Ronald Brittain

Ronald Brittain, MBE MSM (2 September 1899 – 9 January 1981) was well known during his lifetime as an archetypal Regimental Sergeant Major (R.S.M.) and for having possibly the loudest voice in the British Army. He was often featured in Second World War training films and was reported on widely in the newspapers of the day.[1] On retirement from the army, R.S.M. Brittain's notoriety enabled him to enjoy a career in advertising, voice-over work[2] and film acting, usually parodying himself as a Sergeant Major.

Biography

He was born in Gordon Terrace Aigburth Vale, Liverpool, the son of a gardener and worked in a local butcher's shop from leaving school until 1917, when he enlisted, during the First World War, first in the King's (Liverpool) Regiment and then transferred into the South Wales Borderers, where his imposing height of six feet three inches soon saw him promoted. He eventually transferred to the Coldstream Guards. Attached to the training staff at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he was well known for his parade ground bellow, which could reduce the gentleman cadets — many of them foreign princes and titled sons of the aristocracy — to trembling wrecks. Known to the cadets as "The Voice", he was credited as the originator of that phrase so beloved of sergeant majors: "You 'orrible little man!" He later became Regimental Sergeant Major of the Guards Depot, one of the most senior non-commissioned appointments in the British Army, and eventually of Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, where it was estimated that around 40,000 officer cadets passed through his tender care. Brittain retired from the army in 1954, well-past the normal retiring age and, after a spell as a salesman for an outsize clothing outfitters, he acted in films and plays and lent his legendary voice to a number of radio and television advertisements. Still an imposing figure in old age, Brittain was a member of the Society of Toastmasters and was a popular presence at public functions. He died at Chester in 1981, aged 81.

Decorations

Complete as at 1953.[3]

Filmography

Film or Series Role
Casino Royale (1967) uncredited Sergeant Major
The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966) Commissionaire
55 Days at Peking (1963) uncreditedSergeant Major
The Amorous Prawn (1962) Sergeant Major
The Missing Note (1961)uncreditedCommissionaire
The Criminal (1960) Kitchen warder
Alfred Marks Time (1956)BBC TV SeriesPerformer
Carrington V.C. (1955)uncreditedSergeant Major
You Lucky People (1955) Appearing as himself
They Were Not Divided (1950) Regimental Sergeant Major

Discography

The Saga Satellites with RSM Brittain - Regimental Rock (Saga Records, 1959)

References

  1. ↑ My life of top hat and tales – Edinburgh Evening News – Friday 22, 2002
  2. ↑ Aldershot military museum,National service in Aldershot
  3. ↑ As depicted worn in 1953 British Pathe news clip.

External links

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