superb british army soldiers

Historical British Army “Ranks” & “Formations”! (30.8.2024)

There are a number of exceptions to this observation. In 1571, for instance, Queen Elizabeth I raised the “Holland Regiment”. Monck’s Regiment of Foot served the Parliamentary Cause during the English Civil Wars and is today better known as the “Coldstream Guards”.  The “Royal Regiment of Guards” fought for King Charles I during the English Civil Wars and is today known as the “Grenadier Guards”. It seems that early examples of the use of the “Regiment” designation might have included newly formed units with no fighting history or direct links to a British geographical location. These attributes had to be earned through blood and honour. However, eventually very well-establish military units seem to have voluntarily taken on this designation – or been given it by the British government.

Main Street - Forest Hill (Oxford) - OX33 1EB

Oxford: John Milton’s “Mounting Stone” – Forest Hill! (29.8.2024)

As to “why” Oxford Council resorted to this tactic is a matter of conjecture considering how overgrown the bank and stone is – and how difficult it is to actually locate the stone (there is virtually no signage). Perhaps a flat stone was becoming easily obscured by dirt, leaves and over debris – and an upright position rendered it better protected. John Milton (1608-1674) was a literary genius and esteemed poet who lived across the road from this stone and was a supporter of Parliament (and Oliver Cromwell) during the English Republic (1649-1660). His thinking was both progressive and Revolutionary! He (and his wife) were wealthy landowners in the area of the stone – owning property either side of St Nicholas Church in Forest Hill.

William Shakespeare & Francis Bacon

Shakespeare: Mark Twain Was On the Scent! (12.3.2024)

Only then did the newly franchised Bourgeoisie begin to routinely mimic the upper-class they had politically replaced as controllers of the means of production – following the 1649 CE execution of King Charles I – and extensively educate their children in literacy (and all kinds of other academic subjects). After 1649 CE – this type of Bourgeois education slowly began to develop – but certainly did not happen to any great extent prior to this date. In this regard, Shakespeare seems historically out-of-place – like a technologically sophisticated and advanced artefact discovered on the floor of an ancient cave – how did such an object arrive in this position?

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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