Quote:
Originally Posted by Toby Purcell
NB. I am still looking for the Acting Corporal reference and I don't know if it is correct, but it wouldn't be that much of an aberration. The use of Acting as a term was common at that time and used in such cases as Acting Bombardier and Acting Second Corporal. In each of these latter cases it was to mark out the man who was appointed rather than promoted and whose substantive rank was Gunner (RA), Sapper (RE), or Private (ASC).
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Interlude
I worked in a hospital operating theatre as a "Senior" practitioner (different coloured theatre hat) , junior doctors could easily identify who was "experienced" when they needed assistance. The hospital decided (in the name of equality) that there should be no difference between all the practitioners , so the title ...and hat disappeared . New doctors had no idea if their "assistant" had years of experience or was newly qualified !
Perhaps the use of the grenade was to differentiate (for new officers/men) between a "substansive" Corporal (old sweat) and an "appointed" (inexperienced) one who could have his stripes removed at any time.
It may also have been a bit of "snobbery" from those who felt they had "earned their stripes" as opposed to those who were "given" them.