Pay - Records

[Spree Farm]

Hi, 

Couple of questions as I am uneducated when it came to pay.

I am trying to find out if there was much information on the records that left the front to be returned to the bean counters in UK.

I guess the usual Name Rank Number and Regiment. Would their Company have been included?

What happened to the sign off sheet that the soldier signed for their pay, how did the information of how much a soldier drew get back to a central pay office and where was this located?

Are there any examples of these that survived 

Thanks

[FROGSMILE]

6 hours ago, Spree Farm said:

Hi, 

Couple of questions as I am uneducated when it came to pay.

I am trying to find out if there was much information on the records that left the front to be returned to the bean counters in UK.

I guess the usual Name Rank Number and Regiment. Would their Company have been included?

What happened to the sign off sheet that the soldier signed for their pay, how did the information of how much a soldier drew get back to a central pay office and where was this located?

Are there any examples of these that survived 

Thanks

Basic details of ‘Pay Arrangements’ can be read below, but it’s important to note that the issue of pay within units was at company level and a duty of the company commander.  Paragraphs 3, 4 and 8 below give the key facts.  Sacks/boxes of cash were obtained from the divisional treasury officer, who in turn received cash from his counterpart at the ‘Base Area’.  A record of what was issued was then returned through division (Adjutant General Branch) to the Command Pay Office at the Base, and thence to the UK Finance Branch (a department within the War Office) at Whitehall.

For the bigger picture see also: https://rapc-association.org.uk/pay-services-history/ww1/

For examples of Army Forms and Pay Books see: 

Each regiment had its own Army Pay and Records Office in Britain that had been established under the so-called Dover System immediately after the 2nd Anglo/Boer War.  In peacetime it was usually shared between several regiments and staffed by civilians and a few Army Pay Corps NCOs headed up by an officer of the Army Pay Department.  During the war these latter were supplemented by either retired officers, or officers close to the end of their service (these were all collectively known as Regimental Paymasters).  The parent records for each soldier were kept at the records offices with updates (upgradings via new qualifications and promotion) provided from abroad and then passed on to the relevant pay office.  During the course of the war regiments increased in size to such an extent that some sites were extended (infilled) via temporary hutments, but where that wasn’t possible additional sub-offices were created in suitable buildings (effectively outstations) for the duration of the war.

Edited 13 September , 2022 by FROGSMILE

[Spree Farm]

Many thanks young sir.

Just getting this straight.

The AB 64 would have had the individuals company details

The company aquittance roll would have had the company details and a copy retained by the company and the original sent back to base. 

Any idea if the aquittance rolls or AFB 2090A sent to base or retained as company records would have survived, if so where would they be?

I am looking for Durham Light Infantry

Cheers

 

 

[FROGSMILE]

17 minutes ago, Spree Farm said:

Many thanks young sir.

Just getting this straight.

The AB 64 would have had the individuals company details

The company aquittance roll would have had the company details and a copy retained by the company and the original sent back to base. 

Any idea if the aquittance rolls or AFB 2090A sent to base or retained as company records would have survived, if so where would they be?

I am looking for Durham Light Infantry

Cheers

 

 

Yes you have interpreted that correctly.  Company acquittance rolls were kept for the length of an audit period so that they could be checked, and then subsequently destroyed.  Each soldier’s AB 64 remained in his possession until it was full and then replaced with the old one destroyed.  Those that survive in museum collections are simply examples that in the fog of war and an enormous administrative effort have slipped through the net of routine procedures. 

Edited 14 September , 2022 by FROGSMILE