It was in 1878, too, that the Company provided another proof of the fact that unity is strength, for it carried off all the prizes at the Corps Autumn Rifle Meeting of that year, not only winning but also taking second place in each of the competitions for the Gold Cross, the Ollicers' Cup, the Ladies' Purse and the Municipal Challenge Cup. This is the only*time in the history of the Corps that such a feat has been accomplished. The men at that time wore the uniform of the Royal Marine Light Infantry, so that, obviously, even in those days, though the Company was not exclusively British, xt must have had a decided leaning that way.
For the next 10 years or so there were not any great changes, but in 1800, when Capt. W. Bright was! in command, numbers for the) various units gave place to initials, to prevent confusion when numbering on parade and No. 2 Company became "B' Company. Amongst the various subalterns of those Messrs. W. H. Anderson, Gurney, and F. Clifton.
Capt. Bright went Home in 1591 ind the carmmand was taken by Capt. Anderson. In 1894 Capt.! \nderson, who had then been associated with the Corps for 16 years, for as an officer, resign-'d. The choice of a successor was 10 easy task, for the minutes of he discussions on-this matter show} hat very few men were consider-eligible and, though a_ big majority wanted him, Lieut. Trueman declined to accept promotion, wing that his business ties were He was eventually per-1 s stated, the new Captain had ined in 1884. He gained Cor-j poral's stripes the next year and) rapidly went through all the nencommissioned ranks. He was first commissioned in 1889. When made; Captain he had Messrs. F. Clifton! and E. Q. Cooper as his lieuten-} ants. The members must frequent-! ly have felt thankful to those "B"} Company men whose persuasiveness! convinced their nominee that he} could spare the time from his business to run the unit, for from that date he served practically continuously at their head until his promotion to the rank of second-in-command some years ago, even his holidays at Home being spent in taking the Army courses for
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.