When I was posted to Belize, in the Irish Guards, in 1973 it was officially still British Honduras. The name changed unobtrusively, at least to me, in June 1973 mid-way through my stay.
It was a hardship posting, a term that no longer exists. The nearest today are an Exercise Field Conditions Rate or an Unpleasant Living Allowance. The latter is paid “on certain RN ships and submarines, where living conditions when alongside fall below a minimum standard assessed against Field Accommodation Standards”.
This is the bible for claiming allowances, the current edition written, or at least signed-off, by Air Cdre Adrian Bettridge, Head of Armed Forces Remuneration for Chief of Defence People. Finding the job title incomprehensible, as usual I had recourse to Wikipedia.
“The Chief of Defence People is the senior military officer in the British Armed Forces responsible for the policies and processes concerning the management of British military personnel across the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force and Ministry of Defence civil service. Created by re-designating the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Personnel and Training) in 2013, the post was initially titled as the Chief of Defence Personnel. In April 2014, MOD civilian personnel policy was added to the post’s responsibility.”(Wikipedia)
In my day the job would have been called “People, Chief for Defence of”. These days the armed services does its best to explain everything clearly and without ambiguity so I have little sympathy for those who make fraudulent expense claims. Of course it was a different matter for me in my early days in the city when expenses were considered a privilege to be drawn without much correlation with the money spent.
I remember, I hope correctly, that the chief criteria to qualify for a hardship posting was it being jolly hot with no air conditioning in the barracks. This applied to the Guardsmen and young officers in Belize but I could not help but notice Captains and above had AC. In the First World War, ‘Hard Lying’ was a term applied to a special allowance granted to men serving in small craft, such as destroyers, torpedo-boats, trawlers, etc. So today it would be called an Unpleasant Living Allowance.
(To be continued, God Willing)
Here’s Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson and Diana Ross: The Supremes.