SPRING 2006 • NUMBER 130 - Winston Churchill

2 0 0 5 C O N F E R E N C EA Feather in His Cap:A Quebec Tailpiece • BY PAUL COURTENAYOn 13th September 1759, Wolfe's army defeated Montcalm onthe Plains of Abraham above Quebec. On the right of the Britishline was the 35th Foot; opposite them stood the Royal RoussillonRegiment, whose members wore white plumes in their hats. Whenbattle was joined, the 35th seized the French plumes and stuckthem in their own hats.By the early part of the next century the 35th Foot hadevolved into The Royal Sussex Regiment, whose badge consistedof the star of the Order of the Garter, behind which was prominentlyplaced the Roussillon plume. As time went by, The Royal Sussexacquired further units, one of which was the 5th (Cinque Ports)Battalion; whereas all other members of the Royal Sussex wore thestandard regimental badge, the 5th Battalion was unique in havingits own distinctive emblem: a Maltese cross, in the centre of whichwere the arms of the Cinque Ports. However, like the badge worn bythe rest of the regiment, the insignia was backed by the Roussillonplume seized at Quebec.In 1941WinstonChurchill wasappointed LordWarden of theCinque Portsand alsoHonoraryColonel of 5th(Cinque Ports)Battalion, TheRoyal SussexRegiment; thisunit wasmerged withthe 4thBattalion in1943, beingtitled 4th/5th(Cinque Ports)Battalion, WSCcontinuing asHonoraryColonel. From1944 his Armyuniform wasalmost invariablythat of 4th/5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, and was particularlyprominent in Italy, at the Rhine crossing, Yalta, Berlin and Potsdam.In the accompanying photograph, taken in March 1945, the capbadge with the Roussillon plume seized at Quebec in 1759 can beeasily identified. ,FINEST HOUR 130 / 23