Ah yes! I well remember being dug out of me pit at 3 am to march up and down The Mall in practice for a Trooping of the Colour in 1965 and we (RAF) were only "Route Lining". Back then we had to stand with backs to the crowd and be poked and sworn at by people who couldn't see past us. I did, on the day, manage to move enough to crush the toes of one persistent yank with me highly bulled hobnailed boot.