13 Comments

Spooky - last night I ran through the chapter on Sweeper Kantu in John Randle's Battle Tales from Burma.

The thread begs the question to what extent British Army still has 'old hands' - long-serving, relatively junior ranks? Or is it a case of if you're not going up the ladder you get knocked off...

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Not any more Andrew. When I was a young subaltern we had a few twenty-year privates in the battalion, usually by then in the QM's stores, and a few long service JNCOs. I understand that this is very rare nowadays.

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For all my respect for our British comrades, I'd be worried if a Canadian battalion could only muster _one_ sanitary corporal. I mean, yes, several of my fellow corporals back in the day were pretty insanitary, but not enough that we could name one exemplar who wasn't ... ;-)

Wait. I've been informed that "sanitary" is not the same as "sanity" ... resume normal operations, ignore this message.

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Ha ha!

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The value of professional soldiers and soldiering cannot be overstated, and, within that - the importance of strong combat leaders at the section and platoon levels - priceless.

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Exactly, even a sanitary corporal!

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I have always had a high regard for the tradesmen in the paltan ie batallion. They're a fantastic treasure trove of characters with numerous stories and most have a very deep knowledge of what's going on where. These are the barbers, Equipment and Boot Repairers, Stewards, Cooks and more. They spend time in the shadows but make immense contributions when the situation is challenging - so yes - Sanitary Cpls.

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Agree!

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This is leadership

I mean CPL Fields

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Exactly!

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The rock on which Britsh Army performance is built.

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Especially by the sanitary corporal!

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😆😆😆

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