I just finished reading
He Who Dares
, the account of "Soldier I's" service in the SAS. It was notable for two things:
1) It's the first account I've read from one of the guys who was boots-on-the-ground for Operation Nimrod, and...
2) It's the first first-hand report of a caning I've read that was written by the canee. Heinlein's Starship Troopers made a whipping seem like no big deal by comparison, but when a guy who has survived SAS selection and the odd gunshot wound describes six strokes as nearly unbearable, well, I'm going to believe him.
You would like "Eye of the Storm"
ReplyDeleteby Peter Ratcliffe DCM.
He was Regimental SGTMAJ for SAS and includes his time in Aden, N. Ireland, Falklands and Iraq.
I'll lend you my copy if you want to read it.
Gerry
C. S. Lewis said he had a schoolmaster who was such an enthusiastic caner that he would have the boy lean over the desk, then open the door to the hall so he would have four more feet to get a good run-up so as to put a little more energy into the licks.
ReplyDeleteHaving seen the video of the way they cane people in Singapore, if the sign there says no jaywalking, then you can be damn sure I'll leg it to the sidewalk.
ReplyDeleteJim
It's been a while since I read it, but I believe one of T.E. Lawrence's (Lawrence of Arabia, of course) books had a section describing him being caned (and perhaps worse).
ReplyDeletePain is an interesting subject.
ReplyDeleteCaning is interesting because not only do you have the rapid impact sting, like with a switch, but you also have a bit of a thump, as if with a baton.
My SWAG is that the cane stimulates both the nerves on the skin, and because of it's mass causes pain in the muscles beneath.
Probably not as bad as the time I got "icy hot" on my manly bits though.
rritter, that is widely known as the game of "Lawrence and the Six Turks." Oh, and worse indeed.
ReplyDelete"My SWAG is that the cane stimulates both the nerves on the skin, and because of it's mass causes pain in the muscles beneath."
ReplyDeleteIt causes pain in the muscle beneath because, by the third or fourth stroke, there's not a lot of skin in the way...