Honorable Artillery Company Open Evening

Thanks to the advice I got from IanVisits and my colleague at work, last night I went along to the annual open evening at the Honorable Artillery Company's Finsbury Barracks, which is just off City Road.

The HAC, as it's known, traces its history all the way back to 1537, and operates out of the magnificent Armory House and the 6 acres of grounds behind it. There were lots of things going on at the event, including a display by the Company of Pikemen and Musketeers (consisting of retired members of the Company whose role is to act as the Lord Mayor of London's bodyguard) and also marching by the mounted Light Cavalry, who wear 19th century military dress, as well as a display of fantastic horse-drawn gun carriages.





Visitors were also treated to a re-enactment of current military tactics by a 'sabre squadron' of serving soldiers (the HAC currently serves in a surveillance and target acquisition role as part of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps). While an observation post (an 'OP' which turned out to be stationed on the top of one of the barrack buildings) provided suppressing fire, a group of soldiers on the ground approached and assaulted a 'terrorist' camp in order to rescue a kidnapped 'journalist', while others abseiled down the barracks building and raced in to provide further support. Very stirring stuff - the crackle of gunfire was everywhere, and smoke drifted across the ground as grenades were thrown in to obscure the attackers' approach. There was also a lot of military hardware to look at around the grounds, including artillery pieces and an Apache attack helicopter which evidently had been flown in earlier in the day.




One of the staff (sorry I didn't catch your name!) very kindly showed me around the treasures in Armory House itself. Approached by a grand staircase, the main mess on the first floor, the 'Long Room', is lined with pictures of the Company's commanding officers over the years (the HAC's current 'Lieutenant General' is the Queen, but rather inexplicably in the 1970s, it was Edward Heath?!) and has a table at its centre literally groaning with all the awards and trophies collected by the Company throughout its history. The 'Court Room' had several pieces of memorabilia including a suit of armour and the Company's ceremonial sword, and it also had interesting murals up on the walls, which are very similar to those in the 'Painted Hall' at Greenwich. The 'Medal Room' was lined with (you guessed it) medals awarded to members of the Company, including two Victoria Crosses, which are proudly displayed at the back of the room beneath their portraits.





You can find out a lot more about the history and current work of the Company at their website (which, like St John's, is surprisingly good!) here, and I took some other photos of the evening which you can find here.

I'm going to close this post with a sobering thought. I was told that the HAC is currently deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan and, sadly, last December they lost their first soldier in the field since the cessation of hostilities at the end of the Second World War. Whatever your personal views about the political and military decisions that lie behind the deployments of our armed forces overseas, remember that the soldiers themselves could be your relatives, friends or colleagues. Don't forget the sacrifices that they're making a long way from home.

Here are a couple of links to some very worthy causes that provide support to our soldiers - a contribution could provide help for a returning injured soldier who desperately needs it or, at the very least, your donation might end up in a care package that puts a smile on a soldier's face out there in the field... worth thinking about isn't it.

Poppy Appeal
Support Our Soldiers
Help For Heroes