Good Conduct chevrons

[DrB]

The years required for the wearing of Good Conduct Chevrons on the left sleeve of the khaki uniform. (Good Conduct in the USMC means "Awarded for Undetected Crime")

I realize that I am preaching to the choir for most of you ladies and gents, but perhaps there are some out there who are not knowledgeable of this. Who knows, I am probably wrong as well, but I am certain that someone will point this out if not. This is from the 1881 regs and I hope true for WWI.

one chevron: 2years

two chevrons: 6

three " 12

four " 18

five " 23 (the 24th year must have been a b....!)

six " 28

Reckon some of those guys must have been older than dirt, like I am.

DrB

[PhilB]

Thanks, DrB. I don`t recall seeing more than 2 worn, but I think that once you reached sergeant rank you no longer wore LS stripes. (Am I right?). I suppose the chances of serving 12 years without detected crime or promotion would be slim.

[DrB]

m13pqb....The sergent you mentioned probably didn't wear them. (Guess) but langleybastion could answer that.

I recall seeing pictures of prewar soldiers wearing more than two, but cannot recall any WWI pics of that.

DrB

[GavinH]

I recently bought a postcard showing a private of the Suffolk Regiment wearing four Good Conduct Chevrons. It is dated on the back 01/02/1919. He also wears five Overseas Chevrons (1 red, 4 blue) and the ribbon of the 1914 Star.

Regards

Gavin

[Pte1643]

Gavin.

He must have been a very lucky man indeed...

Mark

[DrB]

Gavin...an "old sweat" indeed. Not man fellas could wear those.

DrB

[GavinH]

Here is the man himself. The message on the back reads 'To Mike, From your loving Brother Fred 1-2-1919'

[DrB]

Wow!....With the O'sea's chevrons and the undetected crime ones, he was either very, very lucky or "in the rear with the beer."

DrB

[GavinH]

No Wound Stripes either! A POW perhaps?

Gavin

[Muerrisch]

Not that unusual: Frank Richards DCM MM had qualified for a full set of overseas chevrons, three GC badges, and no wound badges. Haemmorhoids did not qualify, seemingly. As to whether he wore these badges, there is little evidence. My guess is that he avoided wearing them if possible, as he believed a man was what he did rather than wore.

Regarding qualification, the good conduct badges at this period had to be relinquished on reaching corporal. Qualifying periods were reduced in the upper reaches by continuous undetected crime. Problem ism by 1914 few soldiers depended on them for extra pay: only a handful of those who opted for Service Pay plus GC badge pay remiained in service. By 1914, the only young soldiers earning a few pence extra were those of regiments such as African Rifles, West Indies Regt, Gibraltar Artillery ......