Memory lane

In '67 at AAC Carlisle we were on $3.3s a week. ten bob in the hand, 6p a week into a POSB and the rest, less damages paid at the end of term. i went home the first leave with $26 (sorry i dont have a pounds sign) in my pocket and thought i was so rich

You were

steve jones wrote:

In '67 at AAC Carlisle we were on $3.3s a week. ten bob in the hand, 6p a week into a POSB and the rest, less damages paid at the end of term. i went home the first leave with $26 (sorry i dont have a pounds sign) in my pocket and thought i was so rich

Nothing changed much over the years then.

In '57-'58 in JLRRA we too got ten bob a week, the rest going into a compulsory deposit in POSB and the remainder kept in credits 'till we mustered out.

I remember leaving Hereford with eighty-odd pounds in my hand, a princely sum in those days. I'd never seen that much money in my life.

In '54 at AAS Arborfield those of us in Junior Coy got 17/6d a week of which 6/- was paid to us. It is not the tiny amount that we were paid but what we managed to do with it which amazes me - 5 Woodbines or Weights, maybe a treat in the Naafi, brasso or boot polish when needed. When we were on 10/- a week and allowed out we managed to get into Reading, go to the pictures have an underage half pint or two in a pub which asked no questions, fish and chips. Yes there were the money lenders amongst the more senior boys who would lend against repayment when we got our credits going on leave, managed to avoid falling into that trap, most of us survived quite well on our meagre incomes.

BobG wrote:

In '54 at AAS Arborfield those of us in Junior Coy got 17/6d a week of which 6/- was paid to us. It is not the tiny amount that we were paid but what we managed to do with it which amazes me - 5 Woodbines or Weights, maybe a treat in the Naafi, brasso or boot polish when needed. When we were on 10/- a week and allowed out we managed to get into Reading, go to the pictures have an underage half pint or two in a pub which asked no questions, fish and chips. Yes there were the money lenders amongst the more senior boys who would lend against repayment when we got our credits going on leave, managed to avoid falling into that trap, most of us survived quite well on our meagre incomes.

I'd forgotten Player's Weights !

I don't think the NAAFI were allowed to sell fags but we used to get packets of five from the camp barber.

The miserable knave used to store them next to the scented soap.

We had to be over 16 and have a smoking pass to buy ciggies from the NAAFI

Dont remember having to have a smoking pass or anything like that in 54, I just seem to remember buying ciggies in the Naafi. My parents were in Germany whilst I was in Boys service so needless to say I made the most of bringing duty free ciggies back from leave in Germany, unfiltered full strength Senior Service - goodness knows what it did to my lungs. Gave up smoking in 63 when posted back to the UK, it was decision time - gallon of petrol or a packet of fags, petrol won hands down, cant do anything with a packet of fags but the back seat of a car was most useful.

I remember when i was a smoker, fags or food ???? Dilema, fags usually won !!!!

It was how many of us kept our boyish figures, choosing between a pack of cigs or dinner with the cigs almost invariably winning out!

gave up fags 3yrs ago : Result ----Eat twice as much and now put on weight result fat gut (not beer belly(titter) cant win

i started smoking at 6 years old , used to pinch my brothers dog ends from his pocket, 5 woodbines for 4d in those days, had a stroke 7 years ago told by the doctor ,pack up smoking or pack up living, have not smoked since and love the extra money in the pocket, ginger

I stopped 18 years ago,and never been so well off..

caption time



"I've got to do my BFT in 10min"
"you should see the size of the packet"
"I've cut down from 20 to 10 aday"

I finally stopped smoking in '87, after many attempts.

I notice that my smoke of choice, (in BAOR of course !), Benson & Hedges are now £7 a packet. That would be a crippling drain on the housekeeping, I smoked thirty a day.

Does anyone remember, in N Ireland, how our wives were able to send us fags free of charge ? All they had to do was address the parcel and a pack of two hundred would drop in our laps every week.

One day some prat on "Ulster Calling" said "It won't be long now girls, keep the buckshee duty frees coming !" The fool was heard by someone high up in the Army Postal Service and that was the end of that little perk.

I would like to shake the hand of the man who set the whole thing up in the first place, and squeeze the windpipe of the idiot that ruined it !

i do remember those well recieved brown paper wraped packages, mine used to arrive on a tuesday aftenoon,just as my weekly money ration [ £5pw ] was dwindling cr 1972.

rations in baor were 200 ciggies a week a shilling a packet, 50 woodbines in a tin a think was 9d, pipe tobacco 2 bob a tin , but i loved the kraut cigars, we used to get a wooden box of cigars.25 in box , 2 marks 50 pfennigs. if i remember rightly they were called shlosspark cigars a truly wonderful smoke , best of all was the beer 15 pfennigs a glass , not bad when we got 12 marks to the pound. ginger

Quote :

50 woodbines in a tin a think was 9d,

The only time i saw a tin of 50 was in 64 when we got a free tin..They were getting rid of old stock..If i remember correctly it was the big woodies..

Now I remember that one-off issue too. I seem to remember the fags were Players but no matter.

At the time we were told that the fags were from customs confications.

Yeah. That'll be the day !

Had a batch of Ogden's Robin fags - B**** awful

jimsigs1

memories!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think these were the favourite of us school kids growing up in the 70s can't remember the price but they were cheap compared to to-day . There always seemed to be a packet of these or No10s on the guardroom table If only we could calculate how much we spent over the years and put all that cash together we might be saying words like "This time next year we'll be millionaires" well not quite depends how much one smoked I guess

I can remember my father talking about "Pasha" ciggies,just after the war..Said camel shit was a better smoke.

Good storage, The battle dress, Never went out without 40 Senior sevice in the pockets, They did,nt always last the night,

Neumunster 1957.we hired a radio from a shop in town listening mainly to A F N, they played better music than B F N, This radio was connected to home made speakers in our barracks,

nosegay , woodbines . capstan full strength, hearts of oak turf , black cats joysticks, boars head , why on earth did we treat our lungs that bad, ginger

We were young and daft Ginger.and knew it all