Sixteen members of the two contingents were commissioned, including the Sergeant-Major of the First Contingent, Colour-Sergeant R. C. Earl, who would become Commanding Officer of the BVRC after the war. Some of those commissioned moved to other units in the process, including the Royal Flying Corps. In 1918, 1 Lincolns was withdrawn from France and sent to Ireland, to fight the army of the Irish Republic, declared in 1916.