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Thames Valley
Join the Cavalry
Have you ever looked at the jack boots being worn by the mounted guards at Horse Guards and wondered
how long it takes to polish them or how much one of those fantastic silver helmets cost? IPA Thames
Valley branch members discovered the answers to these questions, and many more, during their visit to the
Household Cavalry at Combermere Barracks.
G
uide and ex-Life Guard,
John Lloyd, opened the
Thames valley branch
tour with a history of the mounted
cavalry regiments which make up
the Household Cavalry Division. The
Life Guards, which was founded in
1660 by King Charles II, are the most
senior regiment in the British Army.
John introduced the members to
Corporal Major Frankie O’Leary
who has been in the Regiment
for 8 years and has completed
a number of tours in the Middle
East. He showed us his body armour and rifle
and we were all surprised at how heavy it
was - and that was without the backpack.
Thames Valley member, John Bull said,
“
He was an impressive young man who
had pride in his Regiment and gave us
a flavour of today’s serving soldier.”
The tour continued with a visit to the stables
where they met one of the 10 farriers that the
Regiment employ. John Lloyd explained that these
are the men who carry the silver axes when on
parade. They look after the legs and feet of the
horses, and shod them every 4 to 5 weeks.
Before heading for the canteen the group
took a look at some of the armoured
reconnaissance vehicles used by the
Regiment in their normal duties today.
It was then back to the museum. John Bull
explained that the group were shown some of
the ceremonial uniform including the brass
and silver helmets and the bright red jackets
as well as one of the bandsmen’s gold coats.
He said,
“These coats were so expensive when
ordered that Charles II could not afford them
as they were made using real gold. Parliament
refused to pay and eventually he was bailed
out by The Lord Mayor of London. It is
interesting to note that the only time
they are not worn in the presence of the
Sovereign is at the Lord Mayor’s Show - in
recognition of his generosity at that time.
A couple of us had the opportunity to try
on the uniforms before an impressive
and moving visit came to a close.
The tour was packed with fascinating
information as John recalled one interesting
fact, “
The rank of ‘sergeant’ has no
place in the Regiment. At the instigation
of Queen Victoria the word ‘corporal’
was used instead of sergeant. The
word sergeant means servant and her
Majesty said that none of her mounted
guards were servants so corporal, which
means leader, was to be used.”
He ended in saying, “
Again a big
thank you to Pauline Plato for her
organisation and to John Lloyd for his time,
he really was an interesting guide.”
Article
POLICE WORLD
Vol 60 No. 2, 2015
15
If you were
wondering?
It takes 8 hours to
polish the boots and
the helmets cost
around £8500 each.
“
He was an impressive
young man who had
pride in his Regiment
”