The Old Contemptibles

Marching through Luton just after the war, past what was the Royal Hotel and is now sadly, a Comfort Hotel. 'The Old Contemptibles' is the self adopted name of the British troops  belonging to the regular army in 1914. The term was supposedly derived from a comment made by the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II to describe this band of ordinary soldiers who were thwarting his efforts to progress through France to Paris - or so the story goes.

Whatever the actual origin, the British regulars were delighted thereafter to be referred to as 'The Old Contemptibles' and named their post-war veterans' association accordingly.

I must apologize to the gentlemen in this picture who are looking somewhat broader around the girth than they really were. I had to alter the perspective of the old photo to align the two shots of the hotel. The hotel came through this bit of digital editing looking none the worse, but for people, having your perspective changed doesn't work quite so well.

Finished watching series 2 of Game of Thrones yesterday. Onto the 3rd book now, and with Diana away for a few days, I should be able to get a few pages read. 

Click on the OldLuton Tag to see more pictures in this series