Greetings…
Okay… No War of 1812.. The Canadian Light Dragoons are finished and will appear soon…
As my friends will confirm I am no royalist….
But!
The Trooping the Colour and the pageantry of the British army on parade has always been a delight to me.
I was lucky to grow up in Edinburgh and experience the Military Tattoo close up… The massed bands, Household Cavalry and various international guest units used to drive/bus and even ride past our house on the way from Redford Barracks to perform at the Tattoo…
And at that time as kids we could go up to the castle esplanade and watch the rehearsals…
To be honest they had me on red coats and bearskins…💂♂️💂💂…
Today while painting toy soldiers I watched the event on BBC IPlayer…The one with no commentary…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0017z7x
The best option in my opinion…
I believe that the drill on display is pretty close to what would have been the regulations during the Crimean War…or maybe earlier…
My guilty pleasure…?
Nope… I don’t feel guilty… And it is indeed a pleasure…
Here (in no particular order… thanks to Blogger ) are some screenshots…
Let’s not forget the family connection…
The Royal Horse Artillery.
And the Battle of Britain Flight…
And last but not least…
The Red Arrows…
I suppose I could always put some blame on these guys…
Next up will be War of 1812… Honest 😁
All the best Aly
P.S. A guide to the Guards..
Grenadier.
Coldstream.
Lovely pictures, missed all that, so nice to see!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
It always puts a smile on my face Iain…
DeleteAnd it’s on BBC IPlayer…
All the best. Aly
Great pictures, Aly.
ReplyDeleteI can take no credit for the pictures…The BBC did all the camera work. 😁
DeleteAll the best. Aly
That's Britain for you, hopelessly locked in past glories, it is pretty, but pointless sadly...
ReplyDeleteLooked at it in the cold light of day… yes it probably is pretty but pointless…like a lot of pomp and circumstance…
DeleteBut I do like a parade 😁.
All the best. Aly
It was something to see. Got the feeling that there were more bright shiny uniforms than usual.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed…
DeleteI think the numbers were reduced last year because of Covid restrictions.
All the best. Aly
Always a spectacle I enjoy seeing and still marvel at those complicated manouevres they perform, even after all these years.
ReplyDeleteIt’s the drill movements that I really enjoy as well Steve…
DeleteI’m surprised no one has done a program/documentary about that aspect of the event.
All the best. Aly
Magnificent pictures Aly and thank you so much for posting them.
ReplyDeleteIt’s a pleasure Carlo…
DeleteAll the best. Aly
Nice pictures Aly. My republican views mean I’m avoiding the TV coverage at the moment so I’d have mIssed this.
ReplyDeleteI suspect our views are pretty similar… which is the reason I went for the none commentary version.
DeleteI always like a parade but I won’t be watching anything else…
All the best. Aly
Strangely, never seen Trooping of the Colours, though the Edinburgh Tattoo is part of my past. Used to go to Scotland a lot when younger - even got to sell programmes at the Crieff Highland Games. Happy days.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I have no real desire to actually go to the Trooping of the Colour or the Tattoo… I think you get a much better view on the T.V.
DeleteAll the best. Aly
Nice stuff Aly - I must admit I dont like all the drill with the SA80 - image 14 (at ease??) is particularly naff - the old SLR was better for formal drill in mt opinion!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was watching it I was thinking the same…
DeleteBut maybe a Lee Enfield or even a Brown Bess 😁
All the best. Aly
Alas, we have no similar tradition here in the US: but given the wonders of the interwebs (and Youtube, etc), we can now enjoy them as well (those of us with a certain bent...). Definitely best enjoyed sans commentary. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteYou have the US Marine Silent Drill Platoon Ed…
DeleteOkay not as old as the Trooping of the Colour but pretty damn good…
I think most of these events are best watched without the obsequious commentary withering on in the background…
All the best. Aly
Great pics Aly!
ReplyDeleteThank you Ray…
DeleteThe BBC did all the hard work 😁
All the best. Aly
I love those events Aly. All the pomp aside it gives us a wonderful glimpse of just how entire battalions and squadrons really manoeuvred.
ReplyDeleteYes I find the drill really fascinating…
DeleteThe Trooping of the Colour became official in 1748…
I wonder what that looked like.. it would be interesting to see if modern troops could be trained to do the earlier drills..
All the best. Aly
I am sure the Drill Instructors of the Brigade of Guards could teach any drill to anyone, given free rein on the methods employed Aly!!
DeleteVery true Keith…
DeleteOkay, let's admit all our ignorance of British traditions: prior to your post, we were unaware of what Trooping the Colour was!
ReplyDeleteWhat a coincidence, June 2nd in Italy is the feast of the Republic, and every year in the presence of the President of the Republic there is a parade of the armed forces, with also the Italian equivalent of the Red Arrows.
Of course it doesn't have an ancient tradition like the British one (just from 1949), but if you are a lover of military uniforms and vehicles it is still an impressive parade.
It would be interesting to know if Italy was inspired by some other country for the idea of the June 2nd parade...
I think every country has some sort of parade to celebrate what it considers an important day in their history…
DeleteAnd yes it is an excellent opportunity to see the military in their full dress/ceremonial uniforms.
All the best. Aly.
A guilty pleasure indeed Aly….although I do find myself watching the cavalry and horse artillery when they are on the screen 👍
ReplyDeleteI also like the Cavalry and Horse Artillery… you can imagine just how much space big units of both would take up on a battlefield.
DeleteAll the best. Aly
Always a stunning display. Love the window into the past that it gives, especially the cavalry...absolutely spectacular!
ReplyDeleteYes I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there Meic… it is indeed a window into the past.
DeleteAll the best. Aly
Aly, agree 100% with everything you say, is it the inner child,the historian or the gamer? can't help but be captivated by watching the troops parade
ReplyDeleteThank you Graham…
DeleteI would say it is… The inner child, the historian and the gamer… with a bog nod to the child 😁
All the best. Aly
Like you, Aly, I am a staunch republican but love a good parade, and they don't come much more splendid than the trooping of the colour.
ReplyDeleteWhilst the broad nature of the ceremony does go back a couple of centuries or whatever, I am afraid the specifics of the drill absolutely don't go back very far for the most part. They use the present-day drill of the British army, quite understandably. The most obvious element is the drill which goes with the SA80 rifle, and stretches back through history all the way to... about 1987! Possibly even newer is the method by which a company in line turns 90 degrees as they reach the corners of the parade ground. Up till very recent decades that would be done by a wheel, ie the whole body gradually pivoting through 90 degrees, with the men towards the inside pivot taking small steps and the actual pivot man (the "hinge" in layman's terms) marking time throughout. Quite recently the difficult but genuinely centuries-old wheel was replaced by the "right (or left)- form", ie the dog's leg business shown in one of the photographs. Another feature that goes back to something like 1900 only is the spacing between men of something like twelve inches. Until at least the late nineteenth century the drill of formed units was performed with no spacing between files. The elbows of each man were in constant contact with the next man.
Anyway, it still looks great, and it at least descends from the drill of past centuries. The specific parade troops belonging to other armies are often impressive with their superhuman precision, but they exist only in a world of display.
Thank you for the update on the drill regulations John…
DeleteI do remember troops wheeling at the tattoo… I always assumed that the right/left form was used because of lack of space…
You learn something new every day 😁
All the best. Aly
Splendid shots!
ReplyDeleteTakes me back to formal parades at military college with crowds of adoring families except our pillbox caps were not nearly as impressive as Bearskins! (And some of us might have been nearly a foot shorter than your average guardsman!.)
The Lifeguards always remind me of my one, not exactly Grand, Tour in.. 74. About to cross a street in London when the crowd seemed to open up and pull back and suddenly there was a clipclop sound and a troop of HUGE black horses topped by gleaming armour and nodding plumes appeared, looming over me. Yikes, no pike to hand let alone rifle and bayonet so not much point in trying to get this rabble to form square. I could see why raw troops might run!
I suspect that your pillbox caps were much easier to wear than a bearskin Ross.
DeleteBeing close to a formed body of heavy cavalry is indeed intimidating…watching them pass our house as a child, they seemed like giants…
Also the noise of shod hooves on the road has an impact…
All the best. Aly
I'm lucky in that my work commute means I've been cycling through the massed flags a lot and get to see this all fairly easily. We should keep the city dressed up, its much nicer! See also. Christmas commutes.
ReplyDeleteYes bunting does indeed cheer up the cityscape…
ReplyDeleteAll the best. Aly