Newsletter – October 2014
November 4th, 2014You are a Grenadier Guard immaculately dressed in your scarlet tunic and bearskin with the sun gleaming on your toecaps. You are about to take up sentry duty at Buckingham Palace. The eyes of the world and maybe those of the Monarch are on you and you must not make the slightest mistake. Your commanding Officer gives your squad the command “By the Right, Quick March”. Which foot do you start off with, the left or the right?
In fact, how would anyone know that you were a Grenadier Guard as you wear a uniform identical to that of the Coldstream, Scots, Welsh and Irish Guards? This would be no problem to those attending our October meeting when our speaker, Gerald Lesinski, a former Grenadier Guards’ officer and now Master of Lord Leycester Hospital, Warwick gave us an insight into the life of a Guard and many amusing anecdotes of his time in the service.
Which foot to start off with? Always the left foot. The left/right in the command refers to the left or right marker to take the dressing from. The identification of the regiments is down to the grouping of the tunic buttons and collar emblems. Pay attention there!
Our meeting on Tuesday 2nd December at 8pm sees Sylvia Beardshaw presenting ‘The Boys on the Board: Chaddesley Corbett and World War One’. Members will remember her previous visit in 2012 and as the guide for our historically themed walks around Chaddesley Corbett last year. Visitors are most welcome at all our events – see hhfs.org.uk for details and contacts.