Army Rumour Service

Register a free account today to join our community
Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site, connect with other members through your own private inbox and will receive smaller adverts!

Life Guards / Blues and Royals?

rawsalmon47

Old Salt
Have a few questions, noticed a few have been answered in much older threads so unsure of how up to date it is and if it's the same way..

Do you get a choice between whether you join Life Guards or Blues and Royals?

If I do get the choice, i'm honestly stuck on which one, have read up on both of their histories and traditions but the latter seems to be merging together more (brickhanging etc)

Is there a certain type of bloke that joins Life Guards? (from city etc) compared to someone that would go Blues (from countryside for example?)

Cheers
 
Remember that with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, the best regiment in the army is invariably the one you served in.

Anyone who says otherwise was probably the problem.
 
Have a few questions, noticed a few have been answered in much older threads so unsure of how up to date it is and if it's the same way..

Do you get a choice between whether you join Life Guards or Blues and Royals?

If I do get the choice, i'm honestly stuck on which one, have read up on both of their histories and traditions but the latter seems to be merging together more (brickhanging etc)

Is there a certain type of bloke that joins Life Guards? (from city etc) compared to someone that would go Blues (from countryside for example?)

Cheers

Give Harry a call, he could probably help you out with some advice.
 
My late F-i-L was Blues and Royals during National Service , armoured cars back then ...had a whale of a time but was excused Public Duties as he was allergic to horses o_O

All I know about the LifeGuards is they are trying to live down the fact that James Blunt served with them during Kosovo op.




(RIP Cliff)
 
Have a few questions, noticed a few have been answered in much older threads so unsure of how up to date it is and if it's the same way..

Do you get a choice between whether you join Life Guards or Blues and Royals?

If I do get the choice, i'm honestly stuck on which one, have read up on both of their histories and traditions but the latter seems to be merging together more (brickhanging etc)

Is there a certain type of bloke that joins Life Guards? (from city etc) compared to someone that would go Blues (from countryside for example?)

Cheers

1. No, you'll get told at Pirbright. It's purely Manning level based.. lie about having a grandfather who served in LG about sixty years ago like I did. I preferred red.

2. No, see above, no choice.

LG and Blues are no different anymore. Be aware though, unless things have changed you'll probably go Ceremonial first. It's the only way they can man it.

Still, it's London. Appreciate it for what it is and you'll love it. HCR are apparently moving to Newcastle. They seem doomed to leave Windsor anyway.

Factor that in too.

Good luck. If you get to Combermere, look at the Gunnery wing for a metal sheath around the power box. My fault. I split the box when I marshalled my mate in his Scimitar against it and cut power to half the barracks. :D
 
1. No, you'll get told at Pirbright. It's purely Manning level based.. lie about having a grandfather who served in LG about sixty years ago like I did. I preferred red.

2. No, see above, no choice.

LG and Blues are no different anymore. Be aware though, unless things have changed you'll probably go Ceremonial first. It's the only way they can man it.

Still, it's London. Appreciate it for what it is and you'll love it. HCR are apparently moving to Newcastle. They seem doomed to leave Windsor anyway.

Factor that in too.

Good luck. If you get to Combermere, look at the Gunnery wing for a metal sheath around the power box. My fault. I split the box when I marshalled my mate in his Scimitar against it and cut power to half the barracks. :D

Fantastic response, just what I was looking for cheers!

I have a feeling if I pull the “my great grandfather was...” they’ll start asking for details and i’ll be stood there looking like a right cnut though hahah!

In an ideal world I’d go HCR first then go to Knightsbridge as an NCO but what will be, will be, don’t mind too much!

According to their Instagram page the armoured side are moving to Bulford very soon, i’ll keep an eye for that power box though hahahah

Thanks again!
 
Fantastic response, just what I was looking for cheers!

I have a feeling if I pull the “my great grandfather was...” they’ll start asking for details and i’ll be stood there looking like a right cnut though hahah!

In an ideal world I’d go HCR first then go to Knightsbridge as an NCO but what will be, will be, don’t mind too much!

According to their Instagram page the armoured side are moving to Bulford very soon, i’ll keep an eye for that power box though hahahah

Thanks again!

I did it when I found out I was going to be a dirty dink. No questions asked, just said he'd been Lifeguards during WW1. He wasn't, he was actually 1st Royal Dragoons!

Your plan is unlikely to work, but top tip: only a Muppet goes to HCMR on a promotion. I saw several lads accept the transfer only to get to HCMR and be told "What promotion? We never promised you that, someone at HCR lied to you."

They told me I wouldn't promote if I didn't transfer. I didn't, and I promoted, more than once - each time shortly after refusing a transfer to Ceremonial.

Muahaha.

Bulford.... FFS... I don't know what's worse. That or the originally proposed Newcastle. There are going to be some upset people. Windsor is just an amazing place to live. Well. All good things I suppose.
 
I did it when I found out I was going to be a dirty dink. No questions asked, just said he'd been Lifeguards during WW1. He wasn't, he was actually 1st Royal Dragoons!

Your plan is unlikely to work, but top tip: only a Muppet goes to HCMR on a promotion. I saw several lads accept the transfer only to get to HCMR and be told "What promotion? We never promised you that, someone at HCR lied to you."

They told me I wouldn't promote if I didn't transfer. I didn't, and I promoted, more than once - each time shortly after refusing a transfer to Ceremonial.

Muahaha.

Bulford.... FFS... I don't know what's worse. That or the originally proposed Newcastle. There are going to be some upset people. Windsor is just an amazing place to live. Well. All good things I suppose.

I’m going into it fully with an open mind, get stuck on ceremonial i’ll just take it as “I’m in the bloody centre of London paying next to nothing for rent” and make the most of it!

My recruiter was telling me that there’s a higher possibility I could go down the armoured side first (by the way the timescales looking) because according to him a lot of guys will be a bit pissed off that they’re moving from Windsor to Bulford and want to transfer to HCMR
 
I’m going into it fully with an open mind, get stuck on ceremonial i’ll just take it as “I’m in the bloody centre of London paying next to nothing for rent” and make the most of it!

My recruiter was telling me that there’s a higher possibility I could go down the armoured side first (by the way the timescales looking) because according to him a lot of guys will be a bit pissed off that they’re moving from Windsor to Bulford and want to transfer to HCMR

Oh, yes, totally forgot that. You probably won't have an issue then.

Unlike many units that move around, HCR has been static since 1991 - the families in the pad have no concept of the upheaval of something like this. They are all in for a fairly nasty shock.

So yeah, a ton of lads who have lived their entire lives in Windsor and London, and have for their entire careers, will be fighting to get HCMR, regardless how shit it can be. Anything to avoid tearing families apart.

Bloody hell.
 
Oh, yes, totally forgot that. You probably won't have an issue then.

Unlike many units that move around, HCR has been static since 1991 - the families in the pad have no concept of the upheaval of something like this. They are all in for a fairly nasty shock.

So yeah, a ton of lads who have lived their entire lives in Windsor and London, and have for their entire careers, will be fighting to get HCMR, regardless how shit it can be. Anything to avoid tearing families apart.

Bloody hell.
Overall it’s a bit of a strange move, I assumed down to Queens rule the cavalry would always remain close, Bulford is quite the move

Not sure what’ll move into Combermere barracks and how the whole situation will work out since isn’t the riding school there?
 
Overall it’s a bit of a strange move, I assumed down to Queens rule the cavalry would always remain close, Bulford is quite the move

Not sure what’ll move into Combere barracks and how the whole situation will work out since isn’t the riding school there?

Well the riding school could stay, and the Ph2 accomodation for HCMR could probably stay, shared camp facilities. I thought I heard someone mention the Welsh Guards. That'd be funny.
 
Well the riding school could stay, and the Ph2 accomodation for HCMR could probably stay, shared camp facilities. I thought I heard someone mention the Welsh Guards. That'd be funny.

1st Battallion The Welsh Guards according to this article

Bit of a weird one with them currently being at Elizabeth barracks, I assumed the spot would be filled by a Hdiv battallion that’s currently stationed a bit further from London
 
Bulford.... FFS... I don't know what's worse. That or the originally proposed Newcastle. There are going to be some upset people. Windsor is just an amazing place to live

I cannot express the sense of schadenfreude currently being experience by the rest of the cavalry, especially as the HCR move is self inflicted.
 
Top