Rank peculiar to regiment

Rank always gets worn on the right side I believe that to be the weapon handling side of old etc yadayadaya....

For the second time today I am driven to reply to Dolmetscher. I nearly flipped when you mentioned the 16/5 Lancers in Imphal Barracks. That was my first posting after basic and trade training in REME. I landed there, after a horrible journey by Troopship from Harwich to Hook, then an interminable journey on I believe the "green" train.
I took over from Sid Ashton(or very similar surname) as LAD Clerk in mid summer 1960. Sid was a Nashie and in reality was a Nuclear Scientist with the Atomic Energy Authority, when asked about not being an officer he said he preferred not to have the responsibility !!!, this from an Atomic Scientist, Wow!.
I stayed with the Lancers for 2 years and it was without doubt the best few years of my BAOR service except for 3 years in Berlin later. The Regiment was great and looked after all the attached men very well.
The Co was Lt Col Hunt, later to become Maj Gen and author of a book on Himalayan climbing. As Dolmetscher says, Ricky Knight was RSM and was feared and respected by all.
Once I have sorted out a Cardiac problem and got my pers. effects sorted (have been in Qatar for 3 years) I can post a few of my very many BAOR photos.;
Regarding which I have a lot of 2 x 2 colour slides (ex- 120 film size), does anyone know how to get them onto CD? there is a gadget which does 35mm slides but Ive never seen one for the old 120 film.

Hi Malaboman,

Ref the old 120 film negatives. I have managed to transfer these onto my computer via a stand alone scanner I purchased about 5/6 years ago which has a rather large negative scanner in the lid. The negatives are scanned with the light built into the lid and carry out the scan. Once the result is on file I just reverse to negative to positive and the result is a good'un.

Jimsigs1

Hi Themaadone,

You said that rank is always worn on the right sleeve. I have just finished watch 'Zulu' and Colour Sergeant Bourne is wearing his stripes on his left sleeve. Was this parculiar to that period of 1879 I wonder.

jimsigs1

Not forgetting 'Caterer - W.O. in ACC. Or 'Provost Marshal/Deputy Provost Marshal in the RMP.

My father was seconded for a few years post WW2 from Northamptonshire Regt to MPSC, he was known as 'Staff.' I think lowest rank in MPSC was Staff Sgt. He later reverted to Colour Sgt upon rejoining the NorthamptonShire regt in mid 1950's and retired as a WO2 - RQMS in 1962, having joined the Army in 1940.

Also in Australian Army the Senior WO1 is officially known as 'Regimental Sergeant Major of the Army.' (Currently RSM/WO1, Stephen Ward, an infantryman.

I found out recently that Royal Signals now have a "Corps RSM"

Hi Gordon,

Yes, the Royal Signals now have a 'Corps RSM' and he is based at Blandford. Bit confusing as there is another RSM there who is based with the 11the Signal Regt.
I attended the regimental weekend last year for the annual reunion and was attended by Royal Colonel of the Royal Signals - HRH Princess Ann, the Princess Royal.

Jimsigs1

jimsigs1 wrote:

Hi Themaadone,

You said that rank is always worn on the right sleeve. I have just finished watch 'Zulu' and Colour Sergeant Bourne is wearing his stripes on his left sleeve. Was this parculiar to that period of 1879 I wonder.

jimsigs1

Having "googled" I found a site that notes all the mistakes made in the film "Zulu" Jimsigs.

C/Sgt Bourne's tapes are mentioned and they say that wearing three white stripes on the left sleeve signified Lance Sergeant.

Variations of uniform ? A total minefield !

Nice one Jim..I was never attended by the princess, I did however have to attend an inquiery when she visited Blandford (The School) in 70.Some idiot in my troop had found some old drill morters in one of the unused spiders,and as word spread the story grew,resulting in the above.

Congratulations on your promotion Brum..The Brig`s bog will be a bit fresher now..

Brum,

Further to C/Sgt Bourne, looked him up on google and amongst other details it says he took promotion rather than a VC although he was awarded the DCM for his actions at Rourke's Drift. He died on VE Day 1945 aged 91 in the rank of Lt-Col.
Useless piece of info, I visited Rourke's Drift & Isandlwana in 2005. Very earie and spooky. You can see little cairnes of white stones scattered around which represent the fallen of the men of 24th of foot where they fell.

Jimsigs1

ZULU, one of my favourite movies, sorry films. I must have seen it 10 times like a lot of you blokes.

Ah and a RE Lt in charge ! Lt Chard, RE was it not, with Lt Bromhead of the South Wales Borderers as his offsider, what a grand command job and what a heroic action at ye olde Rorkes Drift.

So many VC's won that day and rightly so.

Sorry for the thread hijack, no glass house please.

Quote :

Yes, the Royal Signals now have a 'Corps RSM'

What exactly is his role Jim.Like what does he do??

Hi Gordon,

Corps RSM - I am a bit confused over the role of Corps RSM in R Signals but he is reported to be the voice of the the rank and file, representing their views to the SO in C R Sigs. He sits on various committees representing the soldier on an assortment of topics. He is based at the School of Signals in Blandford and is really a sort of ADC to the Signal Officer in Chief. He has normally been selected for a commission and is really marking time until then.

That's about the sum total of how I interprete his role.

Jimsigs1

jimsigs1 wrote:

Brum,

Further to C/Sgt Bourne, looked him up on google and amongst other details it says he took promotion rather than a VC although he was awarded the DCM for his actions at Rourke's Drift. He died on VE Day 1945 aged 91 in the rank of Lt-Col.
Useless piece of info, I visited Rourke's Drift & Isandlwana in 2005. Very earie and spooky. You can see little cairnes of white stones scattered around which represent the fallen of the men of 24th of foot where they fell.

Jimsigs1

My son sent me some pictures of Rourke's drift taken when he visited the place.

He commented how weird the place felt especially when you pictured thousands of Zulus charging at the place !

Is it an Urban Myth that a number of the Zulus involved in the making of "Zulu" were killed in fighting that flared up during some of the battle scenes ?

Quote :

That's about the sum total of how I interprete his role.

Cheers Jim..That sounds feasable

Beachley Boy wrote:

ZULU, one of my favourite movies, sorry films. I must have seen it 10 times like a lot of you blokes.

Ah and a RE Lt in charge ! Lt Chard, RE was it not, with Lt Bromhead of the South Wales Borderers as his offsider, what a grand command job and what a heroic action at ye olde Rorkes Drift.

So many VC's won that day and rightly so.

Sorry for the thread hijack, no glass house please.

Not having a go in any way but firstly the film was not a good representation of the facts. I think both Bromhead and Chard were plodders who would never have amounted to much and eleven VC's were given out to try and cover up the disaster at the other place that I can't spell.

Not knocking the guys who took part and no doubt they deserved their awards but it really was a cover up to protect the geezer (Lord something or other) who had no rights to cause a fight with the Zulus in the first place. He made demands that he knew the Zulus couldn't accept. He was a favourite of Queen Victoria and that was the only reason he got away with it.

The chief guy in charge of the attackers cocked up as well because Chief of the Zulus ordered that he should only attack troops in the open. The "salute" was rubbish as well. They buggered off when they saw the relieft column coming.

Finally, Hook was a decent soldier so why the portrayed him as a bit of a crook is anyones guess.

Hi Teabag,

Yes, I seen these comments elsewhere. The Commander's name you were looking for was Lord Chelmsford. He eventually became Constable of the Tower of London and yes, he was a favourite of Queen Victoria.

One funny item I found out from the accompanying DVD which comes with the DVD set I have is that there were never enough zulu extras taking part and the scene on the hill where you see the zulus all lined up, consisted of groups of two zulus holding between them about eight wooden cutouts of zulu warriers. Pretty much when you cut out shapes from folded paper. Also, the hospital scenes were taken in the studios back here in the UK.
Lastly, the film music scores was written by the late (died this year) John Barry (Dancing with wolves, Bond films, Somewhere in time, Midnight Cowboy, Juke Box Jury, Born Free etc, etc)

All useless info Ha! Ha!

jimsigs1

I beleive there is now a RLC Corps RSM as well, are we going to go the way of the USA and have an Army RSM I wonder

jim wrote:

I beleive there is now a RLC Corps RSM as well, are we going to go the way of the USA and have an Army RSM I wonder

Engineers have 1 as well. Based in Chatham.

jim wrote:

I beleive there is now a RLC Corps RSM as well, are we going to go the way of the USA and have an Army RSM I wonder

They do indeed Jim, he is based in Deepcut with the DRLC. With the exception of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. every Corps has a Corps RSM. As we are a cut above we, have The Royal Artillery Sergeant Major!

jimsigs1 wrote:

Hi Teabag,

Lastly, the film music scores was written by the late (died this year) John Barry (Dancing with wolves, Bond films, Somewhere in time, Midnight Cowboy, Juke Box Jury, Born Free etc, etc)

jimsigs1

I couldn't agree more, the John Barry score certainly conveyed the sense of the power of the Zulus.

It was a great soundtrack all round but the sound of the rifles firing was a bit feeble, given the calibre of the bullet!

Have you ever watched the troops in the background and played "Spot the Squaddie"?

We already have an Army RSM - he is the RSM of London District, the most senior RSM of the Army and has regular audiences with Her Majesty.

In essence, I have been told, that he(or perhaps She in the near future) will bring up issues at the most senior and highest level and, in the past, has never been afraid to do so.

Brum,

I will have to dust down the Zulu DVD and have another look. As I have previous mentioned, if you look closely on the skyline, you can see that the groups of zulu warriers don't all look real.

Jimsigs1

Yes, in the past I'd thought they'd just stuck a few buckshee shields in the ground, to make up the numbers. Cynical old me !

(A quick QOH one. "B" Sqn had an MT Sgt who was around at the time of the amalgamation.
A Pole, called Zarzicki (phonetic spelling) does the name ring any bells ?).