A typical R.A.N. 'Short Leave
Card' or 'Watch and Station Card'. issued to every Junior Sailor on
joining a ship or establishment.
This contained the Sailor's
Name, Personal Number, Rank, Messdeck Accommodation and his various
stations (Action & Defence), Liferaft and Leaving Ship Station, watch
and employment. he was required to hand this card in to the Quartermaster
at the gangway when proceeding ashore on liberty (Short leave -not
long leave) so as to enable a record of who was ashore at any given
time.
When returning on board the
sailor was to collect his card from the QM. At the time liberty expired
for all sailors (generally 0750 the next morning) the Ship's Coxswain
would go to the gangway and check to see if any cards were still in
'the box' thus registering them as being adrift.
It was also required to be
submitted so as to obtain a 'Beer Issue', sailors under the legal
drinking age of 18 would have a line crossed through their card. Sailors
undergoing punishment or 'Stoppage of Leave' would have this card
confiscated, thus preventing them from leaving the ship on short leave
or drawing a beer issue..
Long
Leave Pass
This was the pass issued to sailors proceeding
on long leave or furlough and was to be carried at all times in
case of being stopped by the Naval or Civil Police. Instructions
on the back of the Pass were procedures for reporting sick on shore,
applying for extensions, and loss of travel warrants etc. Note the
'200 Cigarette Stamp. Sailors on seagoing ship's were entitled to
purchase Customs Excise Free smokes ("duty frees") and were allowed
to land 30 cigarettes per day or 200 hundred cigarettes when proceeding
on long leave.
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