On the 23rd May 1916 with the majority of the Grand Fleet in northern harbours, two events occurred which were to effect the lot of many of the fleets' lower deck ratings. These "many ratings" were men whose time in the regular navy had expired and were retained for the duration, and men who had left the navy before WW1 started and had been recalled to duty.

  The first event was the concerted effort of many tens of telegraphists who were engaged to listen continuously to the German naval frequencies ostensibly to follow the High Seas Fleet' much talked about foray into the German Sea - at least that is what the Hun called it! On the 23rd, it became manifest that the Germans were just days away from leaving their base in Cuxhaven, spurring Jellicoe to fine-tune and execute his plans, an event which culminated one week later when the Grand Fleet sailed on the 30th May into the North Sea.

  On that same day [23rd May] the House of Commons were sitting, when a previously asked question was answered by the Secretary to the War Office, a Mr Forster MP for Sevenoaks Kent concerning the rewards for the soldiers [ergo sailors] mentioned in paragraph one above. He was pleased to announce "generous" bounties which were as follows:-

  Bounties will be given to men, the depots of whose units are in the United Kingdom, who having become time-expired since the outbreak of war are now recalled to or retained in the Service on the following general lines:

Men of short service, e.g., Territorials, Special Reserve  £15
Men of thirteen years' service or upwards       £20
Men of twenty-two years' service or upwards       £25

   As the House will see, these are bounties of a very generous kind.

   As regards men retained in the Service, the bounty may be drawn as to one-third in cash, the balance being paid, with interest at 5 per cent., on the man's death or discharge from the Service.

   Men who have left but are now recalled to the Service will have the option of drawing the whole or any part of the bounty in cash on being called up, any balance undrawn being treated as above.

  Sadly, as we know, the Grand Fleet lost over six thousand officers and men, and of the men, their bounty would have been paid to their next of kin direct.

  Taking the £20 bounty as an example, in todays money that is equivalent to £5630.00 under the average earning conversion rules of comparison. Conversion data used Measuring Worth

  In late June 1916, married men could be conscripted using age, number of children, health of wife etc as batch determinators. Before this date, all married men [which included widowers with children] were "attested"! Attestment meant that you had been interviewed by military recruiters under oath [duly counter-signed by a local magistrate] to state that when/if called up, you would be willing to fight for your King*. On signing the form, you were automatically placed in the reserve. The reason for having such a form/system was that the government had a known and ready reserve and didn't have to 'trawl' for one when more men were needed.

  *An example of an attestment form is shown below. Note no mention of King and Country - just King, the Royal Family and the Crown! The idea of 'country' was implicit! In WW2, it was explicit!

  Small mercies come to mind, this one knowing that any conscripted men from the original class/batch, who died at Jutland, didn't leave behind fatherless children, although thousands of regular RN personnel did of course. The chances of going into the navy for sea service were slim, the vast majority going into the army or the navy for front-line infantry duties, the [RND] - Royal Naval Division.