8/10/2019 1932 Christmas

1/27

Vol. 1

No 8

TH

Royal Army Pay Corps

ournal

CHRISTMAS 1932

8/10/2019 1932 Christmas

2/27

T H E RO

YA

L ARMY P AY

CO

R PS JOURNAL

,LICHFIELD

T HE

GEORGE

HOTEL

T elephone

6970

T H

SWAN

H

OT

EL

T elephone 93

lit

either.

0/

the abo lle Hotels

IIi3i/or3

may be assured

0/

the

utmost comfort

convenience,

0/ the best

0/

catering and 0/

attentive willing courteous

seroice.

B

AL

L

RO

OM .

BILLIARDS

.

GA

RA

GE

O LD W

OJU

.V

COMFORT

H

OSPITALITY

By Official Appointment

T o the R.A.P.C. O fficers' Club

Regimental Colour s

Our spec

ial Pure

Dye

Reppe Silk

Ties . . . .

. . . .

.. ..

. ....

..

. . . . . . . . .

..

5 / 6

Our Uncreasable Weave

Si

lk Ties

6 / 6

Pure Dye Reppe Silk Squares,

32

inch

. . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 21 / -

Best Hand Framed Sweaters (Trimmed)

Medium Weight .... .. .. . .. . . . . . . . . . .33 / 6

Light Weights

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . from 19

/ 6

Be st Hand Framed

Wool

Scarves

Medium

Weight

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 16 / 6

Light Weight .. .

. .

..

.

..

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12

/ 6

R.A

.P .C.

Officer

s

Club Blazers (mad

e

to

m easure) .

. . . . . . . . .

..

. . . . .

.

57

/ 6

F ull P rice List on App lication.

All goods ~ r e subject to 10 per ce nt .

Discollnt to members of t he Officers'

Cluh .

~ T

39,

Panton

St . , Hay

I M.'

eWll market

, London s.w.

stabcl

1898 Olliy

Addr

ess

The

Royal Army Pay Corps

Journal

Vo l.

1.

No. 8.

Editorial Notes

Corps

Sports N

e\\ 's

The London Gazette

CONTE NTS

Old Comrades Association-Commit tee Notes

- Di

nner

111 Egypt

S

hort

Stor

y

The

Day of the

Sortie

Our Chess Pa lle

Ob

it

uar

y

Life on th e Rock

Promotions

and

A[)pointments

K otes on the History of AI-my Pay

(concluded) by

Lt.

-Col. E En ever T o

dd,

Cl.B.E.

Corps

Notes and Nell'S

Chri

s

tm

as.

19

32

28

9

29

0

-

2

9

1

29

1

29

1

-

2

9

2

29

2

293

2

97

29

8

299

3

00

0

7

308

3

0

9 3

1

4

3

1

5-

33.1

1

Advert

i

sements

- 312a- 312d, Cover pp

.

(ii),

(iii)

,

and

(iv) .

SUPPORT THOSE

FIRMS WHO

'SUPPORT US .

The Royal Army Pay Corps Journal

M NY liAPPY

R

UR S

80 , Pa ll l\1all , London,

S.W.I.

December,

1932.

W ith the p u

blication

of this issue \\ 'e

cOllclude our first volume, During these

two years of its exist

ence

Journal in

consequence of

the support It

has

receIved

from all ranks, has

estab

l

ished

itself as a

medium of communicat ion between the

many scattered stations of the Corps.

289

In om

next

issue

we hope

to

be

able

to

introduce certain changes which will make

the Journal more attractive

in

many ways

wbi

le

keeping its price

at

the same modest

figure. During the past two

years

we have

had to curb our desire to spend our full

income in order to obtain a

sma

ll

reserve

fund.

Having ach ieved this object our

policy for the

fu t

u re is to

enlarge

and

imp rove each issue. We hope th erefore

that

all

our

readers

wi

ll assist

us

in making our

Jou

rna

l second to none

among

Ollr

mi

l itary

con t

empo

rari es.

*

*

*

*

We would

draw the attention of all our

readers

t o t

he

ar

rangemen

ts

made

for

bind

ing their cop ies

cif

Volume

One,

wh ich

appear

elsewhere

in th is issue.

*

* * *

We take this

oppor

tu nity of wishing all

our readers--at home and abroad-a very

Merry Christmas and a

Happy

and Pros

perous New Year.

8/10/2019 1932 Christmas

3/27

THE

ROYAL AR iY PAY CORPS JOURNAL

---------------------

orps

ports

Notes

For the

first tim e in

the history

of

the

Corps ,,e entered a team to compete in th e

Ar11IY

Hockey Tournament. Hockey in

the

Corps

is

yet in its

infancy and \\'e ,,

ere

defeated

in

the

first round by the Mi litary

College of Science, by four goals to one.

Next year,

,,e hope, after further experi

ence, to be

ab

le

to

report better progress ill

th e T ournament, and

to

see

many

more

supporters at the game for there is nothing

'rhich gives more help to a team than a

crO\rd of hearty supporters.

A

report

of

this match

appears

below.

A revie\\ of

the

hockey season, \\ith

results

of other

matches

,,ill appear ill our next

Issue .

ARMY

HOCKEY TOURNAMENT.

On Wednesday, 16

th Tov

el11ber, we ,,"ere

draml

against

th

e

Militar

y College of

Science at Woo] 'ich, in

the

1st Rounel of

the Arm\' Hockev Tournament.

The ~ r p s

is ai]o,,ed

to

enter

one team

in th e

Tournament,

and

\\

hen \\

'e h

eard

,,hich team ,,'e had to play

\re

\rere in

some trepidation, for they h

ad

already

beaten

us 9-1

and

\\'e

ga t

h

ered

they had not

then turned

out

the best

team

against us.

However ou r ,fears were

not

justified, as

,,

ill

be

seen,. T

ext

year ,,e

hope

to dra

further afield for our

team

than ,,e did

t h ~

,

but

for

obvious reasons

,,e can on

l\

'

do this If \\'e can get a ~ ' e r s " 'ho a r ~

playing regularly. One must he in

tip-top

condition for a game of this

nature

and

ab le

to

go all out till

the bi

tter

end,

and

further it is only by constant

practice

that

one is

enabled

to control the ball at will.

The team

,,e fielded was Sgt. J . J . Hellir

(Hounslo,r), Capt. J. L OliveI' (Eastem

C011Imand) .

Capt. G.

H aggard (London),

Sgt.

E.

Burnet (.l astern Command),

L / Sgt. R. Sm

ith

(London), Sgt.

E, T.

Taylor (A ldershot

),

Capt. A. L. Dunnill

(Eastern Command), Capt .

R.

S. ElIicott

(Barn et) , Lieut.

H.

M.

T. Marden

(Wool

,,"ich) , Sg t . C. Endacott (Woking), r

ajor

A . A. Cockburn (Hounslo",,).

The

game

commenced briskly

and ,for

the first

ten

minutes

was mostly in the

area of the M.C. of S. twenty-five, but

\Ye

failed to score

and

presently the College

2

9

0

broke a,,

ay down

the left wing, p r imarily

due to the backs keeping too

far up

the

field.

They scored

and this

natur

a

ll

y

rallied them and they pressed us hard for

the

next

twenty minutes and added t,, o

more

go a

ls to their score. t ,,

as obvious

during

this

half that Endacott \ras playin

g

under difficulties o,ring

to his

not being

in his normal position. In the interval

three changes ,,ere

made-Haggar 1

to

inside

l

eft, Endacott to Tight

half and

Bur-

nett to

left

back. This alteration wo rk ed

,r ond ers Ifor it enab led the fOr\\ 'ard line to

get go

ing ,,

ithout in any

way

,,

'

eakenin

g

the

def

e

nce

and

the

l

atter

found its burden

considerab

ly

lightened.

Soon after th e

commencement of the second half, Ha gg ard

rushed

the ball up the

left

win g and ,,ith

a back

stick passed to

Marden

,,ho scored . nfortunatel v ,,e failed to

repeat the performance and our

opp

onent s

after a ding-dong scrap

succeeded

in

addin

g

another goal to their

score

.

So

ended our first attempt at the

Army

Hockey Tournament. A lth ough ,,e lost,

the standaTd of play au

gurs

,, 'ell ,for th e

future, for "

th

e

more

we play

togeth

er

the

better ,,'e sha ll

be,

R.A.P.C. GOLFING SOCIETY.

Autumn Meeting, 1932.

The Autumn

Meeting \\'as held at

Fukell Golf Club on October 4th and

,\"a

s

the

most

successful au tumn meeting so far

held.

There

was a

record

a

tt

endance of

twenty-one

and

the

,,eather cou ld

not

have

been better.

The

followin g meml ers competed:

Brigadier

A . I Ml1sson,

Lt

.-Colonels,

Ge

n

ge-Andrew

s, Roge rs a

nd Brickman,

Majors, Skinner, Cockburn, Holmes and

Pocock, Capts., Vint, J . C. Woods, Ingpen ,

Garratt,

Sayers, Jam.es,

Edinger,

Bm-lo\l,

Buck,

Haggard

a

nd Haynes, Lieuts., Thies

and Holman.

Bogey

Sing les und

er

handicap ,,'ere

played in

the

morning.

Winner of the Red Cross Trophy and

Sweep.

rst

2nd

31 (

1

Capt.

P.

H aynes

Capt.

A.

E.

Barlo\\'

Lt.-Col.

T.

L

Rogers

2

up

4

dO\\"ll

5 down

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURNAL

Winner

of S,,eep for best

2nd nine

h oles

in sin gles

Cart.

P.

Ha

ynes, 5 up . Bogey

Fours

omes un

der

handicap ,,'

ere played in

the afternoon .

Winners of the

Young

Prizes

and

Sweep.

.

Brigadier

A. I. lVfusson and Cal t. R .

L.

L . Ingpen, 4 do\\n, Run ners -up-Capt.

Vint

and Lt

.Thies,

Capt.

Woods and Capt.

Sa,,

yers,

Co

l.

Rogers and Capt James

tied

,,ith 6 cl o

\\

n.

The

prizes being a,, arcled

to

Capt.

Vint and Lt. Thies, the longest

Handicaps.

Brigadier

Musson very

kindly

pr

ese

nt

ed

the prize.

Handicaps .

Th.e foll o\\"ing rev i

sions

of

Hand

icap s

are

notified:-

Major

Coc

kburn

Capt. .J\1i 11 i ng

Cal t. ln g pen

Capt.

HaYlles

Capt. Meek

Capt . Ca natt

Ca

pt

Edinger

Capt.

J. G.

Woods

Half Yearly

Spoon

Competition.

20

to

T

S

1.) to 10

8 to 16

30 to 22

8

16

3

6

to

6

to 14

to 32

10 to 12

Members abroad

aTe

aga in

remind

ed of

the

Competition

under Handicap

" 'hich is running throughout the yea r in

t,, o

p

riods ending

Jun

e 30th and

Decem

ber 31St. There is no limit

to

th e number

of

carc1:-;

" 'hi ch may be ent ered.

The

co

mpetition

is

open to

members at

home a

nd

abroad.

HOCKEY FIXTURES.

Th

e follo,,ing addit i

ons

and amendments

have been

made

to the fixture list which

was notified in the Autumn Is sue

30th November.

For

1st

Tng.

Bde. R .A. subst itute

Record and Pay

Office, H ounslo,,

7

th December.

Depot R.A.M.C.

at

Crookham.

14th

December.

St.

Mary's College at Strawberry

Hill.

4 h January,

2nd

Trn

g . Bde. R.A. at Wool\\'ich.

1st February.

St.

Mar

y's

Colle

ge

cancelled.

1st March .

Trng-. Bn. R.A.S.C.

at

Al

dershot.

29th

March.

Ist Trng

. Bde. R.A. at Woolwich.

5th

April.

War n f f i c

O\\'ls at

Ashford.

29

1

rom

'The London Gazette'

ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS.

Th e following promoti'ons

ar

e ma,le (Jul yl -

Maj

or (A ssl.

Pa

yml' .)

J. F.

Linds,\y to be

Br

eYet

Li e

llL.

-Co

l.

Ca

pt

. and

P ymr.

F. A. Woods to be

Br

evet

Maj'vr.

Ca

pt

. (A sst. Paymr. ) C. Grimshaw.

v.D.E.

. to ue

Brevet Maj o

l.

Maj or and

St

a

ff

P ay mr. A . W. M. C. Skinn er

to.

[,

3 Lieut. -Co lonel (O ctob er 1) .

Maj or and Sta

ff

P ay mr . J . G. MacC l'lndle to he

Li eut . -Colon el (O ctobel' 9).

. Iajor and Bt. Li

.e

ut. -Col. (Asst . Pa yn1l'. )

J.

F .

Lurd say haVlng attarned th e age limit for retirement

ret ires

:> 11

ret. pay (October 17 ) .

St

a

ff

Sergea nt' Maj o l G. Ross to be Ljeut. (A

sst

.

Pa

y mr.) (Cicto l,er17) .

C

pt.

J. L. OliveI fr om Somerset

L.T.

to be Cap

tmn and Pay mr . (Nol'emu

er

15) wi t h seni ori ly

Nuyember 15, 1930. .

Lt

. H.

p.

Co L ier fr om R.A. to be Lie

ut

. and

Payn1i'. (November 24, 1930) and la be temp. Cap

t.

a nd P avmr . (N

\)

l ember 24. 1931).

Lt. C"P. t.)

H,.

H . Co

Lti

er to he Capt. and

Pay mr. ( 'oye

ml1

er 24) with .e

ni

ol'ity Noveml' 61 '

24 , 1930.

Li eut . q. Hagga rd . Th e Qu een' s Regt . (Pavm r.

on

pr

ouatron) to be temp.

apt.

(K ovem bel' a

).

REGULAR ARMY RESERVE OF OFFICERS.

and.

Chief P aym aster R, E. Da uil en.v,

C. B.E. , ha\"lng

att

allle

cl

th e age limit of li'a hili

ty

to _ ec"

lI

, ceas es tV uelong tu th e Rf'serv e of Dill 'erS

U i 0 em bel 9).

OLD

COMRADES ASSOCIATION

COMMITTEE

NOTES.

T he Co

mmitt

ee of Manage me

nt

held the

ir

usual

monthly meetrn gs

at ao .

Pall M,r11. S.

W.I.

, and di s

po. eJ of fom' appli cati ons for as is

ta nce'

in t w

,).

case ,is istance wa

gr

ant-ed. aud the ot he l t wo

cases (non-menlbers) were refel'l'ed to other fund

s.

fo

l

fa vuum .J le consideration.

Lt

h ad

J

een lo plll

c

ha

se.

.ationa,l Sa vin i(

Ce

rt

rfic

ates

to

th

e n mln norary Tl'easm e r on posting lo Malta ,

th

e duties

\\"ere

tak en over by Lieut. Col. Dllesbury , who re

ported a

ll

c

Ol'r

ect 10 the Management Committee.

Th e hairman on behalf of the Committee

we

lcomed

Col. Duesuury, and expl'essed

their

pleasul'e at hav

ing hi$ servi

ce

s

on

th e Committee.

8/10/2019 1932 Christmas

4/27

TH E R OYAL

AR

MY P

AY

CO

RP

S JODRN

AL

It was de

dded to

hold

the

ne

xt ann

ual general

meet ing

a

mi

-

di

nner

at

H a

lT

ods. K lu g

ht

sbl'idge,

U

n

28th

Apr

il, 1933, the meeting to be held at

Q

Hm.

and

th

e dinner

to

co

rn

mence

at

7.30 p .In. , the c

ost

to be

7/ -.

The quest ion of exten sion of memb ership to th e

R .A.P .C . Supplementaly Re serve was ordered to

be place

:

on t he agenda [0 1 t he Genera l Meeti ng.

Th e quest ion of empk lym ent was discu sed let

ter s from W ar Office, etc., were rea d and

di

'scussed,

a nd

it

\\'as decided to contin ue th e

c&

mpaign for

th e e mployment of ex-mem ber of th e Corp s in Army

P ay Offices .

-' The

Hon

y .

Tr

eas . repo

rt

ed

o n ~

of

50

from

Nortb

e

l'll

w mm and

per

Colonel Lang , and 10 f rom

Aldershot per Co lonel

1I

lackenzie. T he

CO

mm it tee

d esire to place on record th eir a

ppr

ecia ion to all

t ho e who helped to

obta

in such a handsome addi

t ion to U ur fund s.

Th

e

Co

m

mitt

ee re

port

with deep reg ret

the

de

ath

s

f Capt.

R.

J . HWllphries a t St roud , Gloucester,

a

nd

Mr.

V.

Thom e (ex-S.Q.M.Se

rgt

.)

at

W ad ey.

E.

J .

vV. BROW

E ,

H ono

ra

ry S ec1e{my .

O.C .A.

DINNER

IN EGYPT_

On the

18

t ll N

8/10/2019 1932 Christmas

5/27

THE R OYAL ARMY PAY CORPS J

OU

RNAL

a ttacked ,

In

the

early

summer

he \\'

as

relieved,

and later

a

deta

chment ,of

his

\\ '

regiment erected a ca

im

to the memory of

Captain

Digb

y

Maitland

and the men \\ 'ho

fell with

him, In

the mes

s,

\\'here

he

Jlad

h een affectionately

knO\\'I1

as "Olc1 ,Dig ,

it

\\ 'as felt that his conduct

\\'

as in accord

a nce \\'ith the

tradition

of the Gurkha regi

ments , His son

eventually became

Colonel

of

the

father's

regiment, and

his most

valu ed possession \\'as a COl y-book, going

/ yello\\'

at

the edges,

* * * *

Th e Colonel sal\' to it that Old Dig

,, 'as not forgotten by his g randson , Wh en

yo

un g

Dig

\\ 'as six he

\\

'as \\'ell-versed

in

all the

details

of th e s tor y as the y

had

been

told him so

f r e q u

n t l ~

by his

fa

ther.

At

nig h t in bed he would croon N epa li

songs, epics full of exaggeration and em

bellishment, concernin

g the valoro us (leed

of his now almost lege ndal-y g randsire, He

'Cl , as much a Gurkha in speech and \\ '

ays

as he was English, and

when he

\\'as se

nt

home to school to h

ave every sh

red of wh

at

appeared un-English torn from

him, he

still

kept this legend as a priv.ate and

cherished

background,

On

his fo

urteenth birthday his father sent

hil11

a pocket-book with mic a fac in

g,

enclosin g a photograph of the ca irn

at

Jondola , Under it

he

had \\Titten one line

from

C

lifton Chapel :

The

f r o n ~ i r - g r a 7 J

is

fa? Q1I1ay-

This \\'as carried in hi s breast pocket a ll

th r

oug h the yea rs of

his public

school life

a

nd ne

ver

shown

to a so

ul; an

in

sp

iration

in

moments

of stress

and

a promise of

g lorious and exciting times to come,

When young Dig had been

a

yea r at th e

Royal l\'Iilitary College a relative

gave

him

as a t\\'enty-first birthday

present

th e firs t

premi 1111

Cif

a life insurance policy, It \\'as

very

h-ind

of him, and

he

supposed

that in

the

remote

future it \\'ould come in useful

hut at

present

it was a

bit

of a nui sance:

He

had to fill up some dreary form s, and

a s t e a morning of his all too

brief

holiday

Lond

on on a medica l

examination,

It w a ~ a bright April morning, and he

wondered how long this affair 'would take ,

Would

he

he in

time

to call for Ph yIlis

and tak.e

h:r oU,t

t9

1

?

He

was pusy

to-day , HIS 'tailor tfllS afternoon tea at :

R , o b s o , l ~ s , ill

t ~ e

eveniJig

\ ~ a s

\ i l ~ i n g "

I

,itl]

hiS fnend Gough,

and they \\

'ere going to

294

a show a:fter\\'

ards, He

found hi s way to

the

doctor's chambers,

Outside

th

ey

l o ~ k

e c l

dingy and repellent. -

Half an hour later he \\'as out aga in with

a

\\

'hite face,

There

,was somethillg \\'rong,

Insurance was ,011t of

the questi

on , Yes,

he had been ge tting thinner latel

y,

but

h

adn't

thought anything about it. He \\'as

on his \\'

ay

now to see a

distin

g uish ed

physician, The doctor had

run

g- u p and

made an appointment for him , H e had

dedined to tell h im \\ 'hat \\'as th e matter:

Go

and see Sir

Arthur

P e

rk s;

he's th e

best man in Lo

ndon at

thi s sort of thin g."

S ir Arthur received him " 'ith kin (11

olcl-\l'orlcl

courtesy

and examined

him

\I

'ith

meticulo

us care,

Are

yo

ur

people

her

e?" he

asked

at

las t.

" 1-0, Sir , My people are in, Ill dia; ancl,

in any case,

I don't

\\'ant th em to kn o\\'

about

this."

" But have yo u no rel ations jJl this

coulltr

y?

Excuse

me, sir , but I am going to keep

thi s to myse lf as far as possible, Ple ase

tell me th e truth.

After a pa use Sir Arthnr sa id slowly:

'-We ll, it' s about as serious as it conkl be."

Does that mean I am

go

ing to

die?

Yours

is an exc

eedIngly

rar e disease and

th ere is no recorded case of recovery."

" H o \\ ' long \\'i11 it take, m O J l t l ~ s or

years?

"lVlonths.'

Thank

yo u very

much,

sir. H o\\'

much

do I owe you ?"

The

physician

\\

'aved th e

question

aside,

alld th e rob es of office seemed to fall from

him,

Come an d let me introduce you to

my

wife, boy, Bring your traps rou nd here

allc1make

this your

home

for

as

long as yo u

like, Th en yo u can cable yo

ur

people and

mak e a r r a l l g e m e n ~ s . " He laid his

hand

on

young Di g 's shoulder, and looked toward s

the door so as not

t.o

face

him

Thanks a\\ 'fully, sir. You are very

kind, but I don't thi11k I will.

* * * *

T\\'

o

cl

ays later

he

\"as in a train, bonnd

for

COTnwa11. Everything \\

'as settled

up;

the

authoritie;; ,at S a l l d l U r ~ t

had

been nqti

fled that he \\'o\ i(i j not be , ret lHIl,illg

and

the necessary mec)ical certificates sen.t, I;Iis

great friend,

Gough,

:,

who

,,

'as also of a

THE RO YAL ARrvIV PAY CORPS JOURNAL

Gnrkha tr

adit

ion,

had

been let into

the

secre t and 'was go in g to

lend

hiJ?l R,M

,C;

,

stationery so that he could \\Tlte t?, hiS

people in India \\ 'ithout raising Sl1SPlCIOll,

N

\\1

he was

011 his

\\'ay to the \\'est

country to e

ke

out his month in the

little cottage where he had spent ,a happy

ho

lida

y \\'ith his parents the last tn ne th ey

\\

ere

ho

me

on leave,

A llV thought

of

L o

nd

on or

th

ea tres or

dances

\\'as repellent to

him

, He want ed

to be ou t in the ope n, alone,

The

cottage \\ 'as on a cliff, looki.n g O lt

over th e A

tl

antic, S teps, cut in th e rock,

l ed clo\\'n to the beach \\'bicb, at

this

tim e

of the yea r after the \I'esterly ga les, was

deep

in

seawee

d,

The

.village half a

mil e inlalld a

nd the

rat l\'ay statIOn five

mil

es beyond , "

A cranky old deposited

han

and h

lS

lu ggage

at

the g: te , and \\'e

l1t

rattling

a\l'a\', He \\ 'as al0ne at last, an d could

think, The ('ott a,ge had

bee

n got

ready

for

him,

It was

full

of happy memories,

but

l

ooked

rat her desolate,

He

go t his

kit

insid e and

opened

all

th

e

doors

and

\\'indo\\'s,

Th

en

he

str olled out

i n ~ o

th e garden, which ,, 'as a n ~ \ \ ' n

tangle

of

fl

owe rs and weed

s,

enclose d wIth

ill f

ou

r walls of loose

stone,

Suddenly and sp

lendidl

y it struck

him,

a lmost with the force af in sp ired revelation,

that thi s must be

like

th e

littl

e

fort

of

Jondola;

and

that he \I'as lik e O ld Dig

in this, at any ra

te

,

th

at he

\I

'as doomed

by

a rare stroke of misfortune ,

Th

e tho ug

ht cast

a g

lam

o

ur

ove r th e

whole sordid business, He

\\

'

alked

round

the

wa

ll

s whistling ,

He

looked over

the

sea, which lay like a mirror under the

se tting sun , and saw

only

the, sno\\'-covered

hills

and

v;lst

spaces bet\\

'een

them;

east

\\'ard, \\ '

here the

coast road clipped ~ l J l a n d ,

he pictured the valley and

go

rge wh,lch led

back

to the base and had pTQved mpene

tr ab le to

Old

Dig."

At the ga rden ga te a

mon

grel \\'ith

intelli

ge

nt eyes

and a lon g tail

,,

'as lookin g

at

him

through

the

wooden

bars,

He

ccJa'xed

him

in ancl

christened him Budri

Nar. Then he 'went in and prepared a meal ,

and Budri Nar's 'loyalty was

secured

for

eve r \\'ith

half

a -tin or bu'lly beef. ' h ,

A''fter\\''ards 'ill the t\\'ilig11t he

,\'ent round the defences with the Subadar ;

in th e

dusk

he co uld eas ily ima gille

the

crouching sent ry by the loop-I; ole , a nd crave

him a

friendly

\\'ord,

That

evening he

wrote

to

his

parents,

a

letter full of dances and theatres and gay

times

he should

have

had, He enclosed it

in a letter to Gough so that

he

could post

it in Lon don, In his

mind

thi s corres

ponded

to the heliograp h message: A

ll

\yell don't \\'orr y .

He

also started that

u r ~ a l \\ 'hich told

every

th ing, even about

his imag

iuin

gs and Budri Nar, \\

'ith o

ut

which

thi

s story could not have bee n 'ITit

ten,

The

old copy-book \\'as th e para llel.

Then started a

daily

rout ine , Each

morning

he

walked into the village for

stores

a

nd

a paper. He th ought of

it

as

reco

nn

o

itrin g,

La t

er

he

went

along th e

cliff pa th,

ima

gining the r arefied atmos

phere

of

IO,OOO

feet and the l\Iehal Valley ;

and \\'ithont effort he heard th e \\'h istle of

bullets a

nd

distant rifl e fire,

I t

was a o r d i n a for ho\\'

much

of

the day this dream possessed

him,

Often

he had to put it hurried ly as

ic1e- \ \

'hen

th

e

baker ca lled every other

afternoon,

or o

nce

\\ 'hen a small

bo

y sudd enly

appeared

and

sa id ,

I

\yant

my

dog, pointincr to

Budri

N ar. The m

ong

rel

changed

o\\'ue rs ,for a

half-crown ,

Sometimes hi s

brain

tired of

fantasy,

a

nd

he fo

und

him self

staring

at

nak

ed truth

a doomed man

playing

at soldiers, a boy

living in a \\'orld of ima g i.nation , a \\,o,rth

less fello\\ 'of no use a

nd

out of everything,

These fits of depression came in

th

e even

in

gs

, a

nd

to

counter

t ~ l e m ,

he

\\Tote in his

jour nal communing \,\,Ith hiS o\yn

fl

esh

and

b l o ~ d , '

295

One

lli

o'

ht

the

longin g to see

his

par

ents

nearly o ' ~ r c a m e him , He visualised them

in

the

room-hi

s

father

,

kindl

y a

nd

ra

ther

g

rim an d

his

mother, grey ~ n d \\'ist/htl ,

just as he had seen

them

leanlllg over

the

side of the dep ar tin g ship, He sa Il'

\\'ith sllch c

learne

ss th at l1e

put

Ollt hIS

hand to tOlch

them

,

He

started loo

kin

g

lip passage

routes in

the paper. He could

be \\'ith them in three \reeks if he \\'ent

by air. H l even b e g ~ l 1 to paSk,

~ l I t n

the night

8/10/2019 1932 Christmas

6/27

,

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS J OURNAL

his people, it should be a

clean,

sudden

cut; not a laceration.

A fortnight passed.

The

spring air and

f l o \ r s , the

glorious

freshness, and the sea

calmed

him, and enhanced rather than

spoilt

his day

dreams

of the snow-clad hiI1s .

put

he

was getting very short of breath,

especially

go

ing

uphill.

His morning recon

noitre

into

the village had to

be done

with

subtlety.

He

dragged

himself

up

the small

hill , and lay dmm out a f sight just before

he reached the crest; then after a rest he

\\

a lk

ed jauntily do\vn the hill, and

did

his

shopping. Coming back he

strolled

very

siowly, pretending to read his paper.

Th i

s " 'a rned him that he ought to make

some final arrangements,

He

had an

uncle, a

retired

Civil

servant, who

lived

at

Cheltenham; an unexciting person

with

,\ h0111, as a boy, he had

always

done

his

best to a void staying.

He

sent him a

telegra m: "Dig

dangerous

ill. Come at

once to Sharkey Cove Station,

St

. Aubrey."

He

pnt

it on the

sideboard

in the cottage

sitting-room, with the

mone

y for sending

it, and put a notice in

large

l

etters

beside

it : " f

a l 1 y o n ~

finds me dead or very ill ,

please

send

thlS message."

Then

he wrote

an explanatory

letter,

to await his uncle's

arrival. It

particularl

y

asked th

at the

journal shou ld be forwarded to his people

unreacl and

registered

.

There was

a second

request:

"Look

after

my dog

, Budri

Nar."

* * * *

t " 'as the twenty-third day since his

coming.

With

"Old Dig"

that had been

the Day o.f the .

Sortie. .He

sat on the edge

of

the

chff \\'lth

Budn

Nar between his

knees, gazing out to sea.

He

wished he

could

go out and face a sudden

bullet.

TO-l11orrm\' he knew his

imaginings

would

be less real. There was ,no twenty-fourth

da"

i l

the o \ \ journal

of his

boyhood,

VOIces belllnd him startled the dog.

There "'ere Ifour boys

carrying

a

rope;

they were after

seabirds'

eggs 11 the cliffs

heyond. "Damn it , "'hy

can't

the y leave

the poor brutes al

one?"

he thought. Budri

Nar ran harking

after them

but

came back

at a n'histle, his tail \ \ ~ g g i n g low ill

apology.

The long westerly

swell,

hreakillg

on th e

rocks below, held his eyes, while his mind

\\a nc1ered. Yes, Old ,Dig

had

had the better

part.

,

Then a shout behind him. One

of the

boys,

red

in the face and scared, gasped:

"Bob's

fallen over the cliff,

mister."

Young

Dig followed him along the path, walking

slowly. The

boy

broke

into

a

trot,

but

turned back

saw

Dig not keeping

up.

"Couldn't

you

run? He

might be

dead,"

he whimpered.

He

was not

answered; breath

was

precious.

Arrived

at

the

spot,

young Dig looked

over and saw a small figure, about 30ft.

do\yn and resting

on

a providential ledge.

He was plainly unconscious, and the dang

ling rope

reached

down

to

within a foot of

him,

"You've

got to hold the rope ""hile I

go

down,"

he explained to

the boys . He made

them

dig

holes in the ground

to

put their

heels

in,

and then

wen

t

over the

edge.

As he

went down

the

rope

the

thoug

ht

struck him that

he had

been fit he wou

leT

have

been too heavy for the boys

to

hold .

Was it for this th

at he was

wasted?

He got to the

ledge

where the boy

was.

ly ing and touched him.

He

was just re

gaining

consciousness

and stirred. t

was.

clearly impossible

to

move

him and the

rope

was too short

to tie

him on. Young

DIg shouted to th e boys above, telling one

of

them to

lun

to the cqttage and

fetdl

a

coil of

clothes-line

which was lying in

the

porch,

and

th

e others to hang on. Then,

vvith one hcllc1 clinging to the rope and the

other holding the inj"ured l

ad,

he waited.

Suddenly the

thought

flashed on young

,Dig's mind: this was the Sortie-the

twenty-third day His who le being

swe

lled

with gratit ude and thanksgivin g. Aloud

he kept

saying,

"Oh, thank God fOl'

the

Sort ie, thank God for the

Sortie

"

Dimly the boy heard the words ,,hidl

he couldn't understand

but

r e m ~ m b e r e d

later.

Meanwhile,

in

his strained

position,

ever

y muscle in young Dig's body seemed

to cry aloud for mercy. t was as though

each

nerve

and

joint

an

8/10/2019 1932 Christmas

7/27

8/10/2019 1932 Christmas

8/27

GIBRALTAR-

Rock

seen from the

Bay

.

(Co pyright vested in Beanl and, Malin

&

Co .)

III t he f regr01llld is " R osalind , one of th e A Class yac

ht

s of the Gi

'b

raltar Yacht Clu b. sa il ed by

o fficers of

th

e R .E. To

th

e ri g

ht

of " R osalind" is H .E. The Governor ' s M L

.

" Eli ott. "

....

1

H R OUR

u...:==::;, ~ o o e

..

e

P

"

.:

1'1' (.

SKETCH

MAP OF

THE COLONY,

REFERE

C

ES

1. F011;

ress Headqu a

rt

el

.

2. Bri

stol Hotel.

3. Gal;rison Rowing Club .

4. Naval Recl'

ea

ti 'on

Ground

s.

5. Casemates Bal'l'acks.

6. Moorish Ca

st

le.

7. Yacht Club.

8. &lad to Spain.

gNo

rth Front

Ba rracks .

10.

Ca

ta

lan

Village .

11. Windmill Ri

ll Barr

ac ks.

12. Milita

ry

Hospital.

3

00

SULE: 1'/z

Nc EI

T

III

'J E.

1

.

13. South Ba

1'l'a

cks.

14. Buena Vi sta

Bal

Tack s.

15.

S a d p i t

Tenni s Club.

16

.

Alemeda G:1l'den s.

:t7. Windmill Hill Fl ats.

THE R

OYAL ARMY PAY CORPS

J

OURNA

L

ife

on

the

ock

t is a

common saying among the gar

rison of Gibraltar

th

at the Rock is tbe

best st

ation in

the world because it is easy

to

get

awa y from.

In Ma

lta and Bermuda

and

elsewhere one has to make

the

best

of a

confined area,

and it is a l

ongish

journey home on leave. But from

Gibral

tar YOll have

th

e

whole

of Spain

,yithin

your reach, and the most beautiful

part

of

Spain, Allda lu cia, at your dom' .

The

golf

course and

th e

po

lo

gro und

are

in Spain;

the

best bathing is in

Spain;

and all our

\\'orld goes picnicking in Spain. On

SU11

days

the

Garrison deserts

the place, so that

about sunset the

road

back into Gibraltar

resembles the Sunday even ing trek back

into London.

And

'

it

is easy , and reason

ably

cheap, to return to England

Qn

leave

three or four days on the finest liners,

by about half a

dozen

regular lin

es;

\\'hile,

overland, London is only 51 hours from

Gibra ltar.

But of

course

\I'e ra1 the Rock is good

because it

is easy -to get away from, on ly

because E nglish

peop

le the

world over

must have t h

eir

g rouse. Many

peop

le,

especially ,,,omen, after the y arrive, hate

the place : nobody quite kll0'VS why.

But

in about

three

months everybody begins

to love it: the reasons

are

easy

to guess.

The

scenery is magnificent; every spo rt is

avai

lable, atld not expensive; the town is

not - so

sma

ll that

everybody

is sitting

in

ever

y

body

else's

pocket

, and 'it is not too

large, as in a big city where individuals

are

isolated . Gi

braltar

is i

nd

eed a

sma

ll

coun t

ry town,

w ith many of

th

e

ame niti

es

of a city,

with

entertainments that are

enough without being luxurious, and ,,ith

rather a un iqu e social life of its o\\n.

For in

Gibralta

r their is no socia l Clu b .

In

that it must differ from any other

foreign

station.

There

is

no

point

at which one assemb

les for the sund

own

peg,

or at which

oue

enter t

ains friends

at a

dinn er-dance. We do not go to cafes or

restaurants in the town .

There

are

no

pub lic

dances

. There

are

da nces

almost

every night throug hout the ,,,,inter , but

they are p(ivate dances organised by the

301

Services. There

has

gro,Yn

up

a

tradition

of private entertaining In our private

quarters- the

newcomer is inundated with .

invitations to d'inner parties, which are

paid

off

in, say,

the first

year, after

which

people

more

or less sort themselves ou t .

The

garrison is a happy family.

The

tour

ist \yho comes to Gibralt ar probably finds

littl

e to do, unless

adopted into the

life of

the place. This sounds

exclusive,

but I

have been in many much more exclusive

stations, and so far as tbe Services are con

cerned, there

is no

stickiness

."

The

hotels

are moderate . There are

plenty of tbem-the Cecil,

Victoria,

Grand,

Bristol, and the new Rock Hotel ,,,ith its

wonderfu

l view over the

Bay,

(these

almost

I think in ascending order Of expense)

but

I am reminded of Baedeker's sarcastic

remark

(how

often

do \ye find humour in

Baedeker?): the

accommodat

ion is not

al

ways

in accordance \vith th e high prices

charged.

Yet the

Bristol

is only 15/- a

day

during th e season (from Janu

ar

y to

March

when

the F leets

are in

),

a d

th

e

Rock from

17/6

up. But tbey are dear,

relatively to what one gets, as compared

with the

best Spanish hote

ls.

rbe Reina

Cristin a, a pop ular resort for tea and dinner

and occasional dances, ill Algeciras across

the

Bay,

is of course Spanish,

but

catering

for the English , .

cha

rges much

more

than

the real Spanish hotels. But then we

are

spoi

lt

; for one of the of

the

Rock

is th at 'in

from three

to seven hours' run

by

ca;

yo

u

can spend th

e week-end

at

Cadiz

or

Sevill e, or Ronda

or

Granada or

Ma

laga, in tbe most lu x uri ous hotels

at

a

mere

fraction of

the

price

you

would pay'

in

England .

Gib ralt

ar

is

like

an exceptionally lively

county town in

En g

land , set , in .a v e ~ y

different setting, not at all l

ike

the

cathedral to\n1S in which so many of the

Pay

Corps find themselves planted . Never

thel

ess,

an

officer who came on a vis it from

IVIalta was " tak

en

(more, I think, that'

by anything else)

by

the quiet. Malta, r

am given to un d

ers

ta

nd,

is an is

land

of

never-ceasing discordant

church bells, an d '

8/10/2019 1932 Christmas

9/27

THE- ROYAL ARMY PA Y CORPS

JOURNAL

i-;

a land \\here

natives do

not talk,

but

scream. We have bells

enough

in .

Gibral

tar;

and

the

Spaniards ai1d 11ati'ves do t h ~ i l ~

fair share of screaming; but the general

impression

to me also, is one of quiet,

though I

doubt

if anyone quartered in

.Main Street would agree. Other visitors

from

Malta, who

had spent a year or two

there,

seemed

to

be spell-bound

bv the

greenness

of the country,

both

of Gibraltar

and of Spain . And that is true for about

eight months

in

t,he

year;

\\'hile'during the

other four

months,

the

country presents

a kaleidoscope of

warm

bro\\'ns and reds

most attractive in their variety. There a r ~

artists

who,

tired of the greenness of

Eng

land, prefer

.

the

infinite

reds and browns

the incessant sunlight and the bright p e a k ~

and shadows of the mountains of Anda

lucia;

and the Rock for this purpose is

Andalucia

. Whether

you

-come

into Spain

from the south of Portugal, or come dO\\"ll

from the north from the vast flat expanses

of

Castile, or

come

from the

east

from

Barcelona and. Valencia ,

immediatei

y

you

enter

Andalucla

you are

captivated

by the

wanntl? a n ~

colour

of the mountains and by

the

dIVerSIty and magni ficence of the

scenery

. The vien: an l colours seen from

the Rock are the same

ge

r

e

When the

Fleets

are in,

in the first quarter of the

year

'snotties' and 'sub-loots'

race

up

Iecllterranean

Steps (a

staircase cut out of

a precipice)

to

what

at

different times has

been called Sugar Loaf Hill,

St.

George's

T.o\\'er

or O'Hara's

Tower (136r feet) the

hIghest

of the

three

main outstanding

peaks

the R o c ~ , though not quite actually the

hIghest p01l1t. I doubt if the naval

lads

go up purely

for

the sake

of the view '

more

likely they go up to see

who

c a ~

do it the quickest without bursting an

a.rtery;

but

when they recover, they feel

hke Cortes

on

his famous peak. To

the

east,

along

the Mediterranean coast-line to

~ a l a g a and beyon.d, rise Sierras upon

S ~ e r r a s culminating in the

snows of

the

SIerra Nev.ada, over II ,OOO feet high; on

t ~ e _other SIde of t h ~ Mediterranean the eye

pIcks

up

the

Afncan coast-line, \\'

hich

comes nearer and nearer

till

the

port of

Ceuta and the other

Pillar

of Hercllles

seen: .only a .few miles away ; across the

StraIts,

TangIer

can

.just be descried l'ike

a

bunch

of \Vhite rocks cJimbing

the

hill

3

0

2

above

the \Vater; slewing round to the west,

you

look

over

the whole horse-shoe

of

th e

Bay

of Gibra'ltar, here

some four or

fi\'e

miles wide, that

QIl

many

days

resembles

a blue

Swiss

lake. Facing you is the

to\\"J1

of

Algeciras

and the 'farifa

heights,

from

t ~ e

top

.of \\'hi.ch the Straits,

here

onl y

eIght mIles WIde, make an

unrivall

ed

panorama.

To

the north, the

eye run

s

alon g

the

knife-like

ridge

of th e Ro

ck

with the

Dock

yard and the to\\'ll belo,,

the flat strip of neutral ground straig

ht

ahead, and, across the frontier,

the

to\\"n

of

La Liuea

'ij11

its bull-ring, the hill

called

the

Queen of Spain's Chair ever

since a

misguided Queen

vO\\'ed to sit th ere

til.l

the British

flag

should

cease

to flyover

G l b r a l t a ~ tl?e polo .ground and the golf

course WIth ItS conspicuous

"browns"

alld

above and beyond , the old NIoorish ~ i t a d e l

of Castellar rising up in the sea of moun

tains and \\"oods that stretch to the horizon .

About the town itself

one

cannot be

lyrical. t is a sorry sho\\". There are no

f i n ~ streets ~ n d no fine buildin gs. The

Mam

Street IS full Qf noisy cafes and

trip

per

y

shops

that sell

expensive

rubbish to

the

th

ousands of tourlsts \\"ho la

nd

dail y

for a few houTs

on

the historic Fortress .

For

the rather

mean

appearance

of

the

to\\"l1, history

is to blame. Gibraltar is

first and

foremost

a fortress, and

always

has been.

The

area is extremely

l i U 1 i t e d ~

he \ V h o l e l e l l ~ t h

of

the British possession

IS onl y

ITIlles, and the popul

a tion has

to. be

restricted

to some 20,000, visitors

bemg. allowed to "

settle" onl

y special

p ~ r U 1 l t . A Berber

from

Ceuta establislied

~ l 1 m s e l f .on the

Rock

in A. D .

7II

and held

It .as Viceroy of the Caliph of Damascus.

HIS name ",as Tarik, and

the

Arabic for

1 ~ i l l

being "Gibel,"

Gibel

Tarik

or

Gibraltar,

"the hill of Tarik,"

replaced the

olel Roman name of Calpe .

The

Spaniards

ancl

moors

played battleclore and shuttle

cock with it, till on St. Bernard's

Day

2? th '--ug ust, 1462,

the Duke

of M e d i n ~

S.Idol1la

added

it

to

Castile . Followed ten

sIeges.; . then in 1704 Gibraltar " 'as

taken

b'y

Bntlsh

and Dutch marines; th

e eleventh

siege

took

place next year; the twel.fth

twenty-tw

8/10/2019 1932 Christmas

10/27

THE ROYAL ARMY

PAY

CORPS

JOURNAL

however, forbidden to rock-climb on the

Rock, for the last candidate for Heaven had

to spen.d the night on a cliff-edge, and the

searchhghts

of

-a destroye r , plus naval gear

and

IJe rSonnel,

and

the personal

bravery

of

a

comrade

sold.ier .were involved in his

rescue .

As

to shopping facilities

little need

be

sa id. You

can

get anything

yo

u w ~ n t

within rea son at ordinary prices '; and if

'rOll Irant anything special from home , you

can ge t it out C.O.D. B

e fo

re I

left

Eng

land,

I

had not the slightest knowledge

of

the

place, and I foolishly had drill jacket

and breeches made by a West End tailor

so that if

necessary

the y might be a

p a t t e r J ~

to some local dhirzi as is

the

custom in

India. On arrival

here,

I

found

a

number

of tailors, o n ~ of whom made me another

suit of

drill

at ~ e s s than half the

price,

and

Irhen both

SUitS

had

been in

the

wash

I couldn't tell which was which. My

w i f ~

also purchased an inferior riding habit in

London, and afterwards

in

Gibraltar had a

really good habit

made

at

one-third

the

cost. I

give

these

instances

as typ ical.

A vis t to W o ~ l w o r t h s - - p r e f e r a b l one

of ~ h e

big

depots II London-is well worth

w ~ I l e before preparing to set up house in

Gt.braltar. T h ~ r e are a htilldred-and-one

thll1gs from

pots

and

pans to

,vine glasses

that can be

obtained there,

of the utmost

use here, and on which one is glad to save

expense

at

a very expensive time . Inci

d ~ n t a l l y

W o o l \ V ? r ~ h s

packing for export is

excellent; and

It

IS

worth

knowing if one

has to pay freight on packages, t h ~ t they

shoulc

be

handed

over

to the P. and O.

?ffice 111

Cockspur Street, after

which

there

IS no.

trouble

tlll

you

claim

them

in Gibral'

tar,

.111 preference

to paying all sorts of

lan,dmg

and other charges to

a

shipping

agency.

A.

certain

amount

of

furniture

ma y . be h ~ r e d locally from

Ordnance.

( ) ~ U l I O I 1 S differ as to the advisability of

dOlI1g

S o - ~ o m e

prefering to bring out their

oll" n-:-but It depends

entirely

on the

length

of time yo u expect to be

stationed here

and th

7

efore to pay the high

rates

of hire,

as agamst the cost of freightage .

There

seems to be always a good market for

household effects l;yhen an officer leaves.

One lVord of warning: it would conduce

largely to amity

in

the Army

if

the

in

comer does l1 i

take over the

outgoer's

effects by written agreement in advance.

There

are no auction

sales. .There is a

so-called Jews' Market at

which

res

pectable pieces inay occasionally be picked

up; but

the customary method of furnish

ing is

to begin with

just

enough

and later

collect extras

as

officers leave and things

come into the market. One thing

ever

y

bod

y finds essential-a picnic outfit .

Food

is

fairly

good

and

fairly cheap.

Spanish lamb

, veal and pork are

excellent.

Beef is bad. Chickens and turkeys

are

pl;enti.ful and a certain amount

Qf

game.

FIsh IS

good

and very

varied.

Vegetables.

and fruit are

plentiful,

varied

and gener

ally cheap, O r a n ~ e s , tangerines, grapes,

melons, figs, chernes and strawberries

are

The vegetable

market

is peripateti'c.

all local

products

and among the

best

in

the world. Tinned milk is used almost

exclusivel

y. Drinking water is collected

in

t ~ n k s

off t.

he

roof of your

own

quarter ,

and many

people

do not like the idea of

drinking it; others,

like

myself, drink

it

after boiling;

but

the

D

.A

.D.H.,

who

.

should know, drinks

it

in its pristine

con

dition.

The

only water laid

on

in

military quarters is the so-called

sanitarv

water

from brackish artesian wells

u s e ~ r

for

household purposes and

for

b a t h ~

In

this, as in Qther respects, all Gibraltar is,

lke Caesar's Gaul,

divided

into three parts:

naval, military

and civilian. Each

has

it s.

own telephone

sy'Srem,'

its own

electric

its

own

water supply, and

mtlItary

Wlves

fume because

their

naval

and

civilian sisters bath

in

fresh

instead

of

sanitary water. Alcoholic drinks

minerals

and tobacco are from half to two-thirds

the home price. Spanish

wines

are

ex

cellent

and

very

cheap

in Spain-not so-

cheap in Gibraltar. An ice-chest tS neces

sary.

Cooking is universally by old-.

.THE ROYAL ARMY

PAY

CORPS JOURNAL

fashioned

kitchen range-gas

is very

expensive and little used.

The climate,

humanly speaking, is ideal,

excep

t for one

drawback,

the

Levanter.

\hen the

east wind

blows,

moisture

is

swept

up

from the Mediterranean and

forms

dense clouds on

the mountains all

round

the

Bay and Straits

of

Gibraltar.

The air becomes

moist

and

sticky,

and

this

is as true of

Malaga

and

Cadiz

as it

is

of

Gibraltar,

But elsewhere

the Levanter

clouds

escape, whereas on the R ock

they

linger lon g and escape only ,ith difficulty.

Owing to the peculiar air currents (it is

not uncommon to see flags

on

ships

in the

harbour flying in opposite directions) the

clouds swifl round and round, and appear

to

be fastened

to

the

top

Qf

the

Rock.

All

Spain may be in brilliant sun,

but

the

black

Levanter sits

upon Gibraltar. Seen

from

a distance, the

Rock

resembles a

smoking volcano. More 'often than not,

it

is enough to go along

the

half

mile

to

the

frontier to

get

beyond its influences;

but

whi

le

you are beneath it,

it

is not

pleasant,

especially

in summer, for then no breath

stirs and the heat given off by the vertical

cliffs

has no

escape

and you are

in the

grips of an airless depression . Women

seem to suffer more than men,

but

with

men too tempers get short, and with both

the thing resolves itself

into

what is

euphemistically called Gibraltar tummy .

I have known Bagdad

tummy,

and I

believe there is a variety known as

Malta

tummy,

and probably

there

are countless

geogr.aphical

tummies.

Not being

troubled

with it much myself, I am in consequence

inclined to be sceptical;

and

frequently

suspect

that what is Gibraltar

tumm

y "

in

the morning was whisky the evening

before.

But

I

give you the traditional

account of

the

matter.

Apart from the

Levanter, \I'e

have

nothing to

complain

of.

The summers are not too hot-keeping up

an

average of perhaps

80

to

85

degrees,

seldom

ge

ttin

g up

to

go,

and only rarely

progressing to\l'

ards

100 degrees. From

October to May, pr ovided th ere is no

Le

van

ter

and

it

is

not

raiuing,

we

have

br illiant

sun

and champagne

air. We

have

30

to

40

inches

of

rain

a yea r. But

it

has

all

accommodating way of raining: when

it

do s

rain,

it

makes a downright

business

of it, and

though

half an

'

inch may

fall in

3

0

5

the comse of a

morning,

the

afternoon

will

probably be perfect. Hence few picnics are

ever postponed for rain, My mackintosh

was

stolen

from my car three y

ears ago,

since when I have

had

none

other,

and

I have never

been inconvenienced; and th

e

number of times I have

used

an umbrella

may be counted

on

the finge.rs of

one

hand.

The ,,,inter temperatme

never

falls below

42 degrees,

hence

fires are

required

only

in the evenings from the middle Novem

ber.

There

are

a few sand-flies and a few

mosquitoes, but beyo.nd an occasional

sna tch at a buzzing

mosquito

when half

asleep

in bed,

I rarely notice them. Some

people, on

the other hand,

sleep

under

mosquito nets.

Moth and silver fish and

ants have to be guarded against

but

they

are

not

such a pest as to make this diffi

cult. Snow or

ice is unknown, though I

have

been

in a

sleet

blizzard Qn the Tarifa

mountains, about

1 ,500

feet up.

To

sum

up,

the

climate

is

healthy and unusually

pleasant,

for

children

even more than for

adults.

Dress

follows climate. Winter clothing

is lighter

than in England;

summer

cloth

ing as

light,

of course,

as

is comm il

faut

We wear

sun-helmets

in uniform

but

not in mufti (only local civilians wear

\I'hite

helmets

and

white

suits). White

mess dress is usual

in summer.

Top hats

and morning coats are worn at garden

parties onl y by civilians,

while

for

women,

I

imagine one garde

n party creation per

annum

is enou

gh . For women the

usual

wear is sports clothes and evening dresses

-p lenty of

both-wi th

many washing

frocks in

the summer.

A

fur coat

is essen

tiaL

Most

things can be obtained locally ;

and there

are

Spanish

sewing-girls

who

are

clever and

good under direction.

The

Indian shops seem to stock

everything

of a

normal sort in the way of women's unde.r

clothing , and I am

told that in

La Linea

and in

nunneries

at lVIalaga

intimate gar

ments

are made

of a caressing daintiness

and beautitul workmanship. Spain is

famous

for

shoes-very good

and

very

cheap, not

suitable

for Englishmen, but

the

envy

of all those Englishwomen who

are un

ab

le to

walk

with comfort

on

their

stilt-like

heels. For men, by

the

way,

the

bowler is de rigueur at race

meetings

.

8/10/2019 1932 Christmas

11/27

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURNAL

Though

the Rock is so

small,

the dis

ances

seem on

fqot

very long or very

arduous.

The

main thoroughfares

go

either

longitudinally, or, i f

transversely,

up the

most

exhausting

hills

. Wherefore, in no

other

town is a

car more

essential. I f

you

have

a

car

at

home

I should think it advis

able

to

bring it out, especially if

you

can

get it taken

on

the "Baccbus. * \Vith the

_

s .nstant ebb

and flow of naval,

military

and civilian officers, there

are invariably

econd-hand cars to be had in Gibraltar;

and to give

an

example of

prices,

a 1929

Whippet

in

good

condition and

running

order

recently

changed

hands at 30 (in

cluding about 10 of unexpired tax and

insurance). Petrol consumptiou

is

heavy,

becanse of the hilly' nature of

the country.

The main

roads

in Spain

are now

among

the best in Europe, and secondary

roads

are being rapidly opened

up. There

is

no import duty on

cars

entering- Gibraltar

- indeed Gibraltar is a Free port apart

from a few moderate revenue duties

on

spirits, wines

and

tobacco, petrol

and scent

and

so forth.

Petrol

costs 1/

lot per 5

litres 5 litres

=

I 1/10

gallon

) . A car

is

essential

not only for getting about the

Rock

but also for all -

journeys

in Spain

to

golf, pqlo, the Hunt, bathing, picnics,

and tours in Spain. To be stationed

at

Gibraltar and to miss so easy an oppor-

s

.oCOJlllDOtllf

E ~ : J R

/p

A

N

l f C ' I f N ( 7 ~ 1 J

S VtLLIf 0.\. l If

JV

.

~ ; : ; ; ; ; ; - - . ' b O N D . . ,

~ - - - - . ~ d r t t l K I

,

7 -9 q

town s of'S.W .Andalucia.

*The Bacchls is a Royal Fle et Auxiliary vessel

ocnveys stores, et c., between Chathn.m and

Gibraltar and Malta.

Parti

culars of accommoda

ti 'on for cars and

charg

es for conveyance

may

be

ohlained from th e SUf.6rinten ling Nn.val

Store

Officer, Rl:>yal Dockyal'( , Chatlmm.

tunity of

seeing unique

places

like Granada

and Seville and others

whose names

are

household

words, is unthInkable. Large

motor

"Pullmans" run

on all the maiIl

roads

in

Spain,

but

connections are diffi

cult.

The train service

in

Anda1ucia is

slow, ,,,here

it

exists

at

all, for in Spain

road-building has entirely ousted

rail

way

construction. An increasing number of

officers

motor home and back on

leave.

The

Miche1in road maps are good, but

somewhat out of date; no map can keep

pace \\'

ith

Spanish road-building .

Driving requires

perhaps more than usual

care and skill: the coast and mountain

roads

are frequently a series of fantastic figure

eight bends, and there are some unique

climbs-such

as

the 18

kilometre

hill

out

of

Malaga,

or the 7,000 feet

climb

up

the

Sierra Nevada. Motor insurance is con

siderably dearer

than

in England. Quite

a number of

women drive both

in Gibral

tar and in

Spain.

In Spain two

or

three

years .ago a wqman driver seemed to strike

the average Spaniard as somewhat

incred

ibly funny,

. udging from

the oontortions

and excited though

friendly

hilarity to

which they gave rise;

but

now they are

part

of everyday life, and

one

occasionally

sees even a Spanish

woman driving.

Schools for English children are difficult,

at

least

above the age of ten or so. After

that

age

it

is usual to send them to

school

in England, and they

are

shipped

home

at

the beginning of term and shipped out

at the end of term by the "'School Boat"

run

by the P. and

O. for

children

from

Malta

and

Gibraltar. (Adults who

appre

ciate peace are advised to

give

the School

-Boat a

wide

berth, with its ISO children

romping over every deck

) The

children

look

after

themselves,

and

a

grown-up

'

person

of, say, IS years is generally

put

in

charge of

mere

kids of

I2.

During the

holidays, they become

almost surfeited

'with bathing and picnics and yachting and

parties of all kinds, so

that

the advent of

the

School

Boat to

England

is almost

hailed with relief

(probably by parents

also) .

There are

110 commendable boarding

houses; you

can't

live in furnished rooms;

there are few flats to be let furnished or

unfurnished;

and

if

you are

not

entitled

to

a quarter the 'best thing

you

can do is

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURNAL

to rent a

R.E.

Letting. British and Span

ish currency,

plus

the Gibraltar

note, are

equally

received, and some tireless people

play the ring on the exchange, thereby

making a penny

or

so on the morning's

marketing,

I f

you

have an

accou}1t

at

the

Gibraltar Bank, don't

send

your Gibraltar

cheque home in payment for a home ac

count-the commission is iniquitous. We

are all on the military telephone,

which

is

connected ,yith the

civilian

system,

and it

has the ad vantage that you pay a lump

SU111

dO\l'll and make as man y calls as you

like

and talk for as long as you

l ike-which

of course

has the corresponding

di

sadvan

ta ge that s

ome

inveterate gossip

may

be

holding up the number

you

want.

The

Gibraltarian

is

mostly

of

very mixed

descent,

mainly Spanish and quite

a lot of

Italian, but Jews and all Mediterranean

nationalities as well as Moors have influ

enced this small

but

distinct

race

.

Their

habits

and houses

are

Victorian;

their

shops display old-fashioned courtesy, and

give credit more

than

is al\\'ays advisable;

they are intensely patriotic, and everyone

of

them, though he has never

seen Eng

land,

speaks

of England as "home .

The

couTtesy of the Spaniard,

from

the poorest

peasant upwards,

is

very

striking; he

has

natural good

manners, and

I verily believe

that were an Andalucian peasant

trans

lated from his mountain shack to a Londoll

drawing-room, he

would

not

be at a loss,

but

would

remain his simple

courteous

self. This

elemental

co urtesy belongs also

to the Gibraltarian.

Not that the

Spaniard

is

not readily roused

to anger:

far

from

it, but his \\-rath is speedily

quenched.

I

once collided with the gravel- laden pannier

of a donkev.

Most

of the gravel

poured

into my

car,

but it

was

the Spanish

"arriero" or

donkey-man who

flamed up

in anger, and the voice of his eloquence

was heard over the

land. SIO\dy

I

drew

a dollar (five peseta piece) from my

pocket

and

held it

towards

him:

immediately his

rage-riven countenance changed to the

SUJlny face of the Andalucian, and

he

pirol1etted

round holding the

dollar

on high

for all the

crowd to

see.

The

Spaniard

ah\ -ays passes the time of the day with

yOI1;

the

Civil

Guard and the Carabinero

salute

you; and

Republican demonstra

tions applaud you .

At

the frontier the

British are passed through without inspec

tion,

and the entire re lations of the

Gar

rison

with Spain

are

wonderfully

cordial.

vVoe to anyone who abuses the fact,

or

attempts to smuggle in or out of

Spain

.

You must salute the Carabinero and pass.

the time

of

the

day with the peasant;

you

must talk and laugh with the laughing

Anda1ucian, though neither you nor he-

understand the

other;

and you must

never

hurt Spanish

pride by

offering a t ip-a

cigarette,

yes, but not a

tip

.

You may go camping-no country is less

"enclosed" than the country near

Gibral

tar .

You

can

go

for cruises on a

destroyec

or

submarine.

Yon

can

go on shooting

expeditions with the

reasonable

expecta

tion of a fair

bag, You can

become a

botanical

expert, and

among

the fifty

botanists of man y nationalities

who

have

been attracted to ' this

district,

officers of

the British Army

have

taken

a foremost

place . The

bird

life attracts several en

thusiasts,

and

recently

a field officer made

most days

a field

day with butterflies.

Tumbers of scientists visit the

Rock.

r

even

had

to

endure

the scorn of one Pro

fessor of a

Scottish University

at the fact

that none

of the officers,

"with

all the time

at

their disposal,"

had

taken up what

I

think he

called

the submarine

biology of

the Bay. Some people spend their spare

time devising

111tra -short

wave-lengths

ill

an

attempt to

make

'ireless pleasant in

this the

1110St difficult of \\'ireless stations.

Naval Paymasters are

C i l 1 ' ~ 1 1 1 a

experts and

run for the services the

best "talkie"

on

the Rock

.

o which

all rQnks go at least

once weekly. But \vhen

your

time is up,

Y

Oll

will remember most the blue Bay

that

is

like

a

Swiss lake,

the amphitheatre of

su n

-

lit

hills,

the champagne winter

air,

.

floating in the summer sun

11

a crystal

Mediterranean, liners bound for all parts.

of the ,, orld,

the

ships of

war,

the

luxur

iant

gardens

,,here

scarlet

hibiscus flames

and geraniums

grow

tree-high, the b100d

red or turquoise sunsets over the Straits,

the

charcoal

burners'

fires on

the moun

tains, the

lights

of a

car

threading its way

among the distant hills like a smuggler's

ghost

train-and

(last

but

-

not

least) a

pleasant

office.

E .E.T-

(Plans and sketch by S.S .M. R. G. Smith ,

RA

.P .C.)

8/10/2019 1932 Christmas

12/27

THE

ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURNAL

BELFAST GARRISON STAFF Sep

te

mber 1890.

*Indicates member

s.

of Army

Pa

y

Co

rps.

x

(ST

A

NDING

,

BAOK ROW)

.

-Foran

, Lomax, McLagan,

Dry

er, Hall,

Ru

st . .

Ca

,ddy, Gordon Smith,

(C

ENTRE) .-Lynch

, Wallace, McCl eedy,

Wort

, McKenna, Fuller, Kirk,

Gibbs,

St

ewnrt, Beuuett,

Ki t

chen, Stevens.

(SITTING) .-Witkowski , Mayell, Payne, Pecknold, Carlisle, Hayes.

PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS

To

be Warrant Officer

Cl

a

ss

I and appointe

d

S.S M

765T lJ5 S.Q.M.S. C

Pear

ce , 11 /4/

32

.

7657312

S.Q.M.S. J. J. Moss,

24/4/32.

iP be Staft Sergeant.

7733525

Sgt.

J . g

Asc

ott

, 11

/6 /32.

7658015

Sgt.

J .

H. Haskins, 28

/7/

32.

7733513

Sgt. E. T. Malloy, 30

/7/

32

.

7733236

Sgt..

J. J.

Warr

en,

15/8/ 32 .

7658021 Sgt. W.

C.

P . Elam , 23

/9/32.

To be SeF B eant .

1425280

L/ Sgt.

H.

Deveau,

8/5/32.

22JJ5196

L/Sgt. W. Lees,

3/9/

32.

5492522

L/ Sgt. E.

R.

Ransom,

1/9/

32.

6455450

L/Sgt. E. W. C,Ilappell,

1/9/32.

5666652

L/

Sgt

. W. G. Mo

od

y,

26 /8/32.

~ 3 8 2 1 2 9

L/Sgt.

P.

Lydon ,

1/7/

32.

1425155

L/ Sgt.

R.

Hudson,

17 /9 /32.

542514

L/Sgt. W. Hornby,

27 /9/32.

313902

L/

Sgt

.

B. J.

Wj nch,

3/ 11 /32.

2691998

L/Sgt.

F.

Webber,

4/11/32.

To be Corpor

al

.

1073530

P te.

C. G.

Tennu ci,

1 1 / 9

7260523 Pt

e. C. McLaughlin,

9/ 9/32.

1065660 Pt

e.

G. W . DaJ

e,

14 / 11 / 32. -

308

Probationers finally transferred.

7882013 Pt

e.

J. Sl

a

ter

,

24 / 2/32

(Winche

ster

).

5493894 Pt e. A.

F . Elgood , 24

/ 2/ 32

(Hilsea) .

3052635 Pt e.

G.

J.

Roan,

3/3/ 32

(Cha

th

a

m).

6844500 RIm

. E.

J .

Monk s, 29

/ 3/32

(York) .

7880432 Pt

e.

W. V.

Davies,

29 / 3/ 32

(W arwic

k).

Pro bationers Jo ined.

2873752

Pte

. E. Gordon,

21 /9/32

(Chatham).

404003 P te .

A. E. Black

we

ll

,

21

/9/ 32

(Pr

es

to

n)

.

3445258 Fu

s. P . Lee,

20 O ?f2:

(Preston).

DISCHARGES

.

7657243

S.Q.M.

S. C.

W.

P.

Pr

at t

,

22, /9/32.

7657026

S.S.

M.

E. J . W. Bl ow ne,

30/ 10 /32.

RETURNED

TO

UNIT

7881100 P te . E . E K.

Lowe,

7/9/ 32

(

Pr

eston).

MARR I

AGES

.

5333380 Pt

e.

C. H.

Davies, 20

/8/

32

.

4441439 Sgt

. G,

Fr

aser, 20

/8 /32.

7878034

L/ Sgt ,

R.

H. Baten

;a

n,

3/9/

32

.

7733561

Sgt.

R. J ..

Drummond, 10

/9 /

32

.

6907976

Sgt. F . J. R

os

ling,

25 / 9/32.

5609483

Sgt. E.

J . Burnet

,

16 /10/32.

7734327 Sgt

. E

T.

Taylor,

29 10 32

THE

ROYAL

ARMY

PAY

CORPS

JOURNAL

Notes on the

History

of

Army

Pay

By Lieut .-Col. E. ENEVER TO D

D,

O.B.E., R .

A.P.C.

Continued

from

page 25

3

CXXV.

I

have alread

y said that

after

the

Crimeall

War, seconded by the smashing victories of

Prussia over Austria and France, British

Army

administration

was put

into

a

boiling

cauldron.

That

this

is not an exaggerated

use

of

words,

is, I think, proved by the

fact

that, in

the

twelve years or thereabouts

after the war, no

less

than

89

inquiries were

he ld,

Roya

l Commissions, House of Com

mons

Committees,

War Office

Committees,

and Committees of Officers, to consider the

administration

of

the Army.

I

can here

give only

a bald

outline

of

the changes

that

took place, nor is Army adminstration the

subject of these notes; but, as I have found

frequentl

y before,

you cannot

follow

the

history

of

pa

y without grasping the Army

sy

stem as

a whole. Before the Crimean

War, there \\ as a Minister for War and the

Colonies,

each

,,\lith

his own Secretariat;

the Home Office

administered the Milit

i

a,

Yeomanry and Volunteers;

the

C. in-C. at

the Horseguards ru led over the Cavalry

and

Infantry ;

the Master-General

of

the

Ordnance

(\\ ith a

seat

in

Parliament)

over

the Engineers,

Artillery,

and the provision

of prearms and greatcoats; the Treasury

ruJed

over the Commissariat, i .e., supply

including treasure, and

t ransport; the

Secretary at War was

responsib

le for all

mi litary expenditure; the Board of General

Offi.cers

inspected

t

he clothing

of t

he

troops; the

Colonels

provide

d

the

cloth

ing;

\yhile there

were

other

func

tionaries, the

Paymaster-General, the Comptroller of

Ar,DlY Accounts,

t

he

Au

dit

Office, the

Governors

of Chelsea

Hospital, and

the

Army Medica l Department (still distinct

horn the regimental surgeons), who \\ ere

almost independent functionaries. As

early

as 1833 a Commission had

advocated

the

consolidation

of

some

of these. A

second Commission

in 1837 did

the same;

hut

all

that was d(me was

to abo

lish Army

Extraordinar ies,

which were

la r

ge sums

le

ft

to the discretion of the Army without

3

0

9

being

voted

in detail

by

Parliament.

Wellington gave his opinion against

the

findings of both

Commissions;

and

indeed

it was difficult to amalgamate the Engineers

and Artiller

y, in

\ hkh clothing

was

done

by a

Board

and

promotion

was by selection,

with the

Cavalry

and Infantry, in

which

clothing was done by the Colonels and pro

motion went by purchase.

CXXV

I.

The

authorities

might argue

on

the

princip les of administration;

but

events.

forestalled

them

. The disasters of the

Crimean

War roused

public

opinion to fever

heat,

set the

Cabinet

in a flurry, and

forced

the organisation of an Army which was no

longer

a congeries of

more or

less

privately

owned

regiments,

but a

centrally-controlled

united Force. A Treasury Mintite

was

enough to transfer the Commissariat to the

War Office. The militia was

transferred to

the War Office. The

Secretary

at War ,

who

had been

responsible

for the finance of

the army, was merged in the Secretary of

State for

War.

T)le sufferings of

the army

in the

Crimea

were largely put down

to

the

lack of transport and forage- both then

under the Treasury. Wherefore the

Com

mi.

ssariat, transport,

stores,

barracks

and

hospita

ls, with the supply of Treasure in

cluded,

were

all

put

under a single Con

troller. The

Controller had his

own Pay

Department, dis

t

inct

from the

regimental

Paymasters

.

But the Control System, as

it Was called, fail

ed;

the very name was

unfortunate; every junior rank thought he

was

in control

of

the entire

Army; all \vere

at l

oggerheads,

up to the

Controller

and

C. in-C. themselves. So the Commissariat

an.d Transport

were

formed

into

a

separate

Corps, known from 1880 as

the

Commis

sariat and Transport Staff, and this in 1888

was

re

f

ormed on

a

pure

ly mili tary

bas

is

as

the Army Service Corps. Th is left the

Contr0ller's Pay Depart ment rather in tJ1e

air , ready to be joi ned up with th e Regi

men ta1 P

ay

m

as

ters .

8/10/2019 1932 Christmas

13/27

8/10/2019 1932 Christmas

14/27

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURN

AL

think

we

do

all we

can

to

prevent

it,

that

is

with the little

assistance

which the

ignorant boys and idiots above alluded to

can

give

us. Major-General Craig may

have

been somewhat

prejudiced by the ill

fate

of the Low Countries expedition;

but

in 1846 we find Lord Grey, an ex-Secretary

at

War, stating

of the

promotion

of Officers

that

it

depends

exclusively upon seniority

QC upon interest, and their having money

to purchase their successive steps.

There

is

not even

a

pretence