The English Of The Line -A Tribute

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 302, 22 December 1941, Page 4

The English Of The Line -A Tribute

U SPECIALLY when they remember ■*-' what happened in the last war, the Dominions should be careful not to take disproportionate credit for the achievements of their own troops to-day, splendid though these have been. There is less • excuse than there was then for not realising tnai the Mother Country, and especially England, bears, and must necessarily bear, the chief burden of military effort.

By Cyrano

The glorious and tragic baptism of Anzac far transcended anything that Australia and New Zealand had experienced or imagined. When it was pointed out to Australians and New Zealanders that the ordeal of the 29th Division in the landing at Cape Helles was just as exacting, it might have occurred to some of them to say: "Yes, we recognise that, but the 29th Division were seasoned soldiers of an old nation's professional army; the Anzacs were newly raised units of young countries." The Dominions to-day are older and more experienced, but they are again in danger of seeing battles and campaigns rather too exclusively through the glasses of their own efforts. They have their own correspondents at the fronts, and their newspapers naturally welcome accounts of what their troops are doing. But, recognising this, Britons overseas should be all the more careful to do justice to soldiers from the Homeland. There are signs of restiveness on this point among people at Home. During the present Libyan campaign there have b*en complaints that the authorities have not fulfilled their promise to release more information about the work of Home troops, and one may detect a purpose in the occasional mention of such units in our news. The English Share It was stated the other day that 70 per cent of the British armoured forces in Libya were English, and it is possible that something like this percentage would be found in the armies of the Empire as a whole. This was roughly the percentage in Haig's army that broke the Hindenburg Line in 1918 and began the uninterrupted advance which led to the armistice—English, not British, men from England as distinct from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This i fact from the last war needs to be stated now and then. ! Glamour is a curious thing. I I think it is undeniable that to many i people Scottish and Irish regiments have been more glamorous than English. The Irish are supposed to have more fire, and the Scots have the advantage of kilts and pipes; to use that much overworked word, they are deemed to be more romantic. And I must say that though I am not a Scot, a pipe band gives me a thrill of its own. But I remember the comment of - Conan Doyle, after watching manoeuvres a good many years ago, that for all the special reputation of the Irish and Scots, he would be content with an English Line regiment. After all, the English Line regiments have always been the main-J stay of the British Army. There is ! nothing surprising in this, because ] England has had a far larger population than what is loosely, and in-1 I accurately, called the Celtic fringe, j Of 64 Line regiments in the normal, 1 establishment of the British Army, | 149 are English. The proportion ,is slightly higher since a number of Irish regiments were disbanded. I notice frequently in the news references to "crack" and "famous regiments. The adjectives are perhaps a little unfortunate, for the British Army is an old institution, and there isn't a regiment in it that hasn t won fame. I County Associations Then there are references to "county regiments." Most of tne j English regiments of the Line have a | county title, though some of them bear two names. Thus the West Surrevs are the Queen's Royal_Regimentf the East Kents are the Buffs; the Notts and Derby Regiment, the I Sherwood Foresters; the Yorkshires the Green Howards. The Line establishment is a mixture of infantry, light infantry and rifle regiments. The two latter take a quicker step than the infantry proper, with the result that a church parade at Aldershot is apt to produce a bewildering conflict of march tempos — and tney have a different manual for rifle drill. These differences have ! little or no practical value now; but like regimental observances and 1 privileges, they are prized. In the old days regiments were : known by numbers. Some 70 years ago the Cardw'ell system of linked battalions (one for home and one for , foreign service) was introduced by : combining two regiments in one and giving its territorial basis more prominence. Thus the 65th Regiment, so well known to New Zealanders during the Maori wars, was linked with the 84th to form the York and i Lancaster Regiment. Before the ; Cardwell system, however, regiments had county connections. Both the ! 65th and the 84th belonged to Yorkshire. The Rutland Redoubt at Wanganui and the Monmouth Redoubt at Tauranga commemorate • county associations with regiments , that fought here. I fancy that titles have something to do with the varying appeal that , l regiments make to the public. There : : is something more martial in "Light I Infantry" or "Green Howards" than |in a plain county title. "Bedfordshire, for example, has a homely sound —though wasn't there a Bedford at Agincourt? To-day the name Bedford suggests Bedford Square and Bloomsbury. On passing out of I Sandhurst cadets are asked to state ! what regiment they would prefer. One very superior young man wrote in his form, "Anything but the Bedfordshires," and was promptly posted to that regiment, which was more than he deserved. The Bedfords j used to be known as "The Peace- ' makers," because they had passed so I long a period without seeing active 1 i service, but their battle honours be--1 gan with Blenheim—not at all a bad start. ;; London Units London, of course, is the greatest recruiting area for the army. Greater London supplies recruits not 1 only for several county regiments, 1 but for the King's Royal Rifle Corps • (60th Rifles) and the Rifle Brigade 1 (these two regiments used to have 1 the longest list of battle honours in ' the army), the Royal Fusiliers and ! many other units. However, there's ■ no telling where recruits may come ; from. There are old stories about : Londoners and Irishmen in the Gor- ! don Highlanders. What is important L is not to be led astray by one's own -natural interest or by glamour, but 1 to give credit to all.