Branded was a series 3 (1969) episode of Dad’s Army, in which Private Godfrey (Arnold Ridley) submits his written resignation to Captain Mainwaring, who is disinclined to accept it. (This is war, not Sainsbury’s!) Godfrey explains that he’d recently found himself unable to kill a domestic mouse, so therefore concluded that he would be no use to the platoon in combat. He also confides that he had been a conscientious objector in the Great War. Mainwaring is stunned and outraged, and is determined to humiliate Godfrey in front of the platoon. (I may not be able to tear his epaulets off physically, but by God I can do it verbally!).
Godfrey remains in the platoon pending a replacement, and in amongst the usual broad comedy there are moments that are deeply uncomfortable to watch, as he is ostracised by his friends, with Private Frazer (John Laurie) the most vocal and personally cruel.
The Walmington-on-Sea platoon join with the ARP Wardens for a training exercise that involves entering a smoke-filled hut, one by one, to rescue a straw-filled sack representing an unconscious casualty. Mainwaring is unhappy with the amount of smoke in the hut, and increases it to a dangerous level. He can’t resist a snide remark about Private Godfrey wanting to get out of the exercise, which Godfrey himself denies with his usual courtesy.
Mainwaring is the last one through, right behind Godfrey, but is overcome by smoke. When he fails to emerge from the other side, Godfrey reenters the hut and singlehandedly rescues Mainwaring, saving his life.
Godfrey is subsequently recuperating at home in bed, and a contrite and grateful Captain Mainwaring, along with the platoon, pay a visit. Mainwaring notices a picture on the wall, showing Private Godfrey in his Great War uniform and displaying the Military Medal. Godfrey’s sister explains that he had been a stretcher bearer at the Somme, and had gone out into no-mans-land under heavy fire to retrieve the wounded.
Amongst the apologies, Frazer unsurprisingly asserts, 'Speaking for myself, I never doubted you for a single minute'.
Captain Mainwaring’s discomfort at his own lack of medals is a theme that carries right through to the final episode. He asks why Godfrey never wore his medals, to which Godfrey replies that it would seem ‘rather ostentatious’.
“If I’d won the MM," Mainwaring replies, "I would have been so proud that I would have worn it, on my chest, for the whole world to see."
“That would have been all right, sir, because you look like a hero.”
And here Sergeant Wilson delivers the coup de grace to conclude the episode, “It just shows, sir, you can’t always go by appearances.”
Godfrey is appointed the platoon’s medic, for reasons that extended beyond the episode storyline. Arnold Ridley had fought on the Somme in the Somerset Light Infantry, and even more than 50 years on still suffered the debilitating effects of multiple wounds. He therefore struggled to parade with a rifle, so the Red Cross haversack was a useful compromise.
As a film version of Dad's Army is released, BBC News looks at the life of Arnold Ridley, the only actor in the original television series t
