The_Great_Little_Army

The Great Little Army

The Great Little Army

British military march

"The Great Little Army" is a British military march that was composed by Kenneth J. Alford in 1916. Alford (real name Frederick Joseph Ricketts) was a bandmaster of the British Army/Royal Marines, who in the last position he was appointed to directed the Band of HM Royal Marines, Plymouth. It was written to honour British and Allied victories won on the Western Front.[1] The title relates to the Kaiser supposedly referring to the British army as 'a contemptible little army'. The phrase was actually devised at the British War Office by Sir Frederick Maurice to be attributed to the Kaiser as propaganda.[2]

Quick Facts Composed ...

The march is currently employed by various units in the British Army as a march past. The Canadian Army made the march the authorised march-past in quick time in 2013, replacing "Celer Paratus Callidus" ("Quick, Clever and Ready"). Colleen McGrann, spokeswoman for the Canadian Army explained that "Celer Paratus Callidus" was "neither particularly tuneful or easily recognizable" and that "The Great Little Army" "seemed appropriate in both name and tune".[3]

The march is also the regimental quick march for the 2nd Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment and the Special Mobile Force of Mauritius.

References

  1. [1]
    "The Great Little Army by Kenneth J. Alford / Ted | J.W. Pepper Sheet Music". jwpepper.com. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  2. [2]
    Fussell, Paul (1975). The Great War and Modern Memory. New York, New York, USA: Oxford University Press, Inc. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-19-513332-5.
  3. [3]
    "Canadian army turns to British composer for new official march". canada.com. Retrieved 2019-02-14.


Stub icon

This 1910s song article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article The_Great_Little_Army, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.