(One of a series of daily posts about the life of Winston S. Churchill.)
Having been blamed during World War I for the failure of the Dardanelles campaign and forced out of office, Churchill elected to serve in the trenches. He was given the rank of Lt. Colonel.
After arriving in France, and while waiting for permanent assignment to a unit, he volunteered to go to the front and serve on a temporary basis with a Guards regiment.
Soon thereafter he wrote Clementine:
I keep watch during part of the night so that others may sleep. Last night I found a sentry asleep on his post. I frightened him dreadfully but did not charge him with the crime. He was only a lad, & I am not an officer of the regiment. The penalty is death or at least 2 years.Churchill found a way to justify his failure to report the young sentry.
But what if Churchill had been an officer of the regiment. Would he then have reported the young sentry? I doubt it.
I can't recall an instance where he pressed a court martial charge. Do any of you know of one?
Churchill was later recalled from France and served for the remainder of the war as Minister of Munitions. __________________________________________________________________________________
William Manchester, The Last Lion. (pgs. 578-579)
1 comments:
Doubt that Churchill ever did press a court-martial charge. By all accounts he was a good officer.
I served six years in the military and never put a man on report, except when the cops had brought him in and I had no choice.
This was not coddling, but cold blooded practicality. A resourceful officer is allowed more leeway in "extra instruction" than a captain punishing under Article 15.
How would you like to stand watch 4 hours on, 4 hours off for several days? Or stand in front of a mirror for 1/2 hour each day practicing salutes? [after 15 minutes your arm will feel like it is going to fall off] Or ...?
Bad conduct marks on his record do not influence a spirited 18 year old kid nearly as much as a miserable few days days - which do not follow him the rest of his career.
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