The Albert Lesters – Prince Albert's Own Leicestershire Yeomanry, also known as "God's Own" in the 3rd Cavalry Division during the Great War (reference to the lack of KIA until 13 May 1915 – having landed in France since early November 1914).
Ally Sloper's Cavalry – Army Service Corps(humorous back-acronym; Ally Sloper was a popular pre-WWI cartoon character drawn by W.F. Thomas in a weekly comic strip; in contemporary slang an 'Alley Sloper' was a rent-dodger, who 'sloped off down the alley' when the rent-collector called)[3][4]
Andy Capp's Commandos – Army Catering Corps, named after the famous newspaper cartoon character Andy Capp
The Back Numbers (also The Back Badgers) – Gloucestershire Regiment[1][3](allowed to wear a regimental badge on the back of the hat, after the rear rank faced about to drive off French cavalry at the Battle of Alexandria (1801))
The Back Flash – Royal Welch Fusiliers[9] (the last regiment to give up the queue or pigtail, retained the ribbons on the back of the collar)
Bingham's Dandies – 17th Lancers(The commanding officer, Lord Bingham (later Earl of Lucan) spent a fortune on fine uniforms and horses for the regiment)[3]
The Black Mafia – Royal Green Jackets[15] (from the dark uniforms of the original Rifle regiments and the number of former Greenjacket officers promoted to high rank)
The Bloodsuckers – 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot later 1st Battalion Manchester Regiment (Supposedly derived from a regimental emblem worn by officers, the Fleur de Lis, 'which resembled that insect' – (Most commonly said to be a mosquito, associated with the Regiment's frequent service in the Caribbean and America).)[3][17]
The Blue Caps – The Royal Dublin Fusiliers[1][3](Originally the 1st Madras Fusiliers, part of the British East India Company's Madras Presidency Army, who wore light blue covers to their forage caps on campaign during the Indian Mutiny and were known as 'Neill's Blue Caps,' after their commanding officer).
The Blues – Royal Horse Guards[1](only British heavy cavalry regiment to wear blue rather than red uniforms)
The Cherry Pickers – 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own)[1][3][10](from an incident during the Peninsular War, in which the 11th Light Dragoons (as the regiment was then named) were attacked while raiding an orchard at San Martin de Trebejo in Spain)
The Comical Chemical Corporals – Special Brigade, Royal Engineers(responsible for poison gas and flame attacks; men with knowledge of chemistry were immediately promoted to corporal)[25]
The Commos – Royal Army Service Corps[3](possibly from their origins in the Commissariat and Transport Staff)
The English Jocks – 2nd Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment(in 1914–16 they were the only English Battalion in 81st Brigade, which otherwise consisted of up to five Scottish battalions)[38]
The Forty-Tens – 2nd Battalion Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment(from an incident in India where the men were 'numbering', or calling out their position in the ranks: after they reached 'forty-nine' the next man called out 'forty-ten'.)[4]
The Liverpool Militia – Irish Guards(due historically to large numbers of Liverpudlian Irish in their ranks)
The 9th London and Lancs – 9th Battalion Devonshire Regiment[53](West Country Kitchener's Army battalion made up to strength with recruits from London and Lancashire)
The Namurs – Royal Irish Regiment(from their battle honour of 'Namur' gained in 1695, the first such honour granted to a regiment of the British Army)[1][58][4][64]
Nobody's Own – 20th Hussars[66](for a time, were almost the only British cavalry regiment not to have a prestigious honorary colonel with his or her title in the regimental name)
The Peacemakers – Bedfordshire Regiment[1][58](The regiment had no battle honours until 1882, when it was belatedly given those for the War of the Spanish Succession 170 years earlier; the regimental motto was misquoted as 'Thou Shalt not Kill')[64][72]
The Piccadilly Heroes – Paget's Horse (Recruited from London gentlemen's clubs; the 'PH' letters on their helmet flash also gave rise to the alternatives of 'Public House', 'Perfectly Harmless' and 'Phat-heads'.)[73]
The Pull-Throughs – 42nd (East Lancashire) Division(from their divisional number and generally small stature, like the 'Four-by-Two' inches of the flannel pull-through used to clean a rifle).[80]
The Red Lancers – 16th Lancers[58](The only lancer regiment to retain the short-lived red uniform ordered by King William IV in 1830, the others having reverted to blue in 1846)[82]
The Regiment – Special Air Service(Refers to their successes in the field, a sarcastic belief that saying their name will summon them.)
The Ribs – 3rd Bn Grenadier Guards. They were the first Infantry to officially serve on board navy ships as Marines
The Right of the Line – Royal Horse Artillery[58](from their privileged position on ceremonial parade)
Rob All My Comrades – Royal Army Medical Corps(derogatory back-acronym from the belief that medical personnel took advantage of their position to steal from casualties)[4]
The Tankies – Royal Tank Regiment specifically, rather than cavalry units equipped with tanks – this differentiates from "tankers" as the US army term for all tank soldiers
THEM – Special Air Service – relates to the hush-hush nature of most of their work, where it wouldn't be prudent to mention their name, coined by Auld Sapper.
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Maj R. Money Barnes, Military Uniforms of Britain and the Empire, London: Seeley Service, 1960/Sphere 1972.
Maj R. Money Barnes, The Uniforms and History of the Scottish Regiments, London: Seeley Service, 1956/Sphere 1972.
Ian F.W. Beckett, Riflemen Form: A study of the Rifle Volunteer Movement 1859–1908, Aldershot: Ogilby Trusts, 1982, ISBN0-85936-271-X.
Rev E. Cobham Brewer, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1870 (and many subsequent editions).
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David Carter, The Stockbrokers' Battalion in the Great War: A History of the 10th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2014, ISBN 978-1-78303-637-0.
Chant, Christopher (1988). The Handbook of British Regiments. Routledge. ISBN0-415-00241-9.
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Neill Gilhooley, A History of the 9th (Highlanders) Royal Scots, the Dandy Ninth, Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2019, ISBN978-1-52673-527-0.
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Brig E.A. James, British Regiments 1914–18, London: Samson Books, 1978/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2001, ISBN978-1-84342-197-9.
N.B. Leslie, The Battle Honours of the British and Indian Armies 1695–1914, London: Leo Cooper, 1970.
Norman E.H. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988 (Their Lineage, Uniforms and Badges), Nottingham: Sherwood Press, 1992, ISBN 0-9508205-2-0.
Capt A.E. Lawson Lowe, Historical Record of the Royal Sherwood Foresters; or Nottinghamshire Regiment of Militia, London: Mitchell, 1872.
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Martin Middlebrook, The Kaiser's Battle, 21 March 1918: The First Day of the German Spring Offensive, London: Allen Lane, 1978/Penguin, 1983, ISBN0-14-017135-5.
Col L.F. Morling, Sussex Sappers: A History of the Sussex Volunteer and Territorial Army Royal Engineer Units from 1890 to 1967, Seaford: 208th Field Co, RE/Christians–W.J. Offord, 1972.
Don Neal, Guns and Bugles: The Story of the 6th Bn KSLI – 181st Field Regiment RA 1940–1946, Studley: Brewin, 2001, ISBN1-85858-192-3.
Andrew Rawson, Battleground Europe: Loos −1915: Hohenzollern Redoubt, Barnsley: Leo Cooper, 2003, ISBN0-85052-903-4.
Donald Richter, Chemical Soldiers: British Gas Warfare in World War I, Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Press, 1992, ISBN0-7006-0544-4.
Tpr Cosmo Rose-Innes, With Paget's Horse to the Front, London: John McQueen, 1901/Leopold Classic Library, 2015, ASIN: B019SZWY6K.
Maj Robert Bell Turton, The History of the North York Militia, now known as the Fourth Battalion Alexandra Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment), Leeds: Whitehead, 1907/Stockton-on-Tees: Patrick & Shotton, 1973, ISBN 0-903169-07-X.
Col Peter Walton, Simkin's Soldiers: The British Army in 1890, Vol I: The Cavalry and The Royal Artillery, Victorian Military Society Special Publication No 5, Dorking, Surrey: Victorian Military Society, 1981, ISBN0-9506885-1-7.
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