Thread: LI(Rifles) RTR - Use It or Lose It

Scuse for coming in but as someone who supplied numerous cups of hot brew from the top of my panzer to you boys I thought I’d ask:

Whilst attending a lunch at Bovington after Cambrai the guest speaker mentioned an old tradition that was preformed by members of the LI and RTR on the Sunday after the main remeberance parade. I say was, as during time it appears that the LI numbers have dwindled to nothing and the RTR are left trying to maintain this tradition.

Although I knew the RTR had this annual pilgrimage to London I never quite understood why and it appears that on the very first parade after the war the then king deemed that the parade was too large and would take to long to pass by the cenotaph. He instructed “All those stood on the left hand side” to come back next week.

Now to the problem. If the parade does not have sufficient numbers (as deemed by the Met) this act of remembrance will wither and die. Anyone know why the LI associations and serving members of the now Rifles no longer take part.

as an ex Jacket I have made 3 of the last 6 Cenotaph parades. The London Branch of the RGJ is alive and kicking, and always has a strong turnout. The LI though come from further afield and I would imagine attend local events. We ain't getting any younger and I suppose the local RBL branch/associations have a certain comfort factor

Originally Posted by TheSpecialOne

as an ex Jacket I have made 3 of the last 6 Cenotaph parades. The London Branch of the RGJ is alive and kicking, and always has a strong turnout. The LI though come from further afield and I would imagine attend local events. We ain't getting any younger and I suppose the local RBL branch/associations have a certain comfort factor

SO this is a cenotaph march the Sunday after the main one. We try to make up the numbers with us Cold War warriors and the serving guys from 1 & 2 RTR. I just wondered why members of the LI, ex and current stopped coming.

Originally Posted by elovabloke

Originally Posted by TheSpecialOne

as an ex Jacket I have made 3 of the last 6 Cenotaph parades. The London Branch of the RGJ is alive and kicking, and always has a strong turnout. The LI though come from further afield and I would imagine attend local events. We ain't getting any younger and I suppose the local RBL branch/associations have a certain comfort factor

SO this is a cenotaph march the Sunday after the main one. We try to make up the numbers with us Cold War warriors and the serving guys from 1 & 2 RTR. I just wondered why members of the LI, ex and current stopped coming.

Je........................sorry elovabloke ISTR it was originally the Dorsets that marched on the same day as us and the Jewish Ex-servicemans Association. The Dorsets became the Devon&Dorsets who in turn then became the DDLI and now low and behold the Rifles! So as you can see with so many amalgamations and name changes it's no wonder the numbers are dwindling!!!

Oh, after. You still do that?

News to me, I was 1 LI in the 80's and this was never mentioned to us. I'm sure as the LI assoc has a branch in London they should know about it!

As another exjacket i know that we always support the parade.
But not all of us can afford to come every year.
But our thoughts and feelings are with all.
Also there are a lot of local parades on this day.

Originally Posted by soprano54

Je........................sorry elovabloke ISTR it was originally the Dorsets that marched on the same day as us and the Jewish Ex-servicemans Association. The Dorsets became the Devon&Dorsets who in turn then became the DDLI

Cheers for that 54 - I may have been on the second bottle of port by then with uncle furgel. Even with all the restructuring it would be nice if the new Units could support this. As I said, it's becoming a bit of a use it or lose it case.

Oh, after. You still do that?

Yep it's still done. Now it's time to try and encourage the younger association members to take part supported by the regulars.

I think what will happen is that the youngsters who will serve all their time in the new regt will probably not be interested in a reunion until they realise their own mortality about 10 to 20 years after leaving. Many never get to association dos and are often the forgotten ones. It took me 18 years to do a reunion and now I thoroughly enjoy them but being 70 miles from the nearest branch means that I will always be missed out on such invites. the associations dont have the money to fund free newsletters and even keeping e mail databases up to date is a struggle. They rely on volunteers and some of us have additional activities outside of work that get in the way!

Originally Posted by ugly

I think what will happen is that the youngsters who will serve all their time in the new regt will probably not be interested in a reunion until they realise their own mortality about 10 to 20 years after leaving.

We are lucky and still have a thriving reunion every October attracting up to 250 including family/serving/young and old every year and it has been like that since the early 80’s. My thoughts on the remembrance parade the week after the official one is due to lack of knowledge due to time by the regiments and associations involved. Perhaps we are luck as details are published in the Regimental magazine every year.

Again we have or had a regimental magazine but it wasnt heavily subscribed to by those serving. Its a pity but with many of us having settled so far from our recruiting areas we are now more likely to meet up either at the annual 3 day reunion in Shrewsbury which attracts about 1000 and families or if the new regiment welcomes us by opening branches which accomodate the older ones. The problem is the amalgamation and a lot of animosity was felt towards the senior serving officers. That will take a long time to fade and by then maybe even Shrewsbury which welcomes contingents from the old county LI regiments whose associations welcomed us the new boys in 68, attend the bash and parades. The saddest thing is that with everyone in the new (196 regiment being trained in Shrewsbury the reunion was held to coincide with the KSLI Bligny commemorations. Neither of the lads I attend the Bligny Church service with are from Shropshire and it is the least attended event of the weekend. Even the KSLI lads who put in a good show on the saturday are absent on the sunday.
I think the reason the link was kept was to forge bonds with the counties. Not sure if the new regiment will do this as well as the old one?