Gibraltar cuff

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The cuff in officer's design

The Gibraltar sleeve band was a traditional badge of the Prussian army . The cuff was originally designed by the British King George III. awarded to several Kurhannoversche regiments . This award was renewed under Kaiser Wilhelm II .

history

background

In the course of the American War of Independence , there were also armed conflicts between the conflicting parties on the European continent. In this case it was Spain and France on one side and Britain on the other. Spain and France besieged the British sea fortress of Gibraltar for almost four years, between June 24, 1779 and February 7, 1783, but ultimately failed in their goal of conquest. British units were increasingly sent to North America during the War of Independence, including units from Gibraltar . In order to keep the garrison on a constant level of personnel, five battalions of Kurhannovese troops were moved there. Three of the battalions from Reden, de la Motte and von Hardenberg from Hameln , Verden and Nienburg / Weser , each of which was 473 strong, were stationed in Gibraltar and were under the command of Major General August de la Motte from the Braunschweig-Lüneburg district , who in turn was subordinate to the British General George Augustus Eliott . The other two battalions were stationed in Menorca . Together with the remaining British units they managed to thwart the conquest. Only in August 1784 did the Hanoverian associations return to their homeland.

First award of the cuff

alternative description
Officer of the "Gibraltar Battalion" de la Motte with a flag, the Rock of Gibraltar with the motto: "With Eliott fame and victory", as well as "the 13th and 13th. September 14, 1782 ”shows.

In appreciation of the achievements of the three Kurhannoverschen battalions, Georg III. on October 14, 1783 a regulation according to which these units were allowed to carry the following awards:

  1. These three battalions would forever bear the name “ Gibraltar Battalion ” in their regiments.
  2. [It] should be given to them special flags in which the Rocks of Gibraltar were painted with the motto "With Eliott glory and victory" above it .
  3. The grenadiers of the battalions should have the name "Gibraltar" on their bear hats on a gold-plated or silver-plated plate.
  4. On the right sleeve of the mount, the non-commissioned officers and the commons were given a light blue ribbon with the name "Gibraltar" woven into it ...

Second award of the cuff

On January 24, 1901, Prussian associations with a Hanoverian tradition, including the Fusilier Regiment No. 73 , Infantry Regiment No. 79 and Jäger Battalion No. 10 , were given permission to wear a cuff with the To be allowed to wear the inscription "GIBRALTAR".

On this day, Emperor Wilhelm II determined by "Very Highest Cabinet Order" No. 55: Award of a ribbon with the inscription "Gibraltar"

“I want the badge that Elector Georg III. von Hanover had lent the NCOs and men of the three Hanoverian battalions that had been involved in the defense of Gibraltar, renew them in my army and accordingly determine that Field Marshal General Prince Albrecht of Prussia (Hanoverian) No. 73, the infantry, of the fusilier regiment -Regiment von Voigts-Rhetz (3rd Hannoversches) No. 79 and the Hanoverian Jäger Battalion No. 10 on the right sleeve of the tunic above the flap or the lapel a light blue ribbon with the inscription "Gibraltar" after the rehearsal approved by me will be carried. Homburg vd Höhe, January 24th, 1901. Wilhelm "

- Army Ordinance Sheet, Volume 35, No. 7, of March 13, 1901

The cuff was the only traditional badge of this form in Germany before 1918. It was blue and bore the inscription "GIBRALTAR" in yellow capital letters for NCOs and men and gold for officers. The crew version was embroidered with fabric thread, the officer version with metal thread embroidery. It was worn on the lower right sleeve. Until the end of the First World War , the cuff was also worn on the field uniform.

literature

  • M. Ballauff: The King's German Legion up to the Battle of Talavera on July 28, 1809. Verlag von Heinrich Feesche, Hanover 1909.
  • Poten: The Old Hanoverian traditions of the infantry regiment von Voigts-Rhetz (3rd Hanoverian) No. 79. Ernst Siegfried Mittler and Son , Berlin 1903.
  • Christian Senne: The "Gibraltar cuff". The story of a military badge 1784-1918. In: Sandro Wiggerich, Steven Kensy (Ed.): State Power Uniform. Uniforms as a symbol of state power in transition? (= Studies on the history of everyday life 29). Franz Steiner Verlag , Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-515-09933-2 , pp. 186-199.
  • Hans Zopf: Gibraltar and the traditional Gibraltar band of old Hanover troops. , In: Zeitschrift für Heereskunde , No. 290/291 July / October, XLIV. Born 1980, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Heereskunde eV, pp. 93–97.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Poten: The Althannoverschen traditions of Infantry Regiment of Voigt-Rhetz (third Hanoverian) No. 79.. , P.34.
  2. ↑ Poten: The Althannoverschen traditions of Infantry Regiment of Voigt-Rhetz (third Hanoverian) No. 79.. , P.11.
  3. ^ Hans Zopf: Gibraltar and the traditional Gibraltar band of old Hanover troops. , P. 94.
  4. ↑ Poten: The Althannoverschen traditions of Infantry Regiment of Voigt-Rhetz (third Hanoverian) No. 79.. , P 36f.
  5. ^ Hans Zopf: Gibraltar and the traditional Gibraltar band of old Hanover troops. , P. 93.

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