Wednesday 1 December 1952
.… which made me so furious I lost my rag completely. ëYOU… WILL… NEVER… TALK… TO… ME… LIKE… THAT…††EVER… AGAIN… YOU… SNIVELLING… LITTLE… BOY,í I roared, at the top of my voice, accompanying each word I uttered with a full-bodied stroke of the strap. That made thirteen strokes in all and, even though I had allowed†Crosthwaite†to retain his underpants, the effect on his tender 14-year-old bottom can be readily imagined. It was not just any old strap either, but the heaviest and nastiest one in my whole collection ñ made inScotland, I believe. I felt guilty afterwards. Am I slowly turning into a deranged sadist? But I certainly got my point across.