A good account of the life of a local war volunteer in Malaya is embodied in letters received from a Shanghai lad who has secured promotion and risen to the rank of a sergeant. Extracts from the missives which follow reflect the camaraderie existing among the men in the service and their high spirits and excellent moral:
How the Pay Goes April 6.
As you will probably have heard by now I am no longer with the Battalion, but am attached to a branch of the R.AS.C. I was sent firstly to Penang' for a week and then sent on to the above address. I like it very much here, and find the work interesting, "differently similar" to a civilian office, and have excellent superiors and ce-workers, The promotion I have gained, and any subsequent ones that may come whilst I am here, are only valid for the period I work in this branch—that period should be the duration of the Wer till discharged unless anything unforeseen occurs. If and as soon as I go back to my Battalion, the stripes come off.
The pay of a Lance Corporal is 9d. a day more than that of a private soldier (which is 2/6d- a day), but at present I hold the rank "Acting unpaid." The Army rate of exchange here is $$ (straits) to £1. We get a "Colonial Allowance of 20 cents (approx 5%d.) per day paid by the Malayan Government, So at present I draw $7 per week, and that goes as far here as the same amount would go in Shanghai—a couple of visits to the Theatre, a few postage stamps, daily papers, sundry toilet and stationery expenses, the dobie, and the pittance is gone.
Thank you for your congratu, about the Gilt Cross. The Medal was presented to me by Brigadier... (i/e Administration) "somewhere in Ma-lava" on March 31. First he read out the text of the Certificate and handed that to me. Then he presented the medal. Then he read out the report which the Shanghai Association sent to our Scouts Headquarters in London, and with his congratu the show was over. Besides the Brigadier, two other officers and one N.C.O. were present as witnesses, The Bunk April 27.
During the week Part Il orders came out, announcing my promotion to Acting (full) Corporal with pay, subsequent to that a further order came out to the effect that I get a War Time Proficiency pay as from April.12, We get that after six months' service. A few changes have taken place in the billets. Some blokes from our hut have been put in stone huts elsewhere. Thi a vacancy in a "bunk' promptly filled. A "bunk" is a room about the size of my bath room at It is furnished with a 4 ft a bed and a steel locker, plus a kit box, and is most comfortable.
I have spread out now and am pretty happy. I am going to get a wireless set on the "never-never" basis of $20 a month, total $90, Its a beauty of an Emerson 5 tube, and should round off things excellently. I am taking up study again in my new-found privacy, to help pass the time usefully."
Heard Shanghai On Saturday last I went to the radio shop and concluded negotiations for my radio, and set it up in my bunk that afternoon, and in testing it, got some swell swing music; something I'd been wanting to hear for some time. After a few minutes
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.