A Very Special School

Chapter 14

The Commander was looking through his mail one morning when he came across one of those dingy brown envelopes so beloved of the UK government. It was stamped, as ever, OHMS and addressed to the Commander by name as Warden (his official title) at the school. He opened the envelope with great curiosity, withdrew what what was clearly a long letter and settled back to see what it contained. It was from some undersecretary at the department of education and in a rather longwinded and pompous way informed him of certain changes which might affect his school.

The Principal Secretary to the Minister of Education for England and Wales had charged me to inform you of certain changes in the law concerning young offenders, which might, at some future date, impact on the running of your school.

As you are doubtless aware, the Magistrates' Courts which deal with the vast majority of cases involving males under the age of twenty-one years, have for many years been able to sentence any offender to an immediate caning or birching for the offence for which he has been convicted. Such one-time punishments are normally carried out immediately following the sentence, in a room adjacent to the court room itself and the cane or birch is usually applied by a member of the police force. Subsequent to his punishment the offender is then allowed to go free.

There has been a growing awareness on the part of the judiciary and the police that a onetime beating is often an inadequate punishment for the offence committed and very often does not deter the offender from repeating offences. The courts are regularly confronted with repeat offenders who seem intent in breaking down the law and order of the country in spite of the corrective birching they have received.

A recent change in the law has been enacted, whereby a magistrate or judge can now sentence an offender to a more serious punishment than has hitherto been the case in what has been termed "short-term confinement with programmed corporal punishment" or SCP for short. This programme allows the magistrate or judge, at his discretion, to commit the offender for a maximum period of three months to a reform institution, but associated with a mandatory programme of corporal punishment. This procedure, will not only deprive the offender liberty for three months, but during his detention he will know that he will automatically be punished according to a programme set out in his sentence. It is felt that a programmed series of beatings will ultimately set these delinquent on the road to rehabilitation into a more acceptable life style.

The Principal Secretary has asked me to inform you formally, that your institution, the Moulton-Midmarsh Reform School, has been selected as one of six schools strategically placed around the UK, to which offenders convicted and sentenced under the SCP scheme can be sent. Your catchment area includes the Eastern Counties and the Boroughs of east London. Boys convicted by any court in this area and receiving an SCP sentence will, automatically be sent to your school, where their sentence will be served and the prescribed punishments administered by your staff in the normal manner. As your school is designated as a reformatory only for boys aged eighteen years and above, only boys in this age group will be sent to your establishment.

The Principal Secretary has asked me to stress the fact that such offenders are, apart from the mandatory beatings defined in their sentences, to be treated exactly as all other internees, which is to say that they will attend classes appropriate for their ages and will be subject to all the normal rules and regulations of your establishment. It would, however, be helpful if such offenders were accommodated in dormitories separate from the other boys. This is a suggestion and not mandatory.

I hope that I have explained the situation to you clearly enough and that if called upon, you will execute the sentence of the offender in question as set out by the court.

I am, sir, etc. etc. etc.

Well, thought the Commander, what a turn up. The court are going to send us boys each with a beating schedule; what a terrific idea; I simply cannot wait!

And indeed, the Commander did not have to wait long, for a month later, the first letter arrived from the court in Norwich. Two boys, aged just eighteen, William Lodge and Derek Parry by name, both out of work, had been convicted of stealing goods from a food shop in the city centre and, when chased by a policeman had knocked down an old lady, whose arm was broken by the fall and who had to be taken to hospital. The fact that they had caused a serious accident and had done nothing to help the person they had injured had enraged the magistrate, who gave them a three month SCP sentence with a ferocious programme of mandatory corporal punishment:-

On arrival:- eighteen strokes of the birch

One month later:- eighteen strokes of the cane

One month later:- eighteen strokes of the cane

On the day before they are to be discharged at the end of

the third month:- eighteen strokes of the birch

The Commander could not believe what the court had ordered, it was beyond even his wildest dreams and let's face it, he was ever ready to apply his cane to any offender. But, four times really serious punishment, with eighteen mandatory strokes; he became hard just reading the letter.

The two boys, Lodge and Parry, arrived two days later. They were a rough looking pair, with long, dirty hair and pugnacious faces and they stood insolently in front of the Commander as he looked them over.

"You know why you are here and I imagine that you both know what is in store for you in terms of corporal punishment over the next three months. I have to say to you that I am utterly disgusted by your callous behaviour and I totally agree with the sentence of the court, which I will now read out to you to make sure that there is no misunderstanding as to what precisely is going to happen to to you, starting this very evening."

And with that, the Commander read out the entire sentence. The boys listened but looked totally disinterested, as if they did not care what he was saying.

When he had finished the Commander looked balefully at the pair and said, "Just so that we fully understand each other, what I have just read out to you is a formal punishment schedule which I am required, by law, to carry out. Let me just remind you both that now that you are here in this institution, you will obey and follow the school rules of conduct to the letter. Any infraction by either of you will be punished, and believe me, we are very good at punishing errant youths here, as the pair of you will find out after supper, this evening when I shall have the pleasure of administering the first mandatory birching to your buttocks. Now, Mr. Selby, the housemaster of Norwich House, where you will be lodged during your stay here, is waiting to take you to the barber and the showers. After supper I shall have the pleasure of receiving you both in the punishment room, where a freshly cut birch awaits you. Is that clear?"

As there was no reply from either boy, the Commander opened the door and showed them into the corridor.

As he was closing the door behind them, he heard Lodge say to Parry,

"What a fucking old fart that guy is; he's off his bloody rocker if he thinks he can scare me."

The Commander could not believe his ears, reopened the door fully and said'

"Lodge, I think you and I need to have a little talk right now; now get back in here boy. Now, what is you just say about me in the corridor?"

Lodge for the first time, was now beginning to show some signs of fear, as he realized that the Commander, who was clearly in a rage, meant business.

"Sir, I didn't say nothing, nothing at all sir."

"Don't lie to me boy, I heard you. Now repeat to my face here and now what you said."

"Sir, I can't repeat something I didn't say sir."

"Boy, how you can stand there and lie to me, I cannot believe. Now, one final time: what did you just say out there?"

By this time Lodge was truly feeling very nervous and replied,

"Sir, if I did say summat, then I've already forgotten it."

"Boy, I have never met such a liar in my life. It is less than a minute since you uttered your foul words and now you cannot remember them. Well, boy, let us see if I can help you remember what you said; step this way, boy into this side room."

Lodge looked around the Commander's punishment room and saw the two beating stools, the horse and the pickle rods in their containers. What remained of his initial arrogance was now fast vanishing and, like many boys before him, when challenged to repeat some foul words he had just made a person's face, found it difficult, if not impossible, to repeat them directly. But repeat them or not, he was about to feel the wrath of the Commander descend on his arse.

The Commander selected a cane, fixed it in its handle, flexed it in front of Lodge and said, "This boy, is a very special cane, very flexible and very stinging when it lands on a boy's arse. Believe me, boy, when I tell you that you will very soon get our memory back once you have had a taste of this. Now, boy, sharp about it; drop your trousers and underpants and bend across that stool."

"But, sir, you're not going to hit my naked bum with that thing are you?"

"You really are very bright under all that dirty, unkempt hair, Lodge. Yes, that is precisely what I am going to do, so jump to it."

Lodge, by now reduced almost to tears, all his résistance gone, did as bidden and placed himself across the stool. The Commander surveyed two splendid muscular buns and then set to with the cane. Poor Lodge, did not know what had hit him as ten times the rod cut furrows in his arse, The Commander was so angry, that he just applied the cane anywhere it landed and the boy finished up weeping profusely, with a cross work of corrugations across his arse. The Commander, in his rage, had completely thrown to the wind the idea of 'painting' a tasteful picture of cuts across the boy's arse; he just wanted to give the lad as painful an experience as he could; and truly painful it was, for Lodge got up after his beating with tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Now, get out and go and get your hair cut and cleaned up. But remember, we have another appointment, you, your partner in crime, Parry, and I, in the punishment room after supper. Believe me boy, you haven't felt anything yet; just wait until I put the birch across your arse."

After supper, the two boys were led to the punishment room by Mr. Selby, their housemaster; his deputy, Mr. Summers was also in attendance. The Commander allowed the two boys to stand around in the corridor outside the room for about fifteen minutes, simply to heighten the tension and the fear that the two lads were now certainly feeling. He finally arrived, flung open and the door and allowed the two boys to enter. They looked around at the somewhat stark room and the punishment equipment it contained; two beating stools two horses, several deep buckets in which the freshly made birches were already soaking and the inevitable pickle bath replete with well seasoned canes. All in all it was a daunting and frightening sight for the two boys who were now to experience the full horror of their mandatory birching.

The arrogance and casual nonchalance they had exhibited when first meeting the Commander had now totally disappeared, as Lodge had already experienced the bite of the pickle rod due to his unseemly remarks about the Commander and his friend, Parry, had clearly learned to button his lip and not make matters worse. But as they both now realized, the moment of truth had arrived and their arses were on a collision course with the birch and they could do nothing at all to avoid what was about to happened.

The Commander had taken an instant dislike to both miscreants the moment he met them. He had decided to make their punishment as dramatic as possible, to bring home to the pair that they did not get away with their conduct which had led to an elderly lady being taken to hospital. So, there was to be no quarter given; the Commander wanted to see that the boys' arses had the full benefit of the birch - a frightening prospect.

"Strip naked boys and stand in front of me with your hands on your heads and let me inspect you both."

"But sir," said Parry, "You're not going to beat us on our naked bums are you, sir?"

"Where else, boy, do you think that the birch is going to be applied? The birch is always applied to the recipients naked arse, in this case, yours; and let me tell you two miscreants that you are now going to rue the day when you knocked over that old lady; yes indeed, the moment of retribution has arrived, and I will remind you that you have three other appointments with the cane and the birch in your mandatory punishment programme, so this first birching will give you an idea of the pleasure you still have in store. Now, hold your lip and strip off otherwise I shall increase the number of strokes you are to receive."

The two lads, practically dying with the embarrassment at their nudity, did as ordered and stood there, hands on heads, stark naked in front of the Commander and his acolytes,

"Mr. Selby, Mr. Summers, I think it is appropriate that these two boys be birched together side by side; so would you please see that they are each strapped firmly to the birching frames. Make sure that the straps are well tightened as I want absolute stillness as the strokes are applied and kindly adjust the height of the frames to ensure that the boys' buttocks are presented perfectly for the punishment."

Whilst Selby and Summers did as the Commander requested, the boy Lodge decided that he would make one last attempt to mitigate his punishment in some way; the poor lad had no idea that in addressing the Commander he was talking to something as unyielding as a block of granite: AS someone had once remarked bout the Commander: "Underneath that harsh exterior beats a heart of solid stone."

"But sir, you have just beaten me with the cane, sir, and I don't think it fair to have to be birched when my arse is already so sore; I don't want you to beat me again right now, sir; I don't think I can stand it, sir."

"When I want your opinion I shall ask for it. The beating I gave you earlier is unrelated to what is going to happen to you now; you brought that earlier punishment on yourself, by making lewd remarks about me and I punished you for them. So, I am afraid that the eighteen strokes of the birch to which you have been sentenced will shortly land on your already painful buttocks."

"Now, gentlemen, I propose to administer six strokes of the birch to each of these two boys, alternating between them, at which stage I shall hand the birches over to you and ask you to administer the remaining twelve strokes to each of them. I think it is right and proper that these two miscreants be punished side by side and at the same time."

And with that, the warden selected one of the freshly made birches from its bucket, shook off the excess water and began. He started with Lodge, whose arse was already deeply furrowed by the earlier punishment and brought down the birch with as much forced as he could muster.

Lodge let out a howl of pain and and, in a pleading voice, begged the Commander to be lenient.

"Sir, I don't think I can stand any more, sir, please sir stop."

"Shut up boy; I want no more of what you think you can or cannot stand; I will be the judge, the only judge of that, and frankly, boy, I see no reason why you should not be given, right now, the eighteen strokes specified in your sentence. If, and it is a big if, I have to stop, then you will be brought back here at a later date and the missing strokes will be applied. The fact that your arse is already sore is your own fault; you reaped what you so unwisely sowed."

And with that, the Commander went on and gave each of the boys their first six cuts of the birch. Both lads were weeping before he had finished and handed them over to Selby and Summers to complete the task.

"Make sure, gentlemen, that you lay the birch on well, I want these boys to have an experience they will never forget; and, he added quietly, if you feel that a little post-beating therapy is needed, then please go ahead."

Selby and Summers looked knowingly at each other and smiled; the Commander had said it all. The Commander had, in reality, no need to exhort his two housemasters to lay on the strokes as hard as they could, for these two young men, like he Commander himself, took great pleasure in administering pain to their charges and so they synchronised their strokes so that the birches cracked down at exactly the same moment on the arses of the two supplicants. By the time the boys had received their eighteen strokes each, their arses were already back black and blue with the minute bruises produced by the twigs of the birch, which when well applied is truly the most painful of instruments.

The Commander, who had withdrawn from the room, had watched the proceedings through a small observation window. He looked on with approval as Selby and Summers applied a little salve to the arses of the two lads, proceeded to oil their anuses and then gave each of them a little anal stimulation. What the two young men thought about the fact that they had had their holes drilled by their housemasters, we shall find out later. Anal intercourse is, at the end of the day, not at all an unpleasant experience and, after the severe birching these lads had just received, might well have been looked upon as a gift from heaven.

Thus ended the first day of the three month sentence of Lodge and Parry. That night the two lads lay on their bellies with their aching arses exposed to the air, for both lads were still feeling excruciating pain.

Parry said to his friend: "You know, I never ever realized just how how bad it would be; that was just the very worst beating I have had in my life and we have still three more to go. But you know, I quite enjoyed having my arse fucked at the end."

"Me too, my friend; I did enjoy being fucked, but then, I always have. But let me tell you that at the first chance I get, I'm, away from this hell-hole. You think your arse is bad? Well what about me? That old sod had already caned me hard today and then went on a flogged my arse as hard as he could with that fucking birch. There is no way I'm going to let that old fart beat my arse to pulp again."

Brave words, indeed, but words which led to even worse consequences for the two boys; as we shall see, they would have done better just to serve their sentences and take the three beatings yet to come, rather than try to avoid them.

Chapter 15

Mr. Cass was the assistant housemaster of Cambridge house and to him had fallen the task of organising and supervising cross-country running. As you know, the eight housemasters were totally responsible for all physical activity by their detainees, and the cross-country run was just one of the several athletic practices considered to be character building by the Commander and his acolytes. Just how cross-country running built up a boy's character was difficult to see, but that was the theory and it was put into practice on a weekly basis at Moulton-Midmarsh school.

Now cross-country running, as many of you, I am sure know, is one of those activities which you either love or loath; there a no two ways about it: either you are a dedicated runner or you wish that the whole rotten idea would just go away. But, like it or loath it, the boys of Moulton-Midmarsh were compelled to participate, which they did, but with varying degrees of enthusiasm. So, more or less every day a platoon of boys would set out on a four mile run across the bleak and unattractive fenlands. Mr. Cass, who had himself as a public schoolboy, been an enthusiastic runner and had mapped out a course which taxed the boys so that they were pleasantly tired on their arrival back at the school, where he personally checked that all runners were present and correct as the military phrasing would have put it.