The Royal Army Pay Corps Journal

Vol. IV.

No 25.

Spring, {93 7
that country have now returned to the
United Kingdom. Consequent upon this
decrease, the maintenance of two Pay
Offices in Palestine "vas rendered unnecessary and from 25th J imuary last the Regimental Pay Office at Raifa was closed
do\Vn and the requisite staff were transferrecl to the Command Pay Office at
Jerusa lem where a cornbined office has now
been formed.

It 'would be of g reat . assistance to the

So Pall Mall, L ondon, S.W.1.
March, 1937.
Preparations for the forthcom ing Coron ation are now much in evidence, and in
addition to the vast numb ers of stands and
crush barriers which are being erected in
the streets, the ",,a11s of th e "ancient monument" which contains th e Editorial Offices
are being scrubbed by an army of decora tors, \\h o,\\e und erstand , may even be
conteluplatin g th e app lication of ou e or two
coa ts of paint. It is doubtful, h owever,
wl!eth er the Editors w ill be able to vie,;v th ~
Procession from their \\indows- as all
available window space is bein g included
in tll e g eneral ballot for sea ts !

lVlembers of the Corps ,,ill no doubt have

followed the recent t our of the M.C.C. in
Australia with interest.
Although the Ashes are destined to re1I1ain in Australia for the time being , the
tour just completed can be regarded as a
very successful one . No tourin g side has
acliieved g reater popularity on and off the
field and "Test" cricket is once more a
sportin g ga me.
The financial result of the tour is a
reco rd one, and it is a rnatter of g reat
satisfaction t o koO\\ that this success was
in a large measure due to the efforts of the
tea m manage r, Cap tain R. R ovvard, who
retired from the Corps a short time ago.
As a resul t of the improved conditions
in Palestin e a large munber of the additional troops who were despatched to
Copyright, Gale & Polden, Ltd., Aldershot and London]

Editors if all those subscribers who have

not yet renev,led their subscription to the
J ournal for 1937 wou ld do so at the earliest
opportnnity.

Royal Army Pay Corps

Old Comrades' Association.
The Ninth Annual General Meeting of
the Royal Army Pay Corps Old Comrades'
Association will be held at Messrs. Harrods, Knig htsbridg e, S.ViT.I, on Friday,
30th April, 1937 , at 6 p.1l1.
The N inth Annual Dinner will take place
the same evening at Rarrods, in the
Georg ian Restaurant, Hans Cresc:ent,
Knig htsbridg e, S.W.I, at 7.30 p.l11. The
Chair will be occupied by our President,
the Colonel Commandant of the Corps, who
will hold a reception before the Dinner.
. As a result of continued representations,
the Committee has succeeded in obtaining
concessions for travelling to London by
train. Cheap railway tickets (available for
day of issue only) at the ordinary sing le
fare for the double journey (Third Class)
and 50 % over the Third Class fares for
First Class travel can be obtained.
J ourneys of over 150 miles may commence before midnig ht, but not earlier than
9 p.m. the previous day.
Applications for vouchers, to obtain this, _
concession, should be m ade at the same~
time as the application for dinner tickets .
Tickets 6/6 each, can be obtained from
Colonel H. Duesbury, Hon. Treasurer,
Record and Pay Office, Deptford, S.E. S.
Time-7. 30 p.m . for 7-45 p.m.
Dress-Lounge Suits.

Corps Sports News

_ Arrangements for 1937.
Wed.,
Thurs.,
Friday,

Golf.

June .;dtll
Jnly
Jldy

July

Tues.,
Wed.,

July . 6th
July ;-tll
S th

<,It 11

Annual Meeting, R.A.P.C. Officers' Club, So, Pall Mall, S. W.I,

at 2. IS p.m.
Annual Dinner, Officers. Naval and Military Club, Piccadilly.
Cricket v. R.,A.O.C., at Aldershot.

3 rU

Sat.,

Thurs. , July
Friday, July

Lawn' Tennis at Roehampton.

1st
'2 11<1

Summer Meeting at Went worth.

THE

Cricket v. Royal Army Chaplains Dept., at Aldershot.

----------.-------------------------------------------------------------------Matches.
The following matches have ' been
arran g ed ; May 19th 'V. Royal Army Ordnance
Corps at the Berkshire Club.
June 24th 'V. Royal Army Service Corps
at Wentworth.
'V. Royal Army :Medical Corps.
The date and place of this match are not
yet fix ed.

ItA.P.C. GOLFING SOCIETY

This is a very iean period of the year
for golfing news--the only Society activity
since the Autumn J'vleeting being the
"Campbell-Todd" Cup.
Winter is usually responsible for a variety
of golfing conditions , most of them unpleasant; the past winter concentrated on
consistency rather than variety and produced a depressin g record of water-logged
courses, day after day and week after
week. I understand that a few amphibious
members of the Society have struggled
roundno\V and then but I think the 19th
has been the only hole played of most of
the contemplated g ames . At 1I1y club a
member vvas heard to say that throug hout
the winter the only hole with no casual
\\'ater was the 19th.

CampbelVtodd Cup, 1936.

Winner-Major C. N. Bedllall (holder)--6 up.
Runner UpLt.-Col. A. A. Cockburn--All Square.
Half=Yearly Spoon Competition, 1937.
This competition runs from January 1st
to June 30th and consists of 18 holes Sin g les
against Bog ey under handicap, played over
the course of any recognised Golf Club at
home or abroad. There is no limit to the
number of Cards which lIJay be entered
by anyone competitor, but they should be
sent to the Honorary Secretm'Y' in the
calendar month in which they were taken
out.
HOCKEY CLUB NOTES

Army Golfing Society--Annual Meeting,

1937.
Foreig n service has claimed some of our
best g olfers and difficulty is being experienced in raisin g a representative team, but
it is hoped that we shell 1 be competing at
this Meeting which takes place at Sandwich, commencing on April 26th.
Last year th e Corps team drew a bye
in the first round and in the second round
lost to the Royal Scots who produced a
really strong team.

Once again the Hockey Season draws to

a close with results which must be as gratifying to the Corps as they are to the committee. To date our fig ure of merit is
+ 28 ,9 which is a reasonably g ood position
ill a scale which ran g es frolll 1l1illl1S TOO to
plus 100.

Annual Meeting.
The Annual SUHlmer l\i eeting will be
held at the Wentworth Club " Virginia
Water, Surrey on vVeclnesday, June 30th.
Full particulars and entry fOl"ms \,-vill be
circulated in due course.
2

ARMY

PAY

R esult.

Opponents.

1936.

Oct.
7. War Offi ce 8 wls

Lost
Won
Lost
Won

2nd Trg. Bcl e. RA.

21. R \ .S.C., Alu er shot
28. l'vlil. Col. of Scien ce
14.

Nov .

4.

11.

25.

Dec.
2.
9.

16.
23.

Goa ls .
F or. Ag' nst..

2
2

6
1

3rd Bcl e. RH. A.

Drawn
S
3
D epot, E ast Surreys Won
3
'2
D epot, Royal Su ssex 'Won
1
0
(Al'ffiy Ho ckey Tourn a ment 1st round.)
Training Dn. 1~. E.
Lo st
0
4
W on
6
0
1st R W elch FLl 3.
;';rcl 13J e. RH .A .
ECl'at ch Ed - G round unfi t.
D epot Bcl e. Ri\.
'WOII
4
1
(Army H ockey Tourna me n t 2nd rOllnd.)
Op timi,;b;
Saatch r d .

1937.
.Tail.

2.

6.
IS.

20.
27.
F eb.
3.
10.
17.
24.
Mal'.
3.
10.

2nd Trg. Del e. RA .

L ost
1
3
(1\ rmy Ho ck ey Tournam ent 3rd R o und) .
D epot :Royal ]1 us.
Scra t ched
Tminin g Dll. RE.
L ost
0
2
1st R. 'Nekh Fus. Scmtch ed- Gl'onn rl unfit..
1st 1'1' o
0' Bcl e. R A.
Dl';\.wll
1
1
,
31'd Bde. RH. A.
Mil. Col. of. Scien ce
2nd T rg. Bde. R A.
Depot E a.st Surreys

Lost
WOIl
\iVOll
'\iVon

0
2
3
6

2
1
0
0

R.A.S. C., Aldershot

W ar Offi ce Owl s

' iV on
Drawll

2
1

1
1

Comparative Resu lts.

Season.

19s1 / 32
1932 / 33
1933/ 3.4
1934 t'3'5
1935 /99':
19:~6 / 37

'Vrm.

Drawn. T.Ast.

1
3
2
1
2
3

2
3
8
14
3

10

Tot <ll .

7
13
12
7
12
6

10
19

2?
22
17
]9

F.nfM

-45
- 45
-14
+33.6
- 47
+ 28 .9

Goal Table.
Season.

1931 / 32
19S2/ 33
1933/ 34
]934 / 35
1935/ 36
1936/ 37

Ff'lr.

10
29
60
75
33
41

A!!a;nst .

28
61
89
54
56
32

CORPS

J OURNAL

formula is (W + D / 2 - I.) IOO / P in which

'VI! equals' match'es ~von, D equals matches
dra wn, L equals mat<;:he.s lost, and P is th e
number of matches p'layed.
Th e past policy of the club has been
continued; the best players available and
stationed \.v ithin a reasonable distance of
the s!2ene of the g ame having been selected,
al ways bearin g in mind the .. desirability,
in the interests of co ~ ordination, of havin g
as fe w chan g'es in the team., as possible.
The fo110'vvin g have represented the Corps
during the season ;--Cqpts. Ellicott (2 ) ,
Oliver (5) " ,Hagg ard (Il) , Marden (16),
lVlalpass (i4) , Sweeny (IlL' Thompson (6) ,
Cubitt (I); Sergeant.s Burden (4), King
(r ) , Richatdson (5), Watson (17), Lee
(16), Cooper (4)-, N ye ' (17), Mackay (3 ) ,
1"aylor (10), Porter (3), Leader (I), Bake r
(1 ) , Pasb1ey (I); Corporals Macey (16),
Gates (ra) ; Corl1\hlall (8), Wi1son (2),
Fenton (1), Co1es (I ) . Capt . Oliver and
Sergeants' Lancaster, Spooner and Tay] or
hav e offi'ciatecl with the whistle.
This year we succeeded in reaching the
3 rc1 round of the Army Hockey Tournament (AND without any byes!) and were
only finally defeated largely by bad luck.
It is true our opponents, the 2nd Training
Bde . R.A. turned out a very g ood team
against us, but owing to the departure from
the Corps of two of our most useful for\\'ards arid the unfortunate sickness of Capt.
Sweeny ,we were only able to field a
reconstructed team, which undoubtedly reacted to our disadvantag e, though we gallantly held our opponents to very near the
finish of the game. Perhaps next year the
exiaencies of the service . and the coope~ation of all concerned will permit us
to field the best team possible throu g hout
the Army Hockey Tournament.
We re.gret the loss of Capts. Ellicott .and
Haggard who have played regularly smce
the formation of the club and have now
departed for Egypt where we expect t.o hear
of their representing the Corps in the Out.posts of the Empire.
In conclusion, it is oarticularly g ratifying
to find that we continue to discover new
talent to replace players who have departed
overseas. . Before t.he commencement of
next season we intend to write a fevv notes
of criticism on the u ast season's olav which,
it is hoped, ~ay prove of valn e t o all cop-.
cernec1.

The results so far are as follows, and

there are three more matches to play.

18.

Lricket v. Army Educational Corps at Aldershot.

ROYAL

Pe r centage for .

26.6
32
40 .3
58
37
56.1

It is said that statistics can be made to

prove anything, but the above clearly indi. cates that Vile have jumped ont of the slough
into which we had fallen in 1935 /3 6.
For the information of the mathemat.icallY'-I1<linded, the fi gure of merit is calculated on a formula used by the Hockey
Association and is used to determine th e
relative m erit of the vari ous clubs . Th e
3

THE

ROYAL

ARl\fY

PAY

CORPS

JOURNAL

THE

l~OYAL

ARMY

PAY

CORPS JOURNAL
-------------------------

Retirements
Colonel Macfi e \\"i11 take '\'ith him the
best \\'ishes of those '\\'ho kno w him and
have shared his society and been associated
with him in his work, for many pleasant
yea rs of retirement.
Staff Sergeant=Major A. C. Farmer.
S taff Sergt.-Major Farmer retired on
10th January, 1937 , within a couple of
months of his reaching the 'age limit of
55 years .
He enlisted in the Gm-don Hig hlanders
on 31St May, 1900 (during the South
African War) and served with them at
Aberdeen, Aldershot, BuUord, Portsmouth
and Glasgo\\' until March, 1904 \\"hen he
transferred to the Army Pay Corps, only
just g ettin g in before the Corps was closed
for transfers until 1910.
His stations in the Corps were York,
Preston, Salisbury (twice), Mesopotamia,
\i\larley , }'dauritius and London.
He attained the rank of W.O.Cl. 2 with
2 I years' service and no doubt would have
g one farther in the ordinary course had
not the "age " bogey intervened. When,
however, the age for promotion to W. O. I.
,\"as altered from 40 to 45 years, in 19 26 ,
"J ock" was one of the first to be selected
and fill ed one of the limited number of
vacancies , from 24th April, 19.26 .
A man of sterling principles, kindl y ,
g:ood humoured, straigh tforward; his ,;vork
in Mauritius has been hi g:hl y spoken of by
Offic ers of oth pr Corps with 'w hom he came
in contact, an d those q ualities were evident
in hi s last Offic e as a W.O.I.-80, Pall
l\Iall-\\hpre Ilic; m any friends reg retted th e
necessity for his g oing.
He has succeeded in obtaining employment in the R.E. Pay Office, Chatbam,
and all who kne'~1 him will be glad of the
opportnnity of keepin g in touch with 111:n1 .

~o lo nel R. W. Macfie.

The Royal Army Pay Corps Hocke ' T

r hoto: filltstrnted Fh(Jtocrn/t, [ (,,;d(lll,
y eam, 1936-37

T-V. f "
J

L / Sgt. L. R Spoonel' (Umpire) L / Sgt G T N

r 'S
'
.
' M-'
,1. &L. A . Burden, L / Sgt. H A F n ' I
C L/ Cpl.
J ' P. J. . NI[Lc~y
. , 'Sgtye
' p.
. Lee, Sgt. C. i,iVatso n
. ' , . ' . L. lC lHrcl sO Il ,
Lt.. R O. ThompSOII , apt. . L. Ollver, Ca pt H W l' M 1
.
. Swee l~y .. - a rc en, Capt. H. H. M ",) p:1S S, (; ;t p t. "1'. H.

Record and Pay Offices

l11ent in many indi'd 1

sh ip has b
. . v~ u~ cases; marksman
\\.hich SIlO een tgl I eat y llT1J?roved th is year
,d
ws' " lat more I
t'
'
tal-en
11 erest IS bein o
c \.
,an It IS WIth ve '.
1
"
we read in a rec t' , ty g l eat p easurE'
of th
en Issu e of th e 'RiflelTlan'
.
e name of a NCO f tl C
has been awarded ' 'a' . 0 _le orps wh o
Badge . This '1 tt _ _ ~upel lVlarksl11an'~
.
a el reqUIres a 0'0 1 1 1
wlnnino' and 1 d
b
oc (ea of

b
le eserves Ollr
1
~lOns . It is believed th
. ~ongra tn aInstance on record f at thIS IS the only
COl-PS
h
l o a memb er of "11, e
W 0
las
l'
d'
L
Again, heart '
ac ll~ve
~hlS success.
Hailstone.
y conglatulatIOns - Sergt.

Small Bore Rifle League.

-Alth.It<:m gh the ,activities of tl'l e L eaR ue
ale stl p rog resslllg there is littl e to
.
ment upon at present F' ,t _ .
C01l1 cases have h 1
.
IX utes 1~1 so man y
ac t? be deferred OW111 0 to th e
t
b
stI ress 0 f \Vorl-\. 111 0 ffilces, combined
\\'ith
le !TIovements of troops and III
of sldpless, that it h
b
f any cases
as een ound very
difficult t o I
Th' ' h- {eep to the normal fixture date
l
nin : o;s {,enerall y upset ~he smooth ru~~
andb J...~ o.eague wo rk as 111 former years
:~l s b reatly de layed the re portiJl ~ of
severa matches .
b
It is hoped t
1
Leag ue Table ~ setn c. to all Clu~s another
.
Y lle end of thIS month
in O"A 5 P eclal feature noted durin g' the c11eck'
b
0 f t aro'ets
has b een th e g reat
< ;.
b
'
IT11prove-4

Shou ld any Secretar

f
wish to bring' t
~ 0 an Office C lu h
"vouId benefit 1:h Of I lot!ce any point that
e u t ure of the L
.
lle p lease send snch
0'.'.
eag ne IV111
sU b gestIOlls along .
W.H.S.

On 31St March, 1937, Colonel R. 'IN .

Macfie retires from the Corps on completion of over 40 yea rs' service.
Colonel Macfie joined the King's Reg illl ent in February, 1897 and, from 19 01 ,
saw service in South Africa with the King's
Company, 19th So uth African Mounted
Infantry, prior to joining the Army Pay
Department in 1903 . From I905 to 1909 he
was employed in South Africa \\'ith the
Army Accounts Department . As Captain
:and Paymaster h e \Vas in Malta from 19 10
to 1913. In the latter year he was transferred to Gibraltar whe re he remained
until 1917 . As temporary S taff Paymaster
he "vas with the South Ru ssian Expedition
(Trans-Caspia) from April, 1919 to January, I920, returnin g once more to Gibraltar
in that year. He was promoted Major and
Staff Paymaster in October, 192 1, remainl.ng in Gibraltar until 1923. He \\'as again
in the Mediterranean, as Lieut.-Colonel,
this time at Malta in 1924 and remained
there until April, 1929. This ,,,as Colonel
Macn.e's last foreig n tour of service for he
\\"as posted ' to the Com mand Pay Office,
'Chester, bein g temporary Colonel and Chief
Paymaster in August, 1930 . Later in that
yea r he was transfe rred to York as Command Paymaster, being appointed Colonel
and C.P. in ~ ovember, 1930. Remaining
at York until, 1932 , he \\'as moved t o
Woolvvich in March of that year and re mains there until retirement.
Colonel Macfie had one g reat hobbyh orses. He \vi11 always be remembered for
'hi s feats in the saddle and as a trainer of
race-horses. He rode many winners, and
trained very many more , whilst stationed
'at Gibraltar and Malta. Once, in 19 14,
'whilst serving at Gibraltar, he had three
winners in one da y. He held official positions with the Racin g Clubs at those places.
!fe was an expert exponent of P olo and ,
111 19 23, Colonel Macfie was Captain of th e
Staff and Departments Polo team in Gibral tar-this is probably unique in tIle Corps.
H e played in TifEs in rQl 9-probably the
'O nly time polo was played there .
As
recently as I 920 , Colonel Macfie '\\"as ridiJ1 g
-and trainin g: winners and playill g: polo, in
1Vlalta .

OUR CONTEMPORARIES.

Th e Editors acknowl edge with many than ks receipt of t he following Journals:" R .-\..1\I. C. News and Gazette" . Dec., J an., F eb.
" Th e '?i1ire," Jal1. , F eb " March .
" The Sa,pper," J a n., Feb. ) Nlarch.
" Th e Gunner," Jan. , F eb., Nl arch.
" R,.A.O. C. Ga,zette," Dec. , J an ., Feb.
" Th e ' Nasp," Dec.
' .'Q / \ .V .C. J011rn al," F eb.
".-\ .E.C, Journal , " Feb.
" The Accountant."
" ,Aldershot Comm and News" ('iVeekly).

T HE

Corps News-Officers
From "The London Gazette"

Major ....L G. W. Bl'O;1,dhurSit, P alestin e to Woolwich, 30/ 11 / 36.

Captain A . C. W. H and s, Kha rtoum to E crypt.

ROYAL ARMY PAY CORPS .

17'/11 /::6.

'"

'

Capt. F. G. Norton, Egypt , to Kh artoum , 4/ 11/ 36.

Lt.-Col. P. L. Oldham, P alestine to Northern
Comm a.nd, 29 / 12/ 36.
Captain F. O'Driscoll, Woolwich to Malta, 5/ 1/ 37.
CaP.t. L. 1. F. B al~ton , Egypt to Lichfield , 221/12/ 36 .
MaJor J. B. J arcline, Egypt to Scottish Command,
3/ 1/ 37.
'
Capt. R. S. 3!licott, P alestine to Aldershot, 4/ 1/ 37.
Ca.ptall1 J. L . Oh vel', Ea.stem Cmd. to Hounslow .
4/ 1/ 37.
~
Captain J. H. Clowes , Hounslow to Eastern Cm d.
Captain H. P . Lambert, P alestine to E astern
Command , 29 / 1/ 37.
Ca pta!n H.. C. Lyo ns, 'vVoolwich to Egypt, 5/ 1/ 37.
CaptaJl1 Vv. L. Dank s, Northern Command to
South ern Command , 4/ 1/ 37.
Li eut. G. W . Penn , L eith to North er n Comma nd.
4/ 1/ 37.
.
'
L t .- CD I. W . D. N . Robotham, Woolwi ch to
North ern Ireland District , 2:2/ 1/ 37.
Captain P. C. H arding, Houn slow to Aldershot
25 /1 / 37.
'
Captain A. J. S. Tuk e, Aldershot to York R.P.
4/ 1/ 37.
'
Col. T . L. Rogers , O.B.E. , Aldershot to Malaya.
3/ 3/ 37.
Lt.-Col. W. A. Bl'itten , O.B.E. , Chatham RE. to
Northern Command , 12/ 2/ 37.
Lt.-Col. P. L. Oldham , Northern Command to
Gibraltar, 1/3/ 37.
Major R. G. Stanham, W ar Offi ce to Ald ershot,
22 /2J/ 37.
Major E. ' N. Bo oth , NLC., V\7estern Command to
War Office, 22/ 2/ 37.
C!Lptain~, S. N. Hill, E gypt to P~lestine, 23 / 2/37.
1\1aJor 1. A. Meek, lVI. C., Scottish Command to
Ceyloll, 5/ 2/ 37.
Captain R S. Ellicott., Ald ers hot to E gypt, 2/ 3 / 37.
Captalll G. H aggard , Aldershot to Egypt, 11 /1/ 37.
Maj . L. E. J ames. M.C. , Malta to N .1.D., 28 /1 /37.
Captain H . P. Lambert, E astern Command to
Gibraltar, 3/3/ 37.
Capt. Y. W. R : es, Palestine t o Hounslow , 20 / 2/ 37.
Lt. J . Quinn, Woolwich to Exeter, 1/ 3/37 .
L t. S. Holma n, Palestine to W ad ey, 20/ 2/ 37.
Lt. B. J . B. Temple , E gypt to Hounslow, 3/ 2,/ 37.
Lt. C. W. Goode. Hounslow to Woolwich , 1/ 3/ 37'.
Lt. R G. Smith . W a rley to Chatham RE. , 1 /3 '37.
L t. E. McCarthy Commissio ned 1/ 1/ 37 (Wool
Wl ch ) .
Lt. H. P. Penny Commissioned 27 / 2 /37 (Cha.th am
RE.) .
Lt. A. K. Hunt Commissiomcl 1 (Z'/ 37 (Woolwich).
r

THE KING 'S LEVEE.

His Majesty Th e King held a Levee at Sit . J ames's

P alace on Tuesday , February 9t h , at which the
followin g attended :MUSSON , Majo r -General Arthur, C.R, Royal
Army P ay Corps, on promotion and on appointment
as Chief Paymaster at the W ar Offi ce and In spector
of A 1'mv P ay Offices.
ST AKHAi\I , Major Regin ald, Roy al Army Pay
Co rps.
-DEATHS.

CAMPBELL.-On Dec. 2.6, 1936, at a nursincr

home, Edinburgh , Ali ce. de;) r wife of M~ ior A. C.
J. Ca mpbell, late 77th (Middl esc-:) Regt. and
A.P. D. , and . daughter of he late Commander
Yeh-erton O'Keeffe, R.N .. aged 59.
L ARGE.- On Feb. 4, J97.T, at 3', G1'ev ill e Road,
Rich mond, Sur1'ey, Mary Elizabeth . eldest da ughter
of the late Lieut .-Colon el .Tohn Edward Large, 1st
Bn. , R ifle B!'igade. and Army Pay Department.
Officers join ed on Probati on at Ald ershot , 1/ 1/37.
Captain 1. S. Ho ~'!e, The L eicestershire Regiment~
Ca])ta in R T. O'B . HOl'sford. Th e Leicestershire
Reg;iment.
Capta;n V.,7. G. Hark er , Th e West Yorkshire Regt.
Captain H. M. Campb ell , A rgvll and Suth erl and
Hi ~ hlalld ers .
.
Lt. H.. C. Thompso ll , The W il t hire R egim ent.
C~ ptaill H. T. P epper , Th e .W~ lch R egiment.
L~eut. D. G. Carter. Th e Km gs Own R.oyal R egt.
Li eut . B. D. Coate, The Devonshire R egim ent.

LA T E NEWS .

It is with tlle c1e~p est regret th at we hav ~

to record the sudden death of Lt.-Col. W .
A. Br itten . O. B .E .. \\'hich t ook- place 8t
Y ork 011 the 18th Marc1l.
lCXi U

PAY

CORPS

JOURNAL

Philately

POSTINGS .

Maj. (Asst. P aymr.) E. A . Rason is placed 011

the h. p. hst on account of ill-health (Dec. 9).
Staff Sergt.-Major George Vi7arden Penn ,to be Lt .
(AssL Paym,r.) (Dec. 9).
M~LJ. (Asst. Paymr. ) E. E. Ti bbenham, bav in o'
atLall1ed t he age for retirement is placed on ret
pay (D ec. 31, 1936),
Maj. (Asst .. Paymr) T . Kin gan havin g attained
the age {or retirement, I S placed on ret. pay (Jan. 1) .
Lleult. H.. W. Shaw-Hamilton , KA . (Paym r. on
pl'ob.) to be Temp . Capt. (Jan. 1) .
Staff Sergt.-l\Iaj . E. McCarthy to be Lieut. (Asst.
P ay m!". ) (Jan. 1).
Capt. a nd Paymr. A. C. ' N . H ands to be Maj.
(J<111 21) .
Maj. and Bt. Lt.-Col. and Staff Paymr. F. C.
WIUlam , M.C. to be Lt.-Col. (Jan. 24).
Lt. (Asst. P aymr.) H . Kin g to be Cal~t . (Asst.
P aymr.) (Jan. 24) .
Lt. J .. M. A. Braddell , R.A. (Paymr. on prob.) ,
to be ten'I1 . Capt. (Jan. 27).
Maj. (Asst . P aymr.) 'vv. P. Neilson , having
attallled the age for retirement, is placed on ret.
pay (Feb. 27).
Staff Sel'gt.-Maj. H . P . P enny to be Lt. (Asst.
P aymr. ) (Feb. 27).
Lt.-Col. and Staff Pay mr. T. L. Ro gers, O.B.E. ,
to ,be Col. and Chief P aymr. (March 3).
Capt. and P aymr . L. 1. F. Ba rton to be Ma j.
(Feb . 28) .
Sta ff Sgt.-Maj . A. K. Hunt to be Lt. (Asst.
P aymr. ) (March 1 ).
Capt. and Bt. Maj. an d P aymr. R. H . Sayer,
D. C. M. , to be Major (Ma.r . 17 ).

ROYAL ' ARMY

I n res pome to a number of requests f rom those interested it has been decided to commence
a series of articles dealing with thiJ subJect.. A g~nel'al review ot. British Colo nial recent ' ijSl~eS
has been ch Dsen as the subject of thts, the ftfSt, arttcle but the Bdttol's would be glad to -recetve
Sll ggestions in co nnection with the subjects desil'ed for future articles.

Those who have not yet completed th eir

sets in the current (George V) desig n
should do so before they are vvithdrawn.
Since the death of Kin g George V several
colonies have issued sets wh ich w ere in preparation at the time of his death , These
sets, issued by St. Lucia, Nigeria, Bermuda
and Straits Settlements have proved very
popu lar in recent months . Some of the
hig her values may, owing t o their limited
use and the relatively short period of currency, be expected to advance in price soon
after they have been withdrawn. At present
these and all other colonial cu rrent sets
can be obtained at a small premium on face
value .
Stamps of Great Britain overprinted for
use in Morocco: Agencies have, in some
cases, increased very considerably in price
in recent months. Tyvo nev,T-values were
issued at about the end of February (90
cents on gd. and I Fr. on rod .) and other
values (George V) are expected shortly.
Rumou r is cu rrent that the new George V I
permanent set for G reat Britain wi ll be
issued in Apr il and if this does happen
we may expect the same stamps for u se i1':'
IVl orocco to appear soon afterwards. It \\-ilI
be obvious, therefore , that the fina l values
of the Georg e V set will not be current
fo r any leng th of time and should appreciate in value in a short t ime after they
become obsolete . This rumour may be
without fOllndation but it is just as well to
be prepared.
vV h ile dealing with the recent issues of
Morocco men tion must be made of the
.King Ed ward VUI sets. Altogether eleven
sta m ps have been overprinted for use in
the four zones of Morocco. There has been
much speculation as to their future value
with the result that prices have varied at
the ~ame t ime between IId. and 7) / 6 for the
~et. They can still, however, pe bought for
the forme r fig ure.
An interestin g variety ha~ , . be~n . discovered .011 the IOC., Sparrisl1\ Zone ; and I.d.
and 2!d ~ I nternationa'l Zone stamps . Tliis
va riety consists of a slig htly larger over-

H E issue of the J ubi lee stamps in 1935

not only aroused the interest of stamp
collect ors throug hout" the world but It
" 'as responsible for converting large numbers of non-collectors to the hobby . These
l~tter realised that here at least was the
means of acquiring a souvenir of a historic
occasion for a comparatively small outlay .
As a result, the demand vvas always g reater
than the availab le supplies and prices began
to rise. At the time, as a result of these
hig h prices, a larg e number of collectors
decided not to complete their sets assum ing that in the course of time these stamps
\\ould find t heir own price level at a very
much 10\'Ver fig ure. Actually they have
been disappointed, for, contrary to expectations, practically every set has increased
in price and there seems no reason to suppose that the prices ruling to-da y shou ld
not stand firm or even tend to rise slightly
still further.
In about six weeks' time the is~ ues to
celebrate the Coronation of H.M . Kin g
George VI will be on sale throug h out the
Empire. All those "vho were 'caug ht nap ping' with the J ubilee issues have taken
steps to acquire these new issues when they
appear. There is ho wever little likeli h ood
of history repeating itself as \yhereas the
ave rage price for each Colony in the Jubilee
issue was I ! 6 the price for the Coronation
set is 6d. In other words the new set is
\\'ell \\lithin the reach of every collector and
all the values are those which normally
frank ordinary correspondence to this
,country.
It is therefore probable that
postally used copies (\yith the po~sib l e exception of some of th e Dominion s) wi ll be
lllore p lentifu l and th erefore obtainable at
a more reason able price.
These Coronation sets will be on sale
from May 12th to December 3 1 ~ t in , the
Crown Colonies and when the y at:e. \yit11cu:awn j,t ,is g enerally anticipated that tl)e
n e\\" permanent sets bearin g the l1eac1 of
King Georg'e VI \\'ili be-pIa'c ed on sale . No
official announcement has h O\\'ever ye t bee,n
. mad e on this point.

THE
THE

ROYAL

ARMY

PAY

print- each of the words 'Agencies' and

'Centimos' being abo ut one half millimetre
larger than in the original overprint, while
the \yord 'Morocco' is about I mm . larger.
The new variety occurs only 011 24 stamps
in a sheet of 240 on the tvvo International
zone values and on 49 in the Spanish Zone.
The variety is best collected in pairs-th e
former must be in vertical pairs and the
Spanish can be in either horizonta l or vertical pairs. At present the prices for these
are reasonable but they shou ld be obtained
\\"hile they are sti ll available. If, as has
been suggested, the variety is caused . by
the provision of ne\\' cl'iches, to replace the
original \yhich have become \yorn or
damaged then it can be assumed the va riety
will become more common as the original
plates become more ,yorn unti l eventually
the complete sheet bears the larger overprint and pairs she wing the two types
se-tenant will cease to exist . .
From ew Zealand, in recent months has
emanated the attractive Chambers of Commerce set. The cost price of this set when
issued was about 1/- .and its price to-day
is about five times this amount. It wi ll
undoubtedly rise fur ther in the near future.
The pictorial set on single waterl11ark~d
paper has been .liepla.c ed by a simi lar set
on paper with multiple watermark and we
shall no doubt find .a number of p rice ad vances for the original set before the end
of the year . Two other popular issues have
been the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty set and
the Sultan of Zanzibar's Jubilee set. Both
these were quickly sold out and sho uld
be obtained no\\' before the prices rise.
There \\'ill doubtless be a num.ber of
persons in the Corps who hitherto have not
been attracted to the hobby of St amp
Collecting, but who consider that the
present time affords an ideal opportunity
to make a start. To these I wou ld offer
one or two suggestions. Firstly, a new
collector must decide exactly what he is
going to collect-whether British Colonial

CORPS

An excellent \'Vay to complete a collection is to join a good stamp club. Th ere

are a large number in London and the
provinces wh ich circulate monthly packets
and a study of their contents frequentl y
discloses some real bargains to appeal t o all
purses. This is also the best ",.ray of disposing of surplus duplicates .
If sufficient support is forthcomin g it is
hoped to form an Excha nge Club for Collectors in the Corps. A ll collectors \\'o ul d
be elig ible to join and those stationed
abroad wou ld be speciall y welcome.
Will all those interested in the matter communicate with Capt. A. L. Dllllnill ,
Command Pay C ffice, 80 Pall Mall. S.W.I ,
stating whether they "vould be willing to
become buying' or selling members or both.

A.L.D.
YOUR CORONA TION

'
on 3 envelopes (one by a ir mail) 4/..
The Crown Colonies wi ll i sue
135 dIfferent Coronation stamps in May; co mpl et e unu ~e d
set 27 / 6, u ~ed on "day of iss ue" e nvelopes 67 / 6 ( ~ ubi ec t
to safe aJ:nval). Ask fo r pa rticu la rs. W e will a lso li ave
the sets Iss ued by the Dom inions , unu se d and on "firEt
day" envelopes.
Co.RONATlo.N STAMPS.

FREE

OPPORTUNITY.

CANADA Co.Ro.NATlo.N ISSUE sent

t o all se ndin g l ~d. stamp fOJ' m y DJ'ice

list
of lI'l int, Used, a nd "Posted direct t o YOU "
set s of Coronation stamps from Gd. upwards .

ARCHIBALD F. McQUARRIE

J. STEPHEN (c),12,Cook St., Liverpool 2

PioJlee>' of Fi"st Day C OVrs I n'11' the E ,,!ph'p.

161a, STRAND, Lo.NDo.N , W .C.2 .

ARMY

PAY

CORPS

J=-O_U_R_N_A
_L__ _ _ __

J OURNAL

or Foreig n or both. Next he must decide

how far to go back to commence his collec tion- i.e ., whether he will collect all t he
issues or whether he will start from 1910
omyards with those of King George V or
" 'hether he will start with the stamps to b e
issued for the present reig n. Thirdly, h e
has to decide up to what value he " 'i11
collect and whether these values are t o be
in unused or postally used condition.
It will be obvious that unl ess unlimited
funds are available it w~ ll be impossibl e to
collect the stamps of the whole ,,orIel. _-\
study of any of the \yell knm\"11 catalog u es
\\ill a l ~ o disclose that to go back even
as far as 19IO will require a larg e outlay.
Th e forthcomin g Coronation stamps ,,,ill
cost approximately 2.
These 'will be
follo\\'ed by the permanent issues for each
Colon v but the values of these sets ha ve
not ve-t been announced. When these ha ve
beel~ completed there should he a lull in
the new issues for some yea rs . There w ill
then be an opportunit y for ne,;v collectors
to decide whether they wish to revise their
previous decision and start collecting certain countries throug hout or from, say,
1910 onwards.

Mo.Ro.CCo. issued the on ly King Edwa rd VIII Colon ial

stamp s : co mp let e set of . W,' unu ~ed 1/ 6, used 2/ 6 used

ROYAL

Stations at Home
I.-PORTON

'T

HE J ournal frequently publ~shes

articles about our overseas statlOns.
One wonders sometImes why s0l!le. o~
our home stations don't provoke s1l111lar
Porton for instance. What
'e ff or ts . Take
'
.
1 W I
-do you know of Porton, "vho on y
00 ",ich know?
No doubt it is very interesting to know
that ill Timbuctoo the temperature ran ges
f rom 100 to 105 from May to September,
. J
that it mostly rains on .two. days 111 anuary, and that lig ht clothmg IS conseque,ntly
essential but umbrellas are not.. I sn t 1t
just as interesting to knm~ that 111 Portoon
the temperature seldom nses above zer ,
tha tit r'a ins from J an uary to December
.e xcept for h vo days in August, and that
macintoshes, r u bber boots and sou'v,resters
:are de 1'ig'u er.
.
And then there's gardenin g.
We. 11~
Porton h ave gardens, so,. if you are. commg
here, a noddin g ~cquall1tance WIth cabbages and carrots IS very. necessary. Y?~
t also add to your l<1t a ga rden f011,-,
mus
1 s~
-spade
hoe, mmllring mac h'me an d Sleal
but n;ake the additions when you get here.
You wi ll probably find that the man. you
,
'a re reh.evmg
Wl'11 b e so g'lad . t o 0O'et nd of
them that he ,,,rill g ive you hIS.
0

Having acq uired the tools , the next thil11

is t o learn what to do witl~ the!l1' One 0
the best ways of proceedl:1g IS .to select
1eio'hbour one w h o pndes hllTlself on
as . a 0'l a 0 oa rdener. T
'b
hat 'Isn 't near-1y. as
eIn o
b
.
. '
b
t se
difficult as you mIght llTlag me , eca 1
every n ewcomer seems, after only a ~ew.
mon ths., to be quite an expert. . H
t av1l1g
found your neighbour, you go o~t m 0 your
crarden and make feeb le and futIle scratches
the soil until he lo?ks over the fenc,e
All gardenel
s
to see \V hat YO "l~ are domo'
0
T
'
"look over each other's fences. . I..... nowm g
that you are ne"v to the. job he w Ill be s~lfe
to say that you are g 0111g. the "vro~ g '" a~
about it. and. if he is the l<1nd of ne~ g hboU1
I have in mind, he will start sho\,v1l1 g . ~ou
h ow it sh ould be done. Don't be too q Ul ck
at learning. My nei gh1;>CHH hoed up ~11
my potatoes for me thIS yea r, and \\ as

in

quite satisfied to think that perh~l?s nex t

year I should , under his able tUltlOn , be
capable of doing the job myself . ~ut.I
don't think I've really got the han g of It
ye t.
.
dl'
\Ve also have golf-for wl11ch. a n o .e 1l1g
acquaintance with gardening. IS agam a
g reat help.
Wheth~r we dIg ~eeper a~
gardening or at golf IS a ~oot P01l1t . OUI
course is a nine hole one w1thout any. holes.
When one gets on the g reen one IS considered to have done all that human endeavour is capable of. One . of the R.E.
stalwarts actually did the 8th 111 I7 recently
-but he is a blacksmith by trade and for
several years pulled in his. Corps tu g -of-war
team, fr om which you WIll gather that he
has 0Teat natural advantages over 111 0St ~f
.
0
d ' Ne can hardly hope to emulate h1s
us, an
, b
bl
f eat . O f course , even he \,"on t eha1 e
to do so ,vell when we have some 0 e~.
His record ' of I7 was challenged recentlY
by a gunner w ho claimed .to have do~e .the
8th in 13. An extraordmary me~t111g ~f
the handicap committee ,,~as c~lled llnmedlately, and on investi gatlO~l It was fOll11.d
that the claimant hadn t co~nted Ins
strokes when he had failed .to hIt the ball.
Counting these brought hIS scor~ up to
25, which is only two under bogey, and .
nothin Oo' much to boast about .
f
As a result of the golf-craze th~ tone 0
the Sergeants' Mess has be~n r~lsed. considerably. A stranger com1l1g 111 slmp l~
wouldn't recog nise the place as a S~rgeantJ
Mess-except for hearin g an occaslOn~ l a jective, perh aps. We talk of the falrTw~y
'(as if we possessed one) ~n? of bun~el s,
hazards. tees and mashie-mbhcks (as If \\ e
lrn~\\' v"hat they were) . And to hear ,C,Sd'~'
'.
H otchklss IS-_
Stralghtedge
an d B '.S ' l\Jf'~ '.
.
,
the
respectlve
ments
of
CUSS111g .
.
d steel
f
shafted and ","ooden clubs IS an e uca lOn
in itself.
.
t th re
For the rest of yo ur entertal11men.
e
is a cinema nine miles away at Sahsbury,
and the Sergeants' Mess sells good beer.
Does anyone , anywhere, wan t a change
of Stati on?
W.K.C.
9

THE

ROYAL

ARl\.IV

PAY

CORPS

]OUkNAL

King George VI and the Fighting

Services
By R . Maurice Hill .

~lpon "the Sailor King", as His Majesty

111spected the crevv of the "ho n DU/l e"
soon ~o become historic for all time a~
fla gshIp of the Grand Fleet in the Great
vVar .
On !\-ugust 4th, I914 England went to>
,,-ar ~v lth Germany. One of the first actsof HIS Late Majesty King Georo-e V on the
outbreak of .hostil~ties was to ~end to theCOI11l:-~ande.r.-111-Ch l ef of the Grand Fleet~
Admll.a1 S11 John Rushworth Jellico e, the
followlll "",
omessao-e'
"At
th'IS
b . .gravemoment 1ll our natlonal history, I send t o
you, and through you to the officers and
men of the fleet under your command thea~sura,nce of my confidence that under ~our
dlre~tlOn they will revive and renew the old
g 10~les of the Ro~al Navy and prove onceag au~ th~ Sure ShIeld of Britain and of our
EmpIre III the l:-our of trial", With hisown l?ng eXpeI?~nCe of the Royal Navy,
and hIS ever-abId111o- love for "th S .
S
' " H ' 1\1[ - ""
e enIor
erVlce, IS 1 ajesty King Georo-e V must
have .felt proud to think that hi~ son, n~t
~et mn~t~~n~ years of age, was sharing the
t~sponslbll1tles of g uarding Britain's sea
lllgh ways,
H .M,S. Co llingwoo d, in which Prince
Albert was serving, formed part of the
ISt .Battle Squadron (Vice-Admiral Sir
Lewls Bayley in command) of the Battle
~leet, .the o~her v.essels of the same squadI on bel~lg HIS MaJesty's Ships M arlborou /Zh
(flagshIp), Si. Vincent, Co lossus HercuZ ;s
Neptune, .Vang~ar~, and Sup e1'b, \~;ith
B e.l~ ona. (LIg ht CrUlser) and Cyclops (Repan ShIp ) attached.
On ~h e map t~e Nor.th Sea may appear
small 11:- compan son WIth the Atlantic 01-the Pa Clfi c; yet It
. h_as an area of about 011 e
hnndred and twenty thousand sq uare mil es
of tur!) ulent wa ter. In the early days of
the Gleat War our Grand Fleet used to put
to sea freql~entl y, in constant hopes that
somewhere 111 those po
- ml'I es
_ , 000 squale

U~ present so:rereig~ commenced his

aC~l\'.e connectlOn WIth. the fighting

se.rVlces at the age of thIrteen when he

entered the Royal Naval College, Osborne,
as. a Cadet. After two years at Osborne
11:IS Royal.Highness Prince Albert (to giv~
hIm the title by which His Majesty \"as
then kn?" n) was transferred to the Royal
Naval Coll~ge, Dartmouth.
What ,,,as
pr~bably HIS Majesty's first appearance in
umform at a public ceremony was on the
8th of N!ay, 19~0, vvhen the body of His
Late MaJes~y Km g Edward VII\vas taken
!rom Buckmgham . Palace to Westminster
~~a ~l for ~he LYlllg -in-State.
His Late
1.1ajesty. Kmg George V, in the uniform of
an Adnllra~ of the Fleet, walked behind the
coffin ('~hICh was carried on the historic
g un-carnage used at three royal funeralsthose of Queen Victoria, Edward VII and
Ge~rge V) . A pace or t wo behind' His
Majesty walked his two sons-the Duke of
C?rnwall and Prince Albert, the future
K mgs Edward -V III and George VI-in
naval cadet uniform.
In Ja~uary, I912, Prince Albert's name
fi g ured 111 the "passing out" list of the
Royal Naval College, and along with sixtythree ot~er ef!1bryo na val officers he embarked
111 H ..A'l . S . C
b er i,and, a crUIser
.
"
U1n
~Ullt 111 I904, for a training cruise to the
anary Islands, the West Inches, and
Canada
In AUOllSt
'
P nnce
.
.
b

' 19 I 3
A lbert was
appo111ted to H: M.S: Colli'ng-wood as a MidshIpman, and m thIS ship he ,,,as destined
to spend three eventful years ,
" ~n July, I 914, only a little \yhile before
t e day that changed the \yorId" H'
Late Ma lesty KiI1O'
IS
,-' Geol-o-e
;::' V held a I-,.
eVIew
f t 1le Fleet
obl
at
S])ithead
It
'
.
was a memora . e occaSlOn; no larger assembly of warshIps had eve; been seen , and it was also
n?t,able .as belllg the first naval revie w ~t
\~.hlch aircraft were present. Prince Albert
"as one of the naval officers in attendance
10

THE

ROYAL

ARMY

PAY

of restless waves the Germa n High Seas

Fleet would be encountered, and a victory
,evert g reater than that of Trafalgar wo uld
be added to British naval annals; but for
reasons of policy the ruling powers of Germany preferred to keep their main fl eet in
.a passive role. Presumably the reasons for
this \Nere, firstly, a desire to 'keep their
fl eet "in being ", knowin g that while it
,existed a large number of men and a g reat
-amount of war material \~o uld be required
to keep the British navy at full strength
t o' counteract it; secondly, fear that if the
German fl eet should be crippled or destroyed in action against us, the command
-of the Baltic would inevitably pass into
British hands, depriving Germany of an
important source of supply from the
neutral Scand inavian countries, and also
leaving the way clear for a landin g of
Allied troops on the German coast; thirdly,
though this could hardly be said to apply
in the earlier stages of the ,;v ar, greater
reliance was p laced by the Germans on
-submarines than on surface ships.
So the months \yore on, and the Battle
Fleet still waited for an opportunity to
get to grips yvith the enemy. If any reader
should jump to the conclusion that, as the
Battle Fleet was not in action durin g this
period, it was either lyin g safe and snug
in harbour or " pleasure cruising", may I
,d ravv hi s attenton to some reports of Admiral J ellicoe, reg arding activities durin g
December, 19 14.
"On the night of December 2nd a ver y
violent gale sprung up at Scapa Flo\y,
during vvhich several ships dragged their
:anchors, in spite of two anchors being do\yn
and steam up; the gale lasted until the
mornin g of the 4th. A ll communication
between ships in Scapa Flo""I, even by
,drifters, was susPi=uded, and the light
-cruisers at sea on patrol were forced to lie
to ."
A lmost every day for the \oveek fol'lowing the weather conditions were bad
-and on December 9th the Admiral reports
that "the 1St Battle Squadron proceeded
to sea t o cruise t o the north-westward of
the Shetland I slands and to carry out g unnery practices as convenient. In conse'q uence of the bad ,;veather the Vice-Admiral
sent the attached cruiser Bello>
n a back t o
Scapa for shelter. On the rrth another
:gale was experienced, "vhich lasted until
:-

CORPS

J OURNAL

the 14th. The weather during this period

w as very bad, and ships at sea (includinothe 1St Battle Sq uadron ) experienced it~
full rigours. Destroyers on patrol ,\-ere unab le to maintain their stations and were
forc~d to run for sh elter, and one of them,
the C oc ka.t1'ice, suffered some dama o'e"
Let me assure the reader to \\'hom the ~~'ays
of the Navy are as a closed book, that the
\" eather had t o be very bad indeed before
Destroyers were allo\\'ed to run for shelter .
We ,vere proud to ca ll Kin g George V
"Our Sailor King", and his second son is
\yell worthy to inherit that proud title. An
officer who t ook his turn of keepin o watch
""
111 the Grey North Sea during the sto rmy
"'inter of 1914-15 has well earned the right
to be counted as one cif the honourable
company of Mariners of England.
Many thousands of Britons spent the
Christmas "holidays" of that memorable
yea r I9 14 under circumstances \"hich they
,,,ould not like t o see repeated .
When
Christmas comes round again, ,,,e all hope
that our King will spend it happily, in the
company of his famil y. N o,~' let u s see
how His Majesty and his shipmates spent
the never-to-be-forgotten first ,yar-time
Christmas. O n the morning of December
25 th Colling-wood and her consorts of the
1St Battle Squadron left Scapa fo r a rendezvous "somevvhere in the open sea" ,
",here they were to join the rest of the fleet
from Cromarty and Rosyth . The whole
fleet was together shortly after noon, and
not lon g afterwards the ships of the 1St
Light Cruiser Squadron reported enemy
submarines 15 miles south west of the
Battle Fleet. A long day of maneouvring
and looking out for the enemy followed,
with the weather "freshening " all the time.
" At 9. 15 p. m. the fieet again turned southv,ar'd, speed having to be reduced owing
to the sea becoming too heavy for the Deshoyers . By midnight a south ,,-esterly gale
"vas b lowing." On the morning of Boxing
Day the records sho",,I that "a speed of
eleven knots "vas all that the Destroyers
could keep up w ithout serious risk of dam age, and as the wea ther was getting rapidly
\yorse they were detached at 8.10 a.m. to
their bases. B y 10 a .m. a whole g ale v/ as
b lowing from the south eastward . The
sweep was abandoned and course altered
t o the north ,;vard .
The Destroyers and
,

11

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----------~-------'-'-"-----'-------'----------- -- -----

Light Cruisers suffered somewhat from the

gale_ Four men were washed overboard.
Bad weather continued during the passage
north ,,,,ith a very rough sea and on nearing
the Pentland Firth the Battle Fleet found
the conditions exceptionally severe, with a
follovving "wind which caused the funnel
smoke to obscure objects ahead of the
ships. " Not until the morning of the 28th
did the fury of the storm abate, and conditions return to normal. Those who were
serving with Territorial or N ev,' Army units
on the East Coast of .E ng land at Christmas
19 14 will remember that there was a "stand
to", owing to rumours that. the German
Fleet was coming out and that there would
be a raid, possibly a landing of German
troops, attempted during the Christmas
period. It will be remembered that the
bombardment of Scarborough and Hartlepools took place just before Christmas.
Hence the uncomfortable time spent by
many soldiers up and do wn the coast defences at what all had hoped would be a
festive season; thoug h as the reader will
doubtless ag ree, the soldiers had much the
best of it; their Christmas "roughing it"
was mere child's play compared to what the
sailors were having at the same time.
While the 1St Battle Squadron was at
sea on the nig ht of the 18th March, 19 15,
torpedoes were fired at them by an enemy
submarine; within half an hour this "U"
Boat had been rammed and sent to the
bottom by H .M.S. Bi1'1'ninghanL What a
triumph it would have been for Von Tirpitz's men if they could ha ve sent the
Collingw ood to the bottom , with a mem, bel' of the British royal family aboard.
At last, on May 31st, 1916, came the
long a waited battle between the two laroest
fleets in the ,yorld-the Grand Fleet of
Great Britain and the German High Seas
Fleet. .M uch has been written with reoard
b
to that engagement, which we call the
Battle of Jutland, " 'hile our opponents call
it the Battle of Horn Reef. Here vve are
only concerned with the part played by
H.M.S. Colling'wood, in which our future
King was serving as a sub-lieutenant, his
action station being in one of the twelve
inch g un turrets . Admiral J ellicoe's report
stated that' "the ships of the 1st Battle
Squadron were afforded more opportunities
for effective fire than the rest of the Battle

Fleet, and the fullest use was made of the

opportunities. This squadron, under the
command of Sir Cecil Burney, was highly
efficient, and very strong proof was furnished during the Jutland battle, if proof
were needed, that his careful training had
borne excellent results."
H.M.S. Collingwood had somewhat narrow escapes from two torpedoes, one passing close astern and the other about thirty
yards ahead.
At one time during the
battle C olhng7.vood seems to have scored
hits on the German D erfflinger, and also
to have been busily engaged shelling
Lutz07.v , flagship of the enemy battle
cruisers, subsequently disabled by a direct
hit.
Admiral Sir David Beatty (afterwards Lord
Beatty) reported that "the 1st Battle Squadron received more of the enemy's returned
fire than the remainder of the Battle Fleet
with the exception of the 5th Battle Squad~
ron ." From which it will be seen that our
King 'iNaS in the thick of the fighting in the
greatest naval battle of modern times. Admiral J ellicoe's despatch recorded that "On
all sides it is reported to me that the o-lorious
traditions of the past were most ;orthily
upheld. Officers and men were cool and
determined, with a cheeriness that ';v'ouId
have carried them throug h anything." As
a humble Sub-Lieutenant, R.N.-a mere
'single strip er' in a battleship's gun turret
-our present sovereign played his part in
the upholding of those great traditions; in
the years to come, may His Majesty ever
retain the spirit of the heroes of Jutland,
and face \;v hatever troubles may lie ahead
of him during his reign with "coolness
d~termination, and a . spirit that will carr~
hun through anything."
After Jutland the German High Seas
Fleet would never venture to meet the
British in open fight . a~ain ; yet every year
on the anniversa-ry of the battle, German
s~iIors and marines- are broug ht up to Ber1111 to g oose-step through the streets of the
capital "in honour of the victory of Horn
Reef" . So far as the present writer is
aware, . the neares~ approach to any form
of officlal celebratIOn in this country is at
the Royal Marine Barracks, Plymouth,
whe.re the g uard turns out at noon on the
an11lversary and a fanfare is sounded on the
silver bug les' in honour of the 538 Royal
12

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lV[ajesty took part was the triumphal entry

of the Allied troops into Brussels in
November, 1918. In January, 1919 Prince
Albert accompanied King George V and
the Prince of Wales at the Hyde Park revie w of the "Yo.f;ng Soldier" Battalions of
nineteen year old boys which were being
despatched to join the Army of Occupation
on the Rhine-"The Young Guards", as
the London press christened them, who
were going out to "wind up the watch
on the Rhine" while the war-worn veterans
of lq14 / 18 were being demobilised . On
Saturday, April loth, 1920, Prince Albert
carried out what was probably his first
official duty of a purely military nature,
when he paid a visit to Holly Hedge House,
Blackheath, for the dual purpose of presenting a Kin g 's Colour to the 2/20th
London Regiment and of unveiling the
Reg imental Memorial to all ranks of the
20th London Regiment (the Blackheath
and Woolwich Territorials) who had fallen
in the Great War: nine hundred of them
who had found "some corner of a foreign
field that is ' for ever England", in France,
Belgium, Salonica, Egypt, Palestine or
Germany.
The Colonelcies of various regiments now
beg an to be granted to the Duke of York,
and prior to 11is accession to the Throne
last December, His Royal Highness appeared in the Army List as Colonel-in-Chief
of the IIth Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) ;
The Somerset Lig ht Infantry (Prince
Albert's); The East Yorkshire Regiment
(The Duke of York's O wn) ; The Royal
Army C rdnance Corps. and The Leicestershire Yeomanry (Prince Albert's Own). In
1932 His Royal Highn~ss was appointed
Colonel of The Scots Guards, in succession
to that gallant old veteran, Field Marshal
Lord Methuen.
Since July, 1920, His
Royal Highness The Duke of York (who
also holds the Scottish title of Earl Of
Inverness) has held the appointment of
Colonel of the 4th Bn., The Queen's Own
Cameron Highlanders-the Inverness Territorials. It will be remembered that among
the Jubilee honours of 1935 the title of
"The Duke of York's Own" was granted
to The East Yorkshire Regiment. As the
old Fifteenth Foot, this regiment served
,,-ith Wolfe at Ouebec, and the officers still
\\'ear a black line in their gold lace in

Marines who gave their lives for King and

Country at Jutland.
Three months after the Battle of Jutland,
Prince Albert attained his second stripe
and became a fully fledged Lieut., R.N., but
unfortunately his health broke down soon
afterwards, and His Royal Highness had to
undergo an operation for appendicitis.
After convalescence, a speU of duty on the
staff of the Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth was follo\yed by further sea service ill
M.M.S. Mala ;:\'a, but this spell afloat ,'Vas
of brief duration, for it was; obvious that
the Prince's health would no longer stand
the constant strain of keeping ,;-,'atch at sea
in all weathers.
His Royal Highness "vas next posted to
a "shore-station"-the Royal Naval Air
Service aerodrome at Cram,veIl, Lincolnshire-in NO'i'ember, 1917, and a few
months later he was drafted to France,
where he sen'ed at a Royal Air Force training centre near Boulogne, and aftenvards
on the staff of General Trenchard. The
Royal Air Force, formed by the amal g amation of the Royal Naval Air Service and the
Royal Flyin g Corps (Military Wing ) had
come into bein g on April 1st, 1918, and
Prince Albert remained on the staff of
General Sir Hugh (now Lord) Trenchard
until after the Armistice. In July, 1919,
having passed the requisite solo flyin g tests,
Prince Albert \yas able to adorn his tunic
with the pilot's "wings". A month later,
His Royal Highness ,'V as promoted Squadron Leader, being .raised to Wing Commander the following year and to Group
Captain in 192 1. It \ivill be remembered
that His Royal Highness wore the uniform
of a Group Captain, R.A.F., on the occasion of his wedding
In 1920 His Royal Highness vv3s created
Duke of York, an appropriate title for a
prince who had fought at sea; for a previous hold-e r of the title, James, Duke of
York, first Colonel of "The Duke of York's
Maritime Reg iment of Foot" (nov,i the
Royal Marines) had been wounded in a
naval engagement against the Dutch in the
seventeenth century.
So far we have considered His Majesty
only in connection with the Fleet and the
flying services, but he has come closely
. into contact with the Army. Probably the
first g reat military parade in which His

13

THE R()YAL ARMY PAY CORPS JOURNAL

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Army Pay Office, Woolwich-1904.

BACK Row:- l026 CpI. H. Silcock, 1115 CpI. F. McConnell, 767 Sgt. W. P. L. lVIcEvoy , 1225 CpI.
C. Ireland, 195 S.Q.M.S. H. Edmunds, 667 Sj Sgt. J. B. Tyler, M1'. Taylor, Messenger, 360 S.Q.M.S.
W. Gibb (afte rwa rd s Lt. and Asst. 1'm,l' .) , 1184 CpI. E. Clark , 788 Sgt. W. E. Matthews (now Capt. ),
368 S.Q.M.Sgt. T. Ellis, 833 L j Sgt. J . P. Hill, 832 LlSgt. C. J. Arthul', Mr. E. Perry (ex-S.S.M.).
2ND Row:-l003 Cpl. P. H. Tempest, 1005 CpI.
Slaney, 766 Sgt. J . M. Maun, 218 S.S.M. J . T.
Clent (a,ft erwards Lt. and Asst. Pmr. ) .
3RD Row:-687 S j Sgt. R Bun'ell, Mr. Stark, 114 i jc. 8.S.M. T . Coghlan, Mr. Bromley, :Mess enger.
CIRCLING POST (R SIDE) :-306 S.Q.M.S. E. E. Barclay, 594 S/ Sgt. W. Rollinson, 255 S.Q.M.S.
F. 1;1..' . Robinson, 373 S.l-l.lVLS. H . J. Arnold (afterwards Lt. RA.V.C. ), 302 S.Q.M.S. C. H. Howard.
4TH Row:-950 CpI. E. Coy, 676 S/ Sgt. G. Ruddick, 260 S.Q.M.S. W. H. T. Bird, 294 S.Q.M.S. J.
Booth (afterwards Major Asst. Pmr.) 624 Sj Sgt. R W. Anderson (now Lt.- Col. Staff Pmr.).
FRONT Row:-9621 L jSgt. C. O'Hanlon, 1160 Cpl. S. J . Clothier, 737 Sgt. D. Bonner, 656 S j Sgt.
G. W. Hal'l'ison , 646 S.Q.M.S. R Smith , 439 S.Q.M.S. H. Brierley, 855 L j Sgt. F. ' N. Sanders a nd J essie

'''T.

RIFLE SHOOTING.
Many readers will be interested and
pleased to hear that Staff Sergeant Major
J. A. G. Asher, no w stationed at Portsmouth, has been selected to represent the
Army in the Inter-Se rvices Small Bore
Match ag ainst the Roy al Navy, Royal
Marines, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve,
the Territorial Army, and the Royal Air
Force. The heartiest cong ratulations are
extended to Sergeant lVfajor Asher on the
distin'ction he has gained both for 'the Corps
: and for himself. He has to fire tw.o normal
S.M.R.C. match cards, and his present
formiustifies every hope for t wo "Pos, sibles". Everyone will \\'ish him the very
best of luck.

King George VI and the Fighting Services

(continued from pre'IJ ious page)

memory of the young general wh o fell in

the hour of victory; when H .R.H . The
Dul.:::e of York was married, The East Yorkshire Regiment's g ift to their Colonel-inChief consisted of a silver replica of their
mess table centrepiece, shm\'ing, in the
form of a g roup of silver statuettes, the
death of General Vl olfe at the Battle of
Quebec in 1759.
Since ascending the Throne, His Majesty
has, of course, become Colonel-in-Chief of
many more regiments, both at h ome and
overseas.

:, @

Yon may bE: a recruit,. you may b~ half~

way throu g h your l~enod of s~rvlce _~l
nearly at the end of It, but, whlc?-evel It
. t
11 of you later or sooner, wIll come
Is,oa .
,
.
-d' h- othe day vv hen yClU take yOUl .ISC al",e
or
transfer to the Reserve .
.
It is possible that you may marry a n~h
w ido w or, for some other reason, ~e. 1 elieved the necess~ty of e~rning your hvmg,
but yon will be well adv~sed to assume ~h:~
you will have to earn It and to COnS1(~d.
the preparation you can now make toward s
doing so.
Remember that, althou gh th e
Asso'Ciation exists for the sole purpose ?f
helping ex-Regulars of good character 111
this direction, it cannot make the. dem~nds
of the labour market fit ~he q~ahficatlOns,
or perhaps hck of qualtficatlOns, of the
men seekin g ,,-ork .
_
T o beoin \yith take stock of your natUlal
capabilities. By'reason of the fact t~lat :you
are a soldi er it is ~a fe to state that you possess physical fitn ess and a re~sonab}e
standard of education: your serVIce w~ll
increase> these particular assets aJ?d \NIll
probably develop in YO\l an alert m111d and
the ability to think qUlckly. If :yO~l ha ve
no know led ge of an actual trade, It 1S very
necessa~- y for you to give real thoug ht .to
the problem, in order that you r~lay hft
yourself out _ of th e g~-O~lp des~nb ~d a~
"sober, reliable and \\'lllmg-sUltable fOl
a position of trust .! '
_ _
Keep your eyes and ea.rs open,. whele:' er
you go, for any ge n eral mf01:matlOn \:"h1C~1
may be of use to yo u; consIder yOUl petsonal tastes and inclinations to se~ \;vhether ,
possibly , something yo u have hItherto regarded merely as. a hobb y cannot ?e turne_d
to advantag e. It IS very .true tl~at If you a~ e
doing somethin g you ltke domg you WIll
probably do it ~ .great deal better than
somethill g vou dlshke.
,
_.
Those of you \yho are iD a POSlt1.01~ t o
do so sllould make a point of obta111l1:g,
while still serving. any licences. for \Vl11Ch
your Service training h~s ~qUlPped. you,
and which may be essentIal tf you WIsh to

turn that training to account in civil life.

For instance a motor driving licence and a
heavy vehicle licence, both probably; easy
to obtain while serv ing and more dIfficult
after discharg e, if only by reaso~ of the
fact that you will then have to provIde your
own vehicle on which to be t~ste~. . .
Again, your future occypa!IOn 11~ hfe 15
mixed up \yith the localIty 111. whlch you
mean to settle; as an almost U1;llversal rule,
let the occupation be the decld1l1g fac~or.
One so often hears of a m~n mterestlllg
himself in chickens and pIgS and th~l1
taking a h ouse in the 11liddle of a bIg.
town.
cl f '1
th
You may have a wife an
amI y;.
:y
must be considered; it is no use setthng 111
a place where yo ur wife .will ~e unhappy.
or your children's educatIOn WIll be made
difficult.
(Th e abmJe is 'rublish ~ d.at th e Tequ~st. of
the Gen eTal S eCTe tary, fo. . at70nal Assoctat~on
fOT Emplo),1n ent of R egulaT SailOTS, Soldters
and 11 i1"lnen .)

NATIONAL M.EMORIAL TO HIS LATE

MAJESTY KING GEORGE V.
As announced in 0111' last issue the
Colonel Commandant direct~d th~t th e
oonations received in c011l~echon WIth. the
National Memorial to HIS late Majesty
V should be forwarded to
._
K 0- Georo'e
the Lord Ivlayor of London.
The fol1o\yin g letter has been received
in ac1.:::no\dedg ment:
111~

<

The Mansion House ,

London , E.C.4.
17th December, 19~6.

Dear Sir.
l'
heq ue for
I have' received vour letter enc osmg. c G '
169 12s. 6d ., a 'rlol1a,tion to th e Kmg d O~hg~
Nat'onal Memorial Fund f~or~ Of~Ce~!v~:nt Fu:ci
Ranks .. Old Comrades -Ll\ sSOfcl~llOnR~yal Army Pay
and ClVliIa n personn e 0
le
Corps, serving. at Hom: 1 a nd A:l~~at should be glad
Form al r eceIpt IS enG.ose d ..
Id be conif in some way ~l1Vt' dsin?~~e t~fsa:~sst c~;lendid !?;ift.
veyed to all aSSOC1<l e Wl
.
You rs very truly,
GEO. T . BROADBRIDGE ,
Lord Mayor,
Lt. -Col. A. S. H erb ert.
ILA. R ecord and P ay Offi ce,
vV oolwi ch Dccky.-:rd , S.E.18.

IS

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Our Chess Page

Handicap Play.
The old-fashioned method of conceding
odds by the removal of one or more men
from the board does not find very much
favour these days. Weaker players, perhaps quite rig htly, do not care for the
unbalanced type of g ame which follo ws this
mefhod. Many experiments have been tried
in the way of sealed, etc., handicaps on a
class and points basis, but a novel idea has
lately met w ith much favour and leads to
very chessy and amusing g ames .
The
' main idea is that after classification, the
strong er player must inflict a mate upon
his weaker opponent in a limited number
of moves, e. g " it may be decreed that a
Class r player, to score for the g ame, must
mate a Class II I player in 30 moves, with
a proviso that if the mate is delayed for
not more than 10 moves later, i .e., 40
moves in all, the g ame is called a draw .
Failure to win within this second maximum
entails a loss to the strong er player . The
following deli ghtful position was received
by us as a Christmas Card from Dr. L. S.
Penrose of Colchester and the solution v"ill
be g iven in our next issue .

Black before move So, and so achie ve a

draw ?
Chess and Patience.
One often hears the remark " Life is too
short for Chess- I haven't the patience".
It is probable that this entirely errone?~s
impression is due to the fact that the cn,tIc
has only encountered a couple of beg mners playing , it may be, aboard ship, v,rhere
time is of no consequence and w here these
beoinners have not learnt to u se chess time.
The impression is erroneous, for Chess is
what you choose to make it. ' It is true
many of us enjoy a four hours ' match g ame
with clocks and a time-limit, but man y of
us also are capable of skittling eig ht g ames
in the lunch hour! The world' s master
players are indeed speed merchants and
excel in lig htning play, as v,;itness their
remarkable simultaneous performances.
Nor is era quick sig ht of the board" their
monopoly. It calls for very littl e practice
for the amateur to' attain a speed in offhand g ames which w ill ensure many chess
thrills in the scanty leisure at his disposal.
Chess, after all, is a g ame and can very
easily be made to accommodate itself to our
brief relaxation s if 'we will.

Black .

Game No. 41.

The follo vving cheerful littl e skirmish 'was
played recently between t wo L ondon
Leag ue players.

(Edit01"s N ote. It would seem that the

chess editor is at the moment pre-occupied
with some other erN otes" and has inadvertently mixed these with his chess ideas.
We are, hO\;v ever, permitting th ese to stand
as being perhaps excusable under the circumstances and not altog ether inappropriate .)

White.
4 White pieces: K, Q, R, Kt.
'9 Black pieces: K, Q , R, B, B, Kt, P, P, P .

" Modified London System."

PK4
1. PQB4
KtKB3
2. KtQBs
PQ4
3. P xP
K txP
4. KtB3
K t QB3
5, PlO
A reference to " R e:::oi'ds" would h av e p ro ved this
"inadmissible" .
6. KtxKt
6. K t P xKt
" Appropl'i ati o n s ,in ~,\i d , "

' JOURNAL
THE ROY AL~A_R_'_M_Y_ _P_A_Y_CORPS
_
------------::::--:-:-::It will be seen tha't Black is t wo. paw n s
7. PK5
7. KtQ4
to the o'ood and would win if Whlte ha~
8. KtK4
. "
not the/::> ad ~ antage of the move and POSiA good " Postl11 g
8. BK2
tion.
9. KtKt 5
9. PQB4
10. B~a
.'
An Insu'r i:m ce contl'lbu t lOn .,
QR~
10.
.,
"Main Issue" but th e operato r is "Adrema ' .
11. KtQ6ch
'With " Alotmean t " .
11. BxKt

12. qX~'G
Black
s
en e-l'a1 "State"" is not g' ood and his fa te
is not long in " Suspense. 12. K t B7 dbl ch
Non-effective and wi thout "Contingent Allow
ance".
R
13. Kt:x
"
Q1
13.
K
,
in
'
'Close
Custody ,
Now the Kni ght r emalll,S
14. BKt5
Mobilizing the R eserve.

14. PB3
15. P xP
15 P P
, x
16. KB2
16. BxP
it"
The King feels a " G.A. (Get A way ) Dra ' .
17. QK7ch
17. KKt3
18. QKt7cl1- '
::'8. KB4
The King moves with "Circular Decision " .
'
19. KK~
19, QKtSch
20. PB3. Compul sor y Stopp'a ge .
Passed to Booking Section for V otin g to " Gam es
Irrecoverable" .
.
White classifi ed fo r Profi cIency.

Play Study No. 9.

PI ace a Kn i bo'ht on any of the . sixteen
field
central squares of the board and ~ts \
of control w ill' be eig ht. squares 111 eac~1
case, the Knig ht's ma~nmum . Henc.e it
is an important point 111 p}ay, espeClally
in the middle-g ame , that I<...~l1ghts sho?ld
be centrally posted. Here l~ a beautIful
end-game , composed, we beheve, b y .the
veteran Dr. Lasker, ex-world's cha1T~plO1;,
which is desig ned to illustrate the Kmg ht s
powers very aptly.

r6

1. KtK3 (a cent ral

squar e) dis. ch .
2. QKt4ch
3. QB4ch "
4. QB1ch ~

L KKt6 (other moves

5. QQ1ch
6. QB2ch
Note t h e qUI. et co I'll I)' lllsion
by t he Knigh t.
7. QKt2ch

5. KB6
6. KKt 5
exercised all t he time

lose at once)
2. KB7
3. KK7
4. QK7 (if , . , ~ x~{t,
5. QK1ch wl11nl11g

Q)

7. K t Kt6 (if KR4.

mate in t wo)

A nd now fo llows a most b eauti f ~Ql coup.

8. QR3ch!!
8, K x ,
9. KtB2 Mat e.
i ht 's s )ecial p rerogativ e, a smothere,d
The Kn g
of which on e should always
mat e" of the POSSI,)I I Y 'f ' tead
K moves 9.
be mindful. Of course, 1 ill S < ,
QxQ.

1n

Problem No. 20.

By F. W. Andre w .

White to mate in
Solution to End-Games.
(i) Mat e in 4 (fro m a game
1 QR7ch!
.
'P 1 11
2. R x C l . ,
3,. KtB6ch
4. BR5 Mat e

2.

,
by Alekll1ne) .
L KxQ
2, RxR
3 KKt3
.

(ii ) End G.,Sl,me, by A. Troitski,

,I ' ");1
White draws by;1. K xR (if . . . K
1. RQ3 !ch
else 2. R Q1)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5,

Black has just played 35 . . . B x R (on

White's KKt2) and considers th at he is
fairly safe since White, to "vin the g ame,
must checkmate on or before move 4 0 .
White is to make his 36th move no\", : can
he force a win? If not, can he checkmate

PIa)'. ,. i)toceeds : -

2. KB3 Drawn, fo rRi)f

PKt8 (Q 01'
Sta lema t e.

White t o play and win .

Solution to Problem NO. 19. (By D ' On ille.)

1. PR~
L BQ3
2, PxB
2. BB2!
3. PK t4 MaLe.

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ROYAL

7733006 S.Q.lVLS. T. Fowler, until 6/ 5/ 38 .

7733784 S/ Sergt. T. H a rding., until 2517 / 38.
77"33236 S.Q .lVl.S. J . J. Warren , until 20 / 1 /39.
7657E05 S.Q.lVl.S. H. J. Lent, until 31/ 3/ 38.
Re-Engagements to complete 21 years Service.
7583324 Sergt. E. F. BOWll, on 11 / 11 / Z6.
4121467 Sergt. H. Avery, on 11 /12/36.
1866579 Sergt. W G. Mayhew, on 10/ 2/ 37.
Extension of Service t o Complete 12 yea.r s with
Colours.
3851996 L / Sergt. E. Lewis , 11 /12/ 36.
Extensi on of ServLe to Complete 9 years w ith the
Colours.
2752705 L / Sergt. T. C. B. CUlT, on 17 /11 / 3'6.
- 6~460l2 CorpI. K. J . Robertson , on 30 / 10/ 36.
2620296 L / Sergt. T. C. Simm, on 11 / 12,/ 36.
2320254 L / Sergt. W. T . Carden, on 16/ 12/ 36.
2308474 CorpI. R D. Pearson , on ?5 j 9/ 36.
7882936 Corn1. C. Rea, on 22 / 12/ 36.
5568886 Pte. L. J. Rapson , on 14 /1 /3'7.
7884746 Pte. J. McGlennon, on 14 / 1/ 37.
4745689 Pte. N. Fish, on 14/ 1/ 37.
5618J62 Pte. F. J. Macey, on 14/ 1/ 37.
6010415 Pte. F. C. Bal'cham , on 14/1/ 37.
3959020 Pte. R H . Dav. on 14 /1 /37.
312,9.178 Pte. W . McMillan , on 14 / 1/ 37.
5497312 Pte. E. E. Gregory, on 14/ 1/ 3'7.
828760 Pte. T. W. M. Wykes, on 14/ 1 /37 .
7260223 L / Sere;t. J . L. James , on 21 / 1/ 37.
822224 Pte. J. Dunn, on 14/ 1/ 37.
403]913 Pte. R. W. Holland. on 14 / i / 37.
4912191 L / Sgt. J . G. Woodthol'pe , on 21 / 1/ 37.
7882893 CorpI. A . P. Gilbert, on ?:i / 2./ 37.
Transferred to Army Reserve.
.3851569 L / Sergt. S. E. Tal'gett, 1/ 1/ 37.
Discharges.
7657633 S.Q.M.S. R J ,' ckso!l , 21 /11 / 36.
7657907' S.Q.M.S. C. Chandler , 30 /11 /c6 .
773306?:i S.Q. lVLS. H. Rennie , 27 / 11 /36.
76581Qf7 Sergt. P . O'Hara . 25/ 11 / 36.
7f.57268 S.S.M. A. C. F'a.{.mer, 10/ 1/ 37.
7657905 S.Q.M.S. H. W. R. Dow , 21 (1/ 37.
7733077 S.Q.M.S. T. L. Bartlett, 1/2/ 37.
77333Q,O S.Q.M.S. T. nJason , 7/ 2/ 37.
7733097 S.Q.M.S. E. G. Yod,e, 12/ 2/37.
1026158 S/ Sergt. A . G. Jones, 18/ 2/ 37.
Probationers joined at Ald ers hot on 31/12136.
518~1Ol7 Pte. A. N ewman. Glos. R egt .
822-638 Gr. D. J eacock , RA.
5107714 Pte. G. F. Buchan , R W a rwick Regt.
4387939 Pte. H . W. Wilson, Green Howards.
7883918 Pte. F. C B ~nnistEr. R. Tank Corps.
2323245 Sig. G. H. McCann. R C. of S.
2;322464 Si g. S. J. Hirt, R C. of S.
3128922 Fus. D. Sears , R Scots Fus.
2323411 Sig. A. G. Thompson , R C. of S.
833517 Gr. G. Birch. R. A.
5!080l5 Pte. W . C ain~c:'o ss , R W eLl'wick Regt..
6,,/85750 Pte. E. A. Tann er, Buffs.
83'569'2, Gl' . G. W. Porter , R.A .
3959213 Pte. L. Ribton, W elch He a t .
6285764 P,te. J. M. Dixon, Buffs. "
840233 Gr. H. Chalcroft. R,.A.
7262558 P te . D. $ ay, R A .M. C.
408739 Tpl'. J. A . lVIontgomery , 5/ Innis. Dgn.
Guard s.
828545 Gl'. F. J. Dean , R.A.
791740 G r. D . A . White, R.A. , joined 14 / 1/ 37.
(conti1ltter! on page 23)

18

PAY

CORP S

J OURNAL

OBlrrUARY

Promotions and Appointments

To be Warrant Officer Class I and appointed S.S.M.
7657705 B.o..M.S. E. B. Spiel's, 5/ 10/ 36.
7657500 S.o..M.S. B. H. Clark , 9/ 12/ 36.
7T330ZO S.o..M.S. C. F. P artridge, 1/ 1/ 37.
7657497 S.o..M.S. P. E. Matthews , 11/ 1/ 37.
To be Warrant Officer Class II and appointed
S.Q.M.S.
...
7658131 Staff Sergt. L. Trip)) , 11/ 11 / 36.
6906f,99 Staff Ser gt. 'vV. G. Jagot, 16 / 12 /36.
7658049 Staff Sergt. C. A. Cross, 24 /12/ 36.
7651043 ' Staff Sergt. D. E. Osborne, 214 /12/ 36.
6809781 Staff Sel'gt. W. Praed , 25/12/ 36.
7658047 Staff Sergt. H. J. Denham, 31 / 12/36.
7658038 Staff Sel'gt. H. J. Jordan , 3/ 1/ 37.
To be St aff Sergeant.
7658164 Sel'gt. T. F. Harris , 29/10/ 36.
5039866 Sergt. G. W . Pashley, 28 /11 / 36.
5243'12 Sel'gt. G. Badger, 12 /10 j 36 .
3759452 Sergt. E. W. Ander10n , 22 /11 / 36.
7657762 Sel'gt. C. ,N. Lunn, 1/12 /"66.
5173698 Sel'gt . H. E. K el'shaw , 11 /1/3'7.
1411877 Sergt. C. Morris, 9/ 12 /36.
1415352 Sel"!?;t. E. Scoffham, 2/ 2/ 37.
To be Sergeant.
7880521 Lan ce Sergt. J. Woan , 18 /11 / 36 .
2202656 Lan ce 8en?;t. A. E. Went, 28 / 12/ 36.
To be Lance Sergeant.
7882391 Corpl. A. Dawson, 17 / 11/ 36.
6746012 Co!"):)1. K. J. Robel'tson. Q0 /11 / 36.
410&179 Corpl. R. Woolley , 21 / 10/36.
2320296 CorpJ. T. Simm, 30 /11 /36.
2321450 Corpl. F. A. J. Searle. 5 /12/ 36 .
6665482 Corpl. L. Bl'uce, 19112 /36.
5181332 Corp1. S. R. Branch . 3 /1/ 37.
6284433 Corp1. G. Field , 23 / 1/ 37.
4534741 Corpl.. n. W . Higson , 29 /1 /37.
3853881 Cor])1. J. Duckworth, 14/2,/37.
To be Cor poral.
2322424 Pte. M. Clal'k , 1 / 1/3'7.
18f.9994 P te. C. E. Jones , 1/1/37.
788:>;809 P te . R C. Jeffrev, 1/1/ 37.
3054373 P te. T. N. Johnston , 1/1/37.
6844953 Pt.e. E. W. BIackmore. 1/1 / 37.
3053730 Pte. R. Lauder , 1/ 1/ 37.
3385386 Pte. W. H. Lackenbv 1/ 1/ 37.
3244318 Pte. R lVl cDaid. 1 /1 /37.
656?)01 Pte. L. ,N. Cook. 1 /1 /37.
4913693 Pte. B. Wilson , 1/1 /37.
Contin ued in the Service beyond 21 years .
7657349 S.S .M. E. O. Cooper, until 5 /11 / 38.
7733153 S.8M. A . C. Dow , until 1/9 /38.
7657307 S.S.M . P. G. Thompson, until 30 /9/?:iB .
7733578 S.Q.M.S. V. R Hazell , until 16 /10/37.
7657609 S.O.M.S. P. VV. "Smith until 26 / 71 /37.
7733471 S.Q. lVf.S. W. Ward, until 10 /2 /3'8.
7733215 S.O .M.S. R. J . Day, until 10/3/ 38.
1022503 8 /Sergt . H. F . Evel'etJt, until 21 /7/ 40.
1411877 8ergt. C. Morris. until 4/ 8 / 41.
7657602 S.O.M.S. J. L. BIyth, until '/0 /1 /38.
7733~51 8.0 .lVLS. D. Davev. until 18 /1/38 .
7658061 S.O.M.S. L . W. Mills . until ~1 / 3 / 38.
76573fl8 S.8.M. L. A. F. Mocklel'. until 30 /10/38.
7657270 S.S.M. A. Will s, until 12 /5 /38.
7657276 S.S.M. W. F. Oram, until 23 /10 /3'8.
76580n S.O.M.S. W. Dyer, until 14/ 12 /38.
7657303 S.O.lVLS . H. S. S:;m derson, until 4/2 /38 .
7657468 S.O.M.S. W. W. Scott, until :1.,1 /3/ 38.
7657558 8.0.M.S. H. H. Rowl and , until 1617 /38.
7657'2.77 S.S.M. A. T. Kn evett. until 30 /8 /Zi'8 .
7657506 S. Q.M.S. L. A. Thul'sby, until 24 / 3/ 38.

ARl\1Y

Colonel WaIter Crauford Kennedy died

at Cheltenham on 23rd December, 1936 , at
the age of 89 years. Deceased obtained his
commission in the 1st Foot on 22nd
August, 1865, and he was promoted to
Lieutenant in March, 1870 and to Captall1
in August, 1876. In April, 1878 he "vas
transferred to the Army Pay Department,
:and became Hon. Major and Staff Pay master five years later. In October, 18 90
deceased became Hon. Lieut.-Colonel and
retired on 29th November, 1899. He was
subsequently re-employed for a time and
was promoted Colonel on 18th October,
1902 .
-)(.

The deatl1 occurred at Dover on 12th

January , 1937 of Colonel George Charles
Fuller at the age of 84. Deceased joined
th e 41~t Foot as a Subaltern on 2nd N ovember, 1.872, and a year later transferred co
the 3rd Hussars as a Lieutenant . He joined
the Army Pay Department on 19 th May,
1882 and became Captain and Paymaster.
He became Hon. IV[ajor in 1892 and Staff
Paymaster in 1897. In December , 19 02
-deceased \\'as promoted to Lieut. -Colonel
-and four years later to Colonel and Chief
Paymaster. After his retirement, in September, 1QI2. he was temporarily reemployed at Dover and vVoohvich between
August, 1914 and June, 19 1 7.

.*

Major Harry Price who died on n th

January, 1937 at Basford joined the Army
'On 12th June, 1891 on enlistment into the
2nd Bn. Rifle Bde.
He t ransferred to the Corps on 23rd June,
18 95 as a Corporal and was posted to the
Station Pay Office, Ashton-under-Lyne.
He ,'Vas transferred to Ayr on 30th
JVlarch, 1899, promoted Sergeant on 23 rd
June, 1900, Staff Serg eant on 16th J u ly ,
19 02 and posted to Pontefract on 2nd September, 1902.
His first tour abroad commenced on 22nd
March, 1907 when he embarked for ]\-ialta
havin g in the meantime been promoted
S .Q.M. Serg eant.
.
Whilst in the island he took a promin ellt
part in oroanising the social and .sp ortin g
-activities of the Detachment ' and alth ough
excell ing at an y game himself he was cease-

less in his endeavours to persuade other

members of the Detachment to join in any
competition from hand ball to football and
as a consequence was well known to all
units of the Garrison.
Before leaving Malta in April, 1912 the
deceased officer was ordered to join at Warley, on probation for Staff Sergeant-Major,
and he was subsequently promoted to warrant rank on 22nd May in that year.
In January, 1914 lie was posted to
Chester, the office being then under the
charge of Colonel E. W.
ewland under
whom the deceased had previously served
in Malta . Commissioned on the outbreak
of war he was lent for special duty with
Command Headquarters to give advice and
assistance in the rapid expansion of the
Welsh Army Corps and spent considerable
time in visiting various units.
Th is
yeoman service earned him the commendation of the then G.O.C.-in-C .
He was promoted Captain in August,
19 1 7 and subsequently posted to the office
of the R.A.S.C. and D.C . , Woolwich, and
from there to Nottingham at about fne
time of the Armistice.
Those who served in the latter office will
long remember the zeal and vvhole-hearted
enthusiasm which he displayed in clearing
the way for the subsequently demobilisation of the Labour Corps .
On the break-up of the Nottingham
office he was transferred to York in April,
19 21 and thence to Lichfield where he was
promoted Major and finally retired in September, 1932.
The deceased was a very popular member of the Corps, his breezy way and frank
outspoken manner commendin g him to
those who, like himself,' liked' to hear a
spade called by its proper name.
He leaves a wife and two sons to whom
\ye offer onr condolences on the loss of one
more stal\\'art of the pre-1 904 members of
the Corps.

The death occurred at Exeter on 19 th

December , I 93 6, of Frederick ' iVilliam
Donovan (late S.Q.1VI.S. No. 631 ) at the
ag e of 67
Deceased enlisted into the Royal Horse
Artillery 011 9th November, 1885 , as a bOYf

THE

ROYAL

ARMY

PAY

but in 1892 he purchased his Discharge. He

again enlisted on 16th May, 1893, in the
Rifle Brigade, and after serving therein
three years, he transferred to the Armv
Pay Corps on 1st :M ay, 1896, at Hong
Kong. He returned home in June, 1900,
and was promoted Sergeant in .M ay, 1902.
He became V/.O. Class n (S.Q.M.S.) on
1st May, 1906, and from December, 1910
until January, 1914, he served in South
Africa. He was discharged on termination
of engagement on 15th May, 1914, and was
in possession of the Long Service and Good
Cond uct Medal.

THE

JOURNAL

Shre"vsbury, and by the Old Comrades'

Association.

The death occurred at Chester on 1st

February of w.o.n. (S.Q.M.S.) Henry
Charles Chinery, at the age of 44 . Deceased enlisted in the Army Pay Corps on
24th October, 1914. He v;as transferred to
~h~ Machine Gun Corps in May, 1917 and
lomed the British Expeditionary Force in
France in November of that year. In June,
1918 he was reported as wounded and missing, and it .vas subsequently found that
he had been taken prisoner. He was repatriated to the United Kingdom on 30th
November,
1918, and after spendin bo a short

tIme WIth the 1st Reserve Battalion

Machine Gun Corps, he ,-;vas transferred t~
the Arm y Pay Corps on 25th February,
19 19. He \\"as in possessiol1 of the British
ViTal'. and Victory Medals, also the Long
Servlce and Good Conduct IVIed21. At the
request of the relatives, the body of the
d~ceased, who was a bachelor. was sent to
hIS h011le at G lemsford, Suffolk, for burial.
Wreaths \\"ere sent by his comrades at
Chester, by the Record and Pay Office,

Willia11l James Carter (late S .Q.M.S. No.

7657003) died at Bristol on loth December,
1936, at the ag e of 66. The deceased enlisted into the Buffs on 3rci November,.
1888 and transferred to the Army Pay Department
in January, 1.8 91 ' receivin bo" pro.
motlOn to Serg eant in the same year. On
3rd November, 1895, whilst serving at Colchester, he was transferred to the Reserve
on expiration of his colour service.
He
rejoined the Colours on mobilization in
December, 1899, and served in the Aldershot and Portsmouth Pay Offices until
January, 190 1 when he was sent to South
Africa, shortly after which he was promoted to Staff Sergeant. Returnin o home
in ~pril, 1902 he remained in i lg land
untIl December, 1903 when he again began
a tour overseas, this time in Ceylon where
he remained until January, 1907,' in th e
(conti nued on page 23)
20

ROYAL

ARl\1Y

PAY'

CURPS

J OUR]'.;AL

Contract Bridge

J ohn Henry Smith (late S.Q.M.S. No.

7657235) died at ManchE!ster on 19th
February, 1937, at the age of 53. Deceased
enlisted in to th e Royal Artillery, as a boy,.
on 8th June, 1898, and subsequently served
for a short period overseas, in South Africa
a.nd the West Indies, from November, 19 01
tIll June, 1902, ""hen he returned home.
On loth June, 1903, he was transferred to
the Army Pay Corps, and served in Ireland
(Tralee, Cork and Belfast) until April,
19 13, having in the meantime risen to the
rank of Sergeant. During the Great War
he served in the Pay Offices at Exeter and
Blackheath and was promoted Staff Sergeant in June, 1917. From 1919 till 19 22
he continued to serve in the Exeter office
receiving his promotion to Warrant Office;~
Class n (S.Q.M.S.) on loth .June, 1920.
In December, 1922 he was posted to Singa. pore "vhere he remained four years. Returning home at the end of 1926, he served
at Deptford and Hamilton until January,
1929, w hen he again visited Sing apore for
a further foreig n tour of three years. From
the date of his return home , 26th April ,
1932, until his discharge at his dwn request, on 30th September, 1933, deceased
served at Aldershot. He was in pooosession
of the Sonth African Medal and the Lon O"
Service and Good Conduct IVledal.
b

The death occurred at Winchester on

12th November, 193-6 of Edward Henry
Castle (S.Q.M.S. No. 593), at the age of
62. The deceased enlisted in the Coldstream Guards on 1st J anuary, 1892 and
was ~ransferred to the Army Pay C~orps on
the 22nd July, 1895. He received his promotion to Sergeant in 1901, and to Staff
Sergeant in 1905. In the follm;v ing year
he was posted to South Africa and he became S.Q.M.S. in 1908. He returned home
in the early
part
of 1912 and was discharo"
ed

b
on termmatlOn of engagement on 23rd
November, 1919. He was in possession of
the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.

CORPS

By Lt.-Col. J . GROSE (late R.A.).

tract without a five card suit in either hand
to bring; in should knovv.
Culbertson
limits his call to that distribution, not because he likes it, but in order to give
definite information to h1s partner in a
difficult bidding situation .
Lederer bids a No-Trump with a count of
13 points if he thinks the shape of his
hand points to that call; he even does it
with a count of 12 when he is second
caller and the dea ler has passed. He requires 14 only when vuhierable or fourth
caller, but he starts with a No-Trump when
his suits are headed by ten aces ; when
they are headed by sequences, he opens
with a suit bid and leaves it to his partner
to take out into No-Trumps if he can. This
is a useful consideration ,,\"hich other
writers seem to have mi ssed .
It mig ht be supposed that in America,
,,"here chilchen of eleven and upwards are
taug ht Bridg e as part of their school curriculum and where persons who treat
Bridg e as a mere game are publicly expelled from their teams, the accepted theory
is pretty sure to be unassailable. Vet a
brilliant analyst whose statements are absolutelv reliable has arrived at standards that
are l;luch nearer to Lederer's than to Cnlbertson's. Mr. R. F . Foster ,yas in his
time one of the World's best Brid ge players,
and he now makes a hobby of the statistics
of Contract. He says that a call of "One
No-Trump" should be made on 14 points
provided that the hand has a No-Trump
distribution and threE' suits stopped . He
defines a No-Trump distribution as a 113nd
having no 'sin g leton and not more than on e
doubleton. On a hand countin g 18 points.
he advocates openin g with "Two N 0Trumps" but in this case it must have four
suits stopped.
Now it \\"ould not be \yise to disregard
the American ideas merely because we like
to feel that Britons never never shall be
slaves . It is sounder to try and discover
the reasons for the huge discrepancy: one
set of players declining to call "One NoTrump"
less stren g th than the other "
judges sufficient to ,;o;'arrant a call of I

N the sort of hand suitable for an

opening call of " One No -Trump",
Authorities differ.
E ach Authority
varies of course for business reasons, whenever the time is ripe for the issue of a
fresh volume expounding its own particular
system, but it is not these temporary variations that are being considered here, but
the \\"ide diverg ence that separates two
firmly established schools of calling.
Those \,vho adhere to approach system s of
bidding open' with " One No-Trump" only
on a very strong hand . For instance,
Culbertson's N e 7V SU'lnnwTY lays down that
the call shou ld be made with four to five
honour tricks, shaded to three and a half
when there are eig ht honour cards in the
hand. Such hands are:
A.Q .x Q A.IO .X.X OA.J.x +K. Q.x
or . A.Q.x Q K.Q.x O A. J .I0 +J. IO .9.X
For purposes of comparison, these requirements may be taken as about equal to 18
points at a count of Ace=4; Kin g , 3;
Queen, 2 and Jack, 1. "The caller's hand" ,
the N e'U) Sumnt-aTY O"oes on, "should be
distributed 4, 3, 3, 3 The distribution
may vary sli g htly if the hand contains a
nearly solid m"inor snit."
In America, nearly all g ood players use
these or similar standards, but in Eng land
many players do nothing lik e it. A number
of them, especiall y One-Club conven tioners, call a Io-Trump on hands of 4, 3,
3, 3 distribution and a count of 12 or 13
points. These adventurers are startin g out
to lead an attack with forces which are
strong only for defence or support . If they
had the patience to pass the first time ,
though they w ould sometimes suffer tIlE>
chag rin of having to throw in a little g allery of pictures throug h everybody say ing
"N 0 bid", they \\"ould as often be presented w ith a bonus by over-ambitious adversaries, while if their partner opens , they
can bid to some purp ose. As a matter of
fact, the 4, 3, 3, 3 distribution is \;vorth
about a trick less at a player's 0\\,11 NoTrump declaration than almost any other.
as everyone ,yho has tried to make a con-

on

21

THE

ROYAL

ARMY

"Two". They are not hard to find, the

principal one being that American bidding
has been developed in tournaments and
duplicate matches in which the partners
have spent months mastering their particular system. They like to interchange as
much information as possible before deciding on their final declaration. For match
point tournaments under these conditions,
the approach systems, such as Culbertson's
and the Losing Trick Connt, are more than
holding their O\Nn. There can be little
doubt that partners who understand them
and use them have an advantage.
But
partners brought tog ether by cutting the
cards at a club or party are usually well
advised to use a more direct method of
calling their No-Trumpers. Among those
who prefer to do so are a few fine players,
Lederer for instance, \,'.'ho need no fig ures
to guide them, but those who are not so
g ifted (or experienced) will find Foster's
rules well worth remembering. He has
been working at them for five yea,rs, he has
tried them out on 3,000 hands taken from
matches, etc., and he has found them come
right in 92% of cases.
Small cards have been printed \,vith his
complete tables from One No-Trump to
Seven, so that two friends \Nho expect to
play together often or intend to go in for
a match or tournament can previously supply themselves 'with a card apiece, memorise them (a 10 minutes' job) while sitting
in a bus or shaving, and then <;:a11 their
No-Trum pers with frequency, preci~ion and
confidence. The tables are copyright and
cannot be set out here, but it may b.e stated
that Foster says that No-Trumps should be
called on hands having his No-Trump distribution (no singleton and not more than
one doubleton) up to the full strength right
off (see column I) , but after that no furthel
rebid of No-Trumps should be made on the
hand. Partner, if he has a No-Trump distribution, should raise as in column 2.
First caller
Partner's response.
With I 4 bid "One". With 9 bid "Two"
(3 suits stopped)
With 12 bid "Three"
'With 21 bid "Six"

PAY

CORPS

THE

JOURNAL

do\Hl the requirements for the opening call

when not vulnerable, it must be borne in
mind that he is an exceptional player. He
can ga uge to a nicety the abilities of his
opponen!s and the varying atmosphere in
a match, and he probably allows these to
influence his judgment of the "shape" of
his hand. Then too, partner's responses
become complicated and conjectural. The
precision and some of the confidence resulting from Foster's rules are lost and very
little is gained to compensate.
Not much space remains for the card
play of No-Trum pers. Just one hand \vill
be \\"orked out to illustrate the sort of questions the declarer has got to consider.
+K .5-4
V92
OJ.6-4
+A.J.I O 74
+].I O32
v K.]. 10 .8 -4
O A.5
A
+K 5

Y
B

+ 9. 8 .6
V5 32
OK 93
+Q 9 8 . 6

+A Q7
V A .Q.7
O Q.lo.8.7.2
+ 32
Love all, dealer Z. The bidding:
Z
A
Y
B
I N.-T.
2V
3+
No
3 ",[.-T.
all pass.
Z "as a Foster caUer but he departed from
Foster's rules in rebidding his hand in No!rumps for common-sense reasons. Chang:ng the 3+ contract to a g ame bid scarcely
111~rea~ed the dan ger and kept his hand
WIth Its three tenaces from being led
through at the start and then exposed.
. A led the Q J , and before touchin g a card
111 Dummy, Z must count his assets and
make his plan . He has 6 sure tricks and
must g et 3 more for his contract. Diamonds
of \"' hic~ h.e has S cards against the oppo~ents 5 IS better for this than Clubs of
""hlch he has 7 versus 6. He will have
to let the adversaries in t wice w ith O A
and O K. and since A has evidently got five
Hea~t s , l.e., three winning tricks if he can
ge t 111 after H ea rts are cleared. Z can onlv
~11ake his contract by keepin g his QA until
le has drawn both A's entries and B's
Hearts . The latter he can do by holding

With 18 bid "T\<vo " With 6 bid "Three'l

(4 suits stopped)
and so on.
As regards Lederer's advice to shade
22

ROYAL

ARMY

PAY

(Solutio n on page 25)

Obituary (continued from page 20)

meantime (1 904) having been promoted
S:Q.M.S .. From January , I907 until his
dIscharge on terminati on of engagement,
on 5th May, T922, deceased served at
Hamilton : ' H e \\"a s in possession of the
South African Medal with 3 clasps and the
Lon g Service . and Good Conduct Medal.

A
Z

JOURNAL

~ut it ,,~s very poo r play on B' s part for

an mternatlOnal. Why?

up the VA till the third round, the former

n.eeds s~(il~ for he does not know th e positIOns of eIther of the t\,"o top Diamond s.
If. A has them both, th ere is no h ope
and If B has them both the con tract is !:afe,
so Z must play on the assumption that A
and B have each go t one, and A's must be
dravm first. So what does Z do?
He takes the first trick with v Q and
leads + 7 to Dummy ' s +K. Then h e leads
04 through B up to A ! B, s upposing that
A is probably in declarer' s hand , play s
low and away goes A's OA on to Z's
0 10. A no w leads v K, but Z ducks and
keeps his Ace for the third round. When
this is played, he leads a Diamond t o
Dumm y 's 0 J which is taken by B' s Kin o'
but now . B has no means of putting hi~
partner 111 to make the t\\"o established
Heart tricks. Thus Z makes his nine tricks
and the game .
Problem.
+J .lo.8
V A . I O5
06
+K ..Q.I O.65-4
. Dumoy

CORPS

Percival Francis Morling (late S.Q.1VI.S.

No. 792) died at Dartford on Ist ~ra rch,
I937, aged 60 yea rs.
Deceased enlisted at Gui ldford in the
Leicestershire Reg iment on 5th August,
18 97 amI transferred to th e Army Pay
Corps two years later. From I90I to 1902
he served in South Africa, and after a short
spell of home service he was posted to
Malta in 1905, durin g which year he received his promotion to the rank of Sergeant. In 1909 he became Staff Sergea nt,
and returned home for a further t\\o years
until 19II, w hen he again visited South
Africa for another tour \"hich '-lasted until
I9I4. In the meantime (2.6 th January,
19 I2 ). he had been promoted to Warrant
Officer Class IT (S.Q.M.S .). He "'as discharged on termination of en gagement on
5th A1..1 g USt, 1919, and subsequentl y \"as
employed as a civil servant in the Pay master General's Office. Deceased was a
~idesman at Holy Trinity Church, Dartford. and Group Scoutmaster to the Holy
Trinity Troop of Scouts. He was in po!:sessio11 of the following medals: "South
Africa (I Clasp and Clasps 1901-I902 ) ",
"B n.ls
.t' 1l ' W"
'
ar. an cl ."L ong S ervlce
and
Good Conduct".

+ A.Q.9.7.5.3
v J .6.4
O J .8 .7 3
+ None.

YZ were vulnerable.
Dealer Y. The
bidding:
Y
B
Z
I+
3 N.-T. and all passed
This :vas in last year's Gold Cup. AB
and then- confederates in the other r oom
\"ere the holders of the cup .
B \"as
~. Wolf.ers \;vho p layed for En g land in the
ll1ternatIOnal tournament.
A led + 6; +I O \"as played from
Dummy.
B kne w from ' Z's 3 N .-T. call over his
"One Spade" that she (Lady Rhodes) must
have +K .x, al1d that unless his partner A
h eld the ~ne remainin g unlocated Spade t o
l e~d to hIm and one entry card to get in
\\"~th, he (B) could only make one Spade
tnck and the ga me was lost. H e therefore
played +Q on the first trick to draw Z's
+ 'K and to be left with + A.9 sitting over
Dummy'S +J. 8 . And so it was, for A
took trick 2 \.vith + A and led another
Spade, and B made his five remainin o '
Spades. ~

1+

Promotions and Appointments (coati1l1-tFd)

Probatione'rs transferred, 1/7/37.
822224 GunnEl" J . Dunn , RA.
6010415 Pte. F. C Borcham . E ssex Regt.
4031913 Pte. R W. Holland. K.8 L.T.
838760 L!:Bdr. T. Wvkes. R }\..
395902;) Pte. R H . Div . Welch R egt. .
- 5568886 - Pte. L . J. Raj)son. Wilts ReaL
4745689 Pte. N. Fish, 'Y. i lld L. Begt'.
3129178 Fus. W. McMillan. R 8co,>,s Fus.
5497312 Pte. E. Gregory l-Iants Begt.
~6 18162 Pte. P . J. iVl",c~y, . Devon Regt.
1884746 Pte. J . McGlennon R Tank Corps.
Returned to Unit.
.5196612' Pte. M. 'r. Gates ( H ants Rgtl on 7/-1 / 3'1.

23

THE

ROYAL

ARMY

PAY

CORPS

THE

]OLJRNAL

Brown e, Ba !ld arran gem en ts t o S.S.M .

Mitchener, Sale of Dinner Tickets to Col. Du esbury.
All other item s were' le rt to the Dinner Committ ee.
Tw enty-on e meml: ers wer e stru ck off fo r nonpay ment of th eir subscrip tion s. E ach ha d been
written t o without a vail.
A letter from t he Offi ce of ' iV orks r ega rding th e
Co,'ona tion was 1 ead and Ji SC L1 3Sed: also a let te r
from th e Britis h Legion, regardin g sea t. at the
~
Alb ert H all .
II~ was decid ed t o hold t he us ual Commi t t ee Dinn el'
aft 31" th e A pril meeting ; the cost t o be defray ed
cy t 'lOse attending.
Th e m eeting th en t ermina ted.

COMM ITTEE NOT ES.

Th e usua l qu a rterly meeting of th e Gener al Com .

mit t ee Vias held at 8:i, P all Mall , S .' i\7.1 , on W edn esday , 6th Janu a ry, 1937. In the a bsence of Mr.
Sha rp, t lwou O"h illn ess . the chair was occupi ed by
Ml'. J . Thurgood . The followin g memb ers wer e
1\ ,r
H D
SS -,, ,r D S
d G
. own , . . h'L S
.
ym e an
.
presen t ,N~l'.
\iV . Mitchener , a nd S.Q.M.S. H . J. Lent, with
Colonel H. Du esbury , H onorary Treas urer , a nd M r.
E. J. W. Brown e, Honorary Secret ary .
Apolo gies for 1~bsence: due t o miU,al ,{ duty. were
r eceived from Capt. F eehally and S.Q.M.S . .Mundy.
and , t hrou gh illness , from 8,.S.M. Th omnso n.
Th e minu tes of th e meetin g held on 7th Octob er ,
1936. were r ead a nd confirmed and matt er a risin cr
thel'e from were dealt wit h.
0
Stat.ements show!ng t he fin ancial positioll of the
AssocwtlOll were circul at ed to th e Committee, who
exp ressed t heir appreciation of the excell ent ' st a te
of t he fund s. It was shown that t he investments
now amount to 1,32111s. 2d. , with accru ed interest
of 54 13s. 9d.
The Committee approved th e circul a r , to be sent
to mem.bers. in connection with th :'! N inth Annu al
Meetin g and Dinner , whi ch it was decided to hold
again at R a nod s. Th e menu was chosen il.nd th e
pri ce fix ed at 6i 6. It was found impossible to r edu ce the price, ow in g to Ithe. increased cost of fo o 1.
The followin g were elected to t he Dinn er Committ ee :- Chairl11 il.n . lv1l'. H. Down , M embers . Capta in
C. ' N. ConnoJ', S.S. 1. D. Svnie , S.Q .T\f. S. H. J.
L ent a nd G: E. _ ~edh a m. Tli e.Press arrangemen ts
a nd -t he Ha ll wa y 'Il cket conceSSlOn wer e r:l ep utecl to

Th e Management Committee have m et mon t hly

a nd dealt v.ith six appli cations fo r as ist ance.
Gra nts were made in four case<=; . It was not Do ssible
to make grants in t he other cases, one no t bein g
urgent or necess:tous and th e other l)ein o' t urn ed
down owin g to la ck of detail of selv ice.
0
Th e followin g donati-ons ha ve been r eceiyed:Ald ershot Ta ttoo , 15 Southel'll Command Tattoo.
30; R.A. R ecord and P ay Offi ce, vVoolwi ch. 5 5s:
Th e COInmittee desire to i)lac:'! on r ecord th~ ir dee p
apprecia,tion for th ese generous don ations, which
mean so much t o the Associat;on Fund s.
The Committee report, with r egret , the d eaths of
the followin g m emb er s, sin ce t he ]il.st issue :S.Q . J\~ . S. H . C. Chinery , a t Chest er , and Ml'. I n.m es
Sh eerm , at Foxfol'd , Co. :\1avo . Let t er. o f con
dol ence were sent t o t he r elatives a nd a wreath
was sent ill t he case of S.Q.M.S. Chin ery.
(Sgd .) E. J . W. BROWNE,
Honorary Secretary.

--------------------- --------

ARMY

P AY

CONTR A CT BR IDG E .

l\1r.

Ol.D COMRADES ' ASSOCIATIO N.

ROYAL

The full hands were:

.J. Io. 8
\/A.Io5

06

+ K.Q.10.6.5-4

\h32

Dl1111my

OQ.IO 54

.rA .8 3 2

.... A .Q.g. 7 53
.\/J.6.4OJ.8.73
None
"'j.W.

J OLJRNAL

that if B had held + A he would have put

. A on trick 1 and then led a small
Spade to establish the suit. Therefore A
has the + A and doubtless a small Spade
to lead throug h Dummy. So what ought
she to have done?
She ought to have
ducked to trick 1 so that B would have had
to play his Ace on the second round of
Spades, making Dummy's J ack a final stopper of the suit. Z then only loses two Spade
tricks and the Ace of Clubs, and her contract is safe. So famous a player as Lady
Rhodes, playin g a g old cup match \vhen
no one minds stopping to \york out a situation, mig ht well have seen this. So ,,'hat
should B have done?
He should have
played on trick I the + 9 (a high card
which tells his partner to lead Spades
again) and kept his . AQ, so that Z 'w ould
not have the chance to defeat him.

(Solution to problem on pa!:!e 23).

+ 6-4

CORPS

. K.2
\/ KQ9 8
O A.K9 2
+ J97
Trick I, A led . 6, dummy played . 10
and B played . Q. Z, Lady Rhodes, kne\\"

------~

The Royal Army Pay Corps Journal

P ROFIT AND l.OSS ACCOUN T for th e YE AR EN D E D 31st DECE::MBER, 1936.

Cl' .
d.

i 44 7 0
50 14 5
11 4
6 11 7
1 2
3 13 8
2 8

DJ".

To
"
.,
"
"
"

P rintin g (Vol. 3/ 21-21 )

Post age
...
..
St ationery
...
?lE scellaneou s Exp enses
Bad Debts
..
.
...
Ba la nce-Being :\et Frofi t for Yea r

233
21
2
11

s. d.
5 1
11 3}
6 3
3 7

5 1.L2
37 10 6

306

1 10

By Sa.l e of Copies
" Ad velltisements
...
Mi scelJa neo Ll ' Heceipts
" Sa le of XI11 <~ Cards
"
., " Di arie (1935)
"
" "
. ' .
(1936 )
., " " Blll chn g Coyers

--

306

1 10

- - - -- -

BA LANCE SHEET as at 31 st DE CE MB E R, 1936.

ASSETS .

Sundry Creditors (Misc.)

.. .
"
,
(Subscrib er s)
Profit and Loss A / c. s . d.
Bt. fwd ., 1.1.36
...
175 4 10~
Add profit, for year
37 10 6

s. d.
49 18 6
1 9 9

212 15 %
264
EO , Pa 1l M.a ll, S.W.1.
3rcl Mar ch , Hl37.

7~

Cash at B':I ll k
in hand
"

LIABILITIES.

s. d.
122 17 0
34 2 9

Sundry DeuLors (Sub scribers)

(Ad verti sers)
"
"
TYRewriter-present value
.. .
BlUcbn g Covers-St ock in hand

s. d.

156 19 9
88 16 9.L
17 2 12
100

5 0

264
A ud-it ed and fou n d C01Tect(~ gd.) R . I~. WALI~ER , Lt.-Col.
(Sgc1 . ) H. Stubbs, L1eut.
H on. A lldi tOTS.

'T~

Detachment Ro y al Army Pay Corps, Poona , India.

Sergeants ' Mess, January, 1921.

How :- L / Sgt. l\Iar son , L / Sgt. Vi;acle, L j Sgt. L a ngstone, L j Sgt. Dl'i \"e r , L j Sgt. (now
S:B-M.) Cooper, Sel' gt. San derson , L / Sgt. Jord an.
SLIJ OND Row :;-S / Sgt . La wrence, S.Q.M .S. Steele, Cap t . H epburn , Lieut. -Col. Sheral'd Os borne,
. A / S .S.M. Coy S.Q.M.S . T en Broek e, S.Q,.M.S. Hobill son.
,
fHll1D R,Qw :-L j Sgt. Rlchmond, L l Sg t : F ellow s, Sergt. Youll ghu sband , L j Sgt.
Flet ch eJ' ,
.., . L / Sgt. Fraz~l' , L JSgt: ROl'an , S.Q.M.S. (now Lt. and A.P.) l~o ss , L j Sgt. 'i\' :.l ld en.
1iou,m'H How: - Lj Sg t. V\l1 ce . L / Sgt. Bo c1Je, L j Sgt. Laws, L / Sgt. Hugh es, L / Sgt. Smi t h,
L / S~t. Ba rty , L j Sgt . . iHura kam,l, L j Sgt. Thurs by, L j Sgt,. CUl'tis, L / Sgt . Grav es, L / Sgt.
l<1,l'k .
B AC h Row (tlmd a nd fOllrth .ft'om leit ) :- L j Sgt. Haselc1en, L j Sgt. Crowley.
(Hema,iud el' a re
st aff of Controll er of Militar y A ccounts.)
.
FR ONT

,.

25

THE

ROYAL

ARMY

PAY

THE CORONATION PROGRAMME.

Advance Orders from all over the World.
(Inserted at the request oj the Secrela,y ,
King George's Jubilee Tru stj

/ / : -:

/~

II'{ 1917 SOft1! OF US

/...ooK LIKE THIS.

HowV!?" fNSTE;RIJ 01= HRVtNCi TO BOTH~ 1180Ui

BflLfiNClN(J fl PIN LIST liT MONTH EN/)
IT
f}PPt-I1IlS THIIT !ILL W'i.L Itl1v To 00 IS BUNG
vY(Y7HtNQ flY fit ONE ('(D, fiND PROVtD/Nq THII..,. /'

'filE G{1N'T EJ(P~T TH~ LR !JIES 7'0 OIL.

N~/NS liNO THIN<qS, SO WE'LL. HfN
TO OC-CK. THEM o()r IIY IYI/ Try
(/f'(IFO~M5 !iN) I..-E7' T#"'1 BC
woR~ Ci'Ut!)E~ -

26

NO 0F~tTS 01(, /)8Ir$ Gr

MIXI:j) tiP IN THE CO(fS WE
CfliCH IT liT TH" OTHER.. IDy!>
I/LL.. rINf~I-I"O, fER-HI/PS.

By

WHICH TIME WE 5H.1LL fll..L

BE . THo/(Ol/t:;HI. Y

!)ff0.'

Ad vance orders for the Official Programme

of the Coronation have already been received from all parts of the Empire .
When the event takes place there will be
fe" communities even in the remoter parts
of the Dominions and Colonies w'ho \\ill be
unable t o fo llow, throug h the printed
\\'ord, tl1,e ceremonies in London, the h eart
of the Empire. If a wireless set is available the reader will actually be able to
follow the procession with his fin g er tips
for there will be in th e Prog ramm e a chart
of the route with the notabl e buildin gs
marked upon it.
The programm e "vill cOll si ~ t of 32 pag es
of t ext and iilustration, th e cover bearin g
the R oyal Coat of A rms in full colours. It
v\'ill be beautifully produced and will not
onl y be a g uide to an historical occasion;
it will be treasured by the King 's subjects
throu g hout the world as a permanent
sou venir of the Coronation. Th e contents
will include special portraits of Their
Majesties King Georg e VI and Queen
Elizabeth, H er Majesty Queen Mary, Their
Royal Highnesses the Princess ' E lizabeth
and the Princess Margaret, an d other
members of the Royal Family. The Coron ation Service will be p receded by an Introduction contributed by His Grace th e
Archbishop of Canterbury, and there will
be an illustrated article explaining th e
Coronation ceremonial by th e Ga rter Principal Kin g of Arms. A section "vill be
devoted to the Life of the Kin g an d to
explaining the significance of the Co ron ation to the E mpire. The P oet L aureate ,
lVIr. J ohn Masefield, h as specially written
a Coron ation Ode.
The p ri ces in this country are one shilling for the standard edition and h al-acrown for the de lu xe issue.
Newsagents and booksellers are now receivin.~ advance orders, and in view of th e
g reat demand for conies (more th an h alf a
million h ave already been ord ered) all th ose
wh o wish to secure a copy are asked (to
assist in the difficult task of org anisin g th e
distribn tion) to place their orders th rough
their local new~a g e nt s or hook sellers now.

CORPS

JUURNAL

Supplies "v ill be ava~lab le on April 23 rd ,

1937 . Many public and private institutions, societies, clubs and h ospitals have
made arran gements to order large suppli es
of th e Prog ramme.
By g racious permission of His Majest y
the King, the Official Coronation Prog ramme is being issued by Kin g George' s
Jubilee Trust, to \\'hom the "vhole of th e
profits 'will be dev oted.

New Pay Office systems-"The Hounslow".

Local cha mpion da rt thrower rnark s up his casualties.

THE WINNER.
H e would sll ccee d. H e sem ed to know tha t he
wou Ld fini sh Oll the right side. Too long he had
been content wi t h small snm s whil st others h ad
reached out and secured la rger aI1)ounts . No lon ger
would they be ab le to say that he was errati c a nd
had n o ilim . H e would show them! No half way
measures eith er-h e would go for the top.
H e h a d been given three chances. Th e first time
he had been " tight" a nd mil ny thou ght .all was
finished. B ut no! Th en hild come t hat Wild fhn g
at which eve n his friend s had jibed.
Ther e wou ld b e no mi stake this t ime. H e would
score ov er them all. K eeping his eye on t,h m ain
obj ect he t hrew , and his dart snil ed clf:'an in to t he
doub le twenty; he hil,d won t he dar ts m::1 tch at la t.
.
S.J.B .

~~
. tm~~

CORP5

NOTES

ANt>

NEWS.

- - - - _._----"''----

Aldershot Command
COMMAND PAY OFFICE, ALDERSHOT,
Arrivals,--1\Iajor T. Kinga n joi.ned 1s t D cem bel'
1936, Capt. R S. E.!li cott joined 4th Janua ry , 1937'
~aJ ol'; P . H ard lll g . J?ln ed 28t h 'J a nua l'V, ' 1937. Th ~
ol.l ow.ng offIcers !oll1ed the Pay School -on probatlOn l st.,Ja.nua,rx , 193'T::-Capts . R T. O'B . HorsfOld , . L elcestershn-e R egIm ent , 1. S. Hogue Lei cest ,r shll'e H.eglmen t ,. H . M. Campbell lr ' II a nd
Sut
nd }llghlanders," W. G H~ l'k e'l ' ,Xl es
gY
'k
t Y 01R.'
h herla
l~e
eglm ~nt.; Li euts. R q. Thomp30n , W il tshi r e
.e o 1111.ent,. H,- r. P epp er , W elch R.egim ent, D. G.
Caltel , KlIl g s Own R egIment R. D C t D .
sJure R.egiment .
' . . oa e, e' on. (Other R.anks) . Sgt. H. E van ioined from
P. alest: ne. 21st Decem ber. 19 ~f., S.S. i\( G Dak er s
~lIled !~om S ba nghai, 28th D ec~m ber, i936, S.S.M.
'SG ll oo_ Joln ed from Snhs bury , 1s t J a nu arv 1937
Vit estcott '10111 ecI flom
'
E o- y[)t 28th J-'1,11U '"I"v ,
S/u7 7gt . Sg
t S N
.. .i 0_
'
. , '" J '
19
J
'
. ... .
o1'ma n .Io ~ n e d from l\h lt" 14tl
lanuary, 1937,~S.Q.M . S. E ,VIaHoy join ed fro<~ Win~
" . ec'j
fCl. esterP, I16th
t' I'ebrual'v
20 -. , 1937 ' Sa0 t " H -F ol,.se JOll1
lom a .cs In e,
t h .FebruQl'y, 1937 .
.
.
J .1,Departures
,
197:7- 1\1a
C' '.1' 01. l .' . IF
).lI1 ga n to r etll'em
ent 1st
, nu a1y.
~, a pt. G. H a!J;aard t E .
'
J anu a.n"' ' 1937 , S.Q.".
I S. ,TO"'
1
0embark
gypted, 11th
!V I son
r '
.J amm ca, 18th F ebru ary, 1937.
c'
01

l{

'\

Tree Party - Th D
Christmas Tre'e
a ll I] was
- 1ance of our- Com-,
ma
P h onoured b}T t ll e a tt enc
n c O ' aYl~HlsJte r , Colon el 01'l11 sby-J oh nsOI1
and
.1 s.
I ms y- ohn ~ on , Lt.-Col. and Mrs
Ro o'e '
~t. -Co1. an d l\h . . Sa wers, l'vIajor and M: EO 1,5 ,
vel S,
a nd ot ber offi cers and ladies of th e Cor ~s
Over one hundred " grown-u s" . d I. ' .
down to t ea and t he t a bles 1
1 an kldcl.l es sat
ftlho,rcta l c1 ec orat ion s, bon-bons ~~decal~, e~Ge l~~Tge~~d~:s~!;
,L go t 0 c ll eer up 0
d
.
deli gh t wit h eve ' th' n~, an prOVId e a feeling of
' .
ly lll g 111 general.
The te ~ w~s fo llowed b
" turn " which was
'
a very good conjuring
{!omma~d t he in ter:~t \~f tl~ut ov er as not only to
l e youn gsters but the
'old ' UllS " as well
This
was
followed'
bv
th
"
. th e k idd ies'
mind s) of t h
. '
e ev.ent " (lil
Cl '
..
e ev emna- th"t of F ' th
coming down t.he chil117lev ~, tl1 I '.
er
lrJ stmas
whi ch wer e handed to e-acl I b li S ag?f presents,
Orms by-J ohn so n. Thi s ~ 1 oY , a nd gIrl by Mrs.
sentation. t o Mrs Orm sb
Iconclud ed by t. he pre,t h e colours of tl~e Corp ,vb 0 y son of " bouqu et. in
tot) , wh o made quite a Spre~ty ~~~~~s~y~OOk (" t In y
Christmas

~hedir ttenth

Pal~y o~t'Jc~~~!~~ dc~flcl

"t.

f'

If

. Colonel Ormsby -John s:m spok e of t he yery plea s,tilt evemng. he h ad spEnt, and of th e ser vices th" t
ha d been . g l veI~ by: S.Q.III.S. Wilson in t he social
and s p~r~ l n g hi e ot th e Deta ch ment during t h e last
e,l e.vell yea rs. H e r egrettEd , howe ver , t hat S.Q.M .S.
' iVd soll h~d now to leave the Det a.chm ent for an
oV: l'se"s s t atlOn a. nd he d e::;ired to exp ress t h anks
fOl all t he h a,rd wo rk t ll at had iJ een p ut in b)T t h at
' iV<1 rra nt Offi cer and other s.
.
'
A vote of t ha nks to Colo nel and NIr . Orm sb Johnso n w"s warm ly n-ccorcl ed , a ll d all r eg rettIcl
t lh at a mo t enjoya bl e evenin g h ad JlOW come to a
c ose.
'
Faotball.-Sin ce t he tUrn o f t h e v eal' th e \\'e'1th er
li as . senou sly In t erfered with ou r 'fixture li st.' a nd
elutin g the month o f .Ja nuary alon e fOLlr m atch es
were po stponed .
' . Th e. ~ et<lc!lm ell t side contirJu e to hold t h eir own in
]UnlOl ootba,ll. ' iV e [Ire Gro up semi-fin ali sts in th e
Cavalry Bn gad e competition and hop e for f urth er
t 1l e
su ccesses III t hJ S sph er e. Om r ecord of all
to date r ead s :-8 wins, 9 defeats 3 of' tl1nal' ct t s.
h'w
Jrw
b
t
'
d
'
,
le
el
. ,
'
0
een s us all1e by t he odd goaL a nd awith
t he unu sual_. r ecord of nolt Olle d ra wn gal;l e.
. T.he P a;v ::;ch(;>ol st ill prov ides plenty of t alent and
~ ~n ce ltS II1ceptlOn some ve ry use ful fo otb all ers 'h av e
[all fen 'ed to th e Corps . ' iVho know s bu t w h at
~~~~~~~Go~ ~Y e t he Corps l:epl'esented in t h e A rn;y
I'
'.
.
ven now a. SIde tha!t would no t disg a c~ us could be draw lI from So uth ern A r ea offi c
Cricket - N
d
.
.
,
1 es .
scar cfe a t 'thi .- ~i~~e L~~ ;~ar~h l ~iV~ e:I~~n~0~e\~e~tullo'aol11!
111 o0- t'horw ard
" t Il e
. ' to. ,' L success:f' u 1 season-' pro viding
w e~
er. lIS kHId. , t o . us-sev eral match
..
all'ead
es h"v ing
matchYat l}:rn . alii an ge d , lll cludlllg an inte r-offi ce
, . OUIIS ow on Augu st 13rth.
HockeY ,- U suallv at this st "ge o f tl
tlI .el'e is. p Jen t y o f'. n ews to record
,
b .t t ll e. season '
the lIews lS sca,rce. vVe h a v
I' u
l iS sea son

~~l.l::C}:e~~n~~io~ll~s
(Yi )ari as .t l~ ePla~d!(~~~ ~I:~~h:r f~:
l b' "
g. l"S l esu t e
th e h ock
1Il

ey
g rooun.c s eln g unpJ aycllble for 1110 it of t l t "
Ul' phYI
.t
- I
. l e Im e.
departLlI';-otfous . re?gtl fhas b een . weak ened by th e
I
b
I 0 our OJ 'ward Im e How e T "
l ave ee n experimenting with th e n ~w' o b \~l ,. w e
l :''- al.ld hav e un earth ed som e ta.lent. /:/n a/~~
ha
el's
o
self
em
SIadse. ah eacly mad e a place fo r him
' ' .
. in tlle C orps
On t he 22n d Ja,nu a ry we tr<1.vell ed t I-I
try to completJe th e " dQ~:d)l ,,' A
0 OU Il 'Iow to
won and hock ey wa s i e . ' bl' 5 usual th e weather
,mpossl e. ' Ne w ere Enter.

THE

ROYAL

ARl\1Y

PAY

tained by th e Hounslow staff in a ren,lly ho spita ble

manner.
An ind oo:' gam es to u rnament wn,s
arrn,nged whi ch prov ed a g re~Lt success. No doubt
Hounslow wi ll /1'iv e more d et ail in t h eir notes, but
in ca se it slips th eir l'1 eI11 01"V we should like to put
on record that Aldershot now h ead the Blow Footba ll (Billiard Table) L eag ue. A smashin g aw ay
victory over Hounslow carri ed us to th e top of the
" ta.ble" . Our r eco rd i :-Pl a yed 1, won 1, lost 0,
drawn 0, goals for 4, a ga inst 0. Thn,nk s, Houn slow ,
for an enjoyable time.
Rifle S&~tion-Men,-Thi s pp- ri.od of th e y ear find s
the Vi/inter season w eE ad vanced a,nd at present our
positions in the t wo le<1gues in which we comp et e
(R,ecord and P ay Offi ce and Hamp~ hir e , Div:sio_n Il)
are respectiv ely t op and bottom! In t h e latte r
le<1gue we st <1rted off in fa irly good style , winning
two of t he firs t three ma.t ch es , b ut si nce then our
de clin e h as been most con sist ent-w e have fail ed i n
our last six match es. Competition is very keen in
t his leag ue and t h e m a jorilty of th e mat ch es a re decided by one or two points ; w e hav e been una,ble
to obtain the extra -poin t s wh ich' would r esult in
wins instead of losses .
In t h e R. & P.O . L ea,gue we h<1ve b een getting
consistent score3 ro und a bout 490. It is inter esting
to note that, of t h e t eam whi ch won th e R. & P.O .
L eagu e in 1934-35, on ly tw o a re m emb ers of th e
present t eam- lvlr. Salisbury and Sgt. Cooper. Th e
st a ndard r each ed by t he Pl'eSenrt t eam in di cate th at.
t h e lesson s lea,r :led fr om th e old m emb er s h ave llOt
been forgo t t en.
Ladies,-Onl y t-h r ep, of th at origin al b and of enthusias t s who comm enced shootin g two year s ago
a re now acti ve memb ers of th e club , TvII-s. F lu x , Mrs .
Plowman an d M rs. P easley. Anoth er of th e orig in al
m ember s left w hell Miss :Molli e vVilson d epalltecl for
,J ~Jll ai ca . T ak ~ n g all t h e competition s, i\Iolli e ha,cl
Lhe hi ghest "ve rilge of all t h e ladies- som ewher e in
t h e region of 98. Sh e v; "s t h e first of t h e ladies to
score a " po ssi ble" (a feat sin ce r ep eated on sever al
occasions by h er and ;11so achiev ed several tim es by
Mrs. Plowma n and Mrs. P ea sley). Both in th e le<LgLle
and t h e success ful cu p competirtion sll e wa al ways
r eli ab le. In th e cup h e.r scores w ere JOO, 98 , a nd
1(,0 , a nd althou gh the cup W;1,S won b y ~ t eam ,
whcLt team would not welcom e ~ m ember who could
oib tain such scores ? "'IN e hope sh e will r etain
ple ~sant m emories of h er " shooting " life at Al dershot.
In t h e le<1gu es thi s Se<150n , a fa ir amoun t of success has been obta in ed. In rth e L <1dies ' L e<1gue t h e
t eam h as a. poslt lOn som ewh er e below th e half way
ma rk f\,nd in th e H amp shire Leag ue, Di v ision 1\t,
onl v a cou ple of po m ts separa t es t h e fi rst an d t,wo
n ext t eams . on e of whi ch is the La,dies .
Th e combin ed m en' s Dnd l ad ies' t ea m s fired two
friendly match e' with th e Offi cers, H.M . Prison ,
W ak: fleld , a nd T elTY , of R.edditch.. A lrt hough bo th
matcnes w ere .l os t we are hop1l1 0 ' to fir e return
m a t ch es aid obt ain our r evenge. 'A t~am h;l S aho b ee n
e!l te red i n th e N artional T eam Ha ndic(lp Comp'et itioll.
'I h e first ll1at ch wa s fir ed r ece ntlv bv a, combined
m en 's ~L ll d ladies' t eam-th e score 'ob t;l,i ned w n-s 597
ex 600 , wh ich w e hope will be good enou gh to
t ak e us lIlto the n ext round. Thi s comp etit ion is
rUll Oll t he " Own Sta rt" svstem a nd con sis ts of
t ea ms of six. It i s po ssi ble 'for anv t ea m to mak e
progress a nd it is, perhaJ)s , " li ttle s urpri sing t h art
mor e Pa,y Offi ce t eams do not compete.
Co,tin ,~ School.-The 15th Course, whi ch came to
" n end in D ecember l<1 st , provid ed a new re cord fo l.'

CORPS

JOU RNAL

t he school in th e Commerc;al ex <1.mina tion of the

Lo nd on Ch amb er or Commerce which were h eld in
N ovem bel' las t . T he usual not; fication of the r esulrts
was I'ccei \'ed in Januarv and- it was pleasin g to see
that Capt . H. H. ?\-[n lpass, one of the offi cer stud ents
ha d scored a do uble success ill so 'far that h e h ad
b een "warded p asses with distinction in both th e
Hi gh ?r Book-k eeping and A ccounrting , a nd Costi n g
ex am ination . . Bu t more was to fo llow . Later it
wa s with joy t h a t we received a lett er intimatin g
th a t h e h ad sec u red "First Pla ce" in th e Rooi{k een in a and Accountancy exam in ation a nd thart h e
had w~n t h e sp ecial pri ze aw ard.e d by th e c ociety
of In corporated \ ccou nt,LJlts and Audi tor!:.. U,; ,:
h ea rtiest congratulat ions are extmd ed to Cant . M alpass on his out st a nding s uccess . ' Ne11 don e I!
- VlTe also exrt elld our congrat ulatio ns to t h e ~ .C . O . s
who were a W<1.rd ed p"sses w itll distinction in Bookk eeninp- E:xamina t ioris and for th eir sn-tisfactol"Y com nleti on'" of t he course. Thev a re all now f moloved on
Cost ing Duties and we wi-sh them well ill their new
sphere.
' i\Te hop e that Capt. Tuke , whose illn ess prev ented
him from a.ttending rth e la tter part of the course ,
ha now compl etely r ecover ed aild t.hat h e and his
fam il v find th e bracing north ern air at York more
suitaible than the sou th ern .
.
T h e 16t h Cou rse h as settled down in r eal ea rn est ,
and aft er h av in g sati s factorily passed rth e first t est
at th e end of six week s. ev es a re set on Mnrch 19t h ,
t h e date of t he Roy al Society of Arts Book -keepin g
examinat ion-then on to Jun e 17th , th e end of th e
course.
The names of those art t endin g th e i" re~e!lt course
ar e as follows :- L /Sgt . E. L ewis, COl1Jls . W. Coles ,
C_ Storey, L. Ben-I, A. W illi s and G. ,rcClu sk ey .
WOKING ,
Here, there and everywhere.- Colonel J. A. R en sha.w h as :'! ssUl1l e 1 duty at ' iVokin g a.s Offi cer i /c
RA .M. C. B econl a nd P ay Offi ce . In welcomin ~
h im. w e also wish him a verv plea ant tenure of
clut~ with U l;;.
.
Our Christma s fef' ti vit ies w ere a gain h eld on "
grand sc"l e , hecom ing r,o t h e Corps. l 'h e ll su<11
Christm<l S draw was a hn cre su ccess . and no less
th an 103 prizes ,ve re di stributed on th e ni ght of
2211(1 Decem b el' . Th e pri 7es wer e di spl ayed on a
st all buil t in t ier s. and th e show ,~ as mos t eff ective ; the stall comprised a numb er of 6 foot rtabl es
and a still brger IlUI11 b el' of beer cr:'! t.es con ceal ed
by a, coverin g
crep e p np er in th e Corps colours.
The D et"chm enr. work ed well to bring su ccess t o
th e occ" 8ion . flnd ou r thank s are du e t o Mrs . Steel
whose lot it w as ,to pr esent t h e prizes : no sma ll
ta.sk in y iew 0-[ t,he nu m ber.
On Boxing ni ght, we h eld n- dan ce in th e Ser geant.s'
M ess a nd u ndo-ubtedl v th at evening mu st, b e h eld
to h8\" e gi ven U mo i'e r e~ lJy w h ole-h ea rted eni oyment. than anv oth er fun t.ion art, t hi s sta,Lion wit hin
the m emory cif :1 nv n' E' mb er of th e detachm ent.
T h e r\ ew' Y ea,r ,;-as u h ered in qui et,ly , 1110 t, of us
Dreferrin g to t oast t h e N ew Y ear and our fri end s in
t h e light of Ollr home fires. plu s . of cou rse, th e
usua 1 aids.
On 5,th ,Januarv th e Offi ce st a ff h eld t.h eir anllu "l
Chri stma s tree fo:]' t h e chil ch"en a nd a da,n ce a,t night .
A t.rulv su ccessfu l ey ent. for whi ch tha nk s a re du e
r,o t h p,' b~ nrl of work ers he8cled bv th e committeeS S.M T H. Godb oh ear. L IS qt. t. G . \ . W illi a111 s,
Mr. H. Ki elv a nd M r . Sam ~Vooll e v: thi s p[lr-t,icular
Sam , b e it. llo' ed , havin ql
aicl clow i1 his m.usk et (or f
_

of

29

T'HE. ROYAL

ARMY

PAY

CORPS

J OUI~NA L

Captain T. H. Sweeny h ad a nasty attack of ' flu

but ha s 110W , ha?nil~' , fu Lly reco vered , with the aiel
of SWISS mOLlnta,lll all' .
Captain W. H. Cox has h a d a severe iUnes. bu t
~le . too , is happily back in harn ess and l ook i ~g as
Joll y as ever.
L / Sgt. Bindley join ed us from Preston on 14th
January, followed it few days later by Mrs. Bindley.
\iVe welcome t hem .Illost hearttly; we would in any
case welcome (It another ord erly sergeant. (2)
another cater er, (0) another clerk. Fortunately, in
L / Se rgt .. Btndley we have all three, but,....:-plus!
Mr. Bernard Steel, son of S.Q.M.S. Steel , coolly
depal'ted ~~th th e pnzes allvtted to t h e willner of
both OUl' bdh:tl"ds and snooker h a ndicaps. Shades
of Lll1drum' Hi broth er (Bernard 's, that is, not
Llndrum's). Mr" S" Steel, is abso in the " news ", he h aving
dcqlllI ed . the key of the front door. Co ngratulat~on s .
. Mrs. WiUiams (our Bunt~) had an unplEasa nt
~Ime at. C hn . tJ?laS a nd Ithe New Y ear, havi.ng been
111 hospital durIng ~hat period. Vife are all verv glad
to see her back WIth us once again.
. Most Of. US-can be fo und in the M ess most evenmgs ad lmrm g our new all-wave wireless set and
fo llow lIl g the fortunes of "Ma P erkins" in the serials
relayed from Schenect.ad y.
T? a~1 of you-one and one are two , etc. !
vyoktng averages for the whol e of last season
(Cricket) ;Played none. vVon non e. Lost non e. Draw n
Hone.
(Programmes were abandoned. work
stop ped play.)
,
I s t ins a reco rd. 1\111'. Editor ?
R eco rd Om.ces ' have th.e.i r stati.sti cal branch es,
R.A .P.C. clelks have their pav lIsts and adding
mac.111nes , all emi:tting figures I' Then , to open a
ChrIstmas numb er .of the Corps "Journal" to find
battl11g and bow:1l11g avelages starina at one-g-r-r-r-r! Yes , thiS is a protest!
0
Obituary. It is with deel) reo-ret t hn t we have to
r ecord t he ~leath, sll ortly befo;e Christmas. ~f the
father of MI SS I: N[edcalf . To Miss Medca.lf we ex tend our very S111cere sympathy.
"GHILLI ".

thermometer in li~u) some moons ago. Parents and

clllldren ahke enJoyed a splendid tea which was
foll.owe~ by .games and a first-class performance by
a \ entnloqUl st, who entertamed the adults no less
than the childL'en .. 'M usic at the piano was provid ed
by i\~r. ~on Al dndg~, who performed very ably .
ey ecL,~ lly :;hen l'eadll1 g the manu cr.lpt complete
wLth cues provId ed b~ the ventnloqUlst. The tree
Itself was resplendent with coloured lights and snow~ak e . surmounted bv a fai ry doll . Lots were dl"fl \\'n
tor the doll and it fe ll to the good fortune of li!ttle
MIss Wtlson . to will it amid thp apol~use of t,he
gathel'lng. Father Christm as (Mr. VV. Pow ell)
: rnved on. tune and , naturally , th is was the high
~pot a fal as the htldrl1 were conce med.
W i thin
a few ml.llutes I; nost adults WHe hopping nimbly
from the p:tths 01 speed merchants ca r eering around
tl~ e Mess on roll er skat es, scooters and the like.
Li ttle g lrl.~ were inspecting babies , moth ers were
playIng with dolls, boys \'. ere try in g !to borrow roller skates, most fathers were trying to discovel> how
the n~ echa lll ca l toys worked , whil e a few r enegade
f atl~ ~ 1 s sneaked to the no\.\' open bar for a " quick
o~Le . and so all had ~ satisfyin g time . Th e dance
\\ as qUite su ccessful-If I may lanse for a mom ent
to a perso nal note , I can \'ouch for its success beca use I was behind the bar.
The rOLlnd of festivit'es left us all rath er jaded
nnd norm a I routin e followed not a day too soon .
~n fa ct. wo rk became a definite plea sure (by "wo rk" .
l ea l l3'bo ur 1 meant, beca use we don't really wO'ri?
at Wok ll~ q; we Ju st "keep try in O' to catch up to
- "
last week" ').
Th e local Games Tournament L e~ O'ue is most interest ll1 g at the moment, as both tl~e Woking Det,;J chment R.A.P. C. , and the St . John ' Bowlin g
Club (capta,med by Mr. Powell ) tie for first pla ce
Vole were away to St. John ' s in November and at
h.om e to tl~e same t eam 111 February, t he r esult on
e,1ch occas ion beln!l. a draw. Both sid es will ha ve
~let agaIn by the !tlm e these notes ill)near ill ])rint.
. ut another dl >aw IS. predIcted. It i ~ a pi t.y t here
IS not n third team 111 the league.
.
Kow for a few spots of tittle-tattle.

Eastern Command
COMMAND PAY OFFICE,
EASTERN COMMAND.

~ and so m e clock whic1~ was subsc rib ed foJ.' by the

:staff as a tok en of their esteem

.
S9M.S. E. G. York e, who . 'we unders,t and has
obLamed e~llp l oyment at the Roval Arsenal , \kTool >VIch , whele he h ~ establI shed his home and where
v, e hope he Will still find time to continue
i~ e. g.o~d work whi ch he does for the Miller General
OS I: ltcLl. iVIr. Yorke wa~ also presented with a
clo ck by: th e staff to rem md him of !the veal'S be
spent WIth the CO I'P S.
-'
~elt/SS' H. A. Fox a nd T. M : M ills (to Sing:tpore)
an
gt. N. iVI~ckay (to Egvpt) to whom we
W I~}l ~ pl easant time at their -respective stattion "
an w 0~1 .~.e .hqpe to se~ a~ain look ing fit and well
at tile ex puatlOn of t heir foreIgn tours.
~ e ha ve been pleased to welcome to t he office in
theIr stead ;?apt. J. H. C}owes, who we hope will fu r ther
stl
engthen
.
whom
w our cn
" tck1e.t team', S. S.. M .P. E
. Mattl
. , .lews
, k . e co ngw u a te upon hiS promotion to the
l an .of . Warrant Officer Class 1 ; S .Q.M.S.. F.
~allteBI , .lllst r eturned from a tour at Gibra,ltal' and
p. . reltt posted from Chath am.
<
, '

. d Once again we ha:ve to report a la rge number of

epartures, f?r du nn g the ])ast quarter we h ave
regretfully said good-bve to;=-'
Capt. J. , L. OliveI' (to Hounslow) who was r es ponslble fOI th e forma,tlOn of th e "'l.O. & E. C. Rifle
Club and wh~se er~thusIasm did mu ch in keeping
a 1\ e lI:terest 111 thIS branch of sport.
.
S.S.M. A: ~: Farmer, who has obtained emplo _
ment as a Cl vlh an at the A rmv Pay Offi ce Cl th y
fR . E.) and who took hi" discharge to
' . la am
fev
tl' I f
~ .'
penSlOn som e
v. mon IS 1eore r eachu10' It he aae limit aftel'
served f 01. t. l111
.t ), -SIX
."_ yeaIS
. .0 Mr. Farm

,
IlaVl1lg
1
er
aways went abo ut hIS duties with a quiet effi cienc
~~ld ])ro'b a~ly the Ibest tri~)Ute whi ch we ca n pay t~
~'~1IS to l eco rc1 that dun.ng t he 'four years he -was
\\ 1 1 us \10 SIngle per . on was heal.'d to say a w . I
agal11st
.
W e ",i sh both M1.. anc] M
' - F'ar-mer
. Ol(
.
r IS
eve ' I 11l111'
I Y lapp111ess 111 t he y -<'1.l'S to co me a nd' hope t
I
for ?U1'
.
I. ..'l Ime! \\ as t he reCIpient of a

~~fckte~el~a~~~en ,[~~si~ C~latham

annu~l

30

THE

ROYAL

AH.MV

PAY

Th e children' s Christmas Party was held in the

L ondon Scottish Drill H all on Tuesday , 22nd December, 1936, when we were honoured by. the pL'esence
of Maior GeneraJ A. 1. Musson, C.B. AlTangem ents had beeri. made Lo. amalgama te with the 1\ rmy
P ay Office, London, and at 4 p.m. Colonel and :tIII rs .
H . G. Riley commenced to welcome OUl: guests.
Ov er two hundred sat down to tea and !It was soon
apparent th at all were going to enjoy t.h emselves .
After tea I\'Iiss Berni ce Jones (aged 10) daughter
of Sgt. and Mrs. F. "',T. Jones, opened the entert:tinment with some dain!ty fairy dances, whilst Mr.
N. Haddock and Sergt. F. C. Astles kept the cl1Jldren amused with some typica.l Drury Lane clowning . A conjuror and ventl:iloq uist. had also been
engaged to entertain the chIldren. ThIS he did so
efficiently that some of ,the Rarents were able to
slip away for a quiet drink. The great moment
cam e wlien F ath er Chl'istmas (in th e person of
Sergt. F . C. Astles) an-ived complete with sack and
pro ceeded to distribute the presents. The paDty
broke up shortly after 7 p.m.. . when the children ,
still wearing their paper hats , proceed ed to decorat'" London ' s bllses and undergro und s. "'le tender
our t ha.n k s to the whole Commitltee who so ably
carried out their task of arrangin g the party , and
hope that thev ca n ,be pl'evailed upon to continu e
the good work ill futUl'e years .
Arranaements for the crick et season are now well
in hanl For th e first time a fi x!tUl>e has been
ar ranged between the Aldershot and E astern Command P ay Offices , while we a1so hope to meet a,ll
our old oppon ents on ce again. With most of last
vear 's team still available and !the arrival of MaJor
S. F.Banatt and Capt. J. H. Clowes, we are looking; forw:trd to the coming season with every confidence.
Vii e offer our co ngratula tions to the following ,
whose promotion to Grade IH h as r ecently been
announced :-Messrs. S . Bench, S. Clapham , P.
Osborn, Vii . Rich be1l , and E. Scatter good.
The problem of OUT annual outing is now causing
much discussion. butt present indications ar e that
this year we shall tra vel further afield and it is not
unlikely that we shall find ourselves at Blackpool
on wh at w e 'hope will turn ou t to b e a very fine
July morning.
CANTERBURY.

Promotions.- Congra.tllla tions to Ca.ptain Braddell, Staff Se r geant Major Spiel'S and LanceSergeant Branch on attaining the ranks sh own.
postings.- Cpl. Willi began the outw ard moves
by leav ing on -the 31st December for Alders ho t where
he is takin g a course in Costin g Duti es. Vil e a,re
wondering if he has found time to build a nother
automobile.
S.Q.M.S. Payne has r eturned to hi s old loveCostin g- and is now stationed at the Royal Herbe rt
Hospital , \ iVoolwich. Both are assUl'ed of our ver y
best wishes.
Cpls. F ear and Lintel' have finished their "Cook' s
Tour" and have settled down to work again.
S.Q.1VLS. B a rton has un fortun ately b ep n admi tted
to hospita,l to und ergo a n operation and we w ish hi m
a speedy recovery and l'eturn to hr.lll eJ::S.
Social.- O n F rid ay, D eCEll11::el' 18th . th e So cial
Club held It,s hrst, dinne r and clan ce H,t t,he Gavwood
Rooms . T he m a io ri ty of t he mem bers anl their
families attend ed 'nnd ' a number of memb ers of U:e
\Ia,rio us Sergeants' Messes in t,he Ga rr ison accepted

CORPS

J OURNAL

invitations to the da llce. The e\'ening wa a great

success a nd many ex pressed th e wi sh that simlh',r
funotion s I::e held more fr Eq uen tly in the future [, ud
that perhaps cL caba ret could 1:e in"cluded.
The children ' s Chri stma,s Party , too, wa s a g reat
success and it is di.ffic ul t to decide \\'hether th e
children or t he g rown-ups enjoyed t he par ty mo st.
Vii e ar e ind ebted to our fr iellds the B-uffs for Santa
Claus and the u ~e of their hall.
The a nnual Bill! a rd and Snook er Iiandicaps a re
now in full swing a nd at the moment ma ny liv ely
d isc Llssion s are tak!ng place in conll ect~on with 1 he
rules fOl' Snooker. It is Cl. pity that th ey , toget.her
wi,t h many existing regulation s , cannot \:e si mplifi ed.
NIiss "Ad I'Ema" Turnl:.ull W,lS ma rri pd on IH~l
February, 1937, to Sergeant E. A. Ki ng, RA.P. C.
B efore leaving the office h e was presented with :t
gift, sui tably in scribed, from t he Offi ce Sta ff. :tI1a,jor
Browning in m aking the presentation ab ly expr e;;s,,i
the best wishes of the Staff, a nd - fi ss TUl'1lbull,
whose reply was interrunted by ,the chiming of the
gift , charmin gly uggested th a!t she could not now
drop " Rlates" indiscriminately.
sports.-Pressure of work has aga in curtailed
these activities, tho ugh Lhe Rifle Club co ntinues to
hold its own. The Xm:ts shoot, where lll fmbers
im~tate Buffalo Bill antics, wa,s won by Mr. Merl e.
Squa sh has also been i~lclnd ed in the list of . indoor pastim es, and Ca ptalll Bradd~ll 1S respon s~ble
for the coaching. III a comparatl\rely short time
an average standard of p1ay has been a,tta lD "d hy
t hose en t husia.sts \V rlO participate and perh aps we
shaH soo n see som e Ca nterbury personalities in Army
fimd s .
.
EFJAYEL.
CHATHAM (ROYAL ENGINEERS).

The Editor's remind er t hat the last dn y for recei\'in O' co ntributions was at hand arrived recently and
fo~ on ce v,'e find ourselves in sympathy w;th those
scribe3 in other offices who, li ke ourselves, find little
of interest to co ntribute and still less time in which
to do it . In rega l'd to footb all and hockey , even
ha d w e been able to. gath er a team , a very doubtful
proposition, it is even more doubtful if the extreme
press ure of work wo uld have permitted ~,h e arrangement of fixtures .
Rifte C!ub.-Th e club is comp eting in t he InterOffice L eague and res ults recE i ;:'ed to date give us
six wins and th ree 10 ses. There are mn ny results
st ill to come to hand and from the sco res mad e it is
:tnticipated t hat most of these will be on the winninO' side. AJthough th e number that S!10W up
we~dy on the r ange is small , thI S f.act IS more
than compensated for by.the keenness dl:6'p la yed , and
th e shooting h as :tccordll1 gly b een co nsl st ent,ly ex cellent.
The clu b is a ffili Zi t ed .to !the S.M.R. C., and activit ies will continue thro u ahollt the summer in the
form of comp etitions fo~' certificates , the " B ell "
Medal , et c.
Our chief aim at the moment is to b ewt \lc1 er ho t .
vV e know it can l:: e done.
Christmas Party.- Thi was held on D ecem bel'
16th and went off with the usual anticipated success,
all the children ]J..'lltaking -of a delectable te!1,
cin ema, g,tnleS a nd fi nallv Santa Clans . It WI1l
come as a 's urprise to t ho se past m emb ers of Ollr
Social Club to learn that Mr. Pmhorne has at la st
In,id clown the r eins of office as "Entertainm ents
Secret,ll'Y". It is iml)os;.ibl e t? r ecord. the imm ense
amollnt o f work he had put lI1to th iS Job over a

THE

ROYAL

ARMY

PA Y CORPS

JOCRNAL

are looking forwa.rd to a pleasa nt spring a,nd

summer.
The hockey t eam has managed to pl ay a few
games Sll1 Ce th e begll1lll11g of the year, alt hou gh
ram has ea l~ed t he maJortty to be postponed.
Ea rly m l' ebruary a fool:,ball m2:tch was planned
and plotted With the Deport Th e Royal Fu siliers . The
Clerk of t he \iVeather was sid e-stepped and put on
the s hort rack , alld the game actually nlayed , re sultmg III a Will for the Depot l:;y fiv e goals to two.
The . AldershOltOffice 'paid us a visit in J a nu ary,
t he ~~"lgll1~1 mtentlOn bell~~ to wipe us ul? at ho ckey,
but Davld sent It down ' as IS usual With all these
pre al'rang ed events; nevertheless a thoroughly
enjoyable day W<1S spent, the da rts , table tenms and
shove-ha) enny ex pon enlt s coming to the fore.
Th e cl'1cket gro und has been nUI"sed by our lo cal
g roundsman a nd should be in good tr{m for the
COl1lll1g. season , t he turf having be en in spected daily.
T ellll!S rackets have been tuned up rifles " deca,rlb ecl " and cartridges polished , th e d ~rtboard s are
Il1 pickle a nd even ye ancient game of bowls is on
the mal~ -(S h ades of Dra ke's Drum). So , wet 01'
fine, we all look forward to a n enjoyable season.
Sergeants ' Mess.-At the moment, the walls of
t he Ga rnson gvmnaE lUm are resounding with the
efforts of the Mess Badm l11ton Toumament. ThQ
names of the Wlllnel cannot be given at the time
these notes, go to press, burt that does not infer
thnt we don t kno w
A billiards handic~\p is on the stocks awaitinoa its
~m .
'
WARLEY.
Christmas PartY.-After a lapse of some years,
a klddl es p c~ r ty was held on the 18th Decemb er in
t,he GymnaslUm of the Depot, The Essex Regiment,
by the cou rtesy of the Offi cer Command in g .
Prelllmnarv spadework having been overcome th e
children of t.h e detac hment and Btaff sat down to an
excellent spread . For the occasion it should be
ment IOll ~d that ~he entire staff h ad so captured
the Chn stlll Cls Spll'lt that all vvere children again,
and. revelled ltl It. To the younger folk , the large
Christmas cake had, a magnetic influen ce, but after
It. had been ~ut up and all were b evond a nother
bite, peace r eign ed for a spell.
G.ames fo llowed , and subsequently a. kinem a show
durlllg which " Mickey " delighted -both youn a a nd
old. partlcu!a rlv the latter
.
0
. Then. th e show of the v~ning' Father ChriEltmas
hl.~lself (ably por~rayed by Lieut. R G . Smith)
all lved, and distributed the presents beneath the
spread m g Chri stmas Tree.
A dramatic m?m ent occu.rrec1 when the old gentleman momentarily lo s~ hiS second sack of toys
(between ourselv es, thiS was due to the size of his
-.vh lskers which he . insisted on giving away with
every present). With bated breath, a.nd tears not
fal: away, the tots were most uneasy until !th e reqUired sack was brought forth and the nresentations
contll1ued. One young lady was heard to remark
tha t It was funny but she seemed to think she ha d
seen ,t he same old gentleman at Preston.
. So , laden and happy, all toddled hom e, and a
Jolly lon.g toddle for some of the staff, too.
. Departures.-C?l. H. R Bowen , D.S.O. (Offi cer
Ijc R ecord s). , Lieut. R G. Smith to Chatham ,
S.o..M.S. M11ls to Gibraltar, Messenger Pow ers
G.P.O.
Arrivals~- Co 1. If. Gordon (Offi cer i jc Records),
Capt. H. H. Cottler (Temporarv Dutv) , Sg.t. Barn,
shaw (ex-Palestine).
..
.

number of years and it is all t.he more worthy of

our ap'preciation that t he particular post of E;;tertainlll ents Secreta l'Y is one that carries more ki cks
than ha-pellce, ~tiil, with. him it was invariably a
case of . 'Iabor omm;t. vlnclt" .
CHATHAM (ROYAL SIGNALS).
Havin g only recently arrived from abroa d and
du ly r epo rted myself for duty a fter a ' spot' of
leave, I took over various pending files (full up),
clea l ed vou chers pad (not so full) and in addition
a rather bu lk y file endorsed "Corps Journal"
" O.C. -". . Dinn ers" , so I pres um ed th at this meant
nw initia~ion <\s offi ce representative.
In yi ew of th e faClt that th e notes were due to
the Edi t~ r within th e s pace of a few days , I thought
It was tIme to l.Je up and co llecting some 'copy' ,
but ea let" said than don e, for I soon found that th e
substance was rather scanty. However , news of
~)[le ra t her impoliant event came to li gh t which will
l11tere.st tho e who haye served in this office and
that is, tha:t the days of the huts compri sin g th e
RE. and Signals R,eco rd and Pay Offices are numbered. Pla ns for new offi ces are alrea,dy in a st ate
of embrvo, but whether they will be built on the
s~te of t he present huts or nearby is not yt settled .
N eedle<;s t o say until this is decided there will exist
some anxious ill0ments for the bowls enthusia sts in
case th eir favourite sward of areen may h ave to
va nish. a nd also for th e 'ltennisites ' , for th eir court
might have to sha re the same fate. Howeve r .
eyery!:: od.v. co ncel'n ed is hopin g for the best.
'
Our nulJtary staff has recently been r einforced by
the arm-a l of S.Q. M.S . Sheph erd from Chin a Serat.
E y non from P alestin e, Senzt. Doh ertv fron{ 'Malta
and Ser gt . Rob erts from Pr eEiton . 011 the other
ha nd, w e hav e ] 0 3 ~ Sgt. Baker who has migrated
to Sin ga po re, and we regrEt to add that in a few
days we also lo se Li eut. Goode who ha s only been
With us Ior a short tim e" ~ a lso our voun D" -tenn is
secretalY , Cp\. Lawrence, who is going t.o R eaents
Park .
0
In conclusion , our co ngratulations go to CpI. Cook
?ll promotIOn to Ius present rank , a nd rumour has
Jt that t he fifth line of hi s Adrema plate will shortly
be 'L mended. However , enou gh for th e present.
HOUNSLOW.
Office News. -1he New Yea!" has brought many
changes to t he Houll slow Office, t he following mov es
ha V III g taken place :-MaJor P. C. H a rding to
Ald ershot, Capt. J. C. C]o wes to Eastern Command,
Sergt . D. Adam s to Chatham, and L j Cpl. Bates
has mov ed round the North Circular Road ,t o
Barnet;, L j Sgt;. P!lkington , who left us last year
for n . Costll1g ' Course, has now been postea to
Cattenck to take up Costing Duties. We take this
?pP,?rturll<t>, of co ngratulablg him on achieving a
D III hiS exa ms.- but why Catterick?
\Ve exte nd aver)' h earty- weloome ' t~ Capt. J.
011Yer from London , C<1pt. V. R ees from Palestine
Li eut. B. Templ e from Egypt, Sgt. J. Stevensol{
from Bal'n et, a nd L j CpI. Ba rcham from the School.
In add ItIOn , L j Sgt. \ . Burden and Co rpl. G. Geddes
haye returned ,to the fold from temporary duty in
Palestllle .
'Ne hope [LU will enjoy their new s tation ~, and 111
particular It IS hoped, that the change of air has
ena bled. Sergt. Adams to reco ver fully from his
recent Illn ess .
Sport.-N ow that the Palestine R eservi sts 'tne!
others. a re safely .p<1cked away and the mac hin'.:lS
are domg every.thll1g but amend R egu lation s and
perfo rm th e duties of Sergeants' 'Mess Cater er, we

32

THE

ROYAL

A R MY

PAY

NOTE. -vVe a re now lookmg round for It alent

where\\" i1,h to stiffen OLlr cricket team. It is our firm
intention to take revenge for some of the lickings
we h ad to put up with last eason. Oh yes, vou 'v"
got it to co me, som e of you foIl<
Staff Dinner and social. - -As an alterna.tive to C\n
anllual dance, it wa s d eciJed to hold a staff dinn er
and social evening. The d ate was fixed for Monday,
the 4th Janu a ry , 1937; and the rendezvous the
White H art, Hotel, Brentwood .
Fifty members
of the office st<1f{ and Itheir wives sat down at
7.3-0 p.m. to a very ni ce dinneL
Our officers and their wiv es and R.S.M. and Mrs .
Perry of the D epot, Th e E ssex Regiment, were our
guests, the chair being taken by "8.S.M . Mitchener.
Our first duty after dinner was to toast the King,
which was don-e right roy ally.
A few words from th e chairman welcoming our
guest s a nd explainin g th e circumsta.nces leading to
our gatherin g w ere the next item. H e stated how
in previou s years much time and money ha d . been
d evoted to givin g a dance which , to the m aj ority
of th e office m ea nt more work than dancll1g and
that the depa rture of S.Q.M.S. Mills and family
for Gibraltar the n ext day and the prob able earl y
moy e of Lieute nant R G. Smith and family m a de
excellent reason s for a gathering of the nature of
a sociaJ party.
Best wishes for their future were offered to
S.Q.1\1.S. and Mrs . Mills , who h ad been at \ iVarley
fo r nea rl y 1.0 ~' ears. After so long in one offi ce , it
wa s undoubtedly a wrench to leave, but we shall
doubtless see them on occasional week-end trips ,
a1though of course it is officially foreign service.
Th e chairman th en spoke of the great help we had
deri "eel from Lieutenant Smith in all branch es of
our activities , with snecial reference to crick et. Full
res ults of his enthusiasm and advice in cricket matt ers will pro:bably be more fel1:1 in the ooming season,
bult much of the success (not results) of last
season 's ma.tches were due to his efforts and inspimtion.
Lieutenant Smith, in his reply , thanked everyone
w.ho had contributed and h elped to m ake th e sportin a side of the offi ce a m ea ns of fostering good feelin~ a nd co-operation within the offi ce. Lt ha d been
ve~'v gratifying to him that on most occasions it
h ac\ been l)Ossible to t u rn ont a team entirely of
members of the offi ce, and thanks were du e to those
who played chi efly Ito make the !lumber. up . T.h~s
willingness to chase the leather IS th e nght Spll'1t
a nd to be able to t.l1l'l1 out a n all-offi ce t eam and
lose. r ather than win on the merits of outsid er s, is
mo st, commendable.
Nobocly was forgotlten; scorers, umpires, supporters, and th e ladi es who assisted Mr. H a.y es. in
furnishing t eas, all received thanks. no t forgettmg
S .Q.NI.S. White , who h ad the difficult task of
arranging fixtures , et c.
Our pro gramme was quite a varied on e including
two sketches performed entirely by m embers of the
office. a nd "Cardi " o-t Coliseum fame a m as t er of
magic. - who enltertained us with his c~ever. tricks,
as did his confrer e Bobby Norman , With h1s song
and patter.
.
Undoubted ly OUI: "star" of the evening wa.s Captain Hamilton , who took p art in a sk etch "Buying
a hat" , and whose manneri sms and <1cting <1bility
eal'lled a. w ell merited round of applause . Had
"Cochran" been there, I'm snrethe entire cast,
..:onsist.in g of Ca ptain Hamilton, S.Q.iV1.S. \ Nhite

CORPS

JOURNAL

S j Sgt . L. !ld Mrs. Butler and Sgt. TaylOl' , would bynow- have been booked at a fi,ne figure. The sight of
S j Sgt. Butler, w earing a hat as a mann equ.in , was
one for t h.e a ods and ha d to be seen to be beli eved.
After dal~ces , and m a gic by "Cardi" , in which
live doves were ma de to disap]?ear , li ghted ciga r ettes
produ ced in do zens and even coin s sha.ken from t he
hotel cat we were entertained bv a sketch written
and prod'u ced bv Mrs. Butler.
The pl aye rs were Mrs. MiJtchener ancl ~lrs. Butler
as a negfected wife and maid respectively. S j Sgt .
Butler as the neglectful husb and Sgt. Taylor as a
lover and S.Q.M.S,. White, the butler.
Much amusement was ca.used by th e attempts at
clandestine love-making by the lover which were
subjeCltec1 to continual interruptions which fru strated
his efforts, the continual " knock-knock" on the door
giving rise t o th e title of the sketch , " KnockKno ck " . It was around these catch words th at, the
sk etch was writJten and such an original effort decierved all th e applau se it received.
Songs to a u kelele by Captain Hamilton .were ex~remely good and we have undoubtedly discovered
cL verv ve'r sati le artist.
Th ~ whole company greatly enjoyed th e opportunity for social intercourse and .much w as done ~o
bring out the unoffi cial side of hfe, revea 11l1g staid
folk as persons of much charm and social ability.
WOOLWICH.
A lthou gh, at this time of the year , it is usual to
have to r eport many move , thiS past period must ,
we think approach .t he record for " thi s peace
time" . A glance at the ' >t\rrivals". and " D epartures"
will show t ha t \ iVoolwl Ch has richly deserved the
pseudonym " Th e ' 'In and Out' Club-'"
.
\n item oE outstanding importan ce under th1S
head is the r etirem ent of our Regimental Paymaster,
Colonel R W. Ma.cfi e There is deep regret at his
departure pendina retirement, on 31st M arch, 1937 ,
after ove~' 40 ye~'s' Army service. That, on the
eve of his retirem en t , h e should have suffered th e
gr-ief of th e d eath of his wife "rill be a mat,ter of
uni versal sonow a nd sympa,thy wllt h him and hiS
f"'m ilv. Mrs. Macfie li ad been ill for some conside.rabl e t im e, but she will b e sadly missed by a
host of friends t hroughout the Corps.
Arrivals.-Brev et-Colon el
H.
Du esbury
has
joined, as our new R .P ., from D eptford. Colonel
Duesbury is no stran ger to the \iVoolwlch Offi ce and
w e aJl extend a welcome to him as our Clllef and
hope that he will h ave a pleasant t~UI" wiJth us.
Ma jor A. G . vV. Broadhurst h as arrived after . a
" tour' of Palestine and Malta. We hope he Will
like his stay here. Lieutenant E. M?Cart~1Y h as
also arrived from J\llalta a.n d III welcomll1g hlm , we
extend our h ea rty con gr a tulations on his promotion .
The hopes of our Sports Offi cer rose when Sgt.:- .
J. F. Gibson. H. D eveiiu, F. J. Ban'ett, W. E. Staff
L j Sgt,. C. G. T ellllu cci and Corporals J. D.
W eatherall a nd E. VV. TIlley were posted ba ck to
\ iVoolwich from Pal estine. Vile welcome them, and
<1 crickeJt team , worthy of our tradition s , seem s now
assured.
W e a lso wish the followin g, who have joined the
offi ce, "a ple<1sant srtc"Ly in vVoolwich " :-S.S.1VI. ViT.
E verett. S.Q .M.S . H. J. HOl"an , Sgts. \N . A. Carver
W. W. ' J. H erbert, L /Sgt. R. F. \iVilbul'll , Cpl. L.
l~. Stevens and P ,t es. R K errv and R . W . Holland.
and S.Q.M.S. s J. E. White- (from Ceylon) and
\. Pavne (from Canter.h my ) who have arrIved f01
Costillg duties :

33

THE

ROYAL

ARIVly

PAY

CORPS

] Ol'RNAL

T. 1'1'. Cotta m on the <lwa rcl s of L.S . a nd G.C.

Medal '.
Marriage.-L / Cpl. E. Lcwis-at Woolwi ch on 6th
FBbruary, 1937 .
Births.-To Sgt. and lVIr~ . W. E. 8taff, a so n,
Edward Arthur, on 17th J a nu a ry, 1937.
To
S.Q.l\oI.S. and Mrs. H. J . Horan , a son , Julia.n
P et2r , on 27th ovember, 1936, who , w e r egr et to
say, only lived t en days. To S.Q.M.S. ancl Mrs.
H. J. Denham , a still-born child on 11th F ebrnary,
1937.
.
Death.-W e are SOlTY to ha.v e to record th e deat.h
of the son , R eg im. ld , of Sgt. W. -H. Jones , which
took place on 20th J an ua ry , 1937.
Billiards.-We ar e still going very stl'ong in th e
Sergeants' lVless Bi lliards Lea,gue and h,ave every
hope of retaining th e shi eld we won lasrt year.
Christmas PartY.-The t enth a nllual ChiJJrll 's
P arty took place on 15th January and , cLS usual,
was very mu ch enjoyed by all. Colonel and 1\11'::; .
Duk e and Colonel Macfie received the guests , num bering 450, after which tea was served to th e aCCOlllpaniment of a musical p~'ogramme played by the
R ..A. Ba nd. Amollgst oft il ers present were i\1.a jol'General Musson, the Sen ior Chapla in , Colon el H.
Dues bury , Lt. Colonels I-:i. er bert and Wiebkin.
After te.a, the hall was dark ened in preparation
for the arrlval of Fath er Christmas, w hi ch was in
the traditional n~anner to the accompaniment o[
slelgh bells.
Gtfts were t hen presented by him
from the brilliantly illum:nated tree to all cll ildren
of member of the .staff.
This was followed by a proglamme of entertainment
provided by Miss N ellie Fl'eem an's dancing class and
Sandy Browne and fami ly. Th e finale was a "surpri se item"-in more senses than one-'! A class-foom
scene, in wh ich the parts of maj>ter and pupi! s wer e
tak en by member s ~f the office srt~ff , ,provid ed a
-grecat ~dlea l of fun for th e older as ' well as t he
younger guests. It also . showed us mu ch Ull SLl Spected t alent . , Ne wer e indebted to Mr. Marsland
of the Audit Staff for the sketch-and he a,lso took
a principal pant. It was augmented by touches of
" lo cal colour" , contributed by th e perform ers th emselves, which caused much am usement.
G,'eat credit is due to th e effi cient a nd hal'dworking committee h eaded by Sgt. Ma jor O. ThomhIll a nd Mr. J. D. Gadd for the smooth runninoof all the arra ngem ents .
0
Sports and Social Club.-J anuary 2Srd , 1937, will
be rem emb ered as a " red-letJter" clay in the hi sto ry
of the Woolwlch RA.P.C. Sports and Social Club.
The Hon. Treas urer (Major C. Grimsha,w) having
anno un ced a senous " excess of in come", it genera l
meetll1g was caUed to decide tIl e best m ethod to
end s uch a n embarrassin g situation! A "day out"
was th e outcome and th e who le of t he mi li tary staff
(wlt h a numb er of ex-RA.P. C. Ex-Sports Club- m embers as their guests) first a tt.end ed a m a tinee perform ance at t he London Hippodrom e. A fter t ha t .
about 80 m emb ers sat down to d inner at th ~
R 3st a Ul a nt " Dieudonne", London, und er .t he p residell cy. of J.. :eut .-Colonel A. S. H erbert. Th e occasion
prOVided a fi t till o- opl)ortunitv of biddin g au re l'oir
tD t he R egim ental Pa~maste l',' Colon el R W. Macfie,
011 hiS llnpendlll g retlrem.ent.
Speeche followed an excellent dinn er. A rte r t he
loyal toas,t had been honoured, Lieut-Colonel
H erbert proposed " Th e Colonel". The gathering
was soon In a happy frame of mind.
Colon el
Herbert, III a breezy, humorou s vein , r etailed some

Sgt. G. Tristram, from Egypt" when ce his family

has been invalided, is spending a short tim e WIth
us l)l'ior to ret urning to that country.
S.Q.M.S. E. F ellow s ha s \:;een posted to Woolwich
from Malta.
Further a dditions to 0UI' streng,th are Sgts. T. F.
P ond (hom Gibraltar) and 'i\I. H . Jon es (from
J amaica) who , we a re so rry to say , ha ve bo t h been
admi tted to RV . Irospi tal, N etley.
Staff Sgt. G. C. Brown, a.fter a: long spell in
hospital , has now taken up duty in tbe offi ce.
Major W. l\.Larshall has also arrived with a
" ba t te ry" of Accou nting ma cbin e ~-t h e " Houn slow"
c omplex.
~ow [or th e other side of the pi cture.
Departures.-l\ :; fores hadow ed in our last notes ,
Captain H. C. Lvon s has left us for Egyp t, thus
bliuging to ,111 end a, long stay in Woolwich. During that time Captain Lyon s ha s always tak en a
pla ct.ical interest III t he var ious socia l and sporting
activities connected with t he offi ce. For years
he was th e Offi ce R epresen tative of th e " Journ al"
and he will be very greatly missed by a ll sid es of
the office. Captain F. O' Driscoll has left for Malta
a fter a comparativ ely short stay wit.h us. Lieut.Colonel W. D . N. Robolthanl 's departure for N.l. D .
caused general regret. His term with us was all
too short a nd we shall , as we told him when we said
"farewell", miss his cheerful manner and his looked for practical support to our Sports Cluh .
Sgt. A. P. H ail stone returned to E o-ypt after a
short st ay , whilsrt Sgt. ~. S. Ma r3hal1 , ~ h o brought
home an invalid wife. is returnin C1 to E o-y pt almost
imm ediately .
'
" 0
S.Q.M.S. F. Prowse and Sgt. J. E. Thomas duly
fulfill ed our prophesy a nd hav e left for a tour in
G ibraltar.
.
W e had only ju::;t be_come acquainted with S.S.M.
E. :Mack by the t im e his departure for the quieter
s urroundings of Barnet was signalled. Sgt. A. ,N.
Bishop has left for a tOllt' in E gypt .
Whilst our hearty co ngratulations to S.S.M. C.
F . Partridge were still " warm " , We were bidding
111:111 a,dleu en route to. NOlithern Command P a,y Offi ce
-the inevitable move consequ ent on promotion.
L / Sglts. E. L ewis a nd W. T. C. Coles left us for
the Aldershot Costing School and also left two
pla,ces, difficult to fill , in the ranks of the Sports
C lub.
To all t hose who have left us we wish the very
best of luck and " happy days" with the aSSlll'anCe
of a. hearty welcome if they should return to us . .
Still furt~ler departures are p ending. ,i\Te are all
very sorry ll1d eed that we are so soon to lose Li eut.Co~onel A. S .. Herbert. The prover1b says " It r eqUlres a long tnne to know anyone", burt during hi s
short t ime. With us we know him suffi ciently well
to regret hi S gOll1g. Lieut . J. Quinn is also leaving
shortly , for Ex eter, a fter nearly six years ill ,i\Toolwlch. \i\Te looked upon Mr. Quinl1 ' a.s alm ost an
':inst itution" a t \i\Toolwich and we are sure he will,
hk e ll S, regret his depanture.
Discharge.-The fri end s of S.Q.M.S. B . Bennie
\\'111 be sorry to hear th a t he has left t he se rvice
o n medical g round s. All will wi sh him a l'eCOyery
o f health and man y years of happy r eti rEm ent.
Congratulations.- To S.Q.M.S. H. J . Denham on
promotion to that rank. To L I Sgt. W. T. C. Col es
on the. a ward of t he Army Special Cert ifi cate o[
EducatlOn. To L / Cpl. B. Wil son on passing Trade
'Te. t, Class I and to S.Q.M.S. H . Holt and Staff Sgt.

34

THE

ROYAL ,ARMY

"bed-time stories" which "brou ght down the

house" . Then in a serious mood, he voiced the
sadness of our ' parting wi th Colonel Macfie and " i f
we feel it how much more so must the Colonel
after 40 y~a,rs of Army -service". He also referred
to th e Colon el's horsemanship-to his many " fir st s
past the Rost" and to his repre~enting tl~e Army at
polo, a n achievement almost, If not qUlt~ , Ul1lq~l e
in the Corps. Th e toast was enthuslasttcall.y l~
ceived. with musical honours. Colonel Nl ac fi e, 111 hi S
reply, said how mu ch h e fel.t the severance and
mad e happy references to the staff. an d the loyal
way in which they had stood by hIm. S.~ . M . O .
Thornh ill proposed the to~st "The Officers . w~l c h
was acknowledged 'by Major B. L. Burgess. rh e

PAY

CORPS

JOURNAL

latter found opportunity for an i~lpromptu ~yri ci sm

on the amenities of " Lawn Hou se" - or was It " Forlorn House" we heard? Lieut. C. ~. Haddo c~ proposed " The S~aff". S / Sgt. 9lph, m. res?ond~ng to
this toas~, saId be (ound ddficulty 111 leplymg to
such . an eu'lo'gy , but nevertheless pr.oceede? to produce a neat,'. hapDY spe~ch , e:ldm g wlth some
humorous adVice ItO probatlOn~rs . .
.
.
All were unanimous in ex pressmg then' debght
a nd satisfaction witr1 the admirable arrangements
wh: ch reflect the utm03t cred lt on the Gene~'al Com mittee headed bv th e Sports Officer (Captall1 H. P.
P ark) 'and Staff Sergt. B.otfield.
\i\Te now ask that this may become an an nu al
affai r-Hon Treas urer , please note 1

London District
LONDON .
In conjun ction wi,th the Command P a y Office a
Christmas P arty was h eld at the London Scottish
Drill H all , Buckingham Gate, on Tuesday, 22ncl
D ecember , 1936. \i\Te have h eartlly to thank thE'
Command Office for m aking all the arr:angemel'!-ts
and the Command Paymaster for. extench.ng the .lll yirtatioll to us to join them on thlS occaslOn , whI ch
was thoroughly enjoyed by .all who at~ended.
L ; Sgts. Rl ch ardson a nd WIlls and L / Co!'p!. M.acey
have joined us since the last notes ,:"ere wntt.en
a nd we extelld to t hem the usu al greetll1gs on .Joming.
S.Q.M.S . Mason h as returned to Costin g
Duti es but r emains in London; we hope , therefore;
to renew a.cquaintan ce a t the Corps Dinner.
Sports Club (Rifle S,ection).-Th e standard of
shooting has improv ed , but we are still un able to
record a, "possibl e" . althou gh several m em hers h ave
been Il eal' the m ark.
It was VCll' encouraging to find , Vi h en the result s
were llotiti ecf in D ecember , that we occupied second
place in the Postal League.
A welcome addition to the team h as joined us
from Egypt , name1y L j Sgt. Richardson-Egypt' s
lo ss is our g.ai n .
The sDoo'n winn er for Novemb er was lVIiss

O'pwyer. V er y little shooting took place during

D ecember, so D ecember and J anuary scores were
taken together and the spoon was won by Mr.
Friday.
DEPTFORD . .
Moves.-Lt .. Co!. W. S. Hack , to whom we extend
a, hearty welcome, joined from Belfast on 28th
J an uary, and has relieved Bt.-Col. H. Duesbury ,
who w as posted to \i\T001wich for temporary duty on
1st February.
\i\Te also . welcome Lance Sergeants Bellars and
Cox who arrived hom P alestine on 31st December
and 4th February, respectively.
. .
Sergt. H a ppe , who has been an UUltHlllg worker
in his capacity of Sports Club Secretary, leaves us
for Sali sbury on '3rd IvIarch.
.
Death.-It is with re gret that "ve have to r ecord
tIle deat h of Captain J. H. Kemp, M.B.E. , M.C: ,
on 8th January. Capt a in I( emD had seryed at t~.I S
offi ce a.s Assi!>tant Offi cer l /.C B,ecord s smce Ap1l1
192:11. Th e funeral was a tte nd ed by the wh.ole. of
the Detachm ent as well as several of the CIVIlI an
staff.
M
Birttr.-Congl'atul atioll s to S.Q.lVI.S. a nd r TS.
Hall on the birth of the]]' son on 15th Janu ary.

Northern Command
GOMMAND 'PAY OFFICE, YORK.
Only a few days ago we . w er e walking or. bikin ~
to the offi ce in th e sunslun e, full of the .Joys ot
spring;. Now t he r ain is with u s, and is likely to
remain for many a day. It has been sald t hat we
!leYer h ave a r:. iny season in York , we get it all
the year round.
.
.
As th is is Coronation Yea r, perhaps the Goel s Will
trecLt us 'Te ntIv and :1t least give us good w eather
for Coron~.ftioli 'W eek. W e hope to be able to giye
a good account of the celebration s in th e next issue
of the " Journ al " .
Arrivals , Departures, and Promotions.-Lt.-Col.
P. L. Olclham has r eturned from Palestine, but is
only wit h u s for a whil e as he is shortly embark in g' for Gibral tar. . .H e h~Ld ' b een stationed in York
fo], qUIte a long whtl e p1'1or to pro ceeellll g to P ales tine. and we sha.ll ',be so rr v to lose h1l11.
Capt. ,N . L. Da.uk s feft f.o r SaJi s bl1l'~r on 4th
J anu a ry. \i\Te feel sure he Will enJoy hi S stay on
th e Phiin s.
Lieut. G. 'IV. P enn , to whom we offer our h f<1,rt ies t
co ngratulat;ons on his promotion .to ASSist ant Payma sLe r, joi ll ed from L eith on 4th J anuary.

S j 8 ergt. T . H a rdin g who has been posted to

Catterick, will b e great.ly missed in th e ru~mll1g . of
club s. et c., as he was a great help to us . }.. hea~ty
,,-elca'me is ex t ended .to S.Q.1\'LS. H . R Hudson who
has joined from Ca ttel'ick.
COl1o-ratulation s are also extended to. S.S.M. C. F.
Partridge who has joined from Woolwlch on promo t ion. a,nd also t,o S j Sergt. H. E. K ershaw who
attain ed that rank on 11th J anuary .
.
S.S.M . C. H. Bailey a nd Sgt. W . Hornby. Will
have depar ted for Malta and Gi?,ra.lta~r r ~~ p ectly el y,
by th e time this Issue of the Joumal . appears.
, Ne wish them a happy tim e ITl the s un shme.
Retirement.-vV e a.re SOlTY to rep?rt t l.lat Mr.
D av id Bonner o~ the civ ilian st,aff m thIS offi ce
decided to re ire on 28th F ebrua ry H e served as
a m emb er of t h e Corps and as a . Grade 111 Clerk
in this office for 4~ years whIch IS a r ecord to be
proud of. H e was disch ar ged from the Corps as a
W arrant Offi cer Class 11.
A s a token of esteem . a hnll l::aromet er wa s D1'esented to him by th e office sta ff , and w e. hope that
it, is set " fa ir" for the renwind er of hi S h fe .

THE

ROYAL

ARMY

Christmas Entertainment.-After a lapse of many

years, . we decided to hold a Cl1ristnHbs party for the
chi.ldren of our office staff cm the 21st December,
1936. This wa.s made possible through the efforts
of the club recently formed in this office, and also
by the kindness of t he members of the Northel'l1
Cominai{d Hea.dqua He.rs Club, who lent . their clubhouse for the purpose.
Previously the energetic cornmittee had Rut ill
some hard work buying toys and noyelties , decorating the tree, trimming it to fit the club -hou se,
etc. , and generally finding odd jobs to do to justify
a morning off from work.
Eventually everything was ready , and the child ren and their parents h aving arrived , everybody
sat down at 4.30 p.lI1. to a most excellent tea.
Afterwards the children were entertained with
games and with t h e universal fa,volll'ite, a Punch
and Jud y show, givin g the committee t im e to prepar~ for the big moment. At last it came. F ather
Chnstma.s (very ably performed by Mr . F . A. Nunn)
appeared , heralded in the usual manner, and proceeded to distribute the gifts to the children .
Then we had some more games and singing of
carols , ulltil it was time to prepare for h ome.
All th e children , on leavin g, were presented with
a Christmas stocking , which, judging from the look
on the:r fa ces, made it a perfect end to a perfect
day.
Miniature Rifle Club.-A goodly number ,t urn up
at the R ange of the Depot, The ' iV est Yorkshire
Regiment for shooting every Tu esday and Thursday
eveniugs from 7 till 9 p.m.
Competition is very keen for the monthly spoons
presenlted by the Officers of the Command and Regimental Pay Offices. The winners this season to
date are:---':'
Novemher, 19!6-Sgt. Drummond (1st Div.);
Sgt.. Troops (2n d Div. ).
December. 1936--L j S~t.
Clarke (1st Div.);
8.S.M. Chenerv (2nd Div.).
J a.nuar'l . 1937-='8.8.1'11. Clienery (1st Div .);
2nd Diyision-no comp,etition.
Pen1"l:iary , 1937-S.Q.l\I:S: Lon1ax (1st Div. );
L j Sgt. l'vIonks (best g un sco re) ; 2nd Divisionno competition.
Congratu la.tiolls to S.S.M. Chenery on winning
two spoons so soo n a.iter alTiving ill this station ,
and the handicapDer hopes h e will be able to make
it up. to tl1e half-dozen before lea\'ing Yo rk , but
he WIll ha\'e to keep hlS eve clown. on hi s present
handicap.
.
,
Special mention muslt be made of the " possible"
scored by L j Sg;t. Clarke in the Postal Shoot against
Aldershot. This is the first "possible" scor ed by
any member of (the club sin ce its inception in
February, 1936, and ' some 15,000 round s have been
fired bv memb ers in achievin g this feat. Major
Elliott-Heywood . \'ery kindly presente.d L j Sgt.
Clarke w l,th a sl.1ver Cl 'larette. case sUlta.bly en graved 111 l'ecogmtlOn of the acllleve men t.
After serious shooting, "Good Lu ck " targets are
placed on th e range, and a small sweepstake is
arranged for those wishing to make a little beer
money on .Thursday nights. The Secretary thanks
all competltors as he has done very nicely to da te.
Hockey .- If th e Arabs and the Jews had not dec~ded to settle t,hei r differences by resorting to
V1olence, ~hen
these notes
would probably
have co nsl ted of reports on se\'eral games
(RA.P.C. Y. _-\ll and Sundry).
The Palestine

PAY

CORPS

J OURNAL

emergency denuded hoth the C.P. and RP. office

of several likeJy players, so we were forced to
abandon our plans for an RA.P.C. hockey team.
However, the RA.O.C. with commendable energy
decided. to form a Staff and Departmental hockey
tea.m, and so our. enthusiasts are able to. take part
in ' ma,tches ananged by the R A:O ..C.
' iV e cannot claim that the presence of the
RA.P. C. players strengthens (01' weakens) t he
team, but all are a greed tha t several enjoyable
games have been played wi!th considerable Sllccess,
p ar ticularly in v iew of the fact that the composition of the team is different every week to enable
as nUM1Y as possible to participate.
The uni ts providjng players are principally
R.A.O. C., RA.M .C. and RA.P.C. , and our thanks
a re due to the RA.O.C. for !the vel' v h ard work
they ' hav e put in to arrange matches, . etc.
Billiar ds.-The Sergeants' Mess Billiards League
once again provides a nigh t out for those on t h e
"Ball andi Chain " (i.e., married) in addition to
some very pleasant evenings spent in the company
of ' iV.O.s and Sergeants of other units.
'7..Te started off the season very well, keeping up a
good rate of "strikin g" till the I ew Year, but for
some reason we h ave now started to slip back and
although we held third place for some tIme, we are
now abo ut fourth 01> fifth (we have been afraid to
look at the league table for a week or so).
I think the effect of losing our organiser and
chief adv iser , Sgt. (Play Safe!!!) Carver, has had
an effect on the team.
Our programme of matches for the season has
been comp ~e ted , b ut the final positions in the League
are not yet known.
L j Sgt: Clarke (RP.) holds the highest break
record (3.3) with Sgt. Bailey, Depot, The West
Yorkshire R egiment,. ,,-:ho was fortunate enough to
tie with "N obby" during the last match but one
of th e season. He has also won all his matches
as a member of the team, and is to be congra tula,tec1
on such an excellent performance.
LICHFIELD.
The Winter season is fading out, Spring is definitely in th e ail' alld we are b eginning to shake off
a certain amount of our drowsl1less , to sit up and
take a li t tle intereslt in living
The table tennis season is over and the figures
in t he League Table for the offi ce te,tm are:PI~yed 11, won 2, lost 9, sets for 16, a.gai nst 39,
POl11ts 4.
Vle fini. hed up one of the strongest eams in the
League holding up all the otbers except one; however, we like to co nsole ourselves with the fact that
the average age of the members of OUt' team was
a bout 45 years a.nd tha.t of our opponents was more
lIk e half tha.t figur e. We hope. to p ut up a you nger
team for the '1937j ~l8 season.
Sg,ts. Troke and
Duckworth are getting a co nsiderable ,tmount of
pra ctIce ,md by the opening of t h e n ext season
should be the star players of our team. If next
s ummer is anything like as damR as the last t h ere
wdl b e almost as much !table tennis played as the
real stuff.
.
On January 22 nd , 190'7, Captain a.ud Mrs . .1' .
Fryer were at home to the married mem.bers of th~
DeLachEent a nd t he.i r wives when a very ni ce 3ve11
mg was enjoyed , tha.nks to our charll1ing hostess
and a very thoughtful host. The s nack bar was a
huge success, and the time and work Mrs. Fry<:-!>

1 HE

1{()YAL

ARl'vlY PAY

CURPS

J OU R NAL

REGIMENTAL PAY OFFICE, YORK.

Office Notes.- Captain Tuk e ioined us from Alder -

must have pwt in to g ive us such ni ce ' thi1l"!!;s was

certainly appreciated by all.
The members of the Social Club enjoyed an outing to the Birmingham Hippodrome on the 18th
February, 1937. The show was an exceptionally
good all round vari-ety one'. W'e" a:llf ,rn'iv.ed hom e
at abo ut elevenis h with t h e exception of one o,f our
number who owing to a misund erstanding was unfortunately left behind and h ad to make his way
homa via Walsall. We hear he has joined a hiking
club and is "Back to the Army again " after mending hi s boots , in training fo,r his walk back from
our ann ual outing to the seaside.

shot on 4t h J anuary , 1937. ' ;Ye hope that his lot

will be a happy one during hi s so jurn in the an cient
city.
P'tres ... R a'pson, Fish aim] .McGI:enm)J1 arrived from
Aldershot on 22nd December, 1936 .
Corporal W. Wilson proceeded to Chatham (R.E.)
on 14th J anuary, 1937.
.
Billiards.-Sergt. Clark h as been gOIng great guns
in the Army Individu al Billiards CompetIt ion. He
has reached the posiltion of champion of the West
Riding Area. We heartily congratu l~, te him upon
this achievement and hope that he WIll go further
in the COlltest. D etails of Sgt. Clark's s uccess will
no doubt be given in the C.P.O. notes .
Football Match Trip.-It was sugQ:es ed bv someone with a thoughtfu l turn of m~ncr{h at we in. York
should be given tIle opportul11ty of a.ttendll1.g a
First Division m atch.
It seem s that there IS a
majority of Southerners a,mongst the football fans,
for, on a nun'1ber of ma.tches bell1g put to the Yote,
"Pompey" playing against MiddJesbrough (of course
away from home) ca me out on top . Thu s at a bout
9 a .m. on J an u ary 6th, we fou nd oursel ves, comfortablv seated in a. -motor coa ch , leaving Bootham and
heading No rt h for :Middlesbrou gh-56 miles away ..
The journey was quite pleasant, a nd after a fortIfying; stop or two on the roa~l we a rnved at our
clestina.tion at noon. H el'e we dlsp Ersed to make 0l!r
own a ITangements for lun ch , then at 1.15 we aga ll1
boarded the coach and werp flriven in stvle to the
ground. - During this ShOl't trip , our smiling secretary distributed the gate money to each of. usenti'ance fee to the grouncl ;l11d sta nd . . I1llmedl.ately
after this ceremony one N.C.O . who It IS beheved
h as served in or Ileal' P alestine wa.s o\'erheard to
s(Jgg:est to a junior that they should go in the
"sh illin ocrs" and make ei ghteenpence o n the deal.
But we all sat in one pa rtv in the stand and I
feel sure that we m a de th e 'Portsmouth team feel
at home if the lUll f!' powe " behind our cries <?t " Play
up Pom-pey!" had anythin g to d.o With It. The
game resulted in a d.raw of two goals ea.ch . .
After the match we each wpnt OUI' ow n way to
tea. and met at 6.15 at t h e Middlesbrough Empire
wbere seats h ad heen booked for U~. Th e Show was
a pantomime "Di ck \7..ihittin gton". Thi;:; did not
damp the pa.rty's spiri t and the journev hom e was
made with the customary sin g-song. The last. stop
(close 11 00'1 10 n.m.) was made at a small VIllage
c::dled Yarm. wher p th e local ho stelry was treated
to ten minutes merrim ent. \7..Te ar ri ved 1l,t York at
midnight tha.nk in g our lu cky star s that the morrow
was Sunday.
Xmas Entertainment.-Although held a few clays
afte r Xmas. t h e seasonable feeling was verv apparent
at t he annual ente rtainment of the military and
civilian st[lffs of the Inffllltrv Record and Pay Office,
Bootham , York , fl lld their lamilies.
Feeling that perhaps to r epeat more or less the
program me of pre v io~l s y~ars w~uld be Cl ll t tle monoton ous, if such a thmg IS pOSSIble wh ere an X!11aS
Entertainment is concerned , t h e Comm Ittee deCIded
on a complete change..
.
..
Th e en tertn inm ent be9'iln wlth a nSlt to the
na.ntomime " Robinson Crusoe" at the Theake
Royal, where a party of appro.xim ately 100 spent
a most enjoyable time at a matl1'lee performance.
From the Theatre Rov[ll t h e party proceeded ~o
the Davy H a.l l , whi ch had b een ver~' t as t.efu ll y laId

Spring must be on the way: the sUl;est sign h ere

i s tha t the Vi hi te lines on the tennis court have
been painted. Who ind ented for straigh t paint
{mly? Flannels are being sent to the cleaners,
rackets are being plonked banjo fashion and sent
to be re-strung, and the good players are looking
up the season's catalogues and deciding on someth in g really posh for this season. FashIOn ~oLe.-
It h as been mentioned that the correct wear Of' !he
c ourt this year will be shorts and stockings, really a
very sensible kit.
'Nolvel'hampton Wanderers have won the cup
according to the local la ds and it is all over except
for a bit of a trip to Wembley to collect it. Well,
Wolves for t h e "C UI~" , Cambrid ge for the "Boat
Race" , England for the "Ash es" and Yours truly
for th e "Grand National Sweepstake". Talking of
the Gup Final brings us to our Dinner, which we
hope to attend en bloc this year.
Lichfield, in common with other great cities, is ,
acco rding to the Press, going to do itself well for
the COl'Onation . Flood lighting of the Cathedral
and other important buildings , sports in the recreation grounds, glee-singing on Minster Pool (of
co urse, this might be a stunt to make some of
t h ese three-feet Pik e give themselves up) , presentation of mugs to the child.r en in the Ma rket P lace
after they have watched and cheered the parade of
,t he Lord Mayor and all the City's Di gnitaries. It
w ill be a fine rehearsal for . the Lichfield "Bow'er"
w hich h appens on the following Monday, and etll
who know Lichfi eld know what a day that is.
A.ll who have served at this Office will regret to
l earn of the sudden death of Mr. G. Ketley, 1,he
Chief Clerk on the Record Sid e, who pased away at
his residence on the 5th February, etHer a short
illness.
During Ithe last quarter we have said good bye to
our cheery Officel' in Charge of Records, Colonel
' iV. H. Gribbon , C.M.G., C. B.E. , and welcomed his
s uccessor, Colonel H. S. Blockey.
S.S.1\1. T. Whelan has left us for proud Preston
and S.S.M. R 'iV. H. Howard has joined from tha,t
Office; we extend to him a hearty w elcome.
S.Q.M.S. H. Horan and Sgt. R Mackreth have left
us for Woolwi ch and Egypt respectively, and Sgt.
R Tolley and L j Sgt. J. Duckworth, to whom we
also extend the welcom e mitt, h ave joined us from
Palestine and Egypt respectively.
'iV e extend OUl' hea. rtiest con gratu la.tions to
S.Q.M.S. T . Avlin on his promotion to ' Narrant
Rank , and to L j Sgt. B. Higson a.nd L j Sgt. J.
Duckworth on It,heir promotion to t h at ra.nk.
INKY .

37

THE

ROYAL

ARMY

PAY

out to pro vide a tea eminelltiy suited to the

occasion an::! to ,,"he tRstes of al! - the g uests, both
young and old_ It must ha ve been very gratifying
to thOS 2 l-es ponsiul e {or the _arrangements tha.t
eq~f(;hlllg wen.t off witho.ut a hitch ani:! to the
general sat: faot ion of t he pa rticipants. The valious
pnrents and children were conducted to their respecti\"e places by members of the Committee with
the re nit that there was not the least confus:on
and the children were mostly under the direct super\"i -ion of their parents.

Whil st t.ea was in pro gress , the attention of the

ch,lclren was naturally chawn towards a very tastefully decorated Xm as Tl"e in one corner of the
ha ll , a nd wh en th e " lions had fed " the situation
becam e tense waitin s for what was to come next_
It was, of course, th e arrival of Father Christmas.
It would hardly be fair to o-ive names. H e was a
gentleman witiJ rather 'a generous waistline but
rath er lacking in height. That didn't matter :nuch,
a s. after all , he was Fathel' Christmas and the
~p~rit. of cheerfulness radiated by him was very
lllf ectlOus, and after t he lOustomary introductions,

CORPS

h a went on to ca rry Ollt the duties expected of him

to the great d e:i ght of the children, who each recei ved a very ni ce present from his sack, and the
amusement ot th e grown ups. E ven when hts sack
was empty he il a Ll not finished , for he proceeded
to denud e th e Xmas Tl'ee of numerous small packets ,
which turn ed out to be other smaller gifts.
After F a ther Christmas had resumed his journey>
more excitemwt and fUll was caused by the releasing of .bunches of balloons, the comparing of pre sents, etc.
How _vel', all good t hings must come to an end
and the party had of necessity to break up at
about ~ev n o'clock, all the children receiving a
pa cket of cho colate as they left.
Amongst- those present were Colonel E. James,
D .S.O .. 111.C., Lieut.-Colonel and Mrs. A. A. Cockbum , Major nnd Mrs. C. E. Elliot-Heywood, and
Lieutenant a nd Mrs. G. Ross.
Th e C omlT\~ttee is to be congratulated on the results of their efforts, whieh may possibly be equalled
but could hard ly be surpassed.

Northern Ireland District

De pa rtures and Arrivals .- Lt.-Col. W. S. H ack
left here Oll post:ng to Regimental P ay o.ffice, Deptford on t eJllporary duty on 25th J anuary las t.
\\le extend a. heal'tv welcome to Llt.-Col. W. D . N .
Robo tha.m who has -arrived here and taken up duty
as Di stri ct Paymaster from 2'2nd J anuary last.
~Ia.jor L. E.- J ames is due here on the -1st March,
1937, a nd S.Q. :M.S. J. :Manning and Sergt. ,""T. A.
JOl1 es , both for Costin g duties, are expected in the
near future.
Enterta ln ment. --Th e memhers of our Club participated ill th e Garrison Xmas Treat whi ch was
held on th e 2.2lld December. ]936. Tea was served
at 4.30 p.m. in the "Naffv " . after whi ch the party
proceeded to th e Gymnasiulll, which was gaily
decora ted fOI' t he occasion . The chi ldren, as usual.
were oyer-excited at the e.xnectant \i ~ it ation of
F ather Xmas, which is the a.ll-important moment
of an occaSlOl1 of Mus nature_ A t last he did arrive.
and th e joy t halt beamed on their vouthful coun:
t enances elllphasi zed the fa ct that ' the time had
com e to ohta in their eagerly awaited gifts from a

bea utifullv illuminated Xmas tree h eav ily lo aded

with appl'opria:te presents.
o.n conclusion of the distribution of the toys a
sel'ies of games followed and the children's party
was brought to a close abo ut 7'.30 p.m. Each ch!lc1
on leaving received gifts of fruit and sweet~ ..
Soci al.-In the very near futur e we anttclpate
having a So cial Dinner Ito welcome our new members. A furth er report on this item will be published in the " Summer" issu e.
Sport.- As is usual at this time of the year there
is nothin g to report as to the general acti vities of
our membe!" ill <the way of sport. but as the longer
eveninQ:s a.pp:oach and in anticipation of more
season able 'w'e athel' our m.inds are now inclined ~o
the app roach of t ennis and cricket.
'vV e- ::11'e o.:I~: d to be able to report that Lt. -Col.
Robotham has been asked to assume the Captaincy
of the E,taff and Departments cricket team and, no
doubt , his aHpointm ent will give a n impetus to
severa l of our m embers to show their worth on
the crease durin g th e forthcoming season.

Scottish Command
COMMAN D P AY OFFICE, EDI .NBURGH .
Post ings.- l'vlajor J ardine has joined us and we
tru st h e will en ioy his stay in Edinbmgh.
Ma jor {eek has left for a tom of duty in Cey Ion. 'vVe all reg ret his departure, but at the same
tim e, wish him a ha ppy tour.
. Sergt. Pope has departe? for Jamaica (hi s prenou s order for E gy pt haVing been alt e~'ed) and we
Unforhope he will enj oy his period over eas.
tunately his fami ly could not proceed with him but
are hopin g t o join him ill the near future.
LEITH.
In our lat Quarter's notes we said "Good bye "
to MajorWilliam s and now we have the pleasure
of welco ming hi s successor-Lieut. C. o.'Leary from
Sou therll Com mand.
Lieut. o.Leary is no strange r to Edinburgh and
we t ru st that his to ur in Leith will be a pleasa nt
one.

THE

JOURNAL

Co ngl'atula.t ioll3 to Lieut. G. 'vV. P erlIl on promo,t ion to that rank , from S.s..M. All ranks wish
him "Good luck " a,nd hope that his tour in th e
Comma nd o.ffice . York will be a ha ppy one.
Hi s successo r has not yet arrived.
,liTe have reg retf:ull y said " Good bye" to Staff
Q.M.S .s DoVi and J\II ason who have been discharged
t o P en ioll. and we wi sh them every success in civil
life.
"The old ord er chnn geth giving place to the new ",
and so we welcome the following new comr ades to
the stat ion:Staff Sergt. Vince nt from Egypt, Staff Sergt.
Anderton from Khartoum and Sergt. Bessant from
Gibraltar ; al so Ptes. Dav and McN[illan from th e
School at Ald er shot . AI!" are sure to enjoy L eit h.
\i\ hth the cicoal ture from the Comman d o.ffi ce of
Major Meek , t h e Rfle Club has lost a "good shot " .
U ncll' the Cn ])ta in cy of Colonel Bilderbeck, however.
th e club con tinu es to do well and .i t i our hop e to

ROYAL

ARMY PAY

get "Edtnburgh" inscribed on Ithat " piece of plat e"

which I S located at Aldershot.
111

\7ii ith l~le asur e we record yet another " possible"

our t eam-the century 011 thi s occasion being

CORPS

J OURNAL

attained by L j Sgt. Newberry. The same l'ifleman

was the winner of the two spoons o[-fered for competi1tion during th e last two months. He should
have quite a co.Jlection of silver plate 'e re he leaves
this Station.
M_-\'CSHK\il.

Southern Comnland
COMMAND PAY OF FICE, SALI S BU RY.
Moves .- After hi s long so journ in Sali s bury ,
Lieult. o. ' Leary has left us for L eith Fort. We hope
t ha t he is finding life in \.uld R eekie congenial. H e
h.as been relieved by Captain W. L. D a.nks from
York to whom a h ea,rty welcome is. ex t ended.
S.S.M. Grigg has completed hi s period of il: struction in pay duties and has retmned to costll1g. at
Aldershot. Three station s in tw elve months i ~ fmrly
good goin g 'and we hope tha t he will r etain pleasant
memori es of hIS short spell m th iS office.
.
S.S.M. Pott has returll ed from the School and IS
continuino- hi s instru ction in pay duties here.
Sel'g<t . l\i[o,riey has at last emb ar~ed for. ~i[ala:y a,
a nd his cheery presence is mu ch missed. Ih e nfl e
team lost a valuable memb el" wh en he sailed and
rumour h ath it that he threw a nifty dart on
occasIOns.
W edding.-o.ur congratulations were extened to
Sergeant KeJso on t he occasion of his marriage on
the 12th J anu ary 1937 , and al so on hls bell1g brought
on to the M.Q.R. on the 8th February.
Sports---,Social Club.-Again, we have very little
to report. Coach trips to Southampton and Portsmouth-the latter a stag party-for football matches
were enjoyed by all concerned.
.
.
Th e Rifle Clu,b COll,tinues to practice aSSiduously.
Two very enjoyable. should.er to shoulder .matci!es
have been fired agamst ,lilt lton and Dl stl'lct Rifle
Club, teams of eight each. o.wing to the greater
expe.rience of our .opponents these were arrange.d
on a ha.ndicap baSIS. o.n the first match on theH'
range we won on the h [u1dicap score bUlt were well
beaLen on the gun score. In the secon d match we
again won on th e handicap score- but drew on gUll
score. In order to declde It was arranged that
one card should be fired by each team , i. e. 5 mem bers , two round s each. o.ur card was 97 against our
opponel1Jts' 92.
"Mo.ONRAKERt)."

able p erformances are ill evidence. Th e ra nge a t

Tb e D epot D evo n R egt., having r ecently been uncl er
re- con stl'uction , was duly 'chri st ened' and rounds
wer e 'banged-oH ' at. the openin g nig11t with a total
disregard of a ny damage t hat may haye been caused
by v ibration_ The etfect of ri cochets . with our
sharpshooters is, needle s to rem a rk , negligible.
Marri ed Qu arters .-'I'o the notes regar ding
moderni sation of M a l'ried Quarters a ~ in. erted in
the Christma s numb er , I hclve 'nothipg to add' .
The qhestion is still being deli berated . One wond ers
wh :1t efteot th e t hreats or certain wiv es would have
on the idylli c dreams of those aut,hors of 'Garden
City Quarter s [0 1' .Ma rried Soldiers', so r,pil y (and
glibly) r eported ill t he Daily Press , were they
l~rivi l eged to hear th em.
In the m eantime, pattern
1870 type Marri ed Quarters are pa.tient-ly s uffered.
Publicity.-At the time of going to press, a
patriotic w ave ' is sweeping ov er ~x ete l'.
At a
cinem a ill tow n the fi]m ' o..H .M.S." is being shown,
a nd , for the-time bein g , kha ki is being l'eyered with
as much fe ryoUl' as in the late War days ,by Ithe
opposite sex. A gigantic influx of A.F. s RI00 is
anticipated as a sequel , and it is also presumed
that A.F .s 0..1734 may be expected. o.ne does not
at present hope to see A.F.s 0. .183'4, but: laterone ne\7er know s .
BUKRA FER lVIISH-~IISH_
WARWICK.
Office News .- 'liT e a l'e pleased to wel come Private
T. Wykes , who has joined us from Alders hot. ~'1ajor
E. l~.. Kelly has left for a period of temporary duty
at 'iVll1chester.
Congra.tulations are due to S.Q..M.S. H. J. Jordan
on his promotion to \iVarrant, Rank and Ito Corporal
C. E. Jones on his promotion to that rank.
Rifle Section.-This section and especially the
leag ue team have s uffered a severe loss, although fortuna.tely only temporary , in the move of ~Major E . R .
Kelly to Win chester. Major Kelly is one of our
best and most consistent shots and it is hoped that
his absen ce from us will not be und uly protracted.
The usual a.nnual competitions for the 'Bell' medal
and the variou s cel~tificates are now well uncleI' way,
and the shooting , for the 'Bell ' medal in parti cular,
has been very k een. In the m eda l compet.ition two
entrants have already scored p'ossibles and the better pE the two had to 11e d ecided by a decimal point.
A handicap competition for a silver spoo n h as also
been the subj ect of mu ch enthusiastic practi ce and
it is now n earing the fina.l stages. In this connection. ilL is r emark able that so m any of th e ' crack'
sho ts have had to fill the vacant sIlace on the sideboard with something other than the sib-er spoon
they had I~op ed to wm.
A great d eal of interest was arousecl by a. challenge shoot between Itwo teams drawn from the
office and rather aptly named 'Rahbit s' and 'Guns',
which r es ulted in a win for the latter by fin points.
As they say in real journalistic circles , the excitement was intense and the result was a matJter for
conjecture l'ight ' up to the last shot. Co rporal C. A .
J . 1. Fraser, who was the la.st to fire a nd who wa.s
num bered amo ng the illu strious compa ny of 'Guns',

EXETER.
Arrivals.-N ow that th e Palestine e\"ents h ave
quietened dow!! , we welcome to the offi ce S:S.M.
Wilson and Sergt. L ythgoe, to whom we Wish a
long a nd pleasant stay in the West Country. Lieut.
Quinn is due to arriv e in March , and t,o h11n IS also
extend ed our greetings and wishes for similar fortune.
Promotion.- Co ngra.tulatioll s to S.Q.M .S. o.s,b ome
on hi s promotion to , iVal'l'ant Hank. Truly a wel come Christm as Box.
Social Club.-The Social Club 'hit the high spots'
again at a r ecent ,vhist drive and impromptu dance.
In spite of the inclement we:1ther a very good
attendance was a fea.t ure of the evemn g, and the
Sec retary was pl ea ed to record 'almost.a 100 per
cent. turn-out ' . ConcentratIOn IS now bemg placed
. on the forth comirw Annual o.uting, and finanr,es
are accordingly b ei~g w,t ch ed with a view to making it a bumper event.
.
M iniature Rifle Shooting.-Th e team ha.s got ll1to
its strid e with some useful scoring, and althongh
results of m wtch es a re not yet to hand som e Cl'edlt-

' 39

THE

ROYAL

ARMY PAY

to t he acco mp anim e l~t, of g reat encouragement from

one side and even greater citspa r agem.ent from the
other, m anaged, by a. super-human effort, to score
a bull wi t h l1is las t sho t a nd t hus ga ve th ~ m atc,I1
a nd t he honours of the evening to th e 'Guns: . I,t IS
though t t ha t m an y of t h e m emb ers of the nfl e section mu st have been statIOned , a t one time 01'
another , in the A rutipodes, for their efforts a t
ba rrac king, during the course of t he. shoot, would not
h ave disO' l'aced an Au st. 1ah a n Cl'lcr;,et ground .
The re~ults of t he league shoots a re still a waited ,
no t w ithout ~o m e lit tle t repida.tion , but the teaml'efu se to lose t heir op t imism wi t h t he passage. of tun e
and are s till hORetul tha t t he Final result Will show
us at least one l"Ung near er the t op of th e ladder.
Our con O' rat ula tions a r e ext ended to J\lIr. J. Taylor
on winnin~ the t urkey kindly pl'esented by Colonel
' V . N. -;J'd'h~l. 'oil 'fdr the Christmas shoot. Lt . Colonel
A . S . R. Hug hes a.lso \'ery kin~l y presented prizes
for a shoot by m emb ers of the nite sectlOn who ha d
n ever won <"\, prize. It h as b eon n otified t h a t a
clock has been presented as a prize for a handicap
competit ion d urin g Ma rch.
W e h ear th a t Mr.
T aylor has g reat hop e~ or IJiacing the clock under
the wish bo ne.
C.F.
Golf.-Se\'eral mat ches h ave t ak en pl ace bej,w6~n
the Offi cers of t he Depot, The Royal W arwickshite
R egim ent a nd of this, offi ce.
..
Christmas Party.-l'lllS was a ha ppy mnovatlOn ,
bot h fo r t he children an d grown ups. The committee uu de r t he a ble chairm an ship of Major E. R.
K elly are to be heartily congra tulated on th eir
efforts fo r- won der of wonder s-everyone seem ed
satisfied . The e\'ent too k place in th e W arwickshire
Y eoma nry Dr ill H all on '[ u es day , 2.2nd December.
The H all had been p reviously decorated and ther e
was a Xmas tl'ee whi.ch had been kindly decorated. b y
M rs. A. S . R. Hu g hes, an d a bran . t ub for the kiddies ;
this was a mos t re::;ponsible Host h eld by Miss Miller. T ea wa s se rve d at 4.30 p.m . a nd b efore long
the r ea l Xnl<lS spirit was in evidence, for b alloons
were released a nd everyone joined in t he fun. Aft er
tea, t he cOl1iJnittee had a rranged a pro gramme of
gam es for t he chi ld ren and th e g rown ups. Mr. A .
R. D e whirs t had a strenuous t ime a t the pia no , some
of the old er III em bel'S of t he staff b ecame children
again a nd it was pl easin g to see them ta king an
active pa rt in th e games . Th e ' hi gh spot' of the
evening was a m ys tif yi ng exhibi t ion of card trick s
by our S .S. 1\1. : it is still a topic of a r gument as t o
whet her h e had some card s up his sleeve a nd also
if he really could see with hi s eyes band aged.
(Wha t a pa rtner fo r a whist clI'ive !) To.wards th e
tim e known t o m ost of us as 'opening tIm e' ther e
we re ma llY comings a nd goings a nd: checking of
watches , t he reaso n being that the Commibtee of the
Wa rwicks hire Y eom a nry Clu b had very kindly and
thoug htfull y placed th eir bar a nd ciu bl'oom a t om
disposal fo r t he eve nin g-thi s was t he cau se of much
disquiet un til the a rri val of th e steward , but aft er
th at th e ma le sid e of the pa rty was disting uish ed
only by it s a bsence. About 7 p .JY1.. t he distribution
of present s was made by M rs. J ohnson , wife of our
Office r in cha rge R ecord s. Th e pa rt y broke up
soon afrtel.' a nd adj oul'l1ed to t h e Club which w as
cr owded fo r se \'eral h ours. Tt w as noticed t h a t m any
m embers, in o rder to a \'oid t he continual climbin g
of the stairs to t he club , remained there until
11 p.m. In. pi te of t hat brown t as te in m a ny
mout hs t he following mo rning everyone decid ed t ha t
!t had been a Yer)' success ful ~l ay-ol' evening- and
It 1S hoped t ha t t he event wlll become an annual
one in fut ure.
P U GGLED.

CORPS

JOURNAL
WINCHESTER.

40

Departures.-Before these notes a ppear , the

R egimental P aym aster,. Lieut. Col. S. A . Godfrey ,
will h ave leg us on retirement. He t a kes w~h hlln
om thou O'hts al~d wishes for his w ell-being in his
n ew s Ul'l'~ llndin gs. W e a re indebted to him for a
very long and kllldly i~1terest in each one of ~ s and
Ollr sentiments rut partlll g are h est expressed III the
words of a spea ker a t his fa rewell dinner : -"Col.
Godfrey h as been a fri end to us all and, well, w e
just h a te iosing a fri end ."
.
S.Q .M.S. E .. T. Ma,lloy has left us on pOStlllg to
A ld ers ho t. W e hope tna t he will be comforta ble
and happy th ere.
.
Arrivals.-W e w elcome the n ew R egimenta l P a ym aster, Lieut.., Col. A . S. Herbert, iVl. C., .fwm Woolwich with the hope t ha t he will fill.d_tbis,. Qffice a nd
t own con genial a nd tha t his sojOUl'l1 ' with us will be
a n elljoya ble one.
vVe a re also very glad to h a ve with u s (unfortuna t ely only t empora rily) M ajor E. R. Kelly, from
W a rwick. Major K elly is a n old fri end of Winches ter 's an cli w e hope he is as plea sed to s ee Winchest er a gain as w e a re to see him .
S.S.M. L. A. F . Mockler ha s joined us from
J a maica. W e a,r e very pleased a bout thi s, but we
a re not s ure, h aving r ega rd to the winter that we
ar e enjoying, t h a t h e is. Howevel', we can assure
him that this is a lo vely place in the summer .
S / Sgt. F. G . Holt h as r ejoined u s from P ales tine
a nd Sergt. C . Ash h as a rrived from E gypt, a nd in
w elcomi ng t hem , we hope th at they Wlli b e ha ppy
h ere .
Death.-With very great r egr et w e record t h e
d eath of .Mr. E. R. Long, a G rade III m emb er of
the Staff . This occur r ed suddenly on 17th J a nua ry ,
1937. Mr. Long was in the office two days before.
H e served nineteen y ears in the Rifle Briga de a nd
ove r t wenty -four y ear s in this offi ce. The fun eral
was a ttend ed by Capt. J. P. N. Whitlty, S .S .M . L.
A. F. Mo ckler , Sergts. Cain and J obnson, the two
la tter, with four sergeants of the RiD e B ri gade,
acting as bearers, the interment t a king place at
So~thampton.
In addition, the m a jority of his
CIVilia n colleagues w ere present to p ay a last tribu te.
Social Club.-Owing to divers circums ta nces the
office Social Club 's acti vities h ad ceased , bu t a r evi val w as st a ged at a meet ing in Oct ob er under the
chairma nship of Capt. Whitty, a new committee
belll g elect ed and the old Secret a ry , Sergt. Cain ,
b eing p ersuaded to carry on. It is hoped tha t wh en
finer w eather comes, a crick et m a t ch or two and
possi:bly an outing can be arran ged .
Dinner.-The fi.rst function given under t h e
a uspices of the resu scita t ed Social Club w as a farewell diI?-ner to Lieut.- Col. Godfrey. A s th e la t e
Officer ll c R ecords, Col. J. Crosbie, D .S.G., Rifle
Bngade, h a d only recently retired, the opportunitv
was taken to give him a fa r ewell a t the sam e tim e.
The dinner .was held on Zlnd J 1a nu a ry, 1937, at a
r esta urant 111 the town and over forty gu est s
at tended . A mon g ~hose present w ere M a jor E. R.
K~lly, from W a rWick , 'S.S.M. R. E. Dore, fr om
HIlsea, Corpl. Smi t h , from Salisbury, a nd Cor pl.
Gar dner , fr om Lond.on, all '0' whom h ave ser ved
with Col. Godfrey. .W e also h a d with us Col. O. C.
Downes-, D ..s..O ., M.C., R.ifle Briga de, t h e new
Officer 1/ c R ecords. In a ddltlOn to the s taff of t h e
office, nine of our Sup,plementa ry R esel' vi, ts
a t ten ded. Ano t h er g uest we were pleased to see was
i'llI.' . G. S kee ( ex- S.Q.J\I~. S. of th e Corps ). An ex cellent (lInn et' was prOVid ed a nd followm g th e t oast

"

THE

ROYAL

ARMY PAY

CORPS

JOURNAL

----------------------- -------~

of " The King ", proposed by Capt. W11it ty , Mr. B .

M cC onn ell , Chief Cler k , Records, propose d tl1e health
of Col. Cro sbie. Mr. M cConnell referred to the long
a nd di sting uish ed car eer of this -Offi cer om 'pl ea s~re
a t ser ving wi t h him and our regret at IOS111 g him ,
a nd conclud ed by wishing him " Good luck , good
huntin g and a lon:g rlln" ! <,t refe rence to t,h e Colonel 's
well-known sport111g actiVities .
.
In r eplying , Col. Crosbie s poke of h~ s long y ear s
in the Se r vice , his deep feel111gs on parrtmg , and pa id
a tribute to th e loyalty and good work of all t hose
with whom h e h ad b een associa t ed. S.Q.M .S. F . J .
J ames w as then called: upon to -propose the h ealth
of Li eut. Col. G odfrey . He commenced b y saymg
tha t it w as not t he kiridest of t as k s t o. be called upon
to mark t.h e end of a n associa tion t h at ha d b een so
pleasa nt to us all. Col. Godfrey had been a h i end
to all a nd h e knew h e carried all with him wh en h e
wi shed the Colonel good h ealth , long li fe and good
fortun e in wha t ever ventures Ja y befor e l11m .
Col. Godfrey, in rep-lying , said rtha t he wa.s deeply
touch ecl by t'he tri bute pa id t o him , so mu ch .s o
t ha t he did n o,t feel equal to m a kmg a sp eech SUlta ble to th e occasion, but he -th a nk ed every on e fo r
t.h eir kindness a nd good wishes. H e said h e w as
p a rticul a rly pleased a nd moved t o see r epresenta-

t ives fro m W a rwi ck , Hilsea, Sali sbury and London

who h a d com e to pay t ribute to th e depa rting chief.
Capt. W hit.ty t h en proposed the h eaJt h of Col.
Downes a nd th e Colonel, r eplying, said that the
h ard est Itas k was to follow su ch a n offi cer as Col.
Cros:bie but tha t h e felt confid ent of the future a s
h e could see tha t the sta.ff was h a ppy a nd cont ented a nd t h at m a de for effi ciency.
An excellent musical pro gra mme w as g iven by
Ma jor K ell y , Sergt. Johnson , . Messr s. F. Huxley ,
E . J . BU1to n , C. F. Cla rk and R. Ford, a nd we
a r e inde bted to Mrs . Miller for h er ser vices as an
accompanist .
L ate in t he evening , v.ery lat-e,
S.Q .M. S . J a mes wa s prevailed upon to give a few
tales from his exte nsive rep ertoire.
' Ait th e conclusion, S.S.M . Dore, on b ehalf of the
vi ~itor s, in a ve ,'y neat sp eech , th a nked th e Club
fo r its hospitality , and .Mr. E . R. Long tha nk ed the
a rtist s, a nd a ve ry enjoyable ev:e11lng was brought
ra th er r elu ctant ly to a close.
Belated.-_-\..s lio notes from Win cheSlt er a pp eared
in the last issu e, t.his is th e firs t opportunity we
have ha d o f g i \'in O' ou r good wis hes t o M a jor But,
ler whom we lost in t h e P alestin e " rnsh " , a nd to
S. S .M. J. J. F enlon who left us in Septemb er for
J am aica.

Western Command
CHESTER.

Obituary,-It is with deep reg ret th at w e h ave

to report the death of S.Q . M~ S. H. C. Chin ery , who
di ed a t Ch est er a t th e a ge of 44, after a shor t Illn ess.
Th e deceased was. a bach elor, a nd the fun era l t ook
place at Gl em s ford , Suffolk , the home of hi s pa r ents.
F loral tributes from Ch.e srter , S hrewsblll'Y and th e
Old Comrad es Associa tion we re >:ent .
Xmas Festivities,-The fa milies o f t he milita ry
and civili a n st aff of th e Offi ce w ere th e g uest s of
the Officers ot Comma nd H eadqu a rters a t a Xmas
P arty h eld at t h e Town H all on 19th D ecemb er ,
1936.
The pro gr a mme con sis t ed o f an enter tain er ; t e ~"
during wl1ich a ve ry enjoya bl e selectlOn of mUS1C
w as played , gam es , a nd fhially , a v isit from 1!ath er
Chris tmas with his usu al sto re of presents, bnn gl11 g
_
a h a ppy p arty to a su ccessful ending .
Departure.- liVe regret to r eport. th e d eparture of
M a jor E. W. Bo oth , M .C. , a nd S .Q .M.S. C . Booker ,
who h ave left us on post,ing to t he vlia1' Offi ce and
Barnet r especti vely.
Arrivals.- Sel' D'ean t. J. R. l ;Yoan h as joined us
fr om E gyp t. \~e wish him a pleasant s tay in hi s
n e w statI on.
SHREWSBURY.

Moves. - P l'i,a.t.e G regory has a rri\'ed f rom th e

Sch ool of In stru ction a nd we hope th at hi s stay
will prove a pl easa n t one. Search pa rties we re almost
called for 0 11 t he s upposed day of a rriva l, bu t h a ppil y
h e p resen t ed his " pass" t o t he S .S.M. a nd we
breathed h ee]v again .
Corpor al vVeaire has return ed fr om P alestin e aft er
enjoying a " Coo k 's" to ur of 15 monrt hs' stay in th at
station , M a lta a nd E gypt.
W e h a \'e alrea dy t wice bid Se rgeant IiVen t fa rew ell for o ve rsea.s' service, bu t he still ha ngs on fo r
rt,he boa t th a.t is sOlnehow alw ays " full-up ". W e
ta k e this opportunit.y rto wi sh him " bon v oya ge"
ancl it ha,ppy t om a broad.

The Three Graces.

:\le5s enge rs a t th e Hecord and Pay Offi ce ,
Shrews bury.

4I

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THE
THE

ROYAL

ARMY PAY

Sport.-Crick et is no w in th e minds of m a ny a nd
w e ho pe our Secr etary will p rovide us with numer ou :;
fixtures. It is l'um oured tha t h e h as a lready lll
. dented for a new scor ebook in an t icipation of t.he
old one b ein er fill ed befor e M av is out.
' Ne hea r al so t h at Priva te Gr egory is intereste u
in t he gam e, a nd we h ope tha t we sh all see hinl
" do hi s stuff" with the bat as well as behlll d t h e
" sticks" .
vVe reo-r et to state It h a t t h e "powers" h ave decided to lay <L new floor in o ur Recre"tion Hut. vVf';
h ave th erao re n o fac ilit ies fo r table t enni s, an d
h ave r eluctan t ly wit h d raw n from t h e Shrewsbur:
and District T able Tenni s L eagu e after winnin g 3
m a,t ches out of 13 pla,yed . There is ev id en tly some
trut h in t h e bad lu ck 'of N o. 13.
Social.- Ol1 D ecemb er 22nd, 1936, we h eld ou r
Office X mas Party in cOlljunction with t h e Royal

CORPS

JOURNAL

- -_._--

En gineers wh o at'e employed in the B elle Vu e Offices.

..\.ter day s of prep a ra tion th e g reat m om ellt
a rrived. a nd by 4.30 n .m. about 120 sa t do wn t o t ea
at gail y decorated t ables .
After tea, gam es and a cinematog l'[tph sh o w oi
:\Ii ckey M ouse were provid ed , a nd a,t 6 o ' clock , to
t h e "ccom panim en t of sleigh b ells, F at her Xma,s
ani ved dow n t h e chimney, minus t h e us u" l s o o ~,
a nd distributed Rresents' from t h E' X m.as T ree
decora.ted w it h !twinklin g ligh ts .
More g:m1es foHo wed , until t h e k idd ies ' h ead s
beeran to n od , when p a rents took t h em h ome laden
with t{)ys, sweet s and -fruit.
An I m p rompt u dan ce w as then h eld , 1l1us ic b eing
provid ed by a r adiogram , wh en someone was h eard
to rem a r k=-"We'd b e,t t er b e going-it ' s n early
closing !time" , " nd a ple"san t aft el'noon a,nd eyenin g
cam e to an en d.

Commands Abroad
The p rizes (we,re m a ny and varied a nd fairly
evenly distributed .
The poultry h ad been well dusted a nd was not
too hi gh , but as a safet Y' m eas ure w as well ~ rapped
up so as n O't to cau se any possibili ty o f emb arrass
ment to p eople t ravelling b ack t o H eliopolis in the
lJu s.
A ny id eas t h a t a certain senio r nHLy h n,ve h ad of
B accllan alia n r evelry, as t he r esult of t h e dr n,w, w er e
rudely dispelled when his fi rs t two priz.es w er e
Chistmas puddings . H a rmony was r estored when
h alf a dozen fav ourite Whitbreads cam e his w a,y.
The evening w as enlivened by the running of fr ee
,t ombolas wi t h bottles of " YoHo Ho " as prizes ,
an d we were pleased to see one of our old memb ers,
011 leave fro m P alestin e, win one-or was it two ?of t hese prizes . All impromptu dan ce to the r a dio
gramo phone t ermina ted a most enjoya ble evening .
Christmas Day.-The time honoured custom was
observed wh en Colonel H. Genge-A ndrews and the
Offi c.ers visited the Mess on Ch ristm as morning.
Y arn s a nd a necdotes m a de a ve ry pleasanlt hour
pass all t oo qui ckl y . Th e Chri stmas v isit of the
offi ce r~ to t h e M ess is a gra nd cu st om a nd cr eates
a ha ppy a nd easy a tmosphere which enhan ces the
hi gh tradi t ion s upon wh ich the se rvice is built and
is a ppreciated by senior and junior alike.
The Chri stm as dinner , th e arra nerem ents of whi ch
h ad b ee n in t he capable h a nd s of e rgeant T a ppen
den , was a n unqualified success a nd richly deserved
t he con gr a tula t ory and ha ppy rem a rks m ade by
S .S. NI. Brierl ey in his speech.
New Year's Eve.-An innovation in the form of a
sUl~pel' fo r all m emb er s and their wives t ook place
1 n t h e Nl ess on N ew Y ear 's E ve .
Some 90 sat down an d enjoyed a n excellent r epast.
Th e table, which stret ch ed the ent ire len gth of the
Y[ess, was t astefully decorat ed , a nd with everyone
wearin g fan cy h a t s the M ess presented a ve ry gay
a ppear a nce.
Aft er sup per a dan ce w as h eld whi ch w as enlivened by so me splend id singing b y St aff Serg t .
W allace, R.E. , Mrs. Sow erby and Se l'gt . Spooner,
8t h Hussar s.
A.t midni ght (E gy pt time ) th e cu stom ary honOl:U'S
w ere ob served and at 2 a .m. w e tuned t he wireless
in t o En gland a nd joined with those a t home in
t h eir midni ght cer emonies.
E veryon e vo ted th e innova,t ion a complete success
a nd it seem s certain tlHLt our N ew Y ear 's Ev~
sup per will b ecome a p erm an ent fUllcti on .

EGYPT.
' Ne a re in t he t h l'Oes ot AnnuaJ. 'M usk etry a nd
some weird a nd wo nderf ul sh ootin g is takin g place.
On t he whole th e standard is high a nd it is a n t ici
pated t hat t he fin al fi g ures w ill b e mo st sati sfa,ctor y .
In th e offin er is t h e Annual Inspection by t h e A r ea
Comma nd el' a nd we hope to r etain t h e la,urels of
previou s yf'ar s .
It is with deep r egret t h a t we h ave t o announ ce
the death of Mr . :\Ia niataki s. Known for m a ny
y ears to each and ,e \'ery m emb er of the Corp s
sta tio ned in E gypt [ts " T akis", h e wa.s a most
popul ar fellow . His illness was, unfo rtunat ely ,
s omewh wt prot ract ed. A D et achment of th e Corps,
und er Major F. A. Woods, attend ed th e f un eral.
vVe vie lcom e b ack S.S. NL K aine from t h e Sud a n.
S.S.M . Gebb ett relieved him down south . L f Sgt.
H allid,a y, who also cam e h ack wi th S.S.M . K ain e,
has r efurn ed to t he Sud an for attachm ent to th e
Suda n D efen ce Force. Good huntin g, H alliday.
sergeants' Mess.-Our Clui stm as festivities w er e
thorou ghl y enjo yed. 18th D ecember saw u s all set
for t h e Chri stm as t r ee and p a rty . A sp lendid show
a t the cin ema was fo llowed by a ver y enjo yable
p a rty at which som e 170 children and adults sat
down. The next item was th e entertainm enlt in
the M ess- ventriloqui st , et c. \TIle w ere t h en visited
by the choir of St. George's Ga rrison Church who
san g several cal'ols- and last but not least-the
TREE.
S.Q,.M .S. Praed excelled as Santa Clau s, and with
their presents, ora nges, sw eets, etc., t he kiddies
l1 ad a r eal good tim e.
P erhap s the " piece de resist a nce" occurred durin g th e mo riiin g wh en t h e Ser geant M a jor, assist ed
b y several ._ ~talw a.rts, wa,s decora ting th e tree. A
step ladd e.l' could n ot b e obtained so w e h a d to
use a n orilinary ladd.e r at the top of whi ch was
b a~anced th e S.M . w it h the st alwart s h angin g on
grIml y a t the foo t. N ow a nd again ther e was an
ominous sw ay accompanied by fr enzied appeals for
s t eadll1ess fr om t h e t op. Th e "sotto voce" r em a rk s
froJ? ~he foo t of th e l add er on the knotty point of
se11101'1ty a nd th e pOSSIble effect of " one up the roll"
may . h ave ,been pa rtly r esRon sible for the appre
henSLOI1 from th e t op, a,n d p erh a,ps it w as a coinci
dence th at the S.M. decid ed the tree h ad received
quite enough d ecoration ju st a t rthe identical moment
wh en one m emb er w a.s studyin g .hi s " y ellow p eril".
Th e n ex t fun ctlOn was th e Chnstmas draw on the
evenin g 6f 23rd D ecember.

42

RUVAL

AR11Y

PAY

CORPS

JOURNAL

H ailstone return ed from U. K. in D ecE m ce r a nd

again took O\' er t h e dut ies of N .C .O. i / c S h oo t~ n g .
Open Range.- 'Ne we re u nable to comm en ce prac
t icing for t h e St: d::!11 Tl'oph y o n t he open l'ange
un t il t he beg llll1lll g of J a nu ary. Th e averages of
t he gun sco res retu ril Ed fo r th e m o nt h were t he
sam e as t h o:;e for t he first mo nt h 's sh oot last season .
As th.e Trophy s hoot tak es ' Rlace in Mal'ch , i t does
no t give u s too much tI m e to improve on ou r SCO l 'e~
of t h e pa.st; w e a r e opt imistic, howeyer, a nd an
[tverage of 14 mem bers atJtencliug t h e sh oots ensu re,
su ffi cien t llumbel's fro m which t o iJick a team .
L ieut .. Colonel T. Ke lly r eturned t h e best g un
[Lyerage w ith 74.
.
Miniature Range.- O lli~ scores return ed in t he
Post al L eague a re much b elow the t ru e form 1)[
t h e team , and it cel1tainly is rem a rkable to watch
a m emb er r eturn a practice car d o f 99 a nd ODI ~r
sco re a scratch), 90 in t h e m atc h . ' '''' e h ope t o
en ter a team in t h e A rmy Sm all B o;'e Match tk s
year a nd also t h e D omi'nions Clu b Compe ti t ion.
when ou r n ew m em ber s h ave seutlecl dow n a nd are
more used to the li ght. Ser gt. H aib t one wo n t he
J a nua ry Spoon wi t h an ave rage .of 99 iu th e spoon
shoots .
Hockey.-Th ere h as been a m ar ked imp royeme nt
in the team , two or t hree useful pl ayers h ay ill g
joined t he D et,achm ent, t h er eby str en gth ening th e
t eam consid era bly.
vVe recen tl y m et t h e 8t h K.R.I. Hussars and t h e
gam e ended 1\1 our favo ur b y 3 goals to .1 . L o, in g
to t h e P ay Corps, eyid ent.ly, wa s no t very pleasin g
to the 8t h , and n ext day, !thirsting fo r r even ge.
t hey arra n ged a return ga m e, turned ou t t h eir
st ro ngest re,g:imen ta l sid e a n d defeated' us by 11
goals to 2. vVe ' \\'e r e, h owever, wit hout t wo of om'
best play er s 011 ,t hi s occasion .
Th e Com pany team s of our next door neig hbours.
the 6th E n . R,oyal T a nk Corps, h aye t urned ou t to
m eet us o n seve ral occasions a nd I t hink th at w e
sh a r e po.ints equ a lly. Th e " T anks" alw ays m ainta in
t h at t hEy a.re on e gam e up on us a nd w heneyel'
w e defeat t h em th ey in si:;t on a r eturn m a t ch in a n
effo d to obtain r'evenge.
h ea,r t hat CorpI.
Thomas ha s been inyolved in m a ny a h eat ed ar g u
m en t in t h e " T anks" Corporals ' :Mess as a re ul t
of th ~se gam es, bu t those of you wh o kn ow Cp!.
Thomas will have no dou bt abo ut his capa,biliti es
in an argum e::t h owever stron gly h e m ay be ourt
n umbered.
are vel)' pleased t o welcom e illtO th e team
Cap tain G. H agerard, who recen tlv ioin ed t he D e
tachmen . H e i~ a erreat asse t to the sid e, b ein g
a very k een pl[tver. ~l nd eager to do his b est fo r
th e ,t ea m in e \'er y way .
So fa r all ou r ' m atch ~s iUl\'e been "frienc11ies" .
but w e hop e. next seaso n , to enter Olle or two C01l1petit ion s in t h e Com ma nd , a nd bv t h en .we al.so
hop e to be able to p rodu ce a , 'er v u sef ul sld e, ;l nd
t.o "sha k e, up " a few of th e t eam s wh o at preEent
co nsider u s "easy".
. GIBRALTAR .
Th ere is not much to re port from this s ta ti on.
th e exige ncie of w ork a n d troopin g ha yin g 1 es
tri ct ed our Co rps a t ivi!ties.
.
1937 h as b Een excit in g so far OWl1l g to won de r
ful ski es of 1 Iedi te rranea n blue . wa rm sllnsh111 e.
a nd t he p resence of t h e H om e Fl eet .
Valete.~W e bade far ewell on Christm as D a v t o
Serereant Bessen t a nd fn,J1! il v . also Ser geant P ond
ill v~Jid e d hom e for a se ri ous op er ation ; a nd t,o'
S .Q, .J\I. S.s Manniug a l1 d H alt er illlcl It heir f:unilie&
on 21 st J a llu a r v . 'W e wi sh them all of th e best.

A mos t su ccessful fun ction was h Eld in -th e M ess

clul'ln g F ebrua ry , consistin g of a con cert fo ll ow ed
by a dcLl1 Ce .
'
Sever al well.kn own. artiste::, ap pea red a nd were
thoyou g hly enjo yed, tl1 e only sna g being t he limi
tahon of seatin g r oo m.
Th e dance ba nd of th e
l1H: ~ussar s ,excell ed ~ h em sel ves d uring th e da nce .
Bllhar.ds.-Our actlvltl es h ave been confin ed rto it
l'eSump tlOn of t Ile f riendly r iva.lry wi t h t h e R oyal
_-'u r Force Ser gean ts' Mess t!:'a m a t H eliopoli s . Th ~se
e\ ents h ave t o b e seen to be ab le to full y a p p re
clate the g l'eat good feehn g betw eell t h e ,t w o Messes.
vVe p layed t he fir st snooke-l' m a t ch in our Mesa ncl III spIte of co nsider a;ble ba,rrac k in g , a erood
st a nd a rd of snook er was m aintained . It res~lt,ed
III a VIctory fo r our M ess by 6 ' m a t ches to love.
Dll'e threat s were utter ed by our Fri ends of t he A ir
as t o t h e ou tco m e o f t h e return m a t ch. This r eturn
match was pl ayed in t h eir M ess a,nd again we, h aye
t o t h a nk t h em. for a splendid show. \ Ne were r e
qu ested to bnn g th e ladies, a nd the A ir F Ol'ce
Ser geant s a rra n ged a dance as w ell as t h e snook er
m a t ch. Th e evenin g w as most su ccessful-all t h eil'
shows ~ re-th e onl y fly in the oint m mt was t hat
w e agalJl saw t heir "skids" off at snook er b v S
gam es to 1. The m argin in fi ve eram es was deci'cled
Th e "cup " wa~ duly presen ted
011 t,b e black.
filled , emptied , fill ed , empt ied and tak en a w a y . W~
a.r e all lo okln g fo rwa rd to a, fur ther ch allen ge.
Football.-W e have conle to t h e end of a m os t
enj oyable seaso n . Our defeats ha,ve certainly been
m or e l~ um erou s t ha n our victories, but it 111u st b e
a ppreciat ed t h at as o ur opponEnts were alm ost in
Ya.rl ably youngster s it refl eCits credi t on o ur Ol d
S ta ger s to give team s t h e close gam es that h ,\'\'e
t a k en place. Ser gt. Mack a v- h as infused co nsider
able dash in to t h e fo rw ardlii1 e an d wit h his t ilrou erh
p asses h as raised m a ny ~l, gallop out of t h e Sergt.
:\IaJo r a t o Ults ld e n ght just a t t he time wh en h e
(the Sergt. M a jor) h ad hoped th at th e baJl w ould
burst and ensure som e little r espite. CorpI. R ea
h fl,S b een a mo st ener getIc secreta ry a nd our t h a n 1, ,,
are cl,ue t 9 l11 m for his t ireless efforts in ra ki ng
up t eams wh en t h e spirit of the pla yers hns eeeii
rem ark ~bl y good but t h e fl esh somewh at wea k.
Tennls.- Th ls can be term ed th e " close" sea,so n
a nd sen ous m [ttch es h ave no t y et comm en ced . A
good deal of tightenin g up,- both as regal:d s
rac qu ets [tlld Rlfl Y, is Ibeing indul ged in a nd it see ms
t h a t w e shall be a ble t o produ ce a well ba la nced
t ea m wh en t h e first " L ove all " is called ill com
p eti t ive m a t ches.
VV" h ave rece nt ly h a d a ser ies o f f riencl li es w ith
the R. A. O.C., the ga m es consistin g of m en ' s doubl es.
J111x ecl doub les and ladies' dou b les. Th e ladies did
b est and ch'e.w t he;r m a t ch . ' Ne wer e fo rtun ate
e no u ~ h t o be . ;l h ie t o call upon ~i~ genlts in t h e
ge n ts a nd m !xed do u hles a nd somew h a t expe ri
m ental team s were made. It is a ce rta int,v 'th a t
t he.re will he con siclemble com pet,iti oll fo r p laCeS
wh en a r eal team h as to b e chosen.
Rifle Club.-On writin er t h e n otes on th is b ra nch
of sport, it is ve rv d i ffic~!l t to r efr ain from b ewa il
in g o ur misfort un e in losing the services of S. Q, .M.S.
Blac k . due to his m eetin g wi t h a n accide nt whi ch
has effectually preven ted him from using a r ifl e,
an d also our losses on postin g. This includ es Lieut.
B. J . E. T emple \~ h ose stron g support and ent hu s
lasm Oll the op en ra n ge w ill be ve ry mu ch missed
this season.
.
\TIle w ere pleased to welcom e Sel'gts . Low t h el';
'W oods a nd Maclmy, wh o a r e get t in g th eir eyes in,
bot,h on th e o'p en a nd miniature ra n ges . Sergt.

,,,,re

,,,,re

43

THE

ROYAL

AlnlY

PAY

Salvete.- \i\7 welcomed: S.,Q .M.S.s Prowse a,nd

:Mills and Sergeant Th0111(1,S with their families Oll
various date~ in December and January (l,nd trust
their four year Oll the Rock will proye ha,ppy and
pleasant for them all.
Christmas Party.-21st Decemb er found om
SerO'ea nts' Mess a fairyland of decorations, Chri stm a~ Tree, and lights; for thi s ever pleasant and
eagerl y-anticipated annual treat.
The looks on t he kiddi es' faces must haye amp.! y
1 epaid t he energetic and, most competen.t ef-forts of
OLlr P ..M.C ., S.~.M.S . Ow en, and h ~ CommIttee,
Serge(l,nts Nice an d H,iddington , to ent,er am them.
Our t hanks a re also du e to Mrs. AS\{]ll for pre;:;entill O' a beautiful doH to e<Lch sma ll girl present
a nd o~r sympa,t hy to S.Q.1'vl.S. ~l1Id .:Mrs. Boo h on
their enfo rced absence due to th 3 1lln ess of t hell'
baby d(l,ug htel'. now lJ appily comRletely rec.overed.
Our C. P. r e ~e rred to the dep <1l1t ure of ~l (l,J or Ra so n
owin g to sevel e ill ness, and Mrs . R aso n suitably
responded. Thi was h er f(l,rewe l1 OCC(l,SlOn, as_ she
and h el' daLl O'hte r left on Xmas Dav for the U.K.
Sergeants,OMess.-With he ani,'al of much fresh
blood , in cidentally some skilled dal ,t pl ayers, our
\ i\T ednesday evenings ~1ave been very enjoyable and
our Mess has been given a new lefLse of hfe.
This is of course, as it shoul d be ; and we are
g lad of 'the weekly opportun ity of meeting all
office colleagues socially.
A framed photograph of the whole staff of the
Comm and Pay Office (taken before th e departure of
anv home-going personnel) h as been added to our
" !)"rope11ty" which now includ es 18 su ch photographs, going back ve ry many years.
.
' Ne are thu s adding to a collectIOn whIch should
becom e hi sto ric ill course of time.
Tenn :s.-vVe had a very plea sa nt "whi st-dri ve"
tournam ent "at- home" on " B" court on 16th
December, which formed a n occasion for Lt.-Col.
and Mrs . Fenl1ell to give us a tea-party, and all
present mu ch appl'eciated <their kindness. .
Major Asl< in . perhaps a trifl e lu cky in h1 partn ers, won the tournament, S.S M. Deacon was 2nd,
a nd Mrs. Nice top lady.
Th ese tenn;s funct ion s en able u S to meet the wives
and children of all members of t he Det achment and
we intend to hold t h em mont hl y in fut.ure.
Hockey.-Major Askin and S.S.M. Deacon are
regular play ers in a \'ery successful S. & D. team
whi ch r e~ ularl y hand s out licking:s to Crui ser s, D estroyer Floti ll as, et c.
'.th e enthusia s m of our Honorary Secretary , S.S.M.
Deaco n , has b _en la r gely responsi ble for a very
noti ceable revi val in GibraHar of th is game.
HONG KONG.
Hong Kong Calling.-Although so mew hat belated
"l,ve wish t he Complim ents of the Season to all members of the Co rps, wh erever they ma,y be, a lso, prosp erity and h appin ess in the New Year . Christmas
has come and gone, but it is safe to say that all
111 em bel'S of t he Detachment a nd: their -famili es had
an enj oyable t ime. On Xmas m01'11ing t he single
members paid visits to t he married fam ili es and it
was a pleas ure to see t h em and drink a Chri stmas
toast with th em . All single members were entertained by one family or a nother on Xmas Da,y , so
toget her with t h eir patrol in the morning it is to b e
hoped tha t their lot was a hapny one. On Boxing
evening the single members had their Xmas dinner
in the Garrison Sergts.' "Mess at whi ch a numb er
of the marr'iecl N.C.O.s were present. Thi. was an

CORPS

excellent show, startin g with a very fin e diuner and

endinO' with ,1, concert arranged by t h e members
thems~lves. The success of th is function was, 111
great part, due to the energies of Sergt. Finch, '.". ho
1S to b e congratulated on hIS po,w ers of orgamsatlOn .
}.l ow for some detailed news.
Children's Party.-Our a nnual PCl,l'ty for the
children too k place on t he 16th December and as
usual proved a huge su ccess. Until !tea time games
and competitions were 1I1dulged 111 and t he loddles
had a riotous time. It was a treat to see young
Tony Ingpen coming down the slid ~-on his back , on
his bce and even on hIS ear. fh e shd e has no
ten'o rs lor him. A fter the games came the tea , and
a little calm whi le all d.id Justice ,to the good fare
prov:ded. Dllling tea the honour of cutting the
2[mas ca\, e was given to Col. Llg htfoot, who chcl
the job ve ry tholOughly, and WIth due fOl'm <:thty ,
with t he aid of an Orll cer 's sword. H avlllg filllsh ed
tea there was an il1itel'val for games un til Santa
Claus came along. At. last he arl'ived amid ch eers
and shouts hom t he clu ldl"en. H e had rll ce pl'esents
for all, including Col. Li ghtfoot who received a
minia.ture cricket bat , with the good WIshes from
Santa Claus tha,t it would enable him to have a
good innings while in Hong Kon g. Having got ovel'
the excitement of the presents there were more
games clming which Mrs . Smy th kindly presented
the prizes for the games competit ions. After that
the grown ups ad.iourned for a quiet drink , anel a
da nce Ol' two. Finally it came ,to the t1me to say
finis, so th e children with a bag each of ol'<1,nges,
apples and sweets, and t he parents loaded with
presents, departed. in peace and h armony to their
respecti ve abodes. Vil e congratulate the Committee,
comprising S.S.M. Blackett, Q.M.S.s H arman,
Han 3en and Miller, a nd Sergt. T erry, on their good
show. Se l"gt . - T erry did Sant.a, Claus and did it
well.
Tenl1is. - v\i hat v, ith the Trooping Season , wO l'k
entailed thereby, and Xm as fes t.iviti es. we ha.ve not
done mu ch in th e fi eld of tennis. However, one
bright spot which we will all rememb er wa,s ;)
Tennis At ~-Iome given by Col. Ligh tfoot. This
took nla ce 011 October 23l'd , at which all members of
the Det<'lchm ent and their famili es were present.
Tennis was in f ull swin g until t h e tea in te rva l when
we aU took part in an excell ent. rel~ast. After tea
the re was more tennis until it bega n to get dark
when we adjourned to the pavilion where C~l. Lightfoot regaled us WIth drmks, a nd proved hl.m self to
be a. \'ery fine ho st. Jolly good h ealth from us all.
We will shortly be competing for th e Lang Cup , but
more of that anon .
Rifle S.hooting.-The "Colonel Lightfoot Competition" has now been b rou ght to a s uccessful conclusion , and as forecast in our last notes t.he Shanghai OffIce were easily tlle winners, with Tientsin
runners up and, may I ue allow ed to say, Hon g
Kon ~ ,1, pl ucky third.
In add it ion to a challenge
trop ]1"~r,: }~J1i ch is held by the best shot for one year
Col. Uig11tfoot also preseuted a cup to the beil t .
shot in en,ch Office. We congratul ate L / Sgt. Kirke
on his 'ye!;y fine show in w inning the ch allenge Clll'
and rei)1ica. We also congratulate L / Sgt. E lgoo'"
all doin~~'s o well fol' t he Ti entsin Office and botn
Major R. H. Smyth nnd Sergt. Lewis on tieing in
Hon g K on g. In t he la.tt-er case Major Smyth very
snortingly withdrew all claim to the cun which wn,s
t herefore pre ented to Sergt. Lewis. The followino'
SCOl'es will give som e idea of what we can do , a nd

44

THE

J OURNA L

ROYAL

ARMY

the s how ing is not bad wben it i3 considered that

the. conditions for firing are not ideal, and that the
ordinary serv ice .22 rifle is used.
8hoot
1
2
3
4
5
6 Total
Tientsin.
398
67 62 72 68 66 63
L / SgL. A. El good
395
66 68 63 69 67 62
Sgt. E. Gilb el't
394
61 67 67 66 64 69
Sgt. A. Stewa rt
371
65 56 58 67 63 62
S.S.M. E. Cook
Shanghai.
433
69 69 72 75 73 7'5
L / Sgt. Kirke
431
71 73 71 71 71 74
Capt. Thomas
430
73 70 72 74 69 n
L / t:lgt . Pearson
42!1
69 73 68 71 71 72
S j Sgt. E verett
420
67 67 72 73 7'3' 68
Sgt. Alexander
408
63 69 67 68 68 73
Sgt. Crowe
Hong Kong.
377
\1ajor R. H. Smyth 71 67 65 61 57 56
377
65 70 59 65 59 59
Sgt. L ew is .
365
62 65 66 58 45 69
Sgt. Moody
355
63 44 66 69 51 62
S.Q.M.S. Miller
339
62 69 35 62 61 50
Sgt. O'Connor
338
54 65 55 49 56 59
S jSgt. Badger
336
57 53 51 63 53 59
S.Q .NI.S . BaU
336
S.Q.M.S. Murakami 60 62 56 44 63 51
318
61 55 44 48 57 53
S.Q.M.S. L aws
29~
47 43 56 53 46 47
S.Q .M.S. H arman
287
53 43 46 57 49 39
S.Q.M.S. Finch
23H
29 55 36 35 51 32
S .Q.M.S. Erlun d
230
37 49 30 33 29 52
S.Q.M.S. Shaw
168
4 27 35 24 41 37
S.Q.M.S. Terry
In the Hong Kong monthly spoon shoo ts the
winners for t h e past three 111011!ths are as follow s:October-No shoot.
November-Sergt. Moody.
D ecember-S / Sel'gt. Badger.
H aving now got some (\(Lt(l, on whi ch to work \\'e
a re starting handi cap spoon shoots whIch sh ould
add to the keenness "a lready shown in this bran ch
of spo rt.
Cricket.-In spite of the fact that we cannot get,
an allotment of gro und s to play on we h a.ve had
two very pleasant matches. These took place on
Saturd ay and Sunday, the 2nd a,nd .3rd of J anu a ry.
T h e first was a friendly match aga1l1st t h e Ch1l1ese
R ec reation Club , and \.V(\,S played on their gl'Ol1l1d
at Causeway Bay. Althou gh t his was the first
match played by 'th e C11inese Clu b since 1928, they
pro.ved too stl'o-n g for our team, beating us by 15
rUll S. Scores wel'e as under: C.R.C.
52
D. Hun g . c. Harman, b. Bbckett
2
T-,o Tak-cheung, b. Pittham
2
W. Sling, b. Pitth am
18
'fsui Wa i-pui , b. Smith
6
Ng Sze-kwong , b. Sm It h
15
\1. W. Lo , b. Li ghtfoot .. .
1
J u Tak-l am , st. Burrows, b. Lightfoot,
5
H. Ching , b. Li ghtfoot .. .
. ..
o
H. S. rvlok , c. Flll Ch , b. 'M oody
5
S. W. Liang , st. Burrows b. Harman
o
Mak Chai, not out
5
Extras (B2, LB1 , W.B.?)
To.ta.l

PAY

CORPS

J UURNAL

Pay Office, Hong Kong.

Sgt. Sm:t h, c. and b. T sui
Sgt. Burrows, c. (l, nd b. T sui
Capt. Ingpen , c. and b. Tsui
Col. Lightfoot, b. Tsui
.
Sgt. Moody, c. and b. Shng.
S / Sgt. Badger, c. ancli b: T sUl
S.Q. U.S. Pittham , c. SlIn g, b. T sui
S.S.M. Bbckett, b. T Slli
S.Q.M.S. Hall , b. Sling
S.Q.M.S . Harman, c. Sling, U. T sui
Sgt. Fin ch , not out
Extras (ElO, WB l )
Total

13
11
3
14
1

4
20

11
8
11

96

l'su i Wai-pui took 8 wick et s for 56 rum and W.

Sling 2 wickets for 25 run s . N g S'le-kwong also
bowled for a n over.
Umpire: S / Sgt. Rush.
The second m.a<tch was also a fr iendly against the
Craigengower Club which resulted in a most excitin g finish. The following al'e t h e scores .
Craigengower.
Le'Wis, c. Finch, b. Moody...
17
Bl'oadbridge, c. Smith , b. l\Ioody
10
Dr. K aran jia, run ou't
6
W. K. W a.y , b. Pittham
3
T. L. Lo cke, run out
2
Howard, c. Burrows, b. Moody
0
Harnson , c. and b. Lightfoot ...
31
56
H a l'l1son , E. , retired
Hillier , st. Ill gpen, b. Moody
11
Cass umbho y , b. Pittham
2
Brown, not out
5
Extn1,s
16
Total

159

Bowling.
Smith, 0 for 39: 'M oody , 4 for 54; Pitth am , 2 for
38 ; Lightfoot, 1 for 12.
R.A.P.C.
26
Ca pt. Ingpen b. Lewis ....
21
Sgt . Smith, b . BrofLclbl'1dge
23
Sgt. Burrows, b. Harnson
67
Col. Lightfoot, b. Harnson
o
Q.M.S. Pittham , l.b.w ., b . Harnson
2
Q.NI.S. H arman, Lb .w., b. Hillier
o
Q.M.S. H all , l.b .w., b. Hillier .. .
1
Sgt. Moody, b. Hillier
o
Sgt. Finch , b. Hillier
o
Sgt. Ca.r-ter, not out
o
S / Sgt. Roush, b. H arnso n
15
Extras
T otal

155

Bowling
\?\Tav 0 for 36 L ewis. 1 for 32 ; Broadbrid ge. 1
for 1S; H a r nson ,' 0 for i7 ; H ar nson, B ., 4 for 33;
Hillier, 4 for 8.
Umpire: Sgt. True.
With three wick ets down for 76 , followed by
Pitt.h am l. b. w. for 0, (l,nd all our possib!e scorers
gone, thin gs looked I~one too rosy, but It .wa,s .at
this time ,that Col. LlgMfoot gave a sparklmg clJ splay of how to capture t h e bowling . H e was. in
his elem ent on the las t ba.ll. of each over, ma.kll1g
hrillia,n t strok es to get tllat one 1'!111 whi ch would
t"lk e him to the other end . 111:, will be seen from
t he above how effective hi s tactics were. 'With only

111

Bowling.
Smith. 2 for 42 ; Pittham, 2 fo r 34 ; Bl ack ett, 1
for HI : Li ghtfoot, 3 for 2 ; H a.rman , 1 for 9: Moody,
1 for O.

45

THE

ROYAL

ARMY

P AY

six rUll S to hi s credit, it . W:lS a fin e performan ce

to hol d the bowlers so well and pu t on another 61
runs wit h the field ers n: akin g fra n Lic effOl ts to
aet him out or to stop tha t last run . A good sl~ow
~ldeed but wha.t a pity 'ne could no t have got. Just
on e more bo un dary. So much for our rtwo cn ck et
matches. They were two good days' sport an~ we
hope to get more of it. S .Q.NI.S. Hanson asslsted
as scorer.
Arrivals.-vVe tender a hearty welcom e to Sergt.
and 1"[rs. Cartel' who di sem Garked from. t he H. T.
Dilwara on the 2nd: Tovem.ber. ThI S wlll be t he
comm encement of th eir second tour in rthe F a r E ast,
f1 nd Vi e wish them luck , and a happy stay here.
Gen eral .-Th e final Mahjong Party of th e yea r
took place at Mrs. Smyth's home on. the 1~th
D ecember. There was a full gathenng of the la dles
and the usual pleasant afte rnoon was spent rthere.
D liring t he ga mes Mrs. Bla ckett. on beh ~lf of the
la di es, made a presentatlOn of a set of Ivory serv iette rings to both Mrs. Smyth and Mrs. Ell ~rb y
in t,oken or a ppreciation of rthe many happy tImes
they have spent at these partIes.
On th e 22nd of December Major SIJlyth was At
Hom e to the Det achm ent Staff, a nd a very p~easant
evenin g was snent_by all. Wi t h Xm as fare to eat,
and an abundance of the CUD that cheers, there
was a happy glow about everyone. Mrs. Smyth as
host ess looked after our wants and wlth her charmin a mann er made us all at ea se. From 7 n.m. to
mi~lni g ht is a good innings , so we departed round
about tha.t hour feeling that we h ad had a very
pl easant interlud e in the ordinary routin e of things
out here,
Congratulations to S j Sgt. Bad gel' on atta inin g
tha t rank , also to Serat. Erlund on coming on to
the M.Q.R.. , which me~ns th at his family will now
be able to join him. Vl hi.l e on conq-ratula tlO ns we
must not forget our ex-members. Sergt. Tribbl e's
name is familiar to many of us ~ nd those who know
him will be pleitsed to Ii ear tha't he has passed w:ith
distinct ion in his Ca ntonese exanlln atlOn , havm g
attained 1st Grade. This has enab led him to become one of t he perm anent Staff of the Sa nitary
Commissioners.
Cono-ratulations to S.Q.M.S. H armitn and Sgt.
Burro~s on bein g awarded th e Lon g Service and
Good Condu ct Medals with gratuity.
JAMAICA.
On.ce a year shou ld surely suffi ce to write up the
events in t he li fe of a small detachment ab"road ,
but perha.ps out' long suffering editors in their search
for copy will not agree.
. However, since t he last notes from this station
ap,pea red , a "chan ge of air " season has passed ,
Christmas festiyiti es ar e over , and we ha srten in to
print before we m: ss the Spring numb el' of the
" Journal".
La:,t vear's cri cket oeason found our Jamaica
Detnclml'ent members linkin g forces with th e
R.A.O. C. and some inLer esting games were pl ayed.
'N e ar e reli eved to know t hat in t his year 's Officer s
v . W .O. s and Sgts. match, the former will not be
able to disguise Hel~be rt Slltcliffe wit h a fa lse mou st ache and R. A . blazer.
Ca,pt. Bl ac kwell , ably assisted by Sgt Jones, ran
the S. & C. T. hockey las t season with success. The
team ran out winn eis of t.he J. A .H.A. L eague for
t,he second veal' in su ccession. The Command Pityma ster itlso captained th e Garrison ru gger side which
d efeated the civilian s ill t he annu a.l tussle for the
Bla ck Cup .

COR PS

J OURNAL

At th e J amaica rifle meetin g t he Comma nd P aymast er, S.Q.M.S. Clark e: and Sgt. J ones r epre sented us with credIt. Y!I/e were t hll"cl 111 t he Small
Units Competition a nd were well r epresented 111 the
S. & C. T. t eam who easily defeated t ea m s from t h e
Regim ent and Police to win t he Ea st. Lan ~aslllr e
Cup . Th e Individual Re volver C h all1plOn S~lp was
also wo n by the Detachm entr--the Wlllll er b e1l1g presented witli the Cup by the O. C. Troops at a lat er
date,
.
I
In doo.r activirties fou lld the Detachm ent 111 tIe
final of the Snooker Championship . S.Q .l\I.S. Clar!'bein g beaten by Sgt. E v~ns. R.A .S. C. Sgt. VI':
J ones also r eached the btlharcl s filial , but unfoltunat elv sail ed for Hom e befol'e t he fin al could be
played ."
.
.
A t ab le t ennis set mad e ItS apneara nce 111. the Mess
one evenina. but before a ny of the lun ch Llme home
offi ce form could be r eached , t.he n g hrtf~1 1 owners re moved t he net.
.
Christma s was the occasion of many enJoyahle
functions . In particula r th e R egim ent' s (1 st Bn.
Sherwood Forestel's) ball preceded ?y a , tl'e~sure
hunt was very enjo vable , The Chlldl:en s Xma s
Tree, when Santa Clall s ar~'i ved per blCycl~ COlllplete with clown m a-d.e an lI1d eltble 11np1'eS81011 0,11
t he youngsters' minds. and fin~lly our Ne.w Year .s
Ball wa s th e scene of mu ch 1111l"fth and g~)Qd ch~e l .
Instead of the usual after Chri stmas qUlet penod ,
the Mess Committee with two Detachme nt m~l~lb e rs
found themselves confronted with th e VISlt of
H .M.S .s Apollo , Dra gon , Scarborough and Dundee ,
and it isi-enolrted t hat the P etty Offi cers of t he
ships enioyed themselves in .Camp as mu ch as they
dicl" in the hi gh spot s of Ca11for111a .
.
,
Our few Detachm ent notes ar e the arnval of S:~i(.
F enlon a nd the depa,rture of S.M. Modder a nd Sgt.
W. H. Jones. We expect to lo se S.Q.M.S. Clark
at any mom ent on his promotiOl: . and when the
movino. Hnger has mov ed on we wlsh them all good
lu ck il~ t heir new stati.ons .
.
All the memb er's of the Detachment and the~r
wives enjoyed a pa rty art the Command P aymaster "
house early in the New Year. On e Vv.O ., who ~l ad
previously expressed dot~bts as to h~s s?-l'e a rnva l
past the C.P.'s dog, chdn ' t seem t.o Jl1l11d Lf th e C.P.
kept lion s when he left. .
.
We t ake this OI~portul1lty to WIsh the O ..C.A.
continued success, and a bumper number on dll1ner
night,
COMMAND PAY OFFICE, JERUSALEM.
Once again the t ime for t hese notes to be despat ched to the Editors. is upon us, and wh ereas
when those for th e Chl'lstmas Issue were sent we
did i,t in high hopes that th e ones for ~his issue
would contain full parti cula rs of t he clOSlll g d?wn
of thi s offi ce we now Hnd that we have a Combllled
Command al~d R egim ental Offi ce settled down to an
indefini te stay in 'this Holy L and..
.
Our time here has been verv qUI et , although wlth
t he evacuation of so many' troops , work in t l10
offi ce at tim es has been very strenuou s.
To help pass our time we ha ve h a d moves into
two new billets, each one being much better tha n
the last.
On the 25th J an.u ary the personnel from the Regimental Offi ce art H aifa joined us and we moved into
t he " Olivet Hou se Hotel", vVe th en formed our
own Mess , and employed a native staff. It may be
of interest to readers of t11 e " Journal" who have
been comfortably settled at H ome for t he pa srt decade that on mo\"ing to this bill et we fini shed sleep -

THE

RQYAL

ARMV

P AY

CORPS

Jerusalem , Febru ary , 193 7.

JOUH.NAL

P ersonnel servll1g wit h the P ales.tin e Intermed iate Emergency Fotce who also ser ved WIth t h e
Shanghai Defence Force III 1927.
Fervently those lines were sung t h 811-but dis illusionment has come.
To al1 fellow-suffere r in the COl:p ~ do I say t hat
the re sho llld be prayer s of thanksgl.vmg. Be th a nkful on e and all , that this holy Clty ?f Jerusa lem
was never m oved to Engla nd. For 10 Je ru sale~n
is a Command Pi!oy Offtce, and thlS. s.ame offi ce ~~d
decide' that we 'Regimentals', wl1l1ll1g. away o,ur
24 hours per day o\,er pa.y lists in Hal!a, sh ould
take up OUI' beds (blnnk ets to be rolled 111 bundl es.
of ,ten) and move to J eru salem.
.'
To J erusa lem we ,'ell tr--and with what JOY dId
we pack up .
Ha vin g carri ed more stationery up to the fo urt h
Aoo l' th an t he Stationery Office had ever heard about,
to carry it down again , together WIth t he fe'-~\T ( 1)
pay lists w e ha,d gath ~red, plu s further sup.ph,es of
stationery t hat had a rn veclt,o a~orll th.e stOle'lOom ,
proved just ope of the mmor Ilten~s I~ , the mo\ e.,
Bearino- in m1l1d t,he good old say111g Th e bett eI.
t he da~ , the better t he deed" , Sunday. our day 01
r est , v,:a s nat urally t he da:.' chosen on wlu?h. to .do
t he gr Eater part of t he movll1 g. And so we ~Ol led .Up and dowll, up a nd down ,
VVen t the mere handful ,
Carryin g clown cases from the fo urth fioor ,
1<Iidst welters of Army Form s occaslOnally rested ,
To r elieve t.h eir poor muscles so tlred and so re.
The t ime did come, however. when e\" erythin g was
loaded on to t.he lorries , and at 8.30 a. m. on a
bright and s un sh ill~' ( ? ? ?) MOllday mOl"l11l1g , the
convoy mo,'ed off , bound for J eru salem.
"C,;nnons to the right of t hem , can nons ~o t he
Je ft of t hem " -we11, not quite that: bu t wlth an
armed escort- of a,bout 20 mell, it L ewls gun mounted
in a lorry , and a wireless van , surely no P ay Office
has ever' been so well g nard ed belO1e. .True the
P a.y Office at th.at m om ent was packed 111 box es,
but- what diHel'ence ?- It. was t here .lust the saIn e.
Of all tll in <>"eni ous in vent.ions of our mod em
m echa ni sed ;l l'I11 Y. t here can be notlnn g to co mp ~ l'e
with th e sea,t, pi'ovided for t he passenger travelhn g
in fro nt v;it 1l the clri\"er of a, t h ree-ton lorry. Seated

ing on six foot tables and wer e given the luxury

of a spring bed, with mattresses a nd s.heets. As
we had been wirthout these Sll1ce our ar rl val 111 thlS
country, for a few n ights we seemed too comforta ble to sleep.
Th e r"round fl oor of our billet h as been converted
in to a bar , writin g room, dinin g room , kItch en and
sculler y . All room ~ upstalrs are used for sle~pll1 g
accommodatlOll , anCl every room ?S fitted wlth a
washhand bowl with an o"er'hangmg mlrror.
Our billet is situ at ed in t he centre of the new
city and is within two hundred yards of th~~ office.
Its neal'lle' s h as been ll1valuable to us dUlmg the
torrential rainstorms which have been contmually
upon us hom Christmas until a fortmg ht ag? .
At it he time of gOll1g to press we a re enJoYll1g
the finest of weather, lovely sunny days, Wlth
glorious dark blue skies with .h ardl y a cloud to be
seen. Vilhen t hese notes ar e 111 pl'l~t we ~hall be
shedding our ser ge [or D,rill, and. If It contlllues to
o-et much warmer th an It now IS we shall all b e
~ cry glad of the change,
REGIMENTAL PAY OFFICE, H'AIFA .
These notes are t he last from this station , as , r.om
2.5th cl a nu ary , 1937, a combined offi ce IS b em g
form ed ill J erusalem .
.'
.
It was fond ly ima,gined t hat bv wll1ter 1l1g 111 P ale t ine, we should escape t he I"lgours of an En gb sh
win ter bu t an mmara\l eled spell of cold nnd wet
w eath~r speedil y d isp ell ed th is . Warm clothmg IS
ver:y esserltial ii1 thi country .
. .
..
Life has been p ret.ty hectiC slll ce wntll1g t he last
no tes owin g t o th e l'ap~d return of t,roop s to the
U.E.. and con seQuent ch anges of sta ff.
A n accoun t o( th e mov e to J erusa lem by one who
travelled t h e road follow s .
.
Offi ce Moves .-Not 50 many years ago , 111 t he
joyfulness a,nd inn OCE ll ce of my yo ut h , 1. r emember
sinoin q: . a nd w it.h what enthUSiasm , t ha t famou~
so n"'g " J erusa lem" . l\101'e especw]]y do I rem emb el
th e -18 "t few lin es of t he fi rst vel' e ;" No r sh all mv sword sleep H I my ha nd ,
' Til we have b uilt J erusa lem
In En gland ' s gr een and plpasant land ,".

47

T HE

ROYAL

AR11Y

PAV

CO IZPS

J OURN AL

THE

ROYAL

AR1\lV

PAY

CORPS

JOURNAL

--------------------------------~--~~--~~=-~--~-------

hi gh up, seemin gly mil es <Lbo ,e t h e mere ear t h, ex

po e:l to all the cap rices of t he elements, a few of
the essential Ha rts of ,t he loll'y placed wh ere they
jut neatly in to th e passenge r ' s ribs, and a fire ex
t inguisher pla ced so ,t hat he must ta n g hIS head
again t it eyery t ime h ~ mOye5. But what of su ch
discomforts-On ~ On I mto the mountalllS--0n to
J erusalem , t h e Holy City! .
.'
I-Tour after hoUl' of contll1ual ch ml..lI ng followedup on e sid e of a hill and down t he other: Certainly
it was a unique ex peri ence . Th e wll1d ll1g , n arrow
roads \Iith shee r drops of hundreds of feet at one
sid e, ~ nd th e en r.ch anging views obtained from the
h eights, bring plenty of .b reaJthless mOi):ents .
::\10re brea th taking stIll on t hat tl'lp was t h e
weather . A bittel'ly cold wind ,blowing continually
at <Lbout 50 mil es per ho Ul' , bringing gu sts of icy
cold rain aud h ailston es. E ach S 013 we m ade for
r e-fillin g with petrol 01' because th e 0 i l c Con voy's
car wa s 'boi ling' , wa s in one of t h e 'WIde open
s paces', where t he wind and rain could gP.t us at full
stren gth.
At t his stage of the jOU111ey, not one of t he
pano ramic yiew s could bear compa rison with rth e
v iews th at were being ex pressed by all and sundry.
Frozen through t o t h e very bone, the fir st sight of
Jerus<Llem brou ght but little w<Lrmth into our bodies.
As for interest in our new surroundings when first
hlmse
.
If we Icome d us 1le
arrivin g, h ad G un ga D bIn
would scarcely haye received a wave of t h e hand.
'.life c<Lred not' wh at. was around us-we h ad arrived .
Wedding Bells in Jerusalem.-Saint A.ndrew s
Church, J erusalem was the scene of a pretty wed
din a on Frid<LY , 5th February. 1937", wb en Major
91 '" b
B d Jl 1\1 C RAP C
f tl
eCl . hor ury e na . , 1" ' "
. ' . . . , son 0
le
C
late ~Il' . and ::\lrs. P eter Bednall , of B asford , Staf
fo rd shire, was married to Eileen Marga,ret, daughter
of t h e late Captain Cha rles McClean L ewin , 4th
(Qu een ' s Own) Hu ssars, and of Mrs. L ewin , Old
1\1
H7
1
S
l' auo:' , ," a rll1am , ' ussex .
The Church wa,s very attractively decorated.
The service, whi ch .inCluded t he h)'m ns " The Kin g
of L oye m y Shepherd is" a.nd "0 Perfect Love",
wa s co nduct ed b v t h e R,everend Doctor Calderwoocl.
The Brid e. wh'o wa s given away by Colonel E. E.
E. Todcl. O.B.E ., W<LS g racefully attired in royal blue
and ca rried a large bouqu et of white carnation s.
She was attend ed by Mrs. Todd , as Matron of
Honour.
.r
G n 7' 1
R A 0 C
b ,~
}'1.1'1.aJor . . 1'1'1. on ,
.. , . . , wa s e,," man.
After t he ceremony t h.e bride and bridegroom left
the Chu rch between <L guard of honour composed of
th e Offi ce rs a nd Members of t he Deta chment, Royal
Arm y P <LY Corps, J erus<Llem, and proceeded to the
Villa Rosemary wh er e the reception was h eld. Th e
11appy couple left later in the af,t ernoon for their
honeymoon whi ch is to be spent in SYTia.
Amon ~st t hose pl'esent were : -Colonel and Mrs .
Todd , Captain A. E. B arlow , Captain E. G. Jona5,
Captain and ?I[rs. V . '0/ . R ees, Lieut. S . Holman .
Li euL C. Mockler <Lnd the whole of the members of
th e Detachmelbt, Royal Army P ay Corps, J erusalem ,
'Major G. Wilson , RA.O .C., and Captain R A. A .
Downs, The No rth Staffordshire R.egiment, together
w i th a lar ge number of frieucl s of both bride
and bridegroom.
KHARTOUM.
As :Mr. J . B . Priestl y-th e author--is at present
on a "isit to Kh artoum . t h e writer of thi s a.rt icle is
somewh '1t a fraid of sayin g too much for the
.Tourn aJ" t hi s qU::Irte;.
H oweyer. sine th e la s.t li tera ry effort wa s sent

hom t he A r ea P ay Offi ce, t h ere h ave bEen m allY

ch an ges in t he st aff ; for num bers , see page 4;:b ,
P eace E stablislmlents.
''\Ie were very relu cta.nt to say "Good bye" on
December 2nd last, to Mrs . K a;ne, the wife of S.S. ::\1.
I\:ai lle, who left h ere for the " L and of Ph araohs'
most ch eerfully. It is ve ry not iceable thwt all the
p eople who have co mpleted a to ur ill Khaltoum
lE-aVe most h appily.
On Decemb er 16th th e Det achment t Ul'lled out to
greet Sergt. Plowman, but l1e was Hot met a.t Kh ar
to um Stett,ion , as is usually the case Oil t he ani "al
of r eliefs. S / Sergt. A ndert.on left t his station on
Decemb er 15th , and we all noticed that he was Ye 1':"
keen nort to mi ss th e train . No douht be would now
a ppreciate some of the sunshine that we are enj oy
ing at present.
Duri.n g t h e mont h of January, the fin al reliefs fo r
t h e 1936/ 37 season a rri ved from Cairo, n amely ,
S.S.1I1. Ge.bbett, and Sergts. Hill and H allett. The
Kh a.rto um No rth Station is t he n earest s tation t o
Kharto um, and it was ob served that the out~oin g
draft were Vi aitin g about on th e ed ge of the clesert
over an hour before Ithe arrival of the train . It
may h ave been that the train was late, but, on the
other hand , it may have been th at there wa s a
certa,in amount of anxiousness on th e part of t h e
outgoing draft to see that th eir r eliefs did arl'iY e
sa rely.
.
There was gr eat activity on t he mornin g of
J anu ary 13th , as S.S.M. K aine and L / Sergt. H alli
day left K hO l'to um-tour expired- ~o r Cairo . Th ese
rtwo ve l'Y popul ar mcmLers of the Corps h ad made
so many friends amongst th e Sudan GovernJ1len t.
officials and t h e Arm .y lJersonnel stationed in Kl1 ar
t
to um , that th eir departure was very much J eg rettecl
b y all concerned. A very large num ber of frie nd ;;
t urn ed up at the station at 7.30 a.m. to bid them
" Bon voyage". In fact, it was quite a cosmopo~itan
crowd , which includ ed British , E g.v ]J. ti a.n , Greek, and
.
Sudanese, not to m ention one or two G erman fr iend s.
Th e writer h eard a few Germ an expression s in th e
office , in a ddition ,to Arabic and English during t h e
ea rly part of J a,nuary which sho wed t hat certain
members of t he Cdrps had not wasted t h eir spare
time in the S udan. Motoring lesso ns h ave bee n in
abeya nce lately , but during Novemb er aJld De cembel' one could often see R A. P. C. personn el at t h e
wheel dashin g past the GOl'don Statu e, or ra cin g
alon g t he N Ile B ank end eavourin g to pa ss the
" F elu ccas" 011 the river.
There a re no reports to make on any of t h e \1 5Ual
CO l"PS pastimes such as footb all 01' sh ootin g, b u t
the Detachm ent h <LS one memb er who is mak in g a
Ilame for himself amongst t h e R,.A.F ., the Infa n't rv
U nits, and the Sudanese as a foot,ball referee.
.
A ngLing is a topic of conversation in th e Detach
m ent, as a contras t to wangling th at one can h ear
abo ut in some offices.
The " destroyers of bait" do nort alw avs r et ul'll
with even the biblical amount of fish , but it is
und erstood th at after <L 3 miles trek each wa,v acros;;
t he desert to the R iver Nile, "an enJoyabl e t'ime h ad
been had by all " -fi sh includ ed. How ever, it i;;
anti cipruted th at a ppli cation s fOT the low er rate of
Ration Allow an ce will soon be su bmitted , as, with
so much fi sh on the M ess menu in the n ear futur e.
it wou ld be ve ry was t efu l to dr aw r ation s in k ind
and not be able t o consume them.
Th~ As ista.nt 9 0mmand Paymaster in E gypt Lt.-Col. ClI ff-V ISIted t he office for the annu a.l inspect ion during t h e period 10th-13th Februor:,.

Area Pay Office, K hartoum, February, 1S3.7 .

(left to ri ghrt) :- Sergt. H.. Plowm a n , Sergt. C. H. Hi t.ch cock. Sergt. E. l ~.
.
I-hlJ.et t, NIL A. A. Nlalik , Sergt . P. J. Hill , amJ \b dul (Orderly).
SITT I NG :- S. S . M. A. E. Gebb ett, Capt. F. G. Norto n, M .C. , D .C.M. (Area P ay
ma ster ) Lt.Col. A. B. Cliff (on a visi t from E gy pt) and S.Q. M .S. R Scott.
STA2'/I): NG

Major L. :E. J ames , lVLC . , and Li en tenant E.

McCa.rthy aad families leH us for B elfast a ncl VV 01J!wich r e:; jJecti vely. Sergeants Doh erty and. Norman,
with fa mili es , h ave also left us. Here's wi shing t.hem
a 11 t h e very best in th eir n ew statio ns. vVe were
sO l'ey to lose each and everyon e of t hem . Mc1; (l t'
J ames will be sadly misserl in our sports durillg t :1e
comU1g season.
S.Q.M.S. ' N. W. Scott has been selected for P ro)
baiLion for vV. O.1. a. nd will shortly be leavin g ns
for somewhere on t h e " Hom e" front . The very
best of wish es go with him.
Arrivals.- Captain O ' Driscoll and family h ave
arri ved from Woolwi ch, ~ergeant Mark s and
S.Q.M.S. P etch from P alest; ne, and Mrs. Dun c;u1
from Sco tl and. ' Ne trust that their stay in th ~,
land o-f sunshin e may be plEasant. ' Ne a.r e awaitlllg
t he arri va l of S.S.M. Bailev a nd S.Q.M.S. Cole. ~1 av
rt hey h a.ve a calm voyage a~d ha ppy t imes on arri vai.
\TIle sym pa t hise with those at Hom e who are flo at,..
in g to work on r afts-wh at do you say, Houn slow :l
It is so delightfu ll y wa rm h ere t h at it seem s out of
place to r epo rt, 011 ou r Xmas P a rties. Both ~h <l
D Ertachm Emt Club and th e Gal'l'ison Sergeants' l\1"'5s
catered. for our kiddi es . At OUI' own fun ctil)l1 we
w(}re g reatlv assisted b y Major Gra ham Carter.
RE. H e ce rta inly mysti fi ed u s all . After musicaJ
chairs . Father Chi1 stn; as (Sgt. South) a rrived with
h is gifts to bri n g to a. dose a, very fin e time. Th e
Command Pa yma,s ter, Colonel CharIton took the
opportunity, in a few well cho sen words , to bid
"bo n voyage" to those und er orders for home.

Th e D et,<Lchment perso nn el were very pleased to see

him. NII'. Will in.l11 s, the Army Auditor and Finan cial
. A d viser, E gypt, a.lso p<Lid us ct visit dutin g the w nl e
week.
The rn emb e;'s of tlle D etachm ent, th erefore, h ave a
shrewd ideet that they are doing all the t h in gs t h ey
ought to do , and no t doin g the things they ought
not to do , .now t hat t h e inspection is over. Th e
saluting guns at the Fort fired a salute one morning
during the inspection o f th e office , but it was n ot
n ecessary to explain to the senior v isitors that th e
salute was no t fo r rth em , as it was t he occas ion of
the Kiug of E gypt's birthd<LY
TIl conclu sion, this 1)etachm en t wi sh es everyo ne
present at th e Old Comrades Association .'\ lIn un I
Dinner a verv enjoya ble evening.
A .P.
MALTA.
Sin ce the publi ca,t.ion of m y last Notes , there h ave
been a lar ge Jlumb er of "casualties" affecting t he
Staff of t his Office.
Promotions.-OUl congratulation s to Li euten itnt
E. McCarthy a nd Lan ceSergea n t Field on t h eir
ap pointments.
Departures .- vVe a re ve ry so rry to record th e
seve re illness of L t.Colon el H . R,. W. Daw son.
After' et very h ero ic effort to "c<lny on" , h e was
itdmi tted to hospital, fi nd withi n ten (bys wa s 011
it P. & O. hom ewa rd b ound fo r treatrn ent at Mi ll
bank , where we all sin cerely iJOH e h e is speed ily
findin g relief.

49

THE RUYAL A1U1Y PAY CORPS JOURNAL

THE ROYAL ARMY
In Decemb er w e had a visit 0; th e Turkish Fleet ,
wh.ich. caused much excitement. Football and boxin g match es and concerts were specially arranged
for them.
Poppy Day.-It is a matter of great. iruterest in
the I sla nd generally , a nd to the Offi ce in pa rticul.ar ,
t ha t th e fin al fi gures show ed t ha t the ')ollectlOll
ln st N ove mb er exceeded all r ecord s with a sum of
695.
BARRACCA .
MAURITIUS.

PAY CORPS JOURNAL

w ere again invited to a p arty ' given by the Bi shop
of Mauritius . On' Sunday; the 27th December, th e
ga rrison pl ay ed a soccer match a gain st a combin ecl
Port Louis t eam a nd won hy 6 goals to 1. L j S gt .
R Smith , R A .P. C., playing a t outside-right did
very well. A da nce was th e m eans of u sh erin g in
th e N ew Y ear for man y of the garrison . At least
on e fa milv w aited up to 4 a .m. (12 midnight En ~
land) to list en in to th e King 's m essage a nd to t h e
bells a nnoun cing th e ad ventt of a noth er y ear.
Football, hockey a nd tennis continue to provid e
plenty of recr eation for tho se . feeling suffi c~ entl y
eh er geti c. Cricket is plaved a httl e . but cUl'1ou sly
enoug;h , in snite of a n ex cellent pitch a nd the p os sibiMv of play most of th e v eal' , it doesn 't seem
very nopula r.
\ n a thleti c m eetin g, which is an
a nnual affair, comprisin g 6 t eam events , w a~ h eld a
few w eek s a go a nd som e very good lunnm g an d
jum ping was se"n . Th e garrison t eam ha~ to b e con t ent with t hird nl ace among 5 competmg t eams,
which indicattes t he k eenn ess- of the locals for t.hi s
branch of sport..
Rome very good niotnres have recently b een sh own
on the isla nd n,ll of which h ave, of course, b een seen
a t hom e a lon g t ime ago. bnt which , neve rth eless.
wer e greatlv a ppreciated. Th ev includ ed "One Night
o{ L ove" "Bl ossom Tim e" a,nd " Chu Chin Chow " .
Another ' which w e h ad hoped t o ee- " So ng of
Soncrs"- elid not m eet wit.h 'th e Censor' s a pprov al ,
and "so we sh all not b e seeing th e g reat " M a,rl ene" .
In spite of ith e I~or e serious h apl;enin g i.n Europe
a nd elswhere whIch command on e s attentIOn , mu ch
inter est is displayed h ere in th e doin gs of th.e T est
t eam in A ustralia . With th e aid of the WIreless ,
lunch-time scores [Lre available h ere a t breakfas ttime. N eeclless Ito say w e ar e all very pl eased with
the outcome of th e first three m a t ch es. Equ ally
inter esting too , a r e th e :;Qccer r esults each we~k ,
and soon we shall he hop1l1g to draw ou r fa VOUrite
team in the "Cup" sweep. To-morrow . the 16th
J a nuary, a bo xin g show is b eing h eld in t h e camp.
and som e in ter estin g: bouts b et,w epl1 m emb er s of t lH'
Q"a l'rison a nd t h e M a uritius T erritori a.l Fol'cp. , [-.ncl
~d s o a,mong th e loca.] scouts , a r e ])l'omi sed. Bv th e
tim e th ese -no tes a r e in print th e A nnu il l Dinn er will
not b e fa r off, and w e wi sh all concern ed a.n ot,h er
success ful a nd h appy evenin g .
'rous DEUX.

Vile are now w ell into the w et and warm season

(Decemb er to A pril) , MIdi this rath er a ptly describ es
t he w8<'l,th er at present b ein g experien ced. A deep
depI'ession, more uSLl aIly met wit,h in t h e north ern
hemi sph ere, has m ade its presence felt , a nd for
t he past ,t hree clays we hav e received cyclone wa rn in gs . I t now seems t ha t it will just miss M a uritiu s,
mu ch to every body ' s re.Jief, as th e high wi.nd s r ecentl y experienced have already cau ed a good d eal
of hav oc in t he ga rd ens. The holiday Ca,ml) by the
:easid e, ment ion ed in our last notes , proved to be a
rea! Sll cce:s , a nd t hose who took a,dvant.acre of the
opportunity of sp,ending a f.ortni ght th e~e had a
t horou ghly eni oy abl e t ime. About fift v of th e
ga,n iso n a.nd six families went. Th e accomrnoda tion ,
whi ch is own ed bv t he JvIa uritiu s Gove rnm ent. Wil,S
excell enJt. . N o cllarge fo r thi s is n1<"Ld e for singl e
m en, a nd fa mili es p<1y fro m 8s . t o 16s. w eekl y
accordmg to t he class of quar te r occupied . Th e
holiday is necess,Lrily a quiet on e, but spl endid b a thing , fi shin g and sa,ilin g compensn t e for (l ack. of
<1mL1sem ents. \ Imost perfect weath er p revailed du 1'lllg th e whole llOlid ay, a nd th e mosquitoes a nd fli es ,
which w e w er e led t o expect in gr eat nnmb ers, w er e
appa ren t ly bu sy elsewhere , as w e experi enced n<J
ttrouble wh a t ever in that direction . Transport h as
to be a rra nged for , a nd mo st of the food suplJlies
ta ken to camp by each fa mily (th e near est railway
station being 7 mil es away) a nd thi s n ecessita t es
llirin g a bus, which is u sually sh ar ed b y two famili es
a nd th eie ser vant::;, for th e journev from V acoas
(Headquarter s) , a dist a nce of 26 mil es. Alt ogether
rather a, novel kind of holid ay, :but. non e th e l es~
el}joya bl e on t ha t account .
A rmistice Day was duly celebrated, her e as in oth er
pa rt o f the Empire. It ma y b e surpri si ng t o som e
to learn th at over 600 w as colleoted in J 935 for
E a,rl H aig's ~und bv the sale of poppies, a nd the
proceeds of pI cture sho\ys, football m a t ches , dan ces .
SHANGHAI.
etc. , and th e receipts for 1936 a re expected t,o exceed
V ery littl e of Q:eneral interest h as h il ppened sin ce
th at fi gure.
.
th e last issu e of notes
, T!l e M.? " Dunb?,r Ca~tle" ar,ri ved.h ere on 12th )iihR;I~11 A happy t;m p w as s~ ent durirw th e fe,,t,ive season.
No vemb el , 19'i6, ;'Ith <tIns yea r s reh efs, and left
fln rl w e wpr" nl e:t sed t,o have L / Ser fr t . P eil,r ><on ont
ag a ~n on 16th ~ov emb er , 1936 , WIth th e tourof ho spital on Chris tmas E ve to join in th e whooDee .
expIred draft , b ~l1l g c!ue to r each London on 18th
after a: fortni crht' s "hI,y-up " wit.h bl'on chiti>< . Whil e
D ecember, 1936. Ju st rI ght. f~H' Christmas . P er sonn el
on t h e subi ect of sickness. w e hop e thrut th e offi ce~
post ed to a nd from ![auTlt~us a,]:e md eecl fo rtun a te
at hom e h'a ve m an ;).ged t./) escap e 'flu. whi ch Wp
t o tra;:el on such a splendId shIp as tthe " Dunba r
reel"! hn s been p,reval;nt. Qui te a numh er w ere laid
Castle .
un in Shangh ai. a.nd it is ex tra ordin ary th a t. it should
. Th e next eve ~ts to b e celebrated w ere th e acces cover s uch - a wid e ;l r ea of t,h e earth ;s surface.
Unfortuna t ely w e h;)ve not h een abl e to have prac s lOn of H .M .. Kmg George. VI and H .M .'s birthda y ,
th e la t te r b emg th e occasIOn for a ~ay's h olid ay in
.ti ce a t shooting for 8bout ~iQ"ht w eek s on a ccount
t he Q:a:ns~n . . How m a ny yea r s w In elil Pse .b efor e
CIf pressure of work , t.h e holidilv s and alter ation s to
t wo K111 g S blrtll.d avs .are agam .c~ l ~bra, ted 111 onp
th e range. ,Ne am hopin g to' r ecomm en ce in th e
yea r With two lJaId h?hdays f.or clvIh,an. employees?
n ear futur e a nd to improve on our last y ear' s
It was llard to r ealise that ]1, W M' Chnstmas wh en
stil,nd a rd.
that day ~f rejoicing . alTived . Th e weath er h er e
With regard to sport in gen e.r aJ th er e h as b een
nothin g doing from il,n office point of vi ew but indiw as ~ ~l endId. and contlI~ued so for some. dav .. All
t.h e dll1dr~.n 111 th e garrIson w ere enterta,JJ1 ed to the
vidu a~ m emb er s h ave m a,n il,ged a few inddol." games .
badm1l1Jt.on , squ ash , etc. , and as sp edators on th e
u ual Chll stmas ;tea -party , and a few days later

so

r eCl'eatioll ground w e h a v e been thrilled a t the

::;plendicl performan ces ot " The Loyals " who excel
her e in all branches of sport .
W e hope w e sha ll not ne sttung under the offi cia i
secret s Act , b ut otter the following extract of con'espond ence d ealing with a s upply bill :" FoUl" pe es . Roil Mops ha ve been T:>urchased for
$1.UO. To en able m e to arriv e. at th e con-ect.
voLe ch a rgea ble will you pleas e st a t e Jor wha t
purpose tile H,oll Mops were purchased. "
H.eply :. , j:<'oll Mops a r e a t,yp e of German sausage." ! !
The Supplies had nOlt t a ken unto. themselves the
joL of Ort1nance a,s w e feared.
Th e " Spring F estival " old time Chinese New
Ye,Lr ctpproac hes a nd t h e appeasement of the spirits
proceeCl s a pace WIth the ott enng of a,n things sw eet
~o the Kitch en God.
His lips a re smeared with
s tIcky n ce and honey ill order Lhat, during his visiL
to tne. other wodel to render the r eport on th e
dom estIC behaVIOur of human mor tals, he ca nnot
sp-eak too muc h and wha t word s do fall are sw eet
,Lud fl atteI:ing . H e is sent on his journey with the
bu1'lllllg of p a p er mon ey , chariots, motor car s, ae ro -

planes, together wi t h t h e picture of Th e Ki,tch ell

j od , th e ceremony
uding wivil a salvo of fir e
cm CKers . God s ana m ell deligh t in this holi day
1101se, a nd bad de vils fear a ud s hrink from it . Th e
p Opplllg a nd cr.acl<ing, . th e booming a nd spluttet;u5
whIch m aKes hfe a l11 g htma.r e throughout Chinese
Ne w. Yea r cLucI ke2p s sell::;Iti ve sleeper s a wake, ser ve::;
,L tnp le purpose.
It honours th e immortals di sjJ erses evIl spirits and delIghts th e Chinese . '
When The H eavenly spy na s gone, p eople ca n
breathe more h eely , as it IS a g rea t r elie f to have
a t ew da y s r est lrom the sup ervision of " T sao
Wa.llg " (hiS u a m e in Chiu ese), to b e able to com b
olle' s hair in th e Kitch en , 01' spit towa rd s th e o ve n
if one so desires. He r eturn.,; <to th e UOS0111 or th e
bmily on t he 11th Februa ry (.'1Oth of t he 16th
1l10ntll) , a ll ew piotUi'e of him is hung up , a nd a
ser vice of veget<;L bl es, ill ord er to secure bi s goodWIU durlllg the torth comlllg year , is offered him . .
A pi cture of him is be rot e m e and he r eally does
lo.ok a gemal sort.of cha.p , a.nd one who is capable
of b emg modern , I. e., usmg a motor car a nd ae roplan e for his journey s .
.
Th e ways of th e C hin ese are truly ma r vellous.
" ZADIG ".

Supplementary Reserve Notes

ina tioll p,Lp ers alld ans we r s Oll \I'hich t hi ::; opinl o n
was based.

HOUNSLOW .

During t Ile last for t ni g ht the RA.P .C. Supplem enta ry R esenl] st s ha ve lllvaded the M ess and in
addition to their a llotted period of traini~g they
h ave worked overtIme on t he da l:tboa rd and billia rd s
tta,L.l e and so profited in all wa ys by their allnual
tra,1l1lng.

WOOLWICH.

T he

followin g promotions are annoull (;ed :-COl1~o ral s J . f:ilili t ll , E. Pritcila rd , J . B. C. Pan; ley , A . J . Mulholla nd , H. A. Willi am s, S . S .
A rcher, D. Hoptrou gh , E. A . K eeble, C. B . Turn e r
and A. E. l\ larcha,nt--appointed Lance Sergeallt::; .
Pte. A . ~. S. Da vis plomoted Corporal.
" An Impression " by " Reservist " .-After ha,yill g
complet ed three y ear s service a s ;1, Suppl em ent,t ry
R.eser vist a nd getting some idea of how th e accounts
of the v arious a rm s of t he Ser vice a re k ept, it ha::;
occurred t o m e how little <t he ordina ry rank a.lld
file who served in the Gr eat W a r r ealIsed th e int ricacies of how t heir p a.y a ccounts w e re kept. So
long as th er e w as somethin g t o dra.w on " pay
da y " moclera,tely in keepill g wi t h t h e correct Ullloun,t
due, I a m af raid scant thought was given to how it
was a rrived a t . Ther e is, of course , th a t old story
of one pa.rtlcularly un fortuna,te " Tommy", way back
in 1917, who on a pproaching the pay ta bl e was
am azed to h ear the C .Q .M. Sgt. shout--" 73260
Private Cob e n- 4 I s. 6d. "
Coh en brigh t ly r eplied " indeed" sir I" -only t o suddenly coll ap se
wh en t h e r eply came- " No I in d ebt., you - -. " 11
III m y first y ear of rese rvist training at Vi100lwich
I cer tainl y began to think t h a<t the chief occupati ons of th e R,.A. P.C. wer e ca.lcula tin cr period s of
detEnt ion a nd the consequ ent fOl'feiture~ of p ay a nd
t h e receip t of M agistra t es' ord ers, bu t latte r when I
becam e acqu ainted with such things as A.Fs.N. 3085 .
3086 a.nd oth ers t oo nume rous to mention h ere I
h ad to ch a nge lil y o pinion. Th e "Mob . Sch em e"
wi th its diagram S fi ll d va rious section s seem ed at
fir"t very confusill g to uninitiated mind s, but
assu.m ecl ;t differen t a,spect w ith t h e g rowth or
Llnd er s tn,ndin g o f th e work .
J mu s t, p ay a. (.ribute to t he pat ience ;lllt! LacL o f
Lli e in stnwtO rs who do so lTiuch t o mak e Lh e t ra.in In g inter estin g .

WARWICK .

It is on e matter to be associated \vi<th Oul" fl'ie nu ::;

in the Corps at S t . John's House, but quite a
differ ent proposit ion t.o b e r equest ed to c ontr~b ut e
Lo th en ' very effi cient journal. Vile did think at on e
Lim e t.ha.t our ,tra.inin g a t ViTarwick , 45 hours first
y ea,I', ~o hours e~h succeeding yea r , would be
e xtrem ely dry a nd very monotonous, _but r ea,]ly th e
(;O ndItIOns ha ve pro ved defini tely the re verse, a nd
t.ha nks to S.S.M. Tun'a nt, S.Q.M.S. Jord a n , th e G as
expe rt, Ser g t. Thorn to n, a nd the good fellow wh o
ma kes quite an exce ll ent cup of tea, th e time passes
all too quickly, a nd by th e end o f" on e period 01
training we a r e lookin g fo rwa rd to th e Jollowin g
yea r .
It is regrettable to u s ,t h a t w e ca ullot ta.k e part in
th e socia.l life of th e offi ce; w e should lik e to see
so much more of our good fri ends and ins tm ctor.3
but aw kward duties a nd the dist a nce betw een
m a kes this almost impo sibl e, thou gh w e a re gE.<t ting in som e mini a ture n m ge prac tice, a nd wh o
ku o ws, on e da,y we m a y visi t 'iiVarwi ck with our
t eam a nd surprise th e crack sh ot at St. John' s
Hou se. H ere's wi shin g everybod y in t he R .A. P .C .
<1, very Pros pe rou s New Y ear.
"THE COVEN T RY CONTING E N T " .
WOKING.

A s th er e h ave been uo reser vists atJte nd:ug fo r

Lra inin g , th e re is no thin g to report. Seve rnl <t rt icles
w er e promised fo r thi s issu e but ha ve 11 0 t bee n
received. All R.e>;er vistS- ;lnd t heir-in structo rs-are
g reat,ly inter es t ed in t.h e repo l-t tlmt certain reservist::; " reach ed , eas i.l y . Lit e di stin g ui shed q ualifl ca t i.OIl ', a.nd would lik e to see .L ty pi cal set of e xalll -

51

j-rH~
KNOCK!

KNOCK!

ROyAL

ARMY

pAY

CORPS

JOU RNAL

Che zo ll e ror promotion thought it only l'igh t that 1:le

must t a ke p<Ll't tOO- It ]s true t h<1t he h a~l certa,lIl
q ualms-but the~e had to be overcom e. HI S opponent was a ver y lunLOr N.C .O ., well-known m sporting circles and ~p artic ularly keen on boxing.
The two new contestants w er e prep ared and it
wa,s noticeable t hat an the onlook er s ha d by now
reached t he hi gh est zenith to which Christmas spirit
can attain . VI/as it " question of reali zation 0 1'
anticipation or a bit or both?
Til e ::;econd battl e began ;"A re you Ith ere?" said the Co rporal.
"Yes," said th e Ser geant Major.
" Biff 1" a, rath er he<1vy object descend ed III t he
region ot his right ear. " Th alt was a h it hard ,"
thought t he Sel'geant Ivf<1jor.
It was, for t h e
organi ser , evel' selecti ve ill his choice of w eapons,
had given th e Corpora l a " T atler" .
"Ar e yo u t her e?" said the Sergeant Ma jor.
" Yes," said the Corporal.
" Bi ff !" said a " Daily .Mail" as it descend ed 0 11
t he N.C.O.'s head , but bein g only a " Daily Mail"
it did not hurt very mu ch and th e blow glanced
off.
" '-re you th er e?" said the COl'l~oral.
"Yes," said t he Sergeant Major,
"Biff !" sai d the " Tatler" .
It was a, beauty from th e onlookers ' poil~t of view
;Llld also fro m the Corpo ral' s point of view-but lI Ot
11'0111 t he Sergeant Major's .
The game gradually dxew to a clo se and after
boLh h1Ld t hanked each oth er very mu ch, t he
Sergeant Major, with a gr aceful bow Ito th e
organiser, suggested a third cc- Iltest with himself,
Ga,pt,<Lin B ell , ever a n officer of r eso urce a nd und erstanding , declined a nd murmured " Next year" .
Th e pa rty, I need riot say, c<tnied on after t hat ,
At t he close, It he Offi cer in cha,l'ge of R ecor ds
t hanked the o rgani ser and oth ers for t he thoughtful
WiLy in w hi ch th e party had been arranged ancl. conducted.
Th e orga lliseI' iLte it ve ry hearty ,dinn er t hat even ing. H e is not ill the hi gh eS't zo ne for promotioll ,
though .

ARE Y OU THERE?

A Christmas Romance by M .C.C.

_'- ce l,tain Officer a nd gentleman , li vin g n ot 'l al

from the centre of t hings, was invited by In s R eg lmen tal P aymaster to organi se a p"arty this Chri stmas just past.
His fl ame as well as I call l memb er it, was
Capta in B eli and he WcLS
officer of marked ability ,
kL\'ing th e pow er of observatLOI1 and n ot wlthout a
seu::;e of humour. Whether that humour was dueded
in the ri o-ht directi.on or not, and whether he po ssessed d~o se qU3,lifi cations kuown as judgment,
common sense and good taste, I will leave you to
Jud ge .
'i,ll' p<Ll'ty was well orga ni sed-the prelimill ~ l)
<Ll'l'<1ngemell Ls goill tr off very satlsfactonly, and a fter
a yery excellent ~ea the guests cLdjourned full ot
:Xmas spirits to join in the various games thwt IHtd
been arranged.
The ol'ganiser , Captain Beli,
t hought lt osirable to introduce at an early sta,ge
an innovation in order to get the party gom g well.utis innovation was actually a game known as 'Ar e
you there' . It consist s ,briefly Ul two. person s bemg
blindfolded, and to ld to lie lat 0 11 thelr stomachs on
a DriJl Ha.11 floor , head-on and within hitting distance. They are then given roJled newspapers and
in Lul'U call "Are you there 7", and then aflter
the reply "Yes" each tries, sometimes effectively, to
layo ut 111 t hat direction. The Regimental Paymast er
wa.s select ed for this-l purposely say selected because i,t was lI O in vitation-and bein g a perfectly
good R egimental Paymas ter , he was dressed in his
"e t s ui~ ; he gla nced ruefull y at t he Drill H a.!l fl oor
before being blindfolded, and still more ruefully
when he observed that the organiSer , Captain Bell ,
lut d selected himself as the opponent.
The two co nte::;tallits then got inw posi tion .
" \re you there?" said the Organiser.
" Biff!" said a "News of t he Wo rld" ;l,,; iL
descended rather heavily on the hea.d o f t,h e H,("giment"i P"ymaste r when h e replied "Yes".
"Are you t here?" said t he R egimen tal Payma.s,tel'.
" )~ es ," sa,i d tlle organiser.
" Biff I " sa.id a " Daily 'Minor", descending on th e
Drill H all fl oor andl bruisillg badly the Regimental
Pa,ymaster' s wrist,
The audience were beginnin g to enjoy them selves ,
as co uld be heard by both th e parties contestin g ,
Oll e of the onlookers , shall we call him. " The
Bishop "? (01' he >;ometimes looked very much like
;, Bishop) rema rk ed " There is more in t hi s tha n
meets t he eye" , The R egimental P aym aster thought
so too , for the nex t shot caugh t him full on th e
proboscis, a nd made hi s nose bleed a nd eyes water,
Th e batt le proceeded ill ,t his one sided way to
its close, wh en t ime was called. Both par t ies got
up a,nd took off t heir bandages. The organiser looked
at th e Regime ntal P ay master , the R egimenta l Paymast er looked at his suilt.
"Thank you very mu ch ror th e game," said he.
. Captain Bell , still the organiser and still Rossessm g t hat sen, e of humour to which I have already referred a n~ to which had been added a cur iou s gI eam
of apprecw t lOTl , t hen mVIted the Sergeant Major to
,t a ke l~art. Th e Ser geant Major, alt hou gh by that
t im e fully <Ll:quall1ted WIth t he efficiency of a Drill
H all fl oor, had a hi gh sense of duty, a nu bein g ill

,Ul

Till'l e 5 p.m.

52

Hullo, chaps?

Still at it?

H,R,H. PRINCE ARTHUR

OF CONNAUGHT
In conjunction wi th th e Coronation Honours List, a list was also
published of members of the R oya l Family .vhom His Majesty the
King has been graciously p leased to appoint as Colonels-in-Chief of
various reg iments and corps . Prominent among these new appointments was that of Major General His Royal Hig hn ess Prince Arthur
Frederick Patrick Albert of Connaught, K.G. , K.T., G.C.M .G.,
O.C .V.O., C .B., to be Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal A rmy Pay Corps .
As befits the only son of the veteran Field 1\I1a rshal, H.R .H . Th e
Duke of Connaught, Prince Arthur has spent the greater part of his
life in the Army, his regiment being The Royal Scots Greys (2nd
Dragoons), sometimes called "The Life Guards of Scotland". It is
now thirty years since His R oya l Hig hness attained the rank of
Captain in The Greys , and ever since the 8th of November, 19 21 ,
Prince Arthur h as held the rank of Colonel-in-Chief of The Roya l
Scots Greys, an appointment p reviously held by His Imperial Majesty
the Emperor Nicholas I, Czar of A ll the Russia s, who \\"as Coionel-inChief of Th-= Greys from 1894 until he was murdered by the Bolsheviks
111 1919.
H.R.H . Prince Arthur, \Vho is fifty-three years 'o f age, passed out
of th e Ro ya l Military College, Sandhurst , 36 years ago, being gazetted
to the 7th Queen's Own Hussars as a 2nd Lieutenant on 8th May,
19 01 , promoted Lieutenant on I4th January, I903 , and transferred to
The Royal Scots Greys on promotion to Captain, 27th April, 19 0 7.
In November. 1902. Prince Arthur (then a subaltern) took out a draft
of 152 men from England to join the 7th Hussars at Krugersdorp ,
South Africa. in which country the reg iment continued to serve until
its return to England in December, I905. During this term of foreign
service. His Royal Hig hness gained a grea t deal of knowledge which
stood him in good stead during his subsequ ent period as Governor
General of South Africa.
Bein g a brilliant ling uis t, Prince Arthur h as frequent ly been
entrusted with important confidential missions to various European
cou rts, and also, 011 tv.ro occasions, to the Court of Japan. The first of
these visits to the Far East \\"as in 1906, when H.R.H. Prince Arthur
(as Personal A.D .C. to H.l\J. King Edward the Seventh ) visited Toki
to invest the Mikado with the O rder of the Garter. The second visit ,
which was in I9I 8, \\"as on a special mlSSI011 in connection with th e
Great War.
LPho' o by : If ay

MAJOR GENERAL H.R.H.

~Vl1gh.tSOIl ,

L Olldoll,

PRINCE ARTHUR OF CONNAUGHT.

Colonel-in-Chief, The Royal Army Pay Corps.

J1~ .I,

In 19 13, His R oyal Hig hness \\'as married to the Duchess of Fife,
g reat-grand-daug hter of Queen Victoria, and elder dal1ghter of th e
late Duke of Fife, whose Dukedom s he inherited by special remainder.
During the Great vVar, Prince Arthur served on the staff at General
Headquarters in France, and owing tQ hi s ling uistic ab ilities \\"as
frequentl y employed on special missions. From June , 1920 to J an uary ,
1924, His Royal Hig hness was Governor General and Commander-inChief of the Union of South Africa .
53