Where did these traditions come from?

[PTE_Lui]

-Every unit has a mess
-A mess for Jr NCM‘s, Snr NCM‘s, Jr Officers, Sr Officers
-Head dress off in the mess
-Rifles are not guns
-Our rank structure


I know there are more, just slipped my mind right now

 

[bossi]

Pte Lui,
Frankly, I‘m very seriously starting to worry about what your unit is NOT teaching you ...

In a nutsh ell (ed. note - hmmm ... that automated profanity editor struck again), the mess is intended to be "your home" - you can go there, hang out with others soldiers of roughly equivalent rank (i.e. your peers), and bond/vent/have a good time amongst yourselves without having "higher ups" breathing down your necks (something EVERY rank group craves at one point in time or another ... EVERY rank level).

Removing headdress is simply good manners, and many messes have Regimental colours, Books of Remembrance, or other items to which we pay our respect (remember - I‘m just giving you the Reader‘s Digest version - I‘m certain there are other more learned historians who could and will provide more thorough explanations).

Guns are what the artillery uses to deliver their seasons greetings to the bad guys - rifles are what the rest of the Army uses to inflict "lead poisoning" onto the bad guys (also refers to the rifling inside the barrel, which causes the round to spin, whereas I believe shotguns don‘t have rifling - Master Blaster will sort you out with some more specific details when he‘s got time). I actually remember reading something about the etymology of the word gun, and it was traced back to some Roman who nicknamed his catapult after his girlfriend "Gunhilda" (I‘m not making this up!)

Rank structure? Come on - give us a break - hasn‘t anybody taught you about that yet? It‘s late, and I‘m tired, so I will leave this to somebody else (or, you could always do some research/homework ... here are a few hints: commissioned officers hold commissions, non-commissioned officers don‘t have commissions, once upon a time warrant officers were considered as "warranting" being commissioned offiers but couldn‘t afford to buy their commission, and ‘other ranks‘ referred to everybody else - it worked well enough for us to win a couple of wars).

Okay - I hope that‘s enough to whet your appetite.
Good luck with the books.

"READ, READ, READ ... or in my case ... WATCH A MOVIE (but no matter what, keep learning)!!!"

 

[ender]

Actually my unit only has two messes, a J.R.‘s and a SNCO/officers. But that‘s ‘cause we‘re currently living in a converted garage.

 

[Spr Earl]

Originally posted by bossi:
[qb]Pte Lui,
Frankly, I‘m very seriously starting to worry about what your unit is NOT teaching you ...

In a nutsh ell (ed. note - hmmm ... that automated profanity editor struck again), the mess is intended to be "your home" - you can go there, hang out with others soldiers of roughly equivalent rank (i.e. your peers), and bond/vent/have a good time amongst yourselves without having "higher ups" breathing down your necks (something EVERY rank group craves at one point in time or another ... EVERY rank level).

Removing headdress is simply good manners, and many messes have Regimental colours, Books of Remembrance, or other items to which we pay our respect (remember - I‘m just giving you the Reader‘s Digest version - I‘m certain there are other more learned historians who could and will provide more thorough explanations).

Guns are what the artillery uses to deliver their seasons greetings to the bad guys - rifles are what the rest of the Army uses to inflict "lead poisoning" onto the bad guys (also refers to the rifling inside the barrel, which causes the round to spin, whereas I believe shotguns don‘t have rifling - Master Blaster will sort you out with some more specific details when he‘s got time). I actually remember reading something about the etymology of the word gun, and it was traced back to some Roman who nicknamed his catapult after his girlfriend "Gunhilda" (I‘m not making this up!)

Rank structure? Come on - give us a break - hasn‘t anybody taught you about that yet? It‘s late, and I‘m tired, so I will leave this to somebody else (or, you could always do some research/homework ... here are a few hints: commissioned officers hold commissions, non-commissioned officers don‘t have commissions, once upon a time warrant officers were considered as "warranting" being commissioned offiers but couldn‘t afford to buy their commission, and ‘other ranks‘ referred to everybody else - it worked well enough for us to win a couple of wars).

Okay - I hope that‘s enough to whet your appetite.
Good luck with the books.

"READ, READ, READ ... or in my case ... WATCH A MOVIE (but no matter what, keep learning)!!!"

[ 21 December 2001: Message edited by: bossi ][/qb]

The reason for removing head dress is because the Queen‘s photo is on the wall and as you say to pay respect and a bit more trivia , the Queen‘s photo is supposed to be on the north wall of all room‘s so she can over look her realm ,something from the Victorian time‘s. <img src="wink.gif" border="0" alt="" />

 

[portcullisguy]

Originally posted by Pte_Lui:
[qb]
-Our rank structure
[/qb]

I can‘t give you the whole shebang, but here are some obvious ones:

Rifleman (Private) - Member of a rifle regiment
Bombardier (Private) - Member of an artillery regiment
Trooper (Private) - Member of a cavalry (armd) regiment, usually

Corporal - "Corp" means "the body" and a corporal is in charge of the smallest "body" of soldiers, usually a section or half-section.
Sergeant - from Old French, "sergent", which was derived from the Latin, "serviens", meaing "Serving".

Lieutenant - "Lieu" = Place, "Tenant" = Occupier... the lieutenant, therefore, occupies the place of an officer, for the purpose of giving orders, etc.

Captain - From Latin, "Caput", meaning head.

Colonel - From Old Latin, "collonnello" meaning a column of soldiers.

Adjutant - From "adjutare" (Latin), meaning "to aid". An assistant to a superior officer.

Aide de Camp (AdC) - "Aide" = Help, "Camp" = Camp, literally "help for the camp", an officer who assists a superior, much like an adjutant. In our British system, an AdC is normally a military assistant to the Sovereign or their representative.

 

[RCA]

Yes, I do wonder what they are teaching out there.

In the Artillery (the forgotten combat arm judging by most of this board)

A Bombardier is what the rest of you have as Corporals. A Gunner is the equivalent to Private

 

[B Walford]

To Pte Lui
When you reach the age of 12 and actually meet a real soldier you may understand some of the traditions you question.
The ‘Mess‘ is the place to go to for your meals, sleeping, and socializing (do some sea time).
It is broken up into ranks because of need. Would you as a person with rank and responsibility want to have to socialize with the same people you are in charge of? As a young, know-it-all would you want to be in the same location as the officer or NCO that you criticize? THINK not just - think about it.
If your sign off statement "KILL KILL KILL, etc" was anything but mindless wishfull wannabe thinking, you would know the difference between a GUN and a RIFLE.
Also you would know the difference between TRADITIONS, esprit de corps and mil law.
Traditions were earned through the sweat, tears, blood and lives of those that came before you. Traditions are a sign of honour and respect and should be followed (yes, blindly to a degree) and researched to find out why and how they came about.
Same as the tradition of ‘respect your elders‘ which is not military but should have been taught at home.
In short, young fellow, LEARN.

Arte et Marte

 

[portcullisguy]

Originally posted by RCA:
[qb]Yes, I do wonder what they are teaching out there.

In the Artillery (the forgotten combat arm judging by most of this board)

A Bombardier is what the rest of you have as Corporals. A Gunner is the equivalent to Private[/qb]

Not being an arty man, I didn‘t know about that.. thanks.

 

[RCA]

Actually we prefer "Gunners"

and speaking of traditions, arty units are handed over on parades at the "at ease" (unless officer is Col or higher). This was because of the time of using horses. The handlers couldn‘t be at attention and hold the horses at the same time.

and our guns are our colours and should be treated as such (means no leaning against etc). and our battle honour is Ubique meaning everywhere. (only the Eng and the Arty can claim this.) And anyone whose says his riflke is his gun should try shouldering arms with a 105.

 

[Brad Sallows]

One should note that "Ubique" refers to the presence of artillery as it influences the battlefield, and not the fall of shot.

 

[RCA]

Ha Ha Ha and YES that is the first time I‘ve heard that one (!!!)