Comments by "GWTPict GWTPict" (@gwtpictgwtpict4214) on "Drachinifel"
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You're missing the point, it's about tradition, history and living up to the name of the ship, regiment or squadron you serve under.
An example, the 59th Regiment of Foot was raised in 1775, renamed the 57th a year later. It served in the American Revolutionary War fighting at Charlestown in 1776 and Halifax in 1783. It became known as The "Diehards" after the Battle of Albuera on the 16th May 1811 during the Peninsular war. Albuera was a particularly bloody battle that the British should probably have lost, but didn't The nickname "Diehards" comes from the commanding officer at Albuera, Colonel Inglis. His horse had been shot from underneath him and he was later seriously wounded by canister shot in the chest and neck, things were going badly but he refused to be carried off the field, instead shouting "Die hard the 57th, die hard!". Well they did, of the 647 officers and men who took the field 428 were killed or wounded.
Marshall Soult, in command of the French forces on that day later said, "There is no beating these troops, in spite of their generals. I always thought they were bad soldiers, now I am sure of it. I had turned their right, pierced their centre and everywhere victory was mine—but they did not know how to run!"
The 57th also fought in the Crimean war, the Indian Rebellion and various other minor conflicts.
In 1881 The 57th merged with the 77th Regiment of Foot becoming the Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own). Under that name they fought through WWI and WWII including landing in Normandy. The regimental nickname was still the "Diehards".
As the British army has shrunk over the years regiments have been amalgamated on many occasions,
The battle honours of the 57th sit with the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment (PWRR). Serving in Afghanistan in 2004 members of that regiment won a Victoria Cross (Pte Johnson Beharry), two Distinguished Service Orders, ten Military Crosses and seventeen Mentions in Despatches.
The point I'm making is that, at least in the UK, it is not "lame" to retain the battle honours of your forebears, rather it gives you a history to live up to.
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