Editing Yomp

{{Short description |Royal Marines slang}}
{{other uses}}
{{EngvarB |date=March 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates |date=January 2023}}
{{anchor |Image}}
[[File:Heading into Port Stanley.jpg |thumb |250px |''The Yomper'' shows [[Royal Marines]] heading to [[Stanley, Falkland Islands |Stanley]] at the end of the [[Falklands War]] in June 1982.]]

'''Yomp''' is [[Royal Marines]] [[slang]] describing a long-distance [[loaded march]] carrying full kit. It was popularised by journalistic coverage in 1982 during the [[Falklands War]]. The origin of the word is unclear, and there is no evidence to suggest that it derives originally from an acronym. Various [[backronym]]ic definitions have however been proposed, including "young officers marching pace", "your own marching pace" and a connection with the term ''yump'' used in rally-driving in the sense of "to leave the ground when taking a crest at speed", apparently a Scandinavian pronunciation of ''[[:wikt:jump |jump]]''.<ref>{{cite book |author=Ayto, John  | title=Movers And Shakers: A Chronology of Words That Shaped Our Age |publisher= Oxford University Press |date= 2006 |page= 225}}</ref>

==Falklands War==
The word and its meaning came to national prominence in the UK during the [[Falklands War]] in 1982. After disembarking from ships at [[San Carlos, Falkland Islands |San Carlos]] on [[East Falkland]], on 21 May 1982, Royal Marines and members of the [[Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom) |Parachute Regiment]] yomped with their equipment across the islands, covering {{convert |56 |mi |km}}<ref>{{cite journal |author= Freedman, Lawrence |date= 1990 |journal= Signals of War, the Falklands Conflict of 1982 |publisher= Faber and Faber |location= London |isbn= 978-0-571-14116-6 |page= [https://archive.org/details/signalsofwarfalk0000free/page/ Chapter 21] |title= The Bridgehead and Beyond |author-link= Lawrence Freedman |url= https://archive.org/details/signalsofwarfalk0000free/page/}} "There were two considerations. First, the distance between Stanley and San Carlos was some '''56''' miles and given the problems posed by the terrain it would take at least eight days to cover the ground. Movement would be 'under constant enemy fire from the air, in an area without cover, wood, drinking water or means of subsistence'. When his men arrived, worn out by the long trek, they would have to go into immediate action against an enemy well prepared and supported by field artillery."</ref>  in three days carrying {{convert |80 |lb |kg |adj=on}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Modern Land Combat |date= 1987 |editor= Bernard Fitzsimons  |publisher= Salamander Books Ltd. |isbn= 978-1-85501-165-6}}</ref> loads. They were supposed to be transported by helicopters, but after the ''[[SS Atlantic Conveyor |Atlantic Conveyor]]'', which carried the helicopters, was sunk by Argentinian Exocet missiles on 25 May, the soldiers had to march across the island.{{fact |date=January 2023}}

{{anchor |Photograph}}
===Photograph===
The image of Royal Marine Corporal Peter Robinson with a [[Union Jack]] fixed to his radio antenna became one of the most widely published of the Falklands War.<ref name="flag">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-60982214 |title=Falklands veteran on the victory picture that went global |publisher=BBC News |date= 7 April 2020}}</ref> Now known as "The Yomper", it was taken by Petty Officer Peter Holdgate, Commando Forces Photographer, whilst working as part of the Commando Forces News Team.  After landing with 40 Commando at [[San Carlos, Falkland Islands |San Carlos]], Holdgate accompanied British forces across the Falklands War zone taking hundreds of photographs as the Royal Marines proceeded along the Moody Brook track towards [[Stanley, Falkland Islands |Stanley]].<ref>{{cite web| title = Memorials and Monuments in the Royal Marines Museum, Portsmouth (The Yomper) | date = 20 December 2006 | url = http://www.memorialsinportsmouth.co.uk/rm-museum/yomper.htm | format = ISO-8859-1}}</ref>

When news of the [[Falklands War Argentine surrender |surrender of Argentine forces]] was received, Marine Trev Gillingham produced a small Union bunting flag from his [[backpack |bergen]], which he had acquired from [[SS Canberra]]'s bunting locker. Marine Gillingham first tied the flag to Corporal Robinson's radio aerial, who was the last man in the patrol.  It eventually blew off and was then fixed with masking tape to the radio aerial.  The photograph itself was entirely spontaneous and not staged. The original Union Jack has been lost.<ref name="flag"/>

=== Memorial ===
[[File:The Yomper Falklands memorial statue, Royal Marines Museum, Portsmouth (1) cropped.jpg |thumb |upright |Memorial to "The Yomper" at the [[Royal Marines Museum]] in Eastney Esplanade, Portsmouth, UK]]
The image was used as the inspiration for a statue of Royal Marine Commando that was unveiled by [[Margaret Thatcher]] at the [[Royal Marines Museum]] in [[Southsea]], Portsmouth on 8 July 1992 to mark the 10th anniversary of the conflict.<ref>{{cite web | title = Memorials and Monuments in the Royal Marines Museum, Portsmouth (The Yomper) | date = 20 December 2006 | url = http://www.memorialsinportsmouth.co.uk/rm-museum/yomper.htm | format = ISO-8859-1}}</ref>

==Similar terms ==
[[British Army]] slang for the same marching conditions is "tab",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.acronymfinder.com/Tactical-Advance-to-Battle-(TAB).html |website= Acronym Finder  |title=TAB}}</ref> while in [[United States Armed Forces|United States military]] slang, the terms to "ruck" (from the "[[rucksack]]" being carried) or to "hump" (from the phrase "humping a pack") are used.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://acronymsandslang.com/meaning-of/government-and-military/HUMP.html |title=Hump |website=www.acronymsandslang.com |accessdate=7 April 2022}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Wiktionary}}
* [[Dartmoor Yomp]]
* [[Loaded march]]

== References ==
<references/>

{{Falklands War |style=wide}}

[[Category:Royal Marines]]
[[Category:Falklands War]]
[[Category:Military slang and jargon]]