Pàgines

dimecres, 26 d’octubre del 2011

Army units I – Unitats de l'exèrcit I.


The Generalitat Grenadier Guards Regiment. El Regiment de Guàrdies Granaders de la Generalitat.

The first Regiment of Infantry is made up entirely of grenadiers and is considered as the senior and only Guard unit of the army. Its six companies are of course grenadier companies, and one of them acts as permanent protectors of the Catalan government guarding its installations and patrolling the place the government is at at any moment. This role is shared by all companies, taking seasonal turns.

There is no senior company and so companies also take turns to share the Colonel's colours which in other regiments are taken by the first, senior company. In battle, the unit does not converge with other unit's grenadiers but those just join the regiment for a given time and then return to their parent units. For that time, those grenadiers are to obey the first regiment's officers.

The regiment was first created as the Generalitat regiment back in the War for Independence and has kept its name since then, being the only unit to do so. Its uniforms colours and facings are also the same, only changing the cut of the uniforms. Members of the regiment participated in many heroic actions of war, both in the siege of Barcinona and outside the capital.

As every other infantry unit in the Catalan army, the Generalitat Regiment is one battalion strong. There is a provision for a second battalion, this time formed only by fusileers (musketeers), to be formed only in the coming of war and then only by the specific consent and mandate of the Generalitat government. Its members would then be coming straight from others units which then in turn should recruit to strength again.

You can see the uniform and colours below.

El primer regiment d'infanteria es compon enterament de granaders i es considera com la unitat superior en grau de l'exèrcit i la única unitat de la Guàrdia. Les seves sis companyies són de granaders, i una d'elles actua com a guàrdia permanent del govern català protegint les seves instal·lacions i patrullant el lloc al que el govern està en un moment donat. Aquesta funció és compartida per totes les companyies, per torns estacionals.

No hi ha una companyia sènior i així totes fan també torns per a compartir la bandera Coronela que en altres regiments és portat per la primera companyia per la seva superioritat. En batalla, la unitat no convergeix amb granaders de cap altra unitat, sinó que aquests s'uneixen al regiment durant un temps determinat i després tornen a les seves unitats dels pares. Durant aquest període, aquests granaders han d'obeir als oficials del primer regiment.

El regiment va ser creat com el regiment de la Generalitat a la Guerra d'Independència i ha mantingut el seu nom des de llavors, essent l'única unitat que ho ha fet. Els seus colors d'uniformes i divisa són també els mateixos, només canvia el patró dels uniformes. Membres del regiment van participar en moltes accions heroiques de la guerra, tant en el setge de Barcinona com a fora de la capital.

Com totes les unitats d'infanteria en l'exèrcit català, el Regiment de la Generalitat és compost per un sol batalló. Hi ha una provisió per a un segon batalló, aquesta vegada format només per fusellers (mosqueters), només en cas de guerra i només pel consentiment específic i el mandat del govern de la Generalitat. Els seus membres vindrien directament de les altres unitats que al seu torn haurien de reclutar un altre cop per a retornar a la seva força original.

Podeu veure l'uniforme i les banderes a sota.
Grenadiers - Granaders
Fusileers - Fusellers


Colonel's Colours - Bandera Coronela
Regimental Colours - Bandera Regimental

Uniforms made with templates from the most excellent site of Msr. David Linienblatt, Not By Appointment; the crowns both royal and laurel are taken from designs in that site too.

Els uniformes han estat fets amb plantilles del molt excel·lent site de Msr. David Linienblatt, Not By Appointment; les corones, tant la reial com la de llorer, són preses de dissenys al mateix site.


5 comentaris:

  1. Note that all Catalan grenadiers share a common motto, "Gravitas et Ratio", the initials of which are embroidered or embossed in their mitre hats.

    Also Catalan grenadiers are exceptional because being from the army of a catholic nation, they wear mitre caps instead of furry hats having been conceded so by the religious authorities.

    ResponElimina
  2. Do 'Catalaunian' (though, just like Lluis with 'Galatan', you seem to prefer in practice to 'bluntly / frankly' use 'Catalan'?) grenadiers wear mustaches? A fashion common in Catholic lands, ignored in Great Britain and, I believe, other Protestant countries.

    Btw I suspect that during the 18th C. the grenades on the horizontal 'arms' of the cross would themselves be horizontal, the flames outwards; and probably that on the lower vertical part would have the flames downwards, re. the 'centrifugal' orientation of the crowns on the flags of the 'Wild Geese' in French service?

    ResponElimina
  3. You could use Catalaunian (or even Catalonian) as English form of Catalan, which is in the native Catalan language. That's:
    In Catalan - Catalàunia/Catalans
    In English - Catalaunia (Catalonia)/Catalaunians (Catalonians, Catalans)
    In French - Catalaunie (Catalogne)/Catalauniens (Cataloniens?, Catalans)
    I guess... Phonetic variations due, of course.

    I think the 1st Regiment ones have moustaches, but I'll have to check (that is, to look carefully at the Minden minis I use) ;)
    I think they have moustaches in the 1st IR, maybe all grenadiers do... I'll check it... :)

    Regarding the grenade devices in the flags, quite frankly I don't know for sure. I've only checked Warflag and Prussian WSS regiments had grenades, all with flames pointing up. You can see it here: http://www.warflag.com/flags/wss/wssprussian.shtml

    ResponElimina
  4. Welcome to the world of ImagiNations' blogs! It's good to see my templates in use again too - and looking so dashing. :-) I look forward to watching developments.

    Cheers,

    David
    http://nba-sywtemplates.blogspot.com/

    ResponElimina
  5. Thanks!

    I'm (we all are) lucky to have found your work as it eases mine (ours) infinitely.

    You'll see more of it later. And maps too of course!

    ResponElimina