New To British Army

[Megami]

Hello

Just a quick intro. My DH has just transferred to the British Army from the Australian Army. We have previously lived in the UK (2002-03) but this is our first time living the 'Army life' here. Also this time we have our son, who is four, with us.

I know that yes, supposedly everyone is meant to be going the other way (UK to Australia) but would love to know if there are any other 'foreigners' on this list, or just generally get to know you all.

Bumping for you.

No "foreigners" that I know of, but welcome anyway. My DH is in the best branch of the forces RAF. How does life compare then, what are our married quarters like compared to the ones in Australia?

Just as in the UK, the MQ in Australia depend on rank, and location. Also they are moving onto a new tiered system of payment where you pay more for a better MQ - depending on amenities and location. Also, Australia doesn't do furnished MQ. But the houses/apartments we had in Australia were always great - while I have more bedrooms here I do miss having an en suite!

OH so they also do huge houses with loads of room for Officers and crap for everyone else then?

No, no, it is actually very equitable. Most MQ are actually privately owned and then leased to Defence Housing who then rent them as married quarters. Defence actually 'owns' very few MQ outright. Friends, where he is a Warrant Officer, have a huge five bedroom house, huge kitchen, back and front gardens etc. Just depends where you are and when.

Welcome Megami. Sorry about the weather ......

Hmm, sound a better system than the one in place here. I have never yet came across a 3 bedroom "other" ranks MQ which has a decent sized 3 rd bedroom, most of them are tiny. The one we have here fits a single bed and thats it. I have a freind in a similar size mQ, she has 3 daughters aged 14, 6 and 4, and has been told she doesn't qualify for a 4 bedroom, yet have another friend who is an officer with no childrena nd him and iwfe are rattling around in a huge 4 bedroom house!

It's for all the entertaining we have to do dahling!

you do lol.

how's work hf? are your computers down?

But you surely don't need a 4 bedroom house to entertain, still from some stories I ahve heard of what goes on on the Officers patch then maybe you do

We have just moved into a beautifully newly refurbished Army quarter and being a older house that has been done up the rooms are big.

Probably the best quarter we have ever had.

Typically DH leaves the Army in 8 months

Shoshe - you're back

Work is great! Loving being back - bad mummy!

LOL re the comment re bedrooms

Entertaining is dreadful when you can't cook/flap in the kitchen.

rofl
no, you don't need a 4 bed to entertain, but you do need it for jocasta, emily, jonty and hector.
these kids do get under your feet otherwise, and they do need somewhere to go once they've finished handing round the peanuts lol.

I thought Hugo, Verity, Jemima and Annabel all slept in the annex with nanny. Or don't they do annexes any longer?

i hear you even have to get permission for the nanny now.

not that i ever did, like, but y'know...

and i've never actually met a jemima, although it always struck me as a nice name for dc4 (if dd3 lol) until dh got the snip...

Oh I know a Jemima's mum - a very very professional army wife

that leaves me right out then.

thank goodness it was never meant to be...

but Madwoman - thats the point I was making. If Jocasta and Jonty and whoever gets a bedroom of their own, then surely the son/daughter of an SAC/Corporal/Sgt should as well?

herbie - exactly, its an ex Warrant officers. If it was a junior ranks house you would have 2 bedrooms and a boxroom!

absolutely - and i've known at least one camp where they've knocked two houses into one for a soldier's family with many children various... there are also camps where we all live in the same houses anyway (not many, i know) and they are purely allocated on no. and ages of children. so, officers with one kid will be in a 2 bed (as i was), and an OR with 4 over whatever the stat age is, 12? will be housed accordingly.
t'ain't perfect by any means, and didn't mean to raise levity on a serious subject...
despite being the wife of an army officer, the fact i've got 3 kids below the minimum 'sole bedroom occupancy' age, means that we are unlikely to get a 4 bed house in aug on posting, as we will not have as many 'points' or whatever, as the ORs posted in with 3 kids who happen to be older. that's fair as far as i can see - but that obviously doesn't stretch to camps where the housing stock is segregated and outdated... i was only speaking from the viewpoint of someone who has experienced a very different type of situation...
sorry, saltire, didn't mean to offend...

we didn't have a boxroom, either...

I'm foreign forces....my OH is French Navy although I'm British but we don't live on patch together (long story to do with me not existing as far as they're concerned) so I can't commiserate about MQs!