army ranks and wages in wwII

[a***@gmail.com]

I am writing a novel about wwII, and I need ranks and salary of british army. Can anyone help me?

[Bill]

Post by a***@gmail.com
I am writing a novel about wwII, and I need ranks and salary of british army. Can anyone help me?

Amazon Books probably...

[Des]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/71/a1108171.shtml

The poster says that he was paid 2s/day as an infantry private in
1939, and 17/6 a day in 1945 as a lieutenant.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/58/a2778258.shtml

- also refers to 2s/day and writes that the British Government had
all pay records destroyed in 1947 to prevent researchers accessing
them, which seems strange..

[Bill]

Post by Des
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/71/a1108171.shtml
The poster says that he was paid 2s/day as an infantry private in
1939, and 17/6 a day in 1945 as a lieutenant.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/58/a2778258.shtml
- also refers to 2s/day and writes that the British Government had
all pay records destroyed in 1947 to prevent researchers accessing
them, which seems strange..

That's a very odd letter, full of pain and fury at being treated just
the same as everyone else, and a great deal better than men serving
overseas who never ever got UK leave to see their families.

The pay records were not destroyed to prevent the records being
examined.

The law requires the government to keep the records for some seven
years and then the individual pay records can be destroyed, although
invariably some are retained for the Public Records Office.

The pay scales are retained and are available for scrutiny.

[Don Phillipson]

Post by a***@gmail.com
I am writing a novel about wwII, and I need ranks and salary of british
army. Can anyone help me?

The pay question has been answered. Ranks are accurately given in many
encyclopedic books, e.g. Reader's Digest, The Tools of War 1939/45 (1969.)
A problem peculiar to the British army is that some units retained 19th
century ranks, thus a Royal Artillery corporal (two stripes) is called
Bombardier, not Corporal, junior cavalry officers were called Ensign or
Cornet, etc. Novelist Evelyn Waugh had fun with this, creating the ranks
Halberdier and Corporal of Horse for the regiment he invented. RN and
RAF ranks were however uniform.

[Bill]

On Thu, 16 May 2013 19:32:15 -0400, "Don Phillipson"

Post by Don Phillipson

Post by a***@gmail.com
I am writing a novel about wwII, and I need ranks and salary of british
army. Can anyone help me?

The pay question has been answered. Ranks are accurately given in many
encyclopedic books, e.g. Reader's Digest, The Tools of War 1939/45 (1969.)
A problem peculiar to the British army is that some units retained 19th
century ranks, thus a Royal Artillery corporal (two stripes) is called
Bombardier, not Corporal, junior cavalry officers were called Ensign or
Cornet, etc. Novelist Evelyn Waugh had fun with this, creating the ranks
Halberdier and Corporal of Horse for the regiment he invented. RN and
RAF ranks were however uniform.

The rank 'Corporal of Horse' is not fictional.

It is the rank used by sergeants in the Household Cavalry regiments.

Welcome to the lunatic world that is NCO ranks in the Household
Division.

(Always remembering that Brigade of Guards NCOs take an extra stripe)