LIEUT COL Tim Collins, whose powerful speech to his men on the eve of the Gulf war made him a household name, has been promoted to the rank of Colonel. He has now been posted away from the Canterbury-based Royal Irish Regiment.

The speech he made in the Gulf was spotlighted by the national press and in the tabloids his oration was compared to that of Shakespeare's Henry V.

Last Thursday the same men who had been moved by that the speech were sorry to see the regiment's commanding officer leave Howe Barracks for the last time. But they saw him off in style by following the Irish military tradition of towing Col Collins' vehicle out of the camp.

Capt Eamonn Coogan said: "It is a tradition that every Irish regiment has, where a former commanding officer is towed out from the officers' mess to the camp gates by two ropes.

"One is pulled by the officers and the other by the warrant officers. The soldiers themselves line the route and as he comes past stand to attention and salute. We gave three cheers."

He added: "He is a soldier's soldier - he's not a snob. He talks with an Irish accent and he has soldiered in a lot of places all over the world. The men had a lot of confidence in him."

Which regiment Col Collins will command is yet to be announced. Col Mark Hardigan will be his replacement within the Royal Irish regiment.

The regiment is due to stay at Howe Barracks for five months before moving to its next base at Inverness. It will be succeeded in Canterbury by the Sutherland and Argyle Highlanders.