Honorary Old Blue.....?

[jhopgood]

You can join the CHA and wear a funny tie.

We don't have a funny tie yet.
Want to design one?

[Richard Ruck]

Thanks for that, good evidence for Richard Ruck's theory about balancing packs.
Going to the commando memorial a week on Sunday at Fort William to watch my father march past (all in their 80s now but love putting on the green beret/ and drinking whisky see if I can keep up with them).
There's normally some big wigs turn up so I will watch out for Buster and Roger (he was sometimes called Pongo but so were all his brothers I seem to remember).

Do you mean the memorial at Spean Bridge? I've been there a few times myself. I never knew, though, that it was particularly linked to the Royal Marines. I thought it was more to do with the WWII commandos who were part of the army.....

I suppose I need to brush up on my history. Still, a very moving place....

[AKAP]

Don't know that much myself but this is something like the story.
Churchill wanted the commandos and most were formed from army regiments (something like 1-39 commando) 40 onwards were formed from the Royal Marines. (something like 40-44).
After the war the Commandos were wound down except the Royal Marine Commandos, I think the only remaining Commandos being 40 and 42 Commando.
They had initial Commando training in Scotland and the Royal Marine Commandos then finished off their specialist training on the Isle of Wight. (beach landings etc).
If there are any ex RMs or military historians out there then please correct any mistakes above.

[englishangel]

One of the groups from which the commandos was drawn is now the Royal Greenjackets.

The Formation and Origins of the Regiment
On 1st January 1966 The Royal Green Jackets was formed as a single Large Regiment. Its creation followed logically from the composition of The Green Jackets Brigade in 1958, which grouped together three single-battalion infantry regiments: The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (43rd & 52nd), The Kings Royal Rifle Corps and The Rifle Brigade.

It was no accident that these particular regiments, each having had such a distinguished record in the past, should have progressively, voluntarily and successfully come together, avoiding the stresses which often accompany amalgamations, because they shared a large measure of their history and their traditions. They, and The Royal Green Jackets as their heir, lay claim to being the innovators who developed much of the new thinking in the British Infantry in the fields of tactics, training, equipment and man-management from the mid-eighteenth century onwards.

The leadership of such distinguished officers as Henri Bouquet, Francis de Rottenburg, Coote Manningham and Sir John Moore generated a succession of advanced ideas later to be adopted as ideals by the rest of the Army: open-order tactics and mobility in place of rigid drills and ponderous movement, camouflage and concealment in place of serried ranks of red coats, individual marksmanship in place of massed musket fire, and intelligence and self-reliance in place of blind obedience instilled by fear of brutal punishment. These themes are recorded in the stories of four regiments whose fortunes were often closely linked to the point where they fuse together in The Royal Green Jackets today.

Their battle honours in the Second World War include Tobruk, El Alamein and Pegasus Bridge (A Bridge Too Far).

If anyone remembers "Sharpe" with Sean Bean, you can see why riflemen make good commandos.

If anyone is interested in a further history visit the website at

http://www.royalgreenjackets.co.uk/introframeset.htm

[jhopgood]

My cousin, Syd, is RSM with the Greenjackets. He is of a size and inclination that you would not want to argue with him on a dark night.
Runs in the family. My Grandfather (and his) is reputed to have been Army wrestling champion before the first world war, in which he got gassed. There is supposed to be a photograph of him receiving the trophy from the King at the Royal Albert Hall, where such events were held in those days, but we have been unable to track it down.
Not very CH, but....

[englishangel]

My cousin, Syd, is RSM with the Greenjackets. He is of a size and inclination that you would not want to argue with him on a dark night.
Runs in the family. My Grandfather (and his) is reputed to have been Army wrestling champion before the first world war, in which he got gassed. There is supposed to be a photograph of him receiving the trophy from the King at the Royal Albert Hall, where such events were held in those days, but we have been unable to track it down.
Not very CH, but....

My son was in the ACF allied to the Royal Greenjackets and was (still is ) very interested in their history, hence my knowledge. Well I know where to look on the web.

[loringa]

3 Commando Brigade, Royal Marines includes three Royal Marine Commandos (equivalent in size to Infantry Battalions): 40, 42 and 45 but, amongst various other Combat Support and Combat Service Support units within the Brigade, are 29 Cdo Regiment Royal Artillery and 59 Independent Squadron Royal Engineers. The Army thus makes up a small but significant percentage of the Commando-trained community currently serving.