By Donn Morgan Kipgen
The other day a major of the Indian Army of the Red Shield division, i.e, the 57th Mtn Div, made a mountain out of a mole hill over a punctuated and attributed term as a literal retributive word instead. Once an inverted coma is used, the attributive term cannot be interpreted in its full literal meaning, nor could it be taken as an official designation, i.e ‘Maj’ Che Guevera or ‘Brig’ Living etc. In the military, a punctuated designation is regarded or recognised as self-styled. Hence, well-educated army officers, and UG outfit commanders, ought to think twice before passing a ‘guilty’ judgment upon themselves when it comes to punctuated attribution. In military tradition, outrageous attributive terms, phrases, call-signs, code-names, nicknames, unit-names, etc. have been proudly used and very well-liked by combat correspondents and the media. Though quaint, crude and offending in its literal sen-se, military jargons, have always been much more enjoyed and honoured by officers and ranks. Just about every strange or deceptive names, ungentlemanly terms and colourful phrases are readily accepted in the military even though the general public would find them uncouth, baffling and confusing. But no one minds as long as they win their hearts and admirations.
The most famous attributive name given to audacious military formation was that of Brig Orde Wingate’s ‘Chindits’ but dubbed by war correspondents as ‘Wingate Circus’. Brig (Later Maj Gen) Wingate of Burma fame did not mind because his courageous commando-brigade who created real havoc deep within the Japanese line in Burma during WWII came from various units of the Allied forces, hence different uniforms, insignia, colourful ribbons, etc. In Burma, the American led Kachin warriors were and still better known as the ‘Savage Kachin Rangers’, but the proud Kachins (i.e robbers as named by the dominant Burmans) don’t mind being called savage robbers by two more civilised nations! The American Kachin Rangers laid a foundation for Gen Frank ‘Merrill’s Marauders’ who smashed their way like a swarm of bees to capture the strategic airfield at Mitkyina in Burma during WWII. To call a disciplined and highly-trained assault force as ‘Marauders’ sounds like a military sacrilege, but then the ‘Merrill’s Marauders’ pro-udly took it as an attributive honour. About a decade ago, one faction misused the term ‘Marauders’, which was misinterpreted by other friendly factions’s learned advisors here in Manipur, changed the course of the Kukis insurgency movement. Well, what do we say about the ‘Dirty Dozen’ and ‘Dirty Harry’? The 12-man commando squad and the peace-enforcer Mr Harry took pride in being called ‘dirty’ which they were not in strict literal sense. The legendary British parachute still take pride in being labelled the ‘Red Devils’ as called by the Germans and officially recognised by none other then Gen Sir Harold Alexander in his message to the 1st Parachute Brigade in North Africa after the defeat of the more legendary German General called ‘The Desert Fox’. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel certainly was not a fox but fox-like military cunning he had and did fight magnificently against an enemy twice his fighting force. Rommel was much more than very pleased to be called ‘The Desert Fox’ since it was a positive attributive nickname. Ironically, one of the famous British armoured formation, which eventually routed the famed German Africa Korps of Rommel was the 6th Armoured Division which still is better known as ‘The Desert Rats’. Foxes and Rats of the desert they were, as they proudly called themselves like the Red Devils. During WWI, Scottish kilted soldiers were respectfully dubbed by the German as ‘Lady Devils from Hell’ though very much gentlemen troops from Scotland. All these names and phrases were given in positive and admirable sense of judgement and not sarcastic nor disrespectful observations. In the elite Parachute regiment, the bizarre phrase ‘Break Your Leg’ is used as good luck wish rather than ‘have a safe landing’ or ‘Happy Hunting’. During the famous Tangail (Bangladesh on 5th Dec 1971) para-dropping of the 2nd Parachute or No. 2 Para consisting of 784 Maratha Light Infantrymen under Lt. Col. Kulwant Singh Pannu, a pilot was shocked by the ‘Break Your Leg’ parting wishes and another ‘Good Luck’ wish to him by Col Pannu before jumping deep within hostile enemy territory instead of vice-versa. Col Pannu ‘arrogantly’ carried two pistols in his belt like the more arrogant Gen George Patton, 2nd US Army, one Govt issued and one private. The Proud Gen Douglas MacArthur, was dubbed as Caesar for his martial aristocracy, pompous and politico-military arrogant attitudes which literally made him a general without an Army after the US President Harry S Truman kept him on the sideline because of bombastic remarks and his refusal to deal directly with the White House and the Pentagon during the 1953 Korean war. It is worth mentioning that President Truman has no middle name which all other US President have had, and the initial ‘S’ between his first name Harry and surname is just an alphabetical letter. Even though the assassinated Gestrapo chief Reinhart Heydrich was given the middle name ‘The Hangman’ by the press, almost all of his thousands of victims were shot dead, gassed or hacked to death.
The world most famous ‘crack’ commando unit, the British Special Air Service (SAS) was dubbed as the Phantom Army by friends and foes alike. However, the SAS Commandos called themselves the ‘Jokers’, their commander being the Queen of Hearts and the enemy being the Knave/Jack. All armed forces’ elite units earnestly like to be called or dubbed with the punctuated word ‘crack’, i.e crack commandos. As an open adjective cracked means crazy, mentally unsound or physically damaged. The Americans GIs with dog-tags (not name tags) of D for Dog company’s K-9 squad don’t mind being called ‘dog-faced’ weary troops. One of the most arrogantly titled regular army regiments is the famous British Army’s 17th/ 21st Lancers - The Death or Glory Boys, or The ‘Tots’ in short. In fact, a cross-bone with a skull is used in pictorial form officially rather the word ‘death’, followed by ‘or Glory Boys’. No one says anything about Lord Kitchener’s 1000 crack troops being militarily attributed as the ‘Old Contemptibles’. Even in games and sports, we have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Grizzlies, Pirates, Kiwis, Kangaroos, Dare Devil, Wolverines, Dolphins, Lions, Hell’s Angels, Old Monks, Marauders, Raiders, Avenging Patriots, the Hammers and Gunners which are all officially accepted by one and all with good faith and charity for all.
The Sangai Express
The other day a major of the Indian Army of the Red Shield division, i.e, the 57th Mtn Div, made a mountain out of a mole hill over a punctuated and attributed term as a literal retributive word instead. Once an inverted coma is used, the attributive term cannot be interpreted in its full literal meaning, nor could it be taken as an official designation, i.e ‘Maj’ Che Guevera or ‘Brig’ Living etc. In the military, a punctuated designation is regarded or recognised as self-styled. Hence, well-educated army officers, and UG outfit commanders, ought to think twice before passing a ‘guilty’ judgment upon themselves when it comes to punctuated attribution. In military tradition, outrageous attributive terms, phrases, call-signs, code-names, nicknames, unit-names, etc. have been proudly used and very well-liked by combat correspondents and the media. Though quaint, crude and offending in its literal sen-se, military jargons, have always been much more enjoyed and honoured by officers and ranks. Just about every strange or deceptive names, ungentlemanly terms and colourful phrases are readily accepted in the military even though the general public would find them uncouth, baffling and confusing. But no one minds as long as they win their hearts and admirations.
The most famous attributive name given to audacious military formation was that of Brig Orde Wingate’s ‘Chindits’ but dubbed by war correspondents as ‘Wingate Circus’. Brig (Later Maj Gen) Wingate of Burma fame did not mind because his courageous commando-brigade who created real havoc deep within the Japanese line in Burma during WWII came from various units of the Allied forces, hence different uniforms, insignia, colourful ribbons, etc. In Burma, the American led Kachin warriors were and still better known as the ‘Savage Kachin Rangers’, but the proud Kachins (i.e robbers as named by the dominant Burmans) don’t mind being called savage robbers by two more civilised nations! The American Kachin Rangers laid a foundation for Gen Frank ‘Merrill’s Marauders’ who smashed their way like a swarm of bees to capture the strategic airfield at Mitkyina in Burma during WWII. To call a disciplined and highly-trained assault force as ‘Marauders’ sounds like a military sacrilege, but then the ‘Merrill’s Marauders’ pro-udly took it as an attributive honour. About a decade ago, one faction misused the term ‘Marauders’, which was misinterpreted by other friendly factions’s learned advisors here in Manipur, changed the course of the Kukis insurgency movement. Well, what do we say about the ‘Dirty Dozen’ and ‘Dirty Harry’? The 12-man commando squad and the peace-enforcer Mr Harry took pride in being called ‘dirty’ which they were not in strict literal sense. The legendary British parachute still take pride in being labelled the ‘Red Devils’ as called by the Germans and officially recognised by none other then Gen Sir Harold Alexander in his message to the 1st Parachute Brigade in North Africa after the defeat of the more legendary German General called ‘The Desert Fox’. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel certainly was not a fox but fox-like military cunning he had and did fight magnificently against an enemy twice his fighting force. Rommel was much more than very pleased to be called ‘The Desert Fox’ since it was a positive attributive nickname. Ironically, one of the famous British armoured formation, which eventually routed the famed German Africa Korps of Rommel was the 6th Armoured Division which still is better known as ‘The Desert Rats’. Foxes and Rats of the desert they were, as they proudly called themselves like the Red Devils. During WWI, Scottish kilted soldiers were respectfully dubbed by the German as ‘Lady Devils from Hell’ though very much gentlemen troops from Scotland. All these names and phrases were given in positive and admirable sense of judgement and not sarcastic nor disrespectful observations. In the elite Parachute regiment, the bizarre phrase ‘Break Your Leg’ is used as good luck wish rather than ‘have a safe landing’ or ‘Happy Hunting’. During the famous Tangail (Bangladesh on 5th Dec 1971) para-dropping of the 2nd Parachute or No. 2 Para consisting of 784 Maratha Light Infantrymen under Lt. Col. Kulwant Singh Pannu, a pilot was shocked by the ‘Break Your Leg’ parting wishes and another ‘Good Luck’ wish to him by Col Pannu before jumping deep within hostile enemy territory instead of vice-versa. Col Pannu ‘arrogantly’ carried two pistols in his belt like the more arrogant Gen George Patton, 2nd US Army, one Govt issued and one private. The Proud Gen Douglas MacArthur, was dubbed as Caesar for his martial aristocracy, pompous and politico-military arrogant attitudes which literally made him a general without an Army after the US President Harry S Truman kept him on the sideline because of bombastic remarks and his refusal to deal directly with the White House and the Pentagon during the 1953 Korean war. It is worth mentioning that President Truman has no middle name which all other US President have had, and the initial ‘S’ between his first name Harry and surname is just an alphabetical letter. Even though the assassinated Gestrapo chief Reinhart Heydrich was given the middle name ‘The Hangman’ by the press, almost all of his thousands of victims were shot dead, gassed or hacked to death.
The world most famous ‘crack’ commando unit, the British Special Air Service (SAS) was dubbed as the Phantom Army by friends and foes alike. However, the SAS Commandos called themselves the ‘Jokers’, their commander being the Queen of Hearts and the enemy being the Knave/Jack. All armed forces’ elite units earnestly like to be called or dubbed with the punctuated word ‘crack’, i.e crack commandos. As an open adjective cracked means crazy, mentally unsound or physically damaged. The Americans GIs with dog-tags (not name tags) of D for Dog company’s K-9 squad don’t mind being called ‘dog-faced’ weary troops. One of the most arrogantly titled regular army regiments is the famous British Army’s 17th/ 21st Lancers - The Death or Glory Boys, or The ‘Tots’ in short. In fact, a cross-bone with a skull is used in pictorial form officially rather the word ‘death’, followed by ‘or Glory Boys’. No one says anything about Lord Kitchener’s 1000 crack troops being militarily attributed as the ‘Old Contemptibles’. Even in games and sports, we have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Grizzlies, Pirates, Kiwis, Kangaroos, Dare Devil, Wolverines, Dolphins, Lions, Hell’s Angels, Old Monks, Marauders, Raiders, Avenging Patriots, the Hammers and Gunners which are all officially accepted by one and all with good faith and charity for all.
The Sangai Express
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