When battle was joined to save the back badge
THIS week in 2004 The Citizen launched a battle cry to save a cherished part of our county’s military history.
A decision was made to merge the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment (Light Infantry). Fears were raised that this would mean the loss of the Glosters’ famous back badge.
The county regiment won the right to wear this symbol, a privilege unique in the British Army, after displaying heroic spirit in the defeat of Napoleon’s forces in Egypt during the Battle of Alexandria in 1801.
So The Citizen joined forces with veterans of the local regiment calling for the much prized back badge to remain and a petition was launched that attracted thousands of signatures.
The city’s then MP Parmjit Dhanda joined the campaign and told The Citizen: “The famous Back Badge is part of our local heritage here in Gloucestershire and helps signify that the Glosters are part of the regiment.
“As such I will do all that I can in Parliament to help defend the Back Badge and ensure that it is part of the military headgear of the regiment.”
Stroud’s MP of the time David Drew joined forces with Mr Dhanda to launch an early day motion in the House of Commons calling for the emblem to be retained.
Veterans told The Citizen that they had a special sense of pride knowing that they were the only troops in the British Army allowed to wear a second badge on the reverse of their headgear.
A number of those interviewed had fought as members of the local regiment at the Battle of Imjin in 1951 during the Korean War, some of them as National Servicemen.
One of them recalled: “We were guarding a supply road and trying to give our chaps a chance to recover. We ran out of ammo and there was no way we could blast our way out.
“We were fighting back-to-back, the same thing as when we won the back badge. We became the only infantry regiment to be given a citation from the United States.”
The Citizen took a party of veterans to Westminster to meet with the then defence secretary Geoff Hoon, and during the general election of 2005 PM Tony Blair pledged to do all he could to save the badge.
In November of that year, it was announced that the back badge would be saved and could be worn on caps as part of the ceremonial dress for occasions such as Remembrance Sunday.
This initial success proved to be something of a compromise when in 2006 it was announced that the badge could not be worn on active service.
The back badge is also worn by officers and warrant officers on their side hats and by the Band of the Bugles.
The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire regiment subsequently merged with others in February 2007 to form 1Rifles. They are based in Chepstow.
The origins of the Glorious Glosters date from 1694 when Colonel Gibson raised a regiment of foot. They went on to win numerous battle honours, one of them in Egypt, 1801 during the Battle of Alexandria.
The regiment, then called the 28th Foot (North Gloucestershire), landed in Egypt against strong French opposition and marched to Alexandria where they brought Napoleon’s army to battle.
Under cover of pre-dawn darkness and sand dunes, two columns of French infantry headed for the British right flank.
Heavy fighting ensued and as more French columns joined the attack, the Glosters were cut off. British muskets drove off the attackers but a brigade of
French moved through the gap between the Glosters and the rest of the British line. The battle raged all along the line, but most fiercely around the Glosters who were forced to fight to their front and flanks.
More French cavalry joined the fray, supported by more infantry. Some of the cavalry broke through and formed up to charge the Glosters from the rear.
With no reserves available at this critical point in the battle, Lieutenant Colonel Chambers, who had assumed command, gave the historic order “Rear rank, 28th, right about face”.
The Glosters’ rear ranks turned and with discipline waited until the French cavalry were a few horse lengths away.
They then fired one devastating volley causing heavy casualties among the cavalry and forcing them to withdraw.
This heroic action won the Glorious Glosters the right to wear the back badge.