Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Kelley
To see the terms Chav Cav and Peoples Cavalry used to describe members of the Royal Tank Regiment is disappointing, the former, appears to me, at least, to be rather inappropriate at best, the latter, suggests that the regiment and it's members are somehow different to their cavalry counterparts, moreover, it might imply, depending upon who uses that term, that the cavalry is somehow superior.
Can someone please explain these terms?
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Apologies for this long winded post, but the words are those of Mark Lynton, a German-Jewish RTR officer and author of “Accidental Journey: A Cambridge Intern’s Memory of World War II”, published by The Overlook Press.
It reminded me of the comments re. "regimental rivalries" on this thread.
I came across the book per chance whilst googling for information on the RTR officer’s Dress beret bullion badge (I need a badge to complete such a beret), I fully intend to buy a copy of what appears to be an excellent little publication.
It’s written a by a “Tankie” who is witty and eloquent, has a firm, sober grip on reality, and can refer to regimental “differences” sensibly and with humour as the vast majority of serving soldiers and ex-soldiers do (unless they're looking for a fight in the NAAFI) – no chips on shoulders or frothing at the mouth from this man despite his experiences, which included incarceration as an enemy alien and building public conveniences all over south western England as a member of the Pioneer Corps:
“As time went by, and it became increasingly clear that we would actually stay the course, the prime question became which regiment would we join, or which would have us. Wartime temporarily blunts some prejudices, but does not eradicate them, so Groucho Marx’s observation that he would not join a club which would have him as a member was as valid as ever.
To some few of us, the choice was predestined; if your great grandfather had battled with the Zulus at the head of the Nineteenth Lancers, that is where you went – Zulus or no Zulus. To most of us however, the basic choice was between the donkey-wallopers and one of the original tank regiments. Joining the cavalry meant stunning uniforms, impeccable social standing, and hobnobbing with both your peers and real peers; joining a tank regiment meant lower mess bills and a higher survival rate. In peacetime, a Horse Guard officer might spend in a month what a Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) officer could not earn in his entire career; wartime had curtailed truly Homeric mess bills, but Veuve Cliquot was still more expensive than a pint of bitter. As to the survival rate, there was a third and more lunatic alternative reserved for heroes and head cases. You could join a Reconnaissance Regiment, which meant patrolling ahead and on the flanks of advancing troops in very light tanks or armoured cars and taking quite appalling losses. Still, while alive, you were a member of legendry regiments and some evidently believed that being a dead Eleventh Hussar was socially more acceptable than being a live Tank Regiment member. In some circles that was quite true.
I opted for a Tank Regiment and hoped to be accepted there; there was no particular reason to try for Third Royal Tanks, except that regimental folklore had it that Third and Fifth Tanks were
primi inter pares and why not the best?
About three weeks before the passing-out date, final RTR notices were handed out, and some twenty of us knew that we had somehow slipped through. Not only that but we were also told which regiment had accepted us, so as to allow time for uniforms to be tailored (to be donned within about thirty seconds after having duly passed out). Among all the military tailors available in Camberley and London, I picked Gieves at One Saville Row. In retrospect I assume that the address impressed me; Gieves was famed for naval uniforms and for its steep prices, neither of which should have been a selling point with me. RTR uniforms did not present much of a challenge to a military tailor…………………………
………………….. Cavalry uniforms were a far more demanding undertaking; some came only in twill, some only in light beige, some had flared jackets, others skintight trousers (and some of those in colour or tartans), and some uniform jackets had black buttons or cloth buttons or six buttons or twelve buttons – none of the cavalry regiments ever quite left the nineteenth century – nor should they have”.
Everyone in tanks, donkey-wallopers and RTR people, wore the black beret, but the beret badges of course differed widely, and only RTR regiments wore black berets off duty as well, whereas excavalry types would then revert to all kinds of arcane headgear………………
……………………You were supposed to wear a pistol, but hardly anyone did; by the time the Germans were that close, you should be elsewhere………………
…………………..You were supposed to have your map case with you at all times; presumably so that, even if you did not know where you were heading, in case of your capture, the Germans would……….
The bedroll was the critical difference between being in tanks and comfortable And being in the infantry and in trouble. The infantry just trotted around and everything they needed, aside from some ammunition and a little water, had to be brought to them by trucks. Trucks do not like rto go where people shoot at each other, and that was where the infantry was supposed to be; so there was this dilemma…..
Not so with tanks…………………………………."