Minden Day in Saint Helier Jersey 2011 11

Minden Day is a regimental anniversary celebrated on 1 August by certain units of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. It commemorates the participation of the forerunners of the regiments in the

Battle of Minden The Battle of Minden was a major engagement during the Seven Years' War, fought on 1 August 1759. An Anglo-German army under the overall command of Prussian Field Marshal Ferdinand of Brunswick defeated a French army commanded by Marshal of F ...

during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

on that date in 1759. In the battle, an Anglo-German army under the overall command of Prussian Field Marshal

Ferdinand of Brunswick Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

defeated a French army. The

Annus Mirabilis of 1759 Great Britain was one of the major participants in the Seven Years' War, which for Britain in fact lasted nine years, between 1754 and 1763. British involvement in the conflict began in 1754 in what became known as the French and Indian War. H ...

(Latin 'wonderful year') was a string of notable British and allied victories over their French-led opponents The celebration of the day involves the wearing of "Minden Roses" on the regimental head dress, and in the case of the infantry regiments, the decoration of the

regimental colours In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours, standards, flags, or guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt some 5,000 year ...

with garlands of roses. This recalls that the regiments wore wild roses at the battle that they had plucked from the hedgerows as they advanced to engage the enemy. Minden Day is celebrated by: *12 (Minden) Air Assault Battery,

12th Regiment Royal Artillery 12 Regiment Royal Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Artillery in the British Army. It currently serves in the air defence role, and is equipped with the Starstreak missile. History The regiment was established in 1947 when the 7th Regimen ...

*32 (Minden 1759) Battery,

16th Regiment Royal Artillery 16 Regiment Royal Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Regiment of Artillery in the British Army. It currently serves in the Ground Based Air Defence role and is equipped with the Sky Sabre air defence missile system and Land Environment Air ...

*The Royal Scots Borderers, The

Royal Regiment of Scotland The Royal Regiment of Scotland (SCOTS) is the British Army Order of Precedence, senior and only current Scottish regiment, Scottish line infantry Regiment#British Army, regiment of the British Army Infantry. It consists of three regular (form ...

, as successors to the

King's Own Scottish Borderers The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, Royal Highland Fusiliers ...

, successors to the 25th Regiment of Foot *1st Battalion, The

Royal Anglian Regiment The Royal Anglian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964, making it the oldest of the line regi ...

, as successors to the

Suffolk Regiment The Suffolk Regiment was an infantry regiment Line infantry, of the line in the British Army with a history dating back to 1685. It saw service for three centuries, participating in many wars and conflicts, including the World War I, First and ...

, successors 12th Regiment of Foot *HQ Company, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment (

Army Reserve Army Reserve refers to a land-based military reserve force, including: *Army Reserve (Ireland) *Army Reserve (United Kingdom) *Australian Army Reserve *Canadian Army Reserve * New Zealand Army Reserve *United States Army Reserve *United States Navy ...

) *The

Royal Regiment of Fusiliers The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (often referred to as, "The Fusiliers") is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen's Division. Currently, the regiment has two battalions: the 1st Battalion, part of the Regular Army, is an ...

, as successors the

Lancashire Fusiliers The Lancashire Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that saw distinguished service through many years and wars, including the Second Boer War, and the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wars. It had many diffe ...

, successors to the 20th Regiment of Foot *The

Royal Welsh The Royal Welsh (R WELSH) () is an Infantry, armoured infantry regiment of the British Army. It was established in 2006 from the Royal Welch Fusiliers, Royal Welch Fusiliers (23rd Foot) and the Royal Regiment of Wales, Royal Regiment of Wales ...

, successors to the

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers () was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689, shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and becam ...

, successors to the 23rd Regiment of Foot *The

Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (PWRR), also known as the Tigers, is the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, second in the line infantry order of precedence to the Royal Regiment of Scotland and part of the Queen ...

, as successors to the

Royal Hampshire Regiment The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The re ...

, successors to the 37th Regiment of Foot *3rd and 5th Battalions

The Rifles The Rifles is an infantry regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of four Regular battalions and three Reserve battalions. Each Regular battalion was formerly an individual battalion of one of the two large regiments of the ...

, successors to

The Light Infantry The Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Light Division. The regiment was one of four 'large' regiments formed after the 1966 Defence White Paper through the amalgamation of units of the Light Infantry Bri ...

, successors to the

51st Regiment of Foot The 51st (2nd Yorkshire West Riding) Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 105th Regiment of Foot (Madras Light Infantry) to form the King's Own Yorkshire L ...

* The

North Saskatchewan Regiment The North Saskatchewan Regiment (N Sask R) is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army, headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with companies in Saskatoon and Prince Albert. Its current commanding officer is Lieutenant-Colonel M ...

eserve Canadian Armysuccessors to the

Saskatoon Light Infantry The Saskatoon Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia of the Canadian Militia (now the Canadian Army). The regiment was formed in 1924, when The North Saskatchewan Regiment (1920–1924) was reorganized into fou ...

in honour of a regimental twinning with a British Army Regiment. The N.Sask.R. wears the white rose. The colours of roses varies: red and yellow roses are worn by most of the units (including the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and the Royal Anglians - both of whom continue to mark Minden as one of their most important regimental days), the PWRR wear a single red rose, whilst a white rose is favoured by the Light Infantry. In some cases this reflects parts of the regimental recruiting areas: the PWRR have strong links with Hampshire (whose badge is a red rose) and the Light Infantry is associated with part of Yorkshire (represented by a white rose). In 1975, 1 August was adopted as

Yorkshire Day Yorkshire Day is a yearly celebration on 1 August to promote the historic county of Yorkshire, in England. It was celebrated by the Yorkshire Ridings Society in 1975, initially in Beverley, as "a protest movement against the local governmen ...

, partly to reflect the presence of Yorkshire soldiers at the battle. Minden Day is commemorated in the folk song "

Lowlands of Holland The Lowlands of Holland (Roud 484) is a Scottish folk song in which a young woman sings about her husband, who was conscripted or "pressed" by the English into an Anglo-Dutch conflict in Europe or the West Indies. In 1741 James Oswald published ...

", which dates to the time of the Seven Years' War. Like many folk songs, it has numerous variants. One version, which is prevalent in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, home of 12th Regiment of Foot (1st Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment), contains the verse: "My love across the ocean Wears a scarlet coat so fair, With a musket at his shoulder And roses in his hair". Officers who have not previously attended The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers

Officers' Mess The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

Minden Day dinner are presented with a rose to be eaten. The names of those who have done so are then recorded in the Mess Records.

References

* * * * * {{cite web, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005195223/http://www.pwrr-army.co.uk/pwrr_history.htm, url=http://www.pwrr-army.co.uk/pwrr_history.htm, title=Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment – history, archive-date=5 Oct 2008, website=PWRR-Army.co.uk British Army traditions August observances English traditions

See also

References