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RAOC Gazette - page 17

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Full title RAOC Gazette
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Publication date 1983
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Early date 1983
Late date 1983
Transcription THE ASSOCIATION OF SERVICE NEWSPAPERS ADVERTISEMENT PAGES,
PO BOX 4, FARNBOROUGH, HAMPSHIRE, GU14 7LR. TEL 0252 515891
THIS IS YOUR ORDER FORM
To: British Philatelic Bureau, FREEPOST (No s t a m p required).
Dept. 83AMA, 20, Brandon Street, EDINBURGH EH3 OHN
Please send me
Sets of British Army stamps; at £1.22 the set.
OUANTITY
REQUIRED
TOTAL
VALUE
£ p
Presentation Packs of British Army stamps with
clear protective display cover and fully
illustrated descriptive leaflet; at £1.41 the pack.
Sets of British Army postcards: at 65p the set.
1
1982 Collectors' Packs: perfect start or essential
part of any serious collection. The complete
year's special issues-8 in all-with full
Collectors' Notes. £7.63 the pack.
Please check total (and note-add nothing for
p&p-itisfree).
£
I enclose cheque/PO made out to British Philatelic Bureau, crossed
"A/C Payee" or use National Giro Account No. 110 0009:
Do not send cash.
NAME
ADDRESS
POSTCODE
SIGNATURE
Allow 28 days for delivery.
T h e Royal S c o t s , senior of the Line
infantry regiments and nicknamed,
because of its fabled antiquity, "Pontius
Pilate's Bodyguard," was raised in 1633.
After the Restoration of King Charles II, it
took its place as the 1st, or Royal, Regiment
of Foot.
It was an anti-cavalry force, consisting of pikemen
and musketeers. The pikemen wore rudimentary armour
and carried a fifteen or eighteen foot pike and a short sword.
Their role was to protect the musketeers from being
trampled by advancing cavalry during the lengthy process
of loading, firing and reloading their cumbersome match-
lock muskets.
In the period shown in the stamp, the Regiment was
generally in the Service of France, Scottish soldiers having
formed a martial backbone to the 'auld alliance' since the
thirteenth century.
The Royal Welch Fusiliers, senior infantry
regiment of Wales, was raised in 1689 and
adopted the title, uniform and weapons of
Fusiliers in 1702. Their weapon, the fusil, was a
light flintlock musket with a smaller bore than
the matchlock then in general use. Part of their
EricStemp,
designer of the
series, lectures
at St. Martin's
School of Art and
is a specialist in
period costume
illustration.
SUPPLEMENT No. 1—PAGE TWO
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uniform was a tall cap, like a Grenadier's. This was partly to
enhance their stature and bearing, butalso to make it easier
for the fusilier to sling his fusil on his back.
Today, fusiliers still weardistincnveuniforms.thepar-
ticular distinction of the Royal Welch being the 'flash' of
black ribbons at the back of the tunic collar. This recalls the
ribbons used to tie the plait of long hair worn by soldiers
and to decorate officers' wigs.
T h e Royal Green J a c k e t s inherit a great
tradition: the capacity of the British Army to
adopt new, more efficient techniques of war-
fare. Key to the change in this case was the
development of the rifle. With its range, its
accuracy, and its rapid delivery of Are it was too deadly to be
ignored.
The stamp shows uniforms of one of the Regiment's
ancestors-the Experimental Corps of Riflemen, formed in
1800. Dressed in dark green for concealment and armed
with Baker rifles, they soon attracted recruits and taught
them marksmanship and swift movement With a sword-
bayonet as their sidearm, their quick marching-pace and
the practice of giving commands in action by bugle-call
ratherthan by drum-beat, they soon established a tradition
for hard-hittingeffectiveness which strongly survives to this
day.
Irish Guards - formed by Queen Victoria
in 1900, in recognition of exemplary
service in South Africa by eight regiments
of Irish Line Infantry. As the fourth Regi-
ment of Foot Guards, they have a cap badge
which recalls the Star of the Order of S t
Patrick, with plumes in their bearskins of S t Patrick's blue.
A section of the newly formed regiment returned to South
Africa in October 1901, dressed in khaki uniforms,
with slouch hats and ammunition bandoliers, and armed
with Lee Enfield magazine rifles.
The Parachute Regiment - the
'Paras' of Falkland Islands fame,
and the 'maroon machine' of the recent
_
BBC tv series — are amongst the most
formidable fighting men the British Army has ever put
into the field. The Regiment began life in 1940 as No. 2
Commando, at the personal order of Winston Churchill.
Routine training provides for parachute jumps from as
little as 300 feet in emergency.
The stamp shows paratroopers dressed for combat in
their 'Disruptive Pattern Material' anorak, with light-weight
olive green trousers, armed with the General Purpose
Machine Gun or self-loading rifle. Headgear is the steel
helmet or red beret.
Honouring as they do the Scots, the Welsh, the
English and the Irish as well as a truly British Regiment
these stamps will be important possessions for anyone
with an interest in military history, in costume, in philately
— or simply in owning (or giving as presents) examples of
fine British printing and design. You can buy them from
6th July at any post office; or .->,
order them here and now, using S
the address in this advertise-
lt=*
ment or the order form above,
r~vv
British Philatelic Bureau,
Dept. 83AMA, 20, Brandon
collectors'
Street EDINBURGH EH3 5TT. -from The Post
items
Office
Printed in Great Britain
Book number R0406