For Those Of You Unfamiliar
With the King's English, both words sound similar when pronounced in English. Just a heads up.
So! I took scads of photographs in the 'York Army Museum' on my day of unpaid leave. Before any of you cavil at the small size of this museum, it's only one of three that tackle the Yorkie regiments of the British Army and yes I'll eventually get around to the others in Richmond and Doncaster. Art!
 |
| BEHOLD THE BOILING VESSEL! |
I am jumping the gun - do you see what I d O you do - here in terms of objects being presented, as this was well into the displays. The overall case dealt with tank accoutrements and accessories and Your Humble Scribe was pleased to see the humble BV getting well-deserved recognition. Unglamouous yet utterly essential for morale and well-being. It has been a fitment on the tanks of Perfidious Albion for <checks> over 80 years and meant a crew could brew up inside their metal chariot without having to get out and become vulnerable. On NATO exercises the South Canadian troops and tankers would stick close to the Brits on account of the possibility of hot meals and coffee.
ANYWAY back to the historical timeline. Art!
Don't blame me if they put tanks before the Seven Years War. I can spot a Chieftain in two different scales, a Scorpion, Sherman, Valentine, Grant, Chaffee, Priest, Panzer III, P <Mister Hand redacts an A4 page of nerdy blather>. Art!
In fact the terminology for tank regiments derived from the cavalry, a 'troop' being the smallest tactical cavalry unit, reflected in the organisation here. Art!
What they call 'Squadron Headquarters' would be the Major's tank and a couple of others, normally his Adjutant and a senior NCO. There would also be some 'soft-skinned' vehicles such as Jeeps or other runarounds, because it wasn't always practical to swan about behind the lines in a 30 ton tank. Art!
The total of 78 tanks would vary in real life; breakdowns, damage, accidents or outright destroyed tanks would reduce the total, until replacement vehicles were brought in from a tank park The 'Regimental Headquarters' might well include tanks with their guns removed, to make more room for maps and radios, with a dummy wooden barrel attached to make them look less vulnerable. The 'LAD' was a 'Light Aid Detachment', being trucks full of spare parts and a large towing truck, enabling field repairs to be carried out. Art!
It wasn't until I got up close to this exhibit that it became apparent that it was a mechanical duplicate of a 1914 BEF cavalryman on his steed.
Once again I apologise for jumping around on the timeline. The explanatory blurb bewailed the ending of 'L'arme Blanche's primacy on the Western Front by late 1914, what with the introduction of trenches, machine guns and barbed wire. Cavalry was still widely used on the Eastern Front, and in Egypt and Pal
ANYWAY to get back on track again - Art!
The West Yorkies originally had nothing to do with Yorkshire, being raised in <hack spit> the south in 1685, undergoing various permutations until settling with the Prince Of Wales Own West Yorkies.
On the other hand, 'War With France' was a common theme for the next two centuries. We tended not to get on with them. Art!
 |
| Ignore the reflection! Ignore the reflection! |
 |
| Dettingen |
Losing a cavalry drum, or two of them, is considered quite a disgrace, and playing on them for the next century plus is rubbing salt and lemon into the wound. The drum is also symbolic of Perfidious Albion taking part in warfare and politics on the Continent, much to the displeasure of - you may be ahead of me here - the French. Art!
It's notable that the Quebecois have never forgiven or forgotten this conquest/liberation/change of language <delete where applicable>, heartily detesting their British overlords, and the French for being wusses. Art!
Jumping around in time again, forward 150 years and it's that cavalryman again. Art!
The legend helpfully indicates: Bandolier, containing 90 rounds of ammunition, as British cavalry were trained to fight dismounted; rolled greatcoat and blankets, unsure if latter are for man or horse or both; sword scabbard with picketing post and horses nosebag, the PP being driven into the ground and Dobbin reined to it; rifle, with mess-tin strapped to holster; bandolier with additional rifle ammunition; wallets for personal kit. Alternately, some cavalry carried a lance instead of a sword. Art!
There you go, 'Troop' in it's original usage, all 33 of them. Art!
Four Troops making a squadron, 158 men and horses. Art!
The Regiment of 549 men and 606 horses, as some were used as draught animals to pull carts or wagons.
Sorry for the blurred nature of these photographs, Conrad couldn't bend down properly to take them. I know you'll forgive me.
Time to call time on this particular Intro but we still have LOTS of photos to come in the near future. I bet you can hardly wait.
Artwork By Angus
McKie, that is. I've had a look at the images remaining and there are still lots of them, so your torment/education/appreciation <delete where applicable> shall continue. Art!
This one has the feel of a book cover, all the more since there's a large gap at the top with nothing much to obscure, where a title and author could go (as evinced in an art book of cover paintings I have lurking somewhere).
It's quite arresting. Obviously someone has not kept up with their overdue library books, and the fines are now due. Or the equivalent in property damage.
Another What On Earth? Moment
I keep wondering if I should get a screenshot of that vet service that keeps cropping up on Youtube, in between adverts for Abebooks YOU DO NOT NEED TO PIMP ABEBOOKS TO CONRAD! <ahem>. Meanwhile, here's another bizarre suggestion. Art!
HOWEVER - and in flashing neon letters ten feet tall - Conrad has no need to manufacture baseball bats, car clutches or steel dinner plates. No need at all. Nor have I been yarking on about any of these, so once again it's a question of what the algorithm is thinking.
Further To Abebooks
Conrad follows Professor Peter Caddick-Adams on Twitter, and has quite a few of his books, too, and the Prof is now trying to empty my wallet even further. Art!
Jurica is Croatian - a country the Prof has made his second home for so long now that the locals no longer view him as an English spy - and these novels are set in the Balkans. I wonder - are they out in paperback yet and for long enough for copies to be going second-hand?
NO! BE STRONG!
One To Bookmark For Later
Whilst looking for filler material to pad out the rest of this blog, what did I espy in the news feed but the following, which, if Art will kindly co-operate -
I feel we here at BOOJUM! have a bit of an insight into obscurantist lyrics, given that we've been tackling songs from 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway', not to mention a lot of earlier ones from 'A Little Musical Critique', scattered throughout our body of work. A sneak peek at what they are is in order. Hmmmm. Art!
Let me get TLLDOB out of the way first, please! None of the songs on it are 23 minutes long, which is what 'Supper's Ready' clocks in at.
Finally -
We've been omitting the terminal Biercisms for a while, so here we are back with another one.
"Equal, n: As bad as something else."
No comments:
Post a Comment