Percy Wilfrid Machell: Difference between revisions
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|resting place=Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery
|source={{CWGC}}, {{SDGW}}
|notes=Honours/awards:<br>CMG 1906, DSO}}It wasn’t just his experience that made him a great man, it was the high esteem the men of the Lonsdales held for him. Colonel Machell was constantly busy with the preparations for running the camp at Blackhall in Carlisle, doing most of the work himself until his Adjutant Captain Diggle (the rank he held at that time) of the 6th Border Regiment was appointed on the 3rd of December (this position was later appointed to Lieutenant M Gordon). ▼
▲It wasn’t just his experience that made him a great man, it was the high esteem the men of the Lonsdales held for him. Colonel Machell was constantly busy with the preparations for running the camp at Blackhall in Carlisle, doing most of the work himself until his Adjutant Captain Diggle (the rank he held at that time) of the 6th Border Regiment was appointed on the 3rd of December (this position was later appointed to Lieutenant M Gordon).
Even with the help of his Adjutant, Colonel Machell continued with his duties making sure he could train the men in his battalion to the best of his abilities. Because many of the men had not even seen a soldier before their recruitment, Machell knew that a great deal of training and discipline would be needed. Discipline should not be confused with punishment in this respect as the men, because of their farming, labourer and shop-keeper backgrounds knew little of what was involved in the running of a battalion. It is in this regard that discipline had to be instilled into the men by Machell himself: "I have to act as drill-sergeant and buck and bark vociferously to get up to a high standard....Men take the talking well. It is much better than punishing....Far better make a man than break him." He obviously knew how best to command his men using means that were tried and tested in his previous experiences. It was no wonder he was so well respected by the men (and officers) who served under his command.
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