When I visited the Bristol Records Office on March 29 1994, I was somewhat dismayed to discover that the only surviving record which would be of particular interest to me of the period 1938 - 1942, was the Punishment Book. I was shown a list of other documents which referred to earlier times, and which were available for scrutiny. Because of other commitments, time was unfortunately not on my side, I therefore decided to limit my attentions to the Punishment Book.

On arrival at the place allocated to me in the research room, I found a small pile of documents - mainly photographs of the visit of the Dowager (a title often used in those days) Queen Mary, to the school in 1942. This visit took place only about six months after I had left the school, and most of those in the photographs were known to me. However, it was the Punishment Book, kept closed by a length of white tape firmly tied around it, and sitting on top of all the other papers, which attracted my attention.

Before I opened it, I sat for a moment, and thought of the last time I had seen it - over fifty years previously. Obviously, I couldn't remember the exact, or particular last time I had seen it. The sight of Mr.Tebbit on his way to or from the library where 'Defaulters' or 'Captain's Report' was held, with the Punishment Book under his arm had been a familiar sight to us all.

As with all other activities within the school, defaulters were summoned to the library by a bugle call. At the sound of the call, all boys who were on 'Captain's Report' would ask permission to drop whatever they were doing, whether it was school classes, seamanship, or special duty, and report at the double to the library. Boys were required to parade in the 'Red Corridor' outside the library, and await the arrival of the Captain.

Mr.Tebbit was the Regulating Officer, and as such, it was his job to act as a sort of 'Clerk to the Court', when boys were brought before the Captain to be charged with having broken the rules. Mr.Tebbit would read out the charges against the defaulter, and record the punishment handed down by the Captain. All of this information was recorded in the Punishment book. The luxury of a defence counsel did not exist; each boy, for better or for worse, being his own advocate.

I can remember quite clearly when I was in Form One. The entrance door to the library was almost directly opposite the entrance door to our classroom. The Defaulters paraded right outside our classroom door. On those occasions when one or more boys had really got themselves into serious trouble, the whole school would be aware of it, and the atmosphere would be quite tense. We knew that 'cuts' would be handed out, and from our classroom, we could often hear the 'thwacks' of the cane landing on the serge trousers of the luckless recipient. The usual 'dose' of cuts was six. Sometimes the lesser number of two, three or four cuts would be administered. On the other hand, twelve cuts would also be handed out when the Captain thought they were warranted.

I note in the Punishment Book on some occasions, when the punishment was twelve strokes, there is a little note alongside such punishments saying (managers). Presumably, the managers had to be informed when the more extreme forms of punishments were used. On one or two occasions when more than one boy had to be caned, other officers would be sent for to continue the punishment when one officer tired of it, especially if the number of cuts was more than six per boy.

Some boys repeatedly offended, and were caned time after time, which should have conveyed the message that the cane does not really deter a determined person. Unfortunately, in those days, the cane was looked upon by many as the ultimate solution to all our social problems, and rather than searching for other solutions for repeat offenders, the punishment just became more vicious.

We had a boy in our (Number Four) dormitory who ran away from the school on several occasions. ('Did a Shunt' as we used to say). On each occasion after the first time, he was caned. After each caning, especially on bath night, his backside would be the object of morbid curiosity to all as we lined up for our bath, (in the nude of course,) His backside would be black and blue, I'm sure we were all afraid of the cane - I know that I certainly was - but even such graphic evidence as we saw, did not deter boys from getting into the same sorts of trouble. At the next 'defaulters', there would be more boys (sometimes the same boys) caned again for various offences. There was no particular offence which necessarily attracted the cane. First offenders - even of absconding, which was a very serious offence - were not always caned the first time. After the first time however, there was no excuse.

On looking right through the Punishment Book, I noted with some relief that the last time a boy was caned at the school, was on the third of August 1967. He was 16 years and seven months old, and received '...eight strokes of the cane on his posterior...'

The Punishment Book is a ledger type journal with an alphabetical index in the front pages. In the index, all the names of the boys who were on Captain's Report are recorded. Against each name is a number. This number refers to the page number on which that boy's record can be found. Browsing through the lists of names became quite a nostalgic journey for me. Many of the names conjured up the image of a face, sometimes an event. Some of the boys had been my particular friends, one or two had been bullies. Yet others were remembered because they had, to all intents and purposes, overcome their behavioural problems, and been promoted to positions of authority. Such positions making them responsible in no small measure therefore, for our day to day appreciation (or otherwise) of the school routine.
As I browsed through the names, I found myself wondering how particular boys had fared since leaving, and how their passage through the school might have affected their lives. I thought of my good friend Brian who lost his life whilst sailing in a convoy to Russia in January 1944. I wondered how many others, like Brian, had paid the ultimate price since leaving the school.

I looked up Brian's page (page 24). Now, it looked so distant, trivial, and pathetic. The first entry reads:

18 - 3 - 39; Wetting his bed after Doctors orders; Stop pictures; Caution.

There may well have been more to the 'Doctor's orders' phrase than is stated in the Punishment Book. Prima facie, it seems quite absurd that even in those days, a boy could be expected not to wet his bed because the doctor had made some deliberation or other on the matter!

I looked up my own page. More entries there than I had remembered! Still, I doubt if any of them could be construed as being the preliminary indicators of a future social problem, or anti social behaviour. My biggest regret is that on September 15 1941, I was: 'Insolent to Sister in Sick Bay' I was given seven days extra work, - which at that time would have been worked out on the Turfing Parties. I say regret, because of all the people who were kind to us, and gave us a breath of home, then Matron, Sister, and the Linen Ladies would have to be top of the list. The ingratitude of children!

I found it of interest to note that I had been in the school for almost two years without once appearing in front of the Captain as a defaulter. In the summer of 1940, when the Home Leave had been cancelled, I, and seven other boys raided the Officer's Mess one night. As far as I can remember, we did it in the belief that we would find food and cigarettes there - and dare I say, excitement? Not that we were starving, but boys in such a place are always hungry. How wrong we were! We found no cigarettes, and very little food. By mid morning the next day, we had all been discovered and placed on Captain's Report.

At the investigation, we all lied through our teeth, which only served to make the punishment more severe. We were all disrated one class, lost one month's privileges, and fined 6d. One boy was also given six strokes of the cane because it appears that he had quite a long list of offences to his name - he also went for a midnight swim afterwards! The loss of one class was not quite as even handed as it might appear. Those of us who had one or two good conduct stripes, (I had two, and was a second class boy) were only disrated to third (as in my case), or fourth class. Those with no stripes, who were already fourth class, were disrated to fifth class, which in itself was a punishment class, and meant that one attended punishment parades during all leisure hours.

It would not be possible to write completely of the affairs of the National Nautical School during any period, without some reference to the sexual activities among the boys. To deny its existence would be head in the sand. To overstate its importance would be equally misleading. With two hundred boys, all reaching puberty and sexual awareness during their stay at the school, it would indeed be miraculous if there were no cases of sexual misconduct on record, no matter how severe or trivial.

There are one or two mentions of '...attempted indecent conduct...' in the Punishment Book. The punishment in one particular case reads '...Summer Leave stopped, and disrated to 5th class...'. We boys talked about these things, as might be imagined, in language which was almost as obscene as the act we were trying to describe! Sadly, it was the victims rather than the perpetrators who were the main targets for our invective. Really, I should say the suspected victims, because even if a boy had been on report for such conduct, there were very few, if any, who actually knew the details. However, lack of details, truth, and substance never got in the way of the malicious gossip which, like all other gossip, became more lewd with each telling. Children can be very cruel, and we were no exception to that rule! We had names for them like 'Poofter', and 'Bum Boy'. From memory, I think that boys so named, were objects of derision rather than hostility. Either way, the fact that these boys were victims seemed to have completely escaped us.

Then there was the mysterious 'Mr.Davis'. Several boys are on report as having '...consorted with Mr.Davis...' in the village, during shore leave. Just what was supposed to have happened, I really do not know, but of course, that lack of knowledge never got in the way of us repeating the most lewd and disgusting stories we could think of in connection with this person. The business with Mr.Davis became so serious that Captain Evans warned all boys against having any contact with him whatsoever, should they be approached whilst ashore.. This (warning) was issued one morning whilst we were at Divisions, so it was more than passing serious. It must be remembered that boys in our situation, - with very little money, and even less worldly experience, are very vulnerable to the wiles of would be social predators.

On reflection, the existence of even one such case constitutes a problem for the participants, (and for the school). It is also likely that there were more undiscovered cases than were reported. As far as I know, such activities never became a major problem requiring any special precautions to be taken within the school, other than the warning against consorting with the mysterious Mr.Davis.

It is not only punishments which can be discovered by reading the Punishment Book. In the absence of other documentation, the timing of one or two events can be deduced from it's pages. For instance, I was not sure which year we turfed the Lower Field, but there are several entries relating to the Golf Course, and 'Turfing Parties' dated in September and October 1941.

There is mention of Xmas Leave on Page three where a boy was punished for breaking the rules '...on returning from Xmas Leave...'. What is noteworthy about Xmas Leave is that it was a 'first', and therefore in our time, a unique event. Until that time, Summer Leave was the only Home Leave the school allowed. It had been cancelled in the summer of 1940, more or less in the wake of 'Dunkirk' and the consequent threat of invasion. (Mr. George Standley of Weston Super Mare, who was at the school in 1929, tells me the boys had Xmas, Easter, and Summer Home Leave in those earlier days!)

Had the 1940 Summer Leave not been cancelled, all the boys would have had their leave, and been back in school quite safely before the 'Battle of Britain' and the 'Blitz' were to get under way. In contrast, at Christmas in the same year, when the Blitz was at it's worst, boys were granted Home Leave! The boys didn't mind! Home Leave was Home Leave, Blitz or no Blitz. Those who went, thoroughly enjoyed it.