London Guard regiments

[EagleJCS]

I'm finally getting around to cataloging/labeling some photos and I was wondering if anyone here could point me to a resource/s online(?)that would tell me which British regiment(s) were on public duty (guard duty) in the London area a couple of years back.

Nothing nefarious in mind. I just want to put the appropriate captions to these photos. (Like "Member of the 8th Light Infantry on duty at Windsor.")

The guards on duty at the time weren't the standard foot guards regiments (Grenadiers, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh) with the scarlet tunics and bearskins that everyone's familiar with. They were wearing black or dark blue tunics, trousers with red stripes, and the peaked cap (visor cap or service cap to the US vets) of the regular army.

I can provide specific dates & locations if you don't want to share your resource(s). I'd even be willing to share a couple of the photos if it would help. I think I've got a pretty good idea for at least one day, but I'd like to confirm it.

Thanks in advance.

[Jock Scot]

It is not unusual for a "guest regiment" to mount guard in place of the usual Foot Guards, often during a period in the summer. It is regarded as a high honour. Have you a picture of the cap badge?A picture of the uniform may help too.

[EagleJCS]

Jock,
Unfortunately, the cap badges are not very distinct in close-up. I think one is from the Royal Corps of Signals and another may be the Royal Logistics Corps. I'll try to post them shortly (gotta read up on how to do it).

[EagleJCS]

Here we go:


Guard at Windsor Castle, 24 Jul 2007. (Royal Corps of Signals?)



Belt buckle detail for above.



Changing guards ar Tower of London, 25 Jul 2007. (Royal Logistics Corps, or Jamaica Defense Force?)



Single guard on duty at Tower of London, 25 Jul 2007.



Guard outside Buckingham Palace, 26 Jul 2007.

[macwilkin]

The first is Royal Regt. of Signals, and the fourth appears to be from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

I'm not so sure the second photo is the JDF; if I remember correctly, they wear red tunics and have dicing on their hats.

T.

[EagleJCS]

The first is Royal Regt. of Signals, and the fourth appears to be from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

I'm not so sure the second photo is the JDF; if I remember correctly, they wear red tunics and have dicing on their hats.

T.

Thanks cajunscot. Your description jibes with the picture I found of the JDF on duty outside St. James. But, the JDF website has a press release (here) indicating that they were on duty at Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace and the Tower of London on 25 July 2007.

According to what I found on Wikipedia (I know - not the best source of information, but it seems to be fairly accurate in this regard), in July 2007, the Worcestershire & Sherwood Foresters were the officially assigned unit for the London District. (See Queen's Guard, under Line Infantry.)

However (about 3/4 down the page, under the schedule for Jul-Dec 2005.): "The 1st Battalion, Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment was deployed in Afghanistan, while the 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards was in preparing to be deployed in September. As a consequence, several units from the combat support and combat service support arms were called to perform public duties. Below is a list of units called up during the month of July 2007:

Royal Artillery composite unit (comprising elements of 16 Regt and 39 Regt)
7 Transport Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps
16 Signal Regiment, Royal Corps of Signals

In addition, following a request from the British Government, a company from the 1st Battalion Jamaica Regiment was invited to undertake public duties for a month between July and August as part of the celebrations of the 45th anniversary of Jamaica's independence."

That's why I'm asking if anyone can tell me for sure which units these soldiers are from.

[Fougasse]

Top one is definitely the scaleys (Royal Signals), middle one looks like the Really Large Corps, aka Royal Logistic Corps, and the last one, though rather indistinct, looks like REME (Royal Engineers Made Easy). Apologies to any members of the above; inter-corps rivalry is hard to shake off, even after two years!

[xena]

Well, I think Fougasse has pegged pics 1,2 and 5, although I thought the scarlet band around the hat (picture 5) was an MP thing. Maybe that's just in Canada.

But as far as pics 3 and 4 go, it doesn't look like they're JDF. I've just surfed through the JDF's website, and the weapons are all different. When doing stuff at Buck Palace, the Canadian's carried their own weapons rather than "borrow" the British ones. I can't see the Jamaican's doing anything different.

Rats! Discussing weapons is a big no-no on this site! I beg the moderators indulgence, as this was an aspect of deducing who was in the photos, and not a discussion of the weapons per se. Regardless, I will not discuss them further, and I just mentioned it as a clue to who is in the photo.

If this is judged to be a transgression of the rules, I offer my apologies in advance, as well as my apologies to anyone who may be offended.

[Jock Scot]

Top one is definitely the scaleys (Royal Signals), middle one looks like the Really Large Corps, aka Royal Logistic Corps, and the last one, though rather indistinct, looks like REME (Royal Engineers Made Easy). Apologies to any members of the above; inter-corps rivalry is hard to shake off, even after two years!

I think you are correct apart from the last one. That does not look like a Royal Engineers cap badge to me; the collar dogs don't look right either.To me, that looks more like a Fusiliers cap badge, I could be wrong though. Later thoughts! I have just spent an interesting half an hour Googling British Army cap badges and maybe I am wrong, it could be a REME cap badge, because there is a not very good picture of their cap badge(REME) on a red band around the cap. So,maybe?

[Jock Scot]

Is this it? REME most certainly. Hmmmmm, is it like the one in your picture?