On
26th May 1716 King George 1st signed a Royal Warrant to form the Royal Regiment
of Artillery. Three hundred years later the
Gunners commemorated their Tercentenary with their Captain General reviewing
the Royal Regiment of today. The review took place 26th May 2016 at Larkhill, Headquarters of the Royal Artillery.
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| Queen with Light Gun |
Representing 101 (Northumbrian Regiment was
a MLRS detachment with one Gunner from each of the Batteries within the Regiment.
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| Queen with MLRS from 101 (Northumbrian) Regiment RA |
On conclusion of the Captain Generals Review the Master Gunner, addressed The
Royal Regiment.
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Master Gunners Speech
Royal Review 26 May 2016 |
Your Majesty,
The many members of the Royal
Regiment honoured to be celebrating our Tercentenary in Your presence, do so in
the knowledge that whilst we are shaped by our past, we are defined by what we
do today, and are ready for what is to come. So the Regiment You have just
reviewed is drawn up to show how it operates and fights in 2016. To your left
are highly sophisticated and integrated means of finding adversaries and
protecting our own forces—whilst to your right the means of striking hard, with
precision and at range, comprises a wide range of weapon systems.
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| STA Equipment Weapon Systems |
But what of our 300 years ? In
short, they have been defined by
human achievement in a multiplicity of realms: in original thought (we were the
first Regiment to educate it’s officers and to undertake formal military
exercises); in science (Congreve’s pioneering designs from the 18th
century were recognizable in the guns
and rockets recently used in Afghanistan.); in scale (Woolwich was the first
military-industrial complex in the world and in the 2nd World War more than a
million men and women wore our badge, seeing action on land, sea, and air and
in every theatre); in many other realms (music
and the film world, mountaineering and ocean sailing, political leadership and
past and current Olymoiads just for example); and in terms of outright
distinction (where the nation’s debt to Alanbrooke is probably the greatest
case in point). Along the way there has been outright gallantry, heroism and
sacrifice and service to the nation and mankind. Sixty two Gunners have won the
Victoria Cross.
Since 1945 many Gunners
have been decorated for gallantry
including Sergeant Bryan, Gunner Gadsby and Lance Bombardier Prout who were
awarded Conspicuous Gallantry Crosses in recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We
should reflect that these 300 years of achievement have come at great personal
cost. We lost just over 49 thousand officers and men in the 1st World War and
nearly 29 thousand in the 2nd with countless thousands wounded. Since then 461 Gunners have
given their lives on operations.
It is important that the
current generation identifies with this notable day. To that end a Baton,
designed to reflect our history and bearing Your name as our Captain General,
has in the past 12 months been carried around the world by teams from all our
regiments. The route chosen took it through Commonwealth and Allied countries,
as well as those of significance in our 300 year history. The journey,
characterized by endeavour, ambition, adventure, historical reflection and sporting
challenge, embraced 26 countries. It started at Woolwich with the first leg
being carried out by King’s Troop.
As I speak, The Troop
has completed the last leg across Salisbury Plain................
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| Kings Troop with Captain Generals Baton gallop across Salisbury Plain |
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| Kings Troop deliver the Captain Generals Baton |
and the Baton will be
presented to You now by the youngest member of the Royal Regiment.
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Youngest member of the Royal Artillery
presents the Captain Generals Baton
to Her Majesty the Queen. |
Our 3 centuries have forged a family Regiment and determined our character (’once
a Gunner always a Gunner’
very much holds good). And in conveying the Regiment’s loyal greetings to You
on this day, I do so with the assurance that that character and a preparedness to embrace technology, a
determination to apply it intelligently on the battlefield and essential competence in all we do — will continue to define Gunners everywhere we may
serve.
General Timothy
Granville-Chapman GBE KCB
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| Master Gunner & Captain General |
Her
Majesty the Queen, Captain General Royal Regiment of Artillery responded to the
Master Gunner.
Master
Gunner,
I last
reviewed my Royal Regiment in 1984 in Dortmund and you have, consistent with
your motto - Ubique - since then taken part in many
operations, always adapting quickly to
new circumstances that face the Armed Forces today.
In all
the theatres of war and in peacekeeping and
humanitarian missions throughout the world, you have served with great
distinction, especially so in the recent conflicts in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
It has
indeed been a demanding period, for Gunners of all ranks and for your families
who have so closely supported you. You should be rightly proud of your achievements.
I
congratulate you on the journey of the Captain-General’s Baton, which has so
successfully reinforced the links
between the Royal Regiment and the Commonwealth and our Allies and
which, of course, characterises the strength and depth of my Regiment's
commitment to our common cause of freedom and democracy around the world.
The Royal Regiment of
Artillery has since 1716 proudly served the Nation all over the World and I
wish all Gunners every success and good fortune in the future.
