Themes

Article Highlights

• Introduction

• The Loyal Appeal

• The characters of change

• The Brock Committee

• World War One
  

• The Jerram Committee

World War One

With the outbreak of war in August 1914 The Fleet became more muted in its criticisms and more drawn to praising the efforts of the Lower Deck in the service of the country. None the less, as the war progressed the purchasing power of Sterling continued to decrease. This meant the cost of living increased. Service clothing increased in price: between 1914 and September 1916, the price of a pair of boots rose from 11s 1d to 13s 5d, a pair of underpants from 2s 0d to 2s 4d and 2 bars of soap from 4d to 5d. As prices went up sailor's wages could buy less and less. Married sailors who had to provide for families found this harder than their single counterparts. Once again the Lower Deck became restless.

In 1917, sailors grew agitated and several Members of Parliament became involved. One MP raised several points in the House of Commons but the Parliamentary Secretary gave little cause for hope. The restlessness increased. Two 'Loyal Appeals' followed: the first finally led to an increase in pay of 3d per day to be paid to Able Seamen after 3 years service. Additionally, the Admiralty granted a kit upkeep allowance and increased the catering allowance from 5d to 7d per day. The second saw a pay rise of 2d per day for an Able Seaman and 5d for a Chief Petty Officer. This calmed the situation until mid 1918 when discontent amongst the lower deck grew again.

Sailors were concerned as they compared their wages to those of other workers granted wage rises through the use of strike action. This became so great that a move began to create a link between the Lower Deck Societies and the labour movement. Yexley disagreed with this and worked hard to prevent it. He drew to the attention of the Government and Admiralty the sailor's grievances and also sent a copy of his pamphlet to the King, which argued the case for concessions. These actions gained him attention from the intelligence services, but he was seen by the First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr Eric Geddes and shortly after Geddes granted these further concessions.

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