Royal Green Jackets

lew · Post by **lew** » Tue 13 May, 2003 10:00 am

my uncle was in the royal green jackets, for 18 months, he said that the training they had was very intense and difficult, although he never mentioned anything about drill or kit inspection, but as for fighting he said there was a lot of that that went on with civvies on weekends :drinking:

Gypsy Rose C · Post by **Gypsy Rose C** » Tue 13 May, 2003 11:45 am

Rogue Chef wrote:I couldn't comment on their skills as sharpshooters but they are deadly with a GS shovel!

He's referring to the murder of a Danish tour guide in Cyprus in the early 90's by 3 Jackets. They burried her using a GS shovel.

COMBAT WOMBAT · Post by **COMBAT WOMBAT** » Tue 13 May, 2003 8:15 pm

This is terrible, i never the jackets had this mindless thug streak to them

, anyway, we now know they cause much trouble at the weekends, does anybody know if they did much fighting amongst themselves? Would you have to be a bit of a hard thug to survive with them then? Cause i am gonig into the Green Jacket T.A. in a few months, the unit has several ex-regular jackets in there, and i am certainly not hard or a thug.

barryc · Post by **barryc** » Fri 16 May, 2003 12:36 pm

We had a handful of ex Green Jackets in 23 back in the early 70s and despite the standard apparently accepted by `McNab' they were very good. OK I know `Ryan' was ex 23 so don't say the standard was sh*t. As a bootie I was pleasantly surprised by both the dedication and ability of the , mostly, ex-regulars in the squadron. The other happy note was no Juniors, no SNCO's mess and no Officer's mess, just a squadron bar, a great end to a Tuesday night parade or for a sunday afternoon after a weekend in the Yorkshire Dales. Pity I had a 60 mile drive home.

Barry

COMBAT WOMBAT · Post by **COMBAT WOMBAT** » Fri 16 May, 2003 7:20 pm

Excellent, i feel much better Bazza, it revives my faith in the jackets

BigFatCivvy · Post by **BigFatCivvy** » Mon 16 Jun, 2003 11:47 am

I'll have a go at being a historical buff. Whilst some of you might recognise me from the Joining the Royal Marines forum, because this is what I want to do, I have plans to join the RGJ if I should fail. Therefore, I've got some info on them for you.

They are indeed the "descendants" of the 95th Rifles from around the 1809-1815 era, and this is the unit which "sharpe" is based on, although I allways thought the series was crap. The historical unit was the among the first units in our army to adopt a green jacket, which was designed as a kind of camo, and also fought in a loose skirmish formation. They were also the first to use the rifled baker rifle, which required a small mallet to tap the ramrod and bullet down to the breach, so how Sharpe manages to loose off three aimed shots in a matter of seconds I don't know!!!!!

Anyway, there is no direct connection between the current RGJ and those 95th guys, but the current RGJ was formed on the 1st Jan 1966, and was an amalgamation of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire light Infantry (43rd & 52nd) the Kings own Rifle corps (60th rifles) and the rifle brigade. The home of the unit has been at Winchester since 1858.

As for any info regarding their actual ability and current status, I know nothing as I merely a wannabe Royal Marine, who has a secondary plan. And an interest in military history.

Jason The Argonaut · Post by **Jason The Argonaut** » Mon 16 Jun, 2003 2:09 pm

They are indeed the "descendants" of the 95th Rifles from around the 1809-1815 era, and this is the unit which "sharpe" is based on, although I allways thought the series was crap.

Well Ithought sharpe was a good programme my self

, I have a mate in the RGJ, he joined a few months ago he has few weeks left till he finish training. I have noticed that he has changed since he joined up, I guess that was expected. But he seems more aggressive these days, don't know if they toughened him up or he thinks he is some mean green fighting machine just because he is in the army.

He told me he and a few mates of his had go into a couple of fights, but they never started them. (so he says)

Sticky Blue · Post by **Sticky Blue** » Mon 16 Jun, 2003 8:09 pm

I have plans to join the RGJ if I should fail

Failure is not an option! Think positive!

Sharpe is very good with historically correct kit and themes just like Hornblower. That is why they are such good viewing. They are believable as well!

lew · Post by **lew** » Mon 16 Jun, 2003 11:03 pm

Absolutely loved sharp when i was younger, never watched horn blower though!!! Sticky is right THINK POSSITIVE MAN, IF YOU THINK YOU WILL FAIL THEN YOU ALREADY HAVE!!! AND YOU MIGHT ASWELL GO FLIP BURGERS AT MACCY D'S

COMBAT WOMBAT · Post by **COMBAT WOMBAT** » Fri 20 Jun, 2003 7:20 pm

for those of you who know, was the fighting within the jackets or was it the jackets fighting civvies? Was it a very normal occurance? Also, any of you who knew any green jackets, what were they like? Agrressive, hard, nice, firendly?

BenChug · Post by **BenChug** » Fri 20 Jun, 2003 8:23 pm

I think you will find they are typical of pretty much any regiment in any proffesional army CW. Proud of the history of the RGJ, eager to live up to the standards, ready to fight at the drop of a hat for there buddys. And as a general rule anyone in the army whos been in a scrap or two and come out on top will think he's tough as nails. But that what you want in a soldier. I haven't ever heard anything bad about the Royal Green Jackets they sound pretty average behavior wise at least to me.

The first thing they told us when I went through training was

If you have a problem with one another take it into the showers, its easier to get the blood off the walls.

You don't have to be hard or particularly tough when you go in there, the training will do it for you.
I don't think you will have a problem just be the gray man or the funny man if all else fails!

lew · Post by **lew** » Fri 20 Jun, 2003 11:53 pm

I had an uncle in the rgj he’s not particularly tough, not even the type of person you would think of as a soldier of you look at a stereotypical view, but I was told he was very good at his job.

Don’t know if that helps

lew

Chris1 · Post by **Chris1** » Tue 24 Jun, 2003 1:15 am

BigFatCivvy wrote:I'll have a go at being a historical buff. Whilst some of you might recognise me from the Joining the Royal Marines forum, because this is what I want to do, I have plans to join the RGJ if I should fail. Therefore, I've got some info on them for you.

They are indeed the "descendants" of the 95th Rifles from around the 1809-1815 era, and this is the unit which "sharpe" is based on, although I allways thought the series was crap. The historical unit was the among the first units in our army to adopt a green jacket, which was designed as a kind of camo, and also fought in a loose skirmish formation. They were also the first to use the rifled baker rifle, which required a small mallet to tap the ramrod and bullet down to the breach, so how Sharpe manages to loose off three aimed shots in a matter of seconds I don't know!!!!!

Anyway, there is no direct connection between the current RGJ and those 95th guys, but the current RGJ was formed on the 1st Jan 1966, and was an amalgamation of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire light Infantry (43rd & 52nd) the Kings own Rifle corps (60th rifles) and the rifle brigade. The home of the unit has been at Winchester since 1858.

As for any info regarding their actual ability and current status, I know nothing as I merely a wannabe Royal Marine, who has a secondary plan. And an interest in military history.

Hello, you are indeed correct in most respects, however more information for those interested, the 1st and 2nd Battalions have strong links to the Regiments that made up these Battalions before 1994 (when 3RGJ was dropped) and 1966 (when the current RGJ was formed)
The 1st Battalion was made up of the Ox's and Bucks LI, which decended from the the 43rd and 52nd Reg of Foot iirc, the 2nd Battalion (obviously the better of the two

) was made up of the Kings Royal Rifle Corp, which decended from, the 60th American (yes, they were made up of the right minded colonials

)
The now disbanded 3RGJ was made up of the Rifle Brigade, which descended from the 95th.
The Regiment has moved around a lot over the years, mainly Germany, Northern Ireland but last year returned to the UK.
RGJ's rep comes from some incidents in the 1980's as well as cyprus which I will not go into, as most of them are either bullshit or exaggerated

always go commando · Post by **always go commando** » Tue 01 Jul, 2003 7:30 pm

http://www.royalgreenjackets.co.uk/introframeset.htm

the website seems pretty much 'to the point'. helpful with the history but not much about the current stuff and the information about training is vague

Jason The Argonaut · Post by **Jason The Argonaut** » Fri 04 Jul, 2003 2:46 pm

Well my mate has just finished basic training he's got 10 day's off

, then he say's he is of to Blackpool.

So down the pub for celebratory drinks :drinking:

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