Page 151 - Wish Stream Year of 2018

House, in memory of the college’s founder and first Lieutenant Gov- ernor, who would have lived in it had he moved with the cadets to Sandhurst from Marlow.
The official Royal opening and presentation of colours was by Queen Charlotte (King George III being too ill by then to attend) on 12 September 1813, accompa- nied by two of her brothers-in-law, the Prince Regent and the Duke of York (as Commander-in-Chief of the Army) (photos 14, 15 & 16).
Le Marchant’s vision fulfilled
So, John Le Marchant’s dream of a permanent institution for the instruction of embryonic young officers in its own establishment was finally ful- filled. It is only sad that he did not live to see it, having in the same year as the cadets moved in been killed leading the Heavy Brigade as a Major General in a successful and dramatic attack against the French infantry at the Battle of Salamanca in Spain (on 22 July 1812), under the Duke of Wellington. But that Sandhurst still con- tinues to provide the necessary education and training to officer cadets, and that the buildings remain in such good condition, over two hun- dred years later is testament to both Le March- ant’s vision and determination, and to the archi- tects and builders.
*‘Today’s money’ values are calcu- lated from the National Audit Office Currency Convertor. The data used to provide the calculations for the currency converter has been col- lated from original documents and official statistics, and the survey of material used has been as com- prehensive as possible. However, the results of the calculations are intended to be a general guide to historical values, rather than a cat- egorical statement of fact.
Sources:
‘A short history of Government House and the Sandhurst Estate’ (2015) by Dr AR Morton, Curator Sandhurst Collection
‘Sandhurst: The Royal Military Academy’ (1980) by Alan Shepperd, Senior Librarian at Sandhurst (1947 – 1976)
‘Annals of Sandhurst’ (1900) by AA Mockler-Ferryman
‘Sandhurst – A Tradition of Leadership’ (2017 edition) edited by Vaughan Kent-Payne, Christo- pher Pugsley and Angela Holdsworth
The Oxford Biographies
It is not easy to translate this French phrase – esprit de corps. Literally, it means “spirit of (a) body” – body here meaning a body of men,
a society, an association, or in our Academy a body of officer cadets – and so, “corporate spirit.” But this does not convey much. Perhaps an example will make it clearer.
Take the spirit which animates a fine regiment like the -- -- -- --, to which belongs our C.S.M., who used always to chase us in our Junior Term, especially before passing off the square. This regiment has its history, its traditions, its code of
Esprit De Corps
honour. Every man in it thinks of it with pride as “my regiment.” The raw recruit soon catches the spirit of the regiment from the older soldiers and learns from them to think of the honour of his regiment. He longs to add to the brave deeds of its past, and dreads bringing shame on it by cowardice or unsportsmanlike conduct.
It is such a spirit that should animate the officer cadets of this Academy. Esprit de corps in the Academy might be called “Academy patriotism.” Let us see how it may be created and fostered.
Photo 16
The following was written by a Burmese Officer Cadet and published in the August 1949 edition of The Wish Stream.
HISTORICAL 149