I saw a picture of Secy. Rumsfeld greeting some British soldiers. The man who appeared to be the senior officer had what appeared to be a small red feather on his beret. The other soldiers had a longer feather that was white at the bottom and red at the top. Unfortunately, I can’t find an online picture of this.
What is the significance of these decorations? Is this a military-wide practice or is it specific to certain units in the British military?
we actually started talking about this a while back inthis thread (about half way down).
Its probably a good place to start looking for info.
Thanks, garius. I’ll have to keep digging. This was definitely a standard beret with something attached. I have to say, it must be quite a logistical headache to keep all the British headgear straight and in stock!
Zoff, I haven’t seen your photo, but sounds like Rummy was shaking hands with a chappie in the Royal Highland Regiment (The Black Watch), who are known for the Red Hackle, which is what the red feathery thing is called. They are poachers-turned-gamekeepers, having been formed from highlanders to keep watch on other highlanders in the 1730s. They are deployed in the gulf: here’s their Iraq webpage: http://www.theblackwatch.co.uk/newsite/index.html
“S’no a berry–itza bunnet!”
The red-and-white hackle is the mark of the Royal Fusiliers, who go back to 1674. http://www.army.mod.uk/fusiliers/
Thanks, Rodd Hill. I think the one guy I thought was the senior officer was wearing what looked like the Black Watch Red Hackle and the others seemed to be wearing the red-and-white hackle. I hope I didn’t make any Royal Fusiliers mad by inadvertently subordinating them to the Black Watch.
If I can impose on you again Rodd Hill or any other person with some knowledge (which I obviously lack) is it plausible that there was a mix of Black Watch and Royal Fusiliers meeting Rumsfeld? The Black Watch is over there and the Royal Fusiliers appear to have been in the area, but their website isn’t clear on whether they went into Iraq.
As an aside, I love reading the names of the various regiments. They have so much history, I’m glad they keep their historical names.
More than likely, Zoff: this official MOD site (http://www.operations.mod.uk/telic/forces.htm) has the Black Watch and the Fusiliers as both serving in the famous “Desert Rats,” the 7th Armoured Div of WW2 fame, so Rummy probably was meeting personnel from both units.
Thanks for all the information, Rodd Hill.