The day ended with a rendition of military musical march The Beating of Retreat.

BBC: Stirling pays tribute to Armed Forces

On this second front, he is beating no retreat.

ECONOMIST: The white heat of Mandelson

In 2008, he was assigned to Hounslow, West London, and became "an integral member of the Corps of Drums throughout the Battalion's time on public duties, the highlight of which was being a part of the Household Division's Beating the Retreat -- a real honour for a line infantry Corps of Drums, " the ministry said.

CNN: SHARE THIS

Beating an orderly retreat is always a tricky military manoeuvre.

ECONOMIST: Consumer debt

It flared up over plans to mark the battle's 250th anniversary with a re-enactment, and ended with Quebec separatists crying victory and Canada's federal government beating a hasty retreat.

ECONOMIST: A 250-year-old defeat still rankles

But many ordinary Libyans remain skeptical that powerful militias, many of which have vast weapons arsenals, will surrender so easily and may simply be beating a tactical retreat until popular anger calms.

WSJ: Libyan Army Clamps Down on Militias

"Downing Street suddenly knew that it faced a choice between the story coming out, though in a far more technicolour and dramatic way than anyone had up to that stage realised, or beating a hasty retreat, " he writes in the latest edition of the magazine, edited by Tory MP Boris Johnson.

BBC: Blair 'feared' Black Rod's evidence

The key to beating the rush is to force the cavalry charge of defenders into a retreat by breaching the defensive line.

WSJ: Wales Unleashes Its Behemoths