P.D. GRIFFIN
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN BRITISH ARMY REGIMENTS
The blue peaked cap has a scarlet band with a grey centre stripe. The badge, which was designed by Queen Alexandra, is built around the Dannebrog (Danish cross) of her homeland, embossed with her cypher and ensigned with a crown. The enclosing laurel wreath is labelled with the motto Sub cruce Candida (Under the white cross) and QARANC. The badge is worn on a red patch for the grey beret. No. 1 dress cap, jacket and skirt are grey, as is the ward dress, which is traditionally worn with red cuffs and tippet, and a white veil (officers) or cap (other ranks).
Trainee musician in CAMus No. 1 dress 'blues'. (Grenadier Publishing)
The corps march, Scarlet and Grey, was composed by the RAMC Director of Music in 1950, an arrangement of Purcell's King Arthur and the air Gentle Maiden.
On Foundation Day (27 March) a guest dinner is held at which the loyal toast is followed by another toast to the colonel commandant. Queen Mary succeeded Queen Alexandra to the post in 1925.
Nursing officers, registered nurses and healthcare assistants can trace their origins back to Florence Nightingale, who led thirty-eight nurses to the hospital at Scutari in 1854 to help relieve the sufferings of the sick and wounded in the Crimea. The 'QAs' are known by their rank, which is preceded by the letter Q, as in QCpl.
The Corps of Army Music (CAMus) was formed at the Royal Military School of Music in 1994, to assume full responsibility for the recruiting and management of all army musicians. The corps coordinates the funding, tasking and manning of Regular Army bands.
Headquarters Directorate CAMus is at Kneller Hall at Twickenham, the centre of army music since 1857.
The blue cap has a royal scarlet band to comply with the royal status of the Military School of Music. The corps badge displays a crown and lyre within a wreath of oak and reeds, which bears the motto Nulli secundus (Second to none) - a comment on the high standard of army music. As a collar badge the motto is omitted. The ancient Greek lyre, the hand-held harp at the centre of the badge, has been worn as a sleeve emblem by army bandsmen for over a hundred years.
The corps stable belt is blue with a central band of three stripes that represent corps bands (light blue), infantry bands (red) and armoured cavalry bands (yellow).
The corps march is The Minstrel Boy, with its references to the musician going off to war. The minstrels' earliest form of instrument was the lyre, as portrayed in the corps badge.
Corps Day (5 September) is now known as Duke of Cambridge Day in honour of the founder of the School of Military Music at Kneller Hall. The Duke of Cambridge took an interest in the reform of army music when commanding an infantry division in the Crimean War. At the Scutari Review of 1854 the massed bands played the national anthem together, but with different instrumentation, pitch and arrangement, it was a performance that convinced everyone present of the need for a standard form for all army bands to follow.
The school employs tutors for the eighteen different kinds of instrument used in the army, and academic professors to teach conducting, harmony, orchestration and the history of music.
Regimental bands have long been fostered for their value in raising morale in the ranks. They reached a peak of 191 in 1914, but had dropped to 30 on the regular establishment by 1994, when the small regimental bands were reorganised into sizeable bands that each represent a group of regiments.
Territorial Army regiments have suffered a fragmented history of mergers, conversions, disbandings and re-formations. Study of their lineage is complex and unnecessary to this book. The current fifteen infantry and seventeen support regiments of the TA largely conform to the dress and customs of their affiliated regiments and corps in the regular army. The more independent and established regiments can be examined separately.
THE ROYAL MONMOUTHSHIRE ROYAL ENGINEERS (MILITIA)
This, the senior regiment of the Territorial Army, can trace its ancestry back to the Tudor levies. As the Monmouth and Brecon Militia it achieved its royal title in 1793. In 1852 it was listed as the Royal Monmouthshire (Light Infantry) Militia but in 1877 was converted (with the Anglesey Militia) to Royal Engineers, and accepted the present title in 1896.
Headquarters are at Monmouth, with squadrons at Newport, Swansea and Oldbury in the West Midlands.
Uniforms follow those of the Royal Engineers except for the badge, which is the Prince of Wales's crest flanked by the letters R and E, and the green militia flash of the stable belt.
The RMRE(M) supports a Corps of Drums in the full dress uniform of the Royal Engineers and parades to the marches of the corps.
The Monmouthshire Militia fought as royalist infantry in the Civil War and participated in the major wars that followed. During the withdrawal to Dunkirk in 1940 100 and 101 Field Companies were forced to revert to the infantry role, but spearheaded the thrust to the Rhine in 1944 as sappers once again. The regiment acquired the colours of the East Monmouthshire Militia in 1914, and remains the only RE unit to hold colours.
Tudor gunnery re-enactment
THE HONOURABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY
The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) was raised through a Charter of Incorporation granted by Henry VIII in 1537 for 'the Guylde of St George, to be overseers of the science of artillerie, that is to witt long bowes, cross bowes and hand gonnes'. The regiment developed with two distinct sides: infantry and artillery. Regimental headquarters are at Finsbury Barracks in London.
The blue cap is distinguished by a red band with a blue strip in its centre. The infantry and band wear a grenade badge fashioned on that of the Grenadier Guards but with the monogram 'HAC entwined on the bomb. The gun troop bears the gun badge of the Royal Artillery but with the motto scroll altered to read Anna pans fulcra (Anns, the mainstay of peace). In 1953 the gunners adopted the crest from the ancient arms of the regiment for the beret: an arm embowered in armour, the gauntlet grasping a leading staff (presented to the company in 1693), between dragon's wings charged with the cross of St George.
It was King William IV who ordered the infantry section to adopt the uniform of the Grenadier Guards when he was Captain General of the HAC. Bearskins were introduced in 1855, but without the Grenadiers' plume. In 1890 the light cavalry squadron (formed in 1860) was converted to horse artillery and permitted to use the dress of the Royal Horse Artillery, although the tunic was kept and yellow cord tailored on.
In No. 1 dress 'blues' the gunners wear cavalry pattern shoulder chains and yellow cap lines. Musicians have the same uniform as Grenadier Guards musicians, except the cap has the HAC band, and lace on the scarlet tunic is silver, not gold.
The regimental quick march, British Grenadiers, and slow march, Duke of York, are borrowed from the Grenadier Guards; the gun troop's canter, Bonnie Dundee, trot, The Keel Row and walk, Duchess of Kent, are from the Royal Artillery.
The HAC Band has a long history and leads the company on state occasions. In orchestral mode it plays at dinners at Armoury House, the Mansion Hotise, the Guildhall and certain livery halls in the City.
The company enjoys certain ancient privileges, not least of which are the royal gun salutes at the Tower of London and the Lord Mayor's parade.
Since 1611 serving members have their names entered in the Vellum Book. Toasting a member of the mess involves a custom from the eighteenth century, in which the assembly repeats 'Zay!' nine times.
A Territorial armoured medium reconnaissance regiment established in 1967 from five Yeomanry regiments descended from troops formed in 1794. The royal title came courtesy of the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, who earned the privilege in 1830 by dispersing rioters at Pyt House in Tisbury. Other battle honours date from South Africa 1900.
Regimental headquarters are at the Duke of York's Barracks in Chelsea, with squadron offices in Swindon, Nottingham, Leicester and Croydon.
Officers of the Sherwood Rangers in 1900
Each squadron is governed by its own traditions. A Squadron (Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (PWO)) has a squadron in two regiments. Its distinctions can be found tinder the Royal Wessex Yeomanry.
B Squadron (Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry) has, for its badge, the crest of Prince Albert on the rose part of the Derbyshires' badge. The Leicestershire Yeomanry was awarded the tide Prince Albert's Own in 1844, after escorting the Queen and Prince Consort to Belvoir Castle in the county.
The C Squadron (Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry) badge is the White Horse of Kent on crossed carbines under a circlet inscribed KENT & COUNTY OF LONDON YEOMANRY. This squadron upholds a strange custom in which the officers attempt to parade in as many different varieties of dress as possible.
S Squadron (Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry) has a bugle horn badge and W Squadron (Westminster Dragoons) the arms of the City of Westminster.
The regimental band parades in the lancer uniform of the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry, the Edwardian pattern, French grey with purple facings, originally worn by the City of London (Rough Riders). Its badge portrays the four shields of the four Inns of Court supporting another from the arms of the City of London.
A Daimler armoured car of the 2nd Derbyshire Yeomanry on active service in Holland 1944. (Derby Museums & Art Gallery LFY 518)
The regimental march, Farmer's Boy, is a reference to the farming stock from which yeomanry regiments originate. The Wiltshires laid claim to being the first in arms, in 1794, and paraded the motto Primus in armis.
The London-based squadrons date back to 1797 with the Westminster Troop and 1798 with the Islington Troop. These did not survive the Napoleonic Wars but a resurgence of volunteer cavalry in London took place at the time of the Boer War. In 1899 a battalion of Rough Riders was formed for South Africa, and in 1901 they returned to be transfigured into the City of London Yeomanry (the Rough Riders). Other London veterans of the war were re-formed as the 2nd County of London Yeomanry (Westminster Dragoons). This regiment subsequently played an active part in the social life of the city and received the Freedom of the City of Westminster in 1951. Ten years later the Westminsters were merged with the Berkshire Yeomanry and afterwards became HQ Squadron of the Royal Yeomanry. A battalion of sharpshooters, composed of men skilled with the rifle, was formed for the Boer War in 1900. After that conflict it continued as the 3rd County of London Yeomanry (the Sharpshooters).
The Royal Wessex Yeomanry was formed in 1971 from three yeomanry regiments of the West Country whose history goes back to 1794. The royal prefix was granted in 1979 and four years later the regiment was converted to a medium reconnaissance role in Land rovers.
Regimental headquarters are with the Dorset Yeomanry Squadron in Bovington. Other squadrons are at Salisbury, Cirencester, Barnstaple and Paignton.
Badges are worn to squadron tradition. The Royal Wiltshires (PWO) have the Prince of Wales's crest (since 1863) and the fern leaf emblem of the New Zealand Division, a sign of service with the 'Kiwis' in the North African desert during the Second World War. The Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Squadron wear a portcullis and ducal crown badge, the Dorset Squadron a crowned Garter belt within a laurel wreath bearing scrolls inscribed SOUTH AFRICA and THE GREAT WAR. The Royal Devons Squadron wear the badge of the Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry, a circlet crowned with the royal crest encircling a crown and a hand clutching a parchment.
The Gloucesters chose the old hunting song, D'ye Ken John Peel, for their march in 1890, hosting, as they did, four masters of hounds and a field master. The Devons adopted Widecombe Fair.
The Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Band was first formed in 1834, when the regiment began its long association with Badminton and the dukes of Beaufort. It dresses in the old Beaufort blue uniform of that regiment.
The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry were seconded to XV Corps in 1916
In 1920 four West Country yeomanry regiments were converted to the artillery arm and served under the RA until 1967. The process involved amalgamation between the Royal 1st Devons and the Royal North Devons, and the Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry with the West Somerset Yeomanry and the Somerset Royal Horse Artillery. These TA regiments went into the Second World War as gunners and brought an added dimension to their arm of service.
THE ROYAL MERCIAN AND LANCASTRIAN YEOMANRY
This was formed in 1992 by the union of the Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry and the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry, regiments that dated back to the 1790s. Regimental headquarters are at Telford, with squadrons at Dudley, Chester and Wigan.
The regimental badge is a Mercian eagle with a Saxon crown, superimposed on a Lancaster rose with the Duke of Lancaster's coronet. Other badges on the regimental guidon are the Warwicks' bear and ragged staff, the Worcesters' sprig of pear blossom, the Shropshires' loggerheads and the Staffords' knot and motto Pro aris et focis. The motto was used by many volunteer regiments in the 1790s and can be said to represent their purpose for rising up in the face of a threatened invasion - For our hearths and homes. In 1941 the red triangle sign of Bass Breweries at Burton upon Trent was adopted by the Stafford Yeomanry as a backing to their badge.
A print of 1799 depicting Warwickshire Yeomen at sword exercise. English troops had no actual enemy to contend with and enjoyed impressing locals with their military bearing. (Warwickshire Yeomanry Museum)
The quick march, Light of Foot, and slow march, Scipio, come from the QO Mercian Yeomanry. Other marches in the repertoire are The Warwickshire Lads, Lillie Marlene (ex-Staffords when serving as gunners in the Second World War) and John o' Gaunt (Duke of Lancaster's).
The title Duke of Lancaster's Own was bestowed on the Lancashire Corps of Yeomanry Cavalry by William IV in 1834. The title belongs to the monarchy, and successive sovereigns have presided over the regiment.
When Princess Victoria was crowned Queen in 1838 she acknowledged the cavalry escort on her visit to Shugborough six years before and made the SYC The Queen's Own Royal Regiment of Staffordshire Yeomanry Cavalry.
The yeomanry is remembered for its service in the Middle East during both world wars. All of the RM&LY's forming regiments fought there between 1915 and 1918, and the Warwickshires and Cheshires returned to Palestine in 1939. The Warwickshire and Worcestershire regiments, which amalgamated in 1956, took part in one of the last mounted charges against guns and entrenched infantry, at Gaza in 1917.
This was formed in 1971 from the Queen's Own Yorkshire Yeomanry, the Ayrshire Yeomanry, Cheshire Yeomanry and the Northumberland Hussars. The Cheshire was later moved to the Mercian Yeomanry and replaced by squadrons in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Yorkshire and Scottish units date back to the 1790s.
Regimental headquarters are at Newcastle upon Tyne, with squadrons at York, Ayr, Cupar and Belfast.
The scarlet cap is worn with a fox badge. A running fox badge with a scroll marked FORRARD was worn by the East Riding Yeomanry until its merger with the Yorkshire Dragoons and Yorkshire Hussars in 1956.
D'ye Ken John Peel conforms to the fox badge and the hunting tradition of the regiment's officers, and was adopted as the regimental march.
The Yorkshire elements were first formed in 1794. In 1897 the Yorkshire Dragoons provided an escort for Queen Victoria's visit to Sheffield and in the same year accepted the Queen's Own title. Six years later the Yorkshire Hussars took on the title Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Imperial Yeomanry.
The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry/Scottish Horse Squadron claim a history that goes back to 1803, when troops formed in Fife were made into a regiment. The Fife Yeomanry enticed its recruits with red jackets like those worn by the local hunt.
A Squadron (Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry) takes its name from the Carrick district of Ayrshire where, in 1798, a group of farmers asked the local earl for his assistance in raising a troop of yeomanry cavalry to defend the area against invasion. The troop grew into a good regiment that served the crown continuously until the TA reductions of 1969.
The Scottish Horse, like the Irish Horse, dates from the start of the twentieth century. The battle honours 'South Africa 1900, 1901, 1902" head the regiment's list of honours.
The 'Londons' are rooted in the rifle volunteers that formed in 1859-60 and attached to Home Counties regiments in the 1880s. When the Territorial Force was instituted in 1908 twenty-six of these volunteer battalions were brought together as the London Regiment. Some were sent to France in 1914 and by May of the following year the regiment had expanded to eighty- eight battalions. Many battle honours were earned but 1916 witnessed the break-up of the regiment as its battalions were dispersed back to their former regular regiments. Many were subsequently reorganised within the TA and in 1993 four of these companies were brought together again as the London Regiment. Regimental headquarters are at the TA Centre in Clapham Junction.
The Queen's Regiment Company wears the uniform of the successors to the Queen's Regiment, the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment. The City of London Fusiliers Company similarly wears the uniform of its affiliated regulars, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. In both cases soldiers wear a London shield at the top of the left sleeve to distinguish them from their counterparts in the Regular Army.
A pioneer of the City of London Fusiliers Company in No. 2 dress. The beret is adorned with the RRF hackle and badge, the jacket with the London shield. (Grenadier Publishing)
The London Scottish Company parades in the grey kilt and hose adopted by the London Scottish Rifle Volunteers in 1872. Officers, pipers and drummers have the matching grey doublet (with blue facings). This Highland pattern of dress was fashioned out of the Elcho grey uniform worn by the Volunteers since its formation in 1859. The blue glengarry is worn with the old badge: the Scottish lion on St Andrew's cross, a thistle wreath and circle lettered with STRIKE SURE. Labels across the top and bottom of the cross read LONDON and SCOTTISH.
The London Irish Rifles Company has a rifle green caubeen with a hackle of St Patrick's blue for the officers and senior NCOs, and green for other ranks. The harp and crown badge is worn over the right eye in the manner adopted with the caubeen in 1937. After service in the Second World War the London Irish were attached to the Royal Ulster Rifles and came under the Royal Irish Rangers in 1968. The green No.l dress (with black buttons and belts or silver buttons for the drummers and pipers), scarlet mess jackets and the green trousers worn in service dress, came from the Rangers' dress code.
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