The Royal Fusiliers Won Many Battle Honours

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31500, 14 October 1967, Page 5

The Royal Fusiliers Won Many Battle Honours

(Specially written for “The Press” by

MEREBIMUR

A photograph in “The Press” recently of the Ist Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers (Qty of London Regiment) inarching'through the city for the last time under its present tide, reminded me of another parade which I saw at Burnham Military Camp.

On that occasion the two stands of Colours of the Ist Canterbury Regiment and the Nelson-Marlborough-West Coast Regiment marched past under a full escort. These two regiments have since been, merged into the new 2nd Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.

The commanding officer is preparing a new short history of the regiment, and I know that many an old Canterbury man and his sons will be proud of their part. To return to that photoThe Ist/ Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was originally The 7th of Foot, nicknamed “The Elegant Extracts." Their regimental headquarters were in Hounslow, London, S.W. Just, over that high brick wall, or through that big wooden gate near their canteen was my own squadron barrack block. We played together, trained together, we drank and ate together, went to the Hounslow Parish Church together on Sundays in all our finery and with our bands; we left for France together in 1914, where we fought together. Took Opportunity The 7th of Foot were raised in 1685. Their history began during the short and troublesome reign of James 11. Monmouth's landing at Lyme Regis, and the inadequacy of the forces available to deal with it, caused such a stir in London, that the usual restraint by Parliament against building up a standard army was relaxed for the moment. James quickly seized the opportunity to raise 12 new regiments of cavalry and nine of infantry, the first of the latter being the Fusiliers. There were two independent companies of Foot, which had for many years formed the garrison of the Tower of London, and these became the nucleus on which the regiment was formed. It was first known unofficially as the Tower Guards, then as Our Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, or Our Ordnance Regiment the second name explaining its unusual nature, which came about in this way. Escort Duties

As I have said in a previous article in “The Press.” there was no permanent regiment of artillery until 1716, and until then the MasterGeneral of Ordnance supervised the cannon and such stores as were kept, and in time of war. raised scratch teams of gunners, drivers, and horses, to’form a “traine of artillerie” which would be disbanded as, soon as it was no longer required. Both horses and drivers were of the tyne that normally ploughed the land: the drivers remained civilians, and walked beside their teams, carrying carter’s whips and wearing termlabourer's clothes. Military discipline was unknown to these yokels, and they were likely to decide that conditions were too unpleasant to continue their work. In any case a slow-moving battery on the march was an extremely vulnerable target.

and a tempting one, as it was

always a useful score to the enemy to knock out some guns.

So any available infantry had to be detailed to protect the guns, and to see that drivers did not quit when things became difficult. The disadvantages of this system were that a hastilyprovided infantry escort might have little knowledge of the drivers’ duties, or of artillery work, and there were times when they had to take the places of gunner casualties. Also the fuse-cord of the matchlock musket with which many were still armed, used to emit sparks which could blow-up the open barrels of powder standing by the guns when in action. The Fusil James 11, who was a good and knowledgeable soldier, decided that such an inefficient arrangement could not continue, and that there ought to be a regular unit permanently engaged on escort duties. Monmouth gave him the chance to put his idea into practice and so Our Ordnance Regiment was raised as a specialist corps. Its badge, a Tudor Rose within the Garter, surmounted by a crown, is the same as the markings used on cannon up to the reign of Queen Anne. In contrast to the normal infantry regiments, which were armed with muskets and pikes, this regiment was specially equipped entirely with the fusil, a superior and expensive type of musket, with a shorter barrel and a flint-lock. In addition, bayonets and swords were carried, and having no pikes, the regiment was issued with turn-pikes to use as obstacles in the event of being attacked by cavalry. These consisted of a number of short pikes fitted through holes in a central pole, each pair of pikes in the form of a x. They had to be carried by men when on the march, and must have been very cumbersome. There were 12 companies in the regiment, and one company of miners, which was quartered in The Tower, its personnel to be detailed and sent where they were required. Mining Company As there were only 40 of them their duties must have been chiefly supervisory: in tunnelling, laying mines under enemy fortifications, and, possibly, constructing gun emplacements. About 1690, the mining company was removed from the regiment, and at the same time, the fusiliers ceased to be exclusively an ordnance regiment and were redesignated the 7th Regiment of Foot, Royal Fusiliers. The Elegant Extracts, were so named because, on being formed as a regiment of the line, selected officers of other regiments were posted to them, many of them from West Country regiments. So brilliant is the record of this regiment that to deal with it fully in a limited space is quite impossible. This

regiment had 51 battalions in the First World War, in which they one 80 battle honours, in France, Gallipoli, Egypt, Palestine. East Africa, and Archangel. A study of their different uniforms from their beginning is very interesting, and it is recorded that the uniforms of a fusilier regiment from about 1740 to 1750 was the most picturesque ever worn by infantry other ranks. It is from an old coloured print that I have done my pencil sketch of a private, circa 1750, together with one on a Royal Fusilier (Ser-geant-drummer) circa 1914. From 1881 to 1928 drum-

majors were officially described as sergeant-drummers. The drum-major’s sash, still worn, is a very prominent and decorative part of his uniform. Embroidered on a blue ground (the facing colour) are the Crown and Royal cypher, the Crown over a Tudor rose within the Garter, and the galloping white horse of Hanover. The last two items are superimposed on a flaming grenade, from the regimental badge. Around and below these Insignia, battle honours are displayed over laurel leaves. In 1914. the sash was not so crowded with battle honours as it is today.