A Message From The Queen.

[Jock Scot]

Certainly all true, and according to accounts I've been given, in WWII the Soviet's top army sniper and air combat flyer, plus many other combat aviators, were women as well. Historically women were recruited when a country was backed against the wall and then told they had to step down when the danger had passed. But they did not serve in combat on the Allied side in WWII, that was my point.

I don't wish to be pedantic here, but try telling that to the WAAFS at he Ventnor radar station, or the RAF stations in the South of England as the German bombs were raining down on them, or to the WAACS(later WRACS) as they "manned" the Anti Aircraft guns between 1939 and 1945. WW2 was probably the only war in history where the civilians and the women of the services of Great Britain were in the "front line" and with the greatest of respect, I think you are being rather grudging with your definition of "combat".

I seem to recall that Her Majesty was commissioned in 1945.

[macwilkin]

I don't wish to be pedantic here, but try telling that to the WAAFS at he Ventnor radar station, or the RAF stations in the South of England as the German bombs were raining down on them, or to the WAACS(later WRACS) as the "manned" the Anti Aircraft guns between 1939 and 1945. WW2 was probably the only war in history where the civilians and the women of the services of Great Britain were in the "front line" and with the greatest of respect, I think you are being rather grudging with your definition of "combat".

I seem to recall that Her Majesty was commissioned in 1945.

Not to mention the nurses who served at field hospitals, Jock. A number of American nurses were captured by the Japanese in the Philippines in 1942, and suffered along with their male comrades in the POW camps.

T.

[Jock Scot]

Not to mention the nurses who served at field hospitals, Jock. A number of American nurses were captured by the Japanese in the Philippines in 1942, and suffered along with their male comrades in the POW camps.

T.

.....or Singapore, or Malta, or Tobruk, or........the list is a long and proud one.



Lest we forget.

[macwilkin]

.....or Singapore, or Malta, or Tobruk, or........the list is a long and proud one.



Lest we forget.

Indeed, Jock. It is a long and proud one.

When push comes to shove, we (The USA) are lucky to have such "kith and kin" that know the price of freedom.

T.

[Lallans]

To return to the original point, the Queen of Great Britian and Northern Ireland, and of Canada and numerous other places, served as a humble woman truck driver during the war. She could have had some more glamourous and exciting job, but instead she chose to be directly involved in the heavy lifting part of the war effort. I have seen people who laughed at the idea that she really did this get jumped on (Brit: severely corrected) by people who were actually there and the radio story had particular meaning to me for that reason.

[xena]

The story of the late King Hussein at Sandhurst reminded me of a story that John Masters told in Bugles and a Tiger about Prince Henry, the future Duke of Gloucester and third son of George V. Reportedly a sergeant said to him, "Mr. Prince Henry, if I was your father, I'd...", paused, and instead of saying the traditional "I'd shoot myself!", instead said:

"I'D HADBICATE -- SIR!"



T.

Or a certain alleged quote from a Sergeant Major type instructing at Sandhurst:

"I don't care who your grandmother is, get in step, YOU HORRIBLE LITTLE MAN!"

[EHCAlum]

I understand that Prince William also preformed his first rescue as a SAR helio pilot for the RAF.

Is military service required of the Royal Family?

[Jock Scot]

I understand that Prince William also preformed his first rescue as a SAR helio pilot for the RAF.

Is military service required of the Royal Family?

No, but it helps if they do. Prince Edward was a Royal Marine for a while but he was not cut out for it and left. As they spend so much time at ceremonial duties it does help if they know how to salute and to be fair they realise only too well that to give orders they need to know how to receive them and the Services do give them a good grounding. Make no mistake, the members of the Royal family are more often than not, highly professional Officers and have on more than one occasion in the recent past served at the sharp end.

[Mike_Oettle]

Jock Scot wrote: “. . . members of the Royal family are . . . highly professional Officers and have on more than one occasion in the recent past served at the sharp end.”

Prince Philip followed his maternal grandfather, the German Prince Louis of Battenberg, into the Royal Navy, but when war broke out he was told that because Greece was not a belligerent nation, he could not be used in a combat role. He nonetheless served on naval vessels in convoy escort roles.
When Greece was invaded, he was posted to the Mediterranean aboard HMS Valiant and was mentioned in dispatches for his part in the Battle of Cape Matapan.
Regards,
Mike

[Pleater]

My dad was groundcrew in the RAF during the war, and when assisting a pilot from a replacement aircraft which had just landed, came over all confused at finding he had - - just manhandled a very attractive blond lady.

Women with flying experience were recruited to deliver the smaller types of aircraft to the squadrons - the larger ones were considered beyond them as such planes as the Lancaster bomber required considerable upper body strength and endurance for long flights, plus the controls were arranged for people with a long reach, unlike the fighters where everything was more compact.

The planes were sent out unarmed, and if attacked could only try to outmanover or outfly the enemy.

On the subject of military rank, I don't know if it is still the case but there was what could be called a pecking order amongst the different services and in different circumstances, in that the Navy is the senior service, though whilst at sea one set of rules applies, and on land another.

An Army Captain is outranked by a Navy Commander in command of a vessel, for instance, though only aboard the vessel.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: