Offence WOAS

[EeyoreSussex]

My grandfather has the following on his service record dated 18/4/42:

"Offence WOAS under Sect 40"

for which he was temporarily demoted from L/Cpl to Dvr (he was RASC).

I understand WOAS = whilst on active service. I guess this was a fairly minor contravention; Can anyone shed any light on what he may have done?

[ainslie]

Section 40 of the Army Act covered anything not dealt with elsewhere, from having a button undone to being late on parade.   I seem to remember the words "contrary to good order and military discipline".  In other words they got you if they wanted to.
You are right about WOAS.

[scrimnet]

L/Cpl... The hardest one to get....The easiest to lose

 

[EeyoreSussex]

Thanks Ainslie, I suspected it would be very general but at least I can stop wondering 

Fortunately he didn't lose his rank for long, 3 months.

[urgr82]

Hallo Eeyore,
                      I don't know if you have had any help with your WOAS query.
Section 40 of the Army Act is a catch all section concerning "conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline."  The original charge sheet would have read "LCpl Eeyore is charged with conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline while on active service in that he did on 18th April 1942................ "  The dots of course are what interest  you the most but it is most unlikely the original charge sheet would have been retained;  simply the fact that he was charged and demoted.  Here are some suggestions:
.......... was absent without leave.
.........  was drunk on duty."
........... asleep at his post."
........... failed to report for duty when rostered."

It would not have been very serious because that would have led to a court martial but being demoted is not entirely trivial either, especially Woas.

Cheers urgr82

[EeyoreSussex]

Thanks Urgr82.

It's a shame there is no record of the charge. My grandad mentioned an incident where his superior officer tried to grab my grandad's rifle from under a tent, trying to test if grandad was asleep on sentry duty. Grandad apparently slapped/trod on his hand!! He said he got into trouble but never mentioned a charge - or a demotion  .

We only discovered the charge when I got his service record after he died. I would love to have confirmed if this was the incident he was charged for.

[James Tristen Carver]

Hello,

My great grandfather was tried under court martial and dismissed from the army in April 1944 for:
1 charge under section 16 A.A.
3 charges under section 41 A.A.

Does anyone know what these offences would have been?

[ShaunJ]

Welcome to Rootschat, James.

I think these will be references to sections of the Army Act 1881:

Section 16: https://archive.org/details/manualofmilitary00greauoft/page/282

Section 41: https://archive.org/details/manualofmilitary00greauoft/page/298

[Kiltpin]

Welcome to Rootschat, James.

I think these will be references to sections of the Army Act 1881:

Section 16: https://archive.org/details/manualofmilitary00greauoft/page/282

Section 41: https://archive.org/details/manualofmilitary00greauoft/page/298

 

Thanks for the links, Shaun - nice addition to the library. 

Regards 

Chas