doesn't really matter what they're called, also long as they're on your side, awake and don't raffle you off to the highest bidder in a sticky situation....
at the Artist's back in the day we had some bloke turn up, announced himself as whatever he was...so we pulled up a few sand bags and swung the lantern over the bar for effect and after a few beers he started talking about the time he asked his chum to tie him to the bed and give a good going over to see if he could handle it incase he was ever taken as a POW...... all part of the training apparently....
how we laughed....
he didn't think the piss taking was appropriate... never came back!
Artist's Rifles got their name from the Volunteer movement and traces it's way back to the Royal Academy in London 1859, luminaries and visionary people. have a look next time your walking along Picadilly as you walk into the quad at the RA the badge to the Artist's is on the right hand side. Clever people and won loads of medals, Churchill was an Artist, Barns Wallis James Elroy Flecker.... the bloke who wrote we are the pilgrims part of thegolden journey to samerkand and used by the 22nd SAS as part of the motto was an artist. It's the only TA regiment to spawn a fulltime regiment.... after operation surprise package... the chap who ran the club was a really nice bloke...and in from '47 and kinda forgotten in his acts... he was a body guard to one of the great escapers after the war... got himself into a heap of interesting scraps and was a really good mate of mine! that was the artist's sadly now long disappeared...
we use to have loads of journo's down for lectures and the like... anyway long gone funny days...