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Battle Honours seek to record
occasions when a unit has distinguished itself
in war. Commemorations of such notable exploits
of a unit's past help create and maintain a
pride within itself.
The first Battle Honour, or
Honorary Distinction as it was correctly called,
was awarded in the British Army to the 18th
Royal Irish Regiment by King William III for its
service at the siege of Namur in 1695.
Thereafter the custom of granting Battle Honours
became more common.
All the regiments which took
part in the defence of Gibraltar (during the
Great Siege of 1779-83) were allowed to bear the
title "GIBRALTAR". This included a number of
batteries from the Royal Artillery. The Gunners
were also awarded the Battle Honour WATERLOO.
In 1833, the Gunners were
granted two mottos, "UBIQUE" and "QUO FAS ET
GLORIA DUCUNT". It was stated that "UBIQUE"
(Everywhere) was also to be granted as a Battle
Honour and was to substitute for "all other
terms of distinction for the whole Regiment".
This was the end of all other Battle Honours in
the Royal Artillery.
A committee was assembled in
1882, under Major General Sir Archibald Allison,
to review all the past history of the British
Army and to regularise the holding and the
granting of Battle Honours, less the Royal
Artillery who had already been given the single
Battle Honour UBIQUE.
The Honour is unique to the
Gunners. It simply means that wherever there is
a battle the Gunners are there, serving and
supporting.
The Royal Regiment of
Australian Artillery was granted the Battle
Honour, by His Majesty King George VI, in
January 1950 (it is not a Battle Honour for the
engineers). This included 6 Field Regiment Royal
Australian Artillery CMF who were granted
approval and from then on wore a replica badge
to that of the famous parent corps, the Royal
Artillery, and bears the same two mottos -
"UBIQUE" (Everywhere) which takes the place of
individual battle honours of an infantry
regiment, and "QUO FAS ET GLORIA DUCUNT". Unlike
the infantry regiments of the line, the
Artillery has no regimental colours - its
colours are the guns themselves. Nor does the
Artillery have battle honours - its battle
honour is the one word EVERYWHERE.
Battle honours are not to be
confuzed with "Honour Titles" which are borne by
a number of batteries in the Royal Artillery -
an example is 171 (The Broken Wheel) Battery RA.
There is a provision made in
the RAA Standing Orders for batteries to be
granted Honour Titles. The main rule applying
for the granting of these titles is "Place names
should be limited to occasions of historic
interest, and even then be awarded only in
outstanding cases where the susceptibilities of
other batteries are not likely to be hurt".
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