buried in uniform

[KiltedSoldier]

Looks like two Germans from WW1 It is a soldiers duty to take a final message for family from a dying comrade. I too hope that brave soldiers go to Heaven / Tir nan Og / Valhalla when we die - but I am biased. If there is done judgement of our actions I would think more likely those who die defending the weak and innocent have a good afterlife than those who massacre civilians. I doubt most non Muslim soldiers believe that God is with any soldier unless they are fighting evil, and that does not guarantee you won't be among the slain
Good boots Ivan !

 

[ivanhowe]

I love England for the military pomp and ceremony. If I grew up there, I would want to be a horse guard. Our state police have uniforms that come near the glory of the British. Our(American) soldiers have been so simplified in their uniforms, that they are hard to distinguish- like the autos- generic. Aggies still maintain a sense of the romance of the soldier, but in terms of the press, a soldier's lot is to go -fight- be nice- get killed and be polite.

 

[sunray]

I love England for the military pomp and ceremony. If I grew up there, I would want to be a horse guard. Our state police have uniforms that come near the glory of the British. Our(American)View attachment 38044 soldiers have been so simplified in their uniforms, that they are hard to distinguish- like the autos- generic. Aggies still maintain a sense of the romance of the soldier, but in terms of the press, a soldier's lot is to go -fight- be nice- get killed and be polite.

Just as a matter of interest, that photo shows Sir Winston Churchill being borne onto a train bound for Oxfordshire after his State Funeral in London on 30th January 1965. He was buried at Bladon not far from his ancestral home, Blenheim Palace.

 

[KiltedSoldier]

Thank you Sunray, I think Winston's funeral was a State Funeral, like Maggie is apparently going to get, technically not a military funeral I think, but as a former soldier Winnie would have been entitled to a military send off as well as for all the Royal Navy positions he held. Agree with Ivan, American uniforms are drab, we Brits do it better, most expensive uniforms are Household Cav and Highlanders, luckily its all paid for by the taxpayer.

 

[ArrowMan]

Thank you Sunray, I think Winston's funeral was a State Funeral, like Maggie is apparently going to get, technically not a military funeral I think, but as a former soldier Winnie would have been entitled to a military send off as well as for all the Royal Navy positions he held. Agree with Ivan, American uniforms are drab, we Brits do it better, most expensive uniforms are Household Cav and Highlanders, luckily its all paid for by the taxpayer.

Aye, aye, my fellow Celtic KILTED SOLDIER Highlander ACE mate,

Alas, you are most defintely correct about American military uniforms being drab compared to those of your sterling British serving military mates.


Yous guys are SO COLORFUL in those stunning, stellar uniforms .. and have us beat THREE WAYS to SUNDAY in ALL of that.


And mate ... WHEW, do yous n' your vital manly mates LOOK way so vibrant MEGAhot FINE n' PRIME in those NOBLE KILTS n' ALL.


So would yous tell us ... what are all the basic features that compose a Scottish Highlander formal kilt uniform?


And how long does it take to put it all on for a formal military inspection?

 

[ebt3]

a very horny pic

 

[KiltedSoldier]

Eh Arrow mate, we'll have to get you into recruit training so you can learn how to properly dress and carry yourself as a Highlander.
We have at the last count at least 14 orders of dress, from Combat (Fighting Order), barrack dress, to No 1 Dress Ceremonial (Royal duties)
No 2 dress Ceremonial is the more commonly used, it is hard to say how long it takes to don it, depends if you spend time the day before prepping kit, ie cleaning, brushing, ironing, polish brogues, whitening spats, all the time consuming things.
The basic kit is shirt (usually tan), kilt - 8 yard worsted wool, box pleated, Govt No 2 tartan - waist to 1" above top of knee cap, 3 clasps, sometimes pinned bottom right, horsehair sporran on leather strap, wool socks, tartan diced hose top, flashes held in place by garter, length of flashes and turn of the hose top have to be correct length, brogues (brush polished), spats - buttoned, tunic, medals and ribbons worn on left side upper, chest, Glengarry hat with regimental crest, some regiments wear a Hackle in the headdress.
There are variations on this for officers, duty officer, duty NCO, between battalions.
Main hassles - the brogues have metal studs in them to make a bigger noise on drill movements, can get slippery on hot surfaces in the summer, my pet hate - the spats - whitening them, they get stiff and hard to button, easier to share that with a mate, keeping kilt pleats pressed after putting the kilt on, sitting down is dangerous. Reckon on 1-2 hours prep time the night before and and hour to put it all on. Troops are inspected before parades to make sure no mistakes have been made, NCO s and Officers inspect each other.
Many men choose to be buried in No 2 dress but the Glengarry is taken off and put on the coffin often another over the dead man's chest, cap badge up.

 

[ivanhowe]

To Pierre-Mother Earth swallows the soldier,and all his manly charm. Could she pick a man more bolder, with his body, boots and brawn? Do't fret, there are no earthly remains, like our handsome German and valiant Scottsman, and other vets, their blood, sweat and seed nouish her other domains

 

[ivanhowe]

I had a cobbler who used to repair boots in te US Army. I would see him at flea markets buying shoes and boots, most of which he would sell to me on the next Monday. He was an old guy , charged me $10 for shoes and $15 for boots. He knew I had a thing for footwear and used to joke that maybe I should go to Arlington National cemetary and dig up a few boots.-Soldiers are buried in their shoes/boots. I wonder how long a pair of boots lasts like that. I have left instructions on which pair I am to wear to the land beyond.

 

[KiltedSoldier]

Ivan - if you wanted my boots or brogues you would have to hope my body is brought back to Scotland for burial in a military cemetery in a cheap Army pine coffin, then I'd be in uniform with them on - get them within a few years and you should be OK, for field burial - I'd probably just be in a blanket or regimental plaid and my boots or brogues taken by a comrade before burial. It is the first thing other than webbing, ammo, wallet, that is taken from a soldier's corpse on the battlefield.

 

[ArrowMan]

Ivan - if you wanted my boots or brogues you would have to hope my body is brought back to Scotland for burial in a military cemetery in a cheap Army pine coffin, then I'd be in uniform with them on - get them within a few years and you should be OK, for field burial - I'd probably just be in a blanket or regimental plaid and my boots or brogues taken by a comrade before burial. It is the first thing other than webbing, ammo, wallet, that is taken from a soldier's corpse on the battlefield.

Why would a mate take another mate's KIA boots, mate?

And would this be AT the battlefield or back in Scotland by still other mates in the military morgue?
:noidea::noidea::noidea:

 

[ivanhowe]

Why would a man take another man's boots? Well, arrowman, come sit beside me and let me entertain you. Maybe need, or maybe something very dark, or romantic, or value, or keepsake, or trophy. Whenever I collect a pair of usmc boots/shoes fom the original owner, I treasure them. Somemen like to steal them, Indians would slay the Cavalryman, carve him up, and then take his boots. Some like to photograph them, look on xtube,-just remember one thing- boots represent manhood, retain an impression of the owner, and are a most personal piece of clothing. Join my group Heroes and Boots and you see.

 

[ivanhowe]

Taking a dead soldier's boots-There is a man who is an expert in this field of historical research. I hope he has joined again, and I shall email him to lend his expertise. This is a picture he sent me.I hesitate to mention his name for the sake of privacy

 

[KiltedSoldier]

A soldier takes what he needs from slain comrades or enemy dead - a good pair of boots and a spare if possible is essential for the infantryman - if a corpse who no longer needs it, you take it, along with webbing, rifle, ammo, food, water, all the fallen soldier needs is to be honoured and buried. We'd take a KIA comrades boots at the battlefield if a man needed them, otherwise the Pioneers would likely strip them off the body when being processed for transport.

 

[ivanhowe]

The question now remains: Where is the soldier killed in action buried.I have searched cemetaries and have not found marines of the 1812 War. I wonder if those leathernecks(KIA) were just buried at sea. The commander of the Bismarck told of many corpses on deck- it is obvious that they went down with the ship. I have seen grave markers revealing the soldier(WW2) was buried at sea. Wouldn't it be interesting to know how many soldiers the sea has digested? If not, the sharks before her. I have asked Korean War (American) vets and they maintain they try to bring those bodies back. Flanders Field was drilled into us as children, Bellou Woods is another.Wouldn't it be better to do away with the enemy heads of state by any means, than to have thousands of blameless young men be sacrificed? Think of all those handsome Lifeguard troups of Hitler, and the Polish officers, and the men of the Maine,...and Iwo, and those Kamakarzi, and maybe those straight 72 virgin seeking men might look elsewhere for fullfillment. (We know there are no gays in Iran)

 

[KiltedSoldier]

Usually the soldiers killed in action are buried at the battlefield, what most of us prefer, governments now insist our bodies are pickled and brought back home for burial, not what most of us want - they are worried about bodies being dug up and displayed / desecrated by enemy who don't respect the rest of a fallen, buried slain soldier. This bad practice started with the Falklands War for us, some of the dead were buried there others brought back. Sailors killed and soldiers slain while being transported on ships always used to be buried at sea, either formally in a sheet weighted down, or with the ship when it went down - the danger of that is that bodies may float for a few days, and it is bad for morale to see your comrades corpses floating in the sea being nibbled by sharks, crabs etc. A proper burial sunk down to the sea bed is better for the sailor and some soldiers. We soldiers prefer our bodies become one with the earth at the battlefield where we fall if possible, lying there with our comrades, in uniform.
IT would be nice to think you can end wars by getting rid of enemy heads of state, alas they are usually very well protected, man's instinct for war will never go away, we are after all the second oldest profession.

 

[ivanhowe]

Soldiers piled up like cordwood-OMG.

 

[ivanhowe]

I have loved this painting since I was a child. I figure when they put him in the coffin, they'll give him a clean shirt, dust off his zapatos and say prayers for his entrance into heaven. I figure we're sent to Earth to entertain those above, the ones who lead ordinary lives, get the ordinary seats. Those who live as heroes share the approval there. The lower half of the painting is by Manet, the upper half is my conception of the here after. Those French have an artistic approach to death.

 

[ivanhowe]

It seemsthat these soldiers had no uniforms left to be buried in. Their bodies were stripped clean, their bodies being left for food for the buzzards. Can you imagine the battle scenes in Europe? Napolean's (guard) soldiers were picked because of their height. The same for Hitler. Thinkof all that military gear and boots left to rot in the sun. What a field day for scavengers. I wonder why some soldiers leave their boots at the Vietnam Wall.

 

[butchyboy]

I damn well better be! Along with my jhods, etc...