Tales from
the Academy
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ASM J.C.
Lord MVO, MBE
This is an update of a post from many years ago.
We live a short distance from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, variously known as the Academy, the RMA, the RMAS or simply Sandhurst. We often hear the sound of small arms fire in the wee, small hours of the night and so we know that Sandhurst is on exercise (known as manoeuvres in other countries.)
The RMA has trained countless thousands of officer cadets from numerous countries. All of them have memorable moments to recount, many relating to the Warrant Officers who drilled them so thoroughly – some might say, relentlessly.
J.C. Lord of the Grenadier Guards was the first Academy Sergeant Major at Sandhurst. Academy Sergeant Major is the highest non-commissioned rank in the Army. Today, all Warrant Officers Class 1 (WO1) are nicknamed ‘Lords’ in his honour and two rooms at the Academy are named for him, one being the WOs and Sergeants’ Mess bar. In the British Army, WO1 is the highest non-commissioned rank below ASM. (In the US Army it is the lowest WO rank.)
The ASM is usually drawn from one of the Guards regiments. The current holder, Daniel Cope (2024) is a Welsh Guardsman.
ASM Lord was an impressive character. He was the first Regimental Sergeant Major of the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment on its formation. He was wounded and captured at Arnhem and taken to Stalag XIB Prisoner of War Camp where conditions were deplorable, and the prisoners’ self-esteem was extremely low. Through his strength of personality and enduring military discipline, J.C. Lord raised morale and rebuilt the confidence and pride of the prisoners.
At the time of his tenure at Sandhurst, most cadets entered the Academy straight from school, little more than boys, and the course lasted two years and involved a great deal of drilling. Now, it is a shorter course, and the cadets are older, more mature young men and women, many with professional qualifications.
Nonetheless, drill still plays its part. In ASM Lord’s time, he would address the cadets at their first parade, pace stick under arm. ‘Gentlemen, I will call you ‘Sir,’ but I will not mean it. You will address me as ‘Sir’ and you will mean it.’ All cadets, regardless of wealth, background, or family connections (many came from Royal families across the globe and still do) were treated equally and expected to conform and perform to the required standard. The Sandhurst motto, ‘Serve to lead’ means exactly that.
He had an extraordinary eye for detail and would spot any infringement in dress or behaviour from a great distance. With, then, one thousand cadets on the parade ground, all dressed identically, usually in service dress, he would order his subordinates to ‘fetch that idle man over there.’
The Warrant
Officers would scurry about, seeking the miscreant and would shout, ‘This one, sir?’
ASM Lord would
shout back, ‘No!’
Another cadet
would be singled out. ‘This one, sir?’
‘No!’
A third unfortunate
would be indicated. ‘This one, sir?’
‘No!’ came the reply.
Eventually, with WOs trying their best to discover the cause of the ASM’s distress, ‘This one, sir?’ would bring forth the response, ‘No! No! No! No! No! – but he’ll do!’
Depending on the severity of the misdemeanour, the culprit might find himself detained in the Guard House for a brief period.
Officer cadets learnt very quickly that it was unwise to do anything that might draw close attention. Talking in the ranks was strictly forbidden and so the young men developed extraordinary ventriloquial skills. In addition, impassivity was required, no matter what might occur, and they discovered that they could exercise monumental self-control.
On one occasion, the WO taking the parade was an imposing Irish Guard of great stature and ferocity, turned out in impeccable style. A small incident, now lost to memory, caused him to remonstrate fervently with the offending cadet, to the entertainment of the young man’s peers. As he got into his verbal stride, seeking ever more amusingly cutting remarks, the WO’s decibel level increased with his creativity. As he reached his apogee, his false teeth flew out and the cadets were hard-pressed to contain their mirth.
History does not record how the teeth were recovered and by whom, though doubtless the story has gone down in the annals of one family somewhere.
