Post-WW2 National Service in the UK

Work and pay in the Royal Navy as a post-war national serviceman

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Personal recollections by Fred Peach

My first work post: Londonderry

My work as a trained signal­man was to be on a posting to London­derry in Northern Ireland.

From Chatham to London­derry was about as long a trip that I had ever undertaken when I was 19.

Imagine what it was like with all my cumbersome baggage to lug from train to train, and no taking taxies either! The plan was that I would travel from Heysham to Belfast on the cross channel ferry and go from Belfast to Londonderry by train.

Upon arrival at Belfast I was directed by the Railway Traffic Office to a sort of Salvation Army place where I could exchange my meal vouchers for breakfast. This I did and had a good meal, but when it came to paying with my vouchers the person in charge accepted them but said that the total value of them far exceeded the cost of the meal. I said that this didn't bother me and he could keep the balance. This he said was not possible and he then loaded me down with a huge bag of cakes and buns for my onward journey. His generous gesture only added to the number of items I had to carry and I took the first opportunity to dump the bag of goodies in the nearest bin.

Accommodation - a bad start

At Londonderry I was taken to HMS Loch Arkaig which was laying in the dockyard.

There I found that the ship was overcrowded to the extent that there was nowhere for me to sling my hammock and that I would have to sleep on the hard 'iron' deck - actually armoured steel - underneath the mess table. The mess was three decks down. The only comfort was that I would be sleeping on my hammock so the 'bed' was not totally rock hard.

Nevertheless, when I heard stories of National Servicemen having their own rooms in the RAF and comfortable purpose-built barracks in the army I envied them. I had never expected to have to sleep on the floor at any time in my life and I was not happy with the situation.

Neither was there a spare locker. So I lived out of my large kitbag and small attaché case. Not a good start.

The routine while in harbour

In harbour the routine was simple:

All mess members were awakened at 0600 and had a breakfast of bread, butter, jam and tea.

Soon afterwards they were required to carry out duties dictated by the appropriate Leading Hand or Yeoman and as far as we were concerned this amounted to one man manning the telephone in a large cupboard which went by the grandiose name of The Main Signals Office or MSO on the bridge of the ship while keeping an eye open for any signals that might come from other ships via other means. The remainder of the small v/s contingent was set to work washing flags and pennants, generally tidying up and keeping the various signal books etc., updated.

Keeping the mess itself clean and tidy was another job and each day two Cooks of the Day were appointed in a strict rota basis. They were responsible for preparing the main meal of the day - lunch - and clearing up afterwards. I quickly learned how to provide the makings of a good substantial meal for twelve or so hungry men.

The pace and depth of work in harbour was not great but at sea it was to change drastically.

The routine at sea

On my first Monday with HMS Loch Arkaig we 'Proceeded to sea' down the River Foyle.

At sea the mess was divided into 'watches'. As far as the visual signalmen were concerned everyone was required - after mess duties, cooking and the like had been satisfied - to be on the bridge of the ship. This usually meant a Leading Hand and two or three Ordinary Signalmen from 0800 to 1600 each and every day.

After 1600 the watch system was such that one of us Ordinary Signalmen would be on watch for four hours, then one another would take over, then the third, each for four hours. It was hardly worth sleeping before the watch in the middle of the night, and at 0400 in the morning dawn was only a short time away. So and it felt as if you had no sleep at all although a couple might be grabbed after your duty.

The ship was able to ride fairly heavy seas well but now and then we encountered a really heavy swell and the bows dipped and water came over the bridge, soaking everyone to the skin literally, and making for a rather miserable four hours.

I was getting better and better at my job as the time went on and was fairly happy with the situation.

Quite soon I had found a better place for sleeping just outside the Petty Officers' lavatory. As their nocturnal visits occurred fairly regularly my sleep was disturbed to say the least but it was better than sleeping on the iron deck. Fairly soon after having found this billet, one became vacant actually in the mess and this was comfort in the extreme. So I had my own billet, was an accepted member of the mess and the ship and was as content as I could expect to be.

All I had to do was to behave myself for the next few months and I would be back in Civvy Street.

Basic pay

Pay for us naval national servicemen was twenty-eight shillings (written as 28/- or £1-8-0), a week, payable fort­nightly. From this was deducted two shillings and sixpence, 2/6, to keep our contribution to National Insurance going during our National Service.

This left us one pound, five shillings and sixpence a week (written as 25/6 and £1-5-6).

Expenses

There were expenses that had to come out of our pay. Although our initial issue of kit was free, any replacements had to be paid for out of our £1-5-6.

Also we had to pay for our 'best' uniform (known as our Number One Uniform). It was not compulsory to have it but everyone did.

The sales routine was for a representative of one of the naval tailors to come round in the evenings selling their wares. An account was opened for each customer and we paid our dues by signing an agreement for a specific amount of money to be deducted from our pay each week. A Number One uniform was, as far as I can recall, about £7. The normal deduction was in the region of five shillings so it took about six months to pay off this major item on our account.

Other things were available from the tailors like flowers for your mother's birthday, shoes, etc., but we were loath to take on too much because as our deductions increased, we stood the chance of being left with almost nothing.

Other expenses such as toilet soap, shaving equipment and toiletries were obtainable from the NAAFI where we paid normal NAAFI prices. Once a month, the Royal Navy Stores Department issued us with 400 cigarettes and a 'ration' of soap which was very, very hard and likely to take the skin off hands and which we used for washing our clothes. We had to pay for these, of course, but not very much. The cigarettes were of generally poor quality but they were cheap. At sea, though, this ration was not available and we bought cigarettes at the on board NAAFI at sixpence for twenty. The wide variety was the same as available in the High Street tobacconists except for 'Ships Woodbines' which were the usual Woodbine cigarettes apart from size. Whereas the Woodbines in the civilian shops were small 'ladies style', the Royal Navy ones were full size. They were very popular. Each pack had the slogan HM SHIPS ONLY on the lid so that we could not sell them ashore very easily.

We also had the additional expense of contributing to a communal iron for our laundry.

Pay increases and promotion

As National Servicemen in the Communications Branch of the Royal Navy we were not in line for pay increases of any kind. I will explain why shortly, but would point out first that if we had been seamen we would have been eligible for promotion to Able Seaman from Ordinary Seaman and received an extra shilling a day for the remaining four months of our service. It was all the more unfair on us in that we had been told that the being in the Royal Navy was 'the cream of the national servicemen' - less than 1% of national servicemen were - and furthermore that being put into Communications meant you had to be a bit of a bright boy.

The reason why we in the Communications Branch were not in line for promotion was as follows. As a signalman the basic requirements for promotion were (a) a rather difficult trade test to pass from Ordinary Signalman to Signalman and (b) one year's mandatory sea time. As we were in the Royal Navy for eighteen months, of which one month was spent at our Initial Training Base then six months at the Signal School, this left only eleven months.

Pay distribution in the Royal Navy

We were paid at a pay parade. When asked to identify ourselves to receive our pay, we had to step forward state our full naval number, in my case, "C/JX 872268 Ordinary Signalman Peach, Sir".

Page contributed by Fred Peach who may be contacted at the following email address.

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