Shameful acts by officers or senior nco's ?

Anyone know of any ?

Or to put it another way, did they got off with it due to rank ?

I can remember a SSM from, IIRC, 7 sqn RE that bottled a lad in the Sergeants Mess in 1975.

The drunk SSM heard this lad 'waiting on' in the Hohne RE sergeants mess was an 'hardcase', so the bespectacled little shit put a bottle in the poor lads face.

It all got covered up.

Damned disgrace.


This SSM turned up after we had done an Ulster tour.


All things being equal, the SSM would not have even said a boo to a goose !

Typical bully.

He should have got about 7 years in jail.

The one that stands out for me. Was a C.O. of 2 SSM (Trg)Bty RCA. While on exercise in the early spring of 63 some of the lads had cut down old great coats to be a warm jacket and we were in summer dress (bush). It was rain and sleet weather. The ass hole got us on parade and said that this was improper dress and would not be tolerated. This while he was wearing one him self and continued to wear for the rest of the exercise.

We also had a SSgt in the cooks who robbed our rations to make a great impression with the yanks in Berchtesgaden in 1975.

Can't remember his name, but he even brought his then very young son who had a German name like Axel or something strange.

We never saw him again !

The yanks must have thought what a great BBQ and all for free ! A full camp of them.

An officer assaulting other ranks.I was a victim of such back in 1966.I was on a senior Sco's cadre in Oman and we were carrying out section attacks with live ammo.I was in the prone position firing at targets when two camels decided to walk into the firing line.I decided to gee them up a bit by shooting over their heads to get them to run faster over the range.I worked and they came to no harm.This little s**t of a Captain who was running the cadre decided to take his revenge out on me as according to him, I was firing at the camels in order to kill them.Nothing could be further from the truth as I don't kill animals but this shit whacked me across the back of my legs with an SMG and called me all the Scottish B******s under the sun.Well it was lucky for him that I had emptied my magazine as the pain I was experiencing warranted a retaliatory action by me.I stood up and looked at him and said to him "you are are a lucky lucky man SIR" as I would have shot you if I had any more ammo left.I kid you not folks, this little c**t (as he was about 5ft 6ins)turned white with fright and walked away rather rapidly off the range much to the astonishment of some of the guys who were standing with me.I was told that this urchin went on to make even more enemies in the army and I had heard that he worked at the MOD for a while out of the road of the troops.Nothing was ever done about this incident as in those days things were kept very quiet.

I did have a couple of instances, one was as a married pad I made a call to the MI room, my wife was bleeding and was pregnant at the time, when I spoke to him again I was told the Doctor was out of Barracks but that he would contact him, when I phoned later he said he had spoken to the Doctor, he explained that he had seen my wife the previous day and everything was fine, I insisted it was not fine and I needed an ambulance, eventually I had to get a WO who lived in my block to speak to them for me, an ambulance did eventually arrive, this was just after I had delivered the baby, it took me and my baby to hospital (no urgency) when we arrived it turned out to be for the elderly, they did not have any equipment to handle a new born baby, he survived about 39hrs, when I eventually spoke to the OC I was told it was best not to say anything, it would only cause trouble (turned out the Doctor was at a party in Duisberg) I don't know where the saying Officer and a Gentleman came from but seem to think it was probably started by an officer.

The second instance to cut it short, was a little drinks party for a Corporal just promoted, he was visited by 3 JNCO's and given a good kicking for not inviting them, upshot was very badly injured, long stay in hospital and all covered up by the RSM

Les

Yes Les,The Army is very good at covering things up.Pathetic public school boys joining up in the forces and becoming power crazy with their commissions.I know of some decent officers who went on to become successful in their careers.The officer classes protect themselves and according to themselves they are always right and you will do as you are told.How many of them make mistakes and it is all covered up by their uni pals.

During my time with 1st Bn Royal Scots, a Colour Sergeant beat one of his lads for going AWOL.
This lad was taken to Iserlohn hospital and the doctor thought he had been hit by a bus.
The Colour Sergeant was charged and was informed that his career was to stop at Colour Sergeant. 12 months later, he became the CSM of the Company that i was attached to. During the Gulf War, i met the same person in the desert and he was now the RQMS, banging on the door of RSM.

Bet he wouldn't let him in!

Paddy was at odds with the BQMS over some kit deficiency. It cost him a lump of his savings, unfair treatment he thought, he never forgot. The chance to get even came shortly after whilst Paddy was on strolling picket duty at firing camp when the bty was away from home.

It came to pass that the BQMS was staggering back to his billet in the small hours after an
enjoyable night in the mess, Paddy, armed with a pick helve, was approaching from the opposite direction. At the subsequent enquiry he swore he believed the BQMS was an intruder, one who had responded "Bollocks !" when challenged instead of properly identifying himself.
That was the last thing the BQMS would answer for some time, for his jaw was broken, teeth were dislodged.

It was clear to everyone, both parties had transgressed, but the Bty. Cdr. wanted it to go no further. Paddy escaped with no action being taken, the BQMS agreed that, on entering his billet that night, he had tripped on the carpet and hit his head on the chest of drawers when he fell.

I think we all learned the lesson that a unit sticks together, looks after its own and that applies not just to senior ranks, but all through the system.

If you look at it from another direction.Everyone who holds a rank actually bullies the soldier in order to get it over to them that their lives rely on obeying orders.But again there are those in the army who feel it necessary to actually hate the person they are bullying to get their point over.I knew of quite a few guys who attracted the attention of others who would give them the business if they could get the opportunity.One Sgt Maj was quite good at making life miserable to the soldiers and back in 1975 he bought a brand new Ford Cortina 2000E and he parked it up on the battalion square one night when a mess do was on and when he returned to collect the car sometime next day he went daft as someone had slashed all his tyres, broken all the lights on the car and hammered a six inch nail through his bonnet.Of course the sh1t hit the fan and the RMP's were called but as usual, a battalion of blind and deaf soldiers in the camp.

I was told this after the FI conflict. A soldier refused to walk any further on the march to Stanly a senior rank told him in no uncertain terms that if he didn't get up he would shoot him. He got up and finished the war. I wonder how many times that has happened ? I also remember a REME Cpl telling me about a rope crossing in Aden were a guy fell to his death from a rope while making a crossing of a ravine. The reason I brought the conversation up was at the time I was having trouble doing regains on a rope course while serving with the RM

DeeZ

You've been hiding your light under a bushel re your age, regt etc. but i'm beginning to think you are ex-29.

How am I doing ?

Njmegan marches 1973. I was the bike rider/first aid man. I was taught by our M.A. how to drain blisters with a syringe. Last day of the march a RCASC Capt. shows up and wants to march with our team. At the end of the march he decides that I must be available for his little blister. Not to drain it, but to find some supposed female Cdn. Medical Officer he saw in the crowd. This loser was a real loser. So on telling him I could drain it, oh no he needs professional help in mean time not only talking down to me, but in a loud voice to impress the crowds of civilians. So of I go and looked about diligently for this M.O. (As in pretending to) Came back told him no luck. Repeated my offer to drain the blister. So he accepted my kind offer. Welllllll, it was in his small toe, where he stored his brain. I cleaned the wounded area properly inserted the needle to a depth where I drew blood, lots of blood. So called great leader of men, went very pale and tried not to scream in pain. Funny weird noises escaped from his clenched jaw. I did tell him this wouldn't hurt (me). Cleaned effected area after operation, knowing I had done my bit for a fellow suffering Canadian. The odd thing is, he didn't thank me. Left the area and had no further contact with me or our team.

Incidentaly we did have a RCAMC M.A. man with us. He was former British Army and veteran of Njimegan and Arnhem. He hadn't been back since the war. When we got to the encampment prior to the march, he told me he couldn't handle the idea of going back even after all those years. Some things just don't go away. I can't remember if he came out to Groosbeck to the Cemetary, which the Cdn's would do on the last day.I know it bothered it him, but no one slighted him for it.

We were afflicted with a number of officers who had been lifted from The Ranks on accelerated promotion.

In '72 we found ourselves in Andersonstown and, taking advice from our predecessors, (12 LAD Regt, Cartav !), we patrolled in Pigs, with the back doors firmly closed.

Of the three useless toerags that I remember, one of these aforementioned ex-OR, newly - promoted officer types, was one of our Troop Commanders. He had come from 7 PARA.

"PARA" decided that it would be better if we patrolled with the back doors of our vehs open, enabling us, when coming under fire, to locate the enemy and deploy in response more quickly. Sound thinking, on paper. To us, in the back of the wide-open Pigs, it was obvious that even Stupid Paddy would be able to get a couple into a four foot hole. To his eternal shame, our easy-going giant of a Troop Commander went along with the idea.

Before long, the inevitable happened, we came under fire and a popular sergeant of our troop became another name carved on the National Arboretum.

brum wrote:

(12 LAD Regt, Cartav !),

Not my lot Brum........ but thanks for the mention !
We were 16 LAD ( or LAA in my time !)

And when we went to LAD, as I did in TA, those on high and not in the know
often believed we had some connection with REME.

Two of the regiments that I served with had RSMs who were Gay. Not a problem in this age of "Diversity" but a big problem in the 60s and early 70s, they were both having "Affairs" with Junior Ranks.

Brum yes for my sins started in 95. Shelldrake I remember the RSM he lived above the guardroom when we uses to look after you on your postings, were they 28 days duration, I never knew what you did to upset people

I had the only cell with a lock on the inside!

brum wrote:

We were afflicted with a number of officers who had been lifted from The Ranks on accelerated promotion.

In '72 we found ourselves in Andersonstown and, taking advice from our predecessors, (12 LAD Regt, Cartav !), we patrolled in Pigs, with the back doors firmly closed.

Of the three useless toerags that I remember, one of these aforementioned ex-OR, newly - promoted officer types, was one of our Troop Commanders. He had come from 7 PARA.

"PARA" decided that it would be better if we patrolled with the back doors of our vehs open, enabling us, when coming under fire, to locate the enemy and deploy in response more quickly. Sound thinking, on paper. To us, in the back of the wide-open Pigs, it was obvious that even Stupid Paddy would be able to get a couple into a four foot hole. To his eternal shame, our easy-going giant of a Troop Commander went along with the idea.

Before long, the inevitable happened, we came under fire and a popular sergeant of our troop became another name carved on the National Arboretum.

Moin Brum
The British Army had an SH1T campaign in the late 60s…not enough rupert recruits so units were asked to select ORs for Sandhurst training…I was an A/LCpl in the Royal Signals who had just passed the MPC II (NCO cadre later Det Comd course) as top student and my Sqn OC and 2IC both ex-rankers tried very hard to get me to apply…gave them the big NO after seeing the behaviour of 2Lts after working in the officers mess and later as troop 2ICs trying to impress by stepping on ORs to further their careers…plus only had ACE I…in the troop was a Cpl Tech who failed his T1 entrance exam and was also asked he applied and went on to make Lt Col…a good guy met him again in Ulster as Capt…I was a RE Cpl but it did not matter we chatted as mates about the old days…the British Army problem was the massive gap between ORs and officers if the gap was closer we could have had a much better army…fast forward to the early 90s as a manager interviewing a former rupert for a job who was made redundant (received the brown envelope) and could not understand civvy street with “why don’t you just shout at people”…nuf said he did not get the job…

According to the Sandhurst website, 80% of entrants are university graduates.So the MOD prefer uni types to ordinary types who maybe better qualified in life rather than some young person going out into the big wide world and joining up to be "A Leader" of men in active service.So if you have a degree plus then you are in for training as an officer.One thing though,it is ordinary ranks that train them at Sandhurst I noticed on a recent programme about becoming an officer.They certainly get it tight from the training staff and they are not officers until they complete their training.Perhaps the MOD need to put these new officers on a continuation course prior to them going off to their individual units a sort of breakin to military life unit way and perhaps they will get a better understanding of how to work with the troops and how they will operate on active service.

It's a changing world Tam, just about everyone has a Degree of one sort or another these days, University is no longer exclusive to the "Privileged Classes". The majority of Officers that I encountered when working for the MOD as an ASA came from normal working class backgrounds, the relationship between Officers and Men has changed beyond all recognition. No more Batmen, Officers Mess barmen, waiters etc - we live in a more egalitarian society nowadays.

Shelldrake, how absolutely terrible.

Shelldrake wrote:

It's a changing world Tam, just about everyone has a Degree of one sort or another these days, University is no longer exclusive to the "Privileged Classes". The majority of Officers that I encountered when working for the MOD as an ASA came from normal working class backgrounds, the relationship between Officers and Men has changed beyond all recognition. No more Batmen, Officers Mess barmen, waiters etc - we live in a more egalitarian society nowadays.

Yes they still had batmen in my day. In the RE Officers mess in 75 when we had to rotate for working in there, one lad was told to clean some officers riding boots. The lad refused several times.

The last time, said boots went through the meat mincing machine in the kitchen. Of course, none of us knew a thing.

It had been part 1 and part 2 ordered that only rank of Colonel and above had a batman.

They used to iron the newspapers in the Officers mess for them.

When we went to Ulster in '74, Officers were not allowed to come out with us on foot patrol. They had to ask us if they could come out with us and if anyone disagreed, then they didn't come out with us.

As a result, none came out with us when we were there.

They hadn't trained with us, and your mate was watching your back. You trusted them. We didn't know the officers.

The officers weren't too bad . It was usually the 'nouveau riche', the rising NCOs that were the shits. Especially their wives when in the mess.

My God they thought they were something.

Princess Royals parade at the RC Sigs School in Vimy Barracks Kingston. 1962.

I'm in a holding troop awaiting RTG Op course.

Get nailed to be Bat man for the School Commandant and Adjt.

Polish the Commandant's Sam Brown. Forget to wipe edges of belt and sword frog.

New tailor made T.W.'s from the U.K. for the parade.

Dress rehearsal.

Some questions from the R.S.M.

Commandant wears issue T.W.s for the actual parade.

I haven't really lost much sleep over it.

Must have led a sheltered life .. cannot recall one lousy Officer or subject to some of the BS I have read in recent posts .. I did however fall afoul of two particular SSM's .. neither Royal Signals .. one was SSM Dennison RTR, Bde HQ SSM 20 Armoured Brigade, Munster 1953 and the other was SSM Douglas, 16 Lancers, Camp Main SSM HQ MELF, Nicosia. 1956.
One got me an admonishment and the other a Severe Reprimand.

Len (Ciphers)