to make any such temporary promotions.
§ Mr. CHURCHILLIt is not now proposed to make any temporary promotions under the Army Order mentioned. In order to make such promotions, it would be necessary to withdraw the grant of acting rank to officers serving with units of the Armies of Occupation. As personnel is continually changing and units are rapidly disappearing, acting appointments are more suitable to the requirements of the Armies of Occupation than the more permanent system of temporary promotion. Acting rank gives the rank to the individual on the spot performing the duties of the higher rank, while temporary promotion would be by seniority on a regimental or corps roster; e.g., a vacancy in a battalion on the Rhine might have to be filled by the promotion and transfer to the Rhine of the next senior officer on the roster, who might be serving in Mesopotamia.