‘But don’t you think we need more intelligence and less of this Peninsular stuff, sergeant-major?’
‘Not a bit less. Men are still the same—very human. Let drill, discipline, and orders slide, and your men will get panicky for the want of it. Now take my tip: all of you boys are going to be officers, so model your drill on mine. Your men will hate you at first, just as you hate me when I’m knocking you about; but when your colonel turns round and says, “Lieutenant John Brown has the smartest-drilled platoon in this battalion,” the men will lick your boots for you. Tommy’s a funny fellow. He doesn’t really admire a slack officer. He likes the officer who knows his job. If you want to get them up to the scratch, drill like the Brigade of Guards.’
‘But, look here, sergeant-major, aren’t other corps as good as the Guards?’ I inquired.
‘Certainly, my boy. But still I must tell you this, that the Guards are nearly always kept in reserve, not because they are pets, but to save awkward situations. It’s not we that should be saying it, but you’ll admit that at Cambrai we managed to keep things right, eh?’
‘By Jove, you did!’ exclaimed a few of the cadets who had been there.
‘Whatever regiment you join, you’ve got to feel and believe that your regiment is It. Every regiment has different traditions. There’s the Old Devons, Wilts, Surreys, and all the Highland corps. They’re wonderful stuff. And if I dared to talk to them about the Guards they’d bash my head in. And quite right, too! That’s esprit de corps. But at the moment you are all cadets. You belong to no regiment, and if I can hand on any of the good ideas I’ve got from other good men, you will profit by it.’
‘But it’s ruddy hard to learn from you, sergeant-major,’ piped Beefy, who was still steaming with perspiration.
‘My dear boy, I’m mild compared to some. When I was a “rookie” I used to come in with my feet bleeding, my heart pumping like an engine, and limbs like lead. You don’t really know what drill is. I’m mild—real mild. And when you’ve finished here we’ll all part good friends. Don’t worry! A number nine pill will help you through all right. You’re too fat. Now, fall in!’
For the next half-hour he knocked us about like ninepins. Every nerve, every muscle, was on the jump. He knew every trick of drill, and turned us inside-out. To an observer it must have been a treat to watch him. But to us it was more or less hell. Yet he quickened our wits and roused our ardour so that every man Jack said, ‘Well, it’s up to us to knock spots off the Guards.’ And that was his real and only aim, for he was a true soldier. He dismissed us with a smile, and said we weren’t really a bad lot. We rejoiced.
I was so delighted after the ‘Dismiss’ that I commenced to throw my rifle up in the air, and catch it.