"The Battle of Albeura " Topic

I've always had a bit of a thing about the battle of Albuera. I remember reading about Lt. Latham of the Buffs hiding the colours in his jacket after the near destruction of Colborne's brigade. He fell having been repeatedly sabred by French cavalry. He lost an arm and damn near lost his life, but he saved the colours and his regiments honour. The account in the late Richard Holmes book "Soldiers" is well worth reading and it gives me chills years later.

But then again, two of my favourite battles are Waterloo and Albuera, which lead to a friend of mine observing, "What is wrong with you Kinch, that you like battles where every one bloody dies."

That poor man is dead now and I still don't have an answer for him.

Regardless, we played Albeura the other day and had a great game. You can see a full battle report and some pictures here.

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Love the 1/72's!

Lt Latham was remembered in a silver centrepiece which currently resides in the Officer's Mess of the present incarnation of the Buffs – 2nd Bn Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.

I saw it first hand in 1977 when my Bn was stationed in Gibraltar – it is a stunning item of mess silver.

More here:

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Incidentally, the old rallying cry "Steady the Buffs" was certainly in use in the Regiment up until the 1980s. It was used in Northern Ireland in the dark days of the Troubles.

The British Army does like to hang on to its traditions! :-)

'Steady the Buffs' was a common expression in my family as I was growing up. I think it just had common parlance. My grandfather had been in the RN during WW1 and my father had been a Gunner and a Signaller in WW2 yet both (and my mother) used it any time one of us fell or someone needed to be less emphatic.

Here is what our club did with the battle some dozen yeas ago (has it really been that long!?)

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