British Military Combatives in the Queen's Service

sgtcallistan · 01-06-2013, 05:21 PM

Your mention of people loyal to the Royal Family can be expanded upon.

When I joined the Royal Air Force (not the Army), I swore an oath, to (IIRC) 'Her majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, and the government she chooses to place under her'.

The exact wording escapes me, but most people who make such an oath mean it, and will stand by it.
It did not permit me to obey orders given against the Queen, or her heirs and successors. The rest of the Royal Family is specifically not included.
There's a division right there.
You might have lesser Royals in conflict with the immediate Family of her son Charles, his son Harry, etc. Leading to probems in who obeys.

Theoretically, if someone murdered his way up the succession until he was King, I might have had a problem...

On martial arts styles; 'unarmed combat' exists, the Fairbairn book exists, but I feel most regiments do not train in this stuff, preferring skill at arms.
Elite or specialist units do train in this, so I'd expect SAS and other elites, the Parachute Regiment, the Royal Marines to be the ones that do this.
Individual soldiers study when they have access to schools and have the time. Not very likely in my mind, as deployments to war-zones come first.

All this is based upon my limited knowledge of the army, and my experience of the RAF in the late 1970's to mid 1980's.

Hope this is useful.

01-06-2013, 05:21 PM	#6
sgtcallistan Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Chatham, Kent, England	Re: British Military Combatives in the Queen's Service Your mention of people loyal to the Royal Family can be expanded upon. When I joined the Royal Air Force (not the Army), I swore an oath, to (IIRC) 'Her majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, and the government she chooses to place under her'. The exact wording escapes me, but most people who make such an oath mean it, and will stand by it. It did not permit me to obey orders given against the Queen, or her heirs and successors. The rest of the Royal Family is specifically not included. There's a division right there. You might have lesser Royals in conflict with the immediate Family of her son Charles, his son Harry, etc. Leading to probems in who obeys. Theoretically, if someone murdered his way up the succession until he was King, I might have had a problem... On martial arts styles; 'unarmed combat' exists, the Fairbairn book exists, but I feel most regiments do not train in this stuff, preferring skill at arms. Elite or specialist units do train in this, so I'd expect SAS and other elites, the Parachute Regiment, the Royal Marines to be the ones that do this. Individual soldiers study when they have access to schools and have the time. Not very likely in my mind, as deployments to war-zones come first. All this is based upon my limited knowledge of the army, and my experience of the RAF in the late 1970's to mid 1980's. Hope this is useful.