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blackswaneuroparedux · 1 year ago

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The badge was meant to be a flaming ‘Excalibur’ - recalling the Lewes bomb that contained both plastic explosive and inflammable thermite with time pencils. I knew that, but most of us called the stylised badge a ‘winged dagger’ and it made a better title for a book than ‘Flaming Sword’ ‘Who Dares Wins’ etc. the sword looks more like a commando knife and was certainly not meant to be a ‘Sword of Damocles’.

Roy Farran, ‘Winged Dagger’ (1948)

The badge of the Special Air Service was created by Corporal Bob Tait in October 1941, who would survive the war and die in retirement in 1975.

Robert ‘Bob’ Duncan Tait was a founding member of ‘L Detachment’, later the SAS, and is credited with the design of the most coveted military badge in the world: the SAS winged dagger. Tait was part of 11 Commando before he was invited to join L Detachment under the direction of Col. Stirling while fighting in North Africa in World War Two.

He survived the regiment’s first disastrous operation: a parachute drop in support of the Operation Crusader offensive in Libya in November 1941. It proved to be an unmitigated disaster when 22 men out of 60 were either killed or captured by the Germans.

The second was far more successful and saw Bob Tait as one of five commandos who snuck into a German aerodrome deep behind enemy lines and laid explosives that destroyed 37 aircraft. The raid secured the future of the SAS as it convinced military chiefs a specially trained unit that could operate behind enemy lines was needed.

In between the raids, the members of the newly formed unit held an informal competition to design the insignia for the regiment. Tait’s design of King Arthur’s Excalibur sword - not a dagger as commonly thought - with light blue wings either side of it was voted the best by the rest of the men and is the cap badge still in use today.

The SAS insignia represents King Arthur’s flaming sword Excalibur - not the dagger as it came to seen as. Indeed the name ‘the Winged Dagger’ appears to have first been published in a SHAEF communique of 1944 which was then quoted in the Sunday Times and Observer newspapers.

Having already been awarded a Military Cross and Bar with the 3rd Hussars, Roy Farran joined 2nd SAS in 1943. Although not serving with the Regiment when the insignia were developed, his book, ‘Winged Dagger’ was truly the first book to shed light on the SAS when it was published in 1948. The image of the ‘winged dagger’ stuck in the public consciousness.

Early examples were made up by Cairo tailors and many variants can be seen.

By March 1944, the 1st and 2nd SAS Regiments returned to the United Kingdom and joined a newly formed SAS Brigade, a component of 1st Airborne Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Frederick ‘Boy’ Browning, with Brigadier Roderick McLeod in charge of the SAS. Many more badges would be required, and it was essential that a standardised design was agreed upon - see top right.

In March 1951 the Malayan Scouts adopted the maroon beret and the badge of the Special Air Service and this was worn by the members of 21 SAS who formed the new B Squadron - see centre left. The instruction that brought the Malayan Scouts into the British Army Order of Battle as 22 SAS Regiment dates from 16th July 1952.

The central badge was worn by 21 SAS on the right arm when it was formed in 1947. At that stage they wore the Mars and Minerva cap badge of the Artists Rifles on their maroon berets which was of similar design. However, in 1956, these were swapped, and the design of the beret badge was published in that year (rather curiously on a crudely cut out backing)

The 1956 badge was worn throughout the 1960s - see bottom left. But this had become somewhat anaemic by the early 1980s. The current pattern is shown bottom right.

#farran #roy farran #quote #SAS #the regiment #colonel david stirling #bob tait #SAS insignia #cap badge #british army #L detachment #military #military histoey #sUK special forces #special forces #second world war #excalibur #winged dagger #uniform

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frangipanilove · 8 months ago

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Daryl’s Green(e) Jasper Revisited; A “Roch” In The Road

“Pilgrims Under The Field Of Stars” (part 2) (part 1)

The “Roch” in the headline is not a typo, it’s a reference to St. Roch, patron saint of dogs and dog lovers, also known for healing people suffering from plague and infectious disease, and that’s why it’s super interesting that Daryl finds the little green(e) rock as they’re quite literally out searching for antibiotics to combat the prison flu, or shall we say prison plague?

St. Roch, Rocco in Italian, in English sometimes called "Rock", was a pilgrim who was known for tending to, and healing victims of the plague. He became known as a protector against plague and infectious disease, and at one point he contracted the bubonic plague himself. He was healed when a dog came up to him and licked his wounds. He’s since been depicted in iconography always with a dog by his side and wounds caused by bubonic plague exposed on his leg.

He had “triumphed over the disease in his own flesh”.

To me, this reads like an obvious historical parallel to the Wildfire virus in TWDU. For someone who has been talking about dogs and their Sirius (reunion/resurrection/rebirth) symbolism for close to a decade now, it is quite interesting to see that St. Roch was healed from the bubonic plague by a dog. This lines up with the Sirius symbolism in TWDU in a really compelling way.

My hypothesis is that the Sirius symbolism on the show comes from both the story of Sirius the Dog Star, the returning star, as well as the resurrection symbolism associated with St.Roch, patron saint of dogs and dog lovers, who was famous for protecting against the plague and infectious disease. And in the context of Daryl's green(e) jasper, Daryl's "Roch" in the road, we see all of that on full display.

St. Roch's body currently rests in Chiesa di San Rocco in Venice, Italy, one of many "plague churches" built to protect the city from the numerous waves of plague that affected it through histoey. In fact, the word "quarantine" originally derives from Italian, and it specifically comes from Venice:

St. Roch, in addition to being patron saint for dogs and dog lovers, as well a known protector against plague, is the patron saint of Venice, along with San Marco. Venice, a major trading hub during the middle ages, suffered multiple plagues due to the extensive foreign trade, hence the invention of quarantine arrangements.

Why the history lesson, you may ask. Well, it's to demonstrate that St.Roch is not some random saint in the context of the green(e) jasper from 4x4 Indifference. His legacy is directly connected to the circumstances around Daryl finding the jasper, or the "Roch" in the road", if you will. Daryl specifically found the jasper for a woman who had been on her way into quarantine in A-block as they were leaving, and their entire mission revolved around finding antibiotics, or a "cure" against the "plague".

And, St. Roch, a pilgrim himself, is specifically tied into the pilgrim symbolism I talked about in part 1 the other day.

In TWD 4x4 Indifference, the prison flu/plague was at its height. People were dying, Glenn and Sasha were ill, and their only option was to go to a veterinary college Herschel knew about to scavenge what they could find of antibiotics. The theme here, as Daryl finds the green(e) rock in the road, is healing people from the flu/plague. My hypothesis is that the green(e) rock, a reference to St.Roch, protector against plague and known for miraculously healing plague victims, foreshadows the antibiotics they later will find, or basically the cure against the plague.

Keep this in mind, I’ll return to a “cure against plague” shortly.

There have been many interesting, well researched attempts at deciphering the symbolism around the green jasper over the years, and as we know, symbolism in TWDU is always multi-layered, it can have more than one meaning.

For me, the most obvious thing is that it’s green(e), it seems like an no-brainer reference to Beth Greene. Remember, this was before Beth and Daryl escaped from the prison together. Considering what we now know was to come for them, it seems plausible that the green(e) jasper would function as some kind of foreshadow of that.

Then there’s the fact that Daryl specifically got it for someone who needed it for her husband’s grave marker. In that respect, it’s tied to resurrection symbolism. Symbols on grave markers often include crosses, of course depending on the religious beliefs of the deceased, but I don’t think it’s far fetched to interpret the jasper as synonymous with a cross. And of course, crosses are resurrection symbolism, they’re tied to Beth in all kinds of ways.

Then there's Michonne's nod to the Sirius symbolism, when she made a joke about how the color brings out Daryl’s eyes:

It’s a potential reference to the one-eyed dog from 4x13 Alone, and also a potential reference to the “the heavenly beast with a star in its eye" as Robert Frost said in the poem “One More Brevity “.

"It's a good color". It's (Beth) green(e).

"It brings out your eyes". It's Sirius symbolism and a reference to the one-eyed dog from 4x13 Alone.

Also, don’t forget that Beth’s been connected to issues regarding eyes and eyesight since 4x12 Still:

It's Sirius symbolism, which is tied to St. Roch because he is the patron saint of dogs and dog lovers, and was always depicted with a dog by his side in iconography. And Sirius symbolism is resurrection/rebirth symbolism. St. Roch, patron saint of dogs and dog lovers, miraculously survived the plague himself, as well as being known for healing people from plague and infectious disease.

We see how the Sirius/dog symbolism becomes intertwined with symbolism pertaining to the plague, healing, and a "cure".

Remember Daryl got the green jasper for Mrs. Richards, she was going into “A-block” as they left. “A-block” was where they kept the people sick with flu in quarantine.

Mrs. Richards’ name is likely a reference to “Roch”. The names aren’t etymologically linked in any way that I’m aware of, but come on, you can hear it, right? Richards and Roch? They're not completely different. At the very least, they’re close enough to earn a substantial side eye from me…

The jasper stone, the "Roch" in the road", is associated with the flu. Or should we say “plague”….? And it's associated with being cured, healed, resurrected, reborn...

Remember TWD episode 7x9 Rock In The Road? TF went to The Kingdom to secure Ezekiel's support in the war against the Saviors. Ezekiel was reluctant, and Rick had to resort to storytelling and parabels to convince him. Rick’s story was one about the girl who was bringing her carriage to the market, but there was a rock in the road that broke her carriage and caused her to lose an entire cask of beer.

Beer = ethanol = cure. I’ve talked about the connection between ethanol/alcohol and a cure/pharmakon in many posts such as here and here.

And remember when I said above that the jasper represented the antibiotics they would later find?

And how in Rick’s story about the “rock in the road”, the girl lost a whole case of beer?

That came into play in FTWD 6x3 Alaska.

Dwight and Althea were out scavenging, when they came across a community in a high-rise building. This storyline tied into the CRM in that Althea was there searching for her mysterious love interest Isabel, who was A CRM pilot. Isabel’s helicopter was scheduled to land on the top of the high-rise, but Althea warned her that the property was infested with rats carrying the bacteria Yersenia Pestis, better known as bubonic plague- This is the bacteria that caused the Black Death during the Middle Ages, killing off half of Europe’s population. St. Roch was known for tending to victims of the bubonic plague, he was known for performing miracles, and he contracted the plague himself, but still survived.

In Alaska, Dwight caught the plague:

Without antibiotics, Dwight faces an almost certain death.

Althea, on the rooftop and in communication with CRM-Isabel, is told about beer in the supply crates:

As we've learned by now, "beer" in TWDU is directly associated with some form of "cure". Beer is "cure" symbolism.

And lo and behold! Next to the beer, she finds...

Ciprofloxacin, the exact antibiotic she needs to cure Dwight’s bubonic plague.

We saw in FTWD 6x3 Alaska how TPTB basically equaled ethanol/beer with antibiotics, essentially confirming the connection between "alcohol/ethanol" and a "cure". We've since seen this very theme multiple times.

In TWDDD 1x3 Paris Sera Toujours Paris, Fallou made a reference to the bubonic plague as they were moving through the catacombs. The catacombs are, according to urban legends, lined floor to ceiling with the skulls of the victims of the bubonic plague (I think historians would like to correct a few misconceptions on that, but regardless, that’s a version of history that’s well established in the popular mind):

“Here, we survived many apocalypses. We will survive this one too”. Plagues were common in medieval Europe…

Like I mentioned in part 1, the themes around pilgrimage came back in TWDDD season 1, when Losang namedropped Camino de Santiago to Santiago de Compostela. I also explained how the symbolism associated with St. Christopher is intertwined with the type of resurrection symbolism we see around Beth.

Beth, like St.Roch, is heavily associated with dog symbolism as well as resurrection symbolism.

Beth is the one in TWDU that’s tied up with dog symbolism the most. She IS dog symbolism.

And so is St. Roch, patron saint for dogs and dog lovers...

Daryl has proved to be a quite a dog lover:

And because St.Roch was also famous for healing plague victims, as well as miraculously recovering from the plague himself, we see here another way in which the Sirius/dog symbolism ties into themes of resurrection and rebirth, and themes of a “cure”.

St. Roch was a pilgrim, he’s deeply tied into the symbolism around pilgrimage, which became relevant again by Losang mentioning Santiago de Compostela. Remember, as I explained the other day, the pilgrim symbolism was quietly, yet unmistakably, introduced with Morgan immediately after Beth had been "killed" in 5x8 Coda.

As some sort of pilgrim, we watched him reach Father Gabriel's church, and it was almost as though he had reached his desired end point, the final destination of his pilgrimage. He "resurrected" the overturned cross, as though he metaphorically "ressurected" Beth. I likened Morgan to St. Christopher, patron saint of travelers, but St. Roch was also a pilgrim.

The green(e) jasper?

It foreshadowed the antibiotics they were able to find at the veterinary college in 4x4 Indifference, it foreshadowed the “cure”. The green(e) jasper is a metaphor for the cure. It was green(e)., and therefore potentially associated with Beth. And it is closely associated with dogs and dog symbolism, through St. Roch. The green(e) jasper is Sirius symbolism.

The other day I wrote about the Way of St James, or Camino de Santiago to Santiago de Compostela. I had seen hints of a theme of travelers and pilgrimage ever since Morgan showed up after Beth’s death in 5x8 coda. We’ve recently seen Losang bring it up in TWD Daryl Dixon. As we know, the working title of TWDDD was Pilgrim, so I think it’s fair to say that the pilgrim theme has been canonically confirmed.

In part 1 I mentioned how the symbolism around St. Christopher, patron saint of travelers (including motorists, hello car/trunk symbolism) was first subtly alluded to immediately after Beth’s death, then became canonically confirmed in FTWD 6x2 Welcome To The Club. We saw Daniel, a character who had survived a gunshot to the head, carry a St. Christopher medallion.

We later saw Madison, queen of death fake-outs in TWDU, survive getting shot point blank, in a Ford Mustang:

The St. Christopher medallion quite literally stopped the bullet and saved Madison's life. This is the type of resurrection symbolism St. Christopher provides to Beth. And it happened in a blue Ford Mustang.

St. Christopher is the patron saint of travellers, including motorists, and I would have to assume that includes kidnapped girls in trunks of cars. And the Ford Mustang symbolism is something we'we seen a lot. Most recently in TWDDD 1x6 Coming Home, when Carol drove a blue Ford Mustang and happened to lock some poor unsuspecting fellow (joking, he had it coming) into the trunk of said blue Ford Mustang...

Read more on Ford Mustangs and why they're resurrection symbolism here and here.

The symbolism around pilgrims was for a long time merely subtle clues, and I was entirely prepared to admit I was reading too much into something that existed mostly in my own head. However, with Losang explicitly mentioning Santiago de Compostela in TWDDD 1x6 Comimg Home, the symbolism of St. James Way, or Camino de Santiago became canon. Just like the symbolism around St. Christopher became canon in FTWD 6x2.

I started researching the symbolism pertaining to St. Roch around the same time, and I think it's just a matter of time before he will become explicitly mentioned too, canonically confirming the symbolism, just like St. Christopher and Santiago de Compostela. I believe we will hear about him soon.

#team delusional #bethyl #daryl dixon #beth greene #the walking dead #twd #twd daryl dixon #twddd #twd tboc #tboc

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