I was 16 and a day boy at the time of the incident. There was a bad atmosphere that day because the school
rock band had performed at assembly and, despite warnings (stemming from past offences) had included a song
which the headmaster deemed to be obscene. The members of the band were summarily suspended - a drastic punishment,
particularly for boarders, who would be forced to return home.
At lunchtime I happened to go into the lavatories which were used less for their correct purpose than as a social
centre for the smokers in the upper school. This was not a particularly well kept secret as the smell of tobacco
tended to waft down the corridor. Usually the culprits were ticked off and herded out with a strong warning.
This time, however, one of the PE masters (who was also my form master) who was still infuriated by the events
of that morning (and was a sour-faced bastard anyway) decided to vent his rage on those of us haunting the toilets.
He flung the door open and everyone there tried to look innocently nonchalant, despite the lingering smell of stale
cigarette smoke. Indeed, I was not smoking myself that day (shortage of funds) although I was known to be an occasional
offender.
The master was not to be fooled and the half-dozen of us were ordered to wait in line in the corridor while he
fetched his belt. He returned carrying a big four-tailed tawse and blackboard duster and we were made to hold out
each hand in turn, supported by the other so that we were less likely to withdraw it at the last moment,
and to ensure that the full force of the blow would be felt. The duster was laid across the wrist of the
hand being punished, theoretically to protect it from injury.
The PE master was a powerfully built man and he inflicted three very forceful and stinging cuts on each hand -
six in total. Each boy was required to stretch his upturned hand fully out, so that the skin of the palm was
taut. The belt then lashed the hand lengthways, punishing both the fingers and the palm. I had been belted
on occasion before and it was always terrifying seeing the flicking tails of the descending tawse, then having
to keep your hand in position for the next cut despite the terrific pain.
The master stamped off and we were left to nurse our throbbing hands . The pain always took some time to wear
off. I have rather small hands and therefore suffered more, with eventual blistering of the palm and badly swollen
fingers. Under no circumstances was a pupil excused from writing or other work after a belting, unless actual
injury was evident. I was sent home in the afternoon, which shows how much I had suffered. My parents wrote a stiff
letter to the school, but no apology was ever received.