[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by Gordon Booth

Retlaw, I was astonished when I read that.Such savage punishment so little time ago.
Looked it up on Wikipedia-' it was issued on 60,201 occasions'! 'Sometimes applied within range of enemy fire' as you said. I wonder how many of the poor devils actually got hit? 'Applied three days out of four for up to 21 days'! It's like something from the Dark Ages.

The British Army has been in existence for hundreds of years. They know every trick that men would try on, and evolved a punishment to fit every crime. In the early days a lot of soldiers were uneducated, conscipted convicts, and such, the Royal Navy had a long record of floggings to mantain discipline, thats why the Royal Marines were posted to the old sailing ships, to help the captain maintain discipline, amongst other duties.
There was a war on, and discipline had to be maintained at all costs.
How many men were actually killed by shell fire, or by snipers we will never know, he would just be entered as K.I.A. Of the near 3000 sets of service records I've aquired, never seen a reference to a mans death from that punishment.
Films like the Monacled Mutineer, and The Hill, are pure Hollywood fantasy. I've met one bloke who was a Glass House Guard, use to work at H&B's they were noted for brutality.

Retlaw.