Household Division

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Household Division is term used principally in the Commonwealth of Nations to describe a country’s most elite or historically senior military groupings, or those military groupings that provide functions associated directly with the Sovereign.

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[edit] Historical Development

In medieval Western Europe, the most able warriors were pressed into service as the personal bodyguards to the monarch and other members of the royal or imperial household; as a result, Household Divisions are sometimes also referred to colloquially as Guards. From this origin comes the modern practice of designating a country’s finest military units as forming the Household Division.

Members of the Household Divisions would necessarily accompany the monarch to protect him when he ventured into the public. Hence, as kingdoms grew larger and more politically complex, the Household Divisions naturally became part of the public spectacle of the state. From this trend comes the modern practice of Household Divisions providing a theatrical ceremonial accompaniment to the head of state at important national events.

Inevitably, the prestige of serving directly with the monarch meant that the Household Divisions became dominated by members of the upper classes, irrespective of their actual skills as soldiers. From this development comes the association of Household Divisions with wealth, snobbery, and discrimination, a perception which persisted until the middle of the 20th century.[1]

Today, members of the Household Divisions continue to enjoy a certain social prestige within the armed forces and the state at large, although they are no longer regarded as necessarily the best soldiers. They do, however, continue to fulfil their ceremonial roles at state occasions, and to uphold the more enduring traditions of military service.

[edit] Australia

One of the most modern Household Divisions in the Commonwealth of Nations, the AFG was created in 2000, to provide purely ceremonial functions domestically and abroad. It is unique as a Household Division in that its members are drawn from the army, navy, and air force to serve together under a single command.

[edit] Canada

Uniquely, the Canadian Household Division is now an entirely militia rather than regular division. The Governor General's Foot Guards and the Canadian Grenadier Guards are respectively the first and second most senior infantry militia regiments, while the armoured Governor General's Horse Guards is the most senior of all militia regiments. All three regiments provide both active soldiers and symbolic guards. The Governor General's Horse Guards are Canada's sole Household Cavalry regiment; the Governor General's Foot Guards and the Canadian Grenadier Guards combine on an ad hoc basis to form the infantry Ceremonial Guard. Prior to 1970, the four regular battalions of the now disbanded Canadian Guards provided the infantry element of the Household Division.

[edit] India

Although India is a republic, its history as an empire within the British Empire has left it with a host of institutions of quasi-imperial forms: India thus retains a Household Division, despite recognising the authority of no royal household. The President's Bodyguard, which was founded in 1773 as the Governor's Troop of Moghuls and renamed the Governor General's Bodyguard during the colonial era, is the country's Household Cavalry regiment, with ceremonial soldiers on horseback and combat soldiers in armoured vehicles or heliborne roles.

[edit] United Kingdom

Septem juncta in uno (Seven joined in one)

The seven regiments that form the Household Division in the United Kingdom are all full-time regiments. However, in 2004 the Minister of Defence announced that the Foot Guards would gain a reserve (or Territorial Army) battalion, which is expected to be part of the London Regiment. The Household Division and the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery are collectively referred to as the Household Troops. They are under the command of the Major-General Commanding the Household Division, who is also General Officer Commanding London District. The current Major-General is Sebastian Roberts, OBE, appointed 2003.

The connection with the Sovereign remains important ceremonially and operationally, and the Household Division provides both ceremonial and operational support for the Crown. One of the five Foot Guards regiments is selected each year to troop their colour before the Sovereign at Trooping the Colour annually in June. This ceremony includes march-pasts in slow and quick time, and is attended by the Household Troops. Orders for the Household Division are conveyed through the Royal Household to the Major-General via the Field Officer in Brigade Waiting (for the Foot Guards) and the Silver Stick in Waiting (for the Household Cavalry).

The Household Division provides several battalions at any one time tasked for public duties, which include the protection of the Sovereign. In the event of crisis or war it is believed that one of these would be responsible for protecting the person of the Sovereign and facilitating their evacuation in the event that this were necessary. In the Second World War a special unit, known as Coats Mission, was entrusted with this latter task. In the 1960s war plans apparently envisaged evacuating the Sovereign to the Royal Yacht Britannia. It would appear that, contrary to persistent rumour, there were no plans for the Sovereign to join the Prime Minister at the Corsham bunker complex known variously as Hawthorn or Turnstile.

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