Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonofacqms
Jo,
. . . that time many serving men were hoping to get "a Blighty one" to get sent back to England, if they had known you had to steal whatever to get a discharge how much easier.
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From reading between the lines of his CEF attestation form, Vizard wasn't in long enough to be bothered with. While he went through the recruiting process (e.g. the medical examination) in January 1915, his form was signed by the Commanding Officer 10th CMR on 23 March 1915. The 10th CMR was officially raised on 10 March 1915. The notation on his attestation form that he was discharged for theft is dated 26 April 1915, barely enough time to get issued kit, let alone be trained and sent overseas. Why keep a trouble maker when they were probably not having much difficulty in finding recruits at that stage of the war?
On one of the attestation forms of
his Australian military records (go to page 5), he indicated that (in addition to his "service" in the CEF) he had also spent three years in the 27th US Cavalry in Manila and Honolulu; he claimed that his Canadian service was two years with the 20th C.A.S.C. and reason for leaving was "disbanded". I suppose in the days before the ability to check records internationally, a man's word was taken at face value. Perhaps it was his "military experience" that gained him an almost immediate promotion to QM Sergeant. Of course, Sgt Vizard was reverted to his permanent rank of Pte (page 9) for the crimes of AWL and conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline.