I have no military experience to say one thing or the other on this
topic but in George MacDonald Fraser's story, "McAuslan in the
Rough" (set in the late 1940s) may be found the following:
"The R.S.M. climbed out heavily and gave me his slight
smile. 'Thank you, sir, for a most enjoyable partnership; a very
satisfactory concluding putt, if I may say so.'
'Major,' I said - my emotion and admiration were such that I
had slipped into the old ranker's form of address - 'any infant could
have holed it. But that bunker shot - man, that was incredible'".
Regards
John Drouot
On 7 Feb 2003 at 13:26, John Radcliffe wrote:
>
> Dear Michael
>
> Many thanks. Most useful.
>
> On my limited military experience as an RAsubaltern many years ago, I would have thought that
> 'Major' would be an odd form of address used by a Sergeant to a TSM. I would have expected him
> to say 'Sarnt Major' or 'Mr Keyte'.
>
> Odd too if RK got it wrong though !
>
> All good wishes, John R
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: m.jefferson
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Friday, February 07, 2003 12:42 PM
> Subject: Fw: Troop Sergeant Majors - Addressing of
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: m.jefferson <[log in to unmask]>
> To: John Radcliffe <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Friday, February 07, 2003 7:57 AM
> Subject: Fw: Troop Sergeant Majors - Addressing of
>
> Dear John
> I sought an answer to your query from an old friend (a long serving Army man - now aretired Brigadier)who
> should know about these matters. Here is is response:
> -----Original Message-----
> To: Michael Jefferson
> Date: Thursday, February 06, 2003 6:27 PM
> Subject: Troop Sergeant Majors - Addressing of
>
> Dear Michael,
> My experience in this matter matches your own."Sir" or "Sar' Major" (as it was generally mouthed).
> I found this to be the case for all WO2s, but I have to say that I have been unable to find anything
> to prove that that was the case in the 1860's and 70's. However, the army being a conservative
> lot, it is hard to imagine that the practice has changed over the years.
> I have only one reservation, and that would be the case of Corporal Majors in the Household
> Cavalry. I have not a clue as to how they would have been addressed in 1860 though, with the
> rank ofMajor existing then as now, it seems to me unlikely that a Warrant Officer would have ever
> been addressed as "Major". The Guards being quite proper in such matters, my guess is that a
> Corporal Major would get his full title.
> Hope this helps in some small way. Sorry I can't be totally categorical.
>
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