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 World War II training films and was reported on widely in the newspapers of the day. On retirement from the army, R.S.M. Brittain's notoriety enabled him to enjoy a career in advertising, voice over work and film acting, usually playing a Sergeant Major.

Biography
He was born in 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 World War I, 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 Academy, 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 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.


 * Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
 * Defence Medal 1939-1945
 * War Medal 1939-1945
 * King George V Silver Jubilee Medal 1935
 * King George VI Coronation Medal 1937
 * Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 1953
 * Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
 * Meritorious Service Medal (MSM)

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