8/10/2019 1939 Summer

1/25

The Royal rmy ay Corps Journal

Vo . V . No. 34

EDITORIAL NOTES.

Command Pay O ffice ,Aldershot, Hants.

June, 19 39 Machines ma y come and machines may

go bl1t th e o ~ p sgoes on-\ \"orking-forever

*

I t h as become increasin g ly difficult in thepast fe\\ ' iss ues to avoid the O \ e r - u s e c ~word

risis and it ma y b e as ,,ell to cap tula teimmediatel y to ons ription and then havedone , , ith ' it for ever. The int el: nationalviews on this subject may be left to otherauthorities, and in a n y case o ur o, , ' nthou o ht s more closely r ese mble th o se of th e

' 1 .proverb ial camel regarding the 1.1 t1mat estra \ .

' * .:u.. ..This number ap pears at th e same time as

a number of other ne,, arrivals in o ur midst,and i t is hope(l that our ne,, r eaders 1I1a y

become sub sc r ib e rs and folIo,, th e e\ 'e nt stakin g place throu g hout th e Corps by themedium of the se pages.

* *

The Dail y Press and the Wireless stationshave already introduced u s to the formationof a Territorial branch of the Corps and itappears certain that the r esponse to thisappeal " 'ill i)rove sa tisfactory.

* * *In this iss ue appears, for the first time ,

notes from yet another ne",: station in Readin g. The change from the old s n r r o l l n d i ng ~is a g rea t improvement.

* * *The prize for the best cartoon submitted

goes to Lance Sergea nt E . Deele y to \\1'10111a cheque for t e n shillin g s and s ixpenc e hasbeen fo rward e d.

* *

For the n ex t competition the Editors \yillaward a pri%e of ten shillin gs and s ixpence

for the best constructive criticism of th e"Journal" r ece iv ed before go in g to print forthe All t11l1ln iss ll e.

9.

Summer, 1 9 39

The annual dinner of th e O ld Comrades'Association at Thames House in Aprilixo \ed a great success and \"as at.tended bya la r ge and r eprese ntati ve gat henn g.

ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS,TER R I T O RI AL A R MY .

. It has been ' decided to rais e a detachmentof the Royal Army Pa y Corps as part ofth e Terri toria 1 Army.

This is a departure from precedent, as theR .A. P.C. has never previously enjoyed thedistinction of havin g a Territorial Branc hof its m\ 11. Such a step ,, 'as inevitable sinceth e expansion of the combatant arms of theArmy thre,, increasingly hea vy burdensupon the shoulders of this les s spectacu larbut equally esse ntial administrative service.

The Royal Army Pay Corps, Territoria lArmy, ,, ill be organized in seven detachments based on vVarley, Hounslow, Barnet,Leith, Preston, Readin g and York . Eachdetachment \\ill consist of eight officers(commissioned as Lieut e nants) and eightyOther Ranks, enlisted as privates.

The nsual conditions of the TerritorialArmy ,, ill apply, except that the aKe limitsfor officers are between thir ty and forty,and for other ranks, the y are thir t y-eightand fifty -fom . Promotion will be rapid inthe R.A.P .C. (T.A.) , particularly in thecase of the other ranks. Thev vl ill beeli g ible fo r a corpora l 's stripes a f t ~r a year'sservic e; t, , o years later they can achie\ e theappointment of lance-ser gea nt : ye t a further

three years ,,ill see them attain the dignit yof sergeant. Thereafter, they illbe on allfours with th e re g u lars i f and when theyare called up on to serve on embodiment.

As to training, the usual drills andAnnua l Training are i-equired, blit thetimes en th e e are performed can be madela r ge ly th e subject of mutual arra n ge mentsbet\\'een th e indi, ' idual and th e Commanding O ffic e r .

The type required is the ke en, alert, int e lli gen t man ,, i'th office and some account

in g experjence. M en be:lo,, the age limits\\'ill be accepted if th ey are physically l1n:fitfor o th er branches of the se lTice .

8/10/2019 1939 Summer

2/25

T H E ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JO U RNAL

Applications for commission should in thefirst instance be addressed to the follo\\lm g: -O.C. Detachrnent Ro ya l Army Pa y C o r p s

Infantr y Record and Pa y O ffice,Hounsl o \\.

O.C. Detachment Ro ya l Army Pa y C o r p sInfantr y Record and Pay Office, Leith .

O .C. Detachment Royal Army Pay C o r p sInfantr y Record and Pay O ffi.ce,Preston.

O.C . Detachment Ro ya l Army Pay C o r p sInfantr y Record and Pa y O ffice, York.

O.C. Detachment Royal Army Pay Corps-

Army Pay Office, Barnet.O.C. Detachment Ro ya l Army Pay C o r p sArmy Pay Office, Warle y.

O.C. Detachment Royal Army Pay C o r p sRoyal Corps of Signals, Record and

Pay Office, Caversham, Reading.And particulars of enlistment for otherranks may be obtained f rom the Secretariesof the follo\ ,vin g County Associations of theTerritorial A r m y :

Middlesex-20, Grosvenor Gardens, S. W. I .Hertfordshire-Drill Hall, Hertford.Edinburgh ( City of) - 8, Wemyss Place,

Edinbur g h, 3.West Lanca sh i r e -St . George 's Building-,

Lime Street, Liverpool . I. - .Berkshire--Yeomanry House, Castle Hill,

Rea .din g.Essex - Market Road, Chelmsford.\Vest Ridin g of Yorksh ire -g , S t .

Leonard ' s, York.

W HEN ON HOLIDAY - AT THESEASIDE -

A n Appeal for Bi rd sBy C olo nel W. ]. H . BILDERBECK, O.B .E .

H ow very often when walking along th e seashoredo we come across the remains of some d eadseabird and on examination find that the death of

the poor creature has I.:een primarily due to the o ilthat one sees floating on the surface of th e sea ? Thi soil has saturated the bird 's feathers and wings andprevented it from being able to rise off th e surfaceof the water. Then rough weather has come and thehelple ss bird has simply been buffeted about untilexhausted and drowned-only to be washed up ashore,the object o f a sad and tragic fat e.

Sometimes, how ever, one comes across a live anddisabled seabird in this oily state either swimmingabout on the surface of the sea whilst o ne is bathingor boating , or flappin g a bo ut on the fores hore when

50

o ne happens to be paddlin g or s tr ollin g along thebeach.

As summer h olidays are about to commence, thislittle ar.ticle is written with a view to a n appeal toreaders, and especia lly their youngsters , who may comeacross s uch disabled birds and to offer suggestionshow they might poss ibly help th ese creatures out oftheir distress.

I can do thi s in n o better way than t o relate a t rues tory of fact. Thi s is a case in which a youngGuillem o t was found in th e d is t re s s in ~ condition described above. Hi s breast , wing tip s and f ee t werecoated with thick black waste oil f ro m ships. He hadbeen makin g frantic effo rts to scrape the filth fromhis plumage but had o nly succeeded in ge ttin g himse lf nearly choked with it. Th e orocess of cleanin ghim had to be done by his rescuers with great care,as he was n ea rl y dying of ex hausti on , and althougha ll skin and b ones, he refused the raw fish offeredhim.

The oil was go t o ff his wing feathers with petrol,but as this method is not good when applied to theskin, lard and then soap and water were used for hisunderparts . Cauti o us clipping of the thicker oiledfeathers o n the lower br eas t, and under the tail wereresorted to. (This needs to be d one very carefullyindeed, and the wings under no circumstance s mustbe clipped .)

Thi s bird was very ill for over a wee k and l ycuddled agai nst a hotwater bottle wh;ch was swathedin many thicknesses of towel and placed in a box . T h ewarm th of the ho tw ater bottl e melted o ff what oilwas left o n th e bird, and kept hi s circulation going.He was forcib ly fed with smaU quantities of rawfish. Aft er a while hi s strength returned, he left hisbox and bega n to pa tter about the fl oor ask ing formore fish, which was given him in strips over ha lfan inch wide and four to five inch es long . These hewould tak e in his beak , shake as h e would a livefish , and then swa llow the thicker end foremost.

When he patter ed abo ut he did so in an uprightposition just like a littl e man in a white waistcoatand bl ack tail coat, g ivin g little gr unt s as requestsfor more fish.

This part icular bird b ecame most friendly and fo llowe

8/10/2019 1939 Summer

3/25

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JO U RNAL

tion. In the end we , ;vere beaten by thenarro w ma r g in of 7 holes to 3, which, considering the opposition, may be counted asthe best effort that ha 's ever been put up byan R.A.P .C. team since the Corps firstentered for thi s Cup seven yea rs ago.Actuall y there was a period durin g thematch w hen it appeared that mir acl es mighthappen. Stanham, ,;vith 7 holes played washa n g in g on to hi s lead of I on Wood . Beauchamp , playing perfect golf, was four upon the g unner first string-Macfarlane.Thompson 'as holdin g Barrov v, and Bedna11 had taken the first t wo holes fromHornb y. But the -tide g raduall y turn ed

Stanham end ed w ith a lead of t w o up o ~Wood, but Macfarlane, fi g hting grimly allthe w ay home , managed to get 3 holes backfrom Beauchamp, Thompson w as neverquite able to g et ahead of Barro w but thesaviour of the Gunner side was 'Hornby ,w ho, after a shaky first two holes proceededto reel off par fi g ures for the rest of theround .

Our 2nd Team, having drawn a bye inthe first round, met the Rifle Bri g ade in thenext. Each member of the Team met arifleman w ith a lowe r handicap than hims e ~ fand the y are to be con g ratulated on the~ x c e l l e n tshow the y put up. Carter, playmg top man, found himself up aga inst A . C.Gore, who wo n the Army Championship in1926, and unfortunately for Carter, pla y edchampion's golf against him. Noel-Clarke,H . a m i l ~ o nand Garratt all had opponentsWIth sm g le figure handicaps so that the results given below will speak for themsel ves .

Royal Artillery .C aptain ]. K

M acfarlane 0

Maj or ] . M. D. W oo d 0

M a jor A . H . H ornby 4Major R. Barr ow 3

7

Th e Rifle Bri ga de.

M a jo r A. C. G o re 9Major W. P . S. Curtis 2Lieut.C o l. C. B . A.

H os kyns 1C a pt. L. 1. T. Wh i t a ker 3

15

R.A .P .C.Fir st T eam. )

Capt. H. R. Be a uchamp 1Li e ut . -C ol R. G .

Stanh am 2Li e ut. -Col. C. N .Bedn all 0

C apt. R. C. Th o mp so n 0

3

R.A .P.C.Sec on T eam .)

Capt. D . G . Cart er 0Capt. R. E . N oe l -Clark e 0

Capt. A . R . H a mil t o n 0M a jor O . D . Garratt 0

o

5

Ma t c h es.

v. ~ o y a Army Cha p la in s De p t. playedat the North Hant s Golf Club, Fl e e t, on 2ndMay, 1939.

SINGLES.

Lt .-C o l. R. G. Stanham 12 The R evd. B . K . B o nd 0C a pt. R. C. Th o mps on 3 The Revd T. W. Heale 0,Capt . A . R . H a milt on 4 The R ev d. H . R . N or ton 0 ,Capt. C. ]. D ay 0 The Revd . W . P. C o le 12Maj . G en . A . I. Muss on 0 The Revd . H. T. T ovey 9C a p t . W . H . Thi es 2 The Revd . R . H. Be a ttie 0 '

21 21

FOURSOMES .St a nham a nd Muss o nThompson and Thie sH a milt o n and D ay

o Bond a nd H ea le5 Norton a nd Cole8 T ovey and Beat ti e

13

4oo4

This match was an extra match to ourannual fixture w ith the Chaplains, whichis pla y ed in the Autumn . The match waspla ye d by holes at the request of the Chaplains, and the Singles, which were p layedin the mornin g, finished all even with agood many hole s wo n by both sides . Fromthen on the Corps side had a really goodday; they were the g nests of the Chaplainsat lunch and, owing to the fact that padreTovey holed the loth hole in one stroke,were the g uests of this particular Chapla inbefore lunch . As a result of this they wentout in the afternoon full of c o n f i d e n c ~and

, to win the foursomes by 13 holes to 4-

v. ~ . A . S. C p la yed at West Hill on r r t hMay, 1939.

SINGLES.

Capt. H. R . Bea uch a mp tLt.-C ol. R. G . Stanh am

(4 2) 1C a pt. R . C. Th o mps on

(2 1)Lt.-C o l. C. N . Bedn a ll

( 2 1) 1

T. F . P . LawMaj . G. B . M ac d onald

Lt.-C o l. F . S . Cl over

M a j. H . J W a lchCol. ]. C. M . D ora n

1~

0

0.

0

C a pt . R . E. Noel Cl ar ke 0

Capt. A. R . H a milt on 0Maj . S. F . Ba rr a tt

( 2 up)C apt. C. B . R o bert so n

1

(3 1) 1C a pt. R . W . Shaw

Hamilt on (2 1) 1

(2 1)

C o l. H . W . P. St o kes

C ol. F. P. B a rn es

1

0

0

2t

THE ' ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JO URNAL

FOURSOMES .Be a uchamp a ndStanh a m

Th o mps on and BednallN oe l-Clarke andH amilt onBa rr a tt andSh aw -Hamilt on

Law a ndo Macd ona ld (1 up)

Cl over a ndo Walch ( 2 1)

D o ran ando Ro berts o n (3 I)t Stokes and Ba rn es

1

1

Bea uchamp a ndStanh a m (5 3)Th omps on andBednall (5 4)Ncel-Clarke andG a rrattH amilt on a ndSh aw -Hamilt o n

FOURSOMES.

1 Mitchell and Pickth a ll 0C o ulthard and

1 Cra w ford 0

o Else and Butler (3 1) 1Brid ges and

o T a n ner (3 2) 12 2

Our AnnualMatch ag ainstour old andfriendliest of advers ari es isge n era ll y a ver yclos e affair andthis yea r provedno exce p tion t othe rule. T womatche s allthe mornin gfoursomes andthen a din gdon g battle inthe afternoonwhich res ulted

F o u r b a l lF ours omes we replayed them or l1ln g andaft er f our verycl ose struggles,thre e matcheswe re lost andone hal ve d. TheR.A. S.C. hadturned out as t r 0 n g sidewhich we re ledby th e rei g nin gArmy champi on

To n y La\\ ' ,so that th e s itua ion appearedr a ther hopel ess .but once againthe Corps sid e

~ ~ ~ r r~ : : 2 ~ : : : 2 2 ~ t : : : : :~ ~ : : : :~ in the R.A. O.C .' defeatin g us by

R . A.P.C. V . R . A.M.C. AT WENTWORTH G.c. exactl y the samemar g in as that

\\ 'hich ve scored aO'ainst them last y ear.M itcheIl holin g the la st 9 holes in 3Sstrokes beat Beallchamp on the r 8 th Greenafter th e latter' s la s t putt had go neinto the hole and out . Rather similar

might have beens happened to the diss o l ~ e d parhler s of the sing le and doubleHamilton firm . Bednall ,;vas playing winnin g go lf all day. Stanham and Thompsonhad both assimilated the doctrin es of SamSnead to goo d effect . Noe l-C larke (on aCourse at Aldershot) found he was concentratin g rnore on A.B.64s, than Dunlop 65s,an d Garratt possibly had the top fli g ht ofa Whitehall building more in his mind thanthe one he was usin g on the Course.

proved them se lve s to be goo d lunchersand in the afternoon mana ged, aft e r man yexc itements, t o r ega in the g round los t in th em o rnin g and finish all sq uare . Bea uchampat 3 down and 4 t o play aga in s t La Y ,mana ge d t o ho le a chip shot at the 15th andperform other mir acl es to finish all sq uar e.S tanham had a day out and was le ve l fourswhen he bea t hi s oppo nent on the 16thg reen , and the old hand Ba n 'a tt and th enew boy, Sha\\,-Hamilton\ Nagged their respective tails with exce llent results .

v. ~ . O . C . at Camberley Heath on 18 thMay, 1939.

SINGLES.

C a pt. H . R . Be a uch a mp 0Lt.-C o l. R . G . Stanh a m

(3 1) 1Capt. R. C. Th omps on

(3 1) 1Lt .-Col. C. N . Bed nall

(5 4) 1

Ca pt. R. E. N oel -Cl ar ke 0

M a j O. D . Garr at t 0Capt. A. R . H ami l ton 0C apt. R . W . Sh aw-

H a milt on t

Capt. H. S. Mitchell(1 up) 1

C o l. W . E. C. Pickth aH 0

E. J C o ulthard o

M a j G. R. Crawford 0Capt. F. H. Else

(5 4) JM a j. G. E. Butl e r

( 3 1 ) 1M . R. Brid ges ( 2 up) 1

M aj. W. T ann er 1 2

S3

v . ~ A M Cat the Wentworth Club overth e East Course on 30 th May, 1939.

This match result ed in a w in for the Corpsby 8 match es t o 4 .

Th e photograph of those takin g part inthe match appears on this page, but thedetails of the ga me s ha ve been held ove ra nd \ ill appear in th e next iss ue of the

Journal

8/10/2019 1939 Summer

4/25

8/10/2019 1939 Summer

5/25

T H E ROYAL AR l\; Y PAY CORPS J OU RNAL

As both Captain Malpass and Mr. Thotneobtained the sa me average during th es eason, it \\ 'as nece ssa ry that thes e t\yOmembers should shoot off for the Medal.The condit i on s of the shoot off were one5 Bt: ll S.M. R. C . Match Card, and o neMetnc Carel. The sco res made on th eformer Card were again the same, 98 each,so that it depend e d upon the scores madeon the Metric Card, and here Captain Malpass made 98 against the 96 of Mr. Th ome .

A nnu al Ge n eTa l Meeti n g.

Very little tim e ,y as available for th e

meetin g , a nd discussions on the Agenda hadto be g ive n up a nd the presentation of p ri zesonly takin g place . We were very pleasedto hear that Colonel W . J. H . Bilderbeck,O. B .E. , R.A.P.C., had kindl y consented tobe present to make these presentations. andit is to be r eg ret ted that only a fe w representat ives of Clubs ,yere there to ve lc omehim. Ho weve r we ,,,ish to thank him for~ i skindness and also for his very encoura gm g goo d words.

Clubs are being communicated w i th rega rdin g several points that should ha ve beenraised, and a lso on recommendations foralteration of so m e Rule s . .

Ow n Sta r t H an d icap .

This w as wo n by Corpl. J ohnston (Alders hot) w ho was the recipient of a small silvercup. Cpl. J o hn s t on had previously beenselected to represent Aldershot To wn in theAnnual In ter-T o,n l s h oo t and made a vervJgoo d score of 198 x 200 .

Shrewsbury had the exasperatino- experience of bein g beaten in each of five

b

matche s

by one point.Chatham 'A ' t oo k f our points from Alder

s hot 'A' .

Salisbury ' as th e only team to beat thechampions of the 2nd Division.

:Qes uIt s of all Competit ions h e ld duri ng theyea r .

Ch ampionJ . League D it 1sioll I-Aldershnt 'A ' .Runners up-Chatham 'A ' .Cha .mpions. League Di 1J Jion lI L ond on.Runn ers up-Chatham 'B' .T V ~ n ne r Le ague SiltJer Med ttl-Cap . H . H. M alp ass .W ~ n n e r Pf a l H arld cap o rp oral Johnst on .Wmners. T eem l Hat ch-Other Ra nks Team .

B e fore closin g these not-es, I wo uld like to say a fe,iV \vo rds to the Secretaries ofClubs. From all I have recei ve d every suppor t , consequently the work of the Committee has been made much li g hter and ag reater pleas.ure. I know that a Secretaryge ts many locks and fe w pats on the back,so I h ope the se fe w 'o rds will be acceptedas an encouragement for them to go all outnext year to even better thin gs and betterefforts. T o th e m embe rs of the Committee-S.Q.M.S. Pea s ly and Sergt . Cooper-bothof the A I ~ e r s h o toffice, I must say h ovvg reatl y theIr efforts ha v e assisted me and\\ 'ithout their hel p it is certainly p o ~ i t i v ethat only the L eag ue programme couldhave been held, so we all have them tothank for the help they have o iven ,yhichenabled addit ional competitions

b

to be h e ld .I hope .all raD:ks have a very enj oya b le

summer 111 vhIch to induJo-e in theirfavourite spor t, and that n ext Septemberth e y vvi ll be r eady and r e freshed to take upthe more so ber spor t of indoor rifle shooting.

To yo u all, a u Te voiT and thank yo u.

W. H . S .

F in a l League Ta bles for 1938- 1939 .

DIVISION 1.

Club F W. D . L Pts.Alder sho t N 16 14 2 28Chatham At 16 13 3 26

. Hi15e a A 16 12 4 24Ald ersh o t B 16 10 5 21Warwick A 16 8 8 16Egypt 16 6 9 13Perth A 16 5 11 10EdinburJ?h 16 2 14 4Y ork 16 1 15 2

Rele ga ted dinbur gh and York.Winner s of Shield and Silv er Meda ls.

tWinners of Bronze M eda ls.

DIVISION 11.

ClubA ~ ~

F W. D. L Pt s Pt s.Lond on ' 14 13 1 26Chatham B t 14 10 4 20Hilse a B 14 9 5 18 6459Warwick B 14 9 5 18 6397Salisbury 14 6 8 12 6301Shrewsbury 14 6 8 12 5830Perth B 14 3 11 6M alta 14 14 0

Pr om oted- Lc nd on and Chatham B.inners of Challenge Cup and Silver M edals.

tWinners of Bronz e Medal s.

T H E R OYAL ARMY PAY CO R P S JOURNAL

Royal rmy

Old Comrades

Pay Corps

ssociationMin utes of the E leve n t h Annua l Gene ral

Mee tin g held at T h ames HO ll se R.es t aura n t,Millbank, S.W .I. , at 6 p.m., on Fr iday,28t h April. 1939 .

Chainna.n Colonel]. C. Armstrong, C.B. ,C .M.G . , Col. Co md. Ro ya l Army Pa yCo rps.

I. The Chairman expr esse d his pleasure:at seeing the lar ge number present.

2. The H on. Sec r e tar y r ead the . notice.co nvenin g th e meetin g.

3. The minutes of the Tenth AnnualGeneral Meeting were rea d, confirmed, andsigned.

4 t \ as propose d by C o l ~ 1 1 e lO rmsb y]ohn so n , and seco nd ed by Ma jor GeneralRile y , that the Annual Reporh and Statement of Accounts for the yea r 193 8 / 39, bereceived and adopted. Carried unanimousl y.

5 . It was proposed by Lt.-Colonel R. H .Smyth, and seco nd ed by Colonel Bild erbeck :-

To admit as ordinary subscribin g members of the Ro ya l Army Pa y Corps, O.C.A.N on-Cornmissioned O ffic e r s and men at present serving, or w ho have served in the

Royal Army Pa y Corps, S upplem e ntar yReserve. An amendment b y ColonelDu e sbu r y tha t th i s matt er be deferred until such time as the Supplementary R eservewea r the uniform of the Ro ya l Army Pa yCorps w a s d efea ted.

After fur ther di sc u ss ion, the original proposition \,vas p ut t o the meetin g, and carri e dunanimously.

Colonel Du esb lir y then explained th a t hehad nothin g against the proposal, butthou g ht that as the r et irin g Trea s urer, heought to mention th e matter of claim s roina financi a l point of vie\\ .

57

6 . Vote of thank s to the retirin g officersand Committee. Proposed by the Chairmanand seconded by Major General Musson.Ca r r ied unanimou s ly .

7 . The Chairman proposed that the follo\ving member s of the O ld Committee bere-elected :-

Mr. Br ow ne as Chairman, Major Feehall y, S.S.Majors Mitchener and Syme,S. Q.M.S. Lent and 11r. John Tb u r go od,w ith Lt.-Colonel R . H. Smyth as Ho n .Treasurer. Carried un a nimousl y .

The Chairman th e n thanked ColonelDu es bu r y for his past \lork as Tr eas urer,wor k h e sa id that was r espo nsible for thepresent s a t i s f a c t o i ~ yposition of the Association. He also referred to the wo rk of Mr.S harp, the late Chairman, and how sorryhe was that ill-health prevented his cont inuance in that pos ition.

In consequence of the ret i rement from theCommittee of Lieuts. Thompson and Pottthrou g h change of Stat ion, it was p r o p o s ~ dby Mr. Bro w ne, and seconded by ColonelOrmsby- ]1ohnson, that Staff Sergt. MajorF. E. Gear and Staff Sergt . T . F. Pond beelected to fill the va canCIes . Carriedunanimousl y .

8. Mr. Thur goo d proposed a vote of

thanks to the retirin g Auditors, Lt. -ColonelRobson and Mr. Bell. The proposition w asseco nded. and carri ed unanimously. t wasproposed by Major Lid stone, and secondedby Maj. General Rile y, that Lieut . Fluxand Mr. F. A. Sa unders be elected Hon.Auditors for the ensuing y ear. Carriedunanim o usly .

Mr. Browne sai d that o n behalf of theCommittee and himself he wo uld l ike tothank all for th e ir rep ea ted confidence inre-electing them, and wo uld do all the ycould to fur ther the interests of the Association.

8/10/2019 1939 Summer

6/25

T H E ROYAL ARMY PAY C'ORPS - J O U RN A L

9 Tribute t o Departed ComraJes. TheHon. Sec r e tar y called the ro ll of tho sevilo ha ve died durin g the past yea r . The

Meeting s tood in s ilenc e for one minut eafterwards.

10. It was proposed by Colonel Mac 'Kenzi e, and seconde d by Major GeneralRiley, th at an H on orarium of /:'20 be paidto the Hon. Sec re tar y. Carried.

The Secre t a ry thanked the Chairman andm e mber s presen t.

I I lHajor Ge neral Ril ey proposed a

vote of th anks to the Colonel Commandantfor takin g th e chai r. Ma jor Fr yer secondedthe popular reso lution, and it was carriedunanimousl y.

Business being conclud ed, the Meet in gclos ed at 6.50 p. m .

G. LIDSTONE, Maj.,Hon. Sec r e tary.

ELEVENTH ANNUAL DI NNER

Th e Eleventh A nnual Dinner of th e O ldComrades Association took place at theThames H ou se R estau rant, Millbank, onFrida y , 28 th Ap ril, 1939. The attendancewas a record on e , th e dinin g numb er being365 .

The Co lone l COJllmandant held hi s u sualreception imm ediate ly preceding the dinn e r,a nd welcomed th e g u es ts of th e evening :S ir H . J- C ree d y, G.C .B., K.C .V .O. , SirF. C. Bove n sc hen, K.B.E., C.B . , Mr. A.Earl, C.B., C.B.E., a nd M r. S . R edman.

The n ew Co rp s banner presented to theAssociation at th e la s t annual meeting byS ir H erber t C reedy, occ upied a conspicuousposition, an d th e R oll of H on our wasprominently displayed in f r ont of th e C hairman .

Colonel Ar m s tr ong , \\'ho p r e ~ i d e d\Vassupported by :Ma jor Ge n era ls Ril ey anql\1u sso n, Bri g adier ToIler, Colonels O rm sbyJ ohn son , E . E. E. T odd , Bilderbeck,Ca mpbell Todd, C liff, Vidal, Du esb ur y,Cap tain Beech a nd 1\1r. Br owne (the n ewChairman of tl1e O .C .A.)_

t ,\ 'as th e fir s t occas ion th a t th e Associati on h ad h eld th e dinner at Th a m es H ou se,a nd the ge neral lay-o ut of th e tabl es, sea tin g- accoml1lodation, e tc ., gave ge neralsa t isfac ti on .

sS

After an exce llent dinn er th e Toast ofHis Majesty the Kin g was proposed by

the Presid ent and drunk with enthu sia smto the accompaniment of the N ati onal.Anthem.

Th e T oas t o f th e O ld Comrades Association thi s yea r vvas proposed by Colonel.O rm sby -Johns on, who said

Mr. Chairm a n and Gentlemen.

I f eel at so me di sadvantage in speaking to- ni g ht ,es peci a lly b efore suc h a distin g ui sh ed and , may I sa y,goo d-I o kin g a udi enc e, when I think of th e o fficer swho have pr ev io usly pr o pose d this t oas t, includin g

G en eralMu

sson, whom

I am glad to see here tonig bt , a nd w h o has a lm os t as perfect a co nt ro l ofthe En g li sh lan guage as th e l ate Earl of Oxf o rd a ndA squith , w h o was und o ubt ed ly o ne o f the bestsp ea kers f hi s ge ne rati on,

Bef ore I proceed furth er, I am sure all o ld comrad es are delight ed to see Sir Herbert Cr eedy , theP e rman ent Under Secretary of State f or W ar, who , inspite of thes e s tr enu o us tim es, ha s mana ge d to breakaway to-n ig ht a nd come to o ur la th eri ng. We areall ex tr eme ly serry th a t h e has to retire thi s year. Heha s probab ly done more fo r the C orp s th an a nybod yhe re can realise, with th e exce pti on of th e Co lonelCo mm and a nt and o th er h old ers o f th e post o f ChiefP ay ma ster, W ar Offi ce, who have worked w ith him.

I a m a lso very g lad to see Sir Fred er ick B ove nschen,D ep ut y Under Secretary o f St a te , whom I have kn ow non and off f e r so me years. Agai n , we are pl easedto see Mr. Earl , who unf e rtunately was lai d up las tyear. I h o pe h e has n ow entirel y rec overed fr o m hisindisp os iti on . I mu s t n o t f orge t Sir H er bert Cr ee dy'sprivate secretary , w ho I am sur e kee p s him o n theright lin es ,

N ew to co me down to th e Old Comrades ' Association of th e Roya l Army Pay Corps, Th e C or p s,as yo u a ll kn ow, is nowadays to a very grea t ex te ntmad e up o f yo un g men. You w ill find th e vastma jority h ave no t m ore th an tw c stripes and I thinka very bi g responsibility rests w ith tbe seni or warranto ffice rs a nd n on -commissioned officers in th e C orps. Ia m referring now, o f course, not cnly t o th e exist ingmember s o f th e Old Comrades ' A ssoc iati on , but to

the C or p s ge n erall y,As regards the A ssoc ia ti on it se lf, I think th e g ure s

are em in entl y sat isfac to ry. Th e number s now areapprox im a te ly 1,300, f which number 850 are servin g memb ers o f th e Royal Army Pay COrDs.(Appl ause .) I think you w ill ag ree th at thi s s howsth e v::ry hard work which Office re pr ese nt a tiv es haved o ne and a lso th e Committee of th e Association.Before I l eave th is particular p oint , J think that sc meo f th e yo un ger men p robab ly don ' t rea li se th e adva ntages th e O ld Comrades' Assoc ia ti on g ive yo u,espec ially in la ter lif e. It is a n enor mo us ben efi t inma ny cases and all Office representatives sho uld d oth eir very bes t to e ntic e th ose n o n me m ~ s to jo in.We a lw ays did o ur b es t at Ald e rshot when we hadP ro bati o ners, but for va ri o us reaso ns th ere are no neth ere now. I somet im es have young N.C.O.'s comingup t o me a nd say in g ther e is n o ch ance f ge ttin gp ro mo tio n , I sho uld lik e to po int o ut , however, th at

8/10/2019 1939 Summer

7/25

T H E R O YA L ' A RMY PAY C O RP S J O U RN A L

pag e 17 a t t he to p tha t each prop os er of thi s na rticul artoa st d oes it in hi s ow n inimic a l wa y. Thi s phr aseis co nsidered to be th e m as terpi ece of Mr. Br ow ne.It s perf ectl y tru e th a t th ey d o it in th e ir ow n inimitable way , and I b e l to s ugge st to y o u, comr ad es , th a tCo lo nel Orm sb y-J ohn so n is a w o rth y s ucc esso r totho se w ho h ave g o ne bef ore.

Mr. Ch a irm an , it d oes happ en that thi s dinn er ish e ld o n th e eve o f the cup fin al, but th a t h as bee nso fix ed f or m any yea rs . t does happ en th a t th e reha s bee n ano th er me etin g to-da y with which I amto ld we ha ve no conn ecti on at all, becau se w e h aven o me ssage from Mr. Pre sident Ro osevelt , we ha ve hadn o compl aints ab o ut our agg ressi ve qu a liti es, but weh av e h ad f ro m C olo nel Ormsby -J o hn so n a tes tim o ni alof the g rea t wo rk of the Ass oci a ti on, and th a t tes tim o ni al i s th oro ug hl y d ese rv ed ; if yo u wa nt a ny proo fof w h a t I am say in g YOu w ill find it in th e rep ort tow hi ch I h av e a lr ea d y ref erred.

Now so far I h ave bee n loo kin g for a reaso n as tow hy, o n thi s p a rticul ar o ccas ion , I h ave been as kedto resp o nd t o thi s toas t. Y o u, ,Old C o mr ades, kn owtha t for ten yea rS a t leas t , the resp o nse ha s co me fro mone w hom I c an n ow p ro perl y call Paymaste r Brow ne;h is civilian occup ati on was s o pressing e n him th a th e had t o retire f ro m the Secretaryship of t he OldC o mr ades ' Ass oci a ti o n, but it wa s no t too pressin g top revent him j o inin g up again, a nd I a m t old th a t a tt he end of hi s fir s t accountin g peri od, ther e was ab a lance credit f or which Paym aster Br owne co uldgive n o ex plan a tion, but which has been dul y logge du p und er V ote 1 Mi se.

I think that t o -ni g ht I am re spondin g to this t oas tm er el y as a sto p ga p b etween our old fri end P I.xm as terBrow ne , a nd o ur n ew friend Maj or Lidst one . Y o usee M a jor Lidst o ne has other occupati ons apa rt fr omF oots cray. He is v ery ofte n so busy with cert a inb aJJs and bowls that he has sh o rt time f o r P ay C orpsw ork so he said t o me , do step int o the br ea ch Bee ch ,h old the f o rt f o r me f o r o nce , and th a t I beli eve is atru e e xplan a tio n of m y havin g been called up on tor esp o nd t o thi s toas t. And Maj or Lidst on e al so saidto m e " Th e re is so methin g w hich I wo uld lik e yo u tomenti on , yo u n eve r kn ow wh o w ill be th ere. W ehav e Co mr ad es fro m the War Office , and oth er Offic esand you ma y ge t th e ch ance t o menti on t o so me ofhe m, or pos s ibly t o so me friends of theirs , th at we

h ave to o few Old Comr ades wh o ha ve b een awa rd edthe M .S.M, with annuity. " I h ave n ot been abl e tosp eak to a ny of th ese gentlemen pri va tely, th erefo reI d o so publicl y, and I h ave no d o ubt th a t th ene ces sary a dju stm ent will be made t o o ur sa ti sfacti o n ,

No w, Sir , I d o n ' t p ro pose to det a in yo ur I a th erin gany longer b eca use it i s an ev enin g fo r Old C o mra d eseach of u s w ishes to g rip th e h ands of as man y Ol dC om rades as poss ibl e, and , th e ref ore, in th e name o ft he Old C omr ades ' A ssociati o n, I d o a ccept w ith g reatp leas ure th e kind wo rd s w hich h ave bee n sa id byC olo r:e l Orm sby-John so n, and co nclude w i th - Th ankyou ve ry m uch , we d eserve d th em all. (L o udapp la use ,)

T h e C h a irm an sa id tha t a t e leg ram ~ p ress in g th e loya lt y o f th ose d i nin g ha db een se nt t o Hi s M aje st y and th at th e fo llow in g rep ly f rom Wind sor Cas tl e h ad j us tbee n re cei ve d : .

T h e Kin g s incere ly t h ank s t h e R oy al

60

Arm y P ay Co rp s o ld Comr ad es Ass oci a ti ondinin g tog e th er thi s evenin g for their loya lg reetin g s \\ hich Hi s M aj est y much app r ec ia t es . - P r i vat e Se cr e tar y .

Th e C h a irm an th en read cabl es con vey in gg r ee tin gs fro m lVa uritiu s, H on g K on g .Shan g hai , G ibral tar, }VIalt a and S in g ap ore .

B es t w ish es for a suce ss ful eve ni n g \\ 'e re\\ 'ired fr om B e lf as t , and tele g ram s \ Ie re rea dfrom C olonel s Y oun g and F ord e r eg rettin gtheir ina b i l i t y to be pres ent .

With out a tt emptin g t o m a k e a speec h ,Co lonel A rm s tr on g w ith hi s u sual qu,i ps andjov ia l m ann er had eve ry on e in goo d spirit s,and on e o f the mo s t ex ce ll ent dinn e rs w eha ve held since the inception of the Associ a tion, ca m e to a11 end .

When th e Co mmittee sent invi tat i on s forthis dinn e r, m e mbers were a sked to t a kethe op portunit y o f meetin g old comr adesa nd to r ene vv old fri endships. Most of themdid their b es t and it w as amu sin g t o see probati one r s frin g in g g rou ps of se nior officersand old soldier s , listenin g to tales of So uthA frica, Fr a nce and the Rhine Arm y . talesof th e F a r Ea s t and the West Indi es . Theli s teners learnt a lot and are alread y loo ki n gforward t o s er vice a broad .

Th e w earin g o f the ne w Co rp s tie this'y ear b y m ost of tho se present pr oved itspopular i t y , and its col our s certainl y addedto the br i g htne ss o f the evenin g .

The e ul og istic remarks in re g ard to thedr a ug ht bee r and drink s g en e rall y , th eh app y sp i r i t of the ev enin g , ' and the sp lendid acc omm odation for e ver y purpose, ju s tifie s th e exp ress ed de s ire that ne x t y ear \\' i l lfind u s a ll back in Thame s Ho u se.

T he Dinn e r Co mmittee w er e: -M r. E. J . W, Br ovvne , S ta ff Se rgea nt

'Maj or s G . W. M itch en er and Sy me, S taffQ. M.S . J. L ent , S t a ff S er gea nt P ond, andth e H on. S ecr e ta ry. G. L.

NOTICE

Th e ad d ress o f the H on. Tr eas ur er andH on . Se cr e ta ry o f the O ld Co mr ad es ' Assoc ia ti on i s n ow , in b o th ca ses ,

C ommand Pa y O ffice ,Al d ersh o t, H a n ts .

F urth e r pa rti cul a rs w ill a ppear in th e l1ex tIss u e.

'

1 HE ROVAL ARMY P AY CORPS J O URNAL

achine adeB y SA G ITTA R I US.

T H E \\'h eei of th e. E m boss in g Mac hin eh ad a sm oot h , Sh111 Y beve ll e:1 ed g e , o nth e in s ide of \\'hich \\ 'e r e p rint ed th eh ie rog lyhphic s \ \"hi ch th e m ech a ni sm cutint o th e so ft met al p la t es. S h e sp un th ed isc e x pe rtl y unti l a po in t er ca m e o p pos it ethe de s ire d hi erog lyp hi c. Th en sh e ki ckeda t rea d le - a n d th e thin g \\'o rked. Eve r y

sepa ra te s ign,

lett

e r orfi

gur

e req uir

ed asepa ra te turn a nd a fre sh ki ck . In acti on ,t h e thin g g ur g led and clucked like a bra ssh en \\ ith th e hic cup s . Glu g , click, g lu g , itw ent. It did th a t a ll d ay. It h ad b ee ndo in g it for seve ral da ys. Th e m a in Iss n ew as a ni g ht m a re . It see m ed \\' or se th a nus ual.

Th e e tern a l cluckin g madd ened h er.O n Id r e ma s ri g ht foo t \\' as an o ld sh oe

w i th thick so les . Th i s was th e fo ot th a tw ork ed th e tr ea dle w hich ruined ordinar yfoo t wear quick e r th a n yo u co uld pa y for it ;mu ch quicker. Sava g ely s he kick ed andsta mped on h er tr ea dmill as h e r exas pera ti on increa sed . S h e kick ed unti l the

u ~ ~ l @ 5 of her le g go t cramped andk n od ::erL Her kn ees ac h ed. Her in s tepbe g an t o' w ell. But sh e b an ge d a w ay alm os tin capa bl e o f th oug ht . Turn , click , g lu g ,cl ick , kick, ban g , r a tt le .

S h e S\\'or e fier ce ly a nd mutt ered unint elli g ibl y t o h erse lf. O n ce s h e s p a t a t it ag es tur e o f littl e m ois tur e b ut sur ch a rg edw i th ven om.

U ilco nc e rnedl y s h e w ipe d th e \\ 'h ee l witll

fin g ers as pur p le s ta ined as a bl ac kb e rr yp ick e r S. Tired fin g er s th ey we re , co nd iti on ed suit ab ly by th e n eve r endin g turnin g , h andlin g th e ink y p la tes a nd turnin gov er j ac k e ts. Th e jac k ets \\ 'e re s m oo th ,crea my a ffa ir s o f s tiffi sh pape r. Th e y b oreth e impr ess ion s o f th e p la t es as we ll asd ir ec ti on s fo r th = a lt e rin g of th e d e ta il s tobe e m bosse d on th e p la te a nd re-impr esse don t h e jac k et,

Th ose jac k e ts . T h ere we re pil es oft h em . Th e ir sm oo th cr ea lnin ess was d ecepti ve . H o\ \ h ~ y stu ck' to g e th e r T h eyst u ck i n t \\'OS and thr ee s , cl os er th a n twin sor t ri p le t s. f t h ey \\'e r en t h a ndl ed ju st

ri g ht , th ey fe ll on th e floo r lik e spo il edch ild ren . A nd th en a ll th e ir pa p ers fe ll outof th em. G ree n pa p er s , br ow n pa pe rs , b it sof ca rd s , and flim sy sh eet s. You n eve r sa wsuch a jumbl e . Ther e were path e ti c littleno t es fr om wo men w h ose so ldier bu sban dsh ad de sert ed them or o ther w ise failed inth e ir obli g ati on s . Crud e le tt e rs fr om o th ers\\'h ose so ldier love rs h ad b een ve ry for wa r din the co ur t in g a nd v er y backw a rd in theCo ur t .

Wh e ne ve r Ad r e ln h ad time , s h e rea d ,1.11th e le tt er s w r i t t en in manu scri p t. Th e ."\\ 'e re s t ep s in th e p rog res s of h er so phi s ticati on a nd tau g ht h er much ab o ut the w ays ofm e n - es peci a lly so ldi e rs . U suall y s h ~m is s e ~ O l t th e typ e w r i t ten ones. Th e y\\ 'e re s t i l t : J. in th e ir dicti on and s \,va m pc dthe dr a ma of hu m an relationship s in l nim ag inat i ve e n p h emi sms .

f it \\'a sn t jacket s , it was a ll o \ van ceb oo k s . B oo k s a nd ja cket s w ere i n t e r r e 1 a ~ lllik e a man and w if e. The jack e t w as ~ e 3p on sible fo r th e b oo k ; like a w ife, a bit ofth e boo k li ved in s ide th e masculini ty of th ejacket , stuck t o it for e ver and e ver. Th i s\\ as th e bit th a t h ad t o do w ith ho w 1l1 l l Chth e b oo k \\'as wo r th, and \ Iih en it w as "vo( : hit . F or th e b oo k "vas th e contr i vanc e w hichpe rmitt ed it s ov\'n er t o ca sh in on the weakne sses and g ener os iti es of men and gov ern-1l1ent s.

E ach bo ok c ont a ined a coupl e of d oze npa y able order s and each order had t o be

sepa ratel y s t a mped w ith its w or th . Therew e re thousand s of b ooks a t m a in iss u e tim e .Th e s tampin g p r ocess \\ as ha t eful. t w a sn oisy w ith th e n ois in ess o f qu i ck-firer s inac ti on. Th e b oo k was cl a m pe d t o a woo d enp latfo r m \\'hi ch ca rri ed a lev er at th e e ndof w hich w as th e s t a m p . You wo rk ed theleve r w i th one h and and turned ove r thepape r s o f th e b oo k with th e o th er. f yo uwer e m ala dr o it, or ve ry tir ed, yo u mi ohtg ive y our :finge r s a b ang w ith the met a ls t amp th a t yo u wo uld rem emb er f or h our s .

In m a in issu es, th e s t am p in g p r ocess wassh are d by r e ~ y s of resen tful cl e rk s t akena \\'ay f r0111th e ir n o rm al bat t le \\'ith th e cl ock

61

8/10/2019 1939 Summer

8/25

T H E ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS J O U RN A L

to fight another and addit ional ' one withthe same foe. A d re ma \-vas: spared thestamping of main issues. But she had fodo th e pr intin g 011 the face of the book by

~ n s of the plate so that the owner, heraddress, and her entitlement could be identified.

If the embosser \\'as a nightmare, theprin ting machine ,yas a sort of del ir iumtremens. Piles of jackets, piles of plates,piles of books. First you put the platesone t in box and wa g gled the handle t i l l thefirst plate was pushed along the guides mulay under an inked ribbon. The plates

rat t led in and out like tin soldiers onparade. Having inserted a jacket or a bookin the proper place, and held it there, YOLlpulled dmn1 a lever, controlled by a strongspring, which smacked the face of the document against the inky r ibbon under whichthe plate lay in wait. Th u s the p late lef tits imprint on its victim, \' hereupon therobot pushed the plate into another tin boxand insinuated another plate into the ambush . All the t ime and all the t ime th2padded hammer rose and fell. Each movement ag ainst the spr in g meant that anothertin soldier fell in and another fell out .

It was a noisy and tiring business . Theprinter was noisier and more tiring than theembosser, it was dirtier, too. Somehow, theink from the r ibbon transferred itself toeverything, like a t rade-mark. It stainedher hands and it stained the neat smockwhich Adre1na wore to protect lier clothes.Sometimes it stained her face and there wasno time to wash it off . N or could its purpleeffusiveness be blud g eoned into submissionby frantic beat ings w ith a heavily ladenpowder puff. It even got under her nailswhich she kept cut to the quick in a vaiQ.endeavour to avoid it. Ink, ink , ink. Itgot everywhere.

She tried wearing th in g loves. Then shecouldn ' t handle the jackets with despatch.She spilled them on the floor and smudgedtheir newl y impressed cream y faces. Theirhorrible, meanin gless papers g ot mixed upand they got smud g ed, too. There \NaS noway of avoiding the inkyness from theanimated ribbon. She hated the r ibbon andits inky inventiveness. It had other tricks,t o o - lo t s of them.

t always g ave out when her spirit wasbitter with the raw malevolence of Monday

62

1l10rmn g . The loss of its inky e li xir spe lti ts death, but A d1 e ma got n o satisfactionfrom its internment in the waste paperbasket. Its obsequies meant the bringingto bir th of a ne' \ and inkier ribbon.

\ iVhen it didn't di e from lack of its inky. milk, it g ot rickets and curled up, Or,.sometimes, it g ot mumps and swe ll ed uneven ly . Again and agail i ' the thing juststuck; stood still as if paralysed and refusedall advances tovvards propulsion. A d ri m~hated the ribbons. It betrayed the highideals of ribbons and functioned or didn'tfunct ion in ,yays that took the ducts out ofseduction, a ribbon's real purpose.

Until now, A dr em,a s defence against the" 'hole monotonous, noisy, nerve-wrackingprocess had been to wrap her nervous system in a b lanket of impersonal imperviousness. Normally, the sea of jackets washingup the endle ss, pebb ly plates over an inkystrand was a natural phenomenon to whic hshe had developed an indifference invar iablyvouchsafed to the feminine in rout ine circumstances. Women can a lways capitalisesubmission in t o self-protection.

She could copy anythin g e v e n the blotson the p a p e r - \ ,vi th a fid.elity that was themarvel of every Section- leader . in the office.She could amend the p lat e where its hieroglyphics were cryptic, or she could al tereasily understood particulars, such as p s t ~offices or names, \N th equa l nochalance.

lThey were all one to her Ju st processesthat could be carried o u t mechanic _ lly assomething outside the ego. She al tere dplates, cut new ones, banged stamps on bi tsof paper in the right places for hours. Shewas only semi-conscious of the subject matter, so to speak, and rarely took an interestin the human maelstrom of births, marriagesand deaths which surged around her.

But this Main Issue was different. It hadg ot on her nerves and broken up heremotiona l resistance. When she wanted toth ink about Snapper Delaney . the redheaded, she found herself curiously unableto insulate her mind from the mat e ria la round her.

Snapper \\ 'as a Sergeant; Snapper wasalso a bit of a mechanic. It was lucky forthe office that the Depot next door containedsuch a man. When the machines Oavet roub le -and they were g enerous in this res-

T H E ROYAL ARMY PAY CO RPS J OURNAL

pec t-Snapper \\'as invariably pressed into .service by his pals in the Pay Office . O f-course there were much more re g ular waysof o et t in o. repairs to type\\Titers, e lectricb b .\yiring, to prin t e rs, dnplicators,embossers,.adding machines, cupboard doors, to recalcitrant locks, telephone s'\ 'it chboards, ci s -.terns, taps and ,,,indow s . Y ou c e rt a inl ycould get all these thin gs fix ed, but even.iudged by R.E. st a ndard s , it to ok a lon gt ime.

Snapper wa s quick er. S napper washandy. Snapper \\'as g ood-natured. Being

Irish , Snapper ,,,a s chivalrous and. su sceptible to any demand s u pon him. Be1l1 g busy,the Pay Office made plenty .

In these circumstances, Snapper and14dr e m,a were bound to be brought into contact. The machines were old ; they wereworse . They were obso lescent. lVIoreover,they had been subj ected to pressu re over aper iod of years that would have ruined theengines of the Queen Mary. As machines,they were good machines, but that had been:a lon g time ag o. Little exasperating ; thin g s'went v,rrong with them. Snapper fixed theselittle things and by and by. it happenedthat a little thin g fixed Snapper.

And this was th e way of it.The printer had go ne \\Tong. \iVhere's

Snapper? said the S.S.M. Snapper \\'asbrou g ht a lon g . Little screw retaining aguide p late has busted , h e dia g nosed. I ' l lfix i t . Ok a y , said hi s Nibs . Thanks,Snapper. He \\'ent out. " O kay, saidSnapper. He stayed put. dr e ma watched.While Snapper fiddled with the l i t t le bi t ,A dr ema felt an overpowerin g impulse tofidelle with Snapper. Ther e \\'8 S a red rebel

'of a curl that had strayed across his partingand ruined the symmetry induced by careful brushin g . Sna p per was a snappy g uy,all ri g ht, and a tonch would put the rebelin its place.

Almost uncon sc iously, I dr e ma pokeel atentat ive fin g er at the little ton g ue of flamethat had be g un to b urn holes in her.Snapper looked up, and his heart missed abeat. In Id1 e llw s eyes there was a looktha he had never seen before. A lm ost before he knew it, his arms were around herand that 's the way they were for quite awhile . Id1 e ma. came to first. " O h, Snapper, she si g h ed . In the office, too .

You're felling me, said Snapper. ButI. could think of worse places.

However, that 's the way it was, and nowdr e ,a ,vas stru gg ling with the Main

Issue and her nerves were \vorn worse thanthe r ibbon on the pr inter. The noise, theclatter, the confusion, the endless c c o ~phany were g ettin g her dmyn. But , \,vorsethan all, she hadn't seen Snapper for afortn ight. Her tired arms ached for Snapper. The ra g in o tumult of noise could notsti ll the clamour in her breast for the comfort of Snapper 's touch. Her mind dwelt onSnapper's image whilst her nerves screameda protest ag ainst their rpaltreatment. She,vas close to tears.

h e r e was he? She daren ' t seek theeasily acquired information in the office forfear of disclosin g a relationship that hadnot yet' acquired the sanct i ty that goes withposseSSlOn.

The sto len kisses, the beat ing urges ofthe blood, the eye-g lances and hand-touchi n g s - a l l these thin g s were commonplaceL1l1til dignified by the tacit admission ofsome sort of mutual ob liga ti on . Ad r e 1tashrank from cheapness. The fact on lyexacerbated her .distress. Snapper, Snapper, you red-headed, sweet devil, whereare you? Her whole consciousness demanded the answer as the price for her\y eary lim bs, her exhausted faculties, herfr ay ed and over-wrought nerves.

Mechanically, she pushed a jacket underthe hammer. Mechanically she banged i tdO\\ ll hard and mechanically her brainre g istered the answering clicks and g lu g sof the robot. Mechanica ll y she turned thejacket over and sudden ly there it was. There

\\'as his name stamped p lain l y on the jacket.D E L A N E Y. Only out of the corner ofher eye had she seen it, but it was enough.She choked. The implication of his nameon a jacket for Family Allowance beatfrantically for recognition. As hanticallyshe thrust it aside, unwil l ing to recogniseth e destroyer of her dreams, inchoatethough they were.

I t ' s an a ll otment to his mother, sh esaid, fear in every syllab le. And as she saidit half aloud, her heart told her otherwise.Hardly breathing, she looked closely at themocking purity of the creamy jacket. t'\ 'as h is regiment, rank and name w i th the

8/10/2019 1939 Summer

9/25

TH E ' R O YAL AR JV Y PAY CORPS J O U RN A L

shattering famil y a ll o \\'a nc e and a ll o tmentdetails inscribed th ereo n ,

Savag'ely sh e rea li t::e c1 she mu s t h ave e mbossed th e plate with it s damnin g C.A.vI i thout noticin g it. At thjs, her bit terne ssover:S.o\\ 'ed. Memories ' of all the patheticl i t t le not es , the crud e le tters, the piteousappea ls she had read in ' other jackets \;ve lledup to und e rline her belief in the duplici t yof men and of so ldiers in par t icu lar.Womanlike , sh e ig n o red the other s ide ofthe picture; the sober n o tes of \\T on gedhusband s and the protests of du p lic a tedlo ve rs.

A d r e m a began t o cry. And th en De rf rustra ted se lf rebelled. She seized th ehandle of th e printer and ban ged itviolent ly . She h a mmered and hammer edin a paroxysm of hyst e ria . Only v iol e n ceco u ld provide an outlet for her mutin yaga inst over\\'ork, snppre ss ion and disappointment . A nd th en, as suddenly, h erv io lence expende d it se lf.

She looke d up to see the S.S.M. re ga rdin g her quizzically. O be y in g her femaleinstinct, she waited for the male to take th eini t iat i ve. Obey i.ng his own inst incts, theS.S.M. \\'as a ll for avo idin g di sc u ss ion w itha wo man in a tantrum .

But the tantrum had go ne. Gnl y th ete ars r em a in ed. W h a t about the Ma inI ss ue? he asked , ta c tfully . Th e redh ea de .d m011key," wa il ed Adre1l1a . Thisdef ea t ed th e S.S.M, H e tri ed anotherapproach. Is the m ac hin e busted? h easked. S h e knew th e a n s \\ er \\'hen h e liftedthe handle. The sp ri n g ' s gone, h e comm ented. He wen t out . So did Ad r e 1l1a.

Sh e came back to see the familiar redhead of Snappe r bending ove r the brokenmachine. Hullo , Ammonia, he sa idjoc ular l y. Why don 't yo u tr y workingthi s one \\ 'i th yo ur foo t? I t ' d be eas ie r 011th e ma ch in e , For ans \\ 'e r , Ad1 ema b ur stint o tea rs, " Gee, kid, sa id the chivalrousS n appe r. W h at h ave the y d one to you ?He put hi s ar m s a round h er.

Snapper " S n appe r, she moaned.Do n ' t . Ol

8/10/2019 1939 Summer

10/25

T H E ROYAL ARMY P AY CORPS JO R ~AL

steaming along the coast of Mal ta and aboumid-day we anchored in the Grand Harbourjust ahead of a French battleship. Th eFrench had recently lost a battleship ' bytorpedo attack and most of their capitalships \,vere in harbour for the same reas onthat most of our capital ships v 'ere in ScapaFlow. In fact, there appeared to be moreFrench warships the harbour th anBritish.

We spent a ni g ht in harbour and sailedearly the follo\\'in g mornin g. As we le ftthe harbour entrance we passed close to a 'tra,Y}er v,ihich was comin g in. She had

ev idently been hit during the attack onthe Straits for she had a heavy li st to starboard. It was the first visua l evidence ,yehad of the stern realities of \v ar.

R. A. S.C. MECHANICAL TRA ,; S PORT , A L E X A N C ~ " ,

APR IL, 1915.

There \vas some speculation .about ou rnext port of call. When we left En g landthe optimists among us had hoped that th eNavy wou ld have cleared a vay for us toland somewhere on the Dardanel les l i t toralby the time we had arrived there, but this,we no w kne ,, ' , \vas out of th e question, andthe kn o w ing ones told us that we wouldland ei ther at Port S aid or Alexandr ia.Alexandria it was and on the mornin g of1st Apri l, 1915, we steamed up the harbour.Not a very propitious date for the start ofan adventure.

We tied up in the next ber th to a transport wh ich had brought out a Territorialbattalion of the Royal Scots who vvere busil ye nga g ed in disembarkin g when we arrived.The scene on the quayside w as a very a111-

66

TERRITORIAL ilATTALION OF THE ROYAL SCOTS

DISEMBARKI NG AT A L EXANDR IA , APR IL , 1915.

mated one. Hi s tory now t ells how the 'holeforce had to b e dis embarked at Alexandr iaand re orga nised for the landin g, but at thetime ,, 'e assumed that thi s Terr i tor ial battali on ,, 'as dest ined for g arris on duty inE g ypt . Theirs 'as indeed a very differentfate.

We remained 0 board sh ip for th e ni g htand di se m bar k e d next mornin g , marchin gt o the Pa y O ffic e ,yhich ,, 'e found was to bee stablished in an empty ho t e l on the seafront facin g th e old Eastern h a rb o u r- th eMetropole Hotel . V. Te shared the bui lding\ \ i th the 3rcl Ec helon, or Record Office ofthe Force, th e Principal Chap lain, and the

COMMA N D PAY OFFICE , MliDlIERRANEAN ' EXPEDITIONARYFORCE, ALEXANDRIA, A PRIL, 1915 .

Director of Remounts. It ,, 'as q uite e mpty.IO furniture of any kind had yet been in

s talled. Further it had to serve as a billetfor the other ranks who slept on blankets on

f

T H E ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS J OURNA L

t h e \y o o d e n floor s of the office rooms.Officers were told to find their o\\'n accommodation wherever they could in hotels Jr .pensIons.

LOCAL TRANSPORT ,

A lexandria \\ 'as fu ll to overflowin g \\ it11troops of many nat ional i t ies: Londonersfrom the Royal Fusiliers, countrymen fromthe English County Re g im en t s, Scott ishTerritorials, Irishmen from the Dublins andthe Munster s , We l shm en from the So uthV.T.ales Borderers, French infantrymen inblue, French Dra g oolls with bra ss helm etsand horsehair plumes, Se n ega lese from theFr ench Co lon al Divi sion, and a fe\\ 'Australians to repre se nt our O\\'n o lo n i s ~Th e t ranspor t see med t o b e equally va ri ed,ran g in g from the n ew R. A .S ,C. mechanicaltranspor t to the b\' o- \\ 'h ee led l oca l cart \\ 'i thits enormous \Vhe els.

FRE NC H TRANSPORT, AL E XANDR[A, APRIL, 1915.

We soo n collected our equipment , unpacked our s tationery and go t ready forbu siness but no bu s ine ss came . Except for

67

the ' a sh i e r ~M a j o r O rmsby-\Vho hadarrived in A le xandria some weeks beforeus, \\'e we re all more or less idle. In thoseda ys officers prepared their own claims fora ll owances which w ere audited and paidon receipt monthly in arrear. . Tone couldbe expected 11ntil the end of the month.Acquit tance ro ll s were 110t yet coming inand there were fev r bills so we had plenty oftime to look around.

So the days went b y till one mornin g wesa w from our office w ind ows the FrenchColonia l Divi s ion march past on its way tothe docks for embarkation. Quite 'sudden ly

the streets seemed to empty of so ldi e rs.

FRENCH . -COLONIAL ' DIVISION MARCHING a

, LEX ANDRIA DOCKS , APRIL, 1915.

Then after some da ys of suspense came thenews of the landin g on Ga lli poli and fol-10 'wing that the long lists of casualties. Soonthe t ranspor ts came s teaming into Alexandr ia harbour w ith their loads of sick andv rounded, and our short spe ll of idlenesscame abruptly to an end. From then on itwas collar work. The side sho w had started.

OBITUAnyThe death oc curred at Reading, on 25 th

May , 1939 , of Colonel R . W. Macfie, vvhoretired from the Corps in 1937. The deceased joined the Kin g 's Re g iment in '97and tran sferred to the Arm y Pay Department in 1903 . From then until 1917 heserved in So uth Africa and the Mediterranean and fr om the beginning of 191 9 unti l early 1920 he was w ith the South Russian Expedit ion. Once aga in he returnedto the Mediterranean in 19 20 and remainedther e , w ith a short int e rruption, mitil 1929.Appointed Chief Pa y ma s ter in 19 30, he was

8/10/2019 1939 Summer

11/25

8/10/2019 1939 Summer

12/25

T H E R OY A L AR11Y PAY CORPS J OURNA L

The expert s tb o ug ht Castles better.22 . KtR4 22 . KtK523. QKt2 23. KB224. PB325. PKt 4

24. Kt K5)Kt425. P takes P

26 . BKt6 check 26. KKtl27. PB 4 27. KtB628 . B takes Kt ch . 28. R takes B29. KtKt6 29 . BQl30. QRQBl 30 . BKl31. KKt3 31. OKB232. K takes P 32. KtR533. Kt takes Kt34. KKt3

: J . Q takes RP ch.34. QB2

35. K t ~ B 35. PR 4Here Capablanca exceeded his time li mit having

s ti ll eight moves to make . This was his first losst o Dr. Alekhine since 1927 and was on his fiftiethb irthday.

The End Game

1 Many end games i.n act ual play are won by mastersoX very clever techmque and the accomoanyi ng positIon was wo n by Rubinsteirr who mated on the fourthmove.

White-3 pieces.r = ~ = =

Black-4 pieces.Black t o play and mate in f our moves.

Answers to ' Correspondents

1. M cD , - H ope yo u were interest ed in the Chessnumbers, , ~ ,

RT .-Ve ry go od. There seems to be a second keyby KtQ5 . BLACK PAWN

CASHIER S OFFICE, IRISH COMMAND, DUBLIN, 1905

a ck R ow: - S/ Sgt. W . Tyrell , L/ Sgt. J. Fraser , Sg t. W. J. Coo k, Sg t. M. CrawfordMessen ger T Brown. '

o nt Ro w : Ca? t . Hill ?), Lt.-C ol. G. R. B. Patten , Mr. G. J. McNeill,S.Q ,M .S. H Pounds.

70

T H E ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURNAL

The Story of a RefreshingBeverage- Tea

T H E history of Tea is very r ? m a n ~ i ca l ~ dcommenced many centU rIes ag o 111Ancient China about the yea r 2737 B.C.

Tea was practically unknown ill Eu r op eb efo re 1600. Towards the end of that century, hovvever, small quant itie s began t oreach En g land, but it \\'as not unt i l 17 00that it was drunk to any lar g e extent. Fromthen on it quickly g ained g reat popular it y,so much so, that Par l iament were sh arp torecognise it as a very profitab le source ofre ven u e and a hi g h tax \\ 'as accordin g lyimposed upon it. Neve rth e les s , it s COllsumption continued to increase.

The great Tea Industr y in Ceylon \\ 'a sborn about 1870 in very stran g e cirCUlllstances. For many years Ceylon had beena land of Coffee pl a ntat ions , but a d i ~ ea ' 5 c ,pecu 'l iar to the Coffee p lant , str u ck theIsland and five years later the who le o f thefl ou ri shin g Coffee industr y had ceased toexist. This \ as a disaster of real1y g reatma g nitude as Coffee had hi ther to been thelivelihood of many thousands of people inCey Ion. Happily , hO\\'e ver, it \\ 'as foundthat Tea could a lso b e s uccessfull y g rO\\ ll ;th u s it came to t ake the place of Coffe e andas a r esul t Ce y lon re g ain ed its former pr osper i t y .

A TE l. ESTATE A N D FACTORY .

Rec e ntl y \\ 'hil e up at the Hil l Stat ion ,Nuwara E li y a - a lti tude 6,200 f e e t - t owhich M ilit ary Headquar ters move s thre etimes a year dur in g the very hot per iod inCo lombo, I had the pr ivi leg e and p leasur eof being sho\\'11 round a Tea Fa c tory, th emana g er of \\ 'hich, Mr C. B Coleman , to

\\'h o m I am ind ebted for this story, verykindly explained to me as he took me overhis factory, a ll that happens to t he Te a leaffrom th e time it is p lu cked to its dispatchfrom the factor y ; a ll packed up in 100 lb. 'tea chests.

Here is the story, but le t us begin by 'cons id er in g what a' Tea p lantation look slike. In g enera l ap pearance it resembles alimitless cultivated hill-side field of smallr onnd bushy g reen trees abo ut 3t feet highplanted at reg ul ar intervals in lines bu tg rowing close together and int ersperse d a tbroad intervals \yith long line s of A caci asand Grevilleas tre es wh ich offer th e nece ssary shade that Tea requires. Th e leaf isbr i g ht green, pointed and about the size ofa large rose leaf. Botanically Tea is alli edto the Came lli as found in Ch in a, Assam andjapan. t is g rown f rom seed lin gs whichare p rotected by round baskets planted deepin to the ear th. t usually tak es about 10years t o ma tu r e. Pruned every three orfour years, some of the p lants have beenk n o ~ i lto live over 60 years.

Th e ideal weather for it s best growth isa s uitable blendin g of sunshine and shower sand occasiona ll y a littl e frost - by no mean suncommon in the hei g hts of Ce y lo n - t obr in g out its flavour.

Th e soi l has to be nursed and fed, ofcourse, from time to t ime and this is don eby th e application of artificia l manures such

as Ni tr ate of Potash, Blood Meal, Su lphat eof Potash, e tc . , and the loppings of th e;shade tr ees \\'hich are \y e ll du g into the soil.

And no\\' t o it s manufactur e . It isp l u c k e d - 2 lea ves and a b u d -u s u a ll y b yTami l women and g athered into bask e tsc.arri ed on their back, taken to the Tea Factor y ,,,,here it is \\'ei ghed, chec.ked and recorded . Ne xt it is conveyed to th e With e rin g Tats \\her e it is \\'ell spread out and\\ 'ithered. vVith e rin o Tats take the form ofa ser ies of laye rs o f jnt e hessian one abo\' eanothe r -at interval s of about 8 inches. Th e\\ 'e ig hin g - o f L a f take s plac e three time s a

8/10/2019 1939 Summer

13/25

T H E ROYAL A R MY PAY CO R PS J OU R NA L

day, a t about 10 a . ll1. - 1 p.l l1,- - 4 p .m.- . l l1.e10 a .m . l eaf is ready for the ; ~x t p r o c e s ~atabout 8 a.m . next morning - the other lotsc o . r r e s ~ o n d i ng y later. For t.he purposes ofwl t henng J: he -art ificial teil'rperature ' is raisedby 50, the ,11eat bein g drawn up by fansfrom the furnaces be low - the g enera l heatof the room bein g regularised by a cham?er sys t em of .small doors . The next step1S t o th e Ro llIn g Room where it is ro ll edfour t imes for 30 minutes each roll b y horizonta ll y rotat in o' machines ca ll ed Roller s-

TEA PLUCKING.

the n it goes into the Ro ll Breacher and ISsorted out into lar g e and small dhoo ls (bydhools is meant differen t s izes of lea f ).When the req u ired size has been ob t ainedit is p laced on the fermen t ation tab le andleft approximately for t wo hours after: '\'hich it continues its journe y to the Dr ym g or Firin g machinery.

_ In ~ h e~ i r i ng (or Drier ) machine, which1S mamtamed at a temperature of between .I9 0 - 200

0

, there are six revo lving ro ll e rtrays along. h i ~ h the tea , mec h anicallyfed, travels m thl11 ev en la yers. It is herewhere the tea g radua ll y changes co lour andby . t ~ etime it has reached the sixth tra yposItIon on the bottom level of t he machiuechamber it has taken on the familiar lookby " 'hich we kn o \\ ' it at home.

There is yet a lot more \\ 'o rk to be done~ l 1it, and from. t l ~ eDryin g or Firin g Roo r11It goes to the S l ~ t mg Room where it is ve ,Ycarefu ll y ex anllned and all the reddish~ t a k y b i t ~:ejected. Afterwards it is p mmto the slftm g mach ine \"hich sifts it intot he folIo 'win g three g rades: Broken Ora n gePekoe, r a ~g e Pekoe and Pekoe: be ing the:fine leaf, vn r y leaf and coarse fl at leaf res -

pect iyely. ~ n al ly i t goes thro u gh theb lowmg machl11e where the 'fluff' is ' blownoff and which yie lds the two lowes t 0Tadesof Te a -n a me ly , fan ings and dust.

Before bein g put into t he store binns,\"hich are clearly named accord in g to thegrade, samp les of t h e tea are carefu ll y infu sed, t asted and exam ined so as to ens u reby taste and look t h at the qu a l it y IS up t os tandard.

F r om the store binns where it is kept forabout two w eek s , and after a fina l firin o' i tis pack ed loose into Beach Tea Ches t sbimported from England and despatched to theAgents in Colombo, thence to the four~ o r n e rs of the ear . h - f ina ll y some of it right1 l l ~ 0your tea pot - un less you prefer somethm g stronge,r But at 4.30 p. m . a goodcup of tea st Ill stands supreme in pop ul arfavour, and lon g ma y it be, so hope theP lanters of Tea . J .A.B.

A FTER T H E O .C.A. DI NN E R

(A HAZY RECOLLECTlON)

"Sh ay, A 'mira l id I re a y o rder two tax his? "

ri

1I

. T H E R OY A L A R MY P A Y CO RP S J OURNA L

up in th ei r re spect iv e divisions . To our ers twhil et ea m )nate s of the R. Signa ls Office we extend OUt't hank s for their ass is t a n ce, a nd h ereby d ecla re t ha tw e sha ll fini sh n ex t seas on ahead of them in thele ag ue .

' '''le ha ve to r ep or t tha t t h e R. Sign a ls offi ce ha y el eft Ch at h am fo r R ea d in g, a nd trust that they h ave"s ha ken down " in t h eir n ew surroundin gs.

One it em of .note before this short episode is.closed, whi ch proves tha t the dep a rtm ent of t h ePo st m aster -Gen era l does no t ha ve a ll the cre di t for

.speedy d eliv ery a nd attention. Th e birth and m arriage ce rtifi ca tes of a so ldi er were pas se d to a uni ton 29th May, 1917 . The do cun1 ents were retl irneut o this offi ce on 19th May, 1939 , after a la p se of 22years, with t h e no te "se nt to this unit in error ".

. " ELMER " .CHESTER

E ve r y qu arter this offi ce beco me s mor e remin sce n tof Tenny so n 's . " Brook " , our comings a nd go in gsare so frequent .

Major H . H. Mon'ell bega n t hi s year 's tre k whenh e left u s for Leith . He was soo n fo llow ed by M a jorH . E. ' Na n who set out for Wokin g. Next we lo stS. Q.M .S. L ee to Preston and now we ant. icip ate t.hedeparture, to Foo tsc l ay, Qf Capt . vV H. Moo r cl'oft .

I t being only human to hate ci1anges, we a r e ne v ert h el ess yery sorry to lo se t h ese old friends as someof t h em h ave b een with u s for severa l years, butwe a re unanimou s in wi s hin g them a ll t h e best int heir n ew sta tion s . In parti cular we se nd this wishto S.QJ\lLS. L ee at Pr esto n as it is und er sto od th a the h as gone there on pl'omotion.

}Iajor F . N Coo per is st ill with us a nd h e mostce rtainly cha n ged the swor d for th e pen when, onhi s r et irem ent, h e accepted t h e po st of Cas hi er,vVestern Co mm an d.

' Ve take this opportunity of we lcomin g Li eu t. P.G . Thomp so n and M ajo r C. J. H . Tr eg lown . Mr.

. Thompson h as a lr ea d y sa mpl ed our an ci ent c i ty butt h e d elilSht s of t hi s old Rom a n Ca mp st ill a.wa it:Maior Tr eg lown. .

The fo ll owi n g laud at i on is publi sh ed in acco rd ancewit h old cu stom , t h e customary b ee r s h av in g beenco nsum ed. a nd all at one s ittin g . oo Co n g rat ul at ion s to S j Sgt. A . L. Br ow n, S j Sgt . J. r as h, andq orpl. Tnpho lm e on t h e i ~elevat io n to t ho se resn ec t ly e ranks . Our prob at IOner, Sapper E va n s , mu stnot be fo rgotten becau se h e h as now be en appoiJ1tedLan ce C orpor a 1.

As for ,overseas n ew s, we we lcom e S j Sergt. C. A.Morris to o.m fo ld a nd h e i now on leave . ex E gy pt .Th e i oll owmg a r e on t h e Overseas ' Na it ing L ist :-S.Q..M. S. J . W. Griffin and S (Sg t . J. Nash.

Withou t doubt t h e whol e Co rp s was shak en by t h erece nt r evo lution in our r a nk s which h as broughtit s g lut .of Staff Sergeants a nd T wond er how m an y ofus h ave been as k ed, I can imagin e t h e answer of th eold schoo l , "I s the R .A.P.C. a 'Staff Corps or a Corpsof Staff Sergean ,s ?" .

LOUDEN.D E P T F O R D

Arrivals. A h ea rtv wel come is exte nd ed to Pt es .Edmund s and Swilld ell s on t.ransfer f rom F ootsc ray-and to Pt e. Bri ggs on t ransfer from Ch at ham . .

Probatione r s . e following h ave join ed a nd \\ ewl sh them success :-

Gr. E. L. B a i ley, DJ . G. Sm ith , B and sm a n E. T .

F. Smith , Pt e. L. East, Gr. J. L ea db ea t er, Pte.E. S. St ar k , Trooper R. vVest on, P te. V 7. B . Thomas .

Departures .- L j Sgt. D ee ley to ' Na r Office on te mpor a ry dut.y - it m ay be fol' yea rs a nd i t m ay be fore \ e l.

Transfers. - C o n g l at ul at ion s to PriYate s Dlidl ey,Lum s d en, P at man and Offer o n being tr a nsfe rred tot h e Co rp s.

Promotions. -Congrat ula t ion s to Corpo ral s Bl'iggs,Edmllnd s, Morris a nd Swinde ll s on promoti on tothat r a nk.

Marriag e s . - Cpl. Bri ggs a nd Pt e. Patm a n h av ingtaken p a rtner s unto themselves were dul y admittedto the m a rri ed esta bl is hm ent . .

77

Deaths .- The staff lea ll1ed with d ee p re gret of thed eat h on 4th May, 1939 of lvh. J. A Toml ey whoh ad b een e mplo ye d in a c ivili an ca p ac ity in thiso ffice for a lmo st 20 years. A num ber of the sta ffatte nd ed t h e fun er af a nd pla ce d a wreath on thegrav e.

staff ncrease. - A temporary in crease in sta ff h asr es ul ted in t he re-employment of Mr . M. F e rr ellyand 1111' Jim 'iiT i ght a nd Ce ntral is lookin g l ike itwas in an cient times.

Records. - -Th e staff w er e gratifi ed to h ea r th a tCo lon el H P . Raymond, O.E.E., our Colonel i j cRecords, h ad been a p ~ o in te d A .D. C. to H .M . TheKin g.

Mr. WiJletts, Chi ef C ler k , Records, is l eav in g u sto pro cee d to P ert h , on promot ,ion to Grade L VV fa re a ll sor r y to lose him but glad to h eal' of hi spromo t ion.

ED IN B U R G H

Sin ce our l ast not ,es we h aye had a num ber ofch a nge s in our sta ff a nd a rri va ls are Co lonel Goldin g, our C .P ., S.S.M. Mitchell and S j Sgt. HjJling,a ll from se rv ice ove rseas: w e a ll wi sh them anenjo ya bl e stay in "A uld R.ee kie". ' Ne we re sorr yto lo se C olon el Bi l derbe ck but we hop e h e willh ave a long a nd happy stay in the South.

Promotion s a pp ea l to h ave come our w ay, nndwe congratulate S j Sgts. Mander a nd Pountney andCp . P ea r ce on a t,ta inin g t,h ese ranks.

In t he wo rl d o[ spo rt .we h ave li tt le to r eport ,wit h the exception tQ.1;l:t Sergeant Ru sh played inthe S co tt ish Ch ess Ch a mp ionshir.s at Aberdeen thisSpnng , a nd one or two others 'h ave in cr ease d theirabil i ty at d a r ts; another m emb er of th e d eta hm entse nt hi s flann els for cl ea nin g with a hop e of a kno ckin t h e net s , but so far the we a ther ho ld s t h e upper

hand .In conc lu s i.on we h ave t.o r epor t the u su a l yea r lyt rek of v isi to rs to the se p a r ts t o see the sight ,s, a ndit was noti ce d t h e oth er dav that a sin gl e m emb erof t h e d etac hm e nt wa s taking the po sition of aI)official g uid e at t h e Cas tl e . t is not known whetherthe "Notab le A m er ica,n " gave him t h e u sua l ", orwhether th e se rvi ce w as gratis ; anyway h e dep ar te dgi vin g t h e sa lu te lik e a ll goo d g u ides.

K. C. E.E.

EXETER

f t hi s co n t ributi o n ha s the a ppear a nce of Part 2Orders I crav e indu l ge n ce . t is n ecess:uy thatextracts hom the D e tnchment Ord er s -should bet a ken to provid e the n ews for t h is iss n e, and I hop et h a t th e pr ese n tat ion wi ll not , str ik e vour eyes in toofamili a r a m ann er. - '

8/10/2019 1939 Summer

14/25

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURNAL

. Once again J hav e to report mov ement s so t hat111 c~ u r se o. ~i me it ma y pro ve that ,one sa ;s 'H ell o'and Cheeno 111 one breath at this s tat ion.

~ f t e ra very brief sLay, S Q.M.S . L aw r ence left forHilse a wh cr.e hi s c iyili a n s tat us is now un de rgo in ga resurrectIOn pro cess. S. Q .M. S. Tru ss le r 'har e c ~n t ly left fol' civil lif e a lso , and to t ht-se ' twoaspIrants to ci \' ic h o nur s we wish the best of lu ck.

~ P ~e s Shil coc k (t o Sali sb ur y) and Wil soll '(to10 : L\. (R)) left 111 Febru a ry for tho se s t a tion s. 'atWlllCh we hop e they will find some comp en sat io nfor t ~ e lo ss of t l ~e Vil est . C O ~ l I l t r . Y T i e presen ceof S h l 1c o c . ~ ~ nthIS lo ca hty In the Ea ste r P eri ods e ~ l 1 l sto ll1Vlte the Fren ch ta g ag.ain ( C h e rchez lafemme') . -

Arrival s of Pro bat ioner s mu st also be m en t io ll ed .Th e most re ce nt of these (I say this guardedly.because the y would appear to be only th e va n of

m.ore to come-we hop e ) were Gu m . -Sa nk ev (28 thField Regt ., R.A. ), L / Bdr . C ha mpion ( 2 3 1~d Fi el dR eg t ., R A . , Pte . Sa ll ows (Glo ster R egt. \ (ca n 'tk ee p the se Old Brag s' ou t ' ') and P te . T eas d a le(East York s ) a nd t he us ual gr eet ing s and e xpre ssIOns of g ood lu ck are extended to th em

C o n g r a ~ u l a t i o n s . T o Li eut. A. L. H. Vi1 l so n onthe aopoll l tment to a Commi ss ion a nd postin

8/10/2019 1939 Summer

15/25

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORP S J OURNA L

' N illi ams, J . Vo. Hartley , T. A. Reeves, R. T. Andrews, an d A. H. French to whom a hea rty welcomeis exten ded on their joining the Co rp s .

Congratulat ions are extended to L / Sgts . D. W.Ke n , C. P Fox, ~ . H. S c o~ t and R. .J. A. Wakefield on then ' aflpomtments to. L / Sgt., and to L / Sgt .an d J .ifrs. L. vV . Bollands on the arrival of "W i l -l iam Lawre;l ce". .

- 0 doubt a ll our Foots c ray S.R. will be pleasedto h ear th at " Sgt. Staff" has been "reverse d".

Final Note. - The FDotscray D e ta c h m e n ~ ,R.A .P.C. Supplementary Reservists ' Annual Dinnerhas been provision a ll y arranged for Saturday , October nh at t h e Shakespeare Hotel , Woolwi ch. Theus ual reminder s wi ll be sent out in due course,subj ect, etc., etc_, etc. , etc .

"AGGY " .HOUNSLOW.

The past quarter h as been fraught with majorhap'pening s and it is ra t h er difficu lt to report thesehappenings in the ir correct se qu ence, so I mll stbeg forgivene ss if the cart tends to go b efore thehorse.

'With the advent of 'summer', ho ckey and bad,minton kit ha s been stowed away and their pla cestaken by cr icket bats, tennis rackets a nd waterwings.

A badminton match was played at Regent ' s ParkBarracks aga in st th e London office which ended ina well-earned victorv for Hounslow who wer e thewinners by seven matches to five. A supp el of beerand sa usages h alf way thr-ough the even in g a c tedas a wonderful sti mul ant. T h an k you L o nd onAs SOOI1 as the weather Impro ves w e hope to meetyou at tennis.

To co n clud e the badminton seaso n an An1erican .knock-out tournament was held which this y e a r~brought a record ent ry of , ifteen competi tors a llanxious to de-throne the reigning ch amp.

The results were as follows: - ' Vinner: S / Sgt.Murphy; Ru n n er-u p : Mr . A. S. H. Cook WinninerLady : Miss. Pat Knight. 0

Ru n n er-u p an d winning lady are to be w a rml yco n grat ulat ed on t h e ir success for both were introdu ced to the game only during the sea on ju stfinished.

Th e ga mes ,assoc ia ed with s umn , er are nowlooked forward to and a full programme lie s a h ead.The cricket secretary will be on ly too pleased to he arfrom anyone who has a date begging or, i f an y o neis anx iou s to ,;t,rrange a tenn is fixture, our tennissecretary is waiting to hea r fnom them. As regard sthe la tter game, four of our member s have alreadyentered lo ca l competi t ions in the hop e of ac hi ev in gg lory .

The Sergeant s' Mess h as gone from s t rength tostre ngth a nd re ce ntly was the scene of yet a not h er'a home ' , thi s time, to the warrant office rs an dK.C.O's. from across th e H e a t h - t h e GovernmentTraining Centre. In t hi s the mess prov ed vic toriou s,see ing off a ll and su ndry.

:VIany move s are antic ip at ,ed in the ne.a r and notfar distant futur e. Some ten 01' so of our presentstaff will b e le aving u s for the quiet and seclusionof Barn et when the ac counts of the GovemmentTr a inin g Centre s are transferred to t h at office . Thr eeothers are a lr eady lookin g forward to sojourns indrier a nd warm er climes, amo ng st them be ing ouroldest i n ha b i ~ a n t ,S.Q M .S. Kemp ton. Th ey 'vetumbled to him at las t I G.W.H . will then be theoldest inh abitant .

S. D. HOCKEY TEAM, HOUNSLOW.

So

THE ROYAL ARMY P AY CORPS J OU RNAL

Two worthies h ave left us s in .ce the ' la st . 'wr ite -up 'in the pel 'sons of L / Cpls. Stegg les and. Bliss . ;h e yare now ill tha beautIful part of Readlllg kno", n asCaversham. Corporals Pinder and L a lly havejoined us from Footscray and Corpora l Murray fromChathani. 'To them we extend the old welcome a ndwi s hes for a pleasant stay with us . . .

To Corpora ls L a ily , W i ~ na nd.

8/10/2019 1939 Summer

16/25

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS J OU RNAL

t ies (for publi ca tion, anyway). P e rhap s the ' nol11--de-plume w Ill con Jur e up a few memories fl)r oldPerthites .

Sporting events up to date will be found in thedetailed Rifle Se ct ion _ IOtes, b u t certain fly m emb e rsof ~ h eDetachment are actua lly walking about w itht h en own darts , mark you, so i t is pos sible thatso methmg m the line of dirty linen wi ll be washedin public in the next account from up h ere. Some thing ,yould ha ve been in this time, but 'for B edford st um b lin g over the SRelling of Cha ll enge .

Certa in other sta lwa ,rt s too h av e been see nwandering round the North Inch ' lookin g for lostgolf balls , and eq uipp ed with bik es in order tomake a speedy getaway. vVe refer , of course, toHenry Cotton Lane, Reginald Whitcomb Daly, and.Jo ck McLean Williams. Th e latte r h as not a bikeof his own, but occas ionally rides p illi on with one

-of the others.Th e trooping list has mad e its a ppearan ce uphere as we ll , and we are to los e S.O.M.S. B u tler,Sgt. Daly and L j Sgt. Hig son. Sgt. Mander is waiting . They a,re a ll bearing up well , exceptperhaps Frank Butler who has since lost lJis nat.ural-eating appliances and can't manage anyt hing mor8so lid than Glencoe beer.

T Ne are having the Office Outing to \.b erdeennext month , and we are all lookin g forw a rd to area l fine do . Onr tame reporter i s to be on thespot and wi li hav e lots and lots to tell you nexttIme .

As we go to Pre ss, we have to report that ourRP . , Lt ;-C ol. J . G. Ander son, ha s left us at shortn ~ t i ce for Hil. sea. His genia l per so nality will bemIssed by all lt t he offic e. Our be st wishes go withhim . lle are very please d t o we lco me back toPerth as our new RP Lt.-Col. F. T. Bain es, a ndtrust t h at his t-our h ere wi ll be a happy one .

GLEN COE .

S mall Bore Rifle Club. -Once mor e we are at theclose of another Shooting season a nd , strange asIt may seem , w e are one of th.e stro ng est teams int he league, in fact, there a re only two teams b elowus in t he final league table.

The team has met with many re ve rses this seas on,as several of our most in terested members were se ntto the la nd of 'mi lk a nd hon ev'. l iVe ad mit the lossof our 'Skipper' , L j SgL L. ' Eruce, who was th e'li ve wire' of the club. -

The sta lwarts, n a mely S.Q.M .R. Alexander, S j Sgt.

Lane and Mr. Guss in did the ir utmost to reta in's tat( s quo ' a nd their hope s sti ll liv e for the comin gseason.

The Probationer s to this office were from MountedUnits and at the mention of Sma ll Bor e Shootingthey imagin e son ' e weird type of Sp'ort , a l thoughPt es . Batho and R adord pro ve d a great help aftel'their initiation to the 'new un'.

Thus aff licted, we w e l c o ~ e dall the compet ition sand m ana ,ged to 'pu ll off' severa l money prize s.

The sport of s hooting IS reviving in the off ce a ndour civi li an staff is waking up and turned out astrong tea ,m in the 'Inter Office Competition' , thehonours go ing to the Junior Mi li tary T eam_

The Clnb welcomes Lieutenant and Miss Pott whoare both interested in shooting and trust that ourranjre will not prove too much for them after the< omfortable range enjoyed by Aldershot.

82

PRESTON

_ t t.he Bull and Royal Hotel, Pr .eston, on the 25th~ e b l U a . r y ,1939 , the Staff and Departm ental Social~ l u b held their Ann ual Dinner, 43 m embers attendmg. The evening was voted a great s uccess by oneand all. .On behalf of the member s pr ese nt ,. Mr.John Staffon l smd Goodbye and Good Luck to ourdre p a r ~ i n gRegiment :t l p.aYmaster, Lt . -Colonel C .T.h HIll. Replying to the toast L t .-Co lon el Hillsaid that he had thoroughly enjoyed his short stay

Preston and that he was sorry to le ave . He alsoadded t hat it was gratify in g to fincl t hat w h e r ~he h a,d c a~ le d for that Extra effort, the Staff hadn.ot left 111111 wantll1g a nd therefore the happy positIOn of tile office was clue to the co-ord in ation of theOfficer s and Sk'1.ff.. The even in g passed away in theusual manner untIl 11.30 p.m. when " last ro und "was ca lled , and so endeth a Good Evening.

Th e entry of the month of March brought somefrowns a nd cur ses, when we found that we wereto be burd ened wi th 21 Territoria l Battalions. Imust not forget to mention , however , that theseaccounts wer e t ~ l ca use of L ance Sergeant Jeffrey,Corporal Gllchnst, Corpora l Mercer , Gunn er Grif~ n , and Messrs. IiVheeler and Burgess le av in g theSunny South and who were earma rk ed t,o ass ist uswith the addit iona l work.

Since the above notes were jotted down our Regiment al Paymaster has left us leaving Captain R eesto rule the roo s t, pending the arriva l of Lt. -Colone lR IlI T Hackett from the 'War Office,

Cor por a l (BING) Davie s has left u s for a tourof Egypt and i t is to be honed that he will enjoyhis sojo urn th ere.

On May 4 th a trip to Cbester was arranged , primanly to see t e Races; and as lu ck h a pp ened theweathel' was SUItable for the ?ccasion . To . judg e byth e lon g faces on the followmg morl11ng one wasled to b eli eve that eith er the beer was b ~ dor thatl}ockets were sad ly dep leted. Anyhow , the trip wasa su ccess.

t may be int erest .ing to memb ers of the C-orps toknow that ex-S.Q.M.S. Vl Higginson ha s been empl.oyed .as a tempora .ry Clerk in the office, togetherWIth 111ne others on the Re cord side,.

I s it true that a ce rtain individual, familiar tothis office, donn ed Sam Bl'owne and Spurs and thenwent , chas ing after &n 'Eighteen Pound er ' to get theStork that had onl y left h im a daughter wh en h ewanted tw i n . Co ngratulations, however, to Corporal and Mr s . J. Dunn on t he birth of a dau ghter,Anne.

Our congratulations are to be exte nd ed to S.S.M.T. Whe lan who left u f o I Ch atham and his Corn mi ss ion a nd to S .Q,.M.$. A IlI T L ee who arrivedfrom Che ster to take ov er. Al so to S .Q.M.S.vVri ght , R/ Sgt. Sowerby and S j Sgt . Hom er we ext e nd our h earty g reet ing s on attain ing respect iveranks.

i."flle wel co me L j Bdrs. C r:lwte and Met ca lf e, andPri va tes Donlan, Fox and John who h ave . oined uson probation ; we regret t,hat Pte. J acques cou ldnot stay the pace and eventually returned to hisunit.

Sport in this office is at a low ebb; the footballseason having passed , it is to be hoped that wemight arrange a cricket match or two with thelo ca ls, but we had to decline the in vitat ion to join

THE ROYAL AR MY PAY CO RP S JOURNAL

t he Garrison League . Pa ,y Office lif e is not what:it used to be .

f these notes appear to be disjointed by a hamm erin g noise , don ' t be alarmed, it 's not I.R. _ .tact ics , only the aftermath from the stamping ofAllowance Ord er Book s, A / 5 Series.

~ L \ N O O NSHAWISH.

R E A D I N G

Events hav e mov ed so q ui ckly s in ce we lrst hacldefinite news of our dep a,rt LUe from Chatham th at itis diffi cult to recall it ems of int erest there. , iVewould met'ttion, ] ioweve l, th e v isit to Footscray byt,he Football team w ith ~ u p p o r te r s We had an eujOyc bl e game, resu l ting in a dr

8/10/2019 1939 Summer

17/25

THE ROYAL - ARMY P AY CORPS JOU RNALwe extend a h e a [ ~ w elcom e w 1Ll the h ope th at thelt tt le ye ll ow book w ill in clu de th e Lr pa I'ti cu laLs form a n y yea r s to co me .

SAn U :\LSALISBURY PLAIN.

\ \"hen on e r e fl ects t h at eac h me mb e r of t h e - taffof t h ~ SalisbUl'y Pl a iLl and Sout h Mid la nd Ar ea(C ostmg) i s \\ork ing , mor e 01 ' les s , ill spl end id isolat :on and ; W h fe w except io ns , eac h attac hed to ad1fferent Corp s or Reg Im ent, th e chfficult y of a newand m e xper lenced co rr es pond e nt w ill be r ea li zed .

I n these c e l~ t l e Sof. mili tary act iv i ty t h e wo nd e rsof t h e SClentlll C a pp lt ca tlOll of m ec han isat ion h aveceased to l::e a s u rpr ise a nd th e arl'angem ent s nowbel n g m ade t.o 1 ~ ce L. e the mili t ia a pp ea r m OlP-oar du ou 3 than l11 tere s tlLlg . Neverthe l ess. t he rece ntdepar.t ur e. of S.S.1\ 1. H aze ll to .Aldel'shot ' a ft e r a t enyears ' sOJOUlll 11 t l e vicin it y of Stoneh en ge, wa s~l

surpl'1 se from w hl cl: tl: e lo ca l offi cial p op Ul at io nIS but slowly recoyer m g. The bes t wi s hes of thpA.rea a cc ompany him to the ne i a-hbo ul'in a- Co mmand.a nd also L j Sg t. K inca id to W ~ ol w i c h . b ,

\7\lhil st we e.\ t,encl a wel co m e to r ece nt a rriY a18 inCa p t am R . \ N S haw H a milt o n from Sa li s hH Y. andC? rpor a ls HO l'to n an d G ibso.n fro m Re a ding a nd\7\l lll ch es t e r r e SI~e c ti y e l y , we mu s t a lso re cord ou rregret a t the tran sfe r of Ca pt pill R . L. L. In gpe n toPort smo u t h , af t e r a s hort but bu sy p e riod on thePl a in. .

Staff Sergeants F e lgLlSOn and Brook s . o n t he irre cent prom ot ion to D iyi s io n I I , celebrat ed t heseout sta ndin g eye nt s in the time-honoured cu st o m .

"A RDWI C K " .SHREWSBURY.

t is noted th a t now tbe bright e r weath er is h ere .our s taff are a s happ y as ca n h e xp ecte d und e r th eC r cum sta n ces of ove rt ime, m o -e of t h e offi c e andp ros p ects of thing ' to com e.

W e welcome L / Bd L. l\I cGo\el'11 and G nr . Ca lderon p roba ti o n a nd hop e th a t their stav in S hr e\\"s.bury w ill be a happy o ne. .

\ Ve. offer our hea rt y co n grat ul at ion s to St a ff Sel'gt.C h e l h n~ s w o r t h a nd C pl s . P age a n d Kilb on t h e i rJ)r01l10tlOn s : t h ese hav e 0 far proyed t o be d r\ .b u t no doubt t im e w ill produ ce th e cel e bration ~ nt h e u sua l wa y.

Through t h e e ffort of o ur worthv t e lllli " ~ e C l e .t ~ r y S.Q.M.S. Ca h ma n, a grass ~o u rt h [1s beenh Ired, wh ere mo st eve ning s a r e to be found a cro wdof enthu s Iasts, b u t from our observer 011 the sp otwe learn that t h ere IS mu ch e, id ence of ann o d om in i.avo irdup ois and midd le-aged sp r ead amo n g;:t thos ew h o used to plav a fa ir ga m e . One m emb er in par.t lcul ar . 10 W r a n c ~ s~ b o u tlik e n baby elep h ant.

ContHlulll g ou r ' \7\e Kn o w " :Th e offi ce r who \\"ifihes his clog won ld kee p h i ~ tai l

up.\ i\The re R .A. P .C. S u pp lem ent an R e ;;e] , i t ; ; nr e

t r a in ed grati s (fo r th e be n eJlt of t he Katio nalE xc hequ er ?).

Where the roof of th e offi ce i. Supp o Lte 1 bv T. A.A.Fs . N.Z085 a nel 3086 and F . A. cla ims .

\7\Tho sta rt ed to cop y hi" O ffi ce I ns t ru cti ons in to hi sind ex .

\Vho fell fr olTl hi s b ik e in to a di t ch. Th e ev id en ce. of th e other m el 1 lb e r ~ of the p a r t~ clear hi m o f

s uspect ed o \e r-indu l gellce . t Lf ~ \\-eLe not OPPIl I

\Yho tbo u ght the closi n g of th e pay li sts rneant i t. \\as Lim e to go h om e.

\\ ho ~ a v ea n u l le ~n e ct e d aq uat ic display, and w asIll S fa ce r ed as w ell as h is hai r.

WA RL E Y .\Ye, at \; \1ar ley, a r e h a\ ing OUI S ~ af f T a ll y hard

worked by " In s" a nd " O u ts " a nd s in ce oli r l asteffort for t h e J oUll1al K ot es th e following cas u al -ti es have occ urr ed ,

Arrivals. - L t . - C o lon el C . J . K . Hill ha s join ed usfro m Pr eston to tc1 k e ove r the ver y h eavy d u t ies ofR eg Im en ta l Pa y m aste r , C. D. A.A . , a nd we exte n da heart.y we lcome a nd w ish him th e be st o f lu ckdur i n g h is s t av wit h u s. Oth e r a rri va ls a r eS .Q.M.S. E. L Botfi eld f rom Foot sc ray o n 20 thF eh lll a