Public school punishments (1950s)

No longer being a 'new-bug', I had survived to reach the still very young age of thirteen, considerably hardened to life, although the rigours of daily life did not lessen over the next three years and canings and beatings were a daily occurrence, some of them being totally unjust. Discipline was entirely in the hands of the Prefectorial system with little, if any, guidance from Housemasters and the latter seemed quite happy to take the plaudits for running 'a tight ship' regardless of the brutal methods used.

For example, in my house boys were beaten regularly for leaving games clothes on the floor in the changing room, one stroke for each item of clothing found. Some nasty-minded boys would deliberately fling other boys' clothes on the floor, and I recall a very timid boy who had never been caned in his life, being told to report to the changing room during break the next day to be beaten. He was shivering and sobbing all the afternoon after his sentence was announced and I was surprised that he turned up the next morning. He received his beating - four strokes of the cane- and ran screaming from the changing-room.

Prefect's imposition slip (grammar school, 1960s)

Grammar school discipline (1960s)

On the first day at the grammar school we were told we would be beaten if we didn't follow the rules. That was rather frightening for an eleven-year-old. My first form master was a Mr Thomas, who was an ex-policeman. He always checked that we had well polished shoes and we got the slipper if our footwear was not up to scratch.. Being caught outside the school without your cap on was also a punishable offence and you had to raise your cap if you encountered a master.

I recall one teacher always made a chalk mark on the sole of the slipper and another on the offender's behind and then tried to line the marks up as he whacked the boy. The cane was also in regular use and I have vivid memories of an older boy being beaten in front of the entire school for the double offence of smoking in the street and vandalising a bus seat.

There was also the time there was a near riot on the last day of term. We were eventually brought under control (not with water cannon but with whistles - some rioters were we!). It was demanded that we give up the ring leaders, but as most of us hadn't the faintest idea who had started it (and the guilty parties kept quiet) a mass slippering was ordered. I don't think that any of us believed they would really do that on the last day of term, but we were lined up in rows and all the teachers took a hand. Never, before or since, were there so many sore bottoms at one time in that school.

Uniform rules
My grammar school was strict about uniform both as regards the normal school uniform and PE kit. For example, if you were caught not wearing your cap you received a formal warning. For a second offence you were caned. If you turned up without PE kit and had no excuse note the PE teacher would make you strip and slipper you across your Y-fronts in front of the other boys in the changing room. You then had to do the gym session dressed in just your briefs, which was a bit embarrassing, especially for skinny boys.

Another nasty practice was to make everyone hang from the wallbars until the least fit boy could hang on no longer. He received a sharp whack across his backside, to the jeers of the rest of the class and the relief of those about to fall off.

A strict schooling

The schools I attended were all firm believers in the efficacy of corporal punishment. In my primary school every teacher had a slipper in his desk drawer and most of them were in daily use. At secondary school only the year heads, the headmaster and his deputy were allowed to cane but any rule-breaking was strictly dealt with as was lack of effort with your school work. The year heads gave between two and four strokes of the cane to offenders whilst the headmaster gave a minimum of four and anything up to eight.

Cautions notice, 1970s

Preventative measures
To any boy who rented my Bavarian lederhosen for the purpose of deflecting the sting of a caning I will gladly refund the two bob or half-crown I charged back then. However, you will need to send me your receipt. As victims of Mr Langford's canings will recall, the ritual always commenced with a few exploratory taps in order to detect any magazines or extra layers of clothing illegally interspersed between flesh and grey flannel.

My Teutonic arse-armour was surely an early form of 'stealth' technology. Even to seasoned whackers like Langford the lederhosen were undetectable and mimicked flesh to the extent that the characteristic 'thwack' of the cane across the up-ended buttocks sounded entirely normal. The sting was appreciably reduced, but to maintain the deception,a feigned wince or perhaps a little yelp was always recommended. I suppose I shouldn't have charged my fellow fourth-formers for the use of the lederhosen, but I needed the money for cigarettes...

An unpopular master
Biology with Major (as he then was) Bigham. After our first biology homeworks had been marked and returned, anyone with less than a certain mark was taken into the back room one at a time and caned - hard. The standard of homework certainly improved thereafter, although caning remained the standard punishment for any other failures to meet his expectations, and there were many victims. Biology lessons were filled with tension, and I don't recall any other teacher being so universally feared and disliked in my whole time at school.

Daily Telegraph Letters to the Editor

SIR - Alphabetism (leading article, Aug. 31) certainly worked for me.
At my prep school, when good things were being dispensed, I would use my full double-barrelled name. On the other hand, when queueing outside the headmaster's study for six of the best, I would use Joyce. This invariably meant that by the time he got to me, his beating arm was tiring.

Robert Dwyer-Joyce, Hutton, Essex

Boarding school, 1960s
The main school building had originally been a fine country house and the grand entrance was known as 'the marble hall.' As often as not a visitor would see several boys standing in line in the hall, rigidly at attention. This was the prescribed punishment for various misdemeanours and could last anything from two to five hours during what would have been a boy's precious free time. The prefects or teachers who had imposed the punishment would periodically appear on the balcony which looked down on the marble hall to check that each boy was keeping at attention and that there was no whispering or fidgeting. If this happened your sentence could be extended.

More serious offences were punished with the cane and my friend Pete and me must have held the record: three doses of six of the best in the space of two days for smoking. Ironically the first thing we did after the whackings was to creep away for a cigarette! The headmaster caned really hard and you always ended up with some livid weals across your backside - a great talking point in the showers after games.