Robin Braysher

Colombian Mules

No, I’m not straying off topic with a post about drug smuggling, this is genuinely about four-legged equines. Mules are a rare sight in the UK so I guess, for most of us, they are something from the past – maybe an animal that frustrated or amused our grandfathers (or great-grandfathers etc.) over one hundred years ago in Macedonia. However, because of their versatility they are still very much in use around the world, particularly in hilly or mountainous country.

Mind the mozzies!

With family members heading off to tropical climes, I was quick to share my ‘specialist knowledge’ of anti-mosquito precautions – based entirely on reading about the BSF – and shared this splendid photo with the travellers:

Lance Corporal Harrison, 12th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, wearing protective anti-mosquito clothing as issued to troops on night duty during the summer months. Photograph taken at Bowls Barrow, 2 June 1918. © IWM HU 82035

I’m not sure how impressed they were, but I thought it gave an excellent impression of the precautions to take. So I was especially pleased to see anti-mosquito face veils at a reasonable price in a well-known hiking and outdoors shop and promptly bought one for each member of the party. I have seen them in use, although this was in the UK and – I suspect – more to humour me than a serious indication of an intention to wear them in foreign parts.

Just think how chuffed members of the BSF would have been to have these – they even look great with a slouch hat …

(of course, in proper use the veil should be tucked in at the neck!)

Well, they are on their travels and I don’t like to ask if they’ve used them yet, but I will be looking out for traces of mosquito bites on their faces when they return!

If you are travelling this summer, I hope you manage to avoid mosquitoes and midges. If not, maybe you should invest in one of these veils as a practical tribute to the BSF!

Remembered at the Tower

The tower most associated with the Salonika campaign is Thessaloniki’s iconic White Tower but, on a recent trip to London, I discovered connections with the campaign at another iconic landmark – The Tower of London. During a visit we took a look in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula which, not surprisingly, remembers significant figures at the Tower over the centuries.

Happy International Logistics Day!

National Logistics Day is celebrated on June 28 every year to honor the work of the hardworking professionals in the logistics sector.

More on shorts!

The nice thing about doing these web posts is that sometimes people reply to them and so it has been with last week’s post on the shorts worn by the BSF.

Bombay Bloomers

If you have read the latest issue of The New Mosquito (47, April 2023), you may recall that in the section on shorts on page 24 I commented that I had yet to see any images of the later pattern of shorts which had flaps to be folded down in the evening to prevent mosquitoes getting to the legs. It turns out that such an image was right in front of me – the Christmas card image on the opposite page showing a combined Yeomanry and cyclist patrol!

It’s St George’s Day!

Having celebrated the Welsh battalions of the BSF on St David’s Day and the Irish ones on St Patrick’s Day, how should I mark St George’s Day? I feel writers’ cramp coming on just thinking about typing out the names of the 52 or so English battalions of the BSF (see NM 11, April 2005) so, instead, will go for an easier option. The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was formed on 23 April 1968, celebrates St George’s Day and, indeed, has an image of St George slaying the dragon on its cap badge. It was created by amalgamating four English fusilier regiments: Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) and Lancashire Fusiliers. Three of these regiments provided battalions for the BSF.

Author: Robin Braysher