D Day to the end A couple of years ago I was on a cruise liner and the old British chap at our table told us about his WW2 remembered experience. He said that he had landed on D Day and carried ashore the Lee Enfield rifle he was issued. During the subsequent fighting around Caen he had a narrow escape from a German sniper. Whilst trying to find cover in the rubble his rifle was hit by a shot from the sniper. It entered the butt of the rifle and was stopped near his body by the resident oil bottle there. It split the stock and he decided rather than just exchange it for one of many lying around, to try and fix it up as it had sentimental value having come ashore with him. He said that there was some sappers nearby and they let him have a roll of black insulation tape, which he bound the stock together with. He said he carried that rifle proudly to the end and still had it the day they handed in their weapons before being de mobbed. When he took it down to the armoury to hand it in the staff sergeant said that a dim view was taken about damage to army property and gave him a bill for 16 pounds. I asked what he did about it and he said he threw it in the bin and never heard any more about it. __________________
nice story....i guess 16 pounds back then was alot of money... what would the price of a ship,tank or plane be ??
Wartime prices of production from what I have gleaned. The Lancaster was built at a cost of 35.000 pounds.Production rates were based on an assumed life of 40 operational hours.Many did not achieve these running hours but the majority did. The Spitfire was built at a cost of 5.000 pounds. Production cost of a Sten Gun was said to be 19 shillings and sixpence (97.5 new pence).Production rates were such that the weapon was a virtual "free issue" item 16 pounds seems a lot of money for a replacement L.E rifle of the WW2 era.
Wartime prices of production from what I have gleaned. The Lancaster was built at a cost of 35.000 pounds.Production rates were based on an assumed life of 40 operational hours.Many did not achieve these running hours but the majority did. The Spitfire was built at a cost of 5.000 pounds. Production cost of a Sten Gun was said to be 19 shillings and sixpence (97.5 new pence).Production rates were such that the weapon was a virtual "free issue" item 16 pounds seems a lot of money for a replacement L.E rifle of the WW2 era. Click on "diary' above to see that Spitfires weren't 5000 pounds, more like 10. The old man told me the story and I believed him then and still do now. If because of his advanced years he got the cost of the rifle wrong then I for one won't blame him.
Great story Aviator. It's a shame they didn't let him keep it. If it was damaged they'd probably only bin it anyway.
Looking at the link referrred to, it mentions that a war bond of 5000 pounds bought a Spitfire which is what I am given to understand.I think there may be other references which would confirm this figure. Incidentally 16 pounds was a large amount of money for a L.E rifle considering the production efficiency demanded by the war economy and product costs devoid of added costs.Compare this figure with the average wage in the civilian economy at the time.I have not got these figures to hand.But in 1940 RAF Form 434 gave the rate of pay of a Sergeant Pilot as 13 shillings and sixpence a day, that is 4 pounds 14 shillings and sixpence per week.The highest groundcrew pay for a Sergeant in a Group 1 trade (the highest paid trade group) was 10 shillings a day.Both these Sergeants received this pay after 4 years in the rank would be therefore, regulars. I'm afraid I cannot accept 16 pounds for the cost of a L.E.It may be that the NCO was intimidating your correspondent.I am sure had it developed into an official charge on your correspondent's pay, the bill would have been thrown out.Or as you say with the passage of time, there was not a total recall of the experience. I can tell you a similar story about a Lancaster diverted to Sweden with all the crew surviving.The pilot (commissioned rank) was given 5 pounds or a similar small sum by the British Consul as subsistence.When he and his crew were repatriated to the UK he found at his home address an invoice from the Air Ministry for 5 pounds which was deducted immediately from his pay.I can tell you that the ex Lancaster pilot survived the war and lives in Boston, Lincolnshire.A couple of years ago when he recalled it he was still unhappy about it.
In my favorite book, The Men of Company K, one of the men relates the story of him getting a nastygram from a quartemaster at the post in the States where they trained. Apparently one of the men in the company went AWOL with his garand and now the qm's records didn't balance, so he had written the company C/O demanding he send funds to cover the cost of the missing weapon. The letter was arrived in the midst of heavy fighting. The K Coy officer replied with a letter telling the qm that he had plenty of extra M1s lying about, due to injuries and deaths and if the qm needed a weapon that badly, then he come over and get all he wanted, they were there for the taking. He never heard about it again.
