How to deal with pompous sticklers

“Pomposity and pretentiousness received very short shrift from him. When a general, a stickler for punctuality and held in no great affection, paid an official visit, Cubiss arranged for all the clocks in the camp to be put forward by five minutes. The great man arrived to find Cubiss, a picture of exasperation, tapping his watch.”

This is from a good obituary in the Daily Telegraph of Brig. Malcolm Cubiss.

(HT to down-under PL)