Originally posted by Pte_Lui:
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-Our rank structure
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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.