Asked about those who had left the ranks of officership, William Booth claimed that, “We remain in sympathetic and friendly relations with the great bulk of them … a large proportion – in this country nine out of ten – remain with us, engaged in some voluntary effort in our ranks.”[2] The seriousness with which such lapses were viewed is evidenced however by the frequency of cautionary articles in Army publications, usually in the form of letters from ex-officers. In his Servants of All, Bramwell Booth quotes three such letters, one from an officer who was tempted to give up but hadn’t done so, and two from people who had resigned – one to become a soldier again while the other had “become a castaway”.[3] At least nineteen contributions on this subject were printed in The Officer and The Field Officer between 1894 and 1917. These ranged from short letters like the “confession by an ex-officer” which concluded with a call for “life-long endurance”[4] to two-part articles like that by the General on “Conservation of Officers”.[5] Putting one’s hand to the plough and then turning back was considered a serious matter and a cause for great anxiety.
Fortunately some saw the errors of their ways and returned – an editorial writer in 1900 observed that, “it must be gratifying to the General and Field Officers alike that the year now closing has been marked by the return of a larger number of ex-officers to the ranks, in different capacities, than has any previous period of our history.”[6] The actual numbers were not given however.
An earlier issue shared that Brigadier Miles, after resigning and going to take work in America, has given up that work and come back again to the Army, expressing his deep sorrow for having, in a fit of depression and discouragement, left its ranks. He has been re-accepted, with the rank of Major, and is in charge of a Division. His advice to people who think they can be happier or better off under any other flag is that it is all a lie of the devil, and that they should stick to the Yellow, Red, and Blue. Ex-Commissioner Adams has also returned to the fold. He has acknowledged his sins and unfaithfulness, and confessed, with tears, to have wrongly done and said many things against the Army, its leaders, and his comrades, which he now regrets and acknowledges to have been untrue. He is re-accepted, with the rank of Captain. Pray for him.[7]
Evidently the higher they climbed, the further they fell. Too delightful to omit is the following:
We regret to report the resignation of Colonel Boon. He has left the Army with a view to joining the Independent Labour Party, in the hopes of securing by direct political agitation and law reform the results which we believe can best and indeed only be achieved by salvation. We can only say that we believe our comrade has made a fatal mistake, which he will regret both in time and in eternity… Who can doubt that a drunkard-saving, slum-visiting, people-converting F.O. ranks far higher in the Heavenly scales than any M.P. in the land.[8]
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