Rough Justice
Gary Sloane
I had been in town with the boys on our day off and had had a really hard day/night on the piss. We had just finished a 24 hr shift loading ships and "dodging" cardboard scare charges that some Navy people would have you believe might have blown a hole in the side of the Nella Dan and Hari Ma Maru and it was supposed to be our rest day so we all used to rest in the bars in town. I got really shitfaced and armed with an arm full of heppo rolls I boarded the bus to get back to camp with the help of a couple of others.
They managed to get me back to my room and after scoffing the heppo rolls I needed to take a leak and was way too pissed to get downstairs to the pissaphone on my own so I let loose off the balcony after looking checking left and right of arc, as you do. I failed to look down and just pointed the weapon and emptied the magazine right at the time Yosemite Sam [nickname for Noel Huish the CSM] was doing his rounds.
He said nothing that night. Probably a wise move as I was primed up and would have no doubt ended up in the boob. The next morning all I heard was the yell. "PTE SLOANE.......FRONT AND CENTRE." I staggered out of bed with a shocking hangover and looked over the balcony and there was the CSM with his wet uniform hanging on a coat hanger.
"Pte Sloane do you make it a habit of pissing on the Duty Officer?" "No Sir" was the reply. "Well you f***ing well pissed on me last night. Get dressed, leave your hat and belt behind and front the OC NOW!!!!" I was dressed and down there at the orderly room in about 5 minutes flat, dressed immaculately in the set of greens you managed to keep ready for such an occasion. The charge was read out and Jerry really had to control himself so he didn't burst out laughing. I got the 28 days and copped it sweet.
The punishment consisted of 0600hr roll call dressed in full battle order also with a flack jacket on and a huge bladed shovel and a red bucket. I had to patrol to the beach, about 100 yards away, drop my gear, fill the bucket [one shovel full], put my gear back on, patrol back [watching your arcs etc as per proper patrol] drop my gear, dump the sand into a blast wall, that was near the orderly room, put my gear back on, pick up my weapon and shovel and patrol back to the beach for the next bucket full. I did this until breakfast and then carried out normal day duties. As soon as they were complete it was back to patrolling to the beach for sand until 2300hr every day for 28 days. The threat was that if I didn't fill the blast wall in the 28 days I would have to keep going until I did. I managed to fill it in the required time.
I don't know if the size of the punishment has bugged Jerry or not but at our reunion last year he asked me if I thought that the penalty was too harsh. 28 days field punishment is not easy and was a long time for a little leak considering all the other tasks we were doing at the time.......not to mention all the beer and women I missed out on while others were playing for the 28 days. I just told him he was the boss and what he dished out we copped sweet, as you did as soldiers of that era. We worked hard, we played hard and he needed to enforce what he considered a fair punishment and he was one boss who would not tell anyone to do anything that he couldn't do himself.
I wonder what a soldier of today would do if he was given 28 days field punishment where he had to work from 0600hr to 2300hr every day?
Gaz
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