The Infantryman

[Subdeacon Joe]

An Army Infantryman... His emotions are impenetrable, yet his shoulders
are soft for those that need someone to lean on. His hands are firm yet
know exactly where they need to be. If he has his arms wrapped around
you, you're either in the last moments of your life or the safest place
you could ever be. He's stubborn but will let you have your way just to
see you smile. He's deadly with a rifle and gentle with a child. He
plays poker with the devil, but guards the gate of heaven. He curses
like no other, but is the perfect gentleman. He has a thousand yard
stare, but, when you look into his eyes, it's the most comforting thing
you've ever felt. The U.S. Army trained him as a weapon but raised him
as a lover. He knows every part of a M-4 and he knows every curve of his
woman. There is no other man like him. Whether you love him or hate
him, both is a privilege. He could be your worst nightmare or your best
friend!!

 

 

And

 

In Praise of Infantry

Field-Marshal Earl Wavell

First published in "The Times," Thursday, 19th April 1945

MY attention was lately called by a distinguished officer to the fact
that, whereas in official correspondence and in the Press it is the
practice always to use initial capital letters in referring to other
arms of the service—e.g. Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Artillery, etc.—the
infantry often suffered the indignity of a small "i". My friend wished
to adopt the usual method of an Englishman with a grievance and to write
to The Times about it! But he proposed to do it vicariously, through
me. Hence this article. I had not, I admit, noticed the small "i"
myself, nor would it have worried me greatly if I had. But I do feel
strongly that the Infantry arm (with a capital "I") does not receive
either the respect or the treatment to which its importance and its
exploits entitle it. This may possibly be understandable, though
misguided, in peace; it is intolerable in war.

Let us be clear about three facts. First, all battles and all wars
are won in the end by the infantryman. Secondly, the infantryman always
bears the brunt. His casualties are heavier, he suffers greater extremes
of discomfort and fatigue than the other arms. Thirdly, the art of the
infantryman is less stereotyped and far harder to acquire in modern war
than that of any other arm. The role of the average artilleryman, for
instance, is largely routine; the setting of a fuse, the loading of a
gun, even the laying of it are processes which, once learnt, are
mechanical. The infantryman has to use initiative and intelligence in
almost every step he moves, every action he takes on the battle-field.
We ought therefore to put our men of best intelligence and endurance
into the Infantry.

Yet the Infantry in peace or war receives the lowest rates of pay,
the drabbest uniforms, sometimes even the least promising of recruits;
most important of all, it ranks lowest in the public estimation and
prestige. This is all wrong and should be set right by methods more
important than a capital I.

In all the long history of war on land the front-line fighting man,
whose role is to close with the enemy and force him to flee, surrender,
or be killed—the only method by which battles are ever won—has two
categories only—those who fight mounted—once the Knights-at-arms, then
the Cavalry, now the Royal Armoured Corps—and those who fight on their
feet—the inevitable, enduring, despised, long-suffering Infantry (with a
very capital I). Artillery, Engineers, R.A.S.C., and the like simply
handle the weapons and equipment which Infantry have from time to time
discarded, when they found that they encumbered their mobility and
lessened their power to perform their primary role of closing with the
enemy. The cannon, bombard, or what-not, when first introduced was an
infantry weapon; when it impeded mobility it was handed over to
second-line men, to support the Infantry. Similarly with other weapons
and devices.

So that the real front-line fighters, mounted or dismounted, are the
men who should receive such panoply and glamour as are accorded to this
dreary business of war. The mounted men have always had it—prancing
steeds, glittering uniforms, sabretaches, scimitars, dolmans,
leopard-skins, and the like in the old days; the imposing clatter of
tanks and smart black berets in these sterner days. But the infantryman
who bears the danger, the dirt, and the discomfort has never enjoyed the
same prestige.

In peace, the Royal Armoured Corps, the Artillery, the Engineers all
had Inspectors to look after their interests. The Infantry had to
content themselves with a humiliating asterisk in the Army List and a
footnote which explained that the Director of Military Training (who was
sometimes a gunner or engineer) also acted as Inspector of Infantry.
The Royal Armoured Corps had a centre at Bovington, the Artillery at
Woolwich, the Engineers at Chatham. But the Infantry were homeless.
There was a Cavalry Journal, an Artillery Journal, an Engineer Journal,
but no Infantry Journal. I understand that it is intended to repair
these omissions after the war.

But I believe that what the Infantry would appreciate more than
anything is some outward and visible symbol. No one grudges the
parachutist his very distinctive emblem, but the infantryman is, I will
maintain, subject to greater and more continuous, though less
spectacular, risk than the parachutist, and should certainly have an
emblem. What it should be I must leave to others—a rampant lion, crossed
bayonets, a distinctive piping ?

It can surely not have escaped notice that nearly all our leaders who
have distinguished themselves in this war have been
infantrymen—Field-Marshals Dill, Alexander, Montgomery, Wilson; Generals
Auchinleck, O'Connor, Platt, Leese, Dempsey, and others. Last war was a
very static war, but there was a fashion for cavalry generals; in this
war infantry generals have shown that they can move as fast as any.

So let us always write Infantry with a specially capital "I" and
think of them with the deep admiration they deserve. And let us
Infantrymen wear our battle-dress, like our rue, with a difference; and
throw a chest in it, for we are the men who win battles and wars.

I will conclude with a story which was told me some ten years ago by
General Gouraud, a great fighting French general of the last war, who
was then Governor of Paris. He was dining with three British generals,
of different arms of the service. He told us the following as current in
the French Army to illustrate the characteristics of the three
principal arms:—

"The general gives an order to the infantryman. The
infantryman, being rather stupid, does not well understand what the
general wants, but goes out and engages the enemy.

"The general gives an order to the artilleryman. The
artilleryman understands it perfectly, but being much cleverer than the
general goes and does something quite different.

"The general gives an order to the cavalryman. The cavalryman smiles politely and goes off to water and feed his horses."

We all assured him that things were arranged differently in the British Army!

- Field-Marshal Earl Wavell, The Good Soldier, 1948

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

I can't find fault with any of this.

[Utah Bob #35998]

I say, the Field Marshal seems a bit confused about the Airborne troops wot?

Once they hit the ground, they are Infantrymen. Surrounded, outnumbered, Infantrymen.

That's why our regiments are designated Parachute Infantry regiments.

And our Infantrymen do have a symbol, crossed rifles!

The old boy was concerned with drab uniforms. Understandable, given the Brits penchant for brass buttons and breastplates.

Me, I like drab.....olive drab.

 

He also failed to mention that Infantrymen are the most devilishly handsome gentlemen in service. They make the ladies swoon and the other troops envious.

Carry on.

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

I say, the Field Marshal seems a bit confused about the Airborne troops wot?

Once they hit the ground, they are Infantrymen. Surrounded, outnumbered, Infantrymen.

That's why our regiments are designated Parachute Infantry regiments.

And our Infantrymen do have a symbol, crossed rifles!

The old boy was concerned with drab uniforms. Understandable, given the Brits penchant for brass buttons and breastplates.

Me, I like drab.....olive drab.

 

He also failed to mention that Infantrymen are the most devilishly handsome gentlemen in service. They make the ladies swoon and the other trops envious.

Carry on.

Too true, but I am still working on that part.

 

OD is goooooood.

[Subdeacon Joe]

"They make the ladies swoon and the other trops envious."

 

Trops?

 

Caltrops?

[Utah Bob #35998]

"They make the ladies swoon and the other trops envious."

 

Trops?

 

Caltrops?

Stupid tablet computer!

[Subdeacon Joe]

Stupid tablet computer!

 

Infantrymen make stupid tablet computers envious?

[Utah Bob #35998]

Cavalrymen fear caltrops....and Infantry.

[Subdeacon Joe]

Cavalrymen fear caltrops....and Infantry.

 

Not real fond of squares either.