Friday 13 August 2010

Royal Anglian Regiment: Blenheim Battle Honour

Although the Battle of Blenheim took place on 2nd August, The Royal Anglian Regiment reserves August 13th to commemorate the battle, a battle for which the Regiment gained a battle honour. To be exact it was the 16th Foot, later the Bedfordshire Regiment, which won the honour but by amalgamation the honour has transferred to 2 R ANGLIAN.

Anyway, 2nd August 1704, War of the Spanish Succession, somewhere in Germany, Duke of Marlborough v Marshall Tallard.... Britain, Austria, Germany (north), Denmark and Hungary , v France, of course, and Germany (south) - a proper Euro-war, but strangely no Spanish. The battle was hard fought and bloody with 12,000 casualties on the allied side alone. The outcome was a total victory for the British and their allies. Interestingly, "a major contributing feature to the Duke of Marlborough’s success in the field was his concern that his soldiers be properly supplied and by his consummate ability in organising and administering that supply." - nothing new with regards the situation in Afghanistan , then.

Happy Blenheim Day!

British Battles: The Battle of Blenheim 1704