Good Conduct stripe

The Good-Conduct stripe was a British Army award for good conduct during service in the Regular Army by an enlisted man. The insignia was a points-up chevron of NCO's lace worn on the lower sleeve of the uniform jacket. It was given to Privates and Lance Corporals for 2, 6, 12, or 18 years' service without being subject to formal discipline. A further stripe was awarded for every 5 years of good service after the 18th (23-, 28-, 33-, 38-, 43-, or 48 years). If the soldier had never had their name written in the Regimental Conduct Book, they earned the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th stripes after 16-, 21-, 26-, and 32 years respectively.

It granted a pay bonus as a sort of "carrot" to get non-promotable enlisted men to behave. As the "stick", a stripe would be removed for an infraction (a write-up in the Regimental Conduct Book) and a Court Martial would forfeit all of them. The soldier would then have to start from the last stripe earned and work his way up again. It was also removed upon attaining the rank of Corporal, as Non-Commissioned Officers were promoted by merit and punished by loss of rank.

If a soldier left the service upon completing his enlistment and later re-enlisted as a Private in the Regular Army, his Good Conduct stripes were reinstated at the last level he achieved. If a soldier transferred as a Private to the Reserve he retained his Good-Conduct stripes. If a Private in the Militia, Imperial Yeomanry or Territorial Force was mobilized they could receive Good-Conduct stripes for the cumulative duration of their active service. In the Pay Warrant of 1914 the recruit could now choose between Good Conduct pay (a bonus for each Good Conduct stripe earned) or Service pay (a smaller bonus for overseas service).

Introduced in 1836, they were originally worn on the lower right sleeve and were worn by Privates, Lance-Corporals and Corporals. On 1 March 1881 a General Order moved them to the lower left sleeve. In 1939, the maximum number of chevrons worn were reduced to 5, regardless of how many had been earned. The Good Conduct stripe was discontinued by the British Army in the 1970s with the creation of the "up-or-out" military.

Royal Air Force Use

Introduced in the 1920s, the RAF granted Good Conduct Badges for 3, 8, or 13 years' good service in the Royal Air Force. Qualifying service also included previous continuous service in the Royal Navy, Royal Marines or Army before being transferred to the RAF under the Air Force Act of 1917 and mobilization while in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) or Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF). Non-qualifying service included: service time before an Airman's 18th birthday ("boy's time"); service time as an Aircraft Apprentice, Apprentice Clerk or Boy Entrant (even if 18 years old or older) if enlisted after 31 December 1927; service time in which the Airman's conduct was rated as 'Indifferent' or lower; and any service time spent as a deserter.

Commonwealth Use

Commonwealth countries adopted the insignia as well.

Canada

The Canadian Army originally granted the stripes starting in 1914 during World War One. It was granted to Privates and Lance Corporals, Lance Bombadiers, and Acting Corporals for each 4-, 8-, 12-, or 16- years of good conduct during active service. During and after World War Two, starting in 1940, it was granted for 2-, 6-, 12-, 18-, 23-, and 28-year's good conduct during service with the Permanent Force or the later Canadian Active Service Force / Canadian Army. If the soldier had never had their name written in the Regimental Conduct Book after 14 years good conduct during service, they earned the 4th, 5th, and 6th stripes after 16-, 21-, and 26-years respectively. It was worn with the Service Dress ("SD" or "No.2 Dress"), Khaki Drill ("KD" or "No.6 Dress") and Battledress ("BD" or "No.5 Dress") uniforms. The wear of Good Conduct stripes was discontinued in 1968 after the British-style Commonwealth uniform was replaced by the new Canadian Armed Forces uniform.

Popular Culture

• Rudyard Kipling mentions Good Conduct stripes in the poem Cells, from his collection Barrack Room Ballads. The court-martialed narrator mourns how "They’ll stop my pay, they’ll cut away the stripes I used to wear [...]"
• Private Arthur "Nick" Carter of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry enlisted in 1901 and actively served in the Second Boer War (1899-1902) and World War One (1914-1918). He served as a Private by choice until he retired in 1951. He had ten Good Conduct stripes on his uniform sleeve in a 1949 photo of him receiving his second clasp (for each 15 years of additional service) for his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal for 48 years of service. He was the oldest serving person in the Army at the time and had the most Good Conduct stripes in British Army history.

See also

• Commonwealth Army: Wound stripe & Overseas Service Chevron.
• US Army: Wound Chevron & Overseas Service Bar.

References

• British Army Uniforms and Insignia of World War Two (2nd Edition) by Brian L. Davis (Arms and Armour Press, 1983/1992)
• Uniforms & Equipment Of The British Army In World War I: A Study In Period Photographs by Stephen J. Chambers (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2004)