The Grenadier Guards are the senior regiment among the Foot Guards of the British Army, and, therefore, always stand in the position of honor when on parade - on the right flank.

As a mark of their seniority, the regiment wears their tunic buttons in singles (representing the First Regiment of Foot Guards), while the other regiments wear their buttons in groupings denoting their seniority (e.g. the Coldstreams wear pairs, The Scots Guards wear threes, The Irish Guards wear fours and the relatively new Welsh Guards wear fives.) The bearskin hat is worn in honor of the First Regiment of Foot Guards’ defeat of Napoleon’s Guard Imperiale at the climax of the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

The French Guard had been the most famous regiments to wear the imposing headgear to that date, but the British have made it world famous even today. After the 1830’s all the British regiments of Foot Guards wore the distinctive hat. The white plume worn on the left side of the Grenadier’s bearskin shows that this regiment stands on the right, and so all friendly forces must be on their left. The Coldstream Guards were actually established before the Grenadiers, but were not made part of the Royal Guards until later.

Because of this happenstance, they are second in seniority according to everyone but themselves. Therefore, they stand on the far left of the line, regardless of which regiments are present and so their plume is on the right of their bearskin. Their regimental motto is that they are “Second to None.”





David F. Grieve was the sculptor of these figures as he did all my favorites in this the series of guardsmen. Fort Duquesne Military Miniatures has cast the figures in butter colored polyurethane resin. The Grenadier’s body, rifle and base are the only three parts, and all parts are extremely crisp and well done with no flash or excess whatever.

The Coldstreamer’s arms are cast separate from the body with one hand grasping the self-loading rifle (SLR). The painting instructions are general for all the figures of the various regiments and match with the excellent photo provided as box art. However, as I mentioned before, the details of the rear skirts of the tunic, not seen in the photo, could be better described. I needed to check with some picture books in the library. I recommend The Guards by John de St. Jorre. Both the figures were cast as Guardsmen (in other regiments called “Privates”), and I have converted them to Non-Commissioned Officers as seen in the accompanying pictures.

The Grenadier’s rifle is cast with bayonet affixed, but I removed it and placed the it in the hip sheath as guards sergeants do not carry rifles with bayonets on them. The stripes on the corporal are my addition and are cut from paper and attached with white glue. The sergeant wears a crest on his right sleeve and a sash from right shoulder to left hip as a further badge of rank. This was fabricated from some appropriate metal foil. British Foot Guards are one of my favorite subjects and even a first time figures modeler could not go far wrong with either of these figures which are sold separately.

My source was Fort Duquesne Military Miniatures 105 Tristan Drive, Pittsburgh PA 15209.

Their e-mail address is ftduq@usaor.net.

Ned B. Ricks IPMS #36013

“Grenadier Guards, circa 1980” “Coldstream Guards, circa 1980”