Were field promotions in this manner common in WWI within the Commonwealth? My impression is that bravery and leadership ability are mutually exclusive traits and that acts of bravery wouldn’t necessarily mean that a brave solider is a competent leader. An additional question: at one point in the series the platoon sergeant was promoted to a lieutenant. I understand the need to fill positions of authority due to the lack of available junior officers but was it normal for an NCO to be promoted to an officer, given that officers were generally commissioned due to their social hierarchy as opposed to ability at that time?
It wasn’t uncommon for soldiers to be promoted for acts of bravery as it could often be interpreted as displaying initiative. It could of course also be interpreted as showing reckless disregard for one’s safety so consideration needed to be given to each circumstance. What such acts often did do was elevate a soldier in the eyes of his comrades who may come to respect him more. Respect was essential for a good leader so citations and awards for bravery often went hand in hand with promotion. The example given of Tolly from the mini-series somewhat resembles that of Albert Jacka, the first Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross. Jacka enlisted as a private and landed at Gallipoli the day after the initial invasion. The following month, Private Jacka singlehandedly killed seven Turkish soldiers occupying a section of Australian trench and held the trench by himself overnight. For this he was awarded the VC. From august through to November, Jacka was promoted three times, corporal to sergeant to company sergeant major. After the evacuation from Gallipoli, Jacka underwent officer training in Egypt and received a commission as a Second Lieutenant. This was also a period when the Australian Imperial Force underwent a major expansion, from two to five divisions. This meant there was a need for experienced junior officers in the new units.
By July 1916, Jacka’s division had arrived in France and on 23 July went into action at Pozieres. During this battle, Jacka was in a dug out with some of his men when two Germans threw grenades in. The detonations killedntomwo men and left the rest, including Jacka, dazed. Emerging from the dug out, Jacka saw a group of Germans herding about forty Australian POWs away. With seven of his men, Jacka charged the Germans, engaging them in hand to hand combat. He was personally credited with killing at least twelve of the enemy and he and his men captured about fifty more and freed the prisoners. Jacka suffered seven wounds and was recommended for the Distinguished Service Order but received the Military Cross instead. The following year he was promoted to Captain and was awarded a bar to his Military Cross for actions he performed at Bullecourt.
Jacka was an exceptional individual and clearly had an aptitude for soldiering and for leadership making him a likely candidate for promotion. I didn’t get the same impression with Tolly in the show. He was obviously well liked and he showed himself to be brave on a number of occasions but never really displayed aptitude as a leader. Likely, his promotion was due to him being a reliable soldier and someone the Sergeant (eventually lieutenant) could depend upon to relay orders and to keep his men in order during a crisis.