This is a very nice cigarette box dating back to the days of the Second World War.
The lid bears three insignia. On the left is the ‘T’ of the Territorial, in the middle is the motto beneath the Crown of the The Royal Army Pay Corps and on the right is the Auxiliary Territorial Service badge.
The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry into a unified auxiliary, commanded by the War Office and administered by local County Territorial Associations. The Territorial Force was designed to reinforce the regular army in expeditionary operations abroad, but because of political opposition it was assigned to home defence.
The Royal Army Pay Corps (RAPC) was the corps of the British Army responsible for administering all financial matters. It was amalgamated into the Adjutant General’s Corps in 1992. The first “paymasters” have existed in the army before the formation of the corps. Prior to the 19th century, each regiment had its own civilian paymaster and the first commissioned paymaster was introduced in 1792. In 1870 a Pay Sub-Department of the Control Department was formed before it was organised into a corps. Before the end of the First World War the Corps was known as the ‘Army Pay Corps’. The prefix ‘Royal’ was added in recognition of valuable services provided during the War.
The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women’s branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women’s voluntary service, and existed until 1 February 1949, when it was merged into the Women’s Royal Army Corps.
*Condition*
The box is in good used condition.
It is free of damage but it has the signs of age.
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