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General => Armed Forces => Topic started by: Laini on Friday 22 September 23 17:36 BST (UK)
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Hi All
Just a general query, apologies for my ignorance but how did soldiers (during wars) get paid and how did their dependants access that money?
Thanks
laini
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World War II: "Wives were allotted a proportion of their husbands' pay, usually about a third. This was based on extremely low pay for 'other ranks' in the armed forces. A wife with no dependants would receive about 10 shillings (50p) a week, less than a sixth of the average wartime female factory wage."
The forces operated on a points system, e.g. men were given extra points for being married, thus received extra weekly wage. Before I married a forces man in 1964 my weekly wage as a spinster and typist was £12 and as a single man living on campus his weekly wage was £8 minus his board and keep.
I didn't earn as much as my sister in law. She earned over £30 operating a machine in a different factory.
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I've been checking out "Separation Allowance" in WW1. I've found a document which explains the situation re.an unmarried soldier who, pre. mobilisation/enlistment, supported mother, father, brother, sister or other family member. Unfortunately, cannot provide a link!
If you have access to FindMyPast/Ancestry can provide details to access soldier's military record.
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Hansard -
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1915-02-04/debates/7da1dd2f-00ac-4cf0-a72a-9690b6d2d40e/SeparationAllowance
There was an article in John Bull, early January, about the failings of the army pay department, even referring to trying/hanging officials involved after the war ended!
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Hansard
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1914-08-10/debates/4e20380b-5275-4752-967b-01528fc28381/SoldiersAndSailorsWivesAndFamilies?highlight=%22separation%20allowance%22#contribution-e265d071-0ff9-4fd3-b18b-7dd7362c32da
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Just to make it clear, separation allowance is an entirely separate thing to an allotment of pay. Separation allowance is payable for a married soldier who is necessarily separated from his wife and family due to service reasons, normally for periods over 14 days. Usually it would be payable to the solider and it was then up to him to make arrangements to make that allowance money to be available to his wife. The ostensible reason for a separation allowance is that a family might occur additional expenses due to being separated, for example the cost of letters (and later, phones calls), and having to buy two lots of certain items like toiletries, washing powder etc.
Pay was entirely separate. A soldier would be encouraged to make an allotment from his pay (which he would receive in cash at a weekly or fornightly pay parade) to his wife if he was serving away from home, for instance on a posting overseas, or as in this case, during operations. During operations a soldier did not pay for his food and accommodation as he would have done if he had been in barracks, and so he only required a relatively small amount of cash for his personal needs - even cigarettes were provided as part of the rations (although not alcohol, with the exception of a rum ration which might be issued if the weather was particularly cold).
The wife would be paid her allotment in cash either through the post office or if she lived near the home barracks of the unit, by the paymaster or other officer there.
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I was identifying "Separation Allowance" as an income stream for dependents. Wasn't the soldier/sailor required to contribute a third from their pay once the dependent's allowance had been determined?
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Income Tax and National Insurance not Deducted until 1944