Fern Leaf and Feather: A military History

Earlier this year I had the privilege of meeting an extremely charming chap (and his lovely wife too) who possessed the title 'Master Poulter', the name given to the person at the top of the Worshipful Company of Poulters (which came into existence in 1368), a body that does great charitable works in the today's world.

The Master Poulter came to present a salver to one of the young emerging soldiers (of which in our regiment there are indeed many I'm proud to say) and more than a few of those present that weekend asked me what the connection with the organisation was. So here's a brief history of our association.

Many of you will, I'm sure, be aware that the Shropshire Yeomanry wear, as a battle honour, upon their mess dress a New Zealand silver fern leaf and in cloth form on uniforms too:

This was presented to them by the New Zealanders in recognition of the support given to 2nd New Zealand Division at Cassino, Faenza and the Advance to the Po.

But not many realise that the Royal Signals, and the 36th Signal Regiment in particular through it's heritage with the 44th (Cinque Ports) from whom it came into being, has an interesting heritage which involves poultry and the wearing of a golden feather as it's battle honour:

The reason for this being that upon their return from the Middle East in 1943 the regiment, becoming part of 30 Signal Corps in France, found themselves engaged in pushing the German forces back until they eventually surrendered in 1945 (a date I'm sure we all knew).

As they did this they found themselves caught up in battle outside Blois and it was there that they routed the Germans and 'liberated' one of the largest poultry farms in the country, saving the chickens and workers from almost certain death. The news of this, coming back to the then Master Poulter, spurred them to recognise this act by awarding them a golden feather (as shown above).

But the connection with poultry doesn't end there, for as the end drew nigh and the Germans took to shooting pigeons in the hope that this would stem the traffic of messages reaching England by use of Carrier Pigeons (for communications in all its forms are part of the Royal Signals) some of those working at Bletchley Park hit on the idea that instead of pigeons, which were well-known as a means of message carrying, perhaps they could work with a form of communication as yet untried, the 'homing chicken'.

This project, quite understandably, failed but once again the Royal Signals and the precursor of the 36th in particular, were there at the forefront of communications technology and pushing the envelope.

And this is the reason for such a strong connection with the descendants of the 36th Signal Regiment - now 36 Signal Squadron of the 37th Signal Regiment (V) and it's proud relationship with the Master Poulter and the Worshipful Company of Poulters.

And the history yields a motto to be proud of: 

Ad praesens ova cras pullis sunt meliora*

*Eggs today are better than chickens tomorrow

Should we worry at how the French see us?

In a recent article in the Daily Torygraph (26th April 2011), Andrew Gilligan, on the issue of terrorism quotes a French official as claiming that Britain is , "The Pakistan of the West," in that we are incubator, entrepot and exporter of islamic radicalism.

Now, I neither deny nor defend the comments, for they are undeniable and without defence, but I do have to admit that I take exception to the being labelled thus by a blessed Frenchman (or even a Frenchwoman, nothing sexist about me!). Having someone from the same nation that closes borders to prevent the ingress of Tunisians (isn't that a former French protectorate or was I sleeping in geog. lessons?). The same nation that takes immigrants from other places and then almost assists them to get on the crossings to the UK because it solves the French immigration (and their own terrorism) problems (and gives them someone to point the finger at, as they do)? The same nation that served soldiers from their North African territories smaller portions and paid them less during the war and gave them a pretty non-existent pension after it (Gurkha anyone)? The same nation that discriminates and crowds into ghettoes those from former colonies, treating them abysmally as second-class citizens?

Can I suggest that before the French decide to lecture anyone about immigration and fostering terrorism, that they take a look in their own mirrors, for I assume they will see nothing but closed-minded bigots and fools. I would love them to suspend the Shengen agreement and do something about the traffic that flows (as quickly as possible) through France to end up on our shores, not to protect the French, but the British.

Sadly those, we have people who are just as foolish as the french on this side of the puddle too! These are the people who see terrorism behind every dark skin and in possession of the Koran. The problem is that we have imported many of our problems from many other places and now indeed do have a radicalised and potentially unsafe minority within our shores. The key here is education and engagement. Not with the EDL, BNP or the Daily Fascist readers and foolish men like Jones and Sapp but with people who are moderate and intelligent.

We need to ask what drives young men and women to become radicalised. What it is that takes a Christian (albleit a nominal Christian) and turns him or her into a Muslim who is willing to die for their faith (Blimey, I'd be happy of I could get them to join and come on a Sunday evening, so what's the key?)?

Where there is acquiescence on the part of the state, incompetence on the part of the intelligence services and funding of those who might otherwise be enemies of the 'hand that feeds them', then (intelligent, balanced and rational) action is required. But in saying this can I recommend a couple of films for your consideration.

The first is a war film, "Days of Glory" (Director: Rachid Bouchareb),

The second, an excellent apologetic for the secular Muslim, "My Name is Khan' (Director: Karan Johar).

I have more, but these will do for starters. We need to consider the integrity and actions of others when considering this issue. That some will misrepresent any faith for their own evil (financial, political or social) is nothing new, but accepting it is not, and never has been, an option.

We need to pray, dialogue and be the difference in this area - not condemn and solidify the lines that might currently only be drawn in chalk, before they are:

Get the picture?

Pax