Crime Does Pay

After four years voluntary service in the ARP from the age of 16 — 20, I was conscripted to the RAF on September 22nd 1942, leaving at home my widowed mother and two sisters. I trained and served as a General Armourer until 1945 when I was remustered to Clerk-Accounts.

On 22nd September 1945 I was awarded a Good Conduct Badge for 3 years clean conduct sheet. I was a Leading-Aircraft Man and my pay was 6 shillings a day. This award added 3d making my pay 6/3 a day. This meant that I had to make 6p a day more from my pay to the allowance deducted for my mother as the “cut-off” line was 6/-.

My mother never received any extra. The Air Ministry lowered their contribution by 6d a day! So my mother continued receiving 21/- a week from the Post Office.

Therefore — for being of Good Conduct for three years, I was 3p a day worse off than if I had committed some small misdemeanour and not been awarded a GCB. This lasted until 7th February 1947 — the effective date of my last day of service.

For the last 60 years — on and off — I have written to and visited many organisations and individuals for help to put right this miscarriage of justice, but they all find various excuses for not being interested:-
® MPs - “Cannot interfere in matters concerning the Armed Forces”;
® Press — “Lack of space” (but very sympathetic);
® TV (BBC) “Lost your letter, please write again” (This I did, but heard no more);
® Ex-Servicemen’s Organisations: (1) “You do not live in our catchment area”
(2) “Can only help if you are ‘desperate’ — ie if you are sleeping on a park bench or shop doorway or are hungry! (This was at a personal interview where I think I would have been treated better had I been an ex-officer.)

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