A Lion not a Mouse

Four more soldiers fighting with the Royal Canadian Regiment and the Royal Canadian Dragoons were killed in Afghanistan on Friday, and eight others were seriously injured. Canada has now lost 116 soldiers and one diplomat in that war-torn country, including several hundred non-fatal combat casualties.

My bud from military college, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Misener, acting commander of 2 Mechanized Brigade Group, CFB Petawawa, addresses the media on March 21, 2009, on the subject of the deaths of four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

This sacrifice is proportionately greater than either the Americans or the British, and in real numbers significantly more so than all of Europe combined. But like anything Canada ever does, it gets greeted by the media and the world with a collective international yawn. Or worse, the subject of trash entertainment by Republican chickenhawkes on Fox News, who shamelessly chide Canada's military men as frigid wimps, whilst demonstrating their own macho credentials without ever serving a day in their life. To hell with neocon sissies.

I know a lot of men who are serving in theatre because I trained with them over 20 years ago. They are now in positions of command, like LCol. Misener above who has been rotating in and out of Afghanistan since 2002. Does he look like a wimp to you? He's as professional as they come, not a warmongering television idiot, but a field commander on the front lines who has to carefully measure his every word with manly restraint, unlike the belligerent fools on Fox who laugh at him.

It is fashionable among many so-called conservatives in the United States to think of Canada as a joke of a country. It's a view that began to take shape ever since Pierre Trudeau famously declared Canada a mouse next to the American elephant, affected by every twitch, every grunt. In one fell swoop, the historical image of Canada as a British Lion was gone forever. Liberals perferred to think of Canada as a mouse not a lion. And so a mouse in the image of many we became.

But Canada doesn't need to demonstrate its fortitude to the world, only its soberness. Canada cannot afford to be a gung ho, kick ass nation, nor should it desire such a reputation. It almost came apart at the seams during both world wars, when conscription riots in French Canada threatened the political survival of the country. Yet it still sent hundreds of thousands of men overseas to save Europe from itself. Over 100,000 Canadians perished as a result. The decision by Canada to stay out of Vietnam and Iraq has probably been more or less right. It's decision to tough it out in Afghanistan has also probably been more or less right. The desire to go to war for macho reasons is a profoundly unconservative attitude, and nearly all Canadians rightly perish the thought.

Update from American Vets: Ouch

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The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery

The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery leave London's Green Park after firing a Royal salute of 41 rounds to mark the anniversary of The Queen's accession to the throne in 1952, 6 February 2009.
© Press Association

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The Courageous Royal Gurkha Rifles

The Gurkhas earned their right to stay in Britain long ago, yet they were only granted this right recently. Better late than never I suppose.

Members of the Gurkha Rifles display the Military Crosses presented to them by The Queen at an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, 4 November 2008. The soldiers were honoured for courageous service in Afghanistan.
© Press Association

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Argument 5: Armed Forces

Republicanism would destroy the regimental heritage and traditional esprit-de-corps of our armed forces. We must not let that happen.

Military Sphere: Her Majesty as "Commander-in-Chief"
Relevant Quote: "But what are kings, when regiment is gone, But perfect shadows in a sunshine day?" - Christopher Marlowe
Related Concepts: The Queen's Regiments, Her Majesty's Ships, King and Country

WE SHALL FIGHT THEM ON THE BEACHES. What's honestly better, the Tasmanian Republican Guard or the Royal Australian Regiment? 'Soldiers Canada' or the famed Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry? Numbered British battalions of the European Rapid Reaction Force or the King’s Royal Hussars and the Prince of Wales Royal Lancers? How about Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles in New Zealand, the Royal Canadian Dragoons, the Queen's York Rangers and the Duke of Connaught's Own? Is it really goodbye to the Blues and Royals, the Royal Horse Artillery, the King's Own Calgary Regiment and the Queensland Mounted Infantry?... Get real, republicanos, regiment is family sacred to the serving soldier. Our royal heritage and regimental system is the whole basis and backbone of military pride and morale.

Removing the Crown from the armed forces may seem like a simple enough task, so long as you don't give a flying fig about military morale. So long as you don't give one piddle whiff for the esprit-de-corps of our fighting men and women, sure go ahead and dispense with the Queen's commission, decommission Her Majesty's Ships, retire the Queen's colours and surrender every regiment's battle honours. Don't worry that some regiments go back hundreds of years, they won't mind the blow torch, good soldiers will always do what they are told.

Many regiments do have very long histories, often going back for centuries; the oldest British regiment still in existence is the Honourable Artillery Company, established in 1537. The Royal Scots, formed in 1633, was the oldest infantry regiment until just recently when it was folded into the Royal Regiment of Scotland, now the Black Watch and all of the historical Highland regiments are combined under one amalgamated family. Talk about a terrible, terrible blow to regimental pride. Mind you, that's probably a relatively minor reform compared to what waits in store if the republicans ever get hold of the keys to the local armouries.

Commonwealth-style regiments have proven their worth throughout history in war and through lengthy and difficult policing missions. Regiments recruited from areas of political ferment (such as Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Quebec, India, etc.), tend to perform particularly well because of the loyalty their members exhibit to the regiments.

It is worth noting that in countries where regimental loyalty thrives - the core Anglosphere nations predominantly - those nations have never suffered a military coup, or even seriously faced the prospect of one, which can be attributed in part to the "tribal" nature of the regimental system, which makes it nearly impossible for a charismatic leader to command the loyalty of the entire army. History shows it is healthier to develop soldiers' loyalty to their regiment, than to the military in general. It is usually Her Majesty's position as regimental colonel-in-chief that engenders the closest loyalty, rather than the Queen's high station as overall commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

So hands off our regiments. OUT OF OUR COLD DEAD HANDS.

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The Household Cavalry

Members of The Household Cavalry, The Life Guards regiment, and their horses enjoy a break from ceremonial duties with a gallop in the surf along Holkham Beach, Holkham, Norfolk, 22 July 2008. The regiment is currently on a three week summer training camp at Bodney Camp.

Following the gallop along the beach, members of The Household Cavalry take their horses for a swim. The Household Cavalry, which consists of The Life Guards and The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st The Royal Dragoons) in Britain (the Governor-General Horse Guards in Canada is the only other Household Cavalry regiment), provides The Queen's Life Guard daily and Sovereign's Escort on State occasions, mounted on horseback. The King's Troops, Royal Horse Artillery, whilst a mounted and ceremonial regiment of the Household Division, is strictly speaking an artillery formation, not a cavalry one.

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The Royal Dragoon Guards

The Prince of Wales presents operational service medals to members of The Royal Dragoon Guards who have recently returned from Iraq, Clarence House, 23 July 2008. His Royal Highness is Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment.

The ceremony is repeated two days later for members of 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire). His Royal Highness is also Colonel-in-Chief of The Mercian Regiment which has also recently returned from Iraq.

A member of The Mercian Regiment displays the medal for services in Iraq presented to him by The Prince of Wales.

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Pugnacious Defender of Emperor Charles

Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Lisle Strutt, C.B.E., D.S.O. (1874-1948), formidable Alpiner, fierce partisan of the Old Order and fervent protector of Blessed Charles, the "last" Austro-Hungarian Emperor

Lt.-Col. Strutt died 60 years ago today
To paraphrase what Pierre Berton said of Sam Steele, some men are fortunate in the accident of their names, but few are more furtunate than Edward Lisle Strutt. That marvellous surname, rendered both blunt and familiar – suggestive of an unyielding and pontificating aristocrat – was utterly appropriate to the man who bore it. The two names Edward Strutt fitted him as neatly as his puttees; in tandem they sing like a well-tempered sword whirling in battle, and the sound they make is the sound of command – a born leader: bold, resolute, keen-eyed and barrel-chested, all the cliches apply, "erect as a pine tree and limber as a cat".

The Great War

Strutt was born the same year as Churchill as a grandson of the first Baron Belper – after whom he was named – and a future cousin of the third Baron Belper. He was a devout partisan of the Old European Order. Lt.-Col. Edward Lisle Strutt fought in the Boer War between 1900 and 1902, for which he was decorated with Queen's Medal and King's Medal, and where he was mentioned in despatches. He fought in the First World War between 1914 and 1919, where he was wounded and mentioned in despatches four times. He gained the rank of Temporary-Lieutenant and GSO(1) in 1916. He was decorated with the Companion, Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) in 1918. He was decorated with the Officer, Legion of Honour. He was decorated with the Croix de Guerre (French). He was decorated with the Chevalier, Order of Romania. He was decorated with the Chevalier, Order of Leopold of Belgium. He was decorated with the Croix de Guerre (Belgian). He was invested as a Commander, Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.) in 1919. He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the service of the Royal Scots. He held the office of Allied High Commissioner in Danzig in 1920. In 1922 he was the second in charge of the Everest Expedition. He died on 7 July 1948 at age 74, sixty years ago today, without issue.

The Situation in Austria

The Great War had ended. The democratic republican age was dawning. The monarchical age was setting. Whilst the latter had been challenged for quite some time, the war had completely destroyed the monarchical order’s immune system. This was with “good” help from Woodrow Wilson’s crusade to make the world safe for democracy, but this crusade was of course not the only contributing factor.

The Austrian Emperor had renounced power on November 11, 1918, but without abdicating. His Imperial and Royal Majesty signed a similar declaration as King of Hungary two days later. He had gone with his family into internal exile at Eckartsau – at the hunting lodge there.

That summer the Eastern Emperor and his family had suffered the tragedy at Yekaterinburg. At the Britannic Court in London, King George V reproached himself for what had been allowed to happen to the Russian Imperial Family. There was fear that a similar fate was about to overtake the Western Emperor and his family. With the armed radicals running around in Austria at the time, this was no unfounded fear.

Also, Emperor Charles was remembered as the Emperor who had sought peace and the Archduke who represented the old Emperor Francis Joseph at His Britannic Majesty's own coronation. This indeed gave memories of an old peaceful order that now brutally had been destructed.

At the personal initiative of His Britannic Majesty, the Austro-Hungarian Imperial-Royal Family is put under British protection.

The Background and Sentiment of Strutt

Lieutenant-Colonel Strutt was a Catholic, like the Emperor he was sent to protect. He was educated in Windsor and at Oxford, and in Innsbruck, Austria. In addition to his native English, the Lt.-Col. was fluent in German and French.

Strutt was, as Gordon Brook-Shepherd noted, a British officer who served the double eagle and the Habsburg black and yellow colors with a fervor second only to the loyalty to His Britannic Majesty.

In addition to having served in the Great War, he did service in the Boer War (1900-1902), for which he was also honored and decorated.

Edward Lisle Strutt was a partisan of the Old European Order. He was a symbol of personal powers of a monarch, as he was sent on the monarch’s personal initiative. He was a symbol of solidarity between monarchs. Strutt was on the fringe related to the Habsburgs. On arrival at the hunting lodge in Eckartsau, he found a photo of the late Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was assassinated in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, and himself.

As a grandson of the first Lord Belper, Lt.-Col. Strutt was a British aristocrat. The Belper motto was and is Propositi tenax (‘Firm of purpose’). There was indeed purpose with the Lt.-Col.

Strutt was to have a life-long passionate devotion for the Habsburg family. He was a life-long friend of the Archduke Otto.

On Mission in Austria

A few officers preceded Lt.-Col. Strutt in this protection mission. Strutt arrived at Eckartsau on February 27, 1919.

On March 17, Strutt received advice from the War Office in London that the Emperor should depart Austria for Switzerland, without any guarantees for the journey.

The new republican government was talking about abdication, exile, and internment.

On March 20, as an officer of the Royal Scots on the territory of a defeated ex-enemy, Lt.-Col. Strutt walks into the office of the republican government’s Chancellor, Dr. Karl Renner, and demands: “Please stand up in future when I enter your room!” Renner immediately jumped to his feet. Not much later he ordered an Imperial train to be assembled. The Emperor was to leave as, yes, Emperor!

Chancellor Renner shortly before the departure demanded that the Imperial-Royal family and their luggage be searched. Strutt refused, and Renner wanted to send a “High Commissioner.” The officer of the Royal Scots replied that the Chancellor could very well send such a commissioner, but he also promised that such a commissioner would be shot, and by Strutt himself. The republican Chancellor backed down.

On the eve of the departure though, Lt.-Col. Strutt was called to Dr. Renner’s office, where the Chancellor required the Emperor to abdicate in order to be allowed to leave the country. Then comes the Royal Scots officer’s best bluff on this mission. Strutt had drafted a telegram beforehand, stating:

To Director Military Intelligence London
     Austrian Government refuses permission for departure of Emperor unless he abdicates. Consequently give orders to re-establish blockade and stop all food trains entering Austria.

No more conditions were demanded. The Emperor and his family were to go Imperially. The Imperial train left for the Austro-Swiss border on March 23 with Strutt in charge and an NCO and six British Military Policemen accompanying the Imperial and Royal Family and members of what was left of the Court.

On March 24 the train arrived at the Austro-Swiss border. The Emperor issued the Feldkirch Manifesto, declaring the November 11 power renunciation null and void, and denouncing the authority of the republican government.

The old order may have lost the war, but it certainly won the Austrian departure.

Order of the British Empire

On May 30, 1919, on the occasion of His Britannic Majesty’s birthday, Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Lisle Strutt was appointed as Commander of the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Later in Life

In 1920, Lt.-Col. Strutt served as High Commissioner of the Free City of Danzig.

In the spring of 1921 he returned to the Habsburg site of exile in Switzerland, and he helped the exiled Emperor-King in preparations for the spring Hungarian restoration bid. After the failure of the second Hungarian restoration bid that year, the British officer helped with communication between the Imperial-Royal couple aboard the HMS Cardiff and their children in the Helvetic Confederation. Lt.-Col. Strutt also served as messenger to the Habsburgs of an offer to let a house in Madeira.

After retiring from the military, Strutt was second-in-command of a 1922 British Everest expedition. Mountaineering continued to engage Edward Lisle Strutt. He was active in the Alpine Club, where he also served as President and editor.

He died on July 7, 1948, after also having seen the war that indeed and sadly cemented the destruction of Old Europe.

Conclusion

The now 95 year old Archduke Otto, who not long ago still thought of Strutt with great respect and gratitude, was once asked if he was not full of resentment against the British for their treatment of his father, the Emperor. The Archduke replied:

But after all, there was Colonel Strutt.

Lieutenant-Colonel Strutt most definitely serves as a hero for those on the Allied side who did not and do not second the crusade against, or the dismantling of, the Old European Order. Our hero is a shining example that one did not need be a new order crusader to serve on the Allied side.

Lt.-Col. Strutt was loyal to his Sovereign, and he did what he could for the order that the modernists had destroyed. Had Lloyd George been anything close to Lt.-Col. Strutt in character and sentiment, the old order just might have survived.

We salute the memory of Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Lisle Strutt, C.B.E., D.S.O. on this day, 60 years after his passing.


Elsewhere: LewRockwell.com, Wilson Revolution Unplugged

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The Royal Tank Regiment

Fear Naught: "From Mud, Through Blood to the Green Fields Beyond."

The Queen sits for an official photograph with the Royal Tank Regiment after presenting them with their new Standards, or flags, at Buckingham Palace, 25 June 2008. The Standards show the regiment's insignia and battle honours and act as a moving memorial to members of the regiment lost in service to their country, and to its ongoing work.

The Queen meets soldiers from the Royal Tank Regiment in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, 25 June 2008. The regiment was awarded new Standards, or regimental flags, by Her Majesty who is their Colonel-in-Chief.

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Happy Birthday, Grand Old Duke

The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery perform a 41 gun salute in Hyde Park, London, to mark the 87th birthday of The Duke of Edinburgh, 10 June 2008. 21 rounds were fired to mark His Royal Highness's birthday and a further 20 shots as the salute took place in a Royal Park.

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First Muslim Battalion Guards the Queen

120 soldiers of the Royal Malay Regiment have become the first all-Islamic Company to provide a British monarch's ceremonial guard. The following are excerpts from a report by Shell Daruwala.

At Buckingham Palace on Friday 2 May 2008, red jackets and black bearskins were replaced by pristine white tunics, brocade 'sampins' and gold-banded 'songkoks', when the Malay Regiment changed guards with 1st Battalion Welsh Guards. The Regiment is visiting the UK to strengthen ties between Malaysia and the UK. Malaysia is only the fourth Commonwealth nation, after Canada, Australia and Jamaica, to be honoured in performing Public Duties in England.

Major Mohd Fuad bin Md Ghazali led his Company as the Malaysian Army's first Captain of the Guard at Buckingham Palace: "It is a great honour to be here guarding Her Majesty, who is the Head of the Commonwealth, and it is an expression of the close ties between our two countries."

The Royal Malay Regiment (RMR), or Rejimen Askar Melayu DiRaja, is the most senior in the Malaysian Army. The 1st Battalion (1 RMR) is the ceremonial battalion to their King and only draws recruits from the ethnic Malay population. Because the State religion of Malaysia is Islam, the elite soldiers of the 1st Battalion must all be practicing Muslims. 1 Battalion RMR is allied to the Royal Anglian Regiment.

Founded by British Commanding Officer, G McBruce in 1933, the Royal Malay Regiment began life as an Experimental Company of just 25 men, becoming the Malay Regiment, with a complement of 150 men on 1 January 1935. The Regiment now consists of 25 Battalions and has a distinguished record of service in the Second World War, The Malaysian Emergency in the 1950s and the Indonesian Confrontation in the 1960s. More recently, the Regiment's 19 (Mechanised) Battalion were involved in the rescue of downed American servicemen during The Battle of Mogadishu in 1993 – a story immortalised in the Hollywood film 'Black Hawk Down'.



The Regiment's own band accompanied the Guards onto parade. Wearing Malay dress uniform consisting of white tunics and trousers, gold and green brocade 'sampins' (a type of kilt or sarong), topped off with gold-banded, green velvet 'songkoks' (Islamic caps), the bandsmen played a selection of traditional Malaysian tunes to the delight of the gathered crowds.

Major Norhisham bin Kamar, of 1 RMR, said that this was a proud moment for the Regiment: "This is a very historical moment for us doing this job, and we will show the best to the audience here, as well as to the Queen.” He said that this was also a way to help break through religious tensions between the people of Islamic and non-Islamic nations: "Nowadays there is some difficulties between religion," he said. "Here we will show that Muslim countries can work together with non-Muslim countries. We came from a Colonial country - there's no problem with us – and can show how Muslim countries have no problem to work together with other people."

Welsh Guards Drill Sergeant, Warrant Officer Second Class Dorian Thomas, was one of the three British trainers who spent three weeks training the RMR in Malaysia, preparing them for their ceremonial duties in the UK. He said: "I've now trained many incremental Companies that have come across here, and their standard of drill to begin with was immaculate. All we really had to teach was the procedures, or the different procedures we use on our Guard Bands."

Following the ceremony, WO2 Thomas said that the Malaysians had been outstanding; the best visiting company he had ever seen. Another of the trainers was Warrant Officer Class 1 W D G Mott OBE, who is the Garrison Sergeant Major at London District and oversees all the Royal ceremonial parades taking place in London and the Home Counties: "I think it's lovely to have the Malay Regiment on guard now," he said. "They're on Queen's Guard. They've mounted. They're very professional. They've got a lovely attitude towards it.

“From the inception of this with the Chief of General Staff with the Chief of Army over in Malay, General Ismael, everything has been 'cooking on gas'. They've been positive all the way through – very professional as I say – and it's lovely to have them on board... The Malay Regiment are very professional men and they've come on board with an absolutely outstanding attitude. And that three weeks – you'd think they've been training for about six months." He said that Malaysians everywhere should take pride in the professionalism of their soldiers: "If we have Malay persons that live in this country, they should be proud and they should come into London to see them. Over in Malaysia they should be very, very proud of their countrymen that are over here on Royal Guards looking after Her Majesty, the Sovereign."

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Lieutenant Wales Receives Service Medal

Lieutenant Wales parades with the Household Cavalry, the Blues and Royals Regiment (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons), and is one of 170 soldiers awarded a military campaign medal from HRH The Princess Royal earlier today for services rendered in Afghanistan.

The Princess Royal is Colonel of the Regiment, while Her Majesty is Colonel-in-Chief. The Blues and Royals are allied with the Royal Canadian Dragoons and the Governor-General's Horse Guards, the latter of which the Queen is also Colonel-in-Chief. The Blues and Royals and The Coldstream Guards are the only two regiments that can trace their lineage all the way back to The Model Army of the Cromwellian period.

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Trooper Pearce of the Queensland Mounted Infantry

WITH ONE THOUSAND AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS now operating in southern Afghanistan just north of their Canadian cousins, it was only a matter of time before the diggers would come into lethal contact with the Taliban. Trooper David Pearce, 41, a soldier with Brisbane's 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry), an armoured reconnaisance unit of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps, died after the vehicle he was traveling in was struck by a road-side bomb in Afghanistan yesterday. He leaves behind his wife of 18 years and two daughters aged eleven and six. Trooper Pearce is the 4th Australian soldier to be killed since hostilities began on September 11, 2001.

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Prince William Grieves for Royal Gurkha

PRINCE WILLIAM has said he is "deeply saddened" by the death in Afghanistan of his platoon commander at Sandhurst, Major Alexis Roberts, 32, of The Royal Gurkha Rifles. The prince described the soldier as a "good friend" and said his thoughts and prayers were with Major Roberts' wife and two young daughters. The Ministry of Defence said Major Roberts died as a result of an improvised explosive device on Thursday.


The Royal Gurkha Rifles is a unique regiment of the British Army in that it recruits Gurkhas from Nepal, which is a nation independent of the United Kingdom and not a member of the Commonwealth (Read: Gurkha Terms and Conditions of Service). They are considered to be some of the finest soldiers in the world, as is evidenced by the high regard they are held in for both their fighting skill, and their smartness of turnout on parade. Their standard of drill is considered to be on a par with that of the Foot Guards, so much so that on many occasions the regiment has mounted the guard at Buckingham Palace. The Regiment is commanded by both British Officers, who are trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and by Queens Gurkha officers who commission from the ranks. The British Officers all complete language training in Nepal.

The Kukri or Khukuri is a heavy, curved Nepalese knife used as both tool and weapon. It is also a part of the regimental weaponry and heraldry of Gurkha fighters. It is known to most as simply the "Gurkha knife".

Photo Left: The Queen's Truncheon: By tradition, rifle regiments do not carry colours; this goes back to their formation, when they were used as skirmishers and sharpshooters.

While individual units may have had banners or pennants to distinguish themselves from other units, regiments as a whole never needed a full stand of Colours.

Today, the two rifle regiments in the British Army, The Rifles and the Royal Gurkha Rifles carry their battle honours on their drums, while the Green Jackets also have theirs inscribed on their cap badge. In place of a Regimental Colour, the Gurkhas carry the Queen's Truncheon.

Honorary Lieutenant Tulbahadur Pun, VC, a former Gurkha from Nepal who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery during the Second World War, was granted on exceptional grounds, a settlement visa to enable him to receive urgent medical treatment in the UK on 4 July 2007, where he was officially welcomed by members of the Gurkha regiment. In total, 13 Gurkhas have been awarded the VC.

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The Anzacs at Passchendaele

THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF AUSTRALIA, His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery, and Prime Minister Helen Clark of New Zealand are in Belgium at the Tyne Cot Cemetary (the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world, for any war) for the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele to honour the 40,000 diggers who fell in the Autumn of 1917. See also: The Queen at Passchendaele.

Her Excellency Mrs Marlena Jeffery honours fallen Anzacs

From Wikipedia: More than any other battle, Passchendaele has come to symbolise the horrific nature of the great battles of the First World War and the uselessness of the tactics employed. The Germans lost approximately 270,000 men, while the British Empire forces lost about 300,000, including approximately 36,500 Australians, 3,596 New Zealanders and 16,000 Canadians — the latter of which were lost in the intense final assault between 26 October and 10 November; 90,000 British, New Zealand and Australian bodies were never identified, and 42,000 never recovered. Aerial photography showed 1,000,000 shell holes in a 1 square mile area.

"I died in Hell
(they called it Passchendaele); my wound was slight
and I was hobbling back; and then a shell
burst slick upon the duckboards; so I fell
into the bottomless mud, and lost the light"
― Siegfried Sassoon

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Petition to reinstate the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force

Please note that the following draft petition is a petition to resume usage of the Royal designation only, and is not intended to disrupt in any way the corporate unity of the Canadian Forces.

PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED

We, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada, and loyal subjects of Her Majesty the Queen of Canada, draw the attention of the House to the following:

WHEREAS the Naval Service Act received Royal Assent on May 4, 1910, and the Canadian navy will commemorate and celebrate its centennial in 2010;

AND WHEREAS the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was the navy of Canada until 1968 when the three Canadian armed services were unified to form the Canadian Forces, and the modern Canadian navy has been known as Canadian Forces Maritime Command since unification, but still refers to itself unofficially as the "navy" and maintains many RCN traditions;

AND WHEREAS Command-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces is vested in the Canadian Monarch and ships of the Canadian Forces continue to be called "Her/His Majesty's Canadian Ship";

AND WHEREAS it is currently improper to use the expression "Royal Canadian Navy" and its abbreviation "RCN" in references to the Canadian navy after February 1, 1968;

AND WHEREAS the Royal designation of the Canadian Navy was executed by a Royal Proclamation which has never been revoked, and that the Canadian Government and the Canadian Forces are required to resume usage of the expression “Royal Canadian Navy”, if the expression “Canadian Navy” is used in any official capacity;

AND WHEREAS the above also pertains to the "Royal Canadian Air Force" and its abbreviation "RCAF" in references to the Canadian air force after unification, which has been known as Canadian Forces Air Command since February 1, 1968, but still refers to itself unofficially as the "air force" and maintains many RCAF traditions;

AND WHEREAS notwithstanding the National Defence Act, which states that "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces", separate service uniforms were reintroduced in 1986, separate service chiefs were reinstated and returned to National Defence Headquarters in 1997, separate service websites were officially established and references to the separate services are now commonplace throughout the increasingly tri-service Canadian Forces, all of which have been accommodated without in any way compromising the unified command structure, integrated nature or corporate unity of the Canadian Forces;

AND WHEREAS resuming usage of the Royal designation as it pertains to the "Canadian Navy" and "Canadian Air Force" could be facilitated without in any way undermining the unity of the Canadian Forces acting as a single organization under a unified command structure, and without in any way compromising the integration of military operations, logistics support, personnel and administration of the separate services acting together under the current functional command system, which was the intent of Bill C-243, The Canadian Forces Reorganization Act, which we the petitioners strongly support;

AND WHEREAS resuming usage of such Royal designations could be facilitated without in any way replacing Canadian Forces Maritime Command and Canadian Forces Air Command, whose Chiefs of Staff would continue to exercise nominal command over the navy and air force respectively;

AND WHEREAS resuming usage of such Royal designations could be efficiently accomplished and executed without material cost to Canadian taxpayers;

AND WHEREAS resuming usage of such Royal designations would restore the traditional esprit de corps of the navy and air force, just as continued usage of the Royal designation of longstanding regular force and reserve regiments has preserved the traditional esprit de corps of the army, and just as continued usage of the Royal designation of the longstanding Royal Canadian Mounted Police has preserved the traditional esprit de corps of Canada's federal constabulary force;

NOW THEREFORE, your petitioners call upon Parliament to take whatever action is necessary to officially resume, restore and reinstate usage of such Royal designations in time for the 2010 centennial celebrations of the Canadian navy, such that the Canadian navy is reincorporated as the Royal Canadian Navy and its abbreviated expression RCN, and the Canadian air force is reincorporated as the Royal Canadian Air Force and its abbreviated expression RCAF, and such reincorporation is made retroactive to February 1, 1968.

Cross-posted to The Torch

Progress Updates:
- April 25: Interesting - even heated - debate over at the Navy, Army, Air Force Forum, where the "Yeas" have it by a two-thirds majority.
- April 26: The Monarchist League of Canada members are supportive
- April 27: Canvassed Laurie Hawn, M.P. to sponsor draft petition
- April 28: Sent draft petition to Captain(N) Pickingford, Project Manager, Canadian Navy Centennial Project, Peter Dawe, Executive Director of the RMC Club, Blaine Barker of the Royal Canadian Naval Association and Bob Nixon of the Naval Officer's Association of Canada
- April 29: Sent draft petition to The Dominion Institute to seek their sponsorship

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The Scandal of the "Unsafe" RAF Aircraft Forced to Keep Flying

I get deeply depressed using this site, which offers so much optimistic possibility and traditional good sense gained from our shared past to relate the increasing betrayal by the British Government of those risking their lives for it, but to "defend the British Crown Commonwealth and the English-Speaking Peoples" one must be vigilant at all times to raise the cry. That's why we honour Churchill who spoke the inconvenient truths while many preferred to sleep. In yesterday's Times investigative reporter Mick Smith revealed the astonishing scandal that forces deadly aircraft to continue to be used by airmen in the service to Queen and country.

This latest scandal was slowly revealed after an RAF Nimrod simply exploded over southern Afghanistan on September 2nd and the MoD insisted that the 14 who were killed would not be categorised as having died in action but rather through a mere technicality. Smith received numerous emails from air crew at the Nimrod's base at RAF Kinloss detailing how they are "forced to keep flying and to continue with the air-to-air refueling process that is believed to have caused the tragedy."

In January 2005 in Iraq ten British servicemen were killed when a special forces Hercules was shot down by insurgents who managed to hit the aircraft wing fuel tank which exploded. After 18 months only seven of the RAF's 48-strong fleet of Hercules have had the flaw hat allowed this to happen corrected.

In the meantime, angry crew are leaving their bases “'in droves', either by resigning or demanding transfers to other aircraft" resulting in Kinloss base being short of eight flight engineers, forcing engineers from other bases to move to Kinloss, "but a number have resigned rather than do so."

Is it any wonder that in an open letter to Blair, families of those who died in action felt forced to remind him that

the military covenant is a cornerstone of our democracy, a mutual obligation between the nation, the armed forces, and every serviceman and woman. It is a common bond of identity, loyalty and responsibility that has sustained the armed forces - and the country - throughout an often difficult history. In practice, this means that governments make the decisions, and the armed forces implement them. In return, the armed forces have:

* the right to expect any war to be lawful;

* the right to have adequate resources to carry out the tasks the politicians demand of them;

* the right to be properly cared for in the event of injury;

* the right to know that, in the event of their death, their families will be looked after properly.

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Royal New Zealand Receives Prince Andrew

What monarchy does best. Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, was received by a 100-strong Royal Guard of Honour and 21-gun salute at the Trentham Military Camp today, as he performed an inspection of the Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment, of which he is Colonel-in-Chief.

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The PPCLI lose their Patricia

Mother Mountbatten, the beloved "Lady P", bids her regiment goodbye: At 83, "I am no longer able to get into a tank," says Colonel-In-Chief.

Lady Patricia, Countess Mountbatten of Burma and Colonel-in-Chief of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI), shakes hands with honour guard member Cpl. Robert Farquhar in Ottawa today. The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, former Governor-General of Canada, is scheduled to take over the Colonelcy-in-Chief on Saturday, becoming the "first Canadian" in history to head one of Her Majesty's regiments.

Lady Patricia is a link to the final glorious days of the British Empire. Her father, the Earl Mountbatten of Burma, became the last Viceroy of India in 1947. It was his job to oversee the transfer of power, ending the Raj. In 1979, he was assassinated by the IRA when a bomb ripped apart his yacht at Mullaghmore Bay in Ireland. Lady Patricia and her husband, Lord Brabourne, a movie producer whose films included Murder on the Orient Express and A Passage to India, were seriously injured in the explosion. Their 15-year-old son Nicholas, an identical twin, was killed with his grandfather. After the assassination of her father, Lady Patricia, as heir to his Earldom, became the Countess Mountbatten of Burma.

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Lloyd Clemett, A Soldier of the Great War

by Sandra Martin

Lloyd Clemett, one of three surviving Canadian veterans of the First World War, died late Wednesday at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. He was 107.

Technically too young to fight for king and country in the war to end all wars, a teenaged Mr. Clemett lied about his age to follow his older brothers to battle, which is why there are actually two First World War veterans named Lloyd Clemett – both were born in Toronto, both have scars in the middle of their foreheads and both enlisted in Peterborough, Ont., in January of 1916 to fight the Germans on behalf of King George V. But one of them didn't really exist. That is because the real Mr. Clemett signed an attestation paper in his copperplate script swearing that he was born Jan. 10, 1898, although his actual birth date was Dec. 10, 1899.

He wasn't the only young man, of the 620,000 Canadians who enlisted in the First World War, who used a ruse to rush to the front.

”In English Canada, the social pressure was to enlist; in Quebec, the social pressure was not to enlist,” military historian J.L. Granatstein said in a telephone interview Thursday morning. ”It was a great adventure, although there were huge casualties, which people knew about because the names were printed in the newspapers, but it was still an adventure and [being wounded or killed] always happened to somebody else...It was empire, king and crown, the evil Hun and all those things, so even simple unsophisticated people were caught up in it,” he said.

Continue reading Sandra Martin's obituary on Lloyd Clemett...

Photo: Lloyd Clemett at 16 after he joined the army as a private in the 109th Battlion. The army made him a bugle boy when he enlisted for the First World War in January, 1916.

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Is Blair doing it for Harry?

That's the question Breitbart.com is asking after Blair's surprise announcement that Britain will reduce her troop numbers in Iraq from 7,100 to 5,500 within the next few months as security responsibilities are handed over to homegrown forces. This comes amidst increasing and intense speculation that Prince Harry is about to be deployed after Defence Secretary Des Browne briefs MPs this Thursday on which military units will be sent to Iraq in April.

Cornet Wales in the Combined Cavalry Old Comrades Association parade in London's Hyde Park last May. Instead of ceremonial uniforms, officers follow the "City suit" tradition with black bowler hats, dark suits and closed umbrellas reflecting the pre-Great War, Edwardian "proper order of dress". Prince Harry is also depicted wearing the navy blue and claret regimental tie of the Household Division as he marched with his regiment, the Household Cavalry's Blues and Royals.

It's a 'damned if they do, damned if they don't prospect' that Blair's announcement seems to go towards addressing because either the military is treating him with kid gloves or, if something happens to him, puts the third-in-line to the throne under unnecessary danger while attracting the attention of insurgents. Harry himself has said "There's no way I'm going to put myself through Sandhurst, and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country."

Of course, it is worth remembering in an august site such as this that our Monarch served as as No 230873 Second Subaltern in the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II while Prince Philip was having a distinguished career in the Royal Navy, and a quarter of a century ago Harry's uncle Prince Andrew (then also 22), served with honour as an helicopter pilot on the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible. At the time, he too had opponents who feared that his participation in the Falklands conflict would serve at best a distraction and at worst a liability to his colleagues. This was proven to have been anything but the case.

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