TOPIC:

Then, as now!

djb wrote: Berenice,

I don't recall any information on those lines. You see do soldiers imprisoned and punished for alcohol-related incidents so there was access to drink probably when camped in or around larger towns?

Whist not applicable is this case, certainly from memory, the rules were very clear, for soldiers on active service, the SRD ration was a quarter gill, per man, per day, so one sixteenth of a pint only, moreover, it had to be approved by a senior officer, usually as high up as the General Officer commanding the division in which a man was serving.
Apart from that, spirits were forbidden to all non commissioned officers and men whilst on duty.

djb wrote: Times must have been hard for many a returning soldier but this behaviour cannot be condoned.

I had to look up the quantity of liquid in a gill. Apparently, a quarter of a pint.

I daresay that that some men were prepared to sell their ration to others more in need. Didn't Lord Roberts disapprove of drink being available to soldiers in South Africa?

This is the reference to the Gordon Highlanders' beer ration that I referred to earlier. The quote is from G F Gibson's 'The Story of the Imperial Light Horse'.

The ration was per man, so exactly that, it could not be subsequently sold on, although there was some variation in the way the rules were interpreted until the turn of the century, it was normally issued in the presence of an officer.

BereniceUK wrote: I daresay that that some men were prepared to sell their ration to others more in need. Didn't Lord Roberts disapprove of drink being available to soldiers in South Africa?