How Were Soldiers Paid In Ww1 And Ww2?

[VHG]

My wife and I were watching the 3 giant puppets in Liverpool on the news today, being used to tell the story of WW1.

My wife asked the question how were people actually paid in WW1, and WW2 come to that, and how did the man (or woman) serving "at the front" get money back to their wife/husband and family for housekeeping?

I guess few people in WW1 had bank accounts, I think most people were normally paid in cash, so where did the salary of the serving soldier go, and being maybe many miles from home how did they get their money back to their wife/husband and family to pay for rent, food etc?

[factor-fiction]

I thought the money was paid to the families. I can't see the soldiers needing/carrying cash in the trenches, and all food/clothing was provided (with extras supplied by family by post)

[scorpiojo]

3rd reply here:

http://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=37920

[Peter Pedant]

.

German POWs (if you get my meaning ) were paid in credit in England. My father as an Officer DID have a bank account but I am sure the men had pay-books - and then had someone with power of attorney operating the account.

IN 1944 for example she bought an Aquascutum overcoat on his behalf and sent it over, and he walked back from Poland in it during the Starvation Winter jan-Apr 1945 - march of the death camps and so on.... I still have it and have had a replica made....

The Germans ran their own camp paper money system ( so if they escaped they wouldnnt be able to buy anything )

and finally the prisoners had their own meny system of .... packs of cigarettes. My Father maintained a float of 200 - 300 ( ten to twenty packs) and I have his running accounts. Big buys were done with watches

[Peter Pedant]

how exciting I will have to see if my memory of my fathers tales bear any relation to the 'truth' ....

[Peter Pedant]

It was called a pay-book wasnt it ?

I recall a National Service naval rating showing me how the horizontal creases in his trousers were done by putting your pay book on the cuffs and then folding around....

[Barks]

A bit off the original topic but I participated in a couple of pay parades on exercise in the late 70s / early 80s and we were given paybooks so we had cash for the time we were away.

The parades themselves were always traumatic because you had to march up to the paymaster seated at a table, come to a halt, salute, wish him a good morning, confirm your name rank and number and present your paybook.

If you came to a halt too soon you couldn't just shuffle forward so you had to lean over at 45 degrees to hand over your paybook and get the cash.

If you left it too late there was the danger of kicking the table and contents up in the air as you brought your right knee up to come to attention as my mate Kev did to much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the NCOs

There was also the risk of being pulled for paymasters witness whereby two of you would stand behind him and watch the money being counted. Apart from meaning you got paid last it was rumored that if the pot came up short i.e. someone had been overpaid it would come out of the witnesses pay. Knowing the army this was probably true.

[meregirl]

I married a soldier in 1960, and were paid over desk each week, in cash. In 1964/5 they decided to start paying every one by a bank transfer, monthly, so we all had to open bank accounts. We were then given our last weekly pay, and then had to wait a month before we got the next pay. Luckily I used to keep jam jars with money in for utilities and insurance etc., so we just about survived for a month, without money.

[Svejk]

bit off topic, again. but I read somewhere that when ships were sunk, they'd find out exactly what time they sunk and stop the crew's pay forthwith. lol, wasn't much compo in those days.

[boxtops]

The money was paid by paybook into a domestic account at home, so the families could draw on it. So we understand.