British Regiments at the Front, The Story of Their Battle Honours — John Shaqi
British Regiments at the Front, The Story of Their Battle HonoursHodder, Reginald
History
British Regiments at the Front, The Story of Their Battle Honours
Hodder, Reginald
Great Britain -- History, Military; Great Britain. Army
MOTTO.--"Pro Rege, pro Lege, pro Patria conamur."
BATTLE HONOURS.--Peninsula, Waterloo, S. Africa 1899-1902,
Defence of Ladysmith.
UNIFORM.--Blue, blue bushy-bag, scarlet and white plume.
THE GRENADIER GUARDS
("THE OLD EYES")
"Though old in glory and honour
They have yet the vigour of youth."
High in the estimation of every son and daughter of Britain stands that
heroic band, the British Grenadiers. Their deeds have brought a fine
thrill to every heart, and a stirring song to every voice; and, though
there have been times when a pall of necessary silence, covering a
"certain liveliness," has been imposed by the fog of a world-war, we
have felt calmly assured that behind that fog our British Grenadiers
were doing, or dying, in a way that must awaken the old thrill, and
inspire a new song.
It has always been one of the greatest aids to success in battle to sum
up the daring deeds of the past; the successes against fearful odds;
the forlorn hopes bravely led; the breaches filled with our British
dead; the stubborn resistance, and sometimes complete annihilation of
one part for the success of the whole; the lofty sacrifice of the
foremost, so that the hindmost may turn the tide of battle; and the
heroic dash to certain death, which has always given birth to victory.
And this aid of tradition has been accorded by their own deeds, and by
the nation's appreciation, to none more strongly than to the British
Grenadiers.
Yet it must be remembered that the Grenadier Guards, though they share
the honour and glory of all Grenadiers, were never really Grenadiers
proper. They won the name at Waterloo, where they vanquished the French
Grenadiers. Sharing the name, they share and perpetuate the memory of
the song, which in the first place referred to the Grenadiers who threw
the grenades "from the glacis." But, as a good old British song may
gain in volume as it rolls down the years, there is no reason why the
well-known air in question should not attach to the Grenadier Guards.
Well does the historian say that "their annals indeed may almost be
said to be identical with those of the British Army, as in every
campaign of importance--every campaign which has had a material bearing
on the fortunes of the Commonwealth--their services have been called
into requisition. They have shared in our greatest battles. Their
serried ranks stood firm at Fontenoy; turned the tide of battle at
Quatre Bras; withstood unshaken the assaults of Napoleon's brilliant
chivalry at Waterloo, and ascended with stately movement the bristling
heights of the Alma."
Mr. J. J. Hart, who was with the Grenadiers in the Boer War, gives a
graphic description of the battle near Senekal:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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