William Windsor He went down in history to have been a British army corporal degraded with rifles After keeping a unacceptable behavior during a military parade. What makes the story unique its kind is that William Windsor, also known as “Billy” … it’s a goat! And not any goat: let’s talk about one cachemire goat donated to the regiment directly from English royal family! But how is it possible that an animal has a military degree?
The custom of having ceremonial animals in the British army
The choice to entrust animals a military degree It is not new: the British army does it by tradition already from the second half of the 1700. Legend has it that in 1775 a goat guided a group of soldiers of the Royal Welsh Fusilierssaving his life. Since then the adoption of an animal would have the dual purpose of make luck and of Lift the moral of troops. Unlike a normal pet or work, the task of these mascots is only that of parade on the top of the military parades: precisely for this reason there is often a human figure whose work is to follow animals full -time, guaranteeing their welfare and training them properly for these great events.
Specifically, i Royal Welsh Fusiliers They consolidated the tradition of adopting as a ceremonial animal a cachemire goat given by the rulers. Each of these specimens is called William (or Billy), and among all the best known is William Windsorwho served between the 2001 and the 2009 with the degree of corporal. This means that the rifles were required to make the military greeting in his presence, as if it were any other army member!
The degradation of William “Bolly” Windsor a shotgun
Since the goat was considered in all respects as a regular member of Royal Welsh Fusilierscould also be degraded. This happened in 2006, when during one Parade for the 80th birthday of Queen Elizabeth William not only he refused to march in the ranksbut he even tried to head To one of the drum players, all under the eyes of the royal family! This attitude was considered unacceptable, and therefore William was degraded to rifleman: This means that his comrades were no longer required to make him the military greeting as a sign of respect.
This degradation, however,, It only lasted three months. After this period of time his superiors believed that the animal had learned the lesson and that he was ready to return to being corporal. In the end, therefore Billy managed to re-order his previous degree and from 2009 onwards the last years of his life has passed Whipsnade zoo.
