Kingsman

[pntalbot]

I  heard  recently on  BBC news a Soldier was called Kingsman Smith.Not ever been in the Forces, so  i looked Kingsman in Dictionary and it said it was Army Rank  for Private-- so excuse my  ignorance, why  not call him  a` Private` in the first place.

[chriscross1966]

Regimental tradition.... There's a lot of other terms depending on where the regiment history ahas come from.... Sapper and Gunner leap to mind, but there are others.... it's like the assorted odd variations on issue dress berets..... with all the amalgamation that's gone on you can sometimes tell which company a chap is in by what he is called and the hat he is wearing...

chrisc

[Digindep]

Hi pretty sure the word Kingsman is singular ref a man who took a kings coin to fight on said kings behalf....usually surfs of the land who took the risk to earn more money by taking the kings shilling rather than working the land.
The nursery rhyme 'Humpty Dumpty ' for example refers to 'all the kingsmen'
belonging to, as they were paid by the king....
Thats as I understand the word...others may have other interpretations...