William Windsor went down in history to have been a corporal of the British army degraded to a riflete after taking an unacceptable behavior during a military parade. What makes the story unique its kind is that William Windsor, also known as “Billy” … is a goat! And not any goat: let’s talk about one cachemire goat donated to the regiment directly from the 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 is not new: the British army does it by tradition since the second half of the 1700s. 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 bringing luck and lifting the morale of the troops. Unlike a normal pet or one of work, the task of these mascots is only to parade at the head of military parades: for this reason there is often a human figure whose work is to follow animals full -time, guaranteeing their well -being and training them properly for these major 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 Windsor, who served between 2001 and 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 a parade for the 80th birthday of Queen Elisabetta William not only did he refuse to march in the ranks, but even tried to give a header 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 rifles: this means that his comrades were no longer required to make him the military greeting as a sign of respect.
This degradation, however, lasted only 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 at the Whipsnade zoo passed.
