WC vs. History: Tonight's the Knight (May 25, 2011)

[Bandit LOAF]

From Wing Commander II on, we are occasionally reminded that our commanding officer is, in fact, Admiral Sir Geoffrey Tolwyn--indicating that he holds a knighthood of some sort. But what kind of knight is the admiral? Is he some kind of future space knight... or is he part of England's long history of chivalric tradition?

At one point in the prologue to Action Stations, ostensibly written by a future military historian discussing Tolwyn's career, we are treated to a short list of his most notable military honors (the rest of which we will revisit in a companion update). There we find the designation 'KCB'--which means that Tolwyn is a Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath.

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (Wikipedia) was created by King George I in 1725 and is the fourth most senior British Order of Chivalry. It was initially founded as a military order but now includes a civil component. The order has three levels, of which Knights Commander are the second-most senior. There are nominally 355 Knights Commander at one time--but exceptions are allowed during wartime (galaxy-spanning conflict with the Kilrathi would seemingly apply).

We don't know what specific action earned Tolwyn his knighthood, but Knight Commanders who are Naval officers must hold at least the rank of Captain--which may suggest that Tolwyn was being recognized for his success at the 2639 Enyo Engagement.

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When in full dress uniform, Tolwyn would likely wear this star. The bright red cape was apparently his idea.​

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Original update published on May 25, 2011

 

[st3lt3k]

I think that WC vs. History is a great idea. Very well done!

 

[Dundradal]

These are really great. There are some good ones coming up too!

 

[LeHah]

Finally - a question I've wondered about ceaselessly is more or less answered!

 

[Quarto]

This actually has much deeper implications. It confirms what the term "Confederation" suggests - that underneath the (con)federal government, there still remain nation-states such as the United Kingdom, in some form.

(which presumably means that, all throughout the war, the Kilrathi actually did maintain a foothold on Earth, ever since France surrendered )

 

[Bandit LOAF]

We will look at Tolwyn's family tree a bit more in a future update--and it is very, very British.

 

[Sylvester]

My question is, since Tolwyn is so very British in what we know about him, is how his prized family heirloom came to be a 1941 class ring from the United States Naval Academy? Perhaps he has some American relatives? Certainly possible given 16 generations of removal.

Also, its fun to know the cape was his idea. I always liked the WC2 Confed uniforms the most.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Heh, the same discussion is going on in the Tolwyn's ring thread.

 

[Ilanin]

My question is, since Tolwyn is so very British in what we know about him, is how his prized family heirloom came to be a 1941 class ring from the United States Naval Academy? Perhaps he has some American relatives? Certainly possible given 16 generations of removal.

Because Forstchen's research into British traditions was terrible (seriously, the Shetland Islands? The absolutely least British part of the United Kingdom, for an extremely English admiral? Scapa Flow in the Orkneys would at least have made some thematic sense...having Tolwyn look out over the anchorage where Jellicoe's fleet once lay, and muse on being "the only man on either side who could lose the war in an afternoon", would have made a great scene) and he probably doesn't even know what Britannia Royal Naval College is.

It's extremely rare these days for an military man to be given the Bath as a reward for services - the last time I can think of offhand for a naval officer would be after Jutland in 1916. Military heroism is generally acknowledged with a Victoria Cross (which Tolwyn also has). Also, it would be inconceivable that Tolwyn, if he was in fact awarded a KCB at the Enyo engagement, wouldn't have later been upgraded to a GCB for his role in defending Earth after the False Armistice. Of course if he was a GCB that would explain the cape; he'd be wearing the mantle of the order.

(I have never seen an American writer get the British honours system correct. Actually, it's pretty rare to see a British writer get the British honours system correct.)

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Can't blame Forstchen for the ring--that's something from the movie script that I think predates Chris Roberts' rewrite (I know it's a 1997 ring in earlier versions).

 

[Ilanin]

Fair enough. Then my complaint can be switched from being about Forstchen to about the generally slipshod approach the movie took to consistency with previous Wing Commander sources (yes, I know you can just about fit it in - that isn't exactly high praise). On the other hand, it makes perfectly good sense that this ring might have been a present to 16-generations-ago Tolwyn from the 16-generations-ago equivalent of Banbridge (who was as I recall an American) and thus treasured by the family ever since. The problem with such a perfectly sensible explanation is that it is never mentioned...

It's interesting how decorations are supposed to work in WC. My guess is that both the Confederation and local governments have their own decorations, though local ones are awarded much more rarely; so an officer of French descent might well win a Legion d'Honneur whereas someone descended from one of the commonwealth countries may be awarded a VC. And I guess officers of American descent could get their medals, but they all have such boring names so I can't imagine why anyone would want to...

 

[Quarto]

And I guess officers of American descent could get their medals, but they all have such boring names so I can't imagine why anyone would want to...

You mean, we could see an officer of American descent wearing, like, a Silver Star or something?

 

[Bandit LOAF]

I think the strange thing about the Annapolis bit in the script is how unusually specific it is for no reason--you were never going to be able to see an inscription on the ring in the film.

And I guess officers of American descent could get their medals, but they all have such boring names so I can't imagine why anyone would want to...

I plan on doing an update about the entire medal lists for Tolwyn and Turner... but Tolwyn seems to have a mix of British, American and Confederation... and Turner has American and Confederation medals.

 

[Bob McDob]

Also, it would be inconceivable that Tolwyn, if he was in fact awarded a KCB at the Enyo engagement, wouldn't have later been upgraded to a GCB for his role in defending Earth after the False Armistice. Of course if he was a GCB that would explain the cape; he'd be wearing the mantle of the order.

I wonder about this now. Victory Streak (which is the source for Captain-Tolwyn) uses Army/Air Force ranks for pilots, which would make Tolwyn the equivalent of a Navy Lieutenant. Only the Movie stuff and Action Stations use Naval ranks for flyers (and the latter seems to imply the nonexistence of an autonomous Space Force.)

Grand Commander would make sense; Tolwyn was a Rear Admiral in 2656 and held that rank through to the end of the war (aside from commanding Third Fleet as a full Admiral in 2668, but then False Colors has him as a Rear Admiral again, so either it was some kind of a brevet promotion by executive order or being cleared at court-martial doesn't exempt you from demotion.)

 

[Bandit LOAF]

I wonder about this now. Victory Streak (which is the source for Captain-Tolwyn) uses Army/Air Force ranks for pilots, which would make Tolwyn the equivalent of a Navy Lieutenant. Only the Movie stuff and Action Stations use Naval ranks for flyers (and the latter seems to imply the nonexistence of an autonomous Space Force.)

There's nothing about Tolwyn being a pilot in Victory Streak, though. The folks writing Victory Streak certainly meant for that to reference a Navy Captain... if for no other reason than that they certainly knew he was ADMIRAL Tolwyn.