soldiers pay

[Guest lynsey1]

While reading "The war the infantry knew" there was a passage where reference was made to british soldiers being able to afford to buy bottled beer and how it was affordable on their pay,what i would like to know is

1.what was a soldiers pay in 1914

2.how was it paid

3.if a soldier had accrued pay but was then killed,what happened to it,was it given to next of kin

thanks, lynsey

[Joe Sweeney]

Lynsey,

Soldier's Pay depended on what he did, which Corps he belonged to and what Rank/Appointment he held.

A Private of Infantry of the Line (By far the most numeruos soldier) was paid:

1 Shilling a day, he could receive additional pay in the form but this was usually only pennies additional.

Pay on active duty was supposed to be fortnightly, but this was rare.

In France he was actually paid in Francs, usually 10 Francs a Fortnight if his accrued pay in his accounts could bear it. He was only paid in 5 Franc denominations or nothing smaller.

If he was killed his remaining pay should go to the next of kin, but if he had no next of kin it may have gone into Regimental Funds ( I have to check on that as I'm going from memory).

FYI, a pint of Bass Ale in an EFC was 1 Franc in 1918.

Joe Sweeney

[Tom Tulloch-Marshall]

A Private of Infantry of the Line (By far the most numeruos soldier) was paid:

Joe - there are some revealing stats about that in "Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire during the Great War" (HMSO) - Infantry strength is a widely misunderstood issue >

% of the "combatant" element (ie excluding men in the RASC, RAMC, RAVC, RAOC, APC, LC, "Transportation & Miscellaneous" - an awful lot of men) of the Army in France which was made up of Infantry pans out like this >

1/9/14 - 64.64%, which by 1/3/18 had fallen to 53.71%, and by 11/11/18 to 31.9%

Someone can probably do the maths, but offhand those percentages must drop substantially if all the excluded Corps men were added to the equation, and it might be possible that that the Infantry never constituted 50% of the entire army in France - and by Nov 1918 maybe only one man in five was PBI.

regards - Tom

[David_Bluestein]

CEF Rates of Pay(Infantry):

Officers

Col. $6 day, $1.50 Field Allowance

Lieut. Col. $5.00 Day, $1.25 Field Allowance

Major $4.00 Day, $1.00 Field Allowance

Capt. $3.00 Day, .75 Field Allowance

Lieut. $2.00 Day, .60 Field Allowance

Warrant Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers

Regt. Sergt. Major $2.00 Day, .30 Field Allowance

Coy. Sergt. Major $1.60, .20 Field Allowance

Staff Sergt. $1.35 Day, .20 Field Allowance

Sergt. $1.35 Day, .15 Field Allowance

Cpl. $1.10, .20 Field Allowance

Privates (includes Cook, Driver, Batman, Trmptr, Drummer.)

Pte. $1.00 Day, .10 Field Allowance

Hope that helps

[jhill]

, and it might be possible that that the Infantry never constituted 50% of the entire army in France - and by Nov 1918 maybe only one man in five was PBI.

This is undoubtably true. However, we must keep in mind that casualty rates in the infantry were much higher than in almost all other branches of the service. An infantry battalion of a thousand men may have had four or five thousand men pass through its ranks during the war, whereas units in some other branches may have finished the war with most of the men it started with. Thus the percentage of soldiers who had served in the infantry is much higher than the percentage serving in the infantry at any one time.

[Guest lynsey1]

Thanks for replies,its astounding when you think of a soldiers pay considering what they were doing for their country even though it was 1914,makes you wonder how they managed especially if they were supporting families etc.Its sad really when you think that some women were not given pensions when widowed,even though their men had paid the ultimate price with their lives

lynsey

[ebo]

I read somewhere that Army pay for privates in certain areas of the RASC, such as auto electricians and fitters in Motor Transport Companies, could be up six times that of an infantry private in order to encourage skilled men into these undermanned units. Was this the case?

ebo

[Guest Ian Bowbrick]

Tom,

Some interesting stats. In the introductory pages of te Tank Corps by Ellis, he quotes that for every man in the line there was a support infrastructure of 12 men: drivers, bakers, cobblers, storesmen, blacksmiths etc.

Ian

[Michael]

Lynsey

I believe that widows did receive pensions, but you do see a lot of them re-marrying quite quickly after their husbands died.

Certain regiments would maintain an interest in their widows. For instance, the wife a Grenadier Guardsman killed in 1917 recieved a cheque from the guards for £8 for sheets, pillow slips, towels, curtains and underclothes in 1957. Her widows pension at the time was £2.12.6s per week. She was 77 at the time and did not re-marry

Michael

[John_Hartley]

Lynsey

The Lee family, from Cheadle, Cheshire, feature significantly in my war memorial research.

The Stockport Advertiser, in its edition of 8 october 1915, wrote about the family "The patriotism od the family is another shining example of cheadle's share in providing young men for the defence of our King and country, but it is a pity for the mother that the only grant allowed by the Army Authorities is 9 shillings per week for her husband. No allotment is made for the sons' service".

Elizabeth Lee's four sons all served. Edward, Frederick and Leonard are commemorated on the village war memorial. The news that the fourth son, Harry, had been wounded prompted the above newspaper report.

John

[Joe Sweeney]

Tom,

I didn't mean to use the Infantry Private as an example of a total number, but as an example of the most numerous type of soldier drawing a single pay grade.

I have "Statistics of the Military...". Regardless of the growth of the other Corps the Infantry of the line private far out numbered his counterpart in any single other Corps by a wide percentage.

Since each Corps drew its own regimental or Corps Pay, you cannot combine the totals of non infantry.

Cavalry, RA, RE, RAMC, ASC, RFC, AVC, AOC etc. all had their own pay scales; not including sub categories such as Guards and Household cavalry. The Infantry Private of the line far outnumbered any counterpart in any other Corps.

Joe Sweeney

[Muerrisch]

A couple of points to add:

£1 in 1914 was worth about £40 now, although some things are much dearer pro-rata these days, like houses. And wives. To go a step further, the official rate of exchange for the French Franc was around 1FRr to 9d [ie old pence]. [Only those sufficiently interested will go the extra mile and do the FFr to new pence conversion. Shame on you, you should have paid more attention at school].

The other point is the fate of widows. The Country was not noticeably hard hearted, in what were hard times. Widows emoluments got better and better as the war progressed, and a typical AO is 213 of 1915 [June] which awarded 10 shillings a week if dead man under 35, rising to 15 shillings if man 45 or over. Dependent children 5 shillings first, 3 shillings and sixpence for second, 2 shillings each subsequent child. Notably better than nothing, and similar to the take-home pay of an unskilled labourer, between 12 and 20 shillings a week at that time. Remarrying widows [in contrast to officers' widows] got a gratuity of two years pension as a lump sum or in instalments.

I am not at all sure that a genuine widow [ie a woman legally married to a soldier who died on active service] could be disqualified, and would be glad to learn of the details, quoting chapter and verse.