The Thin Red Line

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Thin Red Line is a description used to refer to an outgunned military unit holding firm against attack:

• The Thin Red Line (1854 battle), the initial reference, referred to the resistance by 93rd (Highland) Regiment in the Crimean War.

Subsequently, the phrase has been used as the titles of various works, including:

• The Thin Red Line (1962 novel), a novel by James Jones about fighting on Guadalcanal.
• The Thin Red Line (1964 film), the Andrew Marton film based on Jones's novel.
• The Thin Red Line (1998 film), the Terrence Malick film based on Jones's novel.
• The Thin Red Line (album), the 1986 debut album by Canadian band Glass Tiger.
• A song about heroes of the British army from the album Unleash the Beast by the heavy metal band Saxon.
• The Thin Red Line (1921), a march by Kenneth J. Alford

The phrase is also used in:

• the poem "Tommy" by Rudyard Kipling to identify soldiers going unappreciated in times of peace.
• as a colloquial term for fire fighters. The term suggests that a thin line of heroes is the last line of defense.