{8 half crowns to the £}

{960 farthings to the £}                                                                                                                      
 

Before I start the period 1950 onwards, just a few words about the navy at the end of WW2.  In size, manpower and modus operandi it is difficult to understand now how it was operationally efficient and didn't fall apart at the seams, never mind didn't have a major mutiny, for such was the poor to very poor state of morale in the fleet at large. There is no point in looking for a comparison with today's navy [2005] but to give you some idea, and these are MOD figures, we had 810 ships and auxiliaries in commission, 850 ships and auxiliaries  deleted from the list and a further 725 ships, ordered for war, cancelled, although the carrier Eagle was launched in 1946. Manpower was half a million {± 10%} which had to be cut to less than 200 thousand by getting rid of HO's [hostilities only], an event which took a few years leading to unrest and several outbursts of indiscipline around the fleet by men wanting to become civilians as rapidly as they had become combatants. Many sailors who found themselves in foreign parts at the end of the war, had to stay in Singapore, Hong Kong wherever, until relieved, whilst their counterparts in Portsmouth [for example] were discharged first,  a them-and-us situation which led to bad feeling amongst sailors who had given their all. In an endeavour to placate this apparent unfairness, an allowance was given to those kept back which was called 'War Excess Allowance'. It was a pittance compared to what they could have earned as civilians. By 1949 {in cases it took that long} all the HO's had been discharged but there was a Far East crisis looming, so the navy increased its National Service intake to the highest ever [10000] and kept them for 3 extra months over and above their two years service. Recruitment and retention were poor [few signed-on for more after completing their 12 years] and of the 1600 applications for discharge by purchase in 1949, only 1000 were granted. In 1950, the start of my story, there were no fewer than 83 courts martial.

Pay rises in the Navy today, in 2005  are expected as a right, and moreover, they are predictable, year on year, because a pattern has developed which more or less matches a point or so above the underlying rate of inflation measured in the September of the year preceding the traditional April pay rise. This expectation also applies across the board for civilians, and of course makes sure that naval pensioners are looked after too.

However, things were VERY DIFFERENT in the 1950's. By the end of WW2 the country was on its knees and all in the country suffered through privations of one type or another.  One privation was poor [or inadequate] pay and at first, servicemen accepted that their lot was no worse than the lot of civilians. But, the fortunes of civilians picked-up quickly as the country returned to normality, and whilst the privations brought about by rationing were still in place in 1950 [rationing finished totally in 1954] pay, or money generally, was increasing and people had money but relatively few things to purchase. This was not the case for servicemen whose pay had not kept pace with civilians, and morale in the Navy during the early post war years was bad.  {Just as in the days of Nelson and the Napoleonic Wars when enemy ships were captured and sold for PRIZE MONEY, so too in WW1 and WW2, German and other enemy ships [when not scuttled in deep and unrecoverable waters] were sold and the proceeds went to the Admiralty. In 1919, the Admiralty gave £40M to the Navy as PRIZE MONEY which was shared out, £4000 going to admiral's, £800 to captains and £25 to able seamen, and in 1946, the sum of just £5¼M was shared, £60 to a flag officer and £6 to an ordinary seaman:  these payments were much envied by the civilians of Naval Dockyards}. In 1946 prize money was phased out and in its place came Salvage Awards which are still extant.

Looking back, it takes some believing that apart from some "tamperings" to try and offset the bad morale syndrome of the fleet made in 1946, there was no further pay review  for ten whole years until 1956. That is not to say that pay rises were not given, indeed in December 1950/June 1951 they were generous to say the least, but they were selective, addressing specific problem area or rank/rating short-falls.  To best show you how bad it was, have a look at the following table. [Until 1957, pay rates were issued in June and December of each year].

In this table, I have chosen FOUR pay scales, 2 for officers and 2 for ratings, which I am going to track throughout the 1950's, although if you look closely in each of the 1950's PDF files, there are other subtle movements in pay for others and for allowances.  My sample cases are:-

•  a Lieutenant R.N. on promotion    = 'a'                                       
•  an Admiral of the Fleet                    = 'B'
•  a Seaman CPO                                        = 'C'
•  an Able Seaman                                     = 'D'

taking their pay per day as it was in JUNE 195O which is in SHILLINGS PER DAY, and 'Sample B' below as an example,  the A of the F got £9-0-0 per day [COL 1] which is 180 shillings - 20 shillings to the pound Sterling.

and the years and months expressed as 1 to 17 for June 1950, December 1950, June 1951, December 1951etc, remembering that 1957, 1958 and 1959 are single entries. Figures shown underlined in blue were pay rises.

The table shows the many sparse years without any pay rises, and i started my career at number 7 pay rates [june 1953].  The December 1950 pay rise nearly doubled the pay of ratings, but the officers did less well particularly the most senior officers of Flag Rank. A few years later, the CPO Rate, alone, was rewarded with a 3 shilling pay rise.  All pay was increased in June 1956 and again June 1958, with Able Seamen having a 3 shilling per day uplift in December 1956.  In percentage terms, RATINGS got better increases than OFFICERS throughout the period, with the most Senior Officer getting the least as follows:-

•  AB rate increased by 227.27%
•  CPO rate increased by 200.00%
•  Lieutenant rank increased by 100%
• Admiral of the Fleet Flag Rank increased by 58.88%

Overall, these are splendid increases over a ten year period, and when they came the fleet was grateful. However, one has to bear in mind that in each and every year costs and prices rose, but pay didn't, so after five long years without a pay rise, sailors either went without or were hopelessly in debt.  also, by the time they had received their '200 % pay rise', civilians had received 300% rises and the costs in the shops etc etc., were also as high if not a lot higher than the sailors apparent pay rise, so REAL PROGRESS was not what it appears to be.

1956 was a VERY IMPORTANT year for the Royal Navy and nothing that has happened since [right up to may 2005 when this was written] can compare:  The Navy was large and what happened changed the Navy and its Personnel so much that come 1957 onwards, serving in the Navy was as though we had joined a new and strange Service.

So, what did happen to bring about such change? Well here is a list though in no order of importance:-

•   the port divisions of Chatham, Portsmouth, Devonport, and Lee-on-the-Solent [AIR] disappeared as far as drafting was concerned.,
•   HMS Centurion was commissioned and set up in the town of Haslemere Surrey and started central drafting to man the fleet.,
•   the rating of 'Boy' was dropped and the rating of 'Junior' for all branches was introduced.,
•   HMS Ganges opened its doors to Juniors and not just to Boy Seamen and Boy Communicators, its core business up to that date.,
•   The 12 years continuous service engagement and the 7 & 5 [7 years in the RN and thereafter, eligible for 5 years in the RFR]
    engagement ceased and the new 9 year [no RFR time] with 5 year options thereafter, was introduced.,
•   the UK went to war against Egypt., and was already at war in Cyprus against Greek insurgents.,
•   many naval bases were shut down; handed over to others - Simonstown for example to the SAN; amalgamated HMS Ceres into HMS
    Pembroke for example; HMS Sultan became the main engineering school, and lots of rationalisation involving the loss of 23000
    civilian jobs and millions of pounds in savings.,
•   there was a massive pay review and pay award.,
•   special duties list officer was born and branch officers laid to rest.,
•   official number were changed
•   plus others

Now despite the provision I have made in the CLICKABLE MATRIX for each year from 1950 until 1985, years 1951 to 1955 will have almost the same data as year 1950 to reflect the period of dissatisfaction and stagnation when pay lagged badly behind civilian pay standards.

1957 saw the start of the loss of thousands of officers and ratings, the vast majority being volunteers, the end of National Service and the scrapping of tens upon tens of warships in the Lord Mountbatten led Tory Defence Review. The Review lasted for 5 years until 1962, but early on, a decision was taken to set up a BIENNIAL REVIEW OF SERVICE PAY THAT TOOK INTO ACCOUNT CIVILIAN WAGES FOR COMPARABLE OCCUPATIONS IN THE SERVICES.  This comparison was finished on time, and the new rates were introduced for the April 1960 pay award; a great step forward.

Pay rises were given when justified and they were far from automatic. There were pay rises in 1959, 1960, 1962,1963 and 1964.

In 1966, ten years had elapsed since the last major review.  The Services had four real problems to sort out:-

1. that there was a married man's pay scale and a single man's pay scale, and the real amount paid for the job was clouded.,
2. that comparison with civilian jobs needed to be re-thought out and a more appropriate measurement issued.,
3. no provision was made in the 1960 pay award to Service personnel that have no counterpart in civilian employment - danger, separation.,
4. the recruiting and retention of personnel at a time when manpower shortages were serious and causing concern

No pay rise was awarded in 1965 but one in 1966. 1967 and 1968 were austere years, but the 1969 award, effective 1st April 1970, was a huge, nay, an enormous increase. This award introduced the MILITARY SALARY, got rid of MARRIAGE ALLOWANCE, introduced the 'X' Factor and RECRUITMENT/RETENTION stopped being a cause for concern: all four points above were address with success in one award.  This period also saw the introduction of the AFPRB [Armed Forces Pay Review Body] and brought women's pay up to 95% of men's with a promise of equal pay where warranted i.e. like-for-like jobs. 1970 is also an historic marker for HMS Centurion, now, in 2005, called just "Centurion Building" {see below for the current letter-head address paper}, for in this year it moved from the town of Haslemere in Surrey to Gosport in Hampshire. It was from this building that Naval Pay Computerisation was launched and maintained as well as it maintaining other Naval Records, and of course, drafting.

Although pay rises were awarded by the AFPRB in all of the remaining years in my MATRIX, they were modest, but fair, except as shown. Throughout most of the 1970's the Navy was short of man power which affected all our lives in the Service whether operational, training or administrative. It has to be said that the Labour Party, chiefly under Dennis Healey, a most able Minister of Defence, had done the Armed Services proud, but the country's economy in late 1970 was not healthy with much unrest amongst civilian workers. In 1979 the AFPRB had recommended a very large increase for the Services, once again, designed to boost recruiting and to shore-up retention.  When Mrs Thatcher came to office in 1979, her Government accepted the AFPRB recommendation, and we were awarded a staggering 32% pay rise with a promise that our pay would be maintained at a proper level in the future.

The Government kept its promise and from this point [1979] until 1985 [ the end of my study] pay in the Services was good.  The Navy had long been a PROFESSIONAL outfit and it could be argued that 1980 was the beginning of the PROFESSIONAL ATTITUDE by the NATION towards its men.

                                                                                                                                                  {80 thruppenny pieces to the £}

                                        {480 half pennys to the £}

                                                                                                                                                                        {240 pennys to the £