Although primarily a sea service corps, their knowledge of land service artillery drill has proved of the highest use on several occasions during recent years-notably in Egypt. At Tel-el-Mahuta and Kassassin in 1882, and at El Teb in 1884, they rendered invaluable aid as land gunners in assisting the Royal Horse Artillery in the field, besides on their own account fighting captured Krupp field guns.
Tag: history
Tommy’s Christmastide in Barracks and Forts.
It is Christmas morning and the orderly men have fallen in to carry the rations to the cook-house, where the “Roast Beef of Old England” is destined to frizzle in a friendly spirit with turkeys, chickens, hams, and-but here we pause as dinner is not yet served.
History Repeats; Soldiers & Pandemics
A dread sound that she had heard too often before. The clip-clopping of horse’s hooves on the cobblestones and the beat of muffled drums. Coming into view along the harbour-side is yet another funeral procession. There are sometimes three or four a day. The horses with their black plumes pulling a gun-carriage which bears a coffin. The Military band is playing The Dead March in subdued tones and all the drums are muffled in black crepe.
Bands and Bells; Weymouth’s Christ Church Gets Ringing. Royal Madras Fusiliers.
Weymouth, it appears, despite being a town of such pretensions and possessing for churches’ had been ‘lacking altogether a peal of bells.
Weymouth Defences before the Nothe Fort.
It was, indeed, an elegant structure, and well chosen as a military position. The half-moon battery in its front, and which crested the cliff has been swept away with much of the building in its rear by the inroads of the sea.
Sunday Morning Bargains: WWI Aerial Torpedoes & the Boys Own Annual
If I get chance I just love a leisurely mooch around our local car boot for items, mainly things that relate to my interests, local history, but in particular, since having discovered Weymouth’s military past, I’ve become fascinated by life in town for the regular Tommy. Sometimes I come away from my Sunday perambulations empty…
Confessions of a Military Bookaholic
I love an old book, particularly those from the 19th century period, which not surprisingly is what I tend to write about. Not necessarily military either, but if they contain information all to the good. They are filled with the most glorious illustrations, not just those to enhance the stories or articles but also their…
Why the ‘Nutcrackers’ Are So Called. Stationed at Weymouth’s Red Barracks 1860.
Originally posted on TALES FROM AROUND THE VICTORIAN WORLD.:
(A nice bit of Victorian blood and gore for the littlun’s! ) Taken from ‘Little Folks a Magazine for the Young’ dated 1890. ‘The famous regiment of Buffs, used also to be known as the 3rd Foot, once rejoiced for a while in the nickname of…
Give a Soldier a Football…History of the British Army and Sport
Sport, especially football, seems to have played a major role in a soldiers life, they took it seriously…and I mean VERY seriously! A snippet here taken from The Navy & Army Illustrated of 1899 gives us a taste of a few British army history facts concerning soldiers and sport. It describes the team of the…
And the Band Played On; History of Music from the British Royal Navy
Someone once asked me why I write posts about the navy when my blog and book were entitled Nothe Fort and Beyond. ‘Beyond’ maybe gives a clue because the Victorian fortifications weren’t built as a stand alone defence. They were not only designed to protect our south coast from invasion but to protect the naval…
NOTHE FORT AND BEYOND... 