The Light Infantry: Proud history besmirched

The history of the Light Infantry (LI) goes back to the colonial war in North America (the 'French and Indian War') that preceded and then ran concurrently with the 'Seven Years War'. Groups of skilled North American skirmishers were recruited to fight the French colonists and their Native American allies.

Napoleon later used such skirmishers in front of his own main lines and the British Army (notably Sir John Moore) trained and deployed troops as 'light infantry' to fight these 'tirraileurs'. These soldiers were considered elite and the title 'Light Infantry' had considerable prestige.

The LI Regiment of the British Army was formed in the 1960s and 1970s from old LI Regiments: Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry, Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, Durham Light Infantry, Herefordshire Light Infantry and the Light Infantry Volunteers.

Click here for the Light Infantry's official website.

The Battle honours of the regiment include:
Gibraltar 1704-1705
Minden 1759
Salamanca 1812
Jellalabad 1842
Inkerman 1854
Lucknow 1857-1858
Anzio 1944
Hill 112 - 1944

Now the Battle Dishonours include: Basra 2006.

Dani Hamilton-Bing, whose 18-year-old son, Pte James Hamilton-Bing, of the 1st Battalion, The Light Infantry, tried to quell rioters in Basra after the downing of a Lynx helicopter in May that killed five British soldiers, has attacked Tony Blair for putting the lives of over-stretched troops in Iraq and Afghanistan at risk.

Mrs Hamilton-Bing said that anger at seeing her son sent to fight a dishonest war had driven her to take action, adding that many other military families shared her views. She said: "My son joined to fight legal wars, not wars based on lies and deception."

"I am not against war, just an illegal war, she says I can't understand why we are there," she says "I can't understand why we are there."

"Does Tony Blair really value what these men are going through? Does he really understand the sacrifices these men and women are making?" she asked. "Nobody believes what the Government says," she added.

Mrs Hamilton-Bing insists that she is part of a majority vehemently against the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, who believe the forces have been over-stretched, and treated like "mercenaries" for hire by a dishonest Prime Minister. She believes that she is only reflecting the views of the servicemen and women who say nothing because they acknowledge that they relinquished that right when they signed up and "took the Queen's shilling".

"Nine out of 10 agree with me… there doesn't seem to be any end in sight."

From Terri Judd, 'Why did Blair send my son to fight an illegal and dishonest war?', The Independent, 2nd September 2006.