1932 Spring

Vol. 1 No. 5

THE

Royal Army Pay Corps

Journal

SPRING. 1932

THE RO YA L A1U IY P A Y CORPS JOUR NAL

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BALLROOM BILLIARDS GARAGE T eiephorle - 69-70

GEORGE HOTEL LICHFIELD

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SWAN HOTEL OLD WORLD COMFORT & HOSPITALITY Telep h 31' J - - - 9J

By Official Appointment

To the R.A.P.C. Officers Club

Our special Pure Dye Reppe Silk Ties 5/6 Our Uncreasable Weave Silk Ties ..... . 6 /6 Pure ' Dye Reppe Silk Squares, 32 inch. 21 /-

Beat Hand Framed Sweaters (Trimmed)

Medium Weight ...... .... ... . .. .. .. . ..... . 33/ 6 Light weights .. . ... . .. . . . .from 19 /6

Hand Framed Wool Scarves Medium Weight .. . . .. .... . . . .. . . . . . ... . . . 16/6 Light Weight ... . . .12 / 6

Full Price List on Application .

All goods are subject to 10 per cent. Cash Discount to members of the Officers '

Club.

1MLewil1 Estabd. 1898

39 PaDtoD S tree t Haymarket , S.W .•

Only Address

The Royal Army Pay Corps Journal Vo!. r. No. 5

Ed i ton al Notes The London Gazette Corps Sports News

CONTENTS

Short Story_Cl Driving P igs." by O\\'en Oliver Our Chess Page

otes on the History of Arm y Pay (conti nued) Letters to the Editor A Submarine Trip on th e China S ta tion Obituary Corps Notes and cws Chinese New Year Old Comrades Association Book Review R. A.P .C. j omnal--Statement of :\ccoun ts Droleri es de Corps

Spring, 1932.

PAGE 161 161

r62 to 163 J64 I67 16S

163 to 173 174 176 1/7 193 194 19 .:; 196 197

Advertisements- 166a, 194&, 194b, Cover, pp. (ii) , (ii i), and (iv) .

SUPPORT THOSE FIRMS WHO SUPPORT US.

The Royal Army Pay Corps Journal

Editorial Notes. 80, Pall Mall, L ondon, S. W .!.

March 1932. In our last issue we refe r red to the fact that

-a number of .readers had e.xp ressed the wish that a shor t story should be included in each number. In this issue we a re able to include, by kind p erllli ssion o f the author, a hit her to unpu blished shor t story by the well-known w riter Owen Oliver, wi th whose previous wo rk ou r readers are doubtless familia r, a s his sto ries appear in all the leading magazines.

"Owen Oliver " is the pen-name of S ir J. Albert F lynn, K .e.B. who was Di rector of Army Accounts f rom 1904 to 1916; in the la tter year he left the vVa r Office to become D irector Genera l of F inance at the M inisty of P ensions. I n sending thi s sto ry Sir Albert F lynn says" I am very p leased to do any lit t le thing fo r the magaz in e of myoid comrades." v\ 'e tender our most sincere thanks, in which we a re sure ou r readers will jo in, fo r the permi ssion to publish this st ory.

* * * * W ith th is number we celebra te ou r first birth

day, a nd on a nother page wi ll be found t he fin ancial repo rt of the first year's working. A lthoug h a sat isfacto ry profit is shown, it will be seen that t hi s is due to t he revenu e f rom advert isements, and we ask Our readers to ass ist in ma int a in ing this revenue, by supporti ng those firm s who suppor t us, a nd by ment ioning the ] ottrnoi when commun ica ting with adverti sers.

I t is not the obj ect of the ] ourl/ol to make a profit , but it is necessa ry to bu ild up a reserve fu nd, a nd when thi s has been accomplis hed we hope t.o a rrange by imp roving and enla rg ing the magazlI1e, tha t the accounts each yea r sha ll j us t balance.

* * * * W e shoul d li ke to expres our thanks to a ll wh o

have helped in the production o f the 1 0 111'1101

during our first yea r. Pa rt icu la rly does this apply to our L oca l R epresenta ti ves, whose ta k in the collect ion of copy a nd th e dis tribut ion o f copies has, in many cases, been no light one; and to those who have subm itted lite ra ry or artistic cont r ibuti ons. T o the la tter we wou ld add d o not be d iscouraged f rom scnding fu rther contr'i bu tions even if your f orm er efforts ha ve not ye t appea red; som e o f Ihe materia l in this issue was submi tted for the fi r st num ber a nd has heen hi th erto been" crowd ed out."

* * ,.

* vVe hope that those of our readers who have

left, o r a re a bout to leave th e Corps, and a re no longer able 10 obta in copies th rough Local R epl-esentatives, will keep in touch by becomin g annua l subscri bers. The a nn ua l suhscrip tion f r copies SCllt by POSI is -l/ 6.

I 6 I

From 'The London Gazette' ROYAL ARMY P AY CORPS.

Staff Sergt . Major S. H olman, M.B.E. to l' e Li eut . (A sst. Paymr.) (November 6. 1931).

Li eut. H . H. Cotti er, R A . to be T emp. Capt., and Paymr. (on probati on) (November 24. 1931 ).

Capt. K. e. J ohn ston-Jones, M.B.E., M.e., R T ank Co rps to be Capt and P aymaster (on probation) (A ugust 31, 1931) .

Li eu!. E. e. Brewer, Bord er Rgt. to be T emp Capt., and Paym r. (on probat ion) (Janua ry I) .

Capt. a nd Paymr. E . T. e. Smith RA .P .e. to be B revet Maj or. (Ja nuary I) .

Capt. (Asst. Paymr.) L. J. Ca mp 10 be Major (Asst. Paymr.) (Jan ua ry 7) .

L ieut.-Col. and S taff Paymr. R . L. Bourchi er re tires on retired pay on atta ini ng th e age limi t for ret irement (Janua ry 24) .

Capt. and Paym r. F. e. W ill iams M. C., to be ~Iaj o r and S taff Paymr. (January 24) with Regtl. sen ior ity Februa ry 2, 1928 and precedence next below Maj or J. G. A nderson (such seni ority not to count for rmy seniori ty, pay and a llowances, increase o f pay or retired pay).

NE W YEA~ Gl~EETINGS. The fo ll owing letter was received by

Brigadier l\Iusson from S ir Herbert Creedy , K .C .B . , K .C .V .O., Permanent U nderSecretary of S ta te for W ar.

The W ar Office ,

M~- dea r Musson, 1. I. 3'2.

I must send you and the Corps my \'ery best wishes for th e N ew Year \Nith my g ratefu l th anks for all that you do to help the Accounting Officer who fu lly rea li ses ho,>\, much h e owes to you all for lightening his task .

Yours sincerely, (Sgd .) H er bert Creedy .

Seasonable g reetings were exchanged with our A llied Corps-T he RoyaJ Canad ian Army Pay Corps , New Zealand Army Pay Corps and South African Administrat ive P ay a nd Cleri ca l Cor ps.

OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

The Ed ito rs ackn owledge with many thanks rece ipt o f the fo ll owing Jou rna ls :-"RA.M.e. N ews a nd Gazette," Dec., J a n., F eb. " The v\,ire," D ec., J an., F eb. " The appr r," Dec., J an., F eh. " T he Gunn er," Jan., F eb., :March. "R.A.O.e. Gazett e," Dec., J an., F eb. "RA .\.C. J ourna l," Fehrua ry. " A.E.e. J ourn al. " December. " T he \Vasp," N'ovember , 193 1.

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORP " JOUR~AL '

Corps Sports News Arrangements for 1932.

Frida \', June 24 th , } Cricket \', Depot, Battalion, Ro~'a l E ngineers, at ChathaJn. Sat. , Jun e 25th , K I I'd 11 1\,r Jun e 2-/th . } Cricket v, R oyal Army Ordnance Corps. a t 1 ort 1 . 1 ( escx ~v.L on., H T s Jun e 28th . Groun d , ora ey,

uel " Jun e 29th . Golf. S umm er Meeting , at F ul \\'ell. \\ ec . , I L I' 'D T I June 30th, Lawn T ennis a t R oe l ampton , ae les ay,

l urS" J Annual Meeting R ,A,P .C, Officers' Club (aftern oon ) , Friday, July 1St. 'Annual Dinner (evening) ,

Tues., J uly .'i th. } Cricket v, Army Educat ional Corps , at Aldersh ot. 'Vied. July 6th . . "

A on~ day cricket match again t H cunslOlr Garn on IS ill course of a rrangem ent,

R.A.P.C. GOLFING SOCI.ETY . been made to hold the III eti ng at th e FnlIlell Golf Cllll this yea r . ta tion: F ull\'ell

Campbell Todd Cup, 1931.-Won by (Sou thern Ra il\\' a~'), F urther particu lars Major H. J. H o llings\\'orlh (Fdinburg h) and elltrance forms \rill be circulated in with a score of 4 up, The run ncr up \\'as cl uc COUI' e, Ma jor A, A, CockburI1 ( HO~111 SI0\\' ) - 4 Ibndicaps. - i\Iajor H ollin gs\\'orth frOlll do\\' n , TO cards were receIved from 13 to 9,

abroad , Half Yearly Spoon Competition.-l\[em-Half Yearly Spoon, Dec. , 1931.-:-\Vi llner bel'S are aga in remiuded of the above l' 0 11l-

Capt. '1, A, i\leek (Edinburgh) \\'Ith core I' ~ titi on .. a boge~' competition on hand icap, of 2 liP, Cards of I li p \\'ere also returned open to members a t home and abroa d. by Capt, Mcek and Major H ollings\rorth, T herc is 11 0 limit to the number of cards.

Army Golf Challenge Cup. - All \\'hich ca ll be entered , Closing date ' for R .A,P,C. team has been entered for the p l a~ ' 30th June, 1932: the results a re not above competitio n wh ich takes place.at ~h e declared unti l six \\'eeks la ter in order to Royal Liverpool Club , H oylake, beg1l1n1l1g g ive time for entri es from abroa d to I e in-on April 20th, clu ded .

Matches .- A match ha been aITangecl Eastern Command and W .O . Section.-v. R .A .O,C. G .S , at 'VI orple don on J une The re. ults to date of the kn ock out (0111-

15th. Other fix tures are being arranger!. petiti on fm- handicaps of T8 and over, ar Summer Meeting .- Arrangements have as follo\\'s:-

1st roun d. 2nd roun d, 3rd round.

Ma~or Cock burn (20) Major Robson (T9)

}lIh.i, CockburJI L~ anc1 4) I r j\bj, Cockbnrn

} Lt.-Col. Fennell (19) Capt. Buck (24)

} Lt, -Co!. Fennell (2 ur)

Brigadier ]\I usson (18) Capt . Ec1inger (20)

} Brig. lVIusson (4 and 2) l\fusson (2 and I)

Lt .-Col. Da\\:son (24) Lieut. Thies (24) } Lieut . Thies Cj and T)

Box ing. - Corpora l A. E. Went, R,A.P.C. Shrewsbury Detachment, COT11 -pe~ed in the Army In dividual Championships a t Chelsea Barracks on 2nd ancl 3rd March, as a Mic1 dlel\'eig ht.

Alth oug h he weig hed oul y lost. 9lbs . , he \\'011 his fi rst fight against a heavier

opponent, bu t \\'as l?eaten on points \\ lI en competing fo r a p lace in thc sem i-final.

Corporal 'VI eut fought \\'ith g reat pluck, and a t the concl usion of his last fight mr congratlI la tt:d by the referee for hi s gaJ1l e-' Il ess.

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS J OUR NAL

Hockey.- The response to the efforts to 3timula te hockey \\'as most gra tify ing , as the list · of players \\'ho have participa ted in the various matches shows. In order to give games t~, and tryout , as many players as pOSSIb le th e pa ramou nt need to field the best side regularly, has had to be disregarded. The results, so far , have consequently not beeu in favour of the representa tive tea ms. Th e ma tches have, hOIl'ever, been very enjoyable and closely con tested.

The opposition has consisted of .Mili tary, R, A.F. and Club teams and has provided good g rounds for judg ing th e standard of play required . T ea m building from players scattered over a large area is a diffic ult bnsiness, but i.t has been rendered surprisi ng ly easy by th e keenness of the othcr ranks , severa l of \I'hom have frequently traveLled up wards of sixt~ miles for each of their severa l ga mes. The support g iven to the idea a nd the results of the matchcs have been so encouraging that a seri es of mid-I~'eek matches, aga in st mili ta ry teams, for next season has already been undertaken.

The names of th ose who have alread y appeared in the Royal Army Pay Corps represen ta ti ve sides i nc!ude th e follo"'i ng : ALDERSHOT :-Capta in n. P. J. Rooney Sergeants C. E ndacott a nd E. R . H. ansom: ilARNET :-Capt . R. S. E llicott . CANTERB URY:-Sergeant T aylor. CH ATHAM (R .E.) :-Corpora ls W. C. 1. Pull in and H. Poole and Priva te Taylor. DEPTFORD :-Sergea nt H, G ibbs. EA~TER_.J COMMA ID :- Captains A. L. Dunnill and J. L . Oli ver, Sergean t Burnett. H OUNSLOW:-Major A. A. Cock-burn, Captaill O. D, Garra tt, S / Sergeant W. H . Broll'rI, Sergea11ts J. J . H ehir and T, W. M. Lancaster. K NIGHTSBRIDGE :-Lieut. G. Hagga rd , L / CO'rpl. R. V. S mith. W OOLWICH :-Sergeant Everett and Corpora l Ciower.

Laler :-Information has been received that the Committee of th e Officer' Club have ca lled for proposa ls with a viell' to the fo rmation of a Corps H ockey ection of the O fficers' Club .

Association Football.-It is sa ti sfac tory to be able to report that our representati o; 1 in th e Army" Soccer '" Sid e ha~ continued throu.g- llOu t the season, Sgt, S. W. J. Knig ht, R. A.P.C" has ab l)fillecl a po. ition

in the Army defence in seven matches aga ins t both ama teur and p rofessiona l teams, I\'hilst L / Cp l. B. H art, R.A.P.C., has recently been se lected tu p lay ou· th e left wing aga inst the R.A.F.

Army Football Cup.-Since th e announcement in th e Autumn issue of th e " Journa l" (p . IT S) further SUbscriptions have been received from Ca nterbury Woolwich, Leith and York, and the totai ~mount nOlI' subscribed is £25 2S.

A lthough the proposal to form a Corps footba ll team with a viell' to com peting for the Army Cup was genera lly supported, it I\'as not entIrely una niI:nous, and it is proP?sec1 t? submit the scheme for preliminary dISC USSIon to the next meeting of the R.A.P.C. Officers Clu b Genera l Committee and to a k the Committee to afTord an opportunity for a gcnera l disc ussion at t Il e AIllI\'JIl Genera l Meeti l1 CY to be held in July .

LETTER TO THE EDITOR.

From Brigadier A. I . i\;11Lsso l1.

~h e t im e will soon be a .... iving when the sec .. ~, tanes of our \'nl'lous sporting act iviti e wi ll be

1 co ut lng I:ound fo .. playe rs to ta ke part, in the item tt' p." oVlded In the progmntm~ of our" COI'PS Week." I 1 here seems to be it iJ l'eV:1lent idea t hat " Corps"

cnck e~ (wd t.enl1lS a rt' of such a hjgh class that it IS futtle for orchnary players to offer theil' services for the fOl1l1el' 01' to co mpete in the lat.tel' , A~ regards the clicket , til e silme old tager cannot go on for evel·. a:ld ni!l\' blood is urgently required. r hope that any loca l ta lent which exists at all v stat ion will not be backwa rd in coming fo rwa rcl th IS yeal', and that local representati "es will mak e it their busine5s to loo k Ollt for any cricketers of Ilrom lse who. p lay r.egulady and are, th erefore . hk ely to he JI1 pl·act.lce at t.he t Ime of the corps week . I feel sure thnt some corn patent new blood l11 ust be avatlnble a mongst the recen tlv joined pro, IJat. ion e .. officers.

As rega rds tenn is, the elltl'ies last yea I' fOl' t he Roehampton competiLion. were very cli sappointing and r hope th at al! offi cers who play will make an effort to suppor:t t he meet ing th is yea l'. Th e goIr meet Ing wa f~t1l'ly well supported last year hut J fell I t hat w e might do much better and considering the lav ish hnndiea,ps which nre given by the golf cOmlnt ttee there IS 00 necessIty for any entI-ant to he n " plus" man in order to dist inguish him. eIr. T feel lire th~lt no member of t.he SRorls Clll h is ,desirons t hat any of DU I' l1('t ivities wh ich s['lI'ted so we ll at the format ion of the clu b sho uld fi zz le ont. and r hope t hat everyone will exel't themselves to make 1932 n ~ po rting 5tH'Cess ,

The War Office. A. T. MUSS00l, W hi t.eha ll , S.W. l.

4th J n II( ;n ry, 19 ~2.

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURNAL ~------------------

COMPLETE SHORT STORY. I

Driving Pigs It was a fine May lUorning, and the

Spring got into myoId legs. . So wh.en r had finished lUV visits to outlY1l1g patIents ""':"'being a cou;' try doctor for my sills-I

- walked home through the wood. There I / came upon the prettiest sight in the world;

a gallant pair of young lovers. They were Bertram son of Major General FarblO\\" and Ma'idie daughter of Major General Hornihand.' They sat with their arms round each other's waists on a branch overhanging the pool, and talked earnestly together; but the talk stopped w~ler~ they heard footsteps, and they moved SlX lllches apart.

" Oh!" sa"id Bertram with relief. "It's only the old doc."

" Good-morning, Doctor Paddy," said iaidie. "We're quite well, thank you ."

" Only sick 0' love, eh?" I suggested. " Sick 0' the old men," said Bertram

gloomily. ~ The g-enerals had retired on bad terms, and stiil didn't speak. ,Cl They might have left off.tighting ~~'hen thev left off uniform," Maidle complallled; " e;pecially as the w,,· was over a military cap."

"It was over what the cap stood for reall\''' Bertram explained. " There's som~ 'difference between a staff colonel and a colonel on the. staff."

" What's the difference?" I enquired. " Don't know. A chap in the War Office

told me it \\"as fundamental. Don't know what that is either. I say! May and I were wishing we could consult some wise old bird." ,

I sat do\vn up a tree trunk. "Behold wisdom and age and owlish

ness," I said. "Put out your tongues , speaking metaphorically."

" vVe have decided upon three things," Bertram stated. "Numher one: . We are going to get married. Number two: My old man \\·on't consent. Number three: May's old man won't. We are considering point number four: getting spliced \\"ithout paternal sanction. Any observations?"

- - BY OWEN ·OLIVER

"Your father has only one son," I observed, "and Maidie's father has only one daughter."

., I only want one husband and Bert only wants one wife," Maidie said.

"He means we ought to tell them," Bertram explained. "That's my idea too ."

" Men," said Maidie, "have no sense. If we tell them when it's done they'll only quarrel with us. If we tell them beforehand, they'll have an awful row between themselves, telling each other he must stop it. People who'll quarrel for ten years over a silly cap will quarrel for ever over a Sensible marriage !" "

" Marrying makes worse quarrels than anv other silly thing," I admitted, "but th~ir appointed place is afterwards! Mind you don't ... Sure the dads won't give in ?"

" They're as obstinate as pigs," Bertram declared.

" And you kno\\" there's no way of driving them," said Maic1ie, shaking her ·finger at me .

. , There is," I contradicted. "When I was a boy I learnt it from one of my father's farm hands; one Dennis Murphy, the artfullest old scoundrel I ever kne\\", and the cleverest at passing off doing noth· ing for a day's work. 'Pigs is the aisiest craturs·to clrive, Masther Pathrick,' he told me. 'Pull them from the sty by the tail Clnd they'll rtln to it like the clivil.' It's the trick I drive half the parish with !"

" It may work ·with a pig or a parish I" scoffed Bertram. " Or vour friend, the divi l ," said Maidic; "but h wouldn't with our dads."

"The more contrary the pig," I told them, "the easier he is to steer by the tail !" ,

"Who's going- to steer ·them?" Bertram enq uired. "Patrick O'Brierly, M.B., F.R.C.S.," sa id I, patting my chest. ." You let a m~J1 who's spent his innocent existence In

doctoring human pigs to be the one to break the news to your fathers. He'll

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CQRPS JOlRNAL

kJlow how to steer them into the sty of paternal consent. I'm on my \\"ay to Bertram's fatller now. He phoned to catch me at the 'Red Lion'; said he thought he had a fish-bone in his throat."

"And you're staying here talking!" NIaidie reproached me.

" He hasn't a fish-bone in his throat," r assured her.

" But how do you know?" " The man who has it does! He doesll' t

think it's there! It's gone down and left a scratch behind, and I told him on the phone \\·hat to do to soothe the place."

" What a wicked old man you are!" Maidie crier!. ,

"What's your wicked way of pulling his tai l ?" Bertram enquired.

" I'll tell him that I've caught you two courting. He' ll thunder out that he' ll order you to stop it. I shall say an order \\'on't stop it, because you're as obstinate as he is. 'What would vou have done if your dad had f9rbidden "yOU to marry a girl?' I'll ask him. 'You'd have run off with her at once . • There's only one way of driving pigs; and that's in the opposite direction. And what's the need to drive him at all, Farblow, and make trouble between you and your lad? Let Hornihand do the dirty work for you. You know \,\·hat he is. He'll never consent to his girl marrying your boy; and that will fix the \\"rong-headedness of the pair of you on him!' "

" I don't see what good that's going to do me," Maidie objected.

" Ah ! " I sa id. "But I'm going on to your father, my dear. I'll tell him that you're as obstinate as he is; and that if he forbids you to have anything to do with Bertrarn you' ll on ly run away with h im. , And what's the need to have unpleasantness with your little lassie?' I'll say. , Farblow will send Bertram off with a flea in his ear. You know his lurid temper! Let him be the monkey to pull your chestnut out of the fire . See?' And then we'll have both pigs in the sty !"

. They laughed so much that they found It necessary to clutch at each other to l11aintain their perch on the branch.

"You hold on tigh t together when YOu're on the tree of matrimony," I told them; " and good l~lck to you , my dears."

165

And I went on, chuckling 0ver my cunning in the vanity of my mind.

I found General Farblow in his study , composing- a letter to the' Times,' about " The Decay of Discipline ·in the Army.' r lopkecl down his throat (no fish bOlle) , and made him declaim the letter to prove the throat and put him in a good humour. Then I told him that I had seen his son and NIiss Hornihanc1 hugging upon the tree branch over the pool.

The outburst I expe.:: ted didn't come; only a silence. He turned round in his chair and stared over my head at the \\·all, \\-here the portrait of hi,,· wife-God rest her-hangs, before he looked at me.

" I'vekno\YI1 for some time," he said; " been thinking a lot about it. O'Brierly, I lost a good friend-Hornihand's a capital chap , mind you, except for his temperthrough his cursed plgheade""dness . He won't give in even when he's in the wrong. He- "

" How about you?" I ripped out. " Me! I was absolutely in the right.

Under paragraph I2,719 of the King's Regula hons-"

" Yes, yes!" I interrupted. "I expect there's some other paragraph he thinks he's right under."

" Al1yho\~ , I won't be the one to give in. I can't go to him about my boy and his girl, but ... You've the Irish wit and the Irish way; the quick tongue, and the kind heart .. . My \\·ife was Irish ... Will 3'OU go to Hornihand and tell him what you've told me? Let him have his outburst-he'll fly into a ridiculous rage, of course-and, ,,·hen he's blown off steam, appeal to him, as a gentleman and a father, not to let the quarrel bet\\·een two old fools come bet\,\·een two young clon keys who are fond of each other. You might remind him that they a re their mothers' children as wel l as ours, and that the ladies are entitled to their say through us now they aren't here to say it

aren't here to say it ... If he argues that the children have inherited our tempers and \.vouldn't get on together, ask him how he and I got on with their mothers . Had us on a string, the pair of 'em! And Maidie will have Bertram 011

the string; and he' ll be the better for it. Young rip! ... And she'll need a bit of his temper occasionally. I sa w them

THE R OYAL ARMY

toge th er; too busy to notice me, bless them; reminded me of .. . another young pair ... If H ornihan d seems disposed to listen to reason- handle the beggar carefully . He's a powdcr magazin e i- tell him you've spoken to me, and I'm prepared to drop active hostilities to make things C0111-fortable for the young people. I rely on your tact. You're Irish and know how to drive a pig !"

"And not to drive him ," said I , " ",hell - _ he's going the way I \\'an t him to go."

General Hornihand was working in hi s .' ga rden when I arrived. H e left the roller

and came and sat on th e rustic sea t in his shirt sleeves a)ld .smoked his pipe 'rhile " 'e talked . I wasted five minutes in tact; marvelled at the success of a ma ll of " '::I r ill the peaceful art of horti culture, an d all that; then I opened fire .

/I Maidie will be leaving you one of these days, " I sa id. "I don't know if you' ve noticed anyone paying particular a ttention to her? If you haven't , I'll break it to you. He's--"

"Young Farblow," he said. "Spotted 'em in the woods the other day; been thinking about it ever since . . . When Maidie looked up in the chap's face I saw her mother looking up at me ... H e's my enemy's son . .. "

" Look here, my friend," I said. "A man may quarrel and quarrel and be no villian. No doubt you regard Bertram's parentage as an objection, but-"

" Objection!" he cried. "It's a merit! If he's inherited his father's di sposition he'll be a good husband. Farblow thought his wife the only woman in the wide. That's the sort of chap I want for Maidie. Farblow's one of the best, except for wrong-headedness and obstinacy . They say the devil takes the cake for persistency; but give me Farblow . H ot as he'll be

Our Chess Page (coni'inued / 'rom pa.ge 167) . GAME No. 4.

The following game \" as played in a senior tourney at th e Xmas Hastill gs Con gress and ,,"on by Mr. Lean of Brighton-

White. H . E Dohell . I P-Q4 2 Kt-KB3 3 B-KtS 4 B-R4

Dlac1e R. E. L ean.

Kt-KB3 P-QKt4 Kt--KS P-QB4

PA Y CORPS J OURl AL

aga inst it he' ll consider what hi s 'r ife ,rould have wished; and she'd have heen on the boy's side. . I can see them no\\" with th e baby • . . And J enllie and me ,,·i th ours . . . It \" ould do the trick if I could go to him and ca ll th ose days to mind ; tho e young days, and the girls \\'ho shared them with us. If they'd lived ... Ah ! ... But it's for th e one '\\'ho's ill the wrong to make the overt\lre."

" And which of yo u " 'as?" I enquired. /I Good Heavens, man! H aven ' t I ex

plained the case to you? U nder the King's Regula tions, pa ragraph 9.472-"

" I know, I kn o}\'," I stopped him . " J expect 'he \\'ent by some other paragraph. Isn't th ere one about a time lImit for quarrels ?"

166

" E h? , .. Don't ca ll it to mind ." " I was thinkin g of another King '~

Regulations . . . 'Blessed are the "eacemakers,' or something like that."

" Ah! That's just my idea, O'Brierly. I'm offering you the chance of earning another blessing. Maidie calls you Dr. Paddy, P.P . She means 'Parish Peacemaker.' Will you go to him and say this from me: 'For God's sake, Farblow, don't let what's come between us come between our children-and their mbthers; all we have left in the world, Let's forget about it , and be civil enough to make things pleasant for the young folk.' He'll take it all right, if you're tactful ; but remember he's a pig that won't be driven. Ever tri ed to drive a p ig? _ , . You're welcome to laugh at me, but you'll have a fit if you don't take care."

" It was a t myself," I told him , "Sure, there isn't an Irishman in Ireland or out of it, who's a better pig driver than Patrick O'Brierly, when the pigs and he are of on e mind! He's sent me to say the very same thing to you, Hornihand!"

5 Q-Q3 P- KB4 6 PxP Kt-QB3 ! 7 QxP ? R-QKt l 8 Q-B4 R-KtS () Q-Q] RxKtP

10 QKt-Q2 Kt-QtS II Q-Btl B-R 3 12 Resigns

Will all co rresp{)ndents write direct to Sergt. V. Rush, Arm y Technical School,

Chepsto\\l , M{)n,

THE R OYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURNAL

Our Chess ~~: _ 'Page A 11l1ll:ber of correspondents and fri ends

a~-e cor llally th anke.d for th eir kind apprecWtlOll a nd well '\"1shes. It is especially asked th at any ga mes played bv readel:s or OI:i~' iJ: a l problems, may be sub-l11itted fo;'

C f,_

pllbll catlOl1 in this page .

Our sec{)nd problem. has been specially compo~ec1 by Mr. Bnan Harley for the magaz111e. 1V1r. H a rley is world renowned as a composer. and first class pIa) er, and bls system of J ud?"l ng problems is the on ly olle kno\\'U to effect th e plac ing of them on a systema tic sca le . Mr. H a rley has composed us a pretty little two-mover with a ch31!ged mate and an added one . A " cha nged mate" is one th at is altered bv th e .k.ey from the ~l1e " set" in th e {)rigin;l POs I ~I,or~ of the pieces, vvhilst an "added one IS an extra ma te provided by the pl fl~' after the key.

PROBLEM No. 2 .

- By Brian H arleyBlack (S p'ces).

White (7 p'ces). vVh ite to play a nd mate in two moves .

Solution to Probl em No. I (see page 126). I-;ey--R-K8. - . If-- (r) K x R (2) Q-B8Nrate If--. (r ) K-Q3 (2 ) R-Q8Mate

Th e first of th ese is \\'hat is termed "purC: ' as .. there is only one reason ~"hy th e_ black .kll1g can~.~! Jn~ve to a ny sq uare, Whilst ,the se.cond IS a pur.C and "mirror. " l1l ate"':"!"'no pie(:e~ beiqri' ' 011 .any adjacent sq ua re ' i:'O the black king ' it is termed "mirror." All th e white fO;'ces left are

used in both mates. This prob lem was solved by Serg t. · C. H oldawav "A J " ./1 R.V .,' .' and" Well-wisher." " ' .. ,

Thc L ondo n Tourney recently concl uded a~d run by the Su nday R e/eree, ended in a vIc tory for Dr .. A. Alekhine, th e present " '{)rld's champio)l, \\'ho is now almost in a class by himself as a piC])!"e r. Dr . Alekhin e holds the degree of La\\; at the Sorbonne Paris, and is a very keen· bridge player, a; are many other chess players, . Th e fo llowin g position ()ccurred in his .ga me with VI. Winter , and Hte ensuing' l11 a.t~ are l:lOSt interesting to follow onto It IS In .111at:1ng combinations that Dr. Alekhill e excels and the subj{)ined is a typical one.

W. Winter. Black (7 p'ces). ~

White (7 p'ces).

Dr. A. Alekhine. Black to move . Vl hite to win.

GAME No. 3. -A t~' p i ca l Alekhine brilliancy and pIa 'ed

ill a simu1t:111e011 5 c1 i 'play aga inst twe J1 ty-four opponents'. , ,_ ' ,

White, - Black . Dr. Alekhine, Amateur. P-K 4 P-;-K4 ·

2 P-Q4 .2 PxP , .. r

3 P-QB3 3 PxP ~ , .

4 KtxP 4 B-KtS S B-B4

, i P-Q4 .> J'_

6 PxP - . 6 Kt-KB3 7 Q-R4Ch 7 P-QKt4 S QxPch , °Rcsig11S .

,., '1' . (con/iPI,it,ed O'fl pag-e 1(6) . ,

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURNAL

Notes on the History of Arm y Pay By LIEUT.-COL. E. E. E . TODD, O.B.E., R.A.P.C.

(Continued from page 135).

LXXXVI. The pay of the British armies that broke

- the power of Napoleon has been describe? in 'Previous Notes. It may have been notlc~d that the range of pay of the non-commissioned ranks was very small-thus the Regular Infantry private got 1/- a day, the Corporal 1/2t, the sergeant 1 /6i,an~ the sergeant-major 2/0l Welli~gton con~ldered the n.c.o. underpaid; he relted on him to control the conduct of the troops as a whole; in the Guards he was accustomed to seeing the n.c.o. do ~any of the duties of the infantry subaltern, and he wished to ~xtend this practice; and in 1812 he speCJfically raised the question of higher pay for the n.c.o. All he succeeded in gaining, however, was that one sergeant in every troop of cavalry should have higher pay ~s troopsergeant-major; and one sergeant. m every company of infantry should ha.ve higher pax and be distinguished by havmg the reg.lmental colours embroidered .below the chevron. Thus arose the colour-sergeant.

LXXXVII. It was stated that the worst paid officers

-during the Peninsula War were the Engineers. It took six months' pay and allowances to provide themselves with horse and mule; they had no mess, and could not afford a servant; and they were forced to pay for their food the ext0rtionate prices then ruling in Portugal. They lived" in a " manner much inferior to that of any other " branch of the Army, by dressing ill, riding " horses incapable of doing their duty with ~'alacrity, and consequently leading to an " appearance of lack of zeal, and nothwith" standing all this extreme economy, being ." almost universally in debt ."

LXXXVIII. In a previous note, J mentioned that

Army, as distinct from Regimental, chap-

lains, were appointed in 1796, and placed under a Chaplain-General (whose pay was £1 a day). The regimental chaplams were givefl the option of r~tirin.g on 4/ - a d~y, and this all of them dId, WIth the exceptIon of two in the Life Guards. The regimental chaplains had not been accustom~d to ser.ve in person, but, having bought theIr C?m111ISsions from the Colonels, they contnved to be represented on service by low-p~id deputies. It is significant of the finanCIal system of the time that the Colonels had to be handsomely compensated for the loss of purchase money on the appointment. of the new Army chaplains. These were gIven to understand that they must do duty in person. In 1806 the Estimates provided for a Chaplain's Department co~sisting of ~30 officiating chaplains, 136 ret Ired chaplal~1s, 12 garrison chaplains, and 29 chaplams abroad of whom 11 were Brigade chaplains. The ordinary pay of a chaplain was fixed ~t £115 a year; but in the following year :Br~gade chaplains abroad were granted Major s pay at £292 a year. But the services were apparently very unattractive; and in 1811 Wellington complained that there was only one chaplain serving abroad: all the others had gone home on leave. The period of personal service was 10 years, which Wellington wanted to be reduced to 6 years. He also advocated a larger retiring allowance. In my Notes I have tried to emphasise the attention to detail , particularly in reference to pay, of our greatest Commanders-Cromwell, Marlborough, Wellington- but there was always a military object. The troopS demanded religious observances; in the absence of chaplains of the Church of En~land, the ranks themselves provided theIr own preachers, and Wellington expressed himseif as not confident of the disciplinary effect of men from the ranks exhorting 0fficers in their moral, as distinct from their mi,litary, duties.

~E)8

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURNAL --------------------------------------------

LXXXIX. Although he had failed to get higher pay

for non-commissioned officers, Wellington took other steps to improve the discipline of the army in the Peninsula, and in 1813 organised the Corps of Military Police, consisting in that year of 11 officers, 48 n.c.o.'s and 132 men. All ranks got additional pay, from 6d. e..'(tra in the case of a private to an Adj utant-General's pay in the case of the Ma j or-Commandant.

Xc. The medical staff was governed by a

Board made up of the Physician-General, the Surgeon-General and the Inspector of Infirmaries, each at £2 a day, with the right in addition to take private practice. The Apothecary-General got 10/- a day, with the time-honoured monopoly of supplying medicines and surgical instruments. The Board ran the Base hospita ls-in fact every medical service outside the regiments-and seems to have been exceedingly inefficient, incurring the wrath of the C.-in-C. at the Horseguards. The staff numbered about 300, with a consolidated pay of £ 1 50 to £950 a year; but outside the jurisdiction of the Board there were still the regimental doctors, wearing the uniform of their regiments, supplying their own medicines and dressings, and subject to the Colonel's orders. They seem to have been as efficient as the staff of the Medical Board was the reverse.

XCI. In the twelve years prior to Watedoo,

chief interest centres, so far as the financial side is concerned, in the manifold and intricate experiments adopted one after another to maintain the strength of the Regular Army in the fi eld. It would take too long to disentangle the maze of fines, the prices of substitutes. the cost of exemption, the rates of bounty and the application of the ballot, by frequtmt variation of which a successful solution was gradually evolved by the painful and costlr process of trial and error. Direct recruiting for the Regular Army was handicapped by the competition of otJ1er Forcesthe Regular Militia, the Yeomanry and Volunteers, the Local Militia. Supplementary Militia, the Levy er~ Masse, the Army

16g

of Reserve, and the Permanent Additional Force. One or other of these Forces was brought into being, or was alternately boomed -or ' d-iscf)u'raged, at different times; and it must have been difficult for the ordjnary man to know for what Force he was liable, and at what point his liability ceased. The following examples are given to illustrate the various devices to which resort was had in one or other Force throughout the period .

XCII. The bounty to a Regular recruit was at

first £7 12s. 6d., then rose to ten guineas, thirteen guineas and at last nineteen guineas, after which, owing to the adoption of wiser methods, it fell back to 16, 10 and finally 8 guineas. It might have seemed obvious that any man who was willing to join up as a substitute for someone else who had been drawn in the ballot, and could thereby earn £20 or £30, was unlikely to enlist for a bounty of 10 guineas ; consequently thebounty had to keep pace more or less with the market price of a substitute, moreover, the larger the country and the price of a substitute, the more did desertions and false re-enlistments 111-

crease. When the Army of Reserves was raised, out of 41,000 men obtained more than 4,000 deserted within a year. Other devices had to be tried. Thus recruits were given the opt ion of choosing their own Regiments, from whi ch they were not to be· drafted without their own consent. Recourse was again had to " raising men for rank," but the evils of the system had previously been learnt, and the C.-in-C. would allow one step only in rank for bringing in recruits. Again, two officers were given a contract to raise 5,000 men, but only 200 were delivered, and on inquiry later by the House of Commons. it was found that the two officers had lost £ 1,700 in bribes to one Mar}' Ann Clarke, the mistress of the Duke of York In 1806 the Minister for War and tJ\e Colonies gave it as his opinion in Parliament that sufficient recruits for service abroad could be raised only by voluntary enlistment, and that to get sufficient volunteers, the sel-vice must be made an attractive profession. Pay was not increased, but service in the Colonies was to count

THE ROYAL ARMY - -PAY CORPS JOURNAL

more (e.g., two years _ as t~ree) "' . short periods of service were introd,tiCed with an increase of pay after each penod, and pensions were raised (half pay at the end of the second peI'iod and nearly full 'p~y at the end of the third). Then the pnvIleges 'of the Volunteers (who escaped the ballot) were reduced; and finally, in 1809, the 1st Battalions were recruited by voluntary enlistment for world service; the 2nd Battalions by ballot for service at home; the Local Militia was raised by ballot; the number of Volunteers restricted and encouragement given to transfer from the 2n~ Battalions to the 1st., and from the Local Militia and Volunteers to the 2nd Battalions.

XCIII, -To fill up the ranks of the various Forces,

each parish or county was given a quota of men to be raised in default of whom heavy and increasing fines were levied. Starting at £10 annually for every man deficient, the fine became £10 quarterly, and was made cumulative. Later, an Act which was known as the" Twenty Pound Act" gave a bounty of a guinea to the parish officer ~or every man enlisted, and mulcted the pansh {)f £20 for every man deficient. The parishes saw no means of raising their quotas, and regarded the Ac~ as one simply to raise money, The fines III theory went to the general recruiting expenses of the Government; but they could not be collected so that in 1806 no less than £1800000 was remitted. This fact, howev~r, did not prevent the raising of the fine to £30 in Ireland for every man deficient within 6 months; and to no less than £60 in England after three months,

XCIV. The ballot was the common means of

raising men for the Militia and other supplementary Forces. The baHotted man, or "lofman," could serve himself, or buy ex-

went to the parishes or counties to enable them to provide substitutes; but the _ pr~ce of substitutes went much beyond th<:> pnce of exemption. At first the parishes were empowered to levy a rate to purchase substitutes at not more than £6 each; but by 1803 a substitute could get £20 to £30' and 'when the provision of a substitute was allowed to give permanent exemption, the price rose first to £40 then to £60. The evils of the system wer~ however gradually realised, and in 1809 no substitutes were allowed in the Local Militia.

XCV. The system of exemption,S and substitutes

gave rise to a new professIOn There were plenty of enterprising people who m,ade a living out of the production of substltute~. They were called "crimps," and as their object was to seize or dec?y men to be sailors or soldiers, or otherWIse to .ge.t ~h,em at the least cost, the type of recrUIt JOIl11ng as a substitute was naturally the lowes~ p.ossible. Again there were insurance sOCl~tles, which, for payment of an annual premlU.m, provided insurance, against pe~sonal servI~e and bought exemptIOn or p~ovlded a substItute for the insured man If and when he was ballotted, The worse the quality of the substitute and the higher the price paid for him, the more desertions and fraudul~nt re-enlistments increased. In order to ID

duce men to transfer from the Militia ,or other Force to the Regulars for servI,ce abroad, extra bounties were frequently paid, sometimes by the Regular Officers themselves. " Treating" was a very common aid to recruiting; and to secure drafts for his regiment a certain Lieute):~~t George Napier used to chaIlen&,e mI!I~I~men to jumping matches, the losmg mIlItiaman to transfer to his Regiment.

emptionJ or find a substitute. For personal XCVI. serv'ice certain privileges were given , such As stated in a previous Note, the Ye~-'as service for 5 years, whereas a substitute manry and Volunteers were practically ~n-had to serve for the duration of the war, or vate and privileged clubs. For long dunng in some cases six months after, At first this period they were given exemption from exemption for five years could be purchased the ballot; and various scales of allowances for £10. This was raised to £15, then to were brought out for thel11- the" June All-£20 fo~ one year's exemption, Finally it owances," then the" August AlIowances" stood at from £10 to £30 according to the and so on. The result was that the Volun-means of the purchaser. Exemption fines teers were very popular; and whenever the

(1-70

THE ROYAL ARMY' PA Y CORPS JOURN AL

Government produced some new scheme of raising troops, there was a rush to join the Volunteers, so much so that on several occasions the Government was swamped by the numbers, the rush to join was discouraged, no words were too bad for the War Office, and the Volunteers were re-ti'ansferred to the Home Office, under whose care they had originally been, Exemption from the ballot was gradually limited; and equally gradually they were brought under military discipline, Fines for absence, for e.'Cample, were at first recoverable only under the ,civil law ; men who had no money were not III fear of a fine; and in any case the civil process of distress is somewhat cumbersome for a military machine, Volunteers under the June Allowances were not subject to fines, but those under the August Allowances were; and as both in time got together in the same Company, the resultant confusion may be easily realised, Volunteers of the mari.time counties were offered daily pay for permanent service in " shifts" of ten to fourteen days at a time, provided they agreed to subject themselves to military law, and later this was emended to the inland counties, Again, so many drills had to be done to secure exemption from the ballot. But, in spite of these and many other attempts to make use of the Volunteers their ine~ciency was realised by 1807; th~ formatIOn of new Volunteer Regiments was forbidden, inefficient regiments were disbanded, and their numbers and privileges c~t down. ,~ot only had they interfered WI~~, recruItmg for the Regulars and MIlitIa, but the provision of a staff for their ,training was barely possible; and it is amusmg to note that at all exercises the parish constable was at one time enjoined to be present, to arrest men guilty of misconduct and hale them before the local magistrate. This no~ only appears amusing to-day; but the parIsh constable on duty was the butt of the regiment at the time.

XCVII. In, the fo~egoing Notes, I may have given

the ImpreSSIOn that during the Napoleonic Yiars, ihere was little patriotic enthusiasm 111 the countl-y. Nothing on the contrary could be further from the fact. But, though all men were prepared tQ defend themselves

171

against inva ion, service abroad was not popular, and a standing Army was traditionally disliked. My general impression is that, whIle the tyranny of a Tapo]eon was a thing not to be tolerated by any Englishman, yet an honest Englishman still looked on the redcoat as a bit of a blackguard (and often he was not far wrong) and he considered he could organise his own defence rather than be organised by an abstract thing called a War Office, The frequent rushes to join the Volunteers were due to this and not to any lack of the sense of patriotism; but it was a national characteristic that Ministers could not ignore, with the result that it took many years before a ~ational system of increasing and maintain-111g the Forces abroad could be arrived at. The crisis in the end produced a great War M!n!ster in Lord Castlereagh, but the great Mllllster was forthcoming only when the nation had been educated by the pressure of danger,

XCVIII,

The Minister for War and the Colonies was then, as now, a politician. The actual administration of the Army was done from the Horseguards, by the Commander-inChief and his staff, The War Office was divided into two main branches-" Accounts" and" General Business." Of these 0e Accounts Branch was by far the more Important; but in time, in proportion as duties were taken over from the Horseguards by the General Business Branch the relative importance of the Accounts Br~ch decr~as~d .. We have already seen that, with the 1I1stltutlOn of regimental paymasters in 1797 (that is, of regimental officers whose duties were confined to financial matters) the Secretary at War had taken over most of the accounting work of the Colonel's Agent. In turn, the regimental paymastel-s proved to be rather inefficient amateurs and more and more of their duties wer~ taken over by the War Office staff, which grew, apace, In 1807 there were more than 1,600, regimental accounts still open, those most 111 arrear dating back 24 years; and it was stated that certain accounts when received at the War Office, revealed upwards of 200 errors, But I am inclined to think that the Accounts Branch had too much,

THE ROYAL AR1\1Y PAY CORPS JOURNAL

and the Army too little, to say' at the House of Commons Committee of inquiry. The Accounts Branch came under the direct control of the Treasury, and was independent of the Horseguards; and apart from Treasury control, the Secretary at War had a private fund called the "Fee Fund," formed out of the amalgamated £ees which I have described in previous Notes (for example, the AuditQrs' fees for passing each Company account) . Out of this Fe.e ·Fund,

' the Secretary at War distributed rewards -'as he thought fit. The working hours of

the War Office clerk were, for example, five daily; but any clerk could take work home, and fQr this he received additional

Schoolboy H owlers-

" Jam es VI of Scot land came down to England to be King because E lizabeth had no hair."

"Napoleon was banish ed to Semoli na."

172

payout of the Fee Fund. The civi l servant did not then receive an inclusive salary for all time worked; and his meagre wage was often supplemented from curious sources. Thus, one War Office official had the monopoly of supplying coal to the garrison at Gibraltar; amvther had the right of printing the Army List (said to have brought in £250 a year) ; and the fees of the Chief Messenger for the delivery of messages are stated to have been worth £500 a year, while two assistant Messengers made £200 a year each in fees in addition to their nominal salary of £50.

(To be continued .)

Our tame " Travelling" Expert at Home.

Son : " D ad, have you any objection to me vi siting th e Boy Scouts in camp to-m orrow afternoon?"

T.T. E. : (imm ersed in hi s pape r-au tomat ica lly) "No fi nancia l objection, providing that the service is duly a uthor ised, and that the cos t o f proceedi ng by the normal means, inclu sive of buses and cheap t rain s, if ava ilab le, IS not ex· ceed ed ."

j] ·ra·1.C'n b )1 TV. H . Bates.

A young clerk in the R.A.P .C., On the eighteenth said " Ju st let me sce.

" I've on e mo re to close " So to booking it goes

"Marked quite cl ea r ly, E . & O.E."


COMMAKD PAY OF FICE, S OUTHER T CO:M:MAND .

Letter to the Editor OLD COMRADES ASSOCIATION-ANNUAL

MEETING AND DINNER.

'rhe Annual General Meeting of t he Old Comrades Association will be held a t t be Chiltern Hall, Baker Street, London, N.W.l ., on F riday, 22nd April, 1932, a t 3 p.m. All' members a re invited to ~,ttend.

May I draw the attention of yom' readers lo the date of the Annual Dinner, also t be 22nd April, 1932, t he eve of the Football Cup Final. This should afford an excell ent OppOl'tulllty for co unlry members to visit London, meet their Old Comrades, renew old fri endships n.nd at the ;une time t-a ke advantage of th e cheap t rains running in n· nection with t,he Cup Final.

The dinner is i;>eing held a,t Chil te rn H all , ne.\ t door to Mada m Tussauds in Ba ket" Street; p rice 75. 6d. , and the Chnir will be laken by Colonel J. ·C. Armstrong, C.'8. , C.M.G. , Colonel Commllndant" & yal Army P ay Corps, President of th e A socin· iiOll.

The Deputy Uncler Secre tary of State for W<,1.r a!ld. most of the sen ior offi cers of the Corps have slgllJfied th eir inten tion of being present. . It wUl be much a ppreciated if application fo r

tIckets be addressed to me at Th e Bal'!'nck;:; , "B2

amet., H erts ., .as early ns is conveni ently possible. nd March, 1932. E. .1. W. BROWNE,

Honorary Secretary.

I '73

PERSONAL.

W e a re glad to heal' t hat Lieut. J. Quinn , who has been seriously iU wi th pneufUonia , is much better and is now well 0 11 the \\"ay to recovery, though he is still in the Woolwich Memorial H ospital.

Our Chess COlTespondent (Sergt . V . R.ush) ha s also been ill and is still in Ca rdiff Royal Infirmary from \\"hich hI) retu l'l1ed t he corrected proof of the article in t his issue. H e also. \\"e are glad to say, is now very much better.

ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENTS.

In rep ly to a nu mber of correspondents, i t has been decided that it is not ad vis[Lbla to publish the F oreign Sen rice R oster in the" J ournal " , but we undeL"Stand th a.t any o ffi cer who \yishes to know his place on the rost e" can obtain the information by writing to t he Sta ff Paymast,er at t he War om e.

EXCHANGE WANTED.

Aldiol l'sho~-Divi s io n Ill- Costing Dut.ies. Would like to exchange lo Hilsea, Gosport or Portsmollth. ARPly L /Sgt . A. T. Genr, Commnnd Pa,y Offi ce, Aldershot.

THE ROY AL ARMY

A Submarine Trip I first met "Mac," a tYJ?ical Naval chief petty

officer, at our Christmas dinner in the Garrison :Mess, IIong Kong, in 1928, and mutual liking betw~n m and subsequent meetiugs led to his invitatIOn being giV(;,l for me to accompany him on a day 's torpedo practice.

The required permission having been obtained , McDonald met me one Monday evening tci detail final instrllr:tions a.s to tlte method and time of getting :Iboa rd next ,norning. As the Snbmarine Fl()tilla was berthed a.longside the ]J~rent ship H.M.S. " Ti lania," it would ' be necessa.ry for me to board her fir t-and Mac \Va to meet me there.

My Chin ese boy having received instructions pre" sented his yellow [ace a.nd a: cup of tea to my awakening faculti'3S at 5.15 a.m. I , coming to fuli conscio uslJess, realised tbis was. "Del' Tag" and became a ware oft a' quickening pulse and sinking feeling in the region of my pyjama cord. But conquel'ing the desire to faint , and remembering that as Blitain rules the waves, our Navy had a certain control ttnder water, I rose, dressed and at 6.15 a.m. took my leave of the blink,. not without an envious gl.ance at my two still sleeping companions.

Dawn was breaking as I went down tbe hill into Queen Street and the Garl;son Mess-Chinese coolies were p'assing to work, a number of them alrB<'1dy carrying their loads of pigs, roasted carcases, etc., a Chinese lantern suspended from the carrying pole indicating that they had been abroa.d some hours. .

At the Mess a yawning boy served me with an indifferent break bst, whicll 1 indifferently pecked, my inking hea rt req uiring more than eggs to fortify it against the approa,ching experience.

Since my "stunt" had bec'JII' e known in the Mess all the members had taken a delight in relal;ing to me a ll the horrors of the la&L few submarine disasters , and some drew upon vivirl im 'l.ginations too , so twas no wonder I was feeling a trifle "windy," especially as I had never previously been on board a Warship.

However, at 7 o'clock a launch from H.M.S. " Titania" picked me Up' lit the Javal J etty and alter chugging swiftly across the harbour' ran alongside the ship. Mounting the ladder pl~tform with a most. unsailorlike style-l ascended, ~tepped aboard and sa lu ted the Quarter Deck. Who and what that is I have not even yet ascertained, but ~ac had ~npres~?d the necessity on me the preVlOUS even ll1 g:~ ,alnte the Quarter Deck as you come aboard , Jack," had been his" Goodnight," a.nrl so here' in th e cold dawn I did as I had been told to do:

No. ~)I1e answer?? mV"salute, but feeling I had propltl~ted tbe ~.D. , I took t~le li berty of addresslI1g an Admiral , 01' a B 'osun possibly, who stood near, and requested where I might discover one, McDonald E.R.A. L.20.

The kind Adrniral (perhaps B'osun) volunteered to. help' ~n the sea~ch" and cqnsidering the speed With wInch he unearthed Mac I have a suspicion he knew all the time where he was to be found .

Sandwiched ;-It a' table twixt others of his ilk I saw Mac breakfasting. I having been escorted i~t.o the. " Titania's" P.O.'s Mess, to ' discover them in theu' natural state .

PAY CORPS JOURNAL

on the China Station

174

A cheery greeting from Mac and several others whom I knew, and I was invited to partake of a cup of ship's coffe~, which I did, and found CO Ul'ne-e to ask Mac huw soon ere we "moved off." Hi:> reply of " a few minutes" almost caused me to panic, but conquerin g the desire to sag at the knees I obediently answered Mac's snmmons to "Com~ along." Having" come along" through variOlls alleys and doors, we emerg<ld 011 to an after well deck and from thence down a gangway on to H.M. Submarine L.20 alongside.

I knew I wa.s the cynosure of duzens of Naval ratings, and in an attempt to uphold the glorious traditions of the Army, I swaggered desperately along the narrow iron deck f{) the wee hole through which Mac's head had just disappea,-.d.

I waited not to take gtock of the boat, I felt· it wouldn't be decent to e~:amine the outside of wl1~t, might possibly constitute my coffin . Sufficient ;or me to stnd.v the Submarine's exterior j.t lei,urfr when, and if, I was safely returned to Harbour.

:My engineer friend took me through the length of the "tuhe," lingering 'no t over his belov~d engines. an 1 ~fter a cur,ory examination uf the boat's innarrls, I settled near the engiJJe room and control room to await mv f3te.

Electric motors are available in adrliti on to tile big t wplve cylindpr submarine, oil driven engmes and with these :'unning noisel3ss1y the submam~ got unjer way .

Thc Commander, 1st Lieutenant and l\ flviguting Officer remain on the connin~ tower bridge untir the prepa ration to dive, so that I knew once the Commander c~ me down I was lost. Clear of har· bour sh ip,pin g, bells tinkled and with no che,kio17, splntte ring r08r the" dem ·lI1s " (ln P'" h s:de .f me woke into sudd en life (I was now standi~g in th ~ nalTOW alley-way between the engines). Noise ??? I t hought the ·Aesh would quiver off I/le, ./ "d was for a minute bereft of the power even to think.

From jumping, clattering, awful mOl1.stel's, the machin es beside me . nnd er .the quick, deft and oi ly fiJlgers of Mac and hi ass ista nts , attai ned the steady crashin c{ of normal noi sy eI1lSilles, and with returning sanitv, I betook myself into t.he next compartment-the control room- and took up a positioll nea r the depth inrli cato l·.

We were, of course, still proceeding "on surface" and remained so until well out to sea, when the appearance of an Officer's leg coming down the companion way made my heart start racing, and more so when I recognised tlie Navigating Officer, charts, compass and instrnment.~ in his hands. Shortly after he was followed by the 1st Li e:utenaryt and I began to feel like a doomed man awaiting the order" FiTe," only in my case the signal wo~tlcf be the Commander's descent from the connlllg tower.

A bell rang, then a bellowed order. repeated throughout the whole length of the ship "Diving stations. "

I had ,~ moment's mad desire to dash up the ha.tch and dive overboard, but ere I could put i~to effect what I considered a saner wav of meettng death , the Commander came quic1dy below. a couple of "pirates" following him and bolting down the hatch-ca ps.

Come the order "Flood 'A' tanks for'ard "an eternIty of two seconds, and I opened my eyes

THE ROYAL ARMY to gaze fascinated at the depth indicatov ~h'eady quivering at, the 5ft. mark , and now 10-15-20-25--,'10---0ver-back to 30 and steadied.

Still the electric motors hummed-a slight tremblin g suggestillg that this monstrous thing still mo ved-at wheels indicato rs, and levers, keen , alert A.B.'s stood waiting to execute each and every order promptly .

Gaining con fid en ce in th e ouietnps~ prevailing, (the" Diesel" engines stop whilst diving and the Rl'opellellt power is the eleckic motor) , 1 began to watch the Commander of these mad under-waleI' sailors.

H e. having di scard ed his t unic and turned to presp. nt an ordinary and sane usual Naval Officer's face , I felt still further confidence return.

Now the periscope was in use-a huge brass, cylindrical mast which can be lowered into the fl oor of bhe submarir.e, a well being opened to receive it. Thus, if the Comman der wishes to take quick survey of I,i s surface surroundings-he orders "Up peri cope" a,nd at once by hyd rauli c pressure the mast/ slides up to bring level with the eyes the eye piece. '1' hen-" Down " and the " scope" imm ed.iatel y lowers .

Below about 30 feet under water the periscope is uselpss as it is not long enough to "surface"rendc l'ing a subm'l.rine " blind" at, say, 40 fect.

The oh ject. of this ,lay's stunt was torpedo practice-a Warship had left harbonr and was cruising in a ettain vicinity as a target ship. I had been intel'estedlv walching the Comman der, when he suddenly heckoned me to him, and vacating .his pla ee aL lhe eye piece he told me to take a view nround-·-one ca:n turn tl ~e pel'iscope by means of a ha,ndlebar to any poillt of the compR ss. 0 I amused mv elf for a minntb or so squinting a,t Mother E arth from 30 feet below the surf<Lce of the Chin a sea. A ~hip , several junks, :tnd away to one side, the roc1<\' - 1T'0untain . coast of China, was all I could see, but I felt better for the "iew.

We cruised at the average dep'th of 30 feet, until sighting Ollr "enemy." the submnl'ine wns man oeuvl'ed to position for attack and the torpedo fired-a, d1lll " hoom " telling me that the tube had been di scharged of its load.

.. Blow tanks" came the order, and the indicator slipped back 20-15-10 and at 5 feet the Commander touched my arm and I followed him to the foot of the conning tower steps up which the two , pirates' had a lready gone. unbolting the h:ttchcaps. A sudden inrush of fl'esh air and a st range tug at our eRrdrums signalled the conning tower h'l kh was opened-the Commander was already half -way lip so I follower1. Wat~r was strea.ming from our hoat as I clam

bered through the little hatch to the bridge,. and looked across the choppy water to our "target" steaming away about 800 yards ' distant.

On my enquiring of the Commander where our torpedo was, he smiled and explai ned I had heard a .. water shot." Ap.parently a torpedo tube is Aooded and, instead of firi'ng an actua l torpedo evpry time. compl'e~'ed air fOl'ces the water out on the signal "Fire," cansing a· surface dist,urban ce which is registered by the larget ship . The Commander said \~ were firin p: a dumm y headed torpedo on. our next dive. For half all hour We wallowed "on surface" to anow our target to steam out of sight-then "DiviiH~ stations" was again ordeced. ' At tr,e order "Flood tanks'" my

PAY CORPS JOURNAL

1.75

qualms had died, and I foJl(}wed each move with interest-down we went to 30 feet again-an hour's cruising, and by the frequency of our Commander's peeps at our target I §"lessed we were nearing our prey and the Older to ' Fire" would soon be given. One more quick survey the Commander took-then "Down perisco pe" at the same time he pressed a bu~ton which caused a klaxon horn to sta rtle through ~he ship. I had an in siin ct; "e feelin g tha.t something unusual was hapllening, realised the submarine was dropping quickly, looked at the depth i,ndi cator which was a lready nearing 50 feet-then as I watched 55-6()......Q5-70 and stopped. Gradua ll y back to 60 feet and steadied. I felt excited and turned to find the Engineer Lieutenant grinning at me-l gave him a sickly gl'in in response and he quietlv explained :-the last peep taken by the Commander was to satisfy himself that our "enemy'" WaS in .iust t he broadside position he had been roanoeuVl'ing for to "Fiee."

The target had, however. in the few seconds' interval turned at right angles on her course, and was bearing directly clown on us, howbeit an unknowingly.

Hence our sudden "crash dive" of 40 feet to avoid he ing rammed. L~ter, J was told that had I listeJ1ed in a certain part of he submarine. it was p'ossible to have hB<1.rd the warship's propellers as she passed over us . 60 feet up . vVe stayed for a while at 60 feet, th en came to periscope depth of 30 feet. Found the surface clB<'1r and rose. For an hour we remained st.'1tionary at "surface" whilst the order "All hands dinner" was being cheerfully carried out.

I was served with an excellent meal of fried steak, pot,atoes and on ions, cooked on an electric pl atethere al'e no fires of course in submalines. After dinn er I stood on the li ttle cO!lning tower watching the wav'es beating against our outer <:ase. Once more the propeller commenced to churn and we were off again surface cl'llising to a. fresh place of attack-T went below again and for the third and last time (my last , not the submarine's, thank goodnes) we ·d ived.

This time after finding our ellemy and cruising to a position onr Commander was more successful. and I was in the" fOl"ard flap" when the torp,edo was fired together with a water shot. .

\Ve surfaced. hut too late to witness the end cif our torpedo's run, the warship " -as ju t lowering a boat to drag in, hoist and take in our torpedo for ns.

After a signalled conversation between the warship and oursel ves, the submarine's !1(lSe was )Jointed for Hong Kong and for this port we steered.

My retlll-rt w~St certainly more triumphat;t than my departure-rol' I came in on the brldge--a sti'a IH!e figure surely ; to wiltr-one Staff Sergt., R.A.P.C.

ViTe rea~hep Hong Kong in due course, and at half speed through t..he nHtZe of shipping. junks sampans, river boats and launches, .the submarine L.20 tl1l'eaded her confident lenP.'th right down the harhom',,, to. he; ~erth alongside the parent ship H.M.S. Titama, .

It was nearly 5 o' clock ere we bert-heel-when I was escorted over severa l other submnrines to the " Titania's" deck-tea with the P .O.'s in their Mess , a.nd at, 6 o'clock a 'lea,ve-boat took 'me to the Dockvard Pier so endin g for me one of the most interesti.ng and perhaps thrilling d~vs or my life. _

" l\{cSrORRA'N."

TH E R OYAL ARMY

Obituary We regret to record the dea th s of the

fo ll ov.: ing former members of th e Corps . , The death of My. H . W . F ry took p lace a t Yarmouth. 0 11 November 1st., 1931 , a t t he age of 77·

The deceased normally lived ill London but was spending t,,·o months a t Ya rmouth when he \ras k nocked dow n by a t ramcar on the lVl a l-ine Parade, receiving in juries

_ from \\'h ich he died. - M r . Fry enlisted in the Roya l Scots e reys on nth February, r879, and from October , 1881, ' to 31St March, 1893 , \Vas employed as a 'Mili ta ry Staff Clerk . H e served in the Army Pay Corps from its foun da tion on 1st April , 1893, t o 16th Februa ry . 1909. wh en he became a P ay Clerk at the L ondon R ecruiting Depot until June. 1916. H e ·r eceived a commissi-on as Lieutenant on 7th Jun e, 1916, and held that ra nk u n.til December, 1918 .

The dea th took place 011 9th December , 193 1, of My. George Barnes, w ho en li s ted in 1884 and su bseq uentl y tra nsferred to the A rm y Pay Corps wh ere he served for a number of years. During th e la tter part of his career h e served as a civilian clerk in the Chatham Pay O ffi ce .

Colonel J ohn Ca tor S tockley died J1]

Bourn emollth on 13th February, 1932 , at the age of 85 yea rs. H e rece ived his first :::ommissio n in 1878 and subseq uen tl y joined th e Army Pay Departmen t fr om which he retired in July, 1901.

Maj or A . J\lIacaulay died a t 8, Shorncliffe R oad ,. F olk estone, on 31st Januar y, 1932 , from heart failure a fter a serious illness.

·Lieut .-Colon el An c1rew BeIlew Nolan C.M.G ., \\'ho ' retired from the Corps i J~ 192 3, d ied on 5th JVIarch , 1932 , at th e age of6.S·

. Lieut .-Colo nel H enry ' H erbert G ilbert who. retired. i,n 190 r , . died . on .2nd ·JV[a rch :. 1932 , aLthe age of 92.

PAY CORPS J OUR N AL

PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.

To b e Warra n t Officer Cla ss 11. a nd appointed S.Q .M .S . .

7657764 S / Sgt. A. . Geldart, 17.11.31. 7657531 S / Sgt. F. vVebster, 7.12.3 J. 7657742 S / Sgt. W. H iggin son, 14.12.3 1. 7657775 S j Sgt. W.]. ' hant, 30. 12.3 1.

. 7657772 . S /Sgt. ]. A. Barry-Ca lrQw, .7.1 .32. 7657902 S / Sgt. G. E. Needham, 1-1.1.32.

To b e Staff Ser geant. 7657912 Sgt. E. 'v\'est, 26.9.3 1. 7733325 Sgt. E. O . Band; 27.5 .31.

To b e L / Sergeant. 4742447 Cp!. T. E . Lythgoe, 31. 10.3 1. 2691692 Cp!. D. W elch, 4.1.32. 5879985 p!. R. Mackreth, 10.1.32. 7583819 p!. R. S. L e V ey, 30.1.32.

To be Corpora\. 7880521 Pte. ]. R. W oan, 18.11.3J. 3852391 Pte. R . S mi th, 22.1 .32.

Probationer s fina lly transferred . 7880446 Pte. ]' McClaffer ty (Woking). 6911 328 Rfmn. F. G. Thomas (Woking) . 1065660 Gnr. G. 'vV. Dale (Shrewsbu ry) . 7584887 Pte. S. C. Ki rke (Pres ton). 2653977 Pte. T. Coleman (Exeter) . 2693146 Gdsm n. R. C. Bu r rows (Cha tham) . 6197916 Pte. W. P inkney ( hatham). 3185881 L /Cp!. W . NIackay (Perth). 3185623 L jCp!. W. A. Morren (Perth). 5616343 Pte. P. V·l. Ca mm idge (York). 2653909 Gdsm n. C. W. Be lla rs (War ley). 1866209 Pte. B. Ha r t (Woolwich). 550319 T pr. E . S. Orcha rd (Leith) . 1867465 Spr. ]. F. Taylor (Chat ham).

P robationers. Joined 1066231 Gn r . A. E. Clarke (Egypt). 6139301 Pte. H . W. R apple (Leith) . 4122237 P te. r.. N . Pa lm er (Woolw ich) . 403731 Tp r. N . M . Si mpson (London). 6341291 Pt e. A. V. Phi lli ps (Wok in g). 5333380 Pte. G. \A/. Davies (Woolwich). 23 195·17 Sgm n. A. A. R. 1 ewberry (Perth). 7260489 Pte. A. F. Ri chardson (Yo rk). 5180236 Pte.]. Bi ndley (Preston). 1058464 Gn r. R. W . Aid r idge (Woolwich).

DI·SCHARGES.

7657079 S.Q.M.S. T . G. S im pson, 16.11.31. 76571 88 S.Q.M.S. D. T. F rit z, 6.1.32. 7733292 Cp!. W. ]. Kilgannon, 11.1.32. 1852023 . Sgt. E . A. B la ir. 14.2.32.

TRANSFE.RS TO ARMY RESERVE . .

2691767 L j Sgt. B. F . Lavender. 8.1 :2.31. 1059985 L / Sgt. E. L. N orri s, 8.1.32.

MARRIAGES.

1034726 Sgt. W. C. R oberts, 2.9.31. .7657306 S.Q.M.S. W. G. D rumm ond, 11.12.32. 5768721 L /Sgt. G. A. J oh nson, 4.12.31. 1417941 L/Sgt. R. Doggrell. 26.12.31. 6911361 L / Sgt. W. Hum phri es, 26.12.31. 7583533 Pte. G. W. H ewitt. 25.12.31. 7815407 Sgt. L. M cDonald, 30.1 .32. .

THE R OYA L A RMY

A ldershot COMMAND PAY OFFICE ALDERSHOT.

. It seems to IJa \"e become accep.ted that, ihi office IS housed l!l what was origin(t l1 y th e Ti ·hborn e Manol' House, yet them is no ev idence to show that lL was e\'el' In nny way connectoo with Lhat fa mous estat.e.

On the oldest e:'>.isting survey it is show n as a Workl:ouse and it is almost ce rta in thM. about 1850 It. served as a school for th e children of parents 111 Poor Law I n;citutio:ls. Includ ing n.uout 14 acres It was purcba ed subj ect to t he copybold of .the lYLanor and Hund red of Crenda ll (",n annual qlllt fee of five shillings still being paid to th e Lord of that l\r[anor) for Her MajesLy 's Ordnancp from . the Board of Management of th e Farnham and ~l art,ley Wintne:v Di strict Schoo ls fOI' £ 6,790, and 1Il th e ag;reement dated 26th March, 1855, lh e bU lldu:g IS re i erred lo as the Union H ospital , which ~lalll e I sLamped on some of the keys st ill bangin>r In entrn I Section . 0

COMMA l'iD P/J Y OTF"lU:,

So \Vir! sprcad is th e T i<: h borne myt h th " t it is nece.s. ary lo go back to 1854 for its, probable ongln when. 0 11 t he open ing up of the camp, it was popu la rly beheved that the goverllment had filched tbe bud from that esta.tp. In fact th e Lords and Commoners of th e Ma,nor of Cr~nda l1 received some £28,000 on 18th January, 1855, for the manorIa l l, ghts- oiL etc., being cover ed by subsequent. agreenlents \\"I t h the Chapter of ·Win· chester (:,,[ heclral-o f the major portion of the camp s ile and it is improbable that the Ti chborne fnn! Ii'y own ed any property in the imliledia te VIClIll ty a,ILhough the.v probably held an interes t in some l:Incl near Tweseldow'" Ra cecourse.

The uses to which "Her Majesty's Ord nance" put the hui ld ing have n~t been discovered . but it \\"n ' takell. over L,v t.he vVar Dep'artment in 1874. by whom It was sll.bsequently Il Sed as a hospital Ja Ler to fi nl h the nine teenth centu l'v as a hospital fo r vell el'eu l c1i eases. J

177

P AY CORPS J OURNAL

Command About th e ueginning of the present century it

~\'as redecor:tted a!ld altered , though structurally It remall!s almost IdentIcal with its original form , pnor to Its occupatIOn by the Chief Paymaster and hIS staff, 1st Army Co rps , in 1903, since when it has been uninterruptedly in whole or pa,rtial use as a pay office. Any correspondence called forth by this necessar ily brief survey wou ld be welcomed by the offi cll repl'esentative.

Postings.- :!?ealing wilh current history, Sgt. L . Cook left us In F ebruary for a tour in MaJta anti we st ill a wa it the a lTiva'l of S.Q.M.S. J. H. Sm ith fro.m S i nga]lor~ and Sgt. W. A. Carver from Shangh aI to co mplete our est.'lb!Jshm ent. L /Sgts. J. Homey (for W ok ing) and R. Tasker (for Chath~m) have Just left to cO ~lllll e n ce their probation in pay du.t les, thell' vacancIes and that of Sgt. Simmollds belllg fi lled .from the last cost ing conrse.

~ports Club.-The ann ual general meeting of the ofhce Sport.s Club hell 1Il J anual'v disclosed a. satisi'n clol'Y state of affairs and passed without; incident wOl ·thy of note .

Costing School.-The resu lts of th e London C_hamber of <;om~erce Book·keeping (Junior) 1\ovember {)sa nun",tlOn a re no\\" to hand and show ex:celle~ t . result,s. all th ~ students having pa ssed WIth chstlllctlOll. The SIxth Course terminated on .Januu!'v 7th , 1932. anrl t he students. having sntis. fncto l'J l.v passed the YVar Office esumj nation, have been posted for cos t ing dutie to stations as shown - L / Sgts. Brooks, Cooper and Deeble to Aldershot L / Rgt . Dow ling' to Colchester , L / Sgt. Sutton U; Bulford ~nd . L (Sgt. R.ud land to Stirling. The nex t CO Ul' e WIll" It 15 under tood , assemble in May.

. Sergeants' Mess .- As prom is d in t he Christmas Issue, we p resent 0 111' accoun t of the fi r t Sergeants' Mess DlI,llCe held in th e R.E. Theatre, Aldershot, on 24th November, 1931. , ;Ve had n very efficient gual'cl on d utv at the entrance. wh ich solved the problem of th e .. gate·crashers" very effectively hence, while those who held invitations were mad~ very welcome . .. P eter" on the gate held the keys quite sternly.

We started off at· 8 p.m . to the stra ins oft musie efficiently rendered by the F elis Dance Band. whose performance kept the Hool' of the hnll verv well occupied unt.il 2 a.m. By 9 p.ll1. there was. ~ very g'ood assemblv.' and a th e evenin g grew, so d id t he number . unti l by 11 p,. m. t he fl oor was full . but ~t no t. ime d id one hear complaint of overcrowdIIlg or lack of partners, whi ch refl ects g reat credit upon our \\"o l,thy Jl r. C., Sgt . J . Fergusson .


While others had been enjoying" themsel~?s .we had behind the scenes a volUlltary kafedJl,. who made such fine coffee th[tt at the aEPOlnted tlm~ of 11 30 p.m. · thilre was quite a rusn for supplies, m~ny persons, like the fam?,us character of Charles DiCKens "asked for more.

Then' wc should not be doing our. duty were .we to forg~t a very important branch of IJ1dustry which considerably helps toproduCil the necessal')' . means of finance for these functions. Sgt. C. Mar~hall and his staff were fully occuHled th~ whole pellod, at one time there being so many thirsty souls that five bard wOI'king men were kept busy, but despite ~ood trl'lde, all customers were, to use t he goo~ oH Army phra. se ., all sober and properly dressed. ~oth prices and quality suited Ul,?st p'o.ckets ~nd tastes whi le Prollllssory Notes of the llght kll1d were in good evidence. ,

To S.Q.M.S. Shaw and L /Sgts. Lawson, 0 Connor and Barling and all those who ill any way helped to make the everUJlg a fine su ccess, we (lffer our sincere congl'atulatlOlls, and It. IS mteresting to note that another dance IS beillg held on the 22nd March .

The Chl'istmas Tree and New Year P arty took lace on 8th J anuary, 1932. Tea was ~erved 1ll

the Education Hut opposite the Sergeants Mess. at 5 p m., there being present a very representatlye

athering (If all ,ranks and grades statIOned ill tdershot. After a good tea, to which all presen~ did their duty, the party proceeded to the Sergean.ts Ml'ss where tbe remaindeL' of lh~ <l.venmg was spent. The children ~rs t had a dip Ill. the bran tub and then Father Xmas (S.Q.M.S. Wilson) and his two clowns (S.Q.M.S. Shaw and Sgt. Fer~usson) with their dog appeared, much to the. delight (If the children. After ask11lg the customalY questions as to whether the children had be~n of good behaviour since his last visit,. Father Chnstmas proceeded t(l empty hi s bag and Ullload the tree, the presents being handed to the childre,n by Mrs. Mac· kenzie. To the surprise of the children, one p'resellt on the tree was for .. a good dog" who duly obli ed by begging. Now came the t urn of Fatl.1er Chrfstmas to receive a little prese!1tatlOn, which was found packed with much care III a box man} sizes too large for the contents. 1\1rs. l\~ackenzle was then presented with a bouquet by Miss .Joyce Camp on behalf of the children . An expressIOn 0: appl'eciation and tha:nks to those responsl~le for the work and orgal1lsatlOn of

r tht: party \\ as ex

pressed by Colonel W. S. M.acI\..enzle, O.B.E., Command Paymaster, a,nd hear.bly applauded. by aJI .. Games followed for the chIldren a fter wh,ich Mr. Alfred, conjuror, amused al.1. Agalll we had games far the children and mUSical chairs, musIc bewg rendered by Sergt. Smith and his helpers of the band 1st Bn. W elch Regiment, until 9 p .m. , when most of the child.ren went hom e, while from 9 .15 p.m. to 11.40 p.m. the elder folk enjoyed an impromptu dance. .

The weekly solo whist dri.ves, and fortmghtly whist drives and dances, contwue to be successful, although we should like to see a somewhat better 'attendanCil at the solo drives on Wedn esday even' ings as this would greatly encourage om Enter. taw-:n en t C01l1m i ttee.

Football.-Since the appearance of t he last notes we ha ve played 10 matches, winning 2, .. dra\~ing 1, and losing the remainder. One of tlie Vlctones was

obta ined at the expense of. No. 1 Company, R .A.M.C. in the Command JUUlor League 111 \\'hlch we also drew with the 7th Hussars,. th'Us makl.ng cert,tin that we finish the season 9th Ul our dIVISIOI~ -which is so much bett,er than sa~lllg I ~st but one. Considering the difficulties met w.lth tins season ill the way (If weather and casualties we have. done much bette!' than in prevIOus season?, and thiS has been due solely to the excellent Sp'll'lt w which all our members have . tack led the gan.les.

We have very-few games rema1l1Ulg to complete this sea.on but \l'C ca n con fidentmll y prophesy that our concluding record will be an improvement on th at of last season. . .

Rifle Club.-The Office Winter C<>mpetltlOn mentioned in the Christmas Number is in full swing and appears to be very popular. Each week new faces appeal' on the range and we hope members will continue to II1terest themselves 111 thiS par· ticular sport. The winners of the monthly spoons to date are;-

November, 1931. lVIr. Ellard. December, 1931. Mr. Self. Janual')', 1932. Sgt. La,ngham.

For 1931 tbe Bell Medal, Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail Certif.<:a,tes were \VOIl by Sgt. L angh am.

Uufortunately the Club has suffered a furth~r loss in Sgt. Simmonds, posted to. Ceylon , and .If he is interested in game, we hope Ins. " table" \nll be full 01 trophies. OUI' pOSitIOn ll1 tbe Le~!liue Table of the Hampshi.re County League, DIVISIOn 3 is not so favourable as it WaS a month ago,. but \~e are still in the limeligbt having won 4, drawn 1 and lost 3. With a bit of luck we may secure second place at the close of the shoot. .

A t eam entered in th<l Jational Team H anchcap managed to beat 1st Bn. The Cambridgeshire Regiment in the first round , and have drawn Depot., Royal Scots Fusilie)'s in the second round, to be fired on 26th February. VITe wish our team all success. Line Regiments will , we hope, soon reali se th at something more than "observations " em a l~ate from P ay Offices. Anyway, that is our ambl' tion .

Friendly matches have been arranged wi.th Ca~terbury, Hounslow and Wool wic!~ Offices In add ition to a " shouldtlr to shoulder match With t~e 1st Bn The Duke of W<lllington's R egt. of thiS Comm a:nd . We would welcome matches with other P ay Offices Inving Rifle Clubs. What about a CorHs Challenge Shield ? We should be pleased to hear ' from OffiCilS interes ted in the project.

The Rifle Club has a new Secretary in Sgt. Lang· ham and no doubt keen observers will notice t hat the Spoon for J anuary (first month of office) was won by that; individual. Should Spoon Cards be submitted to the Local Auditor? ??

Old Comrades.-Continuing the remal'ks in our last is ue apropos old comrades of the Corps, \\'e hring to t.he limelight in this is ue No. 1045 ·.Q.M.S. P. '1'hornton, more fami]jad~ kno~vn as "Pat" of that ilk. Mr. Thornton enlisted 1n the Roval I rish Rifles in Fehruary. 1900 nnd ha s been with the Corps since joining on probation ~t The CUlTagh in 1902. Among the SLatlons at which Mr. .ThOl'llton has . served am London ,. Gibraltar, Dublin . Nottingbam , Cork, 'Woking, Siena Leone, an.d manv "Old Timers" will 110 doubt recall tl1lS

. fami'lif\!' chara<;ier of the Corps. Settli~ g :1..t Woking on taking his discharge from Woolwlch 111 1928, Mr Th01'l1ton is again "on the strength," th iS


time in a civilian capacity in the Railway Section of the Aldershot C<>mmand Pay Office. We wonder if in cycling daily a distance of 12 miles each way from Woking to Aldershot, Mr. Thornton hopes to achieve the record of miles travelled 011 duty for the Corps. Needless to remark, Mr. Tbornton has been a member of the O.C.A. from its inceHtion.

WOKING.

Since the last issue of the "Journal" we have lost our esteemed Regimental Paymaster, Lieut .Colonel R. W. K elly, who has proceeded to Leith. We wish him every success in his new station . A hearty weloome is extended to Major A. W. lVI. C. Skinner, who took over the dukes of Regimenta.l Paymaster early in ;JanuaI')', ~\Ud renews "old acquaintance" with :W oking and its d<llightful jlul'roundin gs.

Departures.-S.Q.M.S. W. J . May left us for Chatham during the first week in January. We \\~sh him the best of luck. On the 12th February 1/Sgt. P. Lydon embarked for Hong K ong. By the way, members of the st.aff who proceed overseas from this office seem fated to get another tour in a station th ey hflve previously served in. With the departure of this n. C.O. to Hong Kong, he is the third this Trooping Season to return to his old love. We wish him tbe best of health and good luck.

Arrivals.-Private A. V. Phillips joined us on probation on 2nd January,. 1932, and we wish him every suocess in his new sphere of life. On the 16th F ebruary L /Sergt. J. Horner joined from the Command Pay Office, Aldershot, tJo 1.1IIld~1l:g(l a course in Pay :Outi<ls. To him we extend a hearty welcome and he will be a distin ct acquisition to our cricket team, which has been sadly depleted since la~t season . At the time of going to press, Sergeant W. C. P . Elam is due to join us after five years' sojourn in tha t Jlelightful island (If Malta. Anyhow, he will find the wonderful scenery of Surrey' a pleasant change. To hlim , also we ex tend a hearty welcome. Our staff will h<l completed on the arrival of Sergt. L. Tripp from Hong Kong. He is expected about the 8th June next.

Sports.-Two very interesting postal shoots took place during December and J anuary, with our colleagues from Canterbury, both of which we lost.

Eastern COMMAND PAY OFFICE,

80, PACL MALL, S .W.1.

Will all who are going to the annual dinner and arrive in London with several hours to sllare and nowhere to go please note that our Social Club offers them the use of the club rooms. All are welcome and surely there is someone here that is known to the reader. Cards, darts, and t.'tble tennis are ready for use. We are sorry that we have no billiards table to offer. Refreshments may be obtain ed at very moderate nrices if desired.

Perhaps some of the readers of this journal will be going to see the Cup Final on the next day, and if so it is suggested that our Club Rooms be used as a meeting place. If anyone has thoughts of going alone perhaps th<lY will reconsider the matter and drop in to find a companion or oom-

Perhaps this information will prompt some other offices to challenge us to similar matches, as up to the tim<l of writ1l1g we have not received any replies to the challenge we issued in tbe prev,iou.s number of the Journal.

On ·tho;) 19th February our old friends from HoUl1slow paid us theu' ann ual visit for football. After a struggle we managed to put an eleven in the field, but the opposition was too good and they ran out worthy wmners by 7 goals to 1. Perbaps we shall do better when we visit them early in April. The usual games tournament took place in the <lvening, which everybody thoroughly enjoyed. We a.lways look forward to their visit here, and OUl'S to I{OUl1Slow . It is whispered that their team trains on .. sausages and mashed." Our trainer must ma.ke a note of this.

Social CIUb.-Things in this direction are looking ul? A very successful Xmas draw wa.s held and slDce the New Year we have had two vel'')' fine dances, two w)list·drives and two games tournaments. To-day, the 24th February, we were entertaining (llU friends of "the Ser~ea.nts' Mess of the 2nd Battalion Royal 'Warwickshire Regiment to a series of games,. which includes a shooting-match. It looks like being a great evening, but more of this anon. -

General.-The many friends of Sergeant C. G. W. Smith will be pleased to learn that he has quite recovered from his recent operation.

Tbe last day of the old year cast a gloom over tbe whole staff when it was learnt that the eld<lst son of Sergeant J . G. Montague had died that evening as the result of injuries reooived in a shocking motor-cycle accident, in which he collided head on with another cyclist in C<>bham, Surrey, late the night before. The deceased, who was 26 years of age, was to have been marri.ed this year, and was returning from a visit t<> his fiancee when the collision occurred . H<l was buried in St. John's Churchya.rd on Monday, the 4th J anuary, 1932, and many friends and colleagues :tttended the funeral. To Sergeant and Mrs. Montague we express our heartfelt sympathy in their tragic loss.

Hearty congratulations to Privates Thomas and McClafferty upon being finally transferred to the Corps.

Our best wishes to Sergeant L. MacDonald wbo was marl'ied on 30th January, 1932.

F.E.G.

Command panions as we have a fairly strong contingent hoping to go to Wembley and it is much better to have company on the trek to the Stadium ..

Arrivals.-We welcome Capt. J. L. OliveI', S.S.M. H, Brindley, Sergts. Alien and Worsley, and Corpl. Hitchoock, who have joined the office since th<l last issue of the" Journal."

Oepartures.-Major C. Holmes, M.C., has left us to take over the duties of Regimental Pa,ymast-er, ·Warwick.

Sergts. O'Hara and Garrod have embarked for a tour abroad in EgYBt and H(lng Kong respectively.

We wish them a.]] success in their Congratulations.-We heartily

Sergt. and Mrs . Fox on the arrival born-a danght<lr.

new stations. coDlgratulate

of their first

F.L.


BARN ET. A successful Christmas P a rty was given to the

staff and their families , by the Officer in Charge, on the 17th December, 1931.

Tea was laid in the vValTant Officer' and Serjeants ' Mess wh ich wa tastefull y decorated fo>: the occasion. After the good thIDgS provided had bMn disposed of. the company settled down to an entertainment which consiste d of conjuring, ventriloquism, and a Punch and Judy Show, wh ich was as much, enjoyed by the grown-up as by the ch ildren. At the conclusion S.S.M. Browne, on beha]£ o f those present, thanked Colonel and Mrs.

_ Carter for giving them such a n enjoyable evening - and for the kindly thoughts tbat had prompted

ucb a "'enerous action; he hoped the good feeling and car~ara deri e sho,,'n that evening would further strengthen th e bond that held t hem all together. He concluded by a IlIng for three cheers for Colonel and Mrs. Carter.

A vel'V succe ful dance was held in the Mess on t he 28th Decem ber. About sixty, including all the Officers , were present, a,nd dancing was kept up until the wee sma' hours .

On New Year's Eve, the New Year was hailed with dU<3 and ancient cust{lm .

There has been nothing of any interest to report since the New Year.

CHATHAM (ROYAL ENGINEER'S). The Christmas party.-It seems ra ther late in

the season to be talk ing about the Christmas Party but as there is li t tle el e to talk about it wouli ap'pear to he a case of " H obson's Choice." Yet whv' should " 'e not talk about it ? Why not let the 'many old Cha,thamit-es know that in spite of l.he reduction all round in pay, and in creased taxation , in spite of the fa ct that tbe Country has gone nff the "Gold Standard," Chatham has remain ed f~itbfu l to the "old standard" and we still manage to give the children the usual Christmas p.arty.

Once more then , we tender our Lh anks to the CommitLee and extend t !tem our warmest \C{ln gratl1 la t ions on the sllccess of the turnout. What the Committee will do next Christmas remains , of course, to be seen, but it is ,ery obvious that the organising of thi s> particular party is being worked up to a fine art as each successive Committee set out to make theil's better th~n that of their predecessors. The Committee certainly et a st a ndard on this occa ion. rothing seems to have been overlookcd-Father Christmas. presents, bra n-tub . t ea anr! even that hUl e extra to take away in the pockets, as most nippot's like to do, was provid d.

The ;lrriva,1 of l"ath er Christmas by aeroplaneask the ch iJrlren if they d id not hear the sound of the ngines as thfl pIa ne ap-proached-was indeed a novelty , and when the old gentleman, actually emerged from the fireplace the screams of delight from the children nearly lifted the roof. Some of the littl e ones could scarcely believe their eyes, but, before .. Santa" was half way through with the pre ents, their timidity had vanish'ed and they became as pall~r as the rest.

Departures.-Onr very best wishes go with the und crmp-ntioned Officer. Wal'rant Officer and N.C.O __ and we h ope they will have such good times a t, their new stations as we ·endeavoured to e-ive them at Chhtham :- Lieut. A. E . Jones to Woolwich (2 / 1/ 32), S.O.M.S. P. E. Matthews to E gyp.t (7 / 1/32) , Sergt. C. Ash to Egypt (26 /1/32).

ISO

Arrivals.-To the undermentioned Officer, War, rant Officer and N.C.O. we extend a hearty welcome and we trust that during tnei r stay in Chatham they will have no cause to regret leaving ' their old s tations :-Captain A . G. W. Broad hurst from Ceylon (29 / 12/ 31), S .Q.M.S . G. B. White from Egypt (11 / 2/32) , L / Sergt. R Tasker frol11 Aldershot (16 / 2/ 32).

Congratulations.-To Spr. J. Taylor on passinohis probation with such good .results , and on hi~ transfer to tIl e Corps; also, to Mr. H. E. Harradan e on his appo i.nment- to Grade lIT Clerk and transfer to the Pay Side (this should interes~ Hounslow) a nd on his incr ease in family- a daughter-on 22/ 2/32. "BARRY."

Social Soccer: Civvies versus Sojers.-The return football match between stalwarts of the R Sign:lls and R. Engin eers Offices ha ving been declared off owing to divers casualties (flue, tonsil iti , house-maid's kn ee a nd other exigencies of the service) , the ci vi lian members of the Chathlam (Pay a nd R,ecord s) Social Club-ablv ass isted by a, brace of "o ut,sidel's "-sportingly chal lenged their martial brethren to a com ba t 0 11 the greensward. -othing loath, the sojers gladly donned the gaunt

let (I m ean th eir football kit) a nd Capta in RUTldl e once again bra,-e ly consentillg to face the barrackers (Lt.-Col. Light-foot and othel' Officers again include J) , we lined up.

The wireless progno tication having fo reto ld foul weather, we gnostics ,,'ere op.timisticl: and_ although a, bit chilly for the spectator , it tUl'l1ed out an ideal a ftel'l1oon fvr the fray. 0 I ye weather prophets!

R ight from the kick-off, the Civvies, clevel'1y led by \~'eston. va li antly as au lted the S05e1's citadel and a fter five minutes ' strenuou attack, Pickavance bea t Moody from a most unusua l angle with a beauty. This reverse na.tu1'ally got the Army's goat and , lik e one man, they butted in to th e Civil ians-Pittham being conspic llnll ~ ilill Rahr put him clown . MOl'l'is and Tasker carried on, forcing J ackson to concede a cornel'. which however proved abortive: as did another off Doidge, the goalie, wlw was shaping well. Th'e play then cro sed to the other wing. P oole forced a co rner off B aker, and taking t he kick lauded the hall und er the lJa~ with a sworv ing shot. Honours were now even, and so remained t ill the final whist.le.

A ding-clong struggle for suprema cy then ensued , now thi s end row the other. Moody in the s05er's goa.l seemerl invincihle. Th e he-men on hoth si.des (Duhig, Blackett, Ta ylol' . Holloway and Pullin) were now on top-gear, as Pontet . HarJ'l s, Weston and O'Keefe ca n all aLlest. Baker_ just before hali-Lime. "took the count" after a hectic encounter with P oole, but the former quickly recove l'ing the latter noticeably fad d {mm t,he picture. Belcon (a left-footer) was obviously misp laced n.t Outside Right, as was Tru sler at the insid e posiLion on the other ide, hi s best efforts being invariably stone,,-alled by the lofty J ackson. Excepting Da vy (at Inside Left) for the Civvies. Pickn vanee (at Outside Left) was the pick of the bunch.

The game, though strenuously contested, was conducted in the propel' sporting spir it by both sides and the referee, who was equally impel'vioug to either sarcasm . 01' caiolery . A re~urn match should prove an illteresting fixture and is keenly looked forward to, amon gst othe rs . by

A FOOTBALL FAN.

THE ROY AL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURN AL

CHATHAM (ROYAL SIGNALS).

It i diffi cult, where two separate R egimental Pay Of-lices ftmction in the same office, to interpose a definite line of demarcation between Corps matters affecting the respective offices, but it is felt that in the case of items more p'articularly incident to the Royal Signals office, ' a certain amou ll t o f relief could be aJforded to our erstw bil e "common informer," and a check put upon that distres ing repetition of "(RE.) " " (RSigs.)" in the news matter, by a slight division of the jOlll'nalistic luti e . The writer asks your forbea.rance therefore, if , in the fil's t flush of journalistic gratification thi.ngs may get a bit mixed (otherwi e known as .. joul'l1alese" in the b'lgher branch of ilie profe s ion). ,

Sports and pastimes.-Congratulations to Sgt. and Mrs. \ Ve ton on the arrival {If a son and heir on Decem bel' 20th.

In other directions th ere is not much doing, erthat is to say, lVe co nfiine ou,' spo rt s mainly to Committee lIIe lings and round-table con ferences and round-th e-co m el' cOl lferencos, but we a,re doing lots in secret, like the Govel'11ment, notwithstanding the approachillg threat of t he English Sllmmer.

Social Events.-Gna rc1sma n R. Ca mpbell -Bl1l'roll's, Scots Guards, a nd P te . VI'. Pinkney, Middlesex Regt . ha ve no,,- been finally transferred t o the Corps and have put the ir names down for a seniority 1'0 11

ap'iece. 'Children 'S Xmas par~y.-Doubtin g Thomases

among the younger generation must have received a bit of a et-back at tbe Annual Chri stmas Party held ill th e sncial rOGm on Monday, December 21st, wh ere th ey saw alld heard Father Christm a.s actually emerge from th e ch imJley of the la,rge firegrat.e nt· the further en I 01' the cluh room. This part of the prOCeedings was so exce llently stagemanaged and the chimney piece fa hioned so c1everlv froll1 l:tths. canva a nd wallpaper with ft

redly glowing " fi .'e " to add furth er re'tlism,tha.t it hardly needed the pream ble occas.ioned by t he (llTival of Father Christmas's aeroplan (" noise ' off" by a motor cycle in the corridor ) to definitely dispose of some youthful wavering .

There was, of COlll'se, the usua l ritual of teaof the don ' ~-sto p-lJJit i l-you-get-that-nice-sick-feeling kind-Iuck~' dips, romping a nd games before the arrival of Father Christ.mas and , ubsequently the floor wa taken by t he grown-ups until even they, too , felt tired enough for bed.

Arrivals.-(, ee fir t paragraph under Sports anrl Pastimes) .

On the rpccipt side o f Ollr detac hment we must place .Q. :\[,8. M"y from W okin g who has already proved h·imself an asset to our social activit ies, S.Q.lVLS. Clnrkson (rom Hong Kong, who at the moment of writing has been with us on l.v a. day or t \\'o. but who, lIevel'theless , is heing looked at askance b~' the \'al'ious por ts represenl..atives, and Pte. Bewi ck [I'om Woolwich on complet ion of probation. iVe dllly welcome them and commend the club heel'.

Departures .- " ' ith the tra nsfer to that small phttoon of R.A.P.C. in section " B " Army Reserve, of L /Sgt . Norris, the detachm ent 10 es some promising young blood nlid a n enthusiastic social club worker, but an inductive civ il billet is an attractive altel'11ative to being far do,,'n the 1'011 these days. and he to kes wiLh him our very best wishes for hi s uccess in busin ess .

I8r

L / Sgt. Gilham has departed (per "jam pa.ssage" on the "Tuscauia") to swell the consideFable exChatham detachment in Egypt a ud if wishes count for a nything, is assured of a pleasant voyage a,nd a happy sojourll, for the second time, on the banks of the Nile.

Sgt. Weston, who has been under orders for some unknown destination , has now received official permission to reside in Egypt for a period of five years from 1st March, 1932.

General.-The sympathies and concern of thedetachment have been with Major R Cl eland, M.C. , during the serious illness of Mrs . Cleland who has been suffering from a pa.rticularly virulent. att ack of pneumonia . We are pleased to know th at she is now making good progress towards recovery, but sorry w learn tha.t Mrs. Cleland's illness will involve a chal'!ge of re idence ' to the south coast latel' in the year on the l'eJ,il'ement of Ma.ior Cleland whom we had a nticigated residing locally a,nd co ntinuing hi s enthusiastic interest in our welfa.re and sportin g interests. Major Cleland ha s already added in a practical manner to the memo ries we shall a lways ha,ve of his wholehearted interest in matters sporting. by his presentation to th e office of a very handsome plaque to be com peted 1'01' among the bowls players.

HOUNSLOW . Once aga.ill office representa.tives have been on the

warpath for news fOI' inclusion in our journal. :My colleagues hel't) assist with r ight good will and for this] am thankful.

'Ne would like w take this opportunity of congratulat ing Li eut. S. Holm a n on his appointment to a commission, a.nd wish him further success in hi s new sphere . He has been Rosted to Vl7arley fo\' duty, and, perhaps, his batting average will he better now tha t he has an opportunity of playing aga inst Houns low.

Congratulations are also offered to Private Caterham on pas ing his- probationary exam ination fo\' transfet· to t he Corps.

It is with deep regret that we report the death of Mr. F. Sicklin. H e had served D good many years on the R ecorcl side of th,is omce, and was held in high esteem by a.ll wit.h whom he came in contnct.

Arrivals and oepartures.-S.Q. M_S. E. Cooper, accompanied by his wife , ha arrived here from Sillga'J)O l'e . A ple'Lsant surprise awa,it.ed this VI' arrnn t Officer, he was greeted ,,·ith the news that he ha d been placed on probation for Wa.rrant Offi cerClass I. R el'a's wishing him su cesss, and any h elp we can give him to attain that, rank.

Lance-Sergeant F. Astles has joi.ned us fl'om Colchester and we hope the ch'ange will be to his liking.

W e hear that Sergea.nt Andrews will be posted here from E g.vpt. Re will finll several " Egyptians" at H ounslo w to welcome him, also we under t·and that Sergeant ~' . Newton i to be p'osted to this office from Shanghai.

L ance-Sergeant T . Sowerbv (Hounslow) and Lance. Serge~l1t W. Peaco k ,Pre ton) ha'-e made an exchange or stations.

Captain J . L. OliveI' has been posted to Ea tern Com mand Office for dutv.

Social.-Our Xmas dnn ce Ivas held on the 22nrl December, 1\t which function a.pproximately 200 a ttellded , inc1ud in g several Officers, and their wives, from other Detachments of the Corps, a nd:


neighbouring units . We were especially pleased to welcome Lieutenant S. Holman, M.B.E. The gathering finally broke up at 2.0 a.m., the guests aud members of the Hounslow Record and Pay Office leaviug in a very contented and joyous mood.

The afternoon and evening of the 23rd were spent in entertaining the children of the office staff. After a good tea and a few games the children were delighted w~th a ma~i.c entertainment hy 'Castro' a professIOnal maglclan. The eagerness of all grown-ups to see and hear ' Castro' rivalled that of the chi ldren, and it says much for tJ-Xe entertainer that he not only admirably held the attention ~f the children, but also that of the adults. As a "piece de resistance" our enterk1.iner produced "Father Xm,ls" who,. from ~he time of his appearance, o~triv'alled the pop~larlty of the conjuror. Sgt. WtlRon filled thiS difficult role and robe and gave every child a present and :a b~g 'of ,i wh~t..-nots." This 'brought the gathering to an end, and it was generally agreed tJhat 'Christmas had well and truly begun.

HOUNSLOW PERSONALITIES (No. 2).

" y.,!>-. ..

",,.'

t'"

J_&

The ? B'ird,

ME. LATE.? - NE.vt=..R, ! Visit to Woking,-On Friday, 19th February, the

H ounslow football team paid a visit to our old irieuds at Woking Office. The fact that it was a FI'iday was responsible for two important features, Fir- t ly , we were able to avoid the disapproval of the ' H ockeyites' in that they never play on a Friday, following the belief of the nautical folk that F r iday is an unlucky day for all adventurous spirits who do and dare, (Vide Hockey notes and Perth's "Who's Who, ") Secondly, It was the age-old, much-prayed-for day in the army-Pay Day, a nd since heavy pock ets make light hearts our spirits were running vel"! high.

TI1'e journey, by char-a,-banc, let us gloss over except for OlJe little point_ Someone produced a p ack of cards, and Mr, Lam ond was abl e to prove conversely that light pockets make heavy hearts which can be easi ly eased by the cheer of W oking's -welcome.

On arrival at Woking we realis-ed wha t the Clerk of the Weather means when he says " Out..look-chilly," It was bitterly cold_ I think the great heroes of the match were those who stood on the touch-line and cheered the two teams on to greater efforts, The wind cut one like a knife, as the best novelists say, and perhaps that is the rea,son why Hounslow disRlayed unusual energy in runninv. eight times to Woking goal, leaving the ba,l1 th~l'e, I do not Imow if the wind was not snfficiently keen for Woking, but although they paid seveml visits to our goal they were able t o walk back on ly once with the ball follo wing them.

From this you may conclude that HOUl1s10w won 8-1. This was not due to any fault of Sgt. Endacott who is still able to make good u e of that odd 14 stone or so. (Forgive me, Sergeant, if I am wrong, but I am not verv good at my weights), or to " Monty " or Mr. Ne';man who scored their only goal.

For Honn low, Mr. Dawson should be mentioned with the top score of 4 goals and! Pte. McLaughlan 2, He cell,ain ly seems to be taking revenge for the injury to the collar-bone he sustained wbilst playing against Aldershot_

The hospitali.ty of Woking at the tea.-table was very acceptable after such arctic conditions on the football fi eld , and after a general " thaw-out" the evening was passed with a shooting match between the two offices, Woking proved that if they cannot get goals they can shoot with rifl es, They beat us by 4 poims, our top scorer being Mr, Dray with 95.

I believe there were also billiards, shove-ha' penny, table-tennis, and dart competitions, but I was so in terest ed in tlie analysis and consumption of hop and malt extract with a few well-met friends th at I forgo t that I had been asked to gather rep'orts . 'Fra id I shall never make a reporter,

We left the Woking office, regretfully, at 9,30 p,m , Time passes so quickly when one is enjoying 'oneself and just at the minute one remembers the really good one that has slipped one's memory the whole of the evening, the telling of it is stopped by the cry" W e must go," And thus back to Hounslow with a memory of a pleasant time and hopes of a visit from 'Woking in the very near future_

Sport.-Our cricket secretary has handed me a list of cricket fixtures that have been arranged for the coming season. To date th ere are sixteen matches to be played and ground allotments have already been booked. It is evident th at he expects to have a "summer,"

The contributions submitted by our sp'orting fraternity show that they have spread tllemselveson paper anyway-bless 'ern.

Our golf circular critic has departed-Warley has got him.

HockeY.-The members of the Houn slow Sports Club are now suffering from" Hockey R ash, " This is the second season of our venture mto the realms of the stick game_ At the beginning of the season the material was decidedly raw. Our first match saw the members of the t eam armed with new sticks, natty knickers (witness the outside left and t he in side right), new shirts, hands protected with gloves, and shins s\\'athed in shin-pads, ready to meet their oppone:1ts in a true do-or-die spirit,

Much slaughter did we do that day, oh brothers, There was a frantic waving of sticks, whistles blow-

THE ' ROYAL ARMY

-ing for offences of which we knew no cause, cries of "turning," "kicking," .. sticks," and many strange cal ls that sounded heathenish to our ears_

Th e following morning there was evidence of a bloody ba.ttle ha ving been fought on some distant ~round, A groa n of anguish as Sgt, Wilson sat .down on a very tender spot: a win ce o f pain as Mr, Nash limped into the office and stretched to hand up his coat: a v-ery rueful look on the face of Mr, Dawson ns he Jispla yed a lump on his shin as big as a hockey ball it elf. Bandaged ha.nd s: raw fingers,. an~ one member with Ill S forehead .decorated w1th hnt and plaster, Hockey sticks are tru ly very dangerous weapons in the hands of novices.

J3ut what matlers? There was good spir it in the old 'uns, and H eaven help fulure opponents ,

That was long before Xmas , NoVl the H ounslow IIockey Club Jl as developed into a tea m of very useful players, Ch ief of whom are "Paddy" Heb]r, a fearless goal-keeper; Pte. Horton and Mr, Way forming a back defen ce both fearless a.nd ad venturous, with CaBt. Garra.tt a sound and h a rd-working centre-h alf.

We have met some very good teams, including '1'he Queen's , H.,Fus" R.M ,S .M" E. Surrey 's, ' Slough, 'West MidJlesex, and recently the R.A,S ,C. whom we beat in t he return m3tch 4-2, the V eterans who gave us the points at 4-1, and Sandersons. whom we defeated 2-1-

Consid edng th e smalln ess of the Hounslow Office and tbe age, of th e members, the enthusiasm and standard of play is very high, .

Capt. OliveI' ha s been unable to play lately OWlIlg to an injury to his. foot, but we hope to have him back soon , more dal\gerous than ever.

Football.-Owing to the fact that hockey has spread its tentacles t,hrough the office and robbed the soccer team both of players and fixtures, those of us wh1) are football fans have had to t..'1ke a hack se:),t and w:ttch the hockey team steadily rise into the lim elight and the soccer team sink g raduallv into obli"ion,

However, since the last publication of our foothall notes, we managed to outwit the blockey enLhusiasts and alTanl!e two matches with the Depot. , Middlesex Ragt, One at Hounslow on the 20th November with a return match a t Mill Hill on January 27th , -

The office staff haying been sadly depleted owing to postings and illness, we were on ly able to fi eld a weak team in our first match. The Middl esex Regt. provided us with a very fine exhibition o·f clean, yonthful football which woved too' energetic for our tea.m of " Old War Horses, " In spite of hard work on the part of L / Sgt, Sowerby, Segt, Hehir and Mr, King we were unable to stem the onward rush of the "Middies'" forward line, which showered shots at our goal-keeper. Pte, Horton , who must be congratulated on an excellent display in spite of the score, We lost 8-l.

In the r eturn match we were able to t urn out a stronger team a nd force a draw at 2-2. E very player exerted him self to the u tmost, with a special mention being made of S / Sgt_ Brown, Mr, Dawson , :tnd Mr. Nash who were responsible for the checking of many dangerou s attacks on t,he goal-keeper. ;1'110 once more displayed excellent form. (There IS absolutely no kuth in the rumour that Pte. Horton is on the tra,nsfer list for the Arsenal.)

After the match we were excellently entertained

PAY CORPS JOURNAL

183

by the Middles'ex Regt" Mr. Guyett expressin g his willingness to fa.ce the Brentford team for a further portion of such tasty liver and bacon!

The services of Sgt. Lancaster as a vel"! steady and sure kicking back ha ve been sadly missed owing to the injury to h.is knee he sustained whi lst Elaying cricket aga inst the Aldershot Office .

Rifle Shooting.-We have widened our field of sport still further, a nd started a Rifle Clu b with the kind ass istance of the Depot Royal Fusiliers, to whom we offer our best thanks and appreciation for the help they have given us_

Our first shooting match was with the Sergea nts' Mess, Depot Royal Fusilers-and \\' e beat t hem by 8 points , The match was between teams of eight, and the six highest scor~s to coun t, thle course being

Application . 5 rounds a t 200 ya rds. 5 rounds a t 500 )'ards .

Snapshootin g, 5 rounds a t 200 yards, The Fusiliers were ahead until the snapshooting started , when we wiped off OU I' deficiency and won_

Result :-R.A.P.C, 244; Sgts.' Mess, R. Fus" 236. We would a lso like to thank Cu-p.tains Brenn an

and Oliver for their help and guida nce, without which we would not ha ve gone very far ,

WOOLWICH. Th e Wool wich Office has occupied many sites in

the CO Ul'SI) of its existence a.nd possibly the time may cnme when we shall possess, like so me fortunate offices, a real playground with miniature Golf Co urse complete. At p,resent our ole rela.xation dUl'ing the lun cheon hour is watching the river tmffic and it is most interesting ~o hear the opinions given on trade depression, tariffs, etc" based on the excess of foreign vessels over British. However, though our immediate surroundings leave much to be desired, lovers of sport and amusement manage to get their sha,'e in dne season,

H.C,L. Football .-Inclement wea ther has teen respons

ible for the postponement of a number of League fixtures . always a handicap where constant practice is essential , and we ca nnot t herefore claim to have maill tained the sta.ndard of last season, The material is still here, however , and we bope for better times.

Sergts. Caveille and Knight and L / Corpl. Hart were chosen to represent the Garrison versus TotteulH~m HotsBUl'S on 17tlt F ebrua ry and though the Ga,rnson lost (4-3) the newspa per report gave our men a mention fOl' the show they pllt up .

Following this L /Corpl. Hart was gn 'en a trial with the "Spurs" in a London Combination match on 30th February and justified his selection by scoring what proved to be the winning goal.

T he results of the Deta chment matches are as follows :-

8/ 12 /31. Depot_ R. A, "B" Team, won 4-0_ 14/ 12/ 31. 18th Field Battery, 10 I, 2--4.

2O/ 1{32, 62nd F ield Ba t tery lost 2-3, 28{1 /32. R.A,M.C" won 4-2, 3/2/32, R.A,S,C, "A," \\'on &-1-

18 /2/32, 65th Field Battery, lost 2-5. 24 / 2/32, 5th Tg, Battory, lost 2-4. 9/3/32, R.E.R.A" drawn 4-4,

Miniature Rifle Club.-Competilion for t he high es t score was very keen in January, a record number of cards being submitted, Foul' members in Class A scored 99.


p,OO IlS \\·ere awarded as follows :-Class A. Mr. Hayde 1st. Capt. Edinger 2nd. Class B. S.S .M. -Cow per 1st. Mr. R. Smith 2nd. Glass C. Mr. Stacey.

The following matches were held d,ll;ng January and February :-

Det. B,.A.P.C. \ .. Ex-Royal Al;'ill ery.. Th e Detachment won by 13 points.

R.A.P. C. Costing Staff v. The Rest. The Hest won uy 5 points. . ..

Military Staff y. Civili an Staff. C,vilia,n Staff won by 13 points.

Billiards.-Once agaill we offe r .our cOII~rat.ulations to S .Q.M.S. C. Black In wll1l1Jng the GarrIson

- Championship. thus qualify;ng for the Command stu ge o[ the Army Tournament,. In th e semi-final

./ he defea ted • ergt Sla ter R.A. (300- 143). Best break 69. 1n the fin al his opponent was B.Q.M.S. Wisbey, R. :\ ., the scores bell1g, 300-183, and th e best hreak 46. vVe wi sh him t he best of success 111

Ili · future matches. Social Events.-The winter Whi st Drives anrl

Dances cOlltinue to Ge a marked success ; at that held in 12th Decemllel' no less than 558 members and guests attended. It speal<s highly for the members of th e CommI t tee who b th el r energy and loya l t~· pl1 t (h e p'opul nnty of th ese gathe rings beyond question .

Children 's Christmas Party .-Thls annual event took place at the R.A. anteen Hall on 8th January, 1932. Am ongst the gue t.s wh ? wer e received by tb e O.i / c R. A. Records, CoL SII' Rlcha~d Gllhm , C. I.G. , D .S.O ., ·.and Lad~' Gltllln , were BrIg. W . W. J elL C.l\LG .. D.S. O. (Gal'l'ison Comm ander ) and Mrs. J eli. Approxim ately 350 per ons attended, who thoroughly enjoyed tl-~ well orga msed arJ"an gemenLs . Music wa S prov1ded before and durIng tea 1"" the B .A. nand. which was greatly appreciated.

• _'\ slide erected "f01' th e children wa we ll patronised hy t he sturdias t youngsters.

_.'\.flet· t-ea, a conjuring und ventriloquist show ~ ml1 sp. d the parents as well as th e hildl'en. Upon the ani \'al of F ather Chri tm as a gift wa presented to each c-hilcl of th e staff and 0 11 leavin g t.he hall , th e usual bag of sweets and frui t was gi ven.

A h a l~py a fternoon ended at 7 p.m. Arrivals:

Colonel R. W, l\ [ac fi e, 2 /3/32. from York Lt.-Colonel R. IV. Anderson, M.B .E. , 13 /1/32,

from Singapore. Lieutenant A . E. J ones . 4 /1/32, from Ch a~llam. SergL. \\ . H. Skil,\,O\\', 27 / 11 /31 , from Salisbury. R.O.l\f.. ergt. C. H. Scoul er, 29 /12/31 , from

Singapore. R.S.M .. H. B rindl e.v . 2/2/32, from E gypt.

taff Sergt . J. K. Pri ce, 2/2/32. h om E gypt. S.Q.M.Sergt. F. G. Sk iggs, 1/ 3 /32, from E gypt.

Probationers Joined: Pte. G . N. P almel', 27 /11 /31 , from 2nd Bn. ,

'heshires. P le. G . H. Da vies, 12/1/32, from Depot. R.

13erksh i res. Gm. R. VV. Aldrid ge, 29 / 1/32, Depot . Royal

Artillery. Probationers Transferred :

]) ':1' . B. Hart. R.E .. 30/6 /31. Sig. W. T. Carden R.C. of S. , 21 /7/?fl.

Departures: L. /Cpl. F. G. Watso[l, 9 /11 /31, 1.0 Hounslow. S.Q .. l\l. Sergt. S. H. French, 27/11 /31, to Egypt.

S .Q.M.Sergt. W. G. Drummond, 27/ 11 /31, to Deptlord.

Ser,gt. R. J . McCullough , 21 / 12/ 31, to Hong Kong.

Serg t . J. P. Daly , 8/ 1/ 32, to Egypt. L. /Cpl. T. Bewick, 12/1/ 32, to Chatham (Sigs.). L .jSergt. L . A. Coope l' 26 / 1/32, to Aldershot . Sergt . A . H. Caslunan, 12/ 2/ 32, to Singapore. L .jSerg t. Doherly, 12/ 2/ 32" to Malta. S.Q.M.Sergt . F. Halter. 22 /2/ 32, t.o Gibraltar. S.S.M. H. Brindley, 1/3.'32, to Easlern Com-

mand. S .Q.-l'd.Sergt. M. J. Brow n. 8/3/ 32, to Leith.

PromotIon: Staff Serg t. Needh am to VV.O. Class IT

(S .Q.l\1 .S.) 14/ 1/ 32. Birth:

Ser-j t. R. E. Boanas-daughler , 26 / 1/ 32.

WARLEY . Soc.ial.-A ve)' ~' success ful invitat ion dance was

held 111 . the Gani on Gymnasiul11 , ,'VaJ'l ey Bal'1'acks, on FI·lda.)' . 19th F ehruary . About 300 aue ts a ttended. This is th e fir st dan ce we have '''beld a nd it is hoped tha t (£ s. d. permi tting) it will b~ . the precursor of man y oth ers.

Sport.-vy st.ill ha.ve a few vacant dates fo r cl'lcket m '!ot ch.es during lhe comin g senson. but early appiJcatlOn for fix tUres is essentia l to a\'o id disappomtm ent.

Departures and Arrivals.--Lieut . C. vV. C011nol' ha:s lelt on t aking up duties at H yde Pnrk Barrack. HIS pl ace has been taken by Lieut. S. H olm an, to wh om a hea rty welc~m e is extended , togelhm- with congralula t lon s on IllS p'1'orn otion to commis. ioned rank. Serg t. Vil . S. Dart and family ha ve at la t cleso(·ted us for a sunnier cli me. W e all wish lhelll the best of eve,rything ill t be!r new slation (Egypt) . S.Q.M .. H. S: Sanderson IS due to pro eed over· seas. next troopll1g season. L / Sgt. P . Hail stone and family ha ve left on postin g t.o Sl1l'ew bury, his place bemg take)) by. Pte. G. W. Dale, wh o w~ hope will enjoy his stay hel·e.

Transfer to the Corps.-vVe heal'tily congratu late GunI'd mail G. W. BelIars on pn ss in ~ hi s exa mi natl.on for trnnsfer to the Corps, with an IIn Rl1a l l~hIgh percentage of marks. This I'csul t is malJ1ly due to .Q.lILS. Sand erson , who devotcd much care and t hought to hi s tra inin g.

ObituarY.-~Ve deenl y regret 1.0 announce the death , 111 BJ'lghton Hospita l, on 8lh Ja,nual'v. nf Dap'hn e, onl ." daughter of S.Q.M.S. Rand ·lI lrs. D ' JUJenger , at th e 1tge of 10. Her loss is k ~~n l v fe lt. H er gentl e, winning wa.ys endeared her ta :tU who ,.kne:w he~' , and the (leepes t sympathy of all In th e Garrt son 1S ex tended to her parents in t heir irrepara bl e 10 · S .

Preston (co ntinll ed /1'0 111 pago 188) . act ive par t in winter sport. so (o n 6th Yel,r llarv a tri p was made to Li \'C1'pool by motor coach w' see E ver ton v. Arsenal. The wea t.h er was favourable, and afte r see in ~ ~ great ga m~. we made OUI' own e~'te r tainment dUl:ing th e evening. arriving bark in I reslon b~' 111Idll1ght a,Jl merry and bright . eageJ' to kn ow when lh e next" do " will hp . 'f1, is takes place on 26th F ebt'lHtl'y , th e occasion being the Annual Dance. and will be commented upon in the next" J Ollrn al. "

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOU RNAL

Northern YORK.

On the first anniversary of the "JournnJ" we send congrnlulation s to the Committee and Editors, and best wishes for its future success.

The main item of interes t is the a nnual di nner of the local branch of th e Old Comrades Association, which was held as last ~'ear , at lh e Conch nnd Horses Holel, Nes gale, II'he re an excell ent repast was again provided. Colonel Macfi e, Command Paymaster , North el'J1 Comm and , presided , suppoi'led by Lt.-Colonel E. L . Malone and Lt .-Colonel P. L. Oldlram and other officers of the Corps in th e ga.rrison . Ex-servin g com rade~ prese.nt were Major Goldthorpe, Capta.in P enn . ex-S.S.M . vVoodm an, exS.Q.M.Sergts. Bonner, Joyce, Dowdell , Moorse, CounseU, and oth ers wh ose n ames escape us nt the moment. Th e tota l number present compared favourably with prior years ; and was gra ti fy ing lo the Committee who are to be con gra tu lated: but for some reason or other there did not seem to be the same vim and enthusiasm as had hitherto prevailed and proceedings were in clined to drag somewhat. The fact that the Colonel Commandant could not attend owing to sickness, had a depressing effect; last yen,r we were buoyed up with thE' hope thlH t , although he was not with us on that occasion , he would be with us the next year, and the fact that he was again debarred, was, we think, a genuine. disappoillement to the members present. We were very pleased to have our energetic Secretary S.S.M. Browne with us again , his little speeches are enlightening and give us first h"nd knowledge of what is bein g done. they have the further merit of l-ep'orting satisfactory progress in the id eals of the Association. A secretary 's tnsk is never a light one. but we can assure S.S.M. Browne that ~e heartily appreciate the work he hns done for the Association~ and we ~ re graleful to him for attending our gatherings. We all missed ollr old S.M.'s no\v Lieuts. Godwin and Jon~s; they hnd done so much to make our local branch a slIccess, and this was their first year of ab ence. St.1ff·Sergt . Woodmnn was called upon to propose the toast to them . he carr ied out his ta k fairly well. but suddenl" branched off into a rhapsody on the beauties of York and lhe power of prayer ; he informed us that \yhen he was in Shanghai he .earnest.ly ]lrayed that on completion of his tour he would be reposted 1.0 York (groans) and that h e thanb G·od he wa,s here (more groans). Quile a number, we be]jeve, hnve since been. fervently praying [or a move from York. hence perhaps the following departures :-S.S.M. Ilrull1.mond anp L/Sgt. N ash have left to settle the China affair ; S.Q.M.S. Asher and S.gt. Cottam on 1\0 course of Egyp,tology and S .Q.M.S. 'Webstel', L /Sgt. Deeble, and P le. Cammidge have gone to the South of En~land, S.Q.M.S. BJ)nd is ready for Berml~da . Wl~ile on the ub.iect of moves, may we adVise mal'rJed men to have a reh earsal beforeha nd . Rumour has it that such household im ped iment..1, as fl at irons , nlarm clocks. and table cutlery had to be packed at the last moment in the overcoat pocket of one of the above named.

We welcome bhe following who have come cheerfully to the st.atiO'n :- S /Sgt. Lomax,: Sgt . . Soutbgate; Cpls. Woan and Thomns; and Ple. R lchard-

Command son (on probation) . We congratuJale Cp!. W elch on Ins appointment to Lance Sergeant. Our Command Paymaster, Colonel R. \ 'V. Macfie. ruter a short tour here , is leaving us for Woolwich and is being replaced by Colonel E. A. Lang from China. ·We offer our congratulations to Major F. C. vVilliams on hi s promotion. Major Thornhill ha rejoined us from Gibrait,ar.

M:.'\ jor Whi te has suffered a snd bereavement in the death of his wife; we sin cel'ely symf!a thise "' ith, him in his los .

There is litt le in the way of SpOl't or social eyents to comment upon. An attempt made t o r Ul! a hockey team durin g t he winter season met with moderate success, th e result of the ma tches being fairly even.

The dances held by th e H eadquarters Ctub Have heen great successes and \\'e ha ve promise of more to come; the club house h as now been bni lt on the allotments of th e Command Office garden, and it should prove t() be very prosperou s-it depend s on the hours of opening and the fresh excuses tha t can be found.

CATTERICK CAMP . Many moons have . passed by SiJ1 Ce news has

appeared from this Sta tion , but we will try our best this time.

In ca e there may be some among my readers who imagine th at in Cat terick we all ,york in one big office I must disabuse their mind . We are all atlached ' to various Units sll"ead throughout the Camp and thus it is t.hat notes are somewhat scanty, and "news" only aniyes in scraps. We ",Iso do not see as much of each other as we would like a nd thus also valua.ble scraps of news are missed or nre years lale when we all fi nally get to kn ~w. F lIl'th er in v iew of the wonderful weath er whIch is constantly with us, t.he possibilit~, of vi siting each ot.her i sli ghtly diffi cult as issues are not made of sledges, fur coats. sou ' westers, topecs, or boots, gum thigh , without which it is .unwise to start out and be cel-tain of retummg 1I1 tIm e for the rendition of the Annual Accounts. Hence the word CATTERICK. whi ch is on ly the local proIllUlciation for CATARACT, i.e ., n High Walerfal!.

General.-The following postings have occurred SiJ1Ce the last notes :-Captain Barmtt to Egypt, Captain Tl'eglown posted from Woolwich. Sergeant Offord posted to Preston in relief of L /Sergt. Drummond posted h.el'e , L / Sergt. Humph.rays postM to York. PromotIOns :-S.QJI'LS. R,enme promoted lo t hat rank.

Sport.- (This paragraph is str i c~ly cop~right., and written by an a.m~te~l'.. Compal'lson wlth T revor Wignall would be lllVldlOUS.)

The Officer in charge (Ca,pta in 'l.'reglown) plays cricket for Catterick Ganison with no sma.ll measure of success, in summer of CO\lr~e . ThIS last remark is nece~ary. ' 'Ve haye an excellent arrangemen.t wherebv we haye deCIded t.o refer ~o the period April-September as summer. 'P'IS allows for the wearing of fl~nnel~ an.d .. ot,l~~r hght clothing, without the vel:dlct. sUlcld!l bemg hrought in when pneumoma s.upervenes. S.Q.M. Sergeants Fowler a nd R.enme are both keen " . Bowler's» and the latter fin ished last season I\,S final ist in 'the Scott Bowls Cup' Competition run by

. --- .-


the W.Oo's and Sergeants' Club. Both of the above also throw a wicked dart and hereby challenge all comers. S.Q.M.S. Gibson and Sergeant Jordan are still battling gamely with the Royal Engineers at hockey. L /Sgt. Drummond plays football for 19th Company, R.A.S.C. H e also a.ppeared 111 the final of the LilIywhite·lirowd Tennis Doubles Cup. Sergt. Finch is keen on Football , and is passing out as a Referce . when all the forms necessal'y are completed. The W.Oo's and Sergeants Club which was opened la st year co ntinues to flourisl~. two mem bet;s of the Corps be1l1g on committees, I.e. , S.Q.M".S. s Fowlel' and Gibson. It is hoped to have two further tennis courts in addition to the two already in use for th e coming season, and the bowling green is now in splendid condition. There is also an indoor bowling green which together with the ever popular dart board helps to pass many pleasant hours away.

An Appreciation.-The vi it of the Command Paymaster and Staff to the Camp and the ubsequent re-union held with S.S.M. Norman on the 19th Januarv , 1932, was voted by a ll here a success, and we hope for more frequ ent visits of that na t ure.

THE L OST ACCOUNTASTS .

Northern Ireland District .Children ' s Xmas Party.-Provi ion was made for

the married bmilies of the detachment to join in the Small Units Xmas Tree Party which was held at Victoria Barracks, Belfast, on 6th January. A most enjoya ble a fternoon was spent by tl1e kiddi es. Various forms of iLmusement were provided such as l'Oundabouts. sw it{)hback, etc., wh ich were eagerly Ratl'Onised. After having pal'taken of tea, the mai.n object of the kiddies delight-the Xmas Tree-was presented to view and il1 happy mood they awaited the presentation of theil' gifts by Father Xmas which were acc~pt€d with enviable joy by each and all of them. This most successful e\-ent was brought to an unwilling termination by the kiddies \y ith the playiJ1g, by the band of the 1 t Bn. Ronll Uulster R,ifl es, of the Iat.iona l Anthem. .

Social Club Dinner.- In connection with th e Socia,l Club a most -s ll ccess ful dinner was held at the Queen's Hotel Belfast, on 4th February. Vole ayail ed ollrsehes of this occasion of bidding "an revoir" to S.S.M. G. Ros who has now left this station en route for Hong Kong . The hotel staff n.l'e to be complim ented upon the most excellent all · Empire courses \\:hich were selected and served. After dinner the party proceeded to the Empire Theatre where a very enjoyable p'l'ogl'amme was \\-Ibessed.

r.,oves.-S.S.M. G. Ros~ ' embarked on S.S . " :'oJeuralia " on l~th F ebrua1'y for passage to Hong Kong. V. e "'ish him good health and all happy days in his new environment. (Little Brown Bag, Little Brown Bag, don't I mi~s yon). (Echo from the" Criterion.")

We learn tbat S.S.M. Cartel' is most likely to join us here on hi" I'eturn fr!)ljl. Hong Kong, his P.osting orders ·ha ving been receivad. Pl'ovidecl the inevitable clo~s not ha.ppen we will extend to bim and his family a hearty welcome to Belfast.·

-186

Southern Command COMMAND PAY OFFICE, SALISBURY.

Postings.-Since the last issue of the Journal, we have said goodbye to L / Sergt. E. F. Bown, who embarked fOI' Shangbai on December 23rd. and t(} Capt. E. A: Rason and Sergt. J. A. Bessent who emhar'ked for Gibraltar on January 7th and February 12th rcs(>ectively. We wish them a very happy time at their new stations.

Sergt. G. Fraser (Shanghai), Sert. M. C. Hux· ley (Egypt) and L /Sgt. J. L . }-[oare (Gibraltar) ha ve been posted to this offi ce and we extend a hearty welcome to them. If they should happen to he cricketer , our office cricket cl ub secretary will ~ve them more than a h€arty welcome.

Dance . ....:.Tbis Detachment held another Success· ful dance in aid of O.C.A. fllnd s on Janua,ry 27th. On this occasion it was held at the Cadena Cafe, and a party of 130 danced from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. t<> the tra in s of music suppli ed Ly " Stainers " Band. The arrangements for the evpnin~ were made by a committee wh ich consisted of S.S .M. E lam (Presi. den t ), SiSgt. Hil lary and Sergts. Bowen, R olt, Bcs· sent, Lillicrap and Tribble (H on . Sec.). It is hoped to hold another dance 011 the 1st April.

Sport.- Mem hel·s of the Corps who have served in this office \vill, no doubt, be interested to he.n that a hard tennis court is :1t, last being made for the use of the military members of the staff of thi~ Head'lunrtel·s . Its s itllation is in the ~eld alongside the married quarters at the top. of DevlZ6S Road , so will be qui te handy for many. I t IS expecled that the COlll't will he finished b,v the end of the financial year, so we are now looking forwal·d to the longer evenings and many good games.

O.C.A. Dinner .- Th e meml el'S of this Detachment al'e looking forwn,rd to the annual re-union of old comrades at the Chmon Court Restaurant on April 22nd and hope there will be a r'ecord attend· ance at this happy affajr. It is un.derstood th~t q,t least twenty members a re atte nding from thiS office.

Discharge.-Sergt. E. A. Blai.r was discharged on 14/ 2/32, after completing neatly 26 yea rs: ser· vice, and our best wishes go with him on Ill S r~' turn to "civvy " li fe. Tt is und,,!' tood that he IS now" mine host" at the Blue Ball Inn, Dottery. BddlJOrt, Dorset, and an members of th e Corps visiting tha.t district wil l be assured of a royal welcome by him. His place at Bulforcl ha s heen taken by L / Sgt. P. W. Sutton, to whom we extend a hearty welcome. . .

Army Cup Finat.-AIl mnks of the Corp>; WIll be pleased to hear of the honour conferred on one of its memhers. S.O .M.S. B. E. L. Towr. who has ·been . app,ointed referee for the Army Cnp Final. wh,ieh "' ill be played at Aldershot- on Easter Monday . "We heartily congratulate him on thi~ honour.

.. SARID1." EXETER.

'Our congratulations are extended to Captain A. W·. Hands on winning the local Badminton Cham· pi·onship, and also to Private Colma n who Fecently passed into the Corps. ,

S.O.M.S. (Jimmy) Blyth has joined us from Hong Kong and we hope th a ~ his ~ ta,v in Exeter wi ll. be n, happy_ one. . .

We hope that the next issbe will bring news of QUI' .long waited for movp-. It is on the \~y.

J . .n.H.


Scottish COMMAND PAY OFFICE , EDINBURGH .

By the time these notes appear in print, Lt.-Colonel A. S. Herbert, M.C., will have joined this office from Hong Kong. 'vVe trust that his stay in this fine old city will be a very pleasant one. A reference to the December Notes from his previous station , leads us to believe that our cricket team will receive a, much-needed strengthening by his coming-a very heartening piece of news with the cricket season not far off and last season's med iocre results sti ll fresh in our memories.

HockeY.-Now that the present season is nearing its close, I am able to say a few words about R .A. P .C. hockey in Scotland. Our first season, 1929/30, was very encouraging, but with the departure of most of the best players about the end of that season and at the start of the ne,,1; season, 1930/ 31, our second season saw us UJ1able to raise an all Pa,y Corps team , in fact we found it difficult to raise any sort o·f team and the treacherous weather d id I ot assist us any. W e cancel led all our fi xtUl'es arter t he first h alf dozen.

The present season, our third , has been rather mi:'(ed grill, and although our card. shows more defeats than v ictories , it does not do justice to the efforts of the players. Tbe average number of goals scored a~ainst us is usually four.

Capt. R. S. Ellicott began the season with us as captain and soon rounded up a good, team. Although he has now left us, his inflllence is still felt. and the Advent of Capt. C. C. Blackwell , a very keen and enthusiastic pla?er has added new life to the Ragging interest of the player.

Our matches are of necessity mid -week ones, and are confine I to fixtures \V;(]1 the units stationed in and a round Edinburgh. Possibly our best fixture , or outing rat,hel', was when we met H.M.S. "Greenwich" at Rosvth. The sai lors took us from S. Oueensferry in their steam pinn ace across the I'iver Forth and ' we were afforded, during the half-hour sail. a unique view of the famous Forth Bridge, from the hadow of which we embarked. The outing was further crowned by a, 2-1 victory for the P av Corps.

Quite a number of our games have, up to the present been cancelled. owing to the unplaya ble stale of the ground. (Poor old pitch , like the Secretary. i t has a lot to put up with.)

The ground is at Redfold Bks., about 4 miles fl'om the Cit,v, and is the only hockey ground pl'Ovided (0\' 1\ Cavalry Regt. and a Batto lion of Infnntr.v \Ne get a look ill orcasiona,l ly.

The Infantry Record and Pay Office at Leith 'FOIt supnly the maiority of our players , while the Command Office. wit,h a couple of "Sp'are F.iIes" from Command H.Q ., supply the remrunder. S.S.M. Lawson. OUI' sturdy full-back has saved our hacon manv times in t.he p~st. a~sisted by that fearless goalie, Ex-S.Q.M.S. Joe. Garland.

'\le hope next ~eason (if Records :1I'e kind and note that hockev players are required in EdiJ1burgb) t,o run an all COI'PS team full of talent. so that there will be a chance for the name ROYAL ARMY PA Y CORPS tn be ell~raved on the Scotti h Command Hockey Cun. It is already on the Eastem Dist,;ct Command Cl'icket Cup.

·"LOUDEN. "

Command LEITH,

Arrivals and Departures.-There have been a considerable number of changes in the personnel of the detachment since the last issue of the "Journal." The Regimental Paymaster,. Major A. w.. M. C. Skinner, has left for Wokmg, from wblch office Lt. -Colonel R. W. KelJy bas been transferred tospend another period of service !n familiar s~rrOUl::!iings. The successful formatIOn of the S?C1al club was in a large measure due to the enthus1asm of Major Skinner and with his departure, the office has lost a keen ' supporter of the club's various activities. His whole-hearted enjoyment of our social gatheriQgs will be well remembered on future occasions when the members of t he office staff fore-ga.ther for relaxation. . . .

Captain E. C. Ethermgton has )oln~d from the China. Command to bl'lghten t~e prospects for the coming cricket eason" and It IS a welcome change to be able to record such an event, following on the loss of several of the more prominent mef!1bers of the team. S / Sergt. R. J ackson and famdy have now settled down hereafter a sojourn at Malta. and Sergt. A. J. Wolfe and family embarked for Egypt on 26th January last. The posting ot S.Q.M.S. F. G. Skiggs from Egypt to Leith has now been c:lIlcelled, his place being taken by S.Q,.M.S. M. J. Brown from W oolwich, who is expected here early in March.

Transfer.-Trooper E. S. Orchard, 7th Queen's Own Hussars. has su~cessfully passed throu~h his probation and been tran ferred to the Corps 11) the rank of Pl·ivate with effect from 21st July, 1931.

Marriage.-L/ Sergeaut 'V. Humphries was married to Miss Mary Ann Lee (\n 26th December, 1931 , and wa the recipient of a suitable mementoof the occasion.

'Sport.-The ath letic proclivities of t.he . detachment have been <:onfined to hockey dUring the winter months , and this branch of sport is fully dealt with in the notes of the Command Office, representative. It is anticipat€d that a. cricket team will agai.n function during the commg; summer whi lst the minor sports such a" tenllls and bowls will doubtless be indulged in as hitherto.

PERTH. Annual Children's PartY.-Children's parties on

a large scale are usually fu~ctions at which. mere p:t1'ents and other ad ul ts are )ust necessa,ry adjuncts in the matter of escorting the kiddies to, and shepherdi.ng ,them from, the festive hall. Ou"!' children's p'arty held on the 30th December' was, however. an except ion to this rule, for from the outset our M.Co's insisted tha.t every adult should cast care aside, and for the evening at least, recapture· the sp'irit of childish pleasure. The. result ,,,:as wondorful-harassed mothers and anXlQUS daddies -not to mention the real guests of the evening-the· delighted kiddies, played, romped, slmg ' a.nd laughed until a late hour forcet! " us to say our reluctant "goodnights." A " J{tck iu the ~ox " crccasioned general amusement, and loi' the children provided pal'ticula, gifts; Sergt. Spencer aching welf as the obliging. " Jack in. the box:". Next-:-a Christmas tree With th~ arnval of a )ov1al Faths)-


X mas, p rod uced for t he excited youn gsters a further g ift, a nd when fin ally led to t,h '! lucky di p' bran t ub fo r a t h ird present, one jud ged by the va rious exp,ressions th at wit hou t except ion the child ren had fo und an earthly pa radi e indeed .

T he a ug me nted Committee responsible for the ar rangements a nd t he evenin g's programm e may well co ngratula te t hemselves on the undoubted success of the Child ren 's P ar ty 1931, fo r unquestionably t he ta.sk of amusing a crowd o f youngsters of va rying ages, and, at the same t ime, to have given the grow n ups a r eal party too, was one which must have en tailed hard work a nd considerab le thought. Our tba.nks and cong ratulations t.o "Messrs. The Com nlittee."

Sacials.- The monthl y wh i t dri\'es and da nces ha ve become decided l.v popula r' :1.nd are rea lly enjomble affai rs. An add it ional featu re is the in trodU'ct ion of a song between dances. and we a re fort unate in possessing the r eady services of Major H epbun1 for t his new dep:1.rtm e, for wilh h is cheery

Western COMMAND PAY OFFICE CHESTER.

The festiv it ies of the Western Com mand Chr istmas Tree took pb.ce in the Chester Town H all, the om e staff a nd thei r families formed a good ly IFOportion to tho e present. ' A very well organ ised and enjoya,ble eveni ng ensued to be happily closed by La ly DevereU witb d istri butions from t he Christmas Tree to all t he ch ild ren .

The Offi ce Library a nd lending scheme cont inues to he t he succe s that i t was anti cipated . The in vlt,ation as t o t he gi ft of unwant ed hooks by anyone as given in the last issue of onr " J ourn al .. is cordially repeated .

Th e ma rrjage of L / Sgt. R . Doggrell took p lace at St. M,1ry's, R andbridge, Chester, on 26t h December. 1931.

The posting of Sgt. E. G. H <1llett f rom Chester to Bursc01lgh and Sgt, F . J . B . Baker from Pres· i on · to Che ter took pl a.ce in December.

F .O'D.

PRESTON.

F ulwood B arracks Call110t be described as a n exall'!ple of ult ra -modern , or even modern , style of archlt ect.ure. TheY were built about 1841 with a local stone which' is said to ha ve a r eputation of being gnaranteed t o las t for ever. and at present the walls certainly give thi s impression . The a pP?amnce of th.e bar.m cks is not ver y cheery , h a.v11l g t ha t. plaCid sobd look one often sees in publi c huildings of th at period. In a.ddi t ion t o ourselves, the bal'1"acks house th e Depots ., E ast Lancs and L oyal R egiments, 16 T. Company R. A;S.C. and .various Departmentals . The 30/ 47th ~eglmental Dlstl'l ct Sergeants Mess cater for dinm g members. T hil Mess also extend s invitations to us for p racticaUy all thei r fun ctions. In passing it might .be mentIOned t hat attempts h ave been mad~ t o .est ablish a mess of our own , but 'we cn nnot obta11l. the necessary authority. b ut IJerh aps one dn,y wII! see a Garn son 01' R .A..P .C. Mess in full swing. Th e Married Quarter s a re &itllated uuite close to ~he offi ce and. th e Sel"!,(ea nts ' M es~. Th ey occupy three blocks, a nd as two are of t:he sam e

personali ty and clever songs at t he p iano . he is assured of all appreciati\' e a udiE'nce. S .QJI'L . Alexander, Sergt, Paul and Corpl. Thomas helpeu to make thi s new stunt in ·a uance program me a r eal SDccess . 'oc ial Club Com mi ttee would he well ad vised to t ry t hi s, especia lly where ladies form t he ma jority at the function.

Our fo nal event for t he winter programme is being held a t York House on t he 4th March , and we in ten d to make certain th at the Pe, ·th R ecord a nd P ay Ofllce Social Cluh nni h t he \\'intel' eason 1931 /32, wi t.h a "Big Evening" '

McSP ORRA K . Departures.- S.Q.M.S. C. Trela nd to Deptford

2nd J anuary, an d COl·pl. T . Thomas to York . Regt!. , 12th J :1 n uar~' . ' iVe wish tl,em the best of luck in th eir new Stations.

Arrival.-Signa lman A. A . R. N"ew],eIT\". R oyal Corps of SigmLls, joined on p robation 12th ·Ja nuai'Y.

Appointment .-Corpl. R. S. L e Y ey appoint ed L a nce Sergt., 30th J anua ry .

Command

t88

material itS t he barracks, t hey do not appear to be \'ery inviting . Recently, al terations of t he quarters have been commencecl wit h a \'iew to in tro· d ucing modern conveniences a fo nnd in the up.todate quarters, a nd t he occupiers of the a ltered quarters say t lLey are as good as the latest type built . Generally, all quarters are ('cnpiecl , but, after :t short wait, t hose on the M.A.R,. can be alloted a. qua rter . Ful wood bein g one of th e best resident ial distr icts on the onts lci!'! of P reston, it offers good Cacilit ies for offi ce rs t o oht:tin suil:tble accommoda ti on wit hin easy dista nce of t be offi ce. On Lhe othe!' han d , for ma rried other ranks, not in t he barracks, it is necessary to go farther afield for " <:Ji gs ," and these cannot be sa id t o be p resentalle or ve ry p rai eworthy. Social li fe a nd SPOI-tS ava ilal le will be deal t with in the next issue.

Office News.--8ince t he last num bel' of the " J ournal," Cp!. W oan has left us for Y ork (R), Sgts. B a ker, Andert,on. and P resli n have gone to Chester, Eg.vpt a nd H ong K ong r espectively. We wish t hem the best of luck , and hope Anderton and Presl in will enj oy their tours a l'road . Con · g.rn.t ul a tions to P te. Kir\<e . on. pa sing hi s pl"Obat lOn , <1 l'1d to S .Q.M.S. Hlgg1l1 son rm c1 :J\.fcK enna on promoti on to W .O, n , P te . Bill fl\ey, G los ter Regt. , has joined on probat ion , we \r ish him success, and a lso hest wishes to Pte. H ew iH wh o took t he matrim oni al "plunge" on (' hr i tmas Day. L /Sg t. R omeI' is ioining us from Ch ina ill t he near fu t ure, and Sgt. H asl<in s an.d wife . a re coming from E xeter on th e 3rd Ma rch , so we take pleasure in welcomill g t hem and t ru t th ey will ha\"e a good t im e he\'e. .. .

Social Club.-During November and December the An n.ua l Billia rds H andica.p was held . a nd con: gratulatlOns "re due Lo the winner. S.O.M .S . McK enna , a nd the run ner-up, Ml'. P eek. Th e games provided pieasant evenings . and some p romising cueisl s were di sco ver ed. Th e fin al was held {)n 11th December a,nd was followed hy 'l convivial evenin~ . Ano o Domini prevents us f,:om t akin g an

(Pres Lol'l No t es co ntinued on page 184.)


Commands Abroad EGYPT.

The o u t~ Landill g t hing in t he pas t quarter has been the cold weath er. W e ha ve heard a,bout gentle· men ma ny years ago decla ring their undying love in a song which contained the phrase .. 'Tul th e sands of t he DesHt gr ow cold. " W ell they have been cold-verv cold-so co ld indeed that t he Arab lee Cream vendors ha ve t llken to ret ailing H ot Chestnuts a nd a concoct ion resem bling .. Li loy .. \\hich is th e loca l eq ui va lent for soup .

Chris(,mas passed with t he usual ro und of pa rties and da nces. Co l. Riley and Lieut .-Col. Hut-Cox, Lieut. -Col. Grant. a nd other Officers of t he Detachment visited the Sergeant' Mess on Chl'istmas Day a nd spen t a n ell joyable hol1l' wit h the othleJ' ra nks. A sumpt uous repast was p'rovided Cor the single menil ,e l·s. Capt. \ Va l'r rep lYl11 g to th e toafit to t he Officer. pl'OpO 'ed by S.Q.M . . M itchell , a nd S. S."Vl. Ba l'l1 e. to Lh e tonst t o the ,"Varrant Officers, proposed by L / Sgt . Wiles .

The Collow in g W.O . 's a!ld N.C. O.'s have recent ly joined t his Detachment :-S. Q. M.S . ' Chenery French , A hel', Vl,7ood ford and Mathews. 8e rgea nt~ Dow, Wes tcotL. J ones, Kim bell . Andel' tol' , Da ly , BecconsaU, O' H a l' <1. Ash, Cot tam, Da rt, W olfe a nd Folley. L / Sel'g ts . Denue a nd Gill ham .

We wi b t hem all good lu ck duri ng t heir stay in Egypt. In passing we cannot but comment 0" lhe exce ll ent manner in wh ich the Sel'''ea 'lts' Me.;; s Officia.ls deal wit h in coming drafts. 'th ey provide nn excellent meal accom pa uied by " li tLle liqu id refreshmen t, whi ch is gn;a Uy a ppreciated a fter tb e tll'eso me .l 0ur:ley fl'oll1 t he coast .

Tilt> fo llowing have left for En g land :-S.S.M. 's BI'1:1dley a nd Plow ma n ; S.Q,.M.S.' Ski ggs a nd Ifrltz; S /Sgls. Lomax ,111d Pri Cl: i::lerg t s . W orsley and Adla m : L / Sgt. J ohnso n.

The socia I side of t be Detachm ent has lost bvo \'aluable rnelll b ,:,'S ill t he depHl'tllre of S., .M. nri ncl ley and S.Q. r. S. Fritz . Th ey a re bOlh, excell ent spol'tsll1cn and l ook a ve ry . nct i \' e sh a re in all Me s fu n tio:1 5. S.Q. if.S. Frit z will alwavs he l'el11embered for h is songs an d t1 :LI1f'CS of the 'Ma rie Lloyd era. S .S.M. P low1l1n n was in \'a lided h me onc! \\'e wish him a speedy recovery . '

An interpstillg wedd ing was solem nized in the Ordnance Chape l. the cO ll tract inf> p ,wties !Jein " L(figt. ·J ohn60n 'w c! Miss Stock , c\ ;ughter of Eo' rgt Slock . MI', . J ohnson was subseq uen ily p,resented wltl: a handsome can teen of cu tlery by t he Detachment.

Th e New Year 'ol)ened in a n unlu C\<v ma nn or fo r 1!16 Det a.chment. t l;1" e of t he Offi cers' hl dies, Mrs. G re~ h am . 1\h s. Eacli p a ll d Nh·s . Ba rrat t . were in· volved in n moLo I' ncc ident and were a ll admitted to hospita l. W e a re glad to state t ha t th ey have S1I1ce heen d Ischa rged. M r . Douse wife of

.Q.hl .S. Douse, wa.s unfor tunate enol;gh to fa ll IInd brea k her leg III fo ul' places a nd will be in hospita l for some t im e yet.

As we go Lo press. we. learn wit h reg ret th at Sergt. Cottam . who should have join ed us ex S.S .... TU6cania .. on th e 6th F ebr uary, has been cl l:\1 ned n~ Port ~ ai d. w ith wife a nd 4 child ren. ono o f whom is ndmitted to hospit al. ' Ve have flespa,t ched 0111' cO lltlnlences and hope he will soon bp off th e list of " P cs:etl N .Y.J ."

r89

Billiards.-The billiards season is no w drawin g to a close, a nd , excepting accidents, we are weil assured o f at l ea~~ o ~l e more piece o f silver for the Mess . Our posItion m the Sergeants' Mess Billiards League reads a t present :-

I 'J ayt:" ct Vio ll l os t Games Aggre J,.!Bl e TotAl Fn r Ag aitlst Won I.o ~t Point ....

l2 12 0 47 13 11 1 58 A lead o f 14 p'oin t s over our nearest riva ls the R.A .S. C. (winners last year ) .

For .the inform ation of S.Q.M.S ... Da nny " Fritz, we managed to beat the R.H .A . :1.nd Imperia l Club both to the t une of 6- 0, Mr . Southwood '01 th e. latter team pa,ss in g the remal:k tha t he would much ha ve preferred to p la.y " Danny ". tha n Sergt. Mon ks-memOl'ies t o the Cockroach .

W e t a ke t hjs oppo rt uni ty o f t hanking S .S.M. Bl'lndley :tnd S. Q.M. S. Fri lz for their exertions and many brilliant ga mes, which h ave helped us t o reacb th e top of t he league.

Th e second inter-offi ce ma tch took p lace on 12th December. 1931, a nd I'esul tecl in a win for Regi. mental Ofllce hy ~;S poin ts, each side having won 3 gam es as und er :-

Command. Regimental. Sergt. L ane 125 Sergt. Dow 80 Sergt. Kelso 58 Sel·gt. 1\I[0nk ~" 125 S .S.M. Ba m es 121 Sel'gt W estcott 125 Capt . Li dstone 125 Sergt. Tappenden 99 Serg t. Dalv 74 R.Q.M.S. Lea thJev 125 Capt. H m'cling 125 Capt. n anatt, M.C . 102

628 6~

We wel'e very unf'ortunnte losing to t he M.M .P . in. t he fir t round of t he E.S .R .T. Cup . by 5 poin (,s after haVIn g shnl'ecl t he games 3 each. Captain Lldstone was 111 hospIta l and S. Q.M .S. Fri47. was no dou bt on one of hi :or,g Hik in g Tours?

W .A.M. Football.- Alt hough ni ne games of foot ball have

been played to date we regret to< report that. in I wo insi a,nces only h,'we \\'e been succes CuI , one of t hese lJe i n~ an inter-office match in wbich t he RA .P. C. 111 . Egypt could hard ly suffer defeat!! In t ha t partlculaT encoun ter t he R egimen tal Office were ~ston i shingl y successful in beati ng t he Command Offi ce by fi ve goals to two . S ince, however , M l'. 1" .9. has been so kin I in ending us some fin e sportsm en it is a nt icipated t hat soon t he R.A .P. C. foo thall slock will ri se on l he local 111 3 rket. There a re four or fi ve 111 0re fri endly ga,mes cl own fol' decision <l nd th er" is litt le doubt bu t th :tt om e o f our olel ri va ls will di cover a chan ge of fortune.

C. J .F. RiMe Club.-Since the p'ubl ication of the last

i sue o f t he 'o rp J omnnl.· a number of successful shoots have been held on t he Open a nd Minia ture RiRe R anges. -

Spoon winners fOI' t he la,st qua rter have been :Captain P. C. H al'C\ ing. RO l"f'eant D. P Ol1ntney Sb ff Sergeant R opil'ough a nd 'Sergeant F. H all . "

A silver CUI kindly pl'e ented bv , th e Spor ts' Offif'e l' an d Treasurel'. WfiS won by Capt." in J . B . J a rdine. Golonel H. C. Ri l"y hons ' kind ly presented' the Rifle Club with six s ilvel' spoons. und it is hoped t,hat he will , him self . compete for th em a t some future sll ot.


Special mention must be made of the untiring eft orts of our Spo rts Ofli cer, Captain P . C. lia rding, who has undoul tedly made the Rifle Club a success, and witbout whom, many of t he most enjoyable shOO LS we h;1Ve bad th e pleasure of taking pa rt in , would haNe been " Vv ASH OUTS."

. S .T. C. Tennis .-Since our last notes, we have played

and won four matches aga in st the winners o f th e Junior Ranks Tennis League at t he conclu ion of which we were du ly: p resented wi t h, a Challenge Cup and replica t hereof by B riga~ier G. F. H . Brooke, D.S. O., M. C.

The Inter-Office tennis matches have been played .and th e Command Offi ce ran out winners of both.

The annual tournament was. a g reat su.ccess, and some very keenly contested matches were wi t · nessed. Colonel H . G . R iley, Lieut .·Col. E. W . H art-Cox a nd Lieut .-Col. E. W. Grant, each very k indly gave a prize.

Th e winners were :-Level Singles-Capta in W. E adie. H andi ca p Singl es-Se1'(~eant Lane. Level-Doubles-Captam W . E arl ',,,, Thnd Sergt.

D. J. Adlam. H a ndicap Doubles- Capta in S . F. Barratt and

Miss J. Hart·Cox. After t he first office tennis match pri zes to the

winners were kindly presented by :Mr . H . G . Riley. Many members of the Detachm ent have recently seen ~ome very good tennis in the E gyptian Cham· pionships,. in wInch some of t he Ita liRn tennis tea m, wh o were on a visit to E gypt, have been competing.

Sergeants ' Mess.-T he weather still being conducive to the "tr ipp.in g of light fantastic," the l?opularity of th e whist dri ves and dances conti.nues una bated. Th e first of these fun ctions in the New Year wa s held on 2nd J anuary, a nd in spite of the many counter a ttractions at this time of the ye;),r, th ere was a la rge attend ance . Th e " peppy" and melodious music provided by the dance band of th e 14 j2Oth H u at's, consisting of ten inst rum entalist s contributed in no small measure t o the success of t he dance part of the programme. which concluded a t 1.30 a.m ..

A fa rewell sm okin ~ concert t o the last big homeward bound dl'a ft this season. was held on 12th J anuary. A most enjoyable and pleasingly varied programm e was prov ided and an inn ovat ion at this kind of fun ction wa s t he appeara nce of a conjuror . This wi7anl of the magic art . a mon~st other mysterious perform a nces, prod uced fi ve guinea model hats fm m pieces of paper (a d istinct saving in these days of fin ancia l d ep res~ i o n) with the resul t th at the n' a lTied IT' enl bers of the detachment are now ta ki !1g an in te tl sive course in conjuring ! Tl,erc were humorous songs and stor ies (and what sto l-i es I) and in str um ental a,ct6, with

'interludes of com munity sin p: in g . . Everyone. was sorry when just on 1 a.m. the pl'occedin p:s conclud ed wllh l he ~ in ging of " Auld Lung Syne" in massed formati o~l !! It was a night to remember.

J .K. Christmas Tree and Party.- T be A nnua I Xnlas

Trep and treat wore held in t he Sergeants' Mess at Ahhass ia on 2~rd Decemher . Nearly 200 ~at down to lea which a ll ag reed was first rate . The tahles were tas tefully deco l'atcd with flowers. mess ~i l ve r and the Corps Colours. Many thanks are <lue to the ladies wh o helped by cooking cakes,

etc., and for th eir valuable assistance in decorating the tables add wai ting at the tea tables .

T ea was followed by a vis it to t he New Garden CIn ema where a speCIal programme fo r t he children had been arranged t hrough th e good services ofS .Q.M.S. Godbehear. Tha kiddi es always enjoy t hiS Item and th ey returned to t he mess full of beans and eager for tb e oLher good things to come. Th~ J'lext item was a new ve.ntu l"C-- " Potted

P a ll to "-arranged by S.Q.:M.S. Ba rford. This was CL g reat success and was appreciated by both the chIldren a nd the grownups.

Much t ime and , work hav~ been expended by tho~e cO llcerned 111 p rodUCing It and speCIal mention must be m.ade of t he fa iries dan cing and of their d resses whIch were made by M l's . Barford. ,At the co nclUSion of th e P anto,. Cin derella, Fairy

Godmo ther and th e fall'les wel'e presented with boxes of chocola tes and th e Ugly Sisters received a la rge bouquet ma inly composed of can ots and other sweet smelling fl owers.

When the l i g ~lts of the Christmas Tree were put 011 , t he children s excItement rcar.hed fever heat and F a ther Chri stma s, a bly imperso nated by Mr. Thomas (L.A. Staff) , made a very pleasa nt distri. butlOn of t he presents, which it wa agreed by all , \\" ere of first rate qua hty, and as t he parents chose t he type of present req ui red all were thoroughly pleased and satisfi ed .

Three hearty chee['s were g iven to Father Christ· mas who said tha t th e R.A.P. C. had so many little gll'ls and boys that he had to go back to Lapland to get a fu rther supply before he could go to any more child ren.

~ jSgt. R obel-ts th en o r~a nised games for the c1uld .ren, at t he end o~ w.hlCh th e children's part . ." terrnll1ated Wit h the dlstrlbutlOn of ba gs of s,yeets, oranges and apples .

An inform al dance was a fterwards held in the Mess durin g which coffee and refreshm ents we re served .

Th e t ha nks of th e Xm '1.S Tree Commit.tee are due to a ll w110 assisted them in making the function what was acknowledged a a reat success.

Th e Committee was "composed as under :Captain S. F . Barratt, M .C. , S.Q.M. S. J . lieIlal", S.Q.M.S. H. W . Douse, S jSgt. R E. Roberts, S j Sgt. H. Hoptrough.

GIBRALTAR. Annual Ball.-Th\) annual ba ll g iven by the

detachm ent R .A.P.C., was held in the Assembly Rooms on ;December 18t h. Many fin e shows have

. ' been RU,·t up in the past, a.nd t hose responsible on th is occasion are to be congra tu lacted on achiev ing a nother outstanding success. The ball room was a rti stically decorated in yellow and blue with a dome form ed by garlands in these colours. A larg.e r~pjl c.lI of the Corps. badge occupied a cent ral POSI' t lOn, "whIle t he staIrcase and orchestra pl atform were a lmost hidden by masses of palm leaves, plants and flowers. Over 300 guests were present, and it is very evident t hat the Corps ball is an outstandin g feature of th e Rock SOCial events. .

Children's Xmas PartY.- I t was hoped th at thIS would be the first fun ction to be held in our neW Sergeants' Mess, but owing to delay in openin~ the latter , it was held in th e old RE. Officers ' J}1ess in Governor' s Lane. Between 60 and 70 sat at tea, in cluding Lieut.-Colonel and Mrs. Todd , and officers

I90


and their wives. After an enjoyable t ea th e child. ren were enterta ined by a wonderful conjl!l'er

(S .S.M. R G. Smith) ~nd hi s ass ista nt. and a lso by Sergt. Collin s a nd his t!\lka ti ve manik in. ext came a visit from F ath er Christm as, who generollsly brought every child a delightful p l·esent. A very hap,py a fternoon a.nd e\" ening was enj oyecj by adults as well as childrel1 .

Sergeants' Mess.- A Corps Sergea nts' Mess ha.s noW been form ed here, bu t is not quite ready for the form al opening yet. owing to the premi ses being still in the hands of the RE.

Arrivals and Departures.-IVe have to wel ome t o the Sta tion Captain and Mrs. Raso n. ~ nd ~ I so Sergt . and Mrs. Bessent , all fl'om Salisbury. We hope th at they will enj oy t heir tour here. A t t he same time we have lost Ma.ior and Mrs. T horn hill , who have return ed to Yo]'~ p ending reti rement ; they catTy with t hem th e good wishes of us all. S.Q.M S. H alter and family are e"X pected to arri ve from 'Woolwich shortly . Genera,I.-Colon ~ 1 Ormsl y-J ohn son, O.B .E. , M. C.,

has arrived f rom Malt a. on a short tour of inspect,ion .

The weather fOI' the past t wo month s has been the worst expeJ-ienced fo], th e same period for ahout twenty-five year ; an ea rly imp' l'Ovement wo uld he most welcome .

Sergt. Ada ms ha s now retu rned to duty a fter a very long ~ pell of illness. Congratula tions to him and Mrs. Adams upon the birth of a son on F ebI'uary 5th.

P .A.A. MALTA.

The end of th e annual ca l'l1iva l held here sees the beginning of Lent. and usuall.v a consequent per iod of comparative qui et. Th is year, however , .th e fri voliti es were interrupted by the eal\erly-awalt.ed I'eport of th e Royal Commission which visited the island last year . This, of course , occasioned a good rl e~1 of excitement am ong the civil population , especially as it contained a reconlTn end a.ti un for th e restoratlon of th e Constitution and an imm ediate election . The ca rni" al r eferred to deserves more than ca.sual ment ion . if only beca use of the d isplay of strikin g costum es. Besides originality of design, they attain ed splendour, a com bination reckoning as no mean achievement .

Christmas partY_-This was aga in a great success, as th e children thoroughly enjoyed themselves. S~ts. Th ol'l1 ton and Gore ch-essed up a,s clowns for the occasion, and if not budding "Grocks," they kept the yo ungsters amused between the other items 0 11 t he progra.mme- at th e expense of a. few hrn ises . Th e C.P . (Col. Ormsby-Johnson) and the othel' offi cers of the detachment were good enough to be present , nnd no doubt felt a good dea l yonnger soon a fter their a rri,,:!\, Wh en the chief husin e s of issuin g the preseil ts was over, Colonel Ormshy-J ohnson spoke a few word s of appreciation of these chi ldl'en' s pa rties. and the spirit which prompted t heir heing held . Sg t . Thornton put in some very hard work towards the success of the party. and emerged from the diffi cult t ask of playing Santa Claus with fl ying colol1l's and a rosy countena.nce. .

Hockey.-We now have fi ve members of this det.achm ent playinl\ in the Sta ff and Departm ent team , who nni shed foud.h in th e league, yet only four poin ts behind th e l ead ers .

J9 1

Tennis.-vVe have entered a team in the Command Tennis League ~ga i n th i ~ year. T wo memo bel'S of last year 's team (Sgts. P easley a nd E lam) have gone home. whi lst a third (Sgt. Thom ~ ) wilJ be going short ly. H owever, two new a ni \ ' n Is in Sgts . Scoffh am and Cook a.re expected to re st rengthen th e sid e.

Departures.~Sgt. Peasley (Hilsea) an d Sgt. Ela m (Woking) .

Arrivals.-Sgt. Cook (Ald ershot) and Sgt. Doherty (Woolwich ) , t he former for costin g dut ies.

General.-The Command P aymas te r leaves short ly for Gibralta r to carry out his periQ li cal inspection of t hat of·lice. At t he t ime of writ in g, a terrifi c gale is blowing and is pl aying havoc with the water , mak ing ~ ea trip .look tbe opposite to ent icing. Stili , as th e Colonel is tra veiling on f he a ircraft- carrier " Glori ous," the angry waves will not be felt qui te so mu ch .

" BUTTOKS." MAURITIUS.

The I sland is of volc-anic format ion. a nd I\" as (story hath it) unpeopl ed when t he Dutch a rri\"ed. T hey iml)orted slaves from th e East Indi es. but a fter a t im e gave t he place up as hopeless . Th e French next setttled, n.nd brought in Africans and na tives of Madagascar . At the time of the slight differences with N~pol eQn , B ritain came along and introduced Indians. and now the Colony has a. population of round about 450,000, three-folll-ths of whom are Indi an . th e others French, Chinese, Creoles . natives of nei~hbouring islands, and a spot of British . colours va.ryin~ from ,,·hite to negro.

The language is F rench of sorts. commonl.\' referred to as Creole : the housing is of the usual orienta.l t ype. the a rchi tecture being Ironic (ga l· vani?:ed) or Barbaric, J ohnny W alker bein g well a,dvel't-ised in the woocl of t he walls anel door .

Th e Creoles are not members of the Order of the Bath , and the saving in soap is a credit to th e Empire. They a re a happy, contented people. very cour teous and loyal to Britain. most.ly ver~' poor. make good serva nts, ancl , with t ra ining. decent cooks.

Money is Indian and Mauritian-cum -Chinese. the rupee being divided in to cents in varyin g denomin at ions dow n to one, less than a farthing. a very convenient coinage for Pay Offi ce pm'po es . Th e n otes of 50. 10,. and 5 are usually em bellished with Chinese and Indian in scri ption on t he back and suppor ted bv gummed pieces of newspaper .

Shopping is done in t.he ba rgainin g manner common to the Orient.

We have a Cu' toms Rebate, not a moun tin~ to much in comparison with expenditure. on articles purchased privately ..

Social life is " 'hat vou make it . and opportunities ~ re lAcking to ndd to the {'xi sting am enities, owing wincipally to the mall num bers in Ga n ·ison . Officers hnve their golf and tenni s. the sprgeants ha\'e tennis or plav bad min ton t " 'ice a week . but the former is g rea tly interferred " ' ith by t he plentiful ra in. Th e '!\fess r uns a whi st clt'ive and dance each Saturd ay. Sgt. Band offi ciating a t the · whi tIe and j!ramophone. On occasion there i~ a dance or whi st drive in t he Gar rison Hall. and th at , with the foot ball matches in season comprises our social life .

Th ere a1'e no th eatres nor cinema5 . and because of this we adop't hobbieR such as h en-running and carpentry . Sgt . Band is Presid ant of t he Garrison

.. ~ '-


IlIstitutes and your correspolldent is a bit of a noise in the o ffice':s , Club.

Garrison Sports on S[(turdav, and as veterans get a y""d start fo r each ye" l: of :;Cl'yice nver 15, the l't.A.P .C. should almost Ge winners before the mce starts.

"'lie a re just gettiLlg news from H ome anent the Home Crisis.

The change ovel' of troop ta kes place early in the year [(nd we are lookin g forward to welcoming the new·comers.

DODO.

HONG KONG .

General.-Since writ ing my last notes t be Directing Staff of this offi ce has uudergoue consid erable changes, consequent on the :t l'l'i val of reliefs, and judging by the po r~en ts of the social barometer , i t would seem th n.t t he new comers Intend to make their presence felt in no hall' hearled man.ner.

'hl'lstmas was spent 111 th e usua l orthodox fashion, but ew Year" Day was reserved as a fitting climax to round o.ff the seaso nnl festivities, when Colonel and Mrs. Wimberl ey entertained th e whole of th e Detadlment and families. A total of forty- five guests a t tended tho after noon performance at t he King 's Cin 'ma when it then became apparent that the bappy choice 01 the progr[(m me had set the keynote to the gen ial atmosphere p,revailing at the subsequent revels at the H ong Kong HoteJ. Teas were provided , \\'hen games and dancin/! then completed the evening 'S entertainment.

The general a il' of mel'l'iment and contentm ent of both adults and child ren a lik e, supplierl ahundant evidence t hat the part~' \\'as a ph enomin al success and this was e mph as ised in no uncertain style by the volume of cheers gi ven at the close.

Sport.- Captain Heywoocl's fl ail' as an orga.niser had preceded his an- iva l hore sn it occasiooed no surp rise thnt he was ;,t ouce nom in ated to cont.rol a ma.jor share of e\'en(s under th e a uspices of the A rea Sports Board . M~jor Gedgo was selected to play golf for H ead

quarte l's in a match ~ I'l'anged between the C-in-C and 8-laff versus C.O.C. a.nd , taff at Fan ling Golf course.

Moves,-We wdeome th~ foll ow in i!' additions to our num bers who ;(I'rived hv H.T ... Keu l'alia " on l;>;th November :-Colonel 'and Mrs. Wimberley. MajOl: and Mrs. Gedge. Capta ill and Mrs. Heywoo(], ,.O.M.R. and MI·,. Oldfield. l\f r . Spark.

,ergeanl.s Ormerod and Ev[(,!s (our' tennis 2nd pail-' and Sergeant Town . e.nd embal'k for home on 9th February on eXIJirntion of tOll!' ~hroad.

Birth.-To th e wife- of R()rge~ nt H azzard-a daught,er, 16th. Decemher , 1931.

L.V.C.

TIENTSIN .

More China! the ubiquitous ri cksha; wnnt a worry he can be but what a ble sing often? Day an d nigbt there he is: shout " dobc c" (this is how it soundS!1 and t l1P\, will appea l' fl-om a ll direetions runnin g like chi k~n s at t he call of " food"; rain, sun , snow or ha il th ere they are, and always cheerful , always ready for a joke.: nothing am uses them SI) I1'P ch as 10 see Ol1e of their own kind /!etting it in the neck: a tr:1llge lrait of cha.racter that other peopl€ IJei!lg in trouble should be a matter for am us ment. pedlaps i t is because evel'Yone i~ so used to tl'olll,)e in this country

tlu,t they see the humorous s ide o[ it ? While the ricksha is in tended for t he conveyance

of one passenger' only it is used for general cou, veyance ptll'poses· it is to be seen With two aI' even three passei,gers, with baggage, with merchandise; frequently one piled up with the most extraordinary articles has their 0"1Ier buri ed underneath; a foot or hand appel\l'i ll g " spare" at some corner or other gives hUll away! tlut talk about your saloon cars, see a saloon ricksha ! They are few and far between bu t are to be seen ; good coach work with iull length door in front with glass window. Talk abo uL "character,." why that fam ous make of collar (I forget the name) is DOwhere in it!

H ow we shall miss th e ricksha at home when one feels lazy, one is., t i.l:ed and there is anoiher mile to home, the car will not start an d we sha ll be late at the o ffi ce, will we noi Lhink of the ricksha and its never-tiring runnel' with longing and even a ce rlain amount of a ffection ?

Then what [(bout the travelling merchants ? Is t here any other glll't of the world where there :1re so many ? I doubt it, but I do not know. The Chin aman in general does not coo k his ow n meals. he buys hi s food I eady-cooked at the dool' [r'om the many salesmen that \Vandel' round from house to h ou~e; every kind ha.s hi specia l call 01' noise; there is the clOt!l and si lk merchant , the general stor e mUn. the feather-duster peddler,. t he man with brooms and the knife-shaq enel'; the tmvelli"g kit.;h en, th e pean ut-man. the fruit man , the noodles man , t he ma!1 with what looks like long strips of haLter and crah apples on [( stick ; the sweet. and tobacco stand and a ll other kind Loo. v;u'ied LO mention.

The barbers a,re seldom idle for a Chi nama!1 does not sbave himself, he cannot for genera lly he keeps' his head shaved completely, pig-tails hav in g been forbidden l'ecen tl ),: : n ow aa d again one sees one, evidently its owner is one of the diehards! Tho· barbel' a nnoun ces his prosence h,)' twangm~ it kUld of large metal tweezer. IV[ost of .tbe shavlllg ,Pro-. cess is done in the compound or mdours, bllt It I a lso a common sigbt to' see the operation lakillg place on the pavement. .

Th e ('o l'll-merchant or chiropod i t , an inconspicuous gentl eman, referred to as the " foreigner's friend." wllms one of his presence by cl icking logether two pieces o[ wood; the general store man clur·ks together the halves of a cocoanut. the haber' dash er has a killd of dr um, some a dl'urn and a, small go ng: th e tinker has n. H eath Ho~inson COll tri vance of a sw inging gong and two li ttle pellets· swi nging on either side, these 1in ldi ~lg as he "':llIIS

the sell er of fans has an erection covered \nth li t tle bells.

Th e work of all these people is done in the street, and you will see th em hard ni it on the pavement mendin g,; shoe , repa iring r ugs nud quilts, in fact. doing alm ost every thjng in ,,11 weathers.

Last, but far from least, lh e deligh t and bane · ()f olle 's existence is t he curio man. I n hotels and h()ardin g- houses, by p'3.\ring a bit of SQ ueeze lo I he No. 1 Boy, he is allowed to lny bis things out In th e ha ll. nnd if h ~ cannot get .vou r money nobody can: His persistence, pa tience and cunJ1in g. IS wonderf lll ; everything is. " ve l'Y ol ~I ," if yO ll nehevc ib you ough t t.o ' be locked up .' Yet his things "re attractive :ll1d· it is very hard not to buy . In pl'l--

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOl)RNAL ------------------vate houses t he No. I will ask you if you want to see the curio man ; in a weak moment you say "Yes," then you a re finished I By the tlme I~ e has u~lpncked hi s two 0.1' three bundles and laId -out an extrao l'dlllary vat'lety of artI cles you have .alr'eady been in veigled into buying many thmgs that are qui te useless a,nd whi ch you do not want ; they look ni ce, ye" but. often th at is all !

One great advantage 111 this country is th e ease with which things can be dO!le : tell TO. 1 and he will get you the tinker, the ta ilor, the candlest ick maker without your moving out 01 th e house; he will do everything.

Enough . I think , has been said to give an idea of how Chi na comes into the picture in Tientsin , and it will be sufficient to conclnde these" impressions of the ordin ary man" by a very bl'ief des(;I'iption of life here.

To begin with if one is loo l<i :lg for scenery one gets th e shock of one's life; the country is dead flat for miles in all directions and trees are few and far between: a duller distl'id would be hard to find ; you wlInt a walk, you go 11 p Racecourse Road : you wa nt a different walk, you go d 07V,// Racecourse R,oad ; and i·f you sti ll want a change you go up and down Racecourse Hood; the only change to thi s is to go round the block!

However, the ce!l tre of act ivity is the Coun t ry Club, and in a similar degree, the Hecreation Ground; at these two places every form of amusement an d sport is to be had undel' pleasa nt con-ditiol1s; in the racing season th e most a rd ent lover of the horse can get all t he meetings he warrts and lose all. the mon ey he wa nts-or cloes not wa nt ! We have th e Totalisator .

Hunting lInd shooting can be indulged in just outside the Con ce.ss ions , but it is not safe t(o wander too' fa r these days; b:mclit<s and ex-soldi ers (all the same th ing) a re everyw here.

Enterta inment is profuse. througl! out the winter, t he ' slImmer proJides, a welcome rest in that. re -pect., and if one is lucky enough to be able to bave 11 holiday at one of the near seaside resorts one ca n find no better place even in England. During the summer few women and children rem ll-in in Tientsin , the men work and sweat alone; may be the men enjoy it-I would not be surprised (we still have one Cabaret left!).

Unless one goes in for games there is littl e to do here: O!le feels very confined at firs t, as ind.eed 'O!le i , but one gets used to it; a fter all , th ere is Pekin to P.:O to, a place to be seen to be beli eved , of never-ending interest and a tt;raction.

In view of the fact that still many people picture us dying of heat all the year round , it might he as well to mention that Skatillg and sledge riding along the creeks is a much indulged in pastime foJ' Over two months during tbe winter, and if you nave once tasted the bittel'lless of the winter wind s out here .vou will think the English winter warm 111 comparison! . And so to end this ol'dirrary man 's imp,ress ion of

hfe in Tientsin : lot s mO\'e could be said (so 'Obvious I) and sa.id in int.erestin·g det ail {even more obvious!!} but I leave that 1.0 a worthier and more 'efficient pen, and in conclusion may I make use of oan expression so well known in account.ing circles:.. Th is is not to be quoted as -a.n authority:"

193

CHINESE NEW YEAR.

In spite of edicts i ss uec~ by Nanking and provincial authorities abohshmg the lunar calendar in favour of the Gregorian , • old custom ' dIes hard. This year Chinese New Year's Du>' fallmg on Februn:ry 7th wi ll c() ntinue to be ouserved h.v vast numbers. As a ll i!1sta nce of the struggle between the old a,nd the new it may be mentIOned that although th e Ca nton Govel'llme!\t . Offices. WIll be open fo!' business dlll'lnf( the C0 I11111 g festival , the Navy chief ha s sta terl defimtely tha t. he cannot and will not make the change as lt ~vould upset aP the Navy calculations of Tim e and Tide.

The Chinese will work weekd ay and Sunday t,hroughout the ~'e al' but all business comes to a sta ndstill for ab()ut a week at. the fe~tlVe eason. Business accounts are settled m a mmor way on dates cor responding more or less to ou r Qua rter Days, viz., Mid-Summer or Dmgon Bo[(t Festi val, Mid-Autumn or Moon Festiva l. and Winter festI val days, but every good Chinaman is in ho nour hound to settle all accoun ts before the New Year. On the morning of , ew Year's Dn..v may often. be seen a Chinese c<\ rrying a li ghted lamp sc~m-yll1g round to collect his debts. t he lamp' conveym g the id ea that in his opinion day has not yet come and he is still entit led to ask et t lement. ' . '

In preparation for t he holIday tl:e faCIas l "

shops and houses are g,\lly adol'l1ed With wonderful Aoral decorations, . ilk en scrolls. lanterns. dragons . etc .. the Chjnes.e greeting" J':ung J-Jei. Far ChOi." (" Wi shing Prosperity" ) bell1g prom111er~tly ~IS ' played. The shops are tocked to overflowm g WIth all manner of del icacies, etc., such as bo\~ls of noodles (a sor t of TIne vennicelli, dyed 111 all colours) . sweetmeats. dried ducks . sausages. fi sh , barrels of melon seeds , firecl'nck~rs. a.nd JOss paper . Most st,riking lo the fOl'e lg!ler are the rlried or kipp'ered dU (lks hangmg 111 thell' thousands. These ducks ' a.re boned . dried in th e sun ~nd flatte'led like pancakes. Throughout the -festIval the st. reets a rc li ttered wit.h t.he hus-ks of melon .seeds. the offering o f the e being taken as an offermg of wealth.

Street bazaars or fa irs a re opened about a week before t.he event, flim sv booth s of bamb?o be~ng laden with bowls of goldfi sh. not. plan~s , 1l1clud111g small tangerine trees in full f)'lnt, ch1l1aware and curios. scrolls and gaudy calend ars, whilst some of the streets are choked with branches of plum tree covered with blossom.

In the shops and houses. the fa.mi!v ancestral. tahlets are provided with new hangln/!s and I'l chly decorated tables a re set apart for th e disp'l!ty of fami lv curios, fruit, fl owel's, s \\'eetm eat s and presents. . .

Most Chinese business houses pay th en' ass Istants a poor wage during the year but make up WIth a it00d bonns at the New Year , thus there"are fe~~ families that a re unnbl e (0 have one good splash a year.

Although a certa in amount of firecra ckers arf dischar'/!ed bv business houses .on New Ye~r's EYe to signify that they l~av.e .dl sc h :1 ~-ged all dehts prior to closing dow n, It IS llnmedw,tel:.:- after . th e stroke of midnight t.],a t th e New Year IS offiCl a.llv hera.1ded wit.h a ter rific outburst of fire\\'orks whl~h continues on and off for man y days. W onderful firework dragons. thicty feet or more in lengt.h and costing sometimes hundreds of dollars each ~ I'e

THE ROYAL ARMY ' PAY CORPS JOURNAL

hauled up to the top stories of buildings. The tail resting on the gL'Ound is lighted and the dr<\gon gradually lo\\'ered as the crackers thunder u way, un til the head-the piece de re ista.l1ce-reaches the ground, when it is well to get right out of range. The writer ha walked down a street on New Ye,\r 's morning when the roadway has been, without exaggeration, ankle deep in the l'ed castings of eXp'lodecl crackers. It i certain ly ru case of money to uurn at this f stiva!.

A cur iou custom, somewhat akin to the Bibli cal story, is that of smearill g the door with blood. The family jJro\' ision themselves well, place charms in the fDl'm of red paper en~l'a\'ed witb characters, a piece of ra w pork, and tlTis smea r of blood on the door and thoroughly secure themselves within the house. Legend says that this is a survi\'al of the day II'hell great flying birds were wont to can'." off adults and chi ldren, but for this festival the.\· made sure of their safety, nnd nfter remain· ing in the house a few day wo uld come out a.nd cOllgratulate one another on their fort unate escape

OLD COMRA DES ASSOCIATION. The Committee of l\[anagemcnt ha ve mct

monthly since last publication, they have dealt with six applications for ass istance in four of which the Committee were able to assist, one was referred to th e Genera l Committee. and in the r emaining case th e application cou ld not be granted as the rules did not cover it.

As a result of correspondence with the Kational Association for Discharged Sailors Soldiers and Airmen, the Association have agreed to register for emp loyment any mcmber ot the O.C.A., irrespective of age, who desires to bc rcg iste red on discharge from th e Service.

Donations amounting to £ 15 have been received from the Salisbury Branch and the Committee desire to aga in ex press ' their very grea t appreciation of the genr.rous help given tu the funds of the A sociation by those at Sa lisbury, It IS much apprecIated, by the Otl)mittce, that these sums are the result of self sacrifice, and rep resent not on ly tim e cheerfully given, but 1l1clude actual out-of-pocket expenses not claimed. This sum is additional to the £15 mention ed in the _ repo rt of the General ommittee meet ing.

\i anous mll10r Items were de:! lt with at each meet ing.

The General Committee met at 80, Pa ll ~i(a ll , on Wednesday, 6th Jan ua ry, 1932. J,,1 r . \N. \l\Ioodland occupied the Chair; the oth er members present were ~fess r s . . H. . B. Sharp, }.P., }. Thurgood, Lieutenant}. Feeha lly. S.S.M. P. P low.man. S .Q.M.S. F. V. Mundy. Sergeants A. C. TribLl e, T . F. Pond; Captain L. E. J a mes, ·M. C. .. H onorary Treasurer, and S.S.:-IJ. E. }. W. Browne. Honorary Secretary.

The H ono ra ry Secretary read a message from th e President (Colonel 1. Armstrong, .B" c. ~r.G.) wishing th em, on behalf of 'M rs. Armstrong and himself :! prosperous lY32. In reviewing the work of the Committee and the amount. o i good a lrcady performed' by the ASSOCIatIon. thc President emphasized that those who remain outside the O.C.A. were genui ne

194

from the marnuders. In the co untry places stl'ings of cash are still placed about the neck s of children to so increase their weight as to make it more difficlut for tbe birds to ca rry them away should they sLray from the house. In the towns this custom is- now modified ill the fami liar giving of coins wrapped in red naper. Red is the colour (or all fest ivaJs, being the token of life blood and vitality, as is white, the neglttioll of colour ((nd life, Lhe sign of mourning.

After the period of closure in the house comes the time of visiting, sma ll pasteboard cards with the cnller's name nnd colo m ed comeI' decoration being exchanged everywhere. . '

Most shops are opened by the seventh day, the day considered as the birthday o( all Ohine e. although in country plnces thp holiday may persist until they have se"!n the fir t full moon of the yeal' on the fifteenth day. After this John Chinaman settles down lo a further year of hard toil and strict attention to business.·

TAOCLYT.

losers thercby and coul d nQt appreciate the pleasure o f doing good to others.

The Co mmittee desire to record their apprecia' tion of the President's gracefu l message. and are much heartened by hi apprec iati on of their efforts.

A case of assistance was referred from the 1fanagement Committee and dealt with; it was decided to render assistance until th e next Ill eeting to tide over th e winter, the member in qu est ion being in hospital and his wife unable to obta in employment.

The Management Committee repo rt ed the receipt of £ 15 from the Salisbury Br'anch per S .. Major O ' Leary. and t he Comm it tee decided that a special letter of thanks shou ld be scnl.

The Committee report with deep regret the dt:aths of th e fo ll owing members:-

~'f r. H. '0/. Fry, at Great Yarmouth on 1.11.31. Mr. H. Barnes at Lond on. on 9.12.19.31. Lt.-Col. A. Whitt le at Copnor, on 10.12.1931. Col. } . C. Stock ley at Eastbou rll e. on 13.2.1932.

To their bereaved relatives we offer our heart· fe lt symp<lthy and wi ll add their na me to our "Roll of Honour,'"

Other items were c!ea lt with 2nd thc meeting adj ourn ed unti l A J?jf i I, 1932.

E. }. w . BROWNE. H O!1orary Secretary.

O.C.A. SUBSCRIPTIONS.

The Comm ittee of tbe Old Comrades Asscciatio!1 desire to appea l, through your columll s. to those membel ' whose subscript ions a re in arrear for the pnst coup'le of years. to make a special effort to get the itITNH'S paid off before the accounts ~lI'e closed for Lbe cm:rent year.

It is felt by th e Committee that it only needs a rem inder, and that many memilells overlook the date on which s'Jbscriptioo. ar due. itnd the.v are confident t,h~ ( -this apl"eal wiU meet with it generoUS respO Il,sc. . I ,

2nd March, 1932. E. J. W. BROWNE, Honora l'y Secretary.

THE ROYAl, }\RJ\'lY PAY CORPS JO RNAL

Shrewsbury Detachmellt, R .A.P.C.

BOOK REVIEW.

"FI VE YEARS HARD" by Brigadier-Genera l F. P. Croz ier (Jana.thm·/ Cape), is th e author's own version of his life and experiences wh il e servi ng ill Nigeria. Many parts of the story are of great interest but like incid ents quoted in his previous book" A B'rass Hat in No :Mans Land," mu ch of the deta il might have been omitted.

General Crozi er seems to dwell at length and in minut e detai l on such incidents as th e night ly drunken orgies of his fellow officers. their treatment of natives and their conduct with native women.

Those who had not the privi lege to serve with the General in the fina l overthrow of Fulani rule in N igeria w ill rightly ask "Is this true. or has the writer's imagination got the bettcr of him?

After d escribing a fight with natives the aul'llOr contin ucs-" Charles a nd I mooch around among the dead bodies seeing if th ere is anything worth havi ng on th em-' A poor lot' says Cha rli e ' I wond er if that anklet is Ashanti gold? H ere, orderly cut that foot off with your adda and take off the anklet.' Whack-whack, two strokes and it's done . . . Charles feels it in his hand . .. , I f that's gold' he says ' my trip to okoto has been a ll right. Here, Momma. get me that armlet -Whack- off Aies the arni in onc cJirection whil e the arm let hurls through th e air in another." Surely an incid ent of this typc (if it ever did take place) might have remain ecJ th e author's ow n secret rather than be broadcast publlcly-ft evident ly gives the a uthor a ccrtai n amount of sat isfaction to reca ll this muti lation of natives

195

but it does not appear to be an incident of credit either to the writer or his fellow officers.

Th e Genera l has much to say of the drunk en orgies which take place almost nightly. TI~ere is one occasion during th e voyage of a fi ver steamer . .. "Thc planks a re pu lled in-The Ch ief Commissoner of Prisons-as drunk as an owl, fa lls off the plank into the water amidst roars of laughter." ~Iany prominent pcrsons are mentioned by

name. An incident on a lin er returning to England is descibed when a white woman whose husband is left among the mangoes becomes involved with several British Officers, including a Colonial Governor. A clergyman is menti oned by name-" . . H c kept a woman in Africa and a wife in vVales."

Further ext racts arc not necessary to show the natu re of the book.

There are many ill ustrations-mostly interest ing -but those dealing with the public flogging of natives :!nd the dead and wounded natives being " finish ed off" by a British Officer might well have been omitted.

l\[uch in th e book is good and the author's descriptions of the country, the natives and their habits. provide interesting reading. but this is all mar red by the unnecessa ry details g iven of th e alleged daily conduct of those wh o took part 111

the annexat ion of this wild coulltry. vVe need say no more. 1\[ost of the book ought

never to have been writtcn-it can do no good to British prestige in Africa or elsewhere.

A.L.D.

.. ~ ' -


The Royal Army Pay Corps Journal PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT fo r the YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER, 1931.

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l udill'd alld !o'und correcl, (Sgd.) 1. P. BRI CKMA , Li eut. Colonel. ( gel. ) L. E. J AMES, Capta in

H OII , A ·lIdil ors.

" SECRETS." H a ve you a secret, a memory apart Of th e days that have passed a way? Have you a longing concea led in your heart For a n hour of some yesterday? Perhaps 'twas a song, a scene or a dance, Wayward adventure, a smile or a gla nce, An hour of real life, an hour that has fl ed . A mom ent that lives from the years that are dead. If you've a secret or memory apart

196

Of thc days that have passcd a way, Treasure it up in the depths of your hcar t Maybe 'lis the th ought of an hour of bli ss, It may lig hten your future way. The touch o f a hand or the thri ll o f a kiss . vVha te'e r it be, it must never li e mute, An hour tha t still lives is not dead sea fruit.

J,M.5.


Dr61eries de Corps A Nightmare of 1952

The day the Central (Mech .) Army Pay Office, S.W.I. (Super Adrema-MarconiVickers-Ingersoll System) ceased to function.

Note '-This added (pending overhaul of machin ery) to the list of the un employed (already exceeding 16,000,000) th e Staff of thi s Office, viz. 2 male operators, one messenger, and one boy (a lready und er notice.)

"No I am sorrv I can't see you this afternoon," sa id th~ Dental Officcr, "I have ~ igh teen ca vi ties to fi ll." A nd he laid down th e telephone receiver and took up hi s bag of golf clubs.

Moth er to son about to be tra nsferred to the Corps.

"Now my son always be honest, especia lly as you will have to hand le so much money."

197

(Drawn by W. H. Bales).

Employer : I hear you were away a ll yesterday Smith ,

S mi th: Yes Sir.

Empl oyer: You didn ' t look very ill wh en I sa w you at the races in th e a [ternoon.

Smith: Didn 't I Sir? You should have seen me after th e finish of the 4.30.

THE ROYAL ARl\IY PAY CORPS JOUR JAL

A Glimpse of til e Pay Co·rps ill the Middle Ages.

In those days (as sometimes at present) , Officers (Turbulent Barons and such) who decided to 'fig ht the paymaster: 'got a dro p.'

[This is believed to have been the o rigin of the saying " Th e Paymaster let me down." ) (Dra.7.Vll by W. I-I . Bates).

A Point of Law Origitlally p~lb/ ished UI " The Civil and Mil-itary Gazette" (Lahore) in 1906.

Boggley Wallah, Private. 23rd . May, 1899.

My dear Bodega, At last luck has turned, my worthy old allnt

is dead. She has lef t me a most excell en t coll ection of shekels, which wi ll enable me to view London Town (wit h you o f course) in a mann er I have a lways thought befitting. It wi ll not surpr ise you to learn tha t I have r esolved to leave this beas tly profession, and thi s st ill more beastly cou nt ry.

You have often with th e grasp of intell ect which distinguished you, la id it down as a proof of the equity of Providence that promotion is a lways compensated fo r by a co rrespond ing dimin uti on of brain, e.g., a Li eutenant of fair intell igence dev elops into a du ll Captain, a stupid rI/raj or, an imbecil e olonel, and a n idiotic Genera l.

I am dete rm ined to pa rt with no mo re of such intellect as I may possess, and am therefore going. It is the mann er o f my go ing that may interest you. I hav as you kn ow, never distingu ished mysel f in peace or war (except by

198

occasionally permitting myself to act with common sense) and 1 feel it only right to clothe my departure with d istinction.

T o-m orrow i the Queen's Birthcl::ty Parade. I have provided myself with a false nose, exceedi ng ly long and exceeding ly r ed, adorned wi th two ve ry li fe - like wa rts. Wearing tillS fa lse nose 1 intend to march past th e General. I shall be carefu l no t to put it on ti ll the Battalion is fo rm ed up on the salut ing base, when as 'ommander of the leading Company, with a Colonel too flur r ied to not ice a nyth ing, I sha ll be ab le to carry my project into execution without being subject to the ann oyance of previous a rgumen t on the qu est ion of propri ety.

The General is an ass, the Colonel is an ass, the Judge Advocate is an a s, and I am CUri OUS

to sec what they wi ll do. I shall have to lea ve the Service o f course,

possibly without my pension, but this fortunately is now a mat ter of complete indifference.

1 shall let you kn ow the upshot. Ever you rs,

(s igned) H. C RO SE GRA tN.

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY RNAL (D isc iplin e.)

I. From tile Office r CO IIIIII{// /(/ illg tile 2nd. Bllsl!

whackers To till' Adjntall i Gel/e ral, Boggley Wallah, District . Sir,

1 have the honou r to r epo rt, for the in f o rm ation of th e Major-Genera l Commanding, that I have placed ~"r ajor ero se Gra in under arrest.

I have th e honour to state that ~vfa j o r Crosse Grain admits that he wore a false nose on parade to-day. Hc maintains that he has a perfect right to do so, as the wearing of false noses is now here prohibited in th e Army Hegulations.

H e also tates that he used it as a convenient receptacle fo r the whistle, which, he points out is a lways to be ca rr ied, while no provisi on is mad e fo r its ca rri age in the present Llni form.

J. ca n obta in no funher explanati on o f his conduct from him.

I have the honour to b Sir Your obed ient Serva ~t,

(s igned) A. CHUMP, Lt.-Col. 2.

O.e. 211d. Bus lt'i.c'ac/~e rs. Has this Officer eve r suffered from sun stroke?

Was he sober yesterday? And i he of temperate habits? Obtain evidence on these points.

By o rd er,

Boggley \\ ·allah. 25.5.9.

(signed) B. SNOOKS, Maj or.

3.

A . .G. Boggley \Va ll ah I)i t ri ct.

A . A. G. Boggle.I' /1'011011 District. Surg on-;vIaj or Yobbs has inten' icwed \Jajor

Crosse Grain, and states that he is of th t' opi ni n that th e pri one r is qu ite responsih! e fo r his aCllons.

His previous medi ca l history rl oes not po int to sLlnsu·.oke, as havll1g affected his mind .. \I a jor [ rosse C.ram has a lways bee n, to my know ledge, strictly temperate.

(signed) A. CHUM P, Lt.- 0 1. . Bogglc), \ \ 'a ll ah Cmdg. 2nd. Bushwackers. 26.5.9. '

4. O.C. 211d Busl!wacke-rs. Th e G.O.c. cannot conceive any reason for

:vJa jo r Cros e Gra in's conduct ot he r than that of tcmporary insa nity. '

From sympa thy with the prisoner's w i fe t he Ma jo r-G eneral is wi ll ing, on receip t of a written apolog~' from M.ajor Grain (provid ed a lso that he retires from th e Service) to over look the matle r.

By Order, (signed) B. S 'OaK . , ~[aj or.

Boggle), Wallah. .A.G. 26.5.9.

5. T o the A.A.G.,

Boggley Wal/ah District. ~ifaj o r ros c G rain firmlv dec lin es to offer an

apo logy whatever, as he c'onsiders hi s (ollCluct does not reQuire a ny.

199

1 must inf O.rm you that 1 consider any sympathy with }lrs. Crosse Grain thrown awav as that lady has been hysterica l e\'e r since will;~ssing the ~larch Past and cann ot be indu ced to discuss the matter seriolls ly.

(signed) A. CHUMP, Lt. -Col., Cmdg. 2nd. B ushwacke rs.

6. Judge r ldvocate Gencral,

20t h. Ci1'C/c . Th e G.O.c. requests that you wi ll frame a

cha rge against Major Crosse Grain, 2nd. B ushwhacker, based on the conduct described in allached cor respondence.

Ear ly compliance requ ested. By Order.

(signed) B . SNOOK';, Major A.A.G. Bogg ley Wa ll ah. 27 .5.9.

7. AA.G. I consid er a cha rgc und er Section 1.+2 Army

Act viz. ., False P erson at Ion " would be most su itab le to t he case.

Charge sheet in duplicate berewith. (s ign ed) C. GOBBLE, Col.

8.

Officiating ]..A.G. 20th. Ci rc le.

Th e Judge Adz'oco te Gellera l, 20th. Circle.

The G.O.c. cannot imagine why you should Wish to charge ~[aj or Crosse Grain und er th is Section. VVhy not ec ti on 16 "Conduct unbecoming an Officer and a Gent l ~man. "

By Order, ( igncd) B. SNOOKS, ~Iajor, A.A.G .

Boggley \\ ·allah. .+.6.9.

9. A.A.G.

. There appears to bc lega l d iHicu lt ies in the wa \' If the charge is made as suggested. .

Cha rge in accordance with Section 16 in duplicate herewith .

(signed) C. GOBBLE, 0 1., Offic iating JA.G. 20th Circle.

10. AA.G. I have read th charge to t he prisone r ff e

info rms me that he wil l object to the charge. Inasmuch as he a ll cg s t hat the falsc !lose worn by him was not" unbecoming an Ofticcr and a Gent leman" ind eed it becomes him morc than hi . own. He has tat ed hi s intenti on of I roving tillS to th e satisfacti on of the Court, by ocular demo!lstrallon. As a defence of this nature wou ld lead to a somewhat ludi crous situation 1 would rcspectiv Iy suggest trial und er another Sect ion of t he Army Act ,Ii:; "Conduct to the prejudice of good order and ~/l i l itary D i cip lin e."

(igncd) A. CHUMP, Lt.-Co l., Cmdg. 2nd. E u hwackers.

THE ROYAL 'ARMY PAY CORPS JOURNAL

11. f.A .C. 20lh Circle.

For opinion. (signed) B. SNOOKS, Major A .A.G.

12. A .A .C. It is regretted that there is no Section in the

Army Act dealing specially with acts of 1 IllS nature. I am in some doubt as to whether, havlllg regard to the nature of the Parade, ,Jhe charg~ should not be prefer red under S.35 as Treason. 1 am afraid I cou ld not advise Trial under Section 4D unless there is some evidence Lo. show that the wearing of a false nose by the pnsoner prod uced effects to the prej udice of good order and military discipline.

Did any of the men show by their conduct that this was the case ? Boggley Wallah . (signed) C GOBBLE,

Officiat ing rA.G., 20th. Circle.

13. O.e. 21~d BlIshwackers. The G.O.C distinctly saw and hea rd men in

Maj or Crosse Grain's Company laughing . Can you obtain evidence in support of thi s

among the men and N .CO's? Boggley \'·allah. (signed) B. SNOO KS, ;o.ra jor, 20.6.9. A .A.G.

14. A.A.C. Upon enquiry I find that it would be undesirable

to seek evidence in this direction. Major Crosse Grain, though unpopula r with

the Senio r Officers is undoubted ly extremely popu lar with the J un ior O ffice rs and men of the regiment. There is a fee ling among the men that this laughter is the principal cause o f Major Grain's trouble.

I have reason to believe that jf ca ll ed upon to give evidence the men wiII sta te that the conduct of the G.O.C and cha rger was the cause of their laugliter. Boggley W allah.

26.6.9.

(signed) A. CHUMP, Lt.-Col. Cmdg. 2nd . Bushwackers.

PROBA TlONE R HOWLE RS. Marr iage Allowance, is compensati on to soldi ers

f or getting married. D etention All owa nce, is an a llowance g ranted

to men in li eu o f pay forfeitec1 whi lst und ergoing detention.

Mileage Allowance, is an all owa nce to offic ers and others to enable them to pay for their own moto r cars instead of buyi ng railway ti ckets.

* * * * "It looks like ra in," said the boa rding house

proprietre s to the new gues t, staring disconso lately at his cup of co ffee. " You're quit e righ t " replied the gues t and " it doesn' t smeII like chi co ry."

200

15. f.A .C. 20th. Circle. Please frame a charge against Major Crosse

Grain under Section 4D Army Act. By Orde~,

Boggley Wallah. (signed) C GOBOLE, Col. 26.6.9. A .A.G.

16. A.A .C.

herewith. Charge in duplicate Boggley Wallah. (s igned) C GOBBLE, Col.,

Officiating J .A.G. 20th. Circle. 17.

2.7.9.

A .A.C. 1 have read the charge to Major Crosse Grain

who stated that he is prepared to meet it. He desires me to inform you that h,e wi ll call on the G.O. C who was wearing a set of fals e teeth, at any rate some false teeth on the Parade of the 24th May and that the G.O.C constantly wears them, both on and off duty.

H e also intends to call evidence to show that a Staff-Officer in Badbonugger is a llowed to wear a g lass eye without question, I presume the prisoner is within his rights? Boggley Wallah. (signed) A. CHUMP, Lt.-Col. 4.7.9. Cmdg. 2nd . B ushwackers.

18 O.C. 2nd. Bushwackers. If Major Crosse Gra in wiII send his pape rs in

the G.O. C wi ll overlook hi s conduct, and dispense with Tria l. Boggley W alla h. 3.7.9.

A.A.C.

(signed) B. SNOOKS, Maj or. A.A.G.

19.

ifajor Grain consents to send in his papers upon being granted leave of a bsence f rom tillS date, and upon being furnished wit h a copy of th e correspund enCl: in this case. Boggl e)' Wa lI a h. (signed) A. CHUMP, Lt.-Col.

Cmdg. 2nd . Bushwackers. 20.

O.C. 211d Bushwa.ckers. Lea ve g ranted . Correspond ence (orig ina l) here·

with .

Boggley W alla h. 4.7 .9.

By Order, (signed) B. NOOKS, Major,

A.A.G.

OUR LIBRARY LT ST. vVe recomm end th e folI owi ng books as worth

reading by members o f the C;o rps. " land estin e " by Letsbie A lone. "The P ostscript " by Adelin e Moore. " Hi s Debts " by I. O . Lotz. " The W orm" by Earl Leabird e. " Thc Broken Window " by E va Brick. " Ma rriage" by Celia F a ite. " Smoke Clouds " by F ilyer P ipup. " 'fhe O ld Oak Cbest," by A nn e T eake. " ReveilIe" by E liza Wake. " As hes to Ashes " by A. C Ga rre. " The Autho r " by Dick T a tc. " My Ga rden" by Col. L e F leur . "The Gospel Truth" by 1 ma Lyre.

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Letters may be given a box number, and addressed ci a R.A.P.C. Journal, 80, Pall Mall, S.W.1. , for which a charge of 6d. extra will be made.

E.XPERIENq ED COAC~ . All Army Exams. from School Cert. to Staff CoIl.: 8 Pupils. Genuine indi. Vldu al attentIOn . 4 pupils took June Army Entrance and passed- R.N.; Woolw ich , Sandhurst.-Majol' H . A. Sh aw, M.C., R.A . (Charterhous6, Woolwich) , Millc rd-on·Sea, Hants.

Journal Committee: Lt. -Col. G. R . Cllfwlton, M.C. , Lt.·Col. L. J . Lightfoot , O.B .E ., Lt .·CoI. A. B. Cliff . Major C. R olmes, M.C., Capt . B . Sa.nt, Capt . A. E. Barlo\\". Capt. A. L. Dunnill and Lieut. J. Feehally .

Joint Editors: Lt .·Col. A. B . Cliff and Capt. A. L. Duo nilJ . All co mmuni cations to be addl'e sed t o :

THE EDlTORS,

THE ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS J OURNAL,

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Til E ROYAL All~1Y P.IY CORPS J OUll NAL is publi shed qua rterly, viz., Sprin.g (in Ma rch) SIIIIIII/ c' r (in June), I III/II I/I n (in SepLember) , a nd Chr is/.mas (ill December). Thp ori ce of the Journ~ 1 if ordered through .the Local Representati Ye is 1/. a cOP.V ; if sent by post , single copy 112 ; per annum (four iss ues ) 4/6, pn va hi e III ad va nee.

Hcndel" are ad vised 10 k ec l~ th eir co pies for hinding . Special arrangements. will be mad e for th e bind ing of e" ch vu lulll e as co mpleted . P",·ticIIJa rs will he a nn oun ced in due course.


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Documents

1932 Spring