As previously discussed, Lady Aisling Keir's Finishing School for Young Ladies was established on the Slebech estate in 1936, thanks to the patronage of her friends the Baron and Baroness de Loutson. Lady Aisling is a dispossessed Irish royalist, an ardent supporter of King Edward VIII and a supporter of de Loutson's ‘English Mistery' ideals. While a proud Irishwoman, she is a committed opponent of Celtic Nationalism and sees no contradiction in being Irish AND British.
Lady Aisling has found no difficulty in persuading similarly-minded reactionaries to send their daughters to her new boarding school. There, they learn essential life-skills for the Young Lady in 1938 Britain: endurance-marching, fieldcraft, mechanical engineering, horsewomanship and skill-at-arms.
All young ladies enrolled in the school are required to be members of the school Cadet Corps, which is elegantly uniformed in surplus uniforms of the former Imperial German Husaren-Regiment ‘von Lützen', supplemented by long skirts, befitting of a young lady. The uniforms were supplied by the Baron de Loutson's Bavarian cousin, the Freiherr von Lützen, who has also been most generous in providing arms, ammunition and additional training. The Cadet Corps includes a Hussar Squadron, a Foot-Hussar Company, an Armoured Troop and a Horse Artillery Troop, plus service-support elements such as Medical and Music Detachments.
Viscount Tenby, impressed by the high degree of training competence displayed by the Cadet Corps (or perhaps persuaded by the charms of Baroness de Loutson) consented to supply the Cadets with a small number of armoured reconnaissance vehicles, to provide close support to the cavalry.
The 'English Mistery', so enthusiastically supported by Baron de Loutson and his friends, is a curious mix of fascism, ultra-Royalism, nostalgia and historical revisionism, which seeks a return to feudalism, an agrarian economy and breeding a 'pure line' of new Britons through arranged marriage and eugenics. Baron de Loutson's contingent, of which the Cadets are a part, forms a large part of the Royalist forces in South Pembrokeshire.
Here we see Captain Alison de Carnelle's Foot Hussar Company training in concert with the Armoured Troop:
Captain Alison de Carnelle herself. She wears the standard grey field service version of the Hussar uniform, though as a personal affectation, opts to also wear the full-dress pelisse.
Here is a Cadet in the more typical field uniform of the Corps – German-style 'Atilla' Hussar jacket, busby and long, vented riding skirt.
Sadly, while they might look magnificent on horseback, the Cadets' uniform isn't too practical for fighting dismounted. Nevertheless, this cadet gamely hitches up her skirts as she runs forward.
While they might look like something from the 18th Century, the cadets are taught the latest military theory, including modern communications. Here, a cadet attempts to call for artillery support.
A cadet Junior NCO shouts orders to her section.
A cadet SNCO enthuses the troops.
A bespectacled markswoman takes aim.
A rear view of the Foot Hussars assaulting a farmhouse, petticoats blowing in the breeze…
These remarkable models were sculpted by Paul Hicks for Hinterland Miniatures and painted by me.
