Between the devil and the deep blue sea - University of Canterbury

- 340-
with secondary school qualifications as sergeants and corporals?5 He also managed in May
1917 to enact another law allowing High Command to select soldiers for officer training,
whether commissioned or not, as long as the country was at war or on a war footing. 26
Although the two laws improved the potential pool from which officers were chosen,
promotion ofNCOs weakened command at a lower level?7 High Command also forced
many newly-conscripted men into officer training camps, often against their will, which had
the dangerous consequence of creating reluctant officers. 28 These policies rarely added
. quality to the Army's leadership. Nevertheless, it allowed Snijders to suggest to the
Minister of War in 1918, that extraordinary leave quotas for NCOs should be extended
beyond the 20 per cent mark set in 1916. 29
The officer corps doubled in size during the war: there were 3,967 commissioned
and 30,177 NCOs mobilised in August 1914; these numbers rose to 8,538 and 63,180
respectively by the end of 1917. 30 The increases were absolutely necessary because the total
size of the armed forces also more than doubled - from around 200,000 men in August
1914 to just over 400,000 by the end 1917. 31 Most of the newly-trained officers, however,
replaced existing officers, who went on leave alongside their troops, to be called up when
their units were remobilised. 32 Instead of augmenting numbers and fixing the inadequacies
that existed before mobilisation, the replacement officers only exacerbated the deficiencies
since, on the whole, they lacked the necessary skills for the maintenance of discipline and
effective command. At no stage during the war, therefore, did supply meet demand.
25 Staatsblad. no. 21, 2 February 1912.
26 Staatsblad. no. 411, 23 May 1917.
27 Commander ofthe Field Army, 28 February 1917, in Staatscommissie, Waarnemingen bi} de Gemobiliseerde
Landmachtp.100.
28 Jong, Notities van een landstormman pp. 26 - 27.
29 Commander-in-Chiefto Minister of War, May 1918, in ARA, "Archieven van de Generale Staf' entry no. 2.13.70,
inventory no. 808.
30 Minister of War, "Nota omtrent hetgeen sedert den aanvang der mobilisatie van het leger is gedaan om de
gevechtswaarde en de uitrusting hiervan te verhoogen" [Note regarding what has been done since the start of the
mobilisation to increase the fighting strength and outfitting of the Army] 16 January 1918, in ARA, "Archieven van
de Generale Staf' entry no. 2.13.70, inventory no. 705. These figures are comparable to ones quoted by F. Snapper
("Enige Sterktecijfers" p. 87) for 14 October 1918: 8,531 commissioned and 68,783 NCO's.
31 Minister of War, "Nota omtrent hetgeen sedert den aanvang der mobilisatie van het leger is gedaan om de
gevechtswaarde en de uitrusting hiervan te verhoogen" 16 January 1918, in ARA, "Archieven van de Generale Staf'
entry no. 2.13.70, inventory no. 705. For the numbers in 1914, see: fu 140, Chapter 3.
32 Minister of War to Commander-in-Chief, 5 June 1916, in ARA, "Archieven van de Generale Staf' entry no.
2.l3.70, inventory no. 407.