HUMBLE CLERK'S VICTORY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21580, 26 August 1933, Page 3 (Supplement)

HUMBLE CLERK'S VICTORY

SERGEANT-MAJOR " TOLD OFF" Two million ex-soldiers will be glad to hear that a sergeant-major has been put in his place, says an English writer. By. a humble Civil Service clerk, too And this is how it came about. In a small military office there were two clerks. One was a soldier —a ser-geant-major —and the other was a civilian belonging to the Civil Service. One day the colonel rang his bell for the sergeant-major, who was temporarily out of the office. When he returned the clerk told him that the colonel wanted him. " Why didn't you tell him where I had gone?" said the sergeant-major in that charming way that sergeantmajors have. When the clerk " told him off " he was marched before the colonel for insubordination, suspended and placed on half pay. Then the Clerks' Association stepped in. It was proved that the clerk Was a civilian, and that the sergeantmajor could not treat him as he would treat a private or a corporal. The War Office agreed and refunded his full pay for the suspension. This clerk is probably the only man who has " told off " a sergeant-major' and got away with it, with the approval of this War Office.