/CHOOSE WAR/
Nietzsche

“1st Life Guards Charging French Artillery at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815” by William Heath, 1820.

Multiple of Knight’s ancestors were officers in the 1st Life Guards regiment, the most senior regiment of the British Army and the regiment that has traditionally had the reputation of having the most aristocratic officer corps. Prior to the Cardwell Reforms that abolished the purchasing of officer’s commissions in the British Army in 1871, officer’s commissions in the 1st Life Guards and the 2nd Life Guards generally commanded the most expensive prices.

Luftwaffe officers during the Second World War

Lady’s great grandfather (mother’s father’s father) was an officer and combat pilot in the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War.

1st Life Hussars Regiment of the Prussian Army and the Imperial German Army in formation. The regiment was nicknamed the “Death’s Head Hussars” for their famous Totenkopf (skull) emblem on their headgear and their black uniforms.

Danzig, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire. 15 September 1911.

Multiple of Lady’s ancestors were officers in the 1st Life Hussars Regiment “Death’s Head Hussars”, including her great great grandfather (mother’s father’s father’s father) who was an officer in that regiment during the First World War.

Victoria Luise, German Princess and Princess of Prussia, in the uniform of the 2nd Life Hussars Regiment.

In addition to being the daughter of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia, Victoria Luise is also the great granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, the grandmother of King Constantine II of Greece, and the great grandmother of King Felipe VI of Spain.

/BATTLE-LOVER/
Nietzsche

"The thing that’s in between talent and success can be summed up in one word: discipline. Do you have the discipline to do the work, to make the hard decisions, to put in the daily grind?"

JOCKO

United Kingdom Special Boat Service - “By Strength and Guile”

Video by Kanutster on YouTube

I personally know that at least two of the young officers from this documentary on Royal Marines Officer training later became commanding officers of the British Special Boat Service (SBS), the British Royal Navy’s Tier 1 Special Forces unit: Lieutenant Colonel Richard van der Horst and Lieutenant Colonel Conrad Thorpe.

Knight’s weakness ;)

The Royal Air Force College Cranwell (1961)

RAF Cranwell trains officers for the Royal Air Force

Knight’s paternal grandfather was an officer and combat pilot in the Air Force and he would have gone through a very similar, if not identical, training regimen as that shown in the video, as he completed his officer’s training and received his officer’s commission on a date not far from 1961. He would have known the men in the video. It is possible that he may be featured in the video as well, but Knight will neither confirm nor deny that due to privacy reasons.

Both of Knight’s paternal great grandfathers were also Air Force officers and combat pilots and participated in the Second World War.