COMEDY AT THE TOWER

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 129, 3 June 1933, Page 12

COMEDY AT THE TOWER

FORGOTTEN PASSWORD

Twice within a few days a little com*, ed was enacted, at the gates of th» Tower of London. On two occasion* the officer in command at the Toweiy Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Smith, forgot the password. On the first occasion when Lieutenant-Colonel Smith arrived at the Tower he was challenged smartly, by the sentry. "Who goes there?" ' 'Rissole!" replied the commanding officer promptly. The sentry was nonplussed. He recognised his commanding officer, .but not the password. For a few moments there was consternation. The sergeant of the guard turned out, and only after a cross-examination was the commanding officer given the 'correct password and allowed to «ntor. The password he had forgotten was "rifle" —not ris-r sole. Lientenant-Cokmel Smith told tha story against himself to the London branch of the Old Coldstreamers' Association, and he capped it by, confessing that he had again forgotten the password for that night. But this timo Lieutenant-Colonel Smith had little' difficulty in getting into the Tower, for he was recognised immediately arid wqs given the countersign by the sergeant of the guard. "The password custom at the > Tower probably dates back to the time of "William the Conqueror," says Sir George Younghusband, Keeper Of tho Jewel House of the Tower. "It is most solemnly observed. The War Office draws up a list of passwords— one for each1 night for the ensuing month, and a copy is sent to the King, to the Lord Mayor, to*tho governor of the Tower, and to myself. "Each night the password is posted in the, guardroom at 10 o'clock. Naturally inmates of the Tower sometimes forget the password, biit as long as the sergeant of the guard or one of' the warders is satisfied of their identity they are given the correct countersign and are allowed to enter." Even when inside the Tower on inmate may bi) asked half a dozen times for the password before he reaches -hkf apartments. ■ "