Originally Posted by
The Gorilla
Talking
I assume you are referring to the post WW2 far east mutiny?
TG
A friend of mine was there. As far as I know there was no real threat of being shot.
The initial grievance was the early demob of European theatre personnel and the perception that all the good jobs would be snapped up. The powers that be decided that those in South East Asia who had joined during the war, ie when old enough to join, could remain in theatre for an extra couple of years. This was not actually unreasonbable as there remained a considerable amount of action, especially in the Dutch East Indies.
Then, to pour petrol on troubled waters, a junior officer decided it was time to re-impose pre-war discipline and practice. To do this he instituted a daily parade before start work - work would start at the traditional time but the parade would be earlier. This was of course a popular order.
The next day, at parade time, no men. At work time they all reported to work as normal. This went on for a few days until as senior officer from AHQ was desptached to find out what was going on. It was decided that there was no mutiny as the men reported for work as normal.
As it was impossible to resolve the situation by acceding to the mens request and cancelling the adjutant's order a different face-saving solution was found.
There was an urgent need for a staff officer at AHQ and the most suitable, and only available officer, was the adjutant.
From the OFT thread, this is almost the attitude that needs to be addressed today. They need to introduce a fit to work, fit to fight ethos and no b*llsh1t.