The Regiment of the Roses

Norman L. Dodd colonel UK , retired

Traditions are the life blood of the British Army, mained in Holland until 1685 and then returned traditions carefully nurtured over the passing to home to help to quell the Monmouth Rebellion. years and often dating back for several centuries. In England they became Fifth and Sixth of Foot. For it is in it's traditions that the regimental In 1685 King James II, fearing invasion by the family finds its strength and on that strength is French, raised the Seventh of Foot at the Tower based the morale, efficiency and the vital 'stick- of London, still the Regimental Headquarters of erability' of the officers and men. the Royal . Three years later William of Orange, now King William III of Great Britain, Nowhere is this spirit strenger than in the bat- commissioned Sir Robert Peyton to raise a further talions of the Regiments of the Infantry of the unit in Exeter to be numbered the Twentieth of Line. It is they who must bear the brunt of the Foot. All these regiments were armed with the fighting and carry on when all seems lost; and it 'snap-hance' musket, a copy of the French fusil, is they who must, in the end, defeat the enemy in and were referred to as 'the Fusiliers'. close encounter. Titles and names may change but continuity of the Regiment is closely guarded; Three hundred years have passed but they are still never more so than in one of Britain's most 'the Fusiliers'. Three hundred years packed with famous and ancient Regiments, Her Majesty's hard fought battles, long campaigns, gallantry, life Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. and death. The Fusiliers were at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 when King William defeated the In the year 1674 ten companies of Englishmen Catholic King James II, and today the Ist. Bn. were raised by Sir Walter Vane to fight against The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is helping to the French in the Netherlands. During the winter restore order in Ulster partly because of the con- of that year some of the companies were formed sequences of that victory. Between these events into two of the units which came together on St. the battalions have gained many battle honours, George's Day, 23 April 1968 to form the present of which forty are amblazoned on the Queen's Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Colour and thirty eight on their Regimental Tours of duty overseas were long in the seven- Colour. The first formal honour was gained at teenth century, the two original regiments re- Namur in 1695 and the last in Korea in 1953. Between them are names of poignant memory: Vimiera, a victory against Napoleon's forces Het Britse leger kent zijn Royal Fusiliers, de which forced the French to evacuate Portugal, Koninklijke landmacht heeft haar Garderegi- ment met klankverwante naam. Beide regi- and St. Lucia in 1778 in which the Fifth of Foot menten zijn met recht trots op een zorgvuldig defeated a much larger French force and after- gekoesterde traditie. De naamsverwantschap wards took the white plumes worn by their ad- sluit verschillen niet uit, maar er zijn ook pun- versaries and placed them in their own caps; they ten van overeenkomst aan te wijzen. Hoewel are still a part of their uniform. Sevastopol, where het trekken van een algehele vergelijking niet they fought with the French, Kandahar in 1880 mogelijk is, kan ook de poging daartoe reeds and just about in every front in the two World interessante aspecten aan het licht brengen. Wars are amongst their Honours but it is the Battle of , fought on the Ist August 1759, Om die reden worden beide regimenten in dit nummer gepresenteerd aan de lezer, die daar- that is numbered above all others. This battle took na zal kunnen vaststellen in hoeverre zij als place during the Seven Years War, in which Great pendanten kunnen worden beschouwd. Britain was allied with Prussia against France and Austria. The French outnumbered the Allies by

563 over 10,000 men, and were strenger in artillery years the Regiments has celebrated and had 10,000 cavalry. In order to draw the by wearing red and yellow roses in their hats and French out of their impregnable defensive position as decorations to their drums, Colours and por- the Allied Commander, Prince Ferdinand of trait of the then Commanding Officer and, to Brunswick, split his iorces and the French Com- ensure that no officer ever forgets the gallantry of mander, Marshal Contades, took the bait. his forebears on that famous day, every newly The Duke immediately concentrated, placing his joined officer is required, after the celebratory infantry on his right. As a result of a misunder- Mess Dinner, to stand upon his chair and there standing they then advanced with drums beating eat a rose which is served to him floating in cham- directly onto the massed French cavalry. During pagne in a silver finger bowl. On such and similar their advance they were subjected to devastating traditions are based the morale and cohesion of artillery fire but, closing their ranks, they repulsed many famous regiments of the British Army. a cavalry charge at point blank range. The infantry stood firm and destroyed a second line of cavalry Today the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers has its with controlled volleys. Contades next deployed Regimental Headquarters in the Tower of London four brigades of Saxon infantry against the Fusi- with the offices in the recruiting areas of the Re- liers and the other battalions; they also were giment, Northumberland, Warwickshire and Lan- thrown back in confusion. Finally the French cashire. There are three regular battalions, the Ist attacked with a new force of cavalry which suc- presently in Ulster, the 2nd at Catterick and the ceeded in breaking through the right of the infan- 3rd in Colchester. try but floundered before the fire of the 20th It is most unusual to find all three in Great Britian Foot, the Fusiliers. The victory was complete at any one time, normally at least one is located though, due to bad generalship, it was not ex- in Germany. Their Volunteer (Territoria! and ploited by the Allies. Army Volunteer Reserve) Battalion, the 5th, has The price of victory was high, the 20th Foot lost five companies raised and located in different 304 men and 17 officers that day. As a result towns within their recruiting area and the Fusiliers Prince Ferdinand issued an order that the Regi- also have two Volunteer companies who are part ment should cease to do duty. The Commanding of the Northumbrian Volunteers. Somewhat com- Officer replied 'The Regiment, at its own request, plicated arrangements which were caused by the will resumé its portion of duty in the line', and wishes of the various old units to retain immediately did so. identities and traditions during the various post Tradition has it that the men of the Regiment war reductions and reorganisations of the Regular plucked roses as they marched into battle and and Volunteer armies. stuck them in their hats. For over two hundred Associated with the Regiment are units of the

During training a general purpose machine gunner practises the en- gagement of a target

564 A group of Fuslliers from the various British recruiting areas and one from Singapore

Army Cadet Force located within its recruiting reported in the well presented bi-annual magazine, areas wearing the Fusilier badges and often The Fusilier, the Journal of The Royal Regiment operating from the same TAVR Centres as the of Fusiliers, which is published by the Regimental Volunteer units of the Regiment. The Regiment Headquarters at the Tower of London. also assists and fosters the Combined Cadet Forces The Fusilier 'family' is completed by the Regi- units of seven large boy's schools, the most famous mental Association whose charter is: being that at Harrow. ... /o foster the esprit de corps and the traditlons of The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is allied in the Regiment among all ranks, past and present, and friendship with various infantry regiments in the to maintain the comradeship jormed during their Commonwealth and with two ships of the Royal service. And to further the interests of the Royal Navy, the latter being HMS London and HMS Regiment of Fusiliers and in particular to do every- Euryalus. thing possible to find recruits for the Regiment, both The alliance with HMS London dates from 1931 Regulars and Volunteers. and is because both are associated closely with The President of the Association is the Colonel of the City of London, the alliance with HMS the Regiment, presently General Sir Kenneth Euryalus dates from the gallant but ill-fated Darling, and the membership is open to all landings at Gallipoli in April 1915. The Common- members of the Regiment, past and present. wealth Alliances are based upon comradeship in There are branches in various towns throughout arms in many parts of the world. They include, in the country who hold meetings, socials, etc. They, Canada, the Royal Canadian Regiment, the Lorne and all members of the Regiment, may bring to Scots, the Elgin Regiment, the Royal Westminster the notice of the Regimental Aid Society any Regiment of British Columbia and the Fusiliers needy ex-Fusilier or widow or dependant of a du St. Laurent. An Australian connection is Fusilier. The Aid Society provides assistance and maintained with the Royal Regiment in advice to all those in need and can make grants Melbourne and in New Zealand with the 6th for education and other purposes. Bn. (Hauraki) Royal New Zealand Infantry The 'Father' of the Regimental Familiy is the Regiment. Colonel-in-Chief, His Royal Highness The Duke The activities of all the units in the Regiments and of Kent who takes a very real interest in all apsects those of its allied and associated friends are of Regimental affairs. It is truly a cradle to grave

565 arrangement which ensures that no Fusilier or his range of radio sets many of which can be man dependants, of whatever age, are ever Friendless packed. in a hostile world. Battalions change from one role to another every The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, like all other few years and those due to be employed in internal infantry regiment, is part of a 'Division' for recruit security duties in Ulster carry out further special training and record purposes. These 'Divisions' training for this operation. The Ist Bn. of the are administrative and not operational formations Fusiliers is presently there, all the battalions have and were formed for economy reasons to facilitate carried out at least one tour in this unfortunate the basis training of recruits and to allow a province. A task which, at the beginning, pro- measure of inter regimental postings and re-infor- vided excitement and good training for junior cements in time of emergency. The Fusiliers are leaders but has now become an unpopular duty members of the Queen's Division together with but one which has gained the Regiment a host of the Queen's Regiment and the Royal Anglian awards for gallantry and a reputation for efficien- Regiment. cy second to none. An efficiency based upon good All British infantry battalions now have the same training and a high esprit de corps; an esprit organisation though their equipment may vary fostered bij three hundred years of continuous and depending upon their role at the time. There are effective service. Changes in organisations and about 38 officiers and just under 700 men orga- equipment are inevitable in a changing world, but, nized into three infantry companies, a support as writes the Colonel of the Regiment, company, a logistic company and a command company. There are also attached detachments . .. history and experience of many generatiom of from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical En- fighting infantrymen have shown the strength, the gineers, the Royal Signals to man a rear link to fortitude and the endurance of the British Infantry brigade, the Catering Corps to do the cooking, a soldier lie in his feeling of belonging to his own regimental family, and thus in the regimental system. Pay Corps officer and usually a doctor and an No changes in organisation must be allowed to officer from the Army Education Corps. Artillery weaken this system, nor the very strong territorial Observation officers and Armoured Corps LOs affiliations on which it is based. are attached when required. A sentiment agreed by virtually every officer and Battalions stationed in Germany are fully mecha- man in the British Army but one not often under- nized and are carried in the AFV432 range of stood by the 'efficiency and computer experts'. For armoured personnel carriers. Those forming part what numerical value can be placed upon the vital of the strategie reserve are normally air portable factors of morale and esprit de corps? None, for and their transport is based upon the % ton truck. they are the most priceless battle winning ingre- The support companies include the new Swingfire dienst of all. anti-tank missiles and six 81 mm mortars as wel l as a pioneer platoon. The battalion has a very full Long may the officers eat roses on Minden Dayf

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