Field Punishment No1 was a humiliating form of punishment which saw the soldier in question attached standing full-length to a fixed object – either a post or a gun wheel – for up to two hours a day (often one hour in the morning and another in the afternoon).

Unlike imprisonment, regular duties could still be carried out in-between, and the field unit would not lose a man. Sometimes tied in a crucifix position. Stories abound of soldiers positioned to face the enemy lines, invariably out of range of enemy fire but allegedly not always so. If exposed to the sunshine this form of punishment proved ever more discomforting, quite aside from the constant problem of trench lice. If the soldier in question started to sag while attached to the post he would often be checked by military police.

Similar stories persisted of commanding officers who abused regulations governing such punishment by tying soldiers’ hands behind their back and suspending them by a rope tied around their wrists, their feet barely touching the ground. Such was the concern of abuse of the punishment, the War Office issued advisory orders to ensure the correct regulations were adhered to, this order, plus a representative image of the punishment are shown below (click to enlarge).

Field Punishment No.2 was similar to FPNo1, but usually restrained in irons, and not fixed to an immovable object.