WHAT IS THIS? ENGLAND OR GERMANY? ¹




In view of all the recent agitation about communist activity in and around the army it may be useful to throw the army authorities and those in command a few gentle hints.
This isgenerally supoosed to be a democratic army.... though how any army can be democratic is beyond us. Let us compromise and say that this Egnlish army is built up out of democratic human beings who for the time being have voluntarily subjected themselves to military discipline.

But there is a wide difference between sound military discipline and a sort of NAZI despotism running wild. There are many officers who have apparently been infected with NAZI customs trough coming near the German frontier.

In Eindhoven last week ² British soldiers were barked at by a French officer. One of them got mad and told him that he had bettter pipe down cor if it had not been for Britain France would never have got rid of the Huns by itself.

The three soldiers wre court matrialed. The same thing or something much like it happned near Helmond .In this case an    merican officer thought it necessary, in a public house to start a loud speech to more than ten British soldiers about m nners. He boldly stated that Britain was an old country, had lost its grip on world affairs and suggested that from now on the United States would set the standards, manners included. He was booed and a fight en sued.

Britisg officers get more and more sticklers for form and xxxxxx bureaucratism. Excessive penalties are given for pure formal misdemeanours as forgetting to salture under circumstances when every sensible human being would overlook that... dirty shoes(  And that in ancountry like Holland where it rains everyday)...

This stupid and rigid attitude does more towards fanning the flame of Communism than anything else. Why can't they try and act and think like human beings instead ad either a sort of booted super gods or brainless militarybmachines.

There is nothing that makes men so mad as this aimless heavy penalising of small mistakes.... There have been instances in January, known to me, of officers short in a mysterious way in a dark night.

Officers and gentlemen... Remember to remain gentlemen. Or at least: Men ³ instead of spick and span clothes dummies.
You'll live longer that way.

A Well-Meaning Company, that will stand no nonsense.

[1]	Ongedateerd pamflet (of tekst voor de Radio-Gil?) van W.H.M. van den Hout, in het NIOD-archief opgenomen onder nummer "19c"; het stuk dateert in elk geval van na januari 1945.

[2]	Tussen week en British is boven de regel het woord three getypt.

[3]	Met pen onderstreept.