lost equipment

[staffsreg]

did the Tommy have to pay for lost equipment, eg water bottles, bayonets, rifles at any time while on active service eg. even if lost during an attack?

Regards,

Ivan.

[Joe Sweeney]

Ivan,

Loss during active service was not paid by the soldier unless due to negligence.

Joe Sweeney

[staffsreg]

Ivan,

Loss during active service was not paid by the soldier unless due to negligence.

Joe Sweeney

Thanks Joe.

i had imagined that at rest in the rear, they may have had to pay if an over zealous non-com. had

experienced a bad day!

cheers Chum

Ivan.

[johnreed]

In wartime there is no formal military accounting.

John

[auchonvillerssomme]

In wartime there is no formal military accounting.

John

Really? I think that statement will be open to challenge!

Mick

[auchonvillerssomme]

Not only did they have accountants they also had auditiors

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...mp;mediaarray=*

Mick

[squirrel]

Corps of Military Accountants is listed on something official I saw that was published in 1918.

[AB64]

In "with a machine gun to Cambrai" does he not talk about being charged for a lost revolver? which annoyed him a bit as he felt given a short time he could go out and easily find another. This is from memory and as its many years since I read it I could be very wrong.

Alistair

[Gunner Bailey]

Not only did they have accountants they also had auditiors

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...mp;mediaarray=*

Mick

As a qualified auditor I'd have joined the 'Auditors Rifles' any day! Great pals and nothing would get lost. Mess accounts would be perfect, and all bullets counted before and after the attack! No doubt we'd have started the 'body counts' long before Vietnam.

Gunner Bailey

[Tony Lund]

In September 1914 a discussion took place in Holmfirth Urban District Council chambers about workers who had enlisted and suffered a drop in wages as a consequence.

During this discussion it was said that a man was responsible to replace at his own expense any lost item of kit or equipment, though not if it was lost in battle.

Tony.

[cockney tone]

Ivan,

i managed to get a copy of my Great Uncles Great War Record from the Canadian archives and there is an entry in them staying that he had to pay to replace a lost pen knife and the date concerned was the first day of the Battle of Amiens in August 1918 which he was involved in?

Regards,

Scottie.

[Captain Dave]

In "with a machine gun to Cambrai" does he not talk about being charged for a lost revolver? which annoyed him a bit as he felt given a short time he could go out and easily find another. This is from memory and as its many years since I read it I could be very wrong.

Alistair

Yep, I read this in 92 and distinctly recall he had to go back and look for his pistol in the mud after conducting a night move. He was appalaed that with all the senseless waste about him, he would be charged for a lost pistol.

[SteveE]

Found this in the War Diary of the 25th RF after the successful action at Bukoba in 1915.

28/6/15 - Arrived at Kajiado about 12.25.a.m. Special Inspection of all arms and equipment of men returned from Bukoba.

29/6/15 - No Parades. Usual Camp Duties.

30/6/15 - Usual Parades and Camp Duties. Court of Enquiry re Arms, Equipment &c. lost at Bukoba.

Unfortunately it doesn't mention the outcome of the Court of Enquiry.

[staffsreg]

Words fail me!

a pen knife and a revolver??

Ivan.

[squirrel]

Personal kit was the responsibility of the individual it was issued to and according to the reulations had to be paid for if lost unless it could be proved that it was destroyed in action as far as I am aware.

[Joe Sweeney]

Personal kit was the responsibility of the individual it was issued to and according to the reulations had to be paid for if lost unless it could be proved that it was destroyed in action as far as I am aware.

Paying for lost personal kit and "Free Kit" was not as big a hardship as may first appear as each soldier was entitled, in peacetime, to a quarterly clothing allowance of 30s 6d for the upkeep and maintenance of his clothing and necessaries. Of this allowance, 15s 3d per quarter were allocated for upkeep of the free kit (knives, shirts, etc.). This system was most applicable to peacetime conditions. However, active service loss could mean the item would be replaced at government or unit expense per the Field Service Regulations.

Joe Sweeney

Personal kit was the responsibility of the individual it was issued to and according to the reulations had to be paid for if lost unless it could be proved that it was destroyed in action as far as I am aware.

Paying for lost personal kit and "Free Kit" was not as big a hardship as may first appear as each soldier was entitled, in peacetime, to a quarterly clothing allowance of 30s 6d for the upkeep and maintenance of his clothing and necessaries. Of this allowance, 15s 3d per quarter were allocated for upkeep of the free kit (knives, shirts, etc.). This system was most applicable to peacetime conditions. However, active service loss could mean the item would be replaced at government or unit expense per the Field Service Regulations.

Joe Sweeney

[stevenbecker]

Mates,

As Joe mentions there are a number of classes of items that are issued to soldiers they range from personal to issue or controled equiptment.

Personal items lost can depending on where and when can be paid for by the soldier or at Goverment expence.

But issue or controled items like weapons are accounted for more closely then say personal items like waterbottles. They are more expencive to replace and if lost there is an investorgation to find out how they were lost.

Of cause the QM in any battle could write off any number of waterbottles but to write off controled stores like weapons is harder to do and the system requires a panal of officers to do this.

How these are conducted are up to the officers involved and some of these officers can be pricks about the lost items and want some poor ******** head.

I remember a TLC belonging to one of the SQMS of our Regt which was lost to fire on exerice, the invesigation showed that the weight had been exceeded by many tons with the equpitment on it. Thats was because the QM used the loss of this armoured truck to clear his books of all lost items from not only the Sqn Q Store but all the other Sqns and the Regt to clear the books. None or little of those items were on the TLC but with some clever accounting it worked out well for the QM and the Regt.

Cheers

S.B