“Form them up Sergeant!" "Aye aye, sir." "You're not a bloody sailor, Sergeant. A plain yes will do.”

“"They're not going, sir. Not going South." "And who made that decision, Sergeant?" "We all did, sir." "Since when, Sergeant, has this army been a… a democracy?" "A what, sir?" "Since when did Sergeants outrank Lieutenants?"”

“But, Sergeant Osbern, Sir, I like my head.”

“Were you proposing to shoot these people in cold blood, sergeant?"
"Nossir. Just a warning shot inna head, sir.”

“I don't want unnecessary violence, sergeant," said Blouse.
"Right you are, sir!" said the sergeant. "Carborundum! First man comes through that door runnin', I want him nailed to the wall!" He caught the lieutenant's eye, and added: "But not too hard!”

“Jock, when ye hae naething else to do, ye may be ay sticking in a tree; it will be growing, Jock, when ye're sleeping.”

“Ay, do despise me! I'm the prouder for it; I like to be despised.”

“Ay me! what perils do environ
The man that meddles with cold iron!”

“"I'm a Soldier, not a bloody clerk! I fetch bloody forage, count bloody shovels, and take punishment drills. It's yes, sir, no, sir, can I dig your latrine, sir, and it's not bloody soldiering!" "It is bloody soldiering! What the hell else do you think soldiering is? Do you think you can win a war without forage? Or without shovels? Or, God help us, without latrines? That is soldiering! Just because you've been allowed to swan about like a bloody pirate for years doesn't mean you shouldn't take your turn at real work."”

“The mace prodded
Will in the back again. That little habit was starting to annoy him and he was tempted to take the weapon from the sergeant major and do a little prodding of his own.”