Memories: The school flogging

The punishments consisted of a series of corporal punishments, which the head master would administer as and when necessary, by a school thrashing. These took place about every two weeks, at the end of assembly, when the boy in question was called out of his file and told to come up on the stage.  –  James Bell recalls the Episcopal Boys School, Exeter, Devon, England which he attended during the Second World War in the 1940s.

The new headmaster A.F.D. Badcoe was “a dreadful man”. “It was said at the time that he only got the job because his father had a senior position in the Education Ministry. He was most unsuitable, the boys hated him, as well as the staff.”

When Mr Badcoe introduced himself to the boys, and his staff, he stood on the platform and told us he was selected from 135 applicants, and he was the one chosen, so he was the very best! (God help us!). He went on to say that we could approach him at any time and that he was always available. But if you did, he would bite your head of; it was like disturbing a vicious reptile.

He went on to say that he was keen on discipline, for without discipline there would be chaos. ‘And boys we don’t want that do we? I don’t hear you. do we? do we? come on we are in this together Do We?’ so we all said we did, and that was the way it went – we were bullied into agreeing to his methods without any discussion. He went on to list a set of rules, ‘parameters’ he called them, and we the boys not him, were to set the punishments if any rules were broken. He then listed what the punishments would be and we had to agree to them immediately.

Having got the nod from us he said ‘Now you have set the Rules and the Punishments, they were nothing to do with him, the boys had decided how to run the school!’

The punishments consisted of a series of corporal punishments, which he would administer as and when necessary, by a school thrashing. These took place about every two weeks, at the end of assembly, when the boy in question was called out of his file and told to come up on the stage.

His infringement was mentioned, and the punishment read out. On a table there were laid out six canes of different thickness the boy was told to pick one, and hand it to the Head Master. The Head Master would then slash the air with it and say ‘so you think this won’t hurt. I’ll show you.’

He would then start to hit the boy with it, and then order one of the teachers to hold the boy down while he thrashed him. The punishment was usually six strokes of the cane, but he just went on hitting him, often until the boy ran off the stage with the Head Master shouting abuse at him for being a coward!

I well remember when I had a school thrashing (we all did eventually). He lost his temper as he was caning me and carried on hitting me, I ran off the stage, out of the hall back to my class, with Badcoe, slashing at me as I ran back down the corridor. I sat at my desk protecting my head with my hand as he hit me as hard as he could with the cane, even on the side of my face, we were alone in the classroom while he shouted abuse at me.

Before Badcoe came it was rare for anyone to get the cane. Badcoe ruled by fear, if Hitler had come to Britain, Badcoe would have been promoted. In my opinion he was a Sadist. If Badcoe did today what he did then, he would be locked up.

 

Picture credit: Unknown

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