Cigarette lighter inscription

[110466]

My wife's grandfather recently passed away and on sorting through his possessions we came across an old cigarette lighter of his. There is an inscription on the lighter which reads

"From 2/23 S.O.T"

Nobody in the family knows what the inscription relates to other than to presume it was from work colleagues or some other organisation he was a member of. Grandad was 97 when he died and during the war he was in a protected occupation making ship's instruments. He was in the Home Guard and lived in Timperley, Cheshire.
Hope somone can help!

[dothawkes31]

My Dad lived in Lower Peover and was in the home guard as he was the eldest son of a farmer and so a protected occupation. He mainly spent his duty hours at Tatton Park guarding the US Military equipment. Not sure yet what those inscriptions might mean, I';ll have a think about it, could the o possiblt be a C?

[Peter Pedant]

no
they were called reserved occupations
and this is the type of question we paid the politicians to ask in 1940 c Hansard

RESERVED OCCUPATIONS (NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY).HC Deb 01 February 1940 vol 356 cc1294-5W 1294W
§ Mr. Isaacs asked the Minister of Labour whether the Schedule of Reserved Occupations for the printing, publishing, and bookbinding industry includes, and applies to, the newspaper industry; is the term "warehouse" held to cover the staffs in the publishing and despatch departments of newspaper firms; whether the occupation of electrotyper and stereotyper is held to be included and covered by the words "All other workers"; and whether any such workers are covered if employed in a firm that specialises in stereotyping and electrotyping but is not engaged in printing?

§ Mr. E. Brown The reservation applicable to workers following the occupations listed in the Schedule of Reserved Occupations under the heading "Printing, Publishing and Bookbinding" applies to workers in these occupations who are employed in the newspaper industry. Regarding the second part of the Question, 1295W warehousemen, who are responsible for the receipt and despatch of the publications of newspaper firms and for the maintenance of records, are reserved under the heading "Warehouseman" on page 41 of the schedule. Packers, etc., employed by newspaper firms are not reserved under the schedule. As regards the third and fourth parts of the Question, the occupations of electrotyper and stereotyper are covered by the heading "All other workers," whether or not the employers of the workpeople concerned are actually engaged in printing; for the sake of greater clarity, it is intended to include these occupations specifically in any further print of the schedule.

[Peter Pedant]

whereas the Beeb has this to say:
[Note the habitual left wing bias: (oh heavens ! trades union workers may be called up to the age of 30 oh the horror ! whilst light house keepers were reserved at the age of 18 (see Snow Goose))]

The reserved (or scheduled) occupation scheme was a complicated one, covering five million men in a vast range of jobs. These included railway and dockworkers, miners, farmers, agricultural workers, schoolteachers and doctors. Ages varied, for example a lighthouse keeper was 'reserved' at 18, while a trade-union official could be called up until the age of 30. Engineering was the industry with the highest number of exemptions. After November 1939, employers could ask for the deferment of call-up for men in reserved occupations but outside the reserved age.

The government frequently reviewed the situation, as its need for men to join the armed forces grew greater. As the men went off to fight at the front, women began to fill some of reserved occupations, for example working in munitions factories and shipyards and driving trains.

Some men in reserved occupations felt frustration at not being allowed to go and fight, while those in the armed forces envied them for not being conscripted. Many in reserved occupations joined civil defence units such as the Home Guard or the ARP, which created additional responsibilities on top of their work.

[dothawkes31]

yes Peter, like my Dad alot of them joined the home guard. His family had several large farms around Northwich and there was a US air base at Burtonwood near Warrington, he had to spend alot of time there too, the US Army stored shells and bombs hidden under the trees at tatton ready to be taken to Burtonwood, he spent nights guarding the bombs and his days on the farm.

[swedeheart]

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