NEWS

Swift and Bold: A Portrait of The Royal Green Jackets 1966-2007 launched

3 December 2007

On 1st February 2007, The Royal Green Jackets merged into a new rifle regiment, The Rifles. To commemorate the outstanding contribution made by The Royal Green Jackets to the Army over the last 40 years, a richly illustrated portrait entitled Swift and Bold: A Portrait of The Royal Green Jackets 1966-2007 has been published.

Written by insiders with first-hand knowledge of The Royal Green Jackets, this beautifully designed hardback volume includes over 500 images and records the evolution of the Regiment from its illustrious forebears and documents the origins, traditions, ethos, characteristics and exploits of this famous regiment since its formation in 1966.

Swift and Bold captures The Green Jackets’ approach to leadership and takes a look inside the workings of the regimental system, including the part played by the Regimental HQ, The Royal Green Jackets Association, the Volunteers and the Cadets. Further chapters describe the contribution made by the Regiment to counter-insurgency in the Far East, to the long campaign in Northern Ireland, the service in BAOR during the Cold War period and soldiering around the world. Green Jackets have served in Belize, the Falklands, Cyprus, the Lebanon, Oman, Rhodesia (pre-Zimbabwe), the Balkans, Hong Kong and Iraq.

In July 1967, a year after The Royal Green Jackets were formed, The Colonel-in-Chief, Her Majesty the Queen, inspected the new regiment for the first time at St Cross. In her address she said, “One hundred and sixty years ago your predecessors were founder members of the Light Division. Next year The Royal Green Jackets will form part of this famous division once again, alongside other light infantry regiments. I am sure that wherever you are called upon to serve, at home or abroad, you will add lustre to its name.”

Forty years on The Royal Green Jackets have witnessed a great many cuts in defence spending and the inevitable amalgamation and reorganisation of numerous regiments throughout the Army. However, their reputation was undoubtedly the envy of the British Army, so much so that they were referred to as ‘The Black Mafia’, because of their grip on the higher echelons of the army.

The ideals and ethos of The Royal Green Jackets were based on a particular style of leadership, summed up by Field Marshal, Lord Bramall, when a Lieutenant Colonel commanding the 2nd Battalion in 1966: ‘pride in fighting qualities and professional skill, intelligent and humane discipline, sympathy and understanding between all ranks and concern for the individual, for his welfare and for that of his dependants.’

For the general public one of the best known former members of the SAS - and a Royal Green Jacket - is Andy McNab, author of the best selling book Bravo Two Zero. On a recent visit to Basra where he was embedded into 2Rifles (nearing the end of an operational tour that they had started as 1RGJ), he wrote: “What I witnessed here was the most professional, motivated and well armed generation of soldiers our country might ever have seen.”

Lord Bramall concludes in his foreword to the book, “It is indeed a splendid portrait of a fine Regiment and I hope you will enjoy reading it and savouring something of the very special contribution that The Royal Green Jackets brought to our military affairs.”

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS

Imprint: Third Millennium Publishing, London
Editors: Andrew Pringle and Vere Hayes
Publication date: 29th November 2007 / RRP: £35 / ISBN: 978 1 905 942 69 7
Specification: Hardback, 192 pages, 305 x 254 mm, over 500 illustrations

The Publisher:

Third Millennium Publishing specialises in publishing and design for the art, heritage and military markets and is currently working on a number of book projects with leading schools, Oxbridge colleges, universities (including a celebratory volume on the 800th anniversary of Cambridge University), cathedrals, regiments, and museums and galleries in the UK and USA. Recent and forthcoming military titles include Sandhurst: A Tradition of Leadership, The Royal Hospital Chelsea: The Place and the People, The Guards: Excellence in Action, The Royal Artillery Woolwich: A Celebration and the AMOT guidebook entitled Military Museums in the UK.

For further information contact Michael D Jackson, Marketing Manager, Third Millennium Information Ltd, 2-5 Benjamin St, EC1M 5QL. Tel: +44 (0)207 336 0144. Email: mj@tmiltd.com. Website: www.tmiltd.com