The One Fingered Salute

It’s a fact of the Corps Officer’s life that visitors will knock on the door of the Quarters at the most inconvenient of times, and once they’re in the door they can be quite difficult to remove. There are a number of techniques the officer can use to rid themselves of callers who overstay their welcome, all requiring tact and diplomacy.

This has always been the case, but a century ago officers  were encouraged to utilise a more direct means of moving people to the door. The 1908 Orders and Regulations for Field Officers, in the section governing the usage of Officers’ Quarters, states

There should be a card over the mantelpiece, telling visitors to do what business they have to do quickly, and when they have done it to depart; and when Soldiers or others have said their say, the F.O. should point to this card or tell them or tell them plainly that time is precious, and, if they have nothing more to say for the glory of God or the good of souls, to take their departure.

One wonders whether the Trade Department sold such cards. One wonders if Trade Departments could sell such things now!

There is no word on whether visitors were expected to salute on their departure.

Saluting the Past is an ongoing series of posts about saluteworthy rules of days gone by. If you have any suggestions for this series, please leave a note in the comments or tweet  The Salute’s editorial team at @SalutingSalvo 

Keep saluting!

The team here at The One Fingered Salute are pleased to announce the upcoming ‘Saluting the Past’ series.

Over the years the Army has had many rules that were salute-worthy at the time but have since been retired. This series is going to dig up some of the more cringeworthy regulations and pose the question: are we better off without them?

Whilst we have a lot of good source material, we know that our readers have got books, letters, minutes and memos from the pens of They Who Must Be Saluted. If you have something tucked away, we’d like to see it. You can get in contact with us through the comments here, or via Twitter @SalutingSalvo

Our first instalment isn’t far away, but until then… keep saluting!