Soldiers pay

[genjen]

A couple of questions on how things worked:-

How and when would a soldier have been paid during active service?

If a soldier was posted as missing, did his pay stop immediately?

I imagine these questions have been discussed at some time in the past but I've missed them and have been pondering the practicalities of paying thousands of men in those horrific conditions.

Jen

[DeeBoneham]

I think they were paid weekly as and when the paymasters were able to get to them.  I believe they were also able to transfer some of their money direct back to their family.  Joint bank accounts were not common in those days I know...
As to pay when missing I dont think it was cut off straight away as they might have been POWs until confirmed killed etc.  I think the pay was held though until confirmation received.
Is this reference a particular person?
Dee

[genjen]

No, not a particular person. I'm simply considering the practicalities and was just trying to work out how working class people, who quite probably wouldn't have used banks at all, could have managed to send money to their wives and families.

 I wondered if the Post Office might have been one way of getting money home but there must have been long periods when a woman with several children would have to find some other means of supporting the family.

[DeeBoneham]

Yes I think you are probably right.  They dont have the support systems for families that the military have now.  The families probably would have not have been near their UK base either which wouldnt help.  I think they were sent postal orders.
If you contact the Imperial War Museum their archivists will probably be able to answer your question more comprehensively with greater knowledge and documentation backup.
Dee

[genjen]

Thank you Dee, I shall do that.

If anyone can recommend any reading matter on this aspect of the period, I'd be more than grateful. There is so much written about what was going on in France, Belgium, Gallipoli etc but I should like to know more about how life was for the families at home, whether that was in the UK, Australia, New Zealand or anywhere else.

Jen

[AlexanderFields]

I don't think many (if any) ordinary folk had current bank accounts as we know them today, let alone joint accounts. The system in National Service days was that a serviceman was paid weekly in cash at a pay parade. If (as was common) he had allotted part of his pay to someone at home (eg wife or mother) that person had a book of dated authorisations and collected the cash weekly from a post office. I guess that similar arrangements had existed from time immemorial. I suppose that in the trenches of WW1 the men were paid as and when, probably when they were back in rest areas. (After all, there weren't many NAAFI's on the Front Line to buy stuff in!) But the person at home was still paid regularly, as above. Someone more knowledgeable will correct me if I am wrong! AF

[genjen]

I suppose that in the trenches of WW1 the men were paid as and when, probably when they were back in rest areas. (After all, there weren't many NAAFI's on the Front Line to buy stuff in!) But the person at home was still paid regularly, as above. Someone more knowledgeable will correct me if I am wrong! AF

It did seem to me that cash would have been the last thing a soldier in the trenches would have needed. It was really the question of how money got home which was interesting me and you have helped with the answer to that one. Thank you.

Jen

[mmm45]

Charles Messenger "  Call to Arms The British Army 1914-1918" covers all aspects of a Soldiers life in the Great War pensions etc came into being in about 1916 for wounded soldiers who were discharged and also gratuities etc for widows.

Ady

[genjen]

Excellent! A**z*n here I come.

Thanks Ady.

Jen