"There is no retreat from here, men,"

These are the famous words of Sir Colin Campbell, spoken as the British Army formed, drawn up in line, two deep, to fend off a cavalry charge at the Battle of Balaclava

Campbell told them as he rode down the line, "you must die where you stand."

The Times correspondent, W. H. Russell, who standing on the hills above could clearly see that nothing stood between the Russian cavalry and the defenceless British base but the "thin red streak tipped with a line of steel"

This image almost immediately became the phrase "The Thin Red Line", and has survived to this day as the chosen symbol for everything which we free and independent British people stand.



Richard over at the Eureferendum blog has a new feature. An analysis of the troops who are forming the latest 'Thin Red Line'

and if you are any doubt that we need reinforcements to bolster this 'thin red line', then read todays Christopher Booker's notebook in the Telegraph.
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