[DGthe3]

A story I've heard a few times dates back to WWI. Its important to note that at the time, Canadians were part of the British Army & colonial troops were generally considered undisciplined riff-raff by their British officers. That reputation probably comes from the fact that at the time, colonial troops were generally undisciplined riff-raff.

Anyway, while training out in the North African desert a Canadian soldier was sentenced to field punishment #1 (a common punishment in that era, often dealt out for drunkeness, insubordination, abandonment of your post, and other discipline-type offences). Unfortunately, I forget what the specific reason was although I think it may have been for having an unkempt uniform. For those unfamiliar, FP No 1 consists of tying the offenders arms and legs to a fixed position (usually a fence or large wagon wheel) in a cruciform position for up to 2 hours a day for as long as the punishment period lasts. Now, as I said before they were training in the desert of North Africa at the time and in this particular area there wasn't anything handy to use so a handful of stakes were driven into the ground instead. The soldier was left out in the hot sun while everyone else in the unit carried on with what they were doing. 2 hours later, the officer returns to find the Canadian has pulled up the stakes from the loose sandy soil and taken cover under the only tree in the area.

From what I recall of the story, further punishment was not issued (in fact, I believe the stiff upper lip of the officer in charge actually loosened a bit), and discipline in that particular unit was never a problem durring their desert training.