Regiment help

[Black can man]

Mrs BCM is going through some olds stuff & her sadly deceased father never spoke about his war time efforts except one night when he said to me that he'd been up in a plane 32 times but have never landed in in one ,

I guess he must have been a paratrooper of some kind, This is the only photo that shows the regiment badge & i was wondering if anyone recognises the badge would be good enough to tell me what regiment the badge belongs too ?


Many thanks in advance

[shed driver]

Royal Scots Dragoon Guards?

SD.

[psi310398]

Royal Scots Greys?

EDIT - but they were in Shermans in WWII and did fight in OP Market Garden but I don't think they jumped. Maybe he was liaison...

Edited by psi310398 on Thursday 23 November 19:25

[Ayahuasca]

or Royal Scots Greys? but cannot see the 'Waterloo' battle honour

[Black can man]

Well he was a proud scotsman so i guess you chaps are pretty much right

Many thanks for the replies , means a lot.

He defiantly jumped out of planes because he had trouble walking because he couldn't see the ground in the dark .

We have absolutely no idea do we .

Edited by Black can man on Thursday 23 November 19:29

[psi310398]

Ayahuasca said:

or Royal Scots Greys? but cannot see the 'Waterloo' battle honour

In the woven cap badge, I think it is in the thick bit at the base of the badge.

[Ayahuasca]

They were cavalry regiments, so not into parachuting, but volunteers into the early commando units (who may have parachuted?) used their parent unit cap badge.

And he may of course have transferred into the Parachute Regiment from the cavalry after the date of the picture.

[shed driver]

Black backing behind the cap badge gives it away as the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.
http://www.army.mod.uk/armoured/regiments/28038.as...

SD.

[Ginetta G15 Girl]

shed driver said:

Black backing behind the cap badge gives it away as the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.

SD.

The Royal Scotts Dragoon Guards didn't form until 1971, being an amalgamation of the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales' Dragoon Guards) and The Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons).

The Eagle in the cap badge represents that taken by Sgt Ewart from the French 45th Ligne at Waterloo.

If it were Royal Scots Dragoon Guards it would have the crossed carbines of the 3rd Carabiniers behind the Eagle.

The black backing to the badge comes from the the fact that Tsar Nicholas II was the Regimental Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Scots Greys at the time he was executed by the Bolsheviks - the regiment remaining in permanent mourning.

Given that is a WWII photo, its the Royal Scots Greys.

Edited by Ginetta G15 Girl on Thursday 23 November 19:55

[shed driver]

You are of course correct. My mistake. Damn these regimental amalgamations. Having an affiliation with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers the concept of multiple antecedent regiments is not new. So much lost history.

SD.

[Ayahuasca]

Ginetta G15 Girl said:

Sgt Ewart

Who used an 1796 pattern heavy cavalry sabre to bludgeon he way to the eagle. I think one account has him hitting one Frenchie so hard that the blade went through the cuirassier's brass helmet, through his skull, down through his neck and only stopped at his shoulders.

The 1796P Heavy was a chopping sword, troops found that its hatchet point just glanced off the ribs of Frenchmen, so they were modified in the field into spear points that would catch in flesh and dig in. I think Sgt Ewart's sword is only slightly modified and retains most of its hatchet point, which is unusual for a Waterloo sword.

The French equivalent is the An XI Heavy, these are often sold at auction these days without a matching scabbard, and this indicates that they were probably collected after Waterloo (when the sword and its scabbard-wearing owner may have become involuntarily separated).

[DuraAce]

If you've got all his details (name, dob, service number etc etc) then you can look up his war/service record....

https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-recor...

[Ginetta G15 Girl]

Ayahuasca said:

The 1796P Heavy was a chopping sword

Made famous by Bernard Cornwell in his 'Richard Sharpe' novels I believe.

[Ayahuasca]

Ginetta G15 Girl said:

Ayahuasca said:

The 1796P Heavy was a chopping sword

Made famous by Bernard Cornwell in his 'Richard Sharpe' novels I believe.

It was pretty famous before that, but yes, he made a point of them. Although in the books of course it was not Sgt Ewart, but Sgt Sharpe who captured the Eagle!



I prefer the 1796P Light CS, it is more of a slicing sword.

[Ginetta G15 Girl]

ISTR that in the book it was Lieutenant Sharpe (Gazetted Captain) who took the Eagle at Talavera.

Certainly in that photo' Sean Bean is wearing a Dolman jacket which was the preserve of Rifles' Officers (and Hussars).

Edited by Ginetta G15 Girl on Thursday 23 November 22:00

[Ayahuasca]

Ginetta G15 Girl said:

ISTR that in the book it was Lieutenant Sharpe (Gazetted Captain) who took the Eagle at Talavera.

Certainly in that photo' Sean Bean is wearing a Dolman jacket which was the preserve of Rifles' Officers (and Hussars).

Edited by Ginetta G15 Girl on Thursday 23 November 22:00

Right as ever, come to think of it he won a battlefield commission at Assaye before the Napoleonic wars.