One of Many

RASC Regimental March & Motto

RASC Motto

Nil Sine Labore          Nothing without Labour

Approved as the motto of the Army Service Corps in 1892

 

RASC Badge Inscription.

Honi soil qui mal y pense    Evil to him who evil thinks

 

'Honi soit qui mal y pense' (French for 'Evil be to him who evil thinks') appears on a garter surrounding the shield on the Royal Coat of Arms. This garter symbolises the Order of the Garter, the oldest British Order of Chivalry of which the Queen is Sovereign. The Order of the Garter was founded by Edward III in 1348 during the Hundred Years War with France.

Honi soit qui mal y pense is the motto of the Blues and Royals formally the Royal Horse Guards and Blues who combined with the Royal Dragoons, 1st Dragoons.

The motto may well have been directed at critics of the King's claims to the French throne; however, according to a tradition first recorded by Tudor chroniclers, the motto originated at a feast celebrating the capture of Calais in 1347. The King's mistress, the Countess of Salisbury, was mocked by courtiers for losing her garter during a dance, but Edward at once stepped forward and tied the blue ribbon around his own knee, uttering the motto as a rebuke and declaring that the Garter would soon be held in the highest esteem!

Corps Colours

Blue symbolises the blue uniforms worn by its predecessors, the silver or white are part of the Military Train in 1856 who had a blue uniform with white tracing and a double white strip down the trouser leg. The gold or yellow facings represent the Commissariat and Royal Wagon Train. On the formation of the Royal Corps of Transport 1965 the gold (yellow) was changed to scarlet of the Royal Corps of Engineers.

 

Battle Honours -

 Battle Honours awarded;

Royal Wagon Train

Peninsula. Duke ofWellington in Portugal, Spain, and France

Waterloo.  Service on the 18th June 1815

 

Military Train

Lucknow. 2nd Battalion Military Train.

  • Relief of Lucknow and also awarded to Victoria Crosses on 15th April 1858, at Azimghur. Taku Fort & Peking Service in China in 1860.

 

Regimental March

Wait For The Wagon

This was adopted as the regimental march in 1875, when the Sultan of Zanzibar, who was visiting this country, attended a review at Aldershot. This was attended by the Commander-in-Chief, Field-Marshal H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge. It had not been the custom for the Army Service Corps to march past at reviews, but the Commander-in-Chief directed they should, and added that the Cavalry bands should play for them. "Tell the bands to play "Wait for the Wagon."

The march continued until 1945 with 16 bars of "Begone Dull Care" being introduced between 1900-1902 to offset the repetition of the Army Service Corps March.

In 1945 the Bandmaster of the Corps (J.F.Dean later to become Director of Music), composed a new march, incorporating "Wait for the Wagon" and "The Trek Song" a South African folk tune. This new march was played for he first time on VJ Day 15th August at Kensington Palace Barracks receiving the Colonel-in Chief’s approval in 1946. The title Wait for the Wagon was retained and in the final form comprises of the following order.

    The Regimental Call:

    The Trek Song:

    Wait for the Wagon.