This is a tribute to Gunners. Every Gunner whether Officers or Orther Ranks. Ubique. Everywhere. I feel that this tribute, small as it were from me, brings me great joy being a Gunner myself and I had come a long way associated with Gunners, guns and firepower. The RA shall be celebrating Ubique 300 in 2016, a mere 300 years compared to the thousand of years since the invention of the gun powder in the 9th century and the begining of the field artillery in the 15th century. Down the time scale, I note to being half a century as a Gunner. New Gunners, Old Gunners, Retired Gunners, feel the same all over the world. Proud, confident and assured always that we Gunners are real force multiplyers in any confilcts. We had always played the critical role in any given combat situation. We provide the covering fire, defensive fire, harassing fire and illuminations and smoke screens when needed. We have light, medium and heavy fire support roles covering the whole width and depth of the battlefield. Artillery is King of the battlefield. A battery of field artillery is worth a thousand muskets.
It does not matter whether we are at priority calls, in direct support or in support, we had always delivered. Guns come in all sizes and calibres. Gunners are all high calibres. High achievers in most armies in the world. The best West Pointers were generally commisioned into the Enginers or Artillery corps. In Malaysia, selected and short listed cadets in the FMC/RMC were commisioned to the Federation/Malaysian Artillery. General Chiang Kai Shek, Kuomintang Army had said "war is not only a matter of equipment, artillery, group troops or air force; it is largely a matter of spirit and morale. He was an artillery officer. Napoleon Bonaparte was perhaps the most famous of all Gunners. And of course many Gunners had became Chiefs of Defence Forces / Chief of Armies of their countries.
The RA had 62 Victoria Cross medals awardees.This speaks volumes for British Gunners. We all had learnt at the Staff and Defence Colleges the values of rapprochment and deterrence, but don't we all swear by the barrels of the guns?
Gunners are genuinely ubiquitous, Gunners had fought in all the world wars; in Conventional warfares, Jungle warfares, Urban warfares and had manned UN peace keeping/peace enforcing forces all over the world. No tribute is more satisfying than a simple "Well done Gunners"
On personal level I had come along way.
I was particularly proud to have worn the iconic cannon cap badge in my songkok, the cross barrels insignia on my chest, the red landyard on my right shoulder and of course the red, blue and yellow stablebelt. I was a respected participant in all our local and international exercises and also during my various visits to neighbouring countries as a representive of our Malaysian Army.
Truth be told, I had passed all my army promotion examinations without much fuss. The rather wide stablebelt stood up for me during map reading and tactics practical exams. The BC course that I had attended in the school of Artliiery, Manly Australia focused more of the combat arms battle picture than of gunnery. Hence I was good in tactics as I was good in gunnery.
A big thank you and tribute is also given to the owner of this blog for allowing us to keep part of our Malaysian Artillery's history and experiences alive.
I share his toast here:
A Toast to the Guns.
By them we live, For them we would die.
Whatever the Mission,We'll give it a try.
We'll serve them with Honor For they are the ones;
That make us 'Gunners',
So here's to the Guns: TO THE GUNS!!
Gunners are truly Ubique. Everywhere.
Once a Gunner always a Gunner.
Allen Lai
