Tag: British Army

Veteran Star Medal: Alfred Gregory Wyles – WWII British Army Service [1940-1946]! (4.11.2023)

Although he joined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment – famous for its ‘Last Stand’ at Dunkirk – due to his ‘sharp-shooting’ ability he was soon transferred to the 1st Buckinghamshire Battalion (the ‘Light Bobs’) of the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Territorial Army) where he was placed in an Anti-Tank Platoon. During D-Day, the ‘Light Bobs’ landed in the first-waves of Allied troops that hit ‘Sword Beach’. His Unit was tasked with fighting their way in-land ten-miles to Caen – where it was to relieve D Company of the Ox & Bucks Ligyt Infantry (Professional) – which had landed as ‘Glider Troops’ around midnight of June 6th, 1944. Due to these required military objectives – my grandfather trained with the Glider Troops around the Exeter Canal System – which resembled the canal system around Caen. Indeed, this association has sometimes ‘confused’ exactly what function my grandfather fulfilled due to him possessing a ‘Winged Pegasus’ badge!

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London: Souvenir “Grenadier Guard” Lead Soldier! (26.9.2023)

In this sense the ancient ritual of ‘guarding’ is a charade – or a piece of very interesting ‘theatre’ that constitutes a living history. These guards are professional soldiers trained to fight on the modern battlefield – but also ‘volunteer’ to learn all the required skills to ‘march’, ‘stand’ and ‘patrol’ just like a British Infantry Soldier did during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Once upon a time – soldiers in the British Army used march into battle dressed in these uniforms and behaving in this manner – whilst advancing on the enemy standing in straight ranks and moving slowly but precisely forward with fixed bayonet! As the dead and wounded in the front-line fell to the ground – soldiers in the supporting ranks would move up and take their place without effecting the momentum of the attack!

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WWII: British 8th Army in North Africa! (30.7.2023)

When WWII was over and the British ‘People’s Army’ was disbanded – the ‘Professional’ British Army was put into the field in Malaya (by the incumbent Labour Party) where some committed brutal crimes against the fighters of the Chinese Communist Insurgency. The point is that the ‘Anti-Fascist’ Cause was a great and noble undertaking which was often complicated by the British (Bourgeois) policies linked to ‘Colonialism’ and ‘Imperialism’. My working-class family are proud that my grandparents (East and West) fought the forces of International Fascism! All you need is unbridled bravery – as can be seen in the example set by the solitary British soldier (above) who is bayoneting-charging a tank!

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Normandy: Remembering the Allied Sacrifices of D-Day (6.6.1944) – 79th Anniversary! (6.6.2023)

The British Glider Troops were tasked with seizing local landmarks (such as ‘Pegasus Bridge’) of tactical and strategic importance from the local Nazi German defenders – and hold these assets in the face of the expected Nazi German counter-attack. Meanwhile, Arthur Gibson (as a member of the Royal Navy) was busy protecting Northern Britain by preventing a Nazi German invasion – whilst keeping the sea lanes free of Nazi German ‘mines’ so that Allied Shipping could move (free of this risk) throughout the North Atlantic. This included the assisting of the Russian (Soviet) Arctic Convoys – although the presence of Nazi German U-Boats was an ever-present threat!

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Nazi Germany: The 1943 Joseph Goebbels ‘Tatanic’ Film! (9.5.2023)

The film entitled ‘Titanic’ – is a 1943 Nazi German propaganda film made during World War II in Berlin by Tobis Productions for UFA. This lavish production depicts the catastrophic sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912 – and the massive lose of life this tragic event entailed! Despite the fact that there had already been a very good ‘silent’ movie produced in Germany during 1912 (just four weeks after the actual sinking) and that a British company had subsequently released a German-language film about the disaster in 1929 – the film was still commissioned by Joseph Goebbels – with the intent of showing not only the superiority of German filmmaking (whilst the regime was suffering debilitating military losses on all fronts), but also serve as a propaganda tool portraying Hitler’s lunatic ideas that it was British and American capitalism (controlled by what he termed ‘International Jewry’) that was responsible for the disaster!

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The US Bucket List! (10.4.2023)

The routine ownership of fire-arms is ‘banned’ in most Western Europe countries! What is interesting is that the rebelling American government in the 1770s attempted to ‘militarise’ it’s British population against its rightful (elected) London government by overturning King Henry VIII’s (16th century) general ban on private weapon ownership. The King had dissolved the ownership of private armies as part of the dismantling of the feudal system and as a security against his fellow nobles launching an armed coup against his leadership! From that time onwards, the only military force allowed in the UK has been the British Army controlled by the Crown – and then after Cromwell (in the 17th century) Parliament. However, during the 18th century the British government was afraid of invasion by the French and for a time a law was in effect which allowed Local Militias to be formed – manned by the good and the well-off who could afford to pay for their own uniforms, pistols, muskets and training, etc. Interestingly, this law was active during the American War of Independence and it could be that the American rebels got the idea of arming their population from the British policy of preparing it’s homeland population to meet the threat of Napoleon.

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