British Light Infantry Regiments

How do I find a particular military unit ?
The quickest way to locate a unit is to do a Google Site Search from the Home Page, put in the name of the unit. Alternatively try: Army Regiments - Past, 1947-1963

If you still can't find it Email Webmaster with details
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Am I a Veteran?

The term Veteran is used to mean all those who have served in the UK Armed Forces including their widow(er)s and dependents. If you have served in the UK Armed Forces, regardless of whether it was in war or during peace time or if you were a volunteer, reservist or national serviceman, you are now considered to be a veteran.

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What is The Veterans Agency.

The Veterans Agency is the single point of contact within the Ministry of Defence for providing information and advice on issues of concern to veterans and their families. Its free helpline service is available to deal with enquiries from ex service personnel and their dependants. There is also a website which contains information and links to other useful websites.

Free Helpline: 0800 169 2277

Veterans Agency. www.veteransagency.mod.uk

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Where can I find details of a relative who served in the military ?
Go to the top of this page and click on the persons Service Army/Navy/Airforce
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When is OK to wear my relatives medals ?
War medals and service decorations of any sort may be worn only by the person upon whom they were conferred, and in no case does the right to wear war or service medals, or their ribbons, pass to any relative when the recipient is dead. Modifications of the above rule are permitted in connection with Remembrance Day, when relatives who desire to avail themselves, on those days only, of the distinction of wearing the decoration and medals of deceased relatives, they may do so, wearing them ON THE RIGHT BREAST.
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How do I find out about Grand-dad's medal entitlement?

Medals
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Which service is Senior, Army Navy or Air Force?
The Royal Navy is the senior service, followed by Army and then Royal Air Force.

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My relative was killed during the war. Where is he buried?

Go to the CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) site.

Find a Grave
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A full List of the different Ranks of the Services.

Ranks of the British Armed Forces

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Where is Flanders and what are Flanders Fields?
Flanders is a region of Belgium, it was attacked by Germany in WW1 as a means of getting to France which Germany considered to be the "real enemy". Flanders Fields is a term picked up from the poetry of the time to refer to the countryside over which the armies fought.
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What are the sticks that the senior officers carry? There are several different ones.

Some Officers carry a leather or cane swagger stick.

The RSM of a Unit carries a ' PACE STICK' which originated in the Artillery as a "Gunner's Stick" and was used to measure the distance between guns. It was soon adapted to measure the length of the pace taken by soldiers to get them all pacing the same. The Pace Stick is actually two sticks, hinged at the top and able to be set to a particular distance, something like the compass set you used at school.

CSMs carry a smaller stick, usually timber tipped with a shell casing at the head and an imitation bullet at the tail. It is merely an indication of rank.

The Swagger Cane: Swagger Sticks were introduced as an item of commissioned rank equipment at the time of King Charles I, but were used for a much more serious purpose than they are today. At the time of Charles I all junior officers were empowered to inflict punishment on the spot for minor offences. Old manuscripts record that such misdemeanors as “sneezing in the ranks, spitting or scratching the head” earned immediate punishment to the tune of 12 strokes across the back with the swagger stick.
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What is Beating The Retreat?

Beating the Retreat is not retreating. Retreating in the face of the enemy is a shameful although sometimes necessary thing. Beating the Retreat is an ancient military ceremony indicating the end of hostilities for the day or the period. In the evening the band would march out with the drum beating and the buglers playing the call 'retreat'. The Colours would be there under guard to indicate that the unit was withdrawing as an orderly and controlled body of men who had not given up but were merely ending their day. It is now a Ceremonial Parade performed on special occasions.
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Why is the poppy significant?

Long known as the corn poppy because it flourishes as a weed in grain fields, the Flanders poppy as it is now usually called, grew profusely in the trenches and craters of the war zone. Artillery shells and shrapnel stirred up the earth and exposed the seeds to the light they needed to germinate. In the years immediately following World War 1, governments and the whole of society, had not accepted the responsibility for those incapacitated and bereft as a result of war. In Britain, unemployment accentuated the problem.
Earl Haig, the British Commander-in-Chief, undertook the task of organising the British Legion as a means of coping with the problems of hundreds and thousands of men who had served under him in battle.

In 1921, a group of widows of French ex-servicemen called on him at the British Legion Headquarters.

They brought with them from France some poppies they had made, and suggested that they might be sold as a means of raising money to aid the distressed among those who were incapacitated as a result of the war.

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Where can I find the words to the poppy poem?

It is called "In Flanders Fields"

Remembrance
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How do I identify a badge. Click this link BAF Badge gallery

If you still can't find what you are looking for Email Webmaster

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What is a Battle Honour.

Battle Honours are an official acknowledgement of the part played in a successful campaign or engagement by the ships, units and squadrons which receive them. They serve as a permanent record of achievement of which past, present and future generations of Service personnel can be proud. The term Battle Honour is used colloquially and covers Battle and Theatre Honours.

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What is a Theatre Honour

A Theatre Honour is awarded to a Regiment, which has already qualified for a Battle Honour in the Theatre. Regiments, that are ineligible for a Battle Honour, may claim a Theatre Honour if its Headquarters and 50% of its sub-units were present in the theatre for at least one day and it had creditably performed an allotted task.

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The Wearing of the Sash

In the British Army Warrant Officers Class 2, Colour Sergeants and Sergeants wear the sash tied on the left side. The Light Infantry wear the sash tied to the right. The WOs' and Sjts' of the Somerset Light Infantry had the unique distinction of wearing their sashes over their left shoulder and tied on the right side; whilst those of all other regiments and corps wore it on the opposite side. The precise origin of this custom is unknown; some attribute it to the Regiment's actions at the Battle of Culloden in 1746 and others to Killiecrankie in 1689.

The idea of having a sash was that if an officer was wounded on the field his sash could be used as a stretcher. The original purpose of the officer sash's construction started to lose its meaning when the sash went from the shoulder to the waist in 1768. The length was gradually reduced for convenient wearing.

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Light Infantry Offices

Somerset: . Col M J R Motum (Mike)

The Rifles Office, 14, Mount Street, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 3QE,

Tel: 01823 333434/Ext 4663/4665 - Email to Col MJR Motum

Cornwall: Major T W Stipling

The Rifles Office, The Keep, The Barracks, Bodmin, Cornwall, PL31 1EG

Tel: 01208 72810 - Email to Major Stipling

Yorkshire: Major C M J Deedes

The Rifles Office, Minden House, Wakefield Road, Pontefract, W. Yorkshire, WF8 4ES

Tel: 01977 703181 - Email to Major Deedes

Shropshire & Herefordshire: Major NA de C Jones