What was a Soldier paid.

[John84]

Hello all

Could anyone please tell me what the pay was for a soldier, i.e. Pte, Cpl, Sgt, etc etc, 1914-18, and how did a soldiers wage compare to Miners, Agriculture workers, etc, wage back home. Plush what concessions did the dependant of a soldier get while he has serving.

Any answers greatly appreciated.

Thanks

John.

[Moonraker]

Hello all

Could anyone please tell me what the pay was for a soldier, i.e. Pte, Cpl, Sgt, etc etc, 1914-18, and how did a soldiers wage compare to Miners, Agriculture workers, etc, wage back home. Plush what concessions did the dependant of a soldier get while he has serving.

Any answers greatly appreciated.

Thanks

John.

When war broke out, a carpenter's pay was 7 1/2d an hour; by December this had risen to 10 1/2d. A labourer's peacetime pay of 4d or 5d an hour had increased to 6 1/2d. With Sunday work, a carpenter was receiving £3 a week, a labourer 35s, plus free accommodation and bedding. Recruitment posters were offering single men starting pay in the Army of 7s a week, with 12s 6d separation allowance for married men with no children. When the 7th Wiltshire arrived at Sutton Veny Camp in the spring of 1915, there was much discussion and discontent after they discovered that the civilians building the huts there were receiving such high pay; the soldiers thought it grossly unfair that shirkers should be so much better treated than men who had enlisted voluntarily.

By 1917 a Wiltshire farm labourer was being paid 25s a week, but a man could earn 10d an hour cleaning roads at Chisledon Camp or £5 4s 2d a week labouring on an airfield.

Soldiers' pay was subject to messing allowances and deductions for "barrack damages" (and, presumably, lost kit?)

Richard Holmes inTommy has a couple of pages (xxv, xxvi) on pay and prices, including:

Glasglow bricklayer 10d an hour in 1914, 22d in 1918

London bricklayer 43s 9d start of war, 88s at end

farm labourer 31s 9d in 1918

Territorial infantry subaltern 1909 (part time) 5s 3d a day

gunner lieutenant 10s 6d a day in 1918

Moonraker

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

RAF Muster List are a great indicator of Payment Rates in the RAF in 1918 & varied considerably,the basic being 1s 8d per day for an AM1/Pte1;Misc{AG/Labourer/Batman/Asst Armourer/Cook}through a scale of 2s 0d;{Fitter{AE}/Driver/Photographer} 3s 0d{Clerk}3s 3d {Sergt Batman}4s 0d {Electrician/{Gen/Aero/MT}Fitter}5s 0d Carpenter/Rigger Corpl/Corpl Mechn{Electrician}6s 0d Sergt Fitter{MCycle/MT/Aero up to 7s 6d for an Instrument Repairer{AM1}

I recall reading that in Cairo & France the Aussies were in the position of getting the best Booze,Bints & Billets as they were paid considerably more than the Tommies which was cause of some friction,both being paid obviously in Sterling!

[ororkep]

John84,

Detail taken from a 1917 Irish broadsheet poster, encouraging Irish men to join up for the King’s shilling, a sum that had not changed since the wars with Napoleon.

Regards Paul

[truthergw]

Hello all

Could anyone please tell me what the pay was for a soldier, i.e. Pte, Cpl, Sgt, etc etc, 1914-18, and how did a soldiers wage compare to Miners, Agriculture workers, etc, wage back home. Plush what concessions did the dependant of a soldier get while he has serving.

Any answers greatly appreciated.

Thanks

John.

Moonraker's reply gives all the detail you require. I would just like to add that a reason for a man enlisting for such a low wage, could be that there was high unemployment in different areas and trades at the time. This was before unemployment benefits. "A steady income for a few months anyway ", attracted a lot of married men including my grandfather who was an unemployed textile worker. Ironically, the war created a huge demand for sandbags and would have ensured secure employment and a slightly higher wage for him for as long as it lasted.

[Moonraker]

Just to add to my initial reply that I've found a note in my files about a September 1918 local newspaper article stating that German prisoners of war working on British farms etc had had a pay rise and would now get 6s for a 10-hour day.

On reflection this seems very high indeed - after all they were getting food and accommodation - and I'm wondering if I misread the article some years ago. I didn't confuse shillings and pence, as my (brief) note states that the previous rate was 5 1/2d an hour.

Moonraker

PS Have just checked The Times archive for 1918 but couldn't find anything about German pows' pay, but see

http://web3.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/inf...?sw_aep=read_tr

for article about agricultural wages.

(And enter "German prisoners" and similar words in the archive search box takes you to some interesting articles abour escaping pows, Britons giving them money etc.)

Edited 3 April , 2006 by Moonraker

[John84]

Thanks everyone...Brilliant!!, this is just what I was after, your contributions are very much appreciated as always.

Thanks a bunch

John.