On 17 June 1913 a year before the outbreak of war, King George V reviewed the Household Cavalry in Windsor Great Park. "With a bevy of princes and famous soldiers" accompanying the King, he inspected "a blue body Blues in the centre with red wings flecked with gold Guards on either flank and lit up by the twinkling of the sun on many breastplates...Evelyn Wood, leading the Blues, had paid unusual attention to his personal appearance." Beginning as a courageous young officer and later a successful commander in colonial wars, Evelyn Wood understood the importance of progress and modern technology and lived long enough to see cavalry become almost obsolete. Unlike the brigade commander he was proud to see his regiment operating new weapons: "You can picture my pleasant thoughts when I contrast the spirit of the BLUES turning up to the duties of Machine Gunners, and the false swagger of the men... in a Light Dragoon Regiment" he wrote.