Scaleys

I suppose the strange thing is that in my twelve years I never heard the term "Scaley" used anywhere and have not considered the term to apply to me, I think it may hark back to when those other infantry types looked after there own battlefield comms while us "elite" Signals guys did more important things. Just as well really because  running around with a "C70" on my back with a Clark mast under one arm and a 3 1/2 kva Onan under the other would make me less than efficient. So if you decide to give the term back to the "Navy" then good luck to you Brum.

The father of my grandkids was a Pads Brat, his dad was RAF (ie the very junior service) and something to do with sigs. Without any prompting I was advised that dad regarded himself as being on Scale E, and that was the Scaley derivation. Now what scales A,B, & C are I never found out. Could be trade related, might be the status of the quarter, might even be musical if the imagination is stretched.

The reason for all this musing is that if Brum's latest read relates to the Senior Service and Scaleybacks in 1916, it's unlikely to be any of the above and it seems that tales of battery acid dripping down the back of a squaddy from a manpack are likely to a wild guess. More likely the answer could be that both nick names came about from different origins. I never came across the term before recently, even when a Scaley myself for a confusing episode and guess that it might have been dreamed up when the all-reg forces came into being.

Go on ! Tell me I'm wrong again..........

The name comes from pay Scale E..in both cases

Gordon. wrote:

The name comes from pay Scale E..in both cases

Roger that Gordon......... Does that mean Scale E is technical, say, and purely R.Sigs related, or do you know if other present day technical outfits have a similar pay structure and the same scales? But common sailors in 1916 seems to be stretching it a bit unless they were early radio ops........... More info on this aspect please, Brum, if it's in the book.

When R Sigs were formed in 1920 they were placed on pay scale E. Similarly RAF married types were placed on scale E..
Pay scales have obviously changed from those days. Signals in my time were T, A and B

Another reason found quote
The Royal Corps of Signals nickname ‘Scalie/Scaley backs’ came about during the First World War to. It comes from the battery acid burns that were found on the back of the Engineers who carried the batteries up to the front line trenches for use with the radios that often leaked the acid down their backs.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Gordon. wrote:

When R Sigs were formed in 1920 they were placed on pay scale E. Similarly RAF married types were placed on scale E..
Pay scales have obviously changed from those days. Signals in my time were T, A and B

Thanks for that Gordon........ but I bet Shelldrake knew it anyway.
And a Merry Christmas to all our readers !

Another, not so common version were the scales on "Jimmy`s tifter

Shelldrake and Mr. Google know that.

I think the nickname for R sigs - Scaleys' is reasonably new thing. Because I cannot remember it being used for R Sigs and I'm going back to the 1940's !!!

steve wrote:

Another reason found quote
The Royal Corps of Signals nickname ‘Scalie/Scaley backs’ came about during the First World War to. It comes from the battery acid burns that were found on the back of the Engineers who carried the batteries up to the front line trenches for use with the radios that often leaked the acid down their backs.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Cobblers that, the The Royal Corps of Signals didn't exist until after the first world war, 1920. That why it says "engineers".

I thought I'd show the paragraph from the book on this subject. (This was in 1917).

"In our wanderings after the feast at the Maude hotel we entered one street and in a two-storey house with a large balcony we heard familiar tunes being played on a mandolin. At intervals a not unmusical mouth organ joined issue. We remarked " hello, there are some of our fellows up there". On backing to the opposite side of the street to get a better field of view, we discovered they were "scaly backs" (navy men) in a very hilarious mood and dancing the Mazurka with four of Baghdad's choicest beauties. "Lucky fellows", commented we, . .(not relevant bit) . . . Etiquette forbade us to intrude on the happiness, merriment and delights of the Senior Service."

The book is edited from this man's diaries and really gives a feel of how people spoke and thought at that time.

brum wrote:

I thought I'd show the paragraph from the book on this subject. (This was in 1917).

........ We remarked " hello, there are some of our fellows up there".

"Lucky fellows", commented we, . .

Hmmm ! Thinking laterally about "scales" you may remember that with tongue in cheek I made an irrelevant association in suggesting there could have been a musical connection for the scales bit. Very stupid in retrospect, then you come up with mandolins, mazurkas & such.

But no prizes for guessing how the comments above would come out now, before the observers homed in on the crumpet & started an inter-services punch up.

brum wrote:

I thought I'd show the paragraph from the book on this subject. (This was in 1917).

"In our wanderings after the feast at the Maude hotel we entered one street and in a two-storey house with a large balcony we heard familiar tunes being played on a mandolin. At intervals a not unmusical mouth organ joined issue. We remarked " hello, there are some of our fellows up there". On backing to the opposite side of the street to get a better field of view, we discovered they were "scaly backs" (navy men) in a very hilarious mood and dancing the Mazurka with four of Baghdad's choicest beauties. "Lucky fellows", commented we, . .(not relevant bit) . . . Etiquette forbade us to intrude on the happiness, merriment and delights of the Senior Service."

The book is edited from this man's diaries and really gives a feel of how people spoke and thought at that time.

Now I know where 76 Bty got their "Honour Title" from, I was under the impression that Capt Maude won a VC at Lucknow. Seems it was from a punch up with some Matelots in a seedy Baghdad hotel!   

Not Matelots old horse, "scaly backs", if you don't mind !

(We were always told Capt. Maude's mob shot a very important elephant up the jacksy)

brum wrote:

Not Matelots old horse, "scaly backs", if you don't mind !

(We were always told Capt. Maude's mob shot a very important elephant up the jacksy)

What's that , somebody shot Dawn French?.

steve wrote:

Another reason found quote

.......... the Engineers who carried the batteries up to the front line trenches.....

Must be some misquoting here........ I doubt if any RA Battery was ever carried by the Sappers. The senior regt., the right of the line, the largest regt in the British Army until REME upstarts came along, might admit to being supported by Sappers but never to being carried. And certainly not as far up as the front line...... we fought from much further back.

[quote="Daveb"]I suppose the strange thing is that in my twelve years I never heard the term "Scaley" used anywhere and have not considered the term to apply to me,

I, too, never heard the nickname "Scaleys" or even "Scaleybacks" during my service and we had R Sigs blokes attached to our regiment.
Perhaps this started after 1980,(when I was demobbed).
What I did witness though was the advent of RAF Gutersloh calling themselves "Crabs".
Hanging about, waiting for a flight, mid 70s, we noticed that there were mugs on sale, emblazoned with "Fly Crab Air".
Nobody had a reasonable explanation for the title but I suspected it was a morale thing.

16 years with the Corps and also never ran across the term Scaley's until I noticed it on one of these message boards. One of the most widely used terms at 20 Armd Bde in reference to a member of the Corps regardless of rank up to WO2, was Signaller, or in my case 'Hey you'.

Len (Ciphers)

So it would seem that any Signals guy's before 1980 were "un scaley's" and should be treated with greater respect than their "armoured" briothers.

So both Brum & Ciphers have also never heard of the term 'Scaleys'. Thought I was right and as you say Brum, perhaps its an 1980 thing.

I first heard the term in 66 .at Singapore.

Gordon,

Where in Singapore did you serve ? I was out there same time as you.

Jimsigs1

19 (Air Formation) Signal Regiment.

Ah Gordon, north of the Island. Wife and I lived at Wessex Estate near Dover Road. Unit was 249 Sig Sqn.

South East... RAF Changi