The British Army from WithinVivian, Evelyn Charles
History
The British Army from Within
Vivian, Evelyn Charles
Great Britain. Army
Since, in the Royal Horse, gunners as well as drivers are mounted,
the number of horses to a battery is greater than in the Field
Artillery, and work is consequently harder. Officers of the Royal
Horse are specially selected from the R.F.A., to which they return on
promotion, and the rank and file are picked men, chosen for physique
and smartness. It is a maxim of the service that the work of the R.H.A.
is never done, and when one takes into account the fact that gunners
have a horse and saddle apiece to care for as well as their gun, while
drivers have two horses and two sets of harness apiece to keep in
condition, it will be seen that there is a certain amount of truth in
the statement. In old times, when field-day and manœuvre parades were
carried through in review order, the horse gunner was eternally in
debt over the matter of the yellow braid with which his stable jacket
is adorned, for these jackets are particularly difficult to keep
clean. The general adoption of service dress for working parade has
neutralised this disability. The horse gunner of to-day is a very good
soldier indeed in every respect, both by real aptitude for his work and
by compulsion.
Not that the men of the Field Artillery are not equally good soldiers,
for they are. The Field Artillery, however, divides itself naturally
into two branches, drivers and gunners. Each driver has two horses
and two sets of harness to manage, and, if the cavalryman has reason
to grouse at the length of time he spends at stables, the driver
of the “Field” has more than four times as much reason to grouse.
Moreover, the cavalryman is permitted to clean his saddlery during
the official stable hour, but drivers of the R.F.A. are expected to
concentrate their attention on their horses during the time that they
are officially at stables; they can stay in the stables and get their
sets of harness cleaned and fit for inspection in their own time. They
are then at liberty to clean up their own personal equipment, and,
until the turn for guard comes round, have the rest of their time to
themselves.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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