Year Eden should have told Eisenhower to drop dead, pressed on another forty eight hours, fired Macmillan and Mountbatten, and sent Nasser running to Switzerland.! It would have blown over in a couple weeks, Ike would have ended up making nice, and NATO would have emerged twice as strong for it. Proportionally Britain would today have three times the ships, twice the planes and troops, thirty times the square mileage, and twice the wealth. And fifty million more Africans and Middke Easterners would be alive. The consequences of Suez beggar compilation. A tragedy for the West, and in Eisenhower's own admission "the worst damn fool mistake" he ever made.
A parade so sharp you could cut silk with it. But then, our cousins in the British Army have a certain reputation to maintain, don't they? A respectful tip of the Stetson from an old American cavalryman from half a world away.
This is one of the older ones I have seen on YT. After my father completed his service in the Life Guards, the joined the Met Police Mounted Branch. His police work horse, Imperial, was the Queen's ceremonial horse for Trooping the Colour from 1962-65. My father died back in 1985, only 55 years old, but my mother still has a large framed B&W photo of my father on duty on Imperial, with the Queen holding the bridle. She also still has a huge print of the Queen, riding Imperial, in the uniform of the Scots Guards, which was painted by Leonard Boden, hanging on the wall in the living room. My father also instructed Princess Margaret in riding side-saddle. How the decades fly past!
I did not serve in the army (very shortsighted!) but I have watched LOTS of parades and I have an eye for detail. I would say that, up to the late 1970s the Guards were a magnificent spectacle to behold. Nowadays, the whole thing is a disgrace.
@@obvious-troll You are right, but up to a point. A) They have not been fighting non-stop for years. B) I have read quite a lot about the British Army and also spoke to old soldiers who told me that it depended on the character of your batallion commander, if the man was a lover of precision and smartness on the parade ground he would drill his men very often, but if he was not he/they will do as little as possible. Regards.
People have been banging on about how much better/harder things were since the Romans. I tell you the Legions gone right down since Caesar was murdered, gibber gibber my old mans a 🍄
Yes and they all had to be the same height then and there they have bayonets on the end of their rifles, they were very sharp looking then. Today all different sizes and some even have turbans on, which I don’t like they should all be wearing Bear skins, as is the tradition, which should never be changed. I’m not racist, but their uniforms should all be the same. Many moustaches then, full regalia. Very smart. 😊
I was on that inspection.. very proud moment . I still have the photo on my wall. This was 1983 .I was 22 yrs. This the summer before we went to Northern Ireland.
Riding side saddle On that Huge Horse What a Women. And her forever Wing Man Her Husband.. HRH The Duke Of Edinburgh ... Prince Philip And Era gone bye But for me NEVER Fogotten
This was indeed impressive. All the more so because of the rigidly adhered to height and weight standards. These guardsmen were noticeably taller and thinner. As for the precision of the drill, well, today's Guards divisions could benefit from more practice. Now that they're no longer deployed to Afghanistan, perhaps more emphasis will be paid to the basics.
It is ironic that today they no longer have the minimum height requirement, even though people are getting taller. I didn't realise that they had weight requirements as well. 👍
This has to be one of the best trooping the colours recorded. As an aspiring officer and drill connoisseur, I love the sharpness of the commands and the high standard of drill. Probably my most watched video on RU-vid.
To the following Guardsmen that have helped me and shaped my life and made me the man I am to day, I say thank you gentlemen . Guardsman Preece, Auty, Humphries, and Holmes. Properly at ease. Shun!! To your duties fall out and Thank you.
