# Coat of Many Colours Parades gone?



## FSTO (2 Oct 2017)

I know that many on this site are so operationally focused that their poop is camo coloured  ;D. But I liked the move made today at the GG investiture. The royal guard of honour had a division of Army, a division of RCAF and the flag party was all sailors. That looked very sharp. I'm sure that positions will rotate among the 3 traditional elements. (but what of CANSOF? Me thinks they have better things to do).

Now if we can just get the RCN officers to hook up their damn scabbards, swing their left arm and get rid of the white gloves all will be good.  :nod:


----------



## Mike5 (3 Oct 2017)

Any pictures?


----------



## Edward Campbell (3 Oct 2017)

See below ... you can see the RCN colour party and the RCAF guard.


----------



## Oldgateboatdriver (3 Oct 2017)

Yep! You can tell it's a RCAF guard: The front rank is not sized properly! Double dip to shortest member  [

Neither the Army nor the RCN would make that mistake.


----------



## The Bread Guy (3 Oct 2017)

Oldgateboatdriver said:
			
		

> Yep! You can tell it's a RCAF guard: The front rank is not sized properly! Double dip to shortest member  [
> 
> Neither the Army nor the RCN would make that mistake.


To be fair to the junior service, could the furthest-away "dip" be a supernumary NCO/officer position of some sort, as opposed to the rest of the front rank?


----------



## Oldgateboatdriver (3 Oct 2017)

Yes, but still double dip.

Assuming the member closest to the colours is the NCO, we would have, starting at the colours, and in relation to the member on their right:

NCO, Marker, shorter mbr., shorter (and shortest actually), taller (we only see the mgr's chin), taller, equal, shorter, shorter, shorter, taller, taller, etc.


----------



## dapaterson (3 Oct 2017)

In fact, in NDHQ, the RCN has been doing the Colour Party for a long time.  An intelligent sailor noted that there are far, far fewer positions to worry about if you're tasked with that; let the CA and RCAF worry about the bigger numbers*.


(* In fact, all positions in such guards are sourced from far & wide in NDHQ, and not only the three ECSes.  A quick review of cap badges show that the guards are composite groups pulled from many, many different places.)


----------



## FSTO (3 Oct 2017)

dapaterson said:
			
		

> In fact, in NDHQ, the RCN has been doing the Colour Party for a long time.  An intelligent sailor noted that there are far, far fewer positions to worry about if you're tasked with that; let the CA and RCAF worry about the bigger numbers*.
> 
> 
> (* In fact, all positions in such guards are sourced from far & wide in NDHQ, and not only the three ECSes.  A quick review of cap badges show that the guards are composite groups pulled from many, many different places.)



True. Cap tallies, beret and wallet badges were all over the place. 
I'm just happy that uniform colour in each division and the *Flag Party *were well, uniform! ;D


----------



## Blackadder1916 (3 Oct 2017)

Oldgateboatdriver said:
			
		

> Yep! You can tell it's a RCAF guard: The front rank is not sized properly! Double dip to shortest member  [
> 
> Neither the Army nor the RCN would make that mistake.



Nope, it's not an RCAF guard, nor a Canadian Army guard nor a colour party provided by the RCN.  It was a bog standard Guard of Honour mounted by the Canadian Armed Forces and formed in review order as per the applicable drill manual.  And I don't even have to see any parade order to know the make up:



> 2. A 100-person royal or state guard of honour
> is composed of:
> 
> a. one major;
> ...



There are no supernumeraries in a guard.

As for the sizing and blaming it on an "air force" attitude, if you look at the video of the parade, the guard MWO was in an army uniform.  It would have been his responsibility to form the guard and then hand it over to guard commander.  So if any service is to blame for laxity, it was the army.  But really, looking at the command badges (if any worn) and formation patches (very few on army uniforms) it seems the majority of pers on parade were from organizations other than the commands known as RCN, Cdn Army and RCAF, therefore an appropriate NDHQ mob, whose turn-out and performance was respectable.

But then, it has now (with this installation of GG) become a tradition to pick apart the guard.


----------



## dapaterson (3 Oct 2017)

FSTO said:
			
		

> I'm just happy that uniform colour in each division and the *Flag Party *were well, uniform! ;D



Given who the PM is, I would have thought that the guards would be more, well, joint.
 [Xp


----------



## Oldgateboatdriver (3 Oct 2017)

If the book is to be believed, then the parade was improperly led, Blackadder, because I didn't see any major there ... at all!!!  ;D


----------



## Edward Campbell (3 Oct 2017)

And two more pics showing the green part of the guard ...


----------



## FJAG (3 Oct 2017)

I've always liked the look of the German Armed Forces Wachbataillon (Guard Battalion) which is used for numerous ceremonial occasions has a number of companies but always parades with a band, colour guard and a small company each of army, air force and navy personnel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROuBL0ahXRQ

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wachbataillon

 :cheers:


----------



## dimsum (3 Oct 2017)

FJAG said:
			
		

> I've always liked the look of the German Armed Forces Wachbataillon (Guard Battalion) which is used for numerous ceremonial occasions has a number of companies but always parades with a band, colour guard and a small company each of army, air force and navy personnel.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROuBL0ahXRQ
> 
> ...



Well, what they do would definitely solve the different DEU issue.



> The soldiers of the Wachbataillon are from all three German Armed Services (i.e. Army, Navy and Air Force) and have the uniforms from all forces at their disposal to be able to perform any drill mission on every occasion. Green berets are used for Army uniform, the (dark) blue beret for Air Force and the Navy wears traditionally the sailor suit (Matrosenanzug). The beret badge for Army and Air Force uniform shows the letter "W" as an abbreviation for Wachbataillon.


----------



## Mike5 (4 Oct 2017)

I'd like to see more of this, it looks smart


----------



## Rifleman62 (4 Oct 2017)

> I've always liked the look of the German Armed Forces Wachbataillon (Guard Battalion) which is used for numerous ceremonial occasions has a number of companies but always parades with a band, colour guard and a small company each of army, air force and navy personnel.



A long time for the Guard to be at "The Present". Are they using the old WW2 Rifle? The Band Master did a left about turn. Is that what their drill is? Great video and music. Thanks for posting the links.


----------



## jollyjacktar (4 Oct 2017)

Rifleman62 said:
			
		

> A long time for the Guard to be at "The Present". Are they using the old WW2 Rifle? The Band Master did a left about turn. Is that what their drill is? Great video and music. Thanks for posting the links.



I watched the Naval elements take part in Fortissimo 2017 on Parliament Hill in July.  They are carrying Mauser K98s.


----------



## TangoTwoBravo (4 Oct 2017)

Please, nobody think that we need to stand up another ceremonial unit!


----------



## Infanteer (4 Oct 2017)

No kidding.  We have one, and they all wear the same red outfits....


----------



## jollyjacktar (4 Oct 2017)

But they're not the guys being tasked, ad nauseam, to provide Guards of Honour personnel in the NCR.


----------



## TangoTwoBravo (4 Oct 2017)

jollyjacktar said:
			
		

> But they're not the guys being tasked, ad nauseam, to provide Guards of Honour personnel in the NCR.



So the answer is to set up a 100 man unit whose primary job would be to provide opportunities for floppers on the internet to criticize their dress, drill and deportment?

By the Power of Greyskull I say no thanks!


----------



## dapaterson (4 Oct 2017)

Infanteer said:
			
		

> No kidding.  We have one, and they all wear the same red outfits....



We have three (plus one) such units.

The GGFG (Ottawa); the GGHG (Toronto); the CGG (Montreal); plus 30 Fd Regt RCA (Ottawa) fires salutes.


----------



## Blackadder1916 (4 Oct 2017)

Infanteer said:
			
		

> No kidding.  We have one, and they all wear the same red outfits....



Well, not on a fulltime basis, but if we only allow ceremonies or visits from dignitaries during the summer then we're good to go.  However, we used to have a reg force unit that did that sort of thing.

http://www.canadianguards.ca/JFK%20Guard%20of%20Honour.wmv

And even for installation of a governor general.


----------



## Remius (4 Oct 2017)

Two of the Guard Regiments were at Rideau Hall to receive the new gg  with a 100 man guard that day.  Can't be in two places at once I guess.


----------



## jollyjacktar (4 Oct 2017)

Tango2Bravo said:
			
		

> So the answer is to set up a 100 man unit whose primary job would be to provide opportunities for floppers on the internet to criticize their dress, drill and deportment?
> 
> By the Power of Greyskull I say no thanks!



I'm just saying that we're getting tasked on a fairly regular basis to provide X many ranks in such and such DEU.  It does pull you away from your job for several days at a time, which means you're not doing what you were sent here to the NCR to do.  

Unless you're in the cell that orchrastrates these parades.  I do feel for these poor bastards as they may be fulfilling their primary function here but it seems almost non stop for them.  

At my rank/colour in my unit l can honestly count the numbers of us on one hand.  We can be in high demand at times.  I've had two major parades in the past month.  They're hitting everyone hard, Reg and Res.  At times l wish l could call on the power of Greyskull myself.


----------



## dapaterson (4 Oct 2017)

A former NDHQ CWO once commented that parades on Ottawa would be easy if he could just fill the ranks with Majors.


----------



## FJAG (4 Oct 2017)

Rifleman62 said:
			
		

> A long time for the Guard to be at "The Present". Are they using the old WW2 Rifle? The Band Master did a left about turn. Is that what their drill is? Great video and music. Thanks for posting the links.



The rifle is the Karbiner 98k which was the standard WW2 infantry rifle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karabiner_98k/

I note the Wiki article says that they de-nazified the rifles by removing the eagle and swastika stampings that any might have had. 

Not sure about the drill but I understand it follows the old Prussian army drills which themselves, for the most part, remained largely unchanged throughout WW2 and into the present (except maybe the stechschritt [improperly called the goose step in English] which has disappeared except perhaps a small residual first step when stepping off)

The left-about turn seems to be standard. I note that the makeup of the band (initial detachment of fife and drum followed by a brass band detachment - not to mention the movements of the drum major and the schellenbaum standard all typically reach back to Prussia. 

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schellenbaum

If you want to see the Prussian military tradition in full swing go to the Youtube site and search for the annual Ejercito de Chile parada militar. The 2017 one is here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5CNuJnBIBc

I think that for a sharp looking honor guard, you'd be hard pressed to beat the PLA's Beijing Capitol Garrison Honor Guard battalion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty-ZeA7_EYs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Capital_Garrison_Honor_Guard_Battalion

 :cheers:


----------



## jollyjacktar (4 Oct 2017)

The PLA were mentioned in another thread.  I thought they were a thing of beauty to watch in motion, still do.  Someone said these soldiers were hand picked just for this task and it was their primary function while in service.  Nevertheless the amount of work they put into the seven Ps cannot be faulted or the end product.


----------



## FSTO (4 Oct 2017)

jollyjacktar said:
			
		

> The PLA were mentioned in another thread.  I thought they were a thing of beauty to watch in motion, still do.  Someone said these soldiers were hand picked just for this task and it was their primary function while in service.  Nevertheless the amount of work they put into the seven Ps cannot be faulted or the end product.


Hand picked for sure. Everyone on parade there are likely within a millimetre of 6 ft and within an ounce of 190 lbs.

Lovely what you can get with a billion people and no HR guidelines.  ;D


----------



## jollyjacktar (4 Oct 2017)

Exploit your resources.


----------



## Retired AF Guy (4 Oct 2017)

FJAG said:
			
		

> I've always liked the look of the German Armed Forces Wachbataillon (Guard Battalion) which is used for numerous ceremonial occasions has a number of companies but always parades with a band, colour guard and a small company each of army, air force and navy personnel.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROuBL0ahXRQ
> 
> ...



Looks really great, but even the Jordanian Army knows that to be a great marching band it has to have a Pipe and Drum section:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWXWMwam1uM

Even better if it has female Pipers/Drummers.


----------



## FJAG (4 Oct 2017)

Retired AF Guy said:
			
		

> Looks really great, but even the Jordanian Army knows that to be a great marching band it has to have a Pipe and Drum section:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWXWMwam1uM
> 
> Even better if it has female Pipers/Drummers.



It has always been an incomprehensible conundrum that notwithstanding my Prussian DNA (and therefore a genetic love of beer, brotchen and bockwurst) that I like to listen to a good pipe band, joined a highland infantry battalion, wore a kilt and married a Scot.  ;D

 :cheers:


----------



## Mike5 (5 Oct 2017)

That is entirely comprehensible... you just have exceedingly good taste 

Have you ever noticed that all the nice things in the world begin with 'B'... beer, bagpipes, boats...

iper:


----------



## Blackadder1916 (5 Oct 2017)

FJAG said:
			
		

> . . .  wore a kilt and married a Scot.  ;D



And who wore the pants in that family?


----------

