Cambrai Day: Why is a tradition, a tradition?
“SHAME: To make someone feel ashamed; to lose honour and respect; the uncomfortable sensation caused when it seems that we have no safe haven from the judging gaze of others.”
Who should be shamed about 1st Armoured Regiment being stripped of its tanks and made a non-combatant after 75 years’ service – in order to save money in the Defence budget to help meet the cost of the AUKUS submarines?
The nominees include: those who supported the decision; those who failed to divulge the rationale for it; those involved in the cover-up; and those who should’ve protested more loudly about the enormous long-term harm done to the RAAC.
Some will justify their inaction and silence with the usual excuses: “I don’t want to make a fuss”; “It isn’t my place to raise it”; and “I don’t want to rock the boat”.
The fact is … everyone who has a connection of any sort to 1 Armd Regt should be shamed by what’s been done to the unit. There’s no other way of saying it … it’s simply a disgrace!
When it became a complete tank regiment, 1 Armd Regt earned the right for its Guidon to be replaced with a Standard, as per the British Army custom for a ‘heavy dragoon’ unit. The Standard, with battle honours emblazoned and Unit Citation for Gallantry affixed, is now held by the Combat Experimentation Group (CXG), a non-combatant unit.
This is an abomination as far as RAAC heritage and tradition is concerned.
The CXG (or 1 Armd Regt minus tanks) has no entitlement to carry the Standard and it should be laid up in accord with its consecrated status. Should 1 Armd Regt rejoin Army’s order of battle as a tank regiment at some point in the future, the Standard can then be returned to the unit. (It used to be that ‘laid up’ colours could not be taken back into service. This is no longer the case.)
The key element of tradition is that its significance is passed from generation to generation.
With respect to Cambrai, I recall my then OC calling me into his tent, not long before our departure for Vietnam. He gave me a book about the battle and asked me to prepare a presentation for the Squadron. I rapidly became familiar with the events … indeed, parts of the presentation remain with me even today.
The thing was, of course, we would soon be employing shock action and all-arms co-operation on operations. This wasn’t just an academic exercise; there were lessons to be learnt, and passed on, based on what had happened all those years earlier.
It is a tradition of the British Royal Tank Regiment to commemorate Cambrai Day (20 Nov) each year. It quickly became a tradition of 1 Armd Regt also, a mounted parade being conducted each year. Despite having been stripped of its tanks, the CXG is to host a 2025 Cambrai Parade, together with a demonstration of the autonomous capabilities it is evaluating.
But why? Surely this is not a continuation of a tradition which had been passed from generation to generation? The explanation is simple: 1 Armd Regt has been ordered to maintain the heritage and traditions of its former self, as if it was still equipped with tanks.
This was all considered as part of the planning by Defence; the Chief of Army reasoning that not to do so, would create a backlash which might draw unfavourable attention to 1 Armd Regt’s new non-combatant role. The Chief of the Defence Force makes it quite clear: “the current leadership is diligently stewarding the unit’s [1 Armd Regt’s] traditions”.
Why is a tradition, a tradition? It seems that it must be something to do with whatever the most senior officer was thinking at the time.
Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Cameron, MC, RAAC (Ret’d)
FILE PHOTO (2024): Veterans of the 1st Armoured Regiment during the Cambrai Parade at Edinburgh Defence Precinct. Photo by Corporal Adam Quinn.
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