Getting 'The Whack'

Getting 'The Whack' was the term used during the 1950s at my suburban London grammar school for a personal appointment with the headmaster, who then proceeded to beat the dust out of your grey flannels with a big springy cane - not a pleasant experience. The process whereby a boy ended up submitting to The Whack began with being caught by a master or prefect misbehaving or breaking one of the myriad school rules. A 'stripe' was recorded against your name in the book kept for that purpose and if you accumulated three of these in the space of a term you were for it.

At morning assembly the prefect deputed to the task that day would read the various announcements and notices. Right at the end came the moment you were dreading, as your name was intoned along with the command 'headmaster's study directly after assembly.' There would be the inevitable sniggers and smiles and a few sympathetic glances. The condemned boy would attempt to look unafraid, determined to scotch the impression that such an appointment with the headmaster bothered him in any way.

If you were expecting the summons you could prepare yourself in several ways. Two pairs of decent gym shorts under your school trousers helped to ameliorate the sting, although it was generally agreed that the very best protection was afforded by a pair of cadet corps trousers. Fortunate indeed was the boy who was a cadet and was summoned for The Whack on a Friday, the CCF parade day: those thick serge battledress trousers made all the difference. However, whatever you wore for your encounter with the cane, you knew that it was going to hurt!

You would look sheepish and suitably impressed as the headmaster lectured you sternly about your offences, acting as judge, jury and executioner with no right of appeal. 'Bend over that chair and raise the back of your jacket'. It was a wooden armchair with a flowery pattern woven into the beige material - I saw enough of it during my school career to remember it well.

One you were bent over to his satisfaction, the headmaster would over to the umbrella stand and pull out his chosen implement. All of his canes were very long for a purpose, but more of that later. He would swish the rod a couple of times and walk back to the chair where your shiny flannels (or CCF uniform trousers if you were lucky) looked up at the ceiling. From the corner of your eye you could see him pull back his gown with his left hand and take up the stance. Then without warning the cane smote down and your backside felt like someone had taken a branding iron to it. About five seconds passed between whacks, just enough to feel the pain spreading round your right hip.

One whack was the penalty for minor offences. When I was in 5F a little first former and myself were caught by Bert Peade climbing through the cloakroom window after being late for school. Bert took us to George and George offered us either a hundred lines or one stroke of the cane. The first former took the lines and I opted for the stroke. I think this surprised George because for the first time in five years, he didn't seem to put his usual gusto into the whack - in fact I hardly felt it. I did of course have to apologize to Bert, but this was a favorite cruelty of George, it just drew out the time before you could get outside his study and rub your backside.

Two whacks was the punishment for more serious offences: smoking for instance.

Three whacks were given for being caught smoking a second time or for such heinous crimes as forging your parents' signature on your school report.

Four whacks and you had joined the elite few who reached this plateau. Scotty McGregor, George Delmonte and myself became members of the four whacks club after completing about half a mile of the annual cross country, sitting in a ditch until the leaders made the turn and came back again, and tagging along behind them to come in fourth, fifth and sixth. Harry Askew took this as a personal offence, he being an Olympic athlete (third in the 100 years high hurdles at the Wembley games in 1948). The next day in George's study we watched his hair lip positively tremble as he told us how we had insulted Mr Askew by making a laughing stock of the annual cross country run. We were then sent outside and one by one bought in to get our four and, to add insult to injury, apologize to Harry while trying not to rub the hurt bit.

I never heard of anyone getting five whacks but McGregor, God have mercy on his skinny backside, received six whacks on at least two occasions. The first time was for walking out of Wilkerson's Spanish class and refusing to come back in again, and the second for bringing to school a magazine of .303 cartridges which he had 'found' during the Cadet Corps field day. He fired one off with the aid of a nail and half a brick during lunch time and the noise attracted the attention of half the school.

So just why did George use extra long canes? Because he was a bit of a sadist, that's why. His well practised whacking technique allowed the long rod to whip around your right hip and leave a nastly welt on the side of your thigh. That really hurt!

I was never caned by Ernie Pilling but heard from his victims that Ernie had everything in the sadist department that even George lacked. When George was away and Ernie was in charge, even minor offences were punished by the cane and Ernie, with two stone on George, really laid it on hard.