1.
Infantry
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Infantry is the general branch of an army that engages in military combat on foot. As the troops who engage with the enemy in close-ranged combat, infantry units bear the largest brunt of warfare, Infantry can enter and maneuver in terrain that is inaccessible to military vehicles and employ crew-served infantry weapons that provide greater and more sustained firepower. In English, the 16th-century term Infantry describes soldiers who walk to the battlefield, and there engage, fight, the term arose in Sixteenth-Century Spain, which boasted one of the first professional standing armies seen in Europe since the days of Rome. It was common to appoint royal princes to military commands, and the men under them became known as Infanteria. in the Canadian Army, the role of the infantry is to close with, and destroy the enemy. In the U. S. Army, the closes with the enemy, by means of fire and maneuver, in order to destroy or capture him, or to repel his assault by fire, close combat. In the U. S. Marine Corps, the role of the infantry is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy fire and maneuver. Beginning with the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, artillery has become a dominant force on the battlefield. Since World War I, combat aircraft and armoured vehicles have become dominant. In 20th and 21st century warfare, infantry functions most effectively as part of a combined arms team including artillery, armour, Infantry relies on organized formations to be employed in battle. These have evolved over time, but remain a key element to effective infantry development and deployment, until the end of the 19th century, infantry units were for the most part employed in close formations up until contact with the enemy. This allowed commanders to control of the unit, especially while maneuvering. The development of guns and other weapons with increased firepower forced infantry units to disperse in order to make them less vulnerable to such weapons. This decentralization of command was made possible by improved communications equipment, among the various subtypes of infantry is Medium infantry. This refers to infantry which are heavily armed and armored than heavy infantry. In the early period, medium infantry were largely eliminated due to discontinued use of body armour up until the 20th century. In the United States Army, Stryker Infantry is considered Medium Infantry, since they are heavier than light infantry, Infantry doctrine is the concise expression of how infantry forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. It is a guide to action, not a set of hard, doctrine provides a very common frame of reference across the military forces, allowing the infantry to function cooperatively in what are now called combined arms operations. Doctrine helps standardise operations, facilitating readiness by establishing common ways of accomplishing infantry tasks, doctrine links theory, history, experimentation, and practice
2.
Brigade
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A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment, two or more brigades may constitute a division. Brigades formed into divisions are usually infantry or armored, in addition to combat units, they may include combat support units or sub-units, such as artillery and engineers, and logistic units or sub-units. Historically, such brigades have sometimes been called brigade-groups, on operations, a brigade may comprise both organic elements and attached elements, including some temporarily attached for a specific task. Brigades may also be specialized and comprise battalions of a branch, for example cavalry, mechanized, armored, artillery, air defence, aviation, engineers. Some brigades are classified as independent or separate and operate independently from the division structure. The typical NATO standard brigade consists of approximately 3,200 to 5,500 troops, however, in Switzerland and Austria, the numbers could go as high as 11,000 troops. The Soviet Union, its forerunners and successors, mostly use regiment instead of brigade, a brigades commander is commonly a major general, brigadier general, brigadier or colonel. In some armies, the commander is rated as a General Officer, the brigade commander has a self-contained headquarters and staff. Some brigades may also have a deputy commander, the headquarters has a nucleus of staff officers and support that can vary in size depending on the type of brigade. On operations, additional specialist elements may be attached, the headquarters will usually have its own communications unit. In some gendarmerie forces, brigades are the organizational unit. The brigade as a military unit came about starting in the 15th century when the British army, as such a field army became larger, the number of subordinate commanders became unmanageable for the officer in general command of said army, usually a major general, to effectively command. In order to streamline command relationships, as well as effect some modicum of control, especially in regard to combined arms operations. The terms origin is found in two French roots, which together, meant roughly those who fight, the so-called brigada was a well-mixed unit, comprising infantry, cavalry and normally also artillery, designated for a special task. The size of such brigada ranged from a company of up to two regiments. The brigada was the forerunner of the battalion task force, battle group. The brigade was improved as a unit by the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus
3.
British Army
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The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. As of 2017 the British Army comprises just over 80,000 trained Regular, or full-time, personnel and just over 26,500 trained Reserve, or part-time personnel. Therefore, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, day to day the Army comes under administration of the Ministry of Defence and is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. Repeatedly emerging victorious from these decisive wars allowed Britain to influence world events with its policies and establish itself as one of the leading military. In 1660 the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II, Charles favoured the foundation of a new army under royal control and began work towards its establishment by August 1660. The Royal Scots Army and the Irish Army were financed by the Parliament of Scotland, the order of seniority of the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, after William and Marys accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Marys father, James II. Spain, in the two centuries, had been the dominant global power, and the chief threat to Englands early transatlantic ambitions. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. From the time of the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, Great Britain was the naval power. As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, the British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars and served in campaigns across Europe. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world and at its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A Coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian Armies under the Duke of Wellington, the English had been involved, both politically and militarily, in Ireland since being given the Lordship of Ireland by the Pope in 1171. The campaign of the English republican Protector, Oliver Cromwell, involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, the English Army stayed in Ireland primarily to suppress numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for independence. Having learnt from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution, the British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created the Territorial Force as the Armys volunteer reserve component by merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force, Militia, Great Britains dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, in the 20th century, most notably Germany
4.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
5.
British Raj
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The British Raj was the rule by the British Crown in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947. The rule is also called Crown rule in India, or direct rule in India, the resulting political union was also called the Indian Empire and after 1876 issued passports under that name. It lasted until 1947, when the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two sovereign states, the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The British Raj extended over almost all present-day India, Pakistan and this area is very diverse, containing the Himalayan mountains, fertile floodplains, the Indo-Gangetic Plain, a long coastline, tropical dry forests, arid uplands, and the Thar desert. In addition, at times, it included Aden, Lower Burma, Upper Burma, British Somaliland. Burma was separated from India and directly administered by the British Crown from 1937 until its independence in 1948, among other countries in the region, Ceylon was ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. Ceylon was part of Madras Presidency between 1793 and 1798, the kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan, having fought wars with the British, subsequently signed treaties with them and were recognised by the British as independent states. The Kingdom of Sikkim was established as a state after the Anglo-Sikkimese Treaty of 1861, however. The Maldive Islands were a British protectorate from 1887 to 1965, India during the British Raj was made up of two types of territory, British India and the Native States. In general, the term British India had been used to also to the regions under the rule of the British East India Company in India from 1600 to 1858. The term has also used to refer to the British in India. The terms Indian Empire and Empire of India were not used in legislation, the monarch was known as Empress or Emperor of India and the term was often used in Queen Victorias Queens Speeches and Prorogation Speeches. The passports issued by the British Indian government had the words Indian Empire on the cover, in addition, an order of knighthood, the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, was set up in 1878. At the turn of the 20th century, British India consisted of eight provinces that were administered either by a Governor or a Lieutenant-Governor, during the partition of Bengal the new provinces of Assam and East Bengal were created as a Lieutenant-Governorship. In 1911, East Bengal was reunited with Bengal, and the new provinces in the east became, Assam, Bengal, Bihar, there were 565 princely states when India and Pakistan became independent from Britain in August 1947. The princely states did not form a part of British India, the larger ones had treaties with Britain that specified which rights the princes had, in the smaller ones the princes had few rights. Within the princely states external affairs, defence and most communications were under British control, the British also exercised a general influence over the states internal politics, in part through the granting or withholding of recognition of individual rulers. Although there were nearly 600 princely states, the majority were very small
6.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
7.
Western Front (World War II)
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The Western Front of the European theatre of World War II encompassed Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany. World War II military engagements in Southern Europe and elsewhere are generally considered under separate headings, the Western Front was marked by two phases of large-scale combat operations. The second phase consisted of ground combat, which began in June 1944 with the Allied landings in Normandy. The Phoney War was a phase of World War II marked by a few military operations in Continental Europe in the months following the German invasion of Poland. Although the great powers of Europe had declared war on one another, neither side had yet committed to launching a significant attack and this was also the period in which The United Kingdom and France did not supply significant aid to Poland, despite their pledged alliance. While most of the German Army was fighting against Poland, a much smaller German force manned the Siegfried Line, there were only some local, minor skirmishes. The British Royal Air Force dropped propaganda leaflets on Germany and the first Canadian troops stepped ashore in Britain, while Western Europe was in a strange calm for seven months. In their hurry to re-arm, Britain and France had both begun to buy large numbers of weapons manufacturers in the United States at the outbreak of hostilities. The non-belligerent United States, contributed to the Western Allies by discounted sales of military equipment, German efforts to interdict the Allies trans-Atlantic trade at sea ignited the Battle of the Atlantic. However, when the Allies made a counter-landing in Norway following the German invasion, the Kriegsmarine, nonetheless, suffered very heavy losses during the two-months of fighting required to seize all of mainland Norway. In May 1940, the Germans launched the Battle of France, the Western Allies soon collapsed under the onslaught of the so-called blitzkrieg strategy. The majority of the British and elements of the French forces escaped at Dunkirk, with the fighting ended, the Germans began to consider ways of resolving the question of how to deal with Britain. If the British refused to agree to a treaty, one option was to invade. However, Nazi Germanys Kriegsmarine, had suffered losses in Norway. With the Luftwaffe unable to defeat the RAF in the Battle of Britain and these were built in anticipation of an Allied invasion of France. Because of the massive logistical obstacles a cross-channel invasion would face, on 19 August 1942, the Allies began the Dieppe Raid, an attack on Dieppe, France. Most of the troops were Canadian, with some British contingents, the raid was a disaster, almost two-thirds of the attacking force became casualties. However, much was learned as a result of the operation – these lessons would be put to use in the subsequent invasion
8.
Devonshire Regiment
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In June,1667, Henry Somerset, Marquess of Worcester, was granted a commission to raise a regiment of foot, The Marquess of Worcesters Regiment of Foot. The regiment remained in existence for only a few months and was disbanded in the same year and it was re-raised in January 1673 and again disbanded in 1674. The regiment was not required to fight at the time of its formation since the Duke of Monmouth was drawn away from Bristol. Its first action came in Ireland at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690, after the war, it garrisoned the island of Minorca. The regiment served under the name of its various Colonels until it was numbered as the 11th Regiment of Foot when the system of regimental designation was adopted in 1751. It was given the county title of 11th Regiment of Foot in 1782. The 11th Regiment spent the years of the French Revolutionary Wars serving as detachments in the Mediterranean with the Royal Navy. It also took part in a raid on the port of Ostend in 1798. It was deployed to the West Indies in 1801 where it captured Saint Barthélemy, a 2nd Battalion was formed in 1809 and took part in the disastrous Walcheren Campaign. The 1st battalion returned to Europe in July 1809 to fight in the Peninsular War and it took part in the Battle of Bussaco in September 1810 and then fell back to the Lines of Torres Vedras. It took part in the Siege of Badajoz in April 1811, in the 19th century, the regiment spent most of the 19th Century on garrison duty throughout the Empire. Under the reforms the regiment became the Devonshire Regiment on 1 July 1881, at the same time it merged with the militia and rifle volunteer units of the county of Devon. It took part in the Tirah Campaign in 1897 and the Second Boer War in 1899, the 2nd Battalion fought in the Second Anglo-Afghan War, the Anglo-Ashanti wars and the Second Boer War. The 8th Battalion, part of 29th Brigade reserve, was committed within 3 hours of the beginning of the attack, the 1st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment was a Regular Army unit, joined the 8th Brigade, 3rd Division and then transferred to the 14th Brigade, 5th Division. The 1st Battalion was serving in British India when the Second World War broke out, the brigade was part of the British 36th Infantry Division. In July 1943 the battalion, together with the 231st Brigade, fought in the Allied invasion of Sicily, and, briefly, in the Allied invasion of Italy in September. On D-Day, June 6,1944, it was intended that the battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Cosmo Nevill, should land at Le Hamel, on Gold Beach, of the four company commanders, two were wounded and one was killed. The battalion continued to fight throughout the Battle of Normandy
9.
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
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The Duke of Cornwalls Light Infantry was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1959. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, by the merger of the 32nd Regiment of Foot, the DCLI also incorporated the militia and rifle volunteers of Cornwall. In 1959 the regiment merged with the Somerset Light Infantry to form the Somerset, the regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, by the merger of the 32nd Regiment of Foot and the 46th Regiment of Foot. The DCLI also incorporated the militia and rifle volunteers of Cornwall, under the Childers system, one regular battalion of each regiment was to be at a home station, while the other was abroad. Every few years, there was to be an exchange of battalions, the 2nd Battalion arrived in South Africa in the following month, where it took part in minor actions on the western border of the Cape Colony. In February 1900 it became part of the 19th Brigade and it saw action against the Boers at Paardeberg, and in March 1900 entered Bloemfontein. It continued to part in a series of skirmishes until the end of the war. The 1st Battalion took no part on the war, moving from India to Ceylon in December 1900 where its soldiers guarded South African prisoners of war. However, in the Second Boer War, both volunteer battalions contributed Active Service Companies that reinforced the regular battalions, and were awarded the battle honour South Africa 1900–1901, in 1908 reserve forces were reorganised by the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907. The militia was renamed the Special Reserve, with the duty of providing trained recruits in time of war, the volunteer battalions became part of the new Territorial Force, which was organised into 14 infantry divisions which were called upon to serve abroad. On 1 April 1908 the three battalions were accordingly redesignated as the 3rd, 4th and 5th Battalions, DCLI. The war saw an expansion of the regiment. This was done in two ways, by the formation of units to the existing territorial battalions, and by the raising of wartime new army or service battalions. The following battalions of the DCLI saw active service in the conflict, however, only the 1st, 2nd and 5th served overseas. The battalion was part of the 214th Infantry Brigade attached to the 43rd Infantry Division, the regiment reverted to two battalions following the war. Between 1946 and 1954, the 1st Battalion served in Palestine, Cyprus, Somaliland, England, the 2nd Battalion, between 1946 and 1948, served in Greece. In 1948, it was reduced to a skeleton representative cadre, before being amalgamated into the 1st Battalion in 1950, in 1954, the 1st Battalion was posted to Jamaica, the last battalion to be posted to the West Indies for a full, three-year term. A Company detached on transit, posted to Prospect Camp, in the Atlantic archipelago of Bermuda, a Company was the last regular unit posted on garrison to Bermuda, with its departure constituting the withdrawal of the garrison from the one-time Fortress Bermuda
10.
43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division
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The 43rd Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. It was originally raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force, as the Wessex Division, in 1915 it became the 43rd Division. It was reformed as the 43rd Infantry Division in 1920 as part of the Territorial Army, a 2nd Line duplicate, the 45th Division, was raised on the doubling of the Territorials for both World War I and World War II. The division was disbanded and again reformed in the Territorial Army after the war, on 1 May 1961 the division was merged with a district to become 43rd Division/District. The division was created in 1908, originally as the Wessex Division, the Divisional and Brigade HQs, both artillery and infantry, did not embark for India. The Division sailed on 9 October 1914 and arrived in India in November, however, it supplied battalions and drafts of replacements for the divisions fighting in the Middle East. In May 1915 it became the 43rd Division and the brigades were redesignated the 128th Brigade, 129th Brigade, the division then spent many years in the United Kingdom on home defence, anticipating the potentiality of a German invasion of the British Isles. Throughout most of 1942 the division was part of XII Corps, serving alongside the 46th Infantry Division, XII Corps was, at the time, commanded by Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery. In August 1942, the 128th Infantry Brigade was transferred to the 46th Infantry Division, the 34th Tank Brigade arrived in September 1942 as part of an experiment with Mixed Divisions. The 214th Brigade would remain with the 43rd Division for the rest of the war, on 2 March 1942, the division also gained a new and controversial GOC in the form of Major-General Gwilym Ivor Thomas. He would command the 43rd Division until September 1945, in July, it launched an attack, Operation Jupiter, against the German 9th SS Panzer Division on Hill 112, though it was beaten back after both sides had suffered horrendous casualties. The 43rd Division performed well in Normandy, and was considered by many senior British officers to be one of the best divisions of the British Army during the Second World War. For the rest of the war Bernard Montgomery, commanding all British and Canadian troops in the campaign, preferred to use such as 43rd. With formations that had spent years in the United Kingdom training such as the 43rd, 11th Armoured, the 43rd Division was the first British formation to cross the Seine river, with an assault crossing at the French town of Vernon opposed by the 49th German Infantry Division. This crossing enabled the armour of XXX Corps, under Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks, still with XXX Corps, the 43rd Division later played a major role in Operation Market Garden as the support to the Guards Armoured Division. After Market Garden the division garrisoned The Island and later participated in Operation Clipper alongside the U. S. 84th Infantry Division, the 43rd later played a large part in Operation Veritable attached to First Canadian Army, again as part of XXX Corps. They then crossed the River Rhine as the Allies invaded Germany itself, by the end of the war in Europe, the 43rd Division had reached the Cuxhaven peninsula of northern Germany. From June 1944 to May 1945 the 43rd Division, or the Yellow Devils or British SS Division as known by the Germans, had suffered well over 12,500 casualties, the division was reactivated after the Second World War again as part of the Territorial Army
11.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
12.
British Indian Army
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The Indian Army was the principal army of India before independence from the United Kingdom in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of both British India and the Princely states, which could also have their own armies. The Indian Army was an important part of the British Empires forces, the term Indian Army appears to have been first used informally, as a collective description of the Presidency armies of the Presidencies of British India, particularly after the Indian Rebellion. The first army officially called the Indian Army was raised by the government of India in 1895, however, in 1903 the Indian Army absorbed these three armies. The Indian Army should not be confused with the Army of India which was the Indian Army itself plus the British Army in India, before 1858, the precursor units of the Indian Army were units controlled by the Company and were paid for by their profits. These operated alongside units of the British Army, funded by the British government in London. Many of these took part in the Indian Mutiny, with the aim of reinstating the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II at Delhi. The meaning of the term Indian Army has changed over time, The officer commanding the Army of India was the Commander-in-Chief, the title was used before the creation of a unified British Indian Army, the first holder was Major General Stringer Lawrence in 1748. By the early 1900s the Commander-in-Chief and his staff were based at GHQ India, Indian Army postings were less prestigious than British Army positions, but the pay was significantly greater so that officers could live on their salaries instead of having to have a private income. Accordingly, vacancies in the Indian Army were much sought after and generally reserved for the higher placed officer-cadets graduating from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. British officers in the Indian Army were expected to learn to speak the Indian languages of their men, prominent British Indian Army officers included Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, Claude Auchinleck and William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim. Commissioned officers, British and Indian, held identical ranks to commissioned officers of the British Army, Kings Commissioned Indian Officers, created from the 1920s, held equal powers to British officers. Viceroys Commissioned Officers were Indians holding officer ranks and they were treated in almost all respects as commissioned officers, but had authority over Indian troops only, and were subordinate to all British Kings Commissioned Officers and KCIOs. They included Subedar Major or Risaldar-Major, equivalents to a British Major, Subedar or Risaldar equivalents to Captain, recruitment was entirely voluntary, about 1.75 million men served in the First World War, many on the Western Front and 2.5 million in the Second. Soldier ranks included Sepoys or Sowars, equivalent to a British private, British Army ranks such as gunner and sapper were used by other corps. In the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny of 1857, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny. The three Presidency armies remained separate forces, each with its own Commander-in-Chief, overall operational control was exercised by the Commander-in-Chief of the Bengal Army, who was formally the Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies. From 1861, most of the manpower was pooled in the three Presidential Staff Corps
13.
Army Reserve (United Kingdom)
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The Army Reserve is the active-duty volunteer reserve force and integrated element of the British Army. Most Volunteer infantry units had unique identities, but lost these in the reorganisation, only one infantry unit, the London Regiment, has maintained a separate identity. Reservists in the past also served as constables or bailiffs, even holding positions of civic duty as overseer of their parish, the more modern Yeomen of the 18th century were cavalry-based units, which were often used to suppress riots. Several units that are now part of the Army Reserve bear the title militia, after the Second World War, for example, the Army Reserve - or Territorial Army as it was known then - was not demobilised until 1947. All Army Reserve personnel have their jobs protected to a limited extent by law should they be compulsorily mobilised. There is, however, no protection against discrimination in employment for membership of the Army Reserve in the normal course of events. As part of the process, remaining units of militia were converted to the Special Reserve. The TF was formed on 1 April 1908 and contained fourteen infantry divisions and it had an overall strength of approximately 269,000. The individual units that made up each division or brigade were administered by County Associations, the other members of the association consisted of military members, representative members and co-opted members. Associations took over any property vested in the volunteers or yeomanry under their administration, each regiment or battalion had a Regular Army officer attached as full-time adjutant. In August 1914, after the outbreak of the First World War, territorial units were given the option of serving in France and, by 25 August, in excess of seventy battalions had volunteered. This question over the availability of territorial divisions for service was one of Lord Kitcheners motivations for raising the New Army separately. The first fully Territorial division to join the fighting on the Western Front was the 46th Division in March 1915, with divisions later serving in Gallipoli and elsewhere. As the war progressed, and casualties mounted, the character of territorial units was diluted by the inclusion of conscript. Following the Armistice all units of the Territorial Force were gradually disbanded, New recruiting started in early 1920, and the Territorial Force was reconstituted on 7 February 1920. On 1 October 1920, the Territorial Force was renamed the Territorial Army, the 1st Line divisions were reconstituted in that year. However, the composition of the divisions was altered, with a reduction in the number of infantry battalions required, there was also a reduced need for cavalry, and of the 55 yeomanry regiments, only the 14 most senior retained their horses. The remaining yeomanry were converted to artillery or armoured car units or disbanded, the amalgamation of 40 pairs of infantry battalions was announced in October 1921
14.
134th (2/1st Hampshire) Brigade
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The 134th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army. It was formed in the First World War as a duplicate of the Hampshire Brigade and was formed as the 2nd/1st Hampshire Brigade in 1914–1915 before later being renamed as the 134th Brigade. It was sent overseas to India in December 1914 to relieve Regular Army units for service in France, the brigade remained there for the rest of the war, supplying drafts of replacements to the British units fighting in the Middle East and later complete battalions. By September 1917 the last of its battalions had departed and it was reformed as 134th Infantry Brigade in the Territorial Army in 1939, again as a duplicate formation, when another European conflict with Germany seemed inevitable. During the Second World War, the brigade was active in the United Kingdom throughout its service and it was disbanded on 15 August 1944. The brigade was reformed on 1 September 1944 as part of the 45th Division and it did not see service outside the United Kingdom during the war. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, therefore, TF units were split into 1st Line and 2nd Line units. 2nd Line units performed the home defence role, although in fact most of these were also posted abroad in due course. On 15 August 1915, TF units were instructed to separate home service men from those who had volunteered for overseas service, on 31 August, 2nd Line units were authorized for each 1st Line unit where more than 60% of men had volunteered for overseas service. After being organized, armed and clothed, the 2nd Line units were grouped into large formations thereby forming the 2nd Line brigades. These 2nd Line units and formations had the name and structure as their 1st Line parents. On 24 November, it was decided to replace imperial service formations as they proceeded overseas with their reserve formations, a second reserve unit was then formed at the peace headquarters of the 1st Line. The brigade was formed as a 2nd Line duplicate of the Hampshire Brigade in October 1914 and it was assigned to the 2nd Wessex Division, the 2nd Line duplicate of the Wessex Division. The division was selected for service in India thereby releasing British, on 12 December, the brigade embarked at Southampton with three battalions, the 2/4th Hampshires landed at Karachi on 9 January 1915 and the rest of the brigade at Bombay between 4 and 8 January. The brigade was broken up on arrival in India, the units reverted to peacetime conditions. The Territorial Force divisions and brigades were numbered in May 1915 in the order that they departed for overseas service, the 2nd Wessex Division should have been numbered as the 45th Division, but as the division had already been broken up, this was merely a place holder. Likewise, the 2nd/1st Hampshire Brigade was notionally numbered as 134th Brigade, the units pushed on with training to prepare for active service, handicapped by the need to provide experienced manpower for active service units. By early 1916 it had become obvious that it would not be possible to transfer the division, nevertheless, individual units proceeded overseas on active service through the rest of the war
15.
45th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)
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The 45th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army. It was sent overseas to India in December 1914 to relieve Regular Army units for service in France, the division remained there for the rest of the war, supplying drafts of replacements to the British units fighting in the Middle East and later complete battalions. It was reformed as 45th Infantry Division in the Territorial Army in 1939, again as a duplicate of the 43rd Division, during the Second World War, the division was active in the United Kingdom throughout its service. It was placed on a lower establishment on 1 December 1941, the division was reformed on 1 September 1944 as 45th Division, later 45th Division, for the reception of troops returning from overseas. The division did not see service outside the United Kingdom during the war, however, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered for Imperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split into 1st Line and 2nd Line units, 2nd Line units performed the home defence role, although in fact most of these were also posted abroad in due course. On 15 August 1915, TF units were instructed to separate home service men from those who had volunteered for overseas service, on 31 August, 2nd Line units were authorized for each 1st Line unit where more than 60% of men had volunteered for overseas service. After being organized, armed and clothed, the 2nd Line units were grouped into large formations thereby forming the 2nd Line brigades. These 2nd Line units and formations had the name and structure as their 1st Line parents. On 24 November, it was decided to replace imperial service formations as they proceeded overseas with their reserve formations, a second reserve unit was then formed at the peace headquarters of the 1st Line. The 2nd Wessex Division was formed in October 1914 as a 2nd Line duplicate of the Wessex Division. Most of the units were raised after the departure of the 1st Line division to India in the same month, officers. In the event, the division did not consist of more than 12 infantry battalions and 12 artillery batteries, no ammunition columns. The divisional engineers and signals remained in the UK and later joined 58th Divisional RE, on 22 September, India agreed to send 32 British and 20 Indian regular battalions to Europe in exchange for 43 partially trained TF battalions. On 12 December, the division embarked at Southampton with 263 officers,9,344 other ranks and 36 guns, the 2/4th DCLI and 2/4th Hampshires landed at Karachi on 9 January 1915 and the rest of the division at Bombay between 4 and 8 January. The division was broken up on arrival in India in January 1915. The battalions were posted to Bombay, Poona, Secunderabad, Bangalore, Ahmednagar, Karachi, Quetta, Wellington and Meiktila, the Territorial Force divisions and brigades were numbered in May 1915 in the order that they departed for overseas service, starting with the 42nd Division. The 2nd Wessex Division should have been numbered as the 45th Division, but as the division had already broken up
16.
Royal Hampshire Regiment
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The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th Regiment of Foot and the 67th Regiment of Foot. The regiment existed continuously for 111 years and served in the Second Boer War, World War I, in 1946, due to distinguished service in World War II, the regiment was retitled as the Royal Hampshire Regiment. At the turn of the 20th century, there were two battalions of the regiment. The 2nd Battalion was deployed to South Africa and took part in an action at Karee Siding on 29 March 1900, a third militia battalion was formed from the former Hampshire Militia, with headquarters in Winchester. The battalion was embodied in January 1900 for service in South Africa, a Volunteer battalion was also formed to serve in South Africa. Men from this battalion were involved in the worst train accident during the war, near Barberton, on 30 March 1902, following the accident, the battalion returned to the United Kingdom, arriving at Southampton in May 1902. During the First World War, the regiment expanded to 34 battalions, by the end of the First World War, the Hampshire Regiment had lost 7,580 officers and men killed in action. The 1st Battalion was a Regular Army unit stationed in Colchester on the outbreak of war in August 1914, the battalion was assigned to the 11th Brigade, 4th Division. With the division, the joined the British Expeditionary Force and was sent overseas to France in August 1914. The 1st Battalion saw its first combat against the German Army at Le Cateau, in 1914, on Christmas Day, men of the 1st Battalion participated in the legendary Christmas Truce of 1914 where British and German soldiers fraternised in No mans land. In 1915, the took part in the Second Battle of Ypres. In 1916 it fought at Albert and Le Transloy, which was part of the larger Somme offensive, the 2nd Battalion was also a Regular Army battalion that was serving in India at the outbreak of war and arrived in England on 22 December 1914. In early 1915, the became part of the 88th Brigade. The 2nd Battalion took part in the Battle of Gallipoli when engaged in the fatal Landing at Cape Helles in April 1915, in 1916, the 2nd Battalion was evacuated to Alexandria due to a mixture of heavy casualties from combat, disease and the terrible weather conditions. In March 1916, the battalion was sent to France and would serve on the Western Front for the rest of the war, participating in the battle of Albert and Le Transloy rides, alongside the 1st Battalion. The 1/5th Battalion landed at Karachi in India in November 1914, the 1/6th Battalion landed at Karachi in India in November 1914, it remained in India for the rest of the war. The 1/7th Battalion landed at Karachi in India in November 1914, the 1/9th Battalion sailed for India in February 1916 and then to Vladivostok in October 1918. The 2/4th Battalion sailed for India in December 1914 as part of 2/1st Hampshire Brigade in the 2nd Wessex Division and then sailed for Egypt in April 1917 and to France in May 1918
17.
Dorset Regiment
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The Dorset Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, being the county regiment of Dorset. Until 1951, it was called the Dorsetshire Regiment, although usually known as The Dorsets. In 1958, after service in the Second Boer War along with World War I and World War II, the Dorset Regiment was amalgamated with the Devonshire Regiment to form the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment. In 2007, it was amalgamated with the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment, The Light Infantry, the Dorsetshire Regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 39th Regiment of Foot and the 54th Regiment of Foot. During the First World War, nine battalions were formed. The 1st Battalion and 6th battalion served on the Western Front throughout most of the war, additional battalions were formed as part of the Territorial Force to meet the demand for troops on the Western Front. The 1st Battalion was in Belfast when war broke out, it landed at Le Havre in August 1914 forming part of the 15th Brigade in the 5th Division. It transferred to 95th Brigade in the 32nd Division in December 1915 and to the 14th Brigade in the same Division in January 1916. The 2nd Battalion was in Poona, India, when war broke out and was shipped, as part of the 16th Indian Brigade, to Mesopotamia, where it was trapped in the Siege of Kut and captured by the Turks. This battalion was formally titled the Composite English Battalion, but was commonly known as The Norsets, it was broken up in July 1916. The battalion then served in Egypt as part of 9th Indian Brigade in the 3rd Indian Division, the 1/4th Battalion of the Territorial Force served in India and Mesopotamia and 2/4th Battalion in India and Egypt. The 5th Battalion took part in the Gallipoli Campaign, and having been evacuated from there in December 1915, the 6th Battalion was shipped to Boulogne in France in July 1915 as part of 50th Brigade in the 17th Division and saw action on the Western Front. The 3/4th Reserve Battalion was moved to Ebrington Barracks in Derry in April 1918, sporadic violence in the city continued until another large engagement in June, when the Dorsets and the UVF attacked the Bogside area of the city. A large IRA counter-offensive from the west ended the disturbances, which had seen 40 people killed since April, some RIC officers threatened to resign over the Dorsets fraternisation and co-operation with the UVF. The riots that they quashed were inspired by 10,000 guerrillas, the Officers and Men from the Dorset Regiment who lost their lives while taking part in the suppression of the revolt are commemorated in a brass tablet at the St. In the Second World War, the regiment expanded to eight battalions, the battalion had troops 327 killed and 1,029 wounded. In 1944, it took part in the Battle of Kohima during the Burma Campaign of 1944–1945, the 4th and 5th Battalions were both part of 130th Infantry Brigade in the 43rd Infantry Division, participating in the Normandy Campaign, Operation Market Garden and the Rhine Crossing. The 30th Battalion, previously the 6th Battalion, was with the 43rd Infantry Brigade in North Africa, the 7th Battalion, which was raised in 1940, was later converted to the 110th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
18.
Invasion of Normandy
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The Western Allies of World War II launched the largest amphibious invasion in history when they assaulted Normandy, located on the northern coast of France, on 6 June 1944. The invaders were able to establish a beachhead as part of Operation Overlord after a successful D-Day, Allied land forces came from the United States, Britain, Canada, and Free French forces. The Normandy invasion began with overnight parachute and glider landings, massive air attacks, the invasion began and during the evening the remaining elements of the airborne divisions landed. Land forces used on D-Day sailed from bases along the south coast of England, Allied forces rehearsed their D-Day roles for months before the invasion. On 28 April 1944, in south Devon on the English coast,749 U. S. soldiers and sailors were killed when German torpedo boats surprised one of these landing exercises, Exercise Tiger. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allied forces conducted an operation, Operation Fortitude, aimed at misleading the Germans with respect to the date. There were several leaks prior to or on D-Day, through the Cicero affair, the Germans obtained documents containing references to Overlord, but these documents lacked all detail. Double Cross agents, such as the Spaniard Juan Pujol, played an important role in convincing the German High Command that Normandy was at best a diversionary attack. After being told, Eisenhower reduced Miller to lieutenant colonel and sent him back to the U. S. where he retired, another such leak was General Charles de Gaulles radio message after D-Day. He, unlike all the leaders, stated that this invasion was the real invasion. This had the potential to ruin the Allied deceptions Fortitude North, in contrast, Gen. Eisenhower referred to the landings as the initial invasion. A full moon occurred on 6 June, Allied Expeditionary Force Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower had tentatively selected 5 June as the date for the assault. The weather was fine during most of May, but deteriorated in early June, the Allied troop convoys already at sea were forced to take shelter in bays and inlets on the south coast of Britain for the night. It seemed possible that everything would have to be cancelled and the returned to their embarkation camps. The next full moon period would be nearly a month away, at a vital meeting on 5 June, Eisenhowers chief meteorologist forecast a brief improvement for 6 June. Commander of all forces for the invasion General Bernard Montgomery. Commander of the Allied Air Forces Air Chief Marshal Leigh Mallory was doubtful, on the strength of Staggs forecast, Eisenhower ordered the invasion to proceed. As a result, prevailing overcast skies limited Allied air support, some troops stood down and many senior officers were away for the weekend
19.
Battle for Caen
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The Allies aimed to seize Caen, one of the largest cities in Normandy on D-Day. Caen was an important Allied objective because it lay astride the Orne River and Caen Canal, Caen was a road hub and the side which held it could shift forces rapidly. The area around Caen was largely open, compared to the country in the west of Normandy and was valuable land for airfields. On D-Day,6 June 1944, Caen was an objective for the British 3rd Infantry Division, Caen became the focal point for a series of armoured battles from June to August. The battle for Caen lasted for two months, because most of the German armoured divisions were used to hold the Caen sector. The Germans in the Caen sector deployed 1,515 tanks in June, including 135 Tigers and 563 Panthers, which were 46 percent of the total in the Caen sector. So much effort was focused on the Caen sector by the Germans in June they fielded only 40 assault guns, the only other armour in force in the American sector was in early July which was the 2nd SS Das Reich panzer division at St. Lo. The Americans failed to seize St. Lo, which was an objective scheduled for 11 June and this allowed the 2nd SS Das Reich panzer division to occupy the town in early July. US forces made hard work for themselves having to capture the fortified town, the British and Canadian forces ground up the German armour, enabling the American forces to break out. Light German forces facing the Americans thrust further west being spread too thinly and they relied on the rough terrain of the back country to slow down the American advance up to the break out operation, Operation Cobra. The old city of Caen, with buildings dating back to the Middle Ages, was destroyed by Allied bombing. The reconstruction of Caen lasted until 1962 and little of the city remains. On 6 June 1944, Allied forces invaded France by launching Operation Neptune, a force of several thousand ships assaulted the beaches in Normandy, supported by about 3,000 aircraft. The D-Day landings were successful, but the Allied forces were unable to take Caen as planned, the Allies also employed airborne troops. The US 82nd Airborne Division and US 101st Airborne Division, as well as the British 6th Airborne Division, were inserted behind the enemy lines. They managed to establish a bridgehead north of Caen, on the east bank of the Orne, the first operation intended to capture Caen was the initial landings on Sword Beach by the British 3rd Infantry Division on 6 June. Despite being able to penetrate the Atlantic Wall and push south the division was unable to reach the city, their final objectives according to the plan, the 21st Panzer Division launched several counter-attacks during the afternoon which blocked the road to Caen. Operation Perch was the attempt to capture Caen after the direct attack from Sword Beach on 6 June failed
20.
Operation Market Garden
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Operation Market Garden was an unsuccessful Allied military operation, fought in the Netherlands and Germany in the Second World War. Field Marshal Montgomerys strategic goal was to encircle the heart of German industry, the northern end of the pincer would circumvent the northern end of the Siegfried Line giving easier access into Germany. The aim of Operation Market Garden was to establish the end of a pincer ready to project deeper into Germany. Allied forces would project north from Belgium,60 miles through the Netherlands, across the Rhine, the operation made massed use of airborne forces, whose tactical objectives were to secure the bridges and allow a rapid advance by armored ground units to consolidate north of Arnhem. The operation required the seizure of the bridges across the Maas, several bridges between Eindhoven and Nijmegen were captured at the beginning of the operation. Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks XXX Corps ground force advance was delayed by the failure of the airborne units to secure bridges at Son. German forces demolished the bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal at Son before being secured by the 101st Airborne Division, the 82nd Airborne Divisions failure to capture the main road bridge over the river Waal at Nijmegen before 20 September also delayed the advance of XXX Corps. At the furthest point of the operation at Arnhem, the British 1st Airborne Division encountered initial strong resistance. The delays in capturing the bridges at Son and Nijmegen gave time for German forces, including the 9th and 10th SS panzer divisions who were present at time, to organize. In the ensuing battle, only a small force managed to capture the end of the Arnhem road bridge and after the ground forces failed to relieve them. The remainder of the 1st Airborne Division were trapped in a small pocket west of the bridge, the Allies had failed to cross the Rhine and the river remained a barrier to their advance into Germany until offensives at Remagen, Oppenheim, Rees and Wesel in March 1945. The failure of Market Garden to form a foothold over the Rhine ended Allied expectations of finishing the war by Christmas 1944. After major defeats in Normandy in the summer of 1944, remnants of German forces withdrew across the Low Countries and eastern France towards the German border by the end of August. To the south, the U. S. 12th Army Group under Lieutenant General Omar Bradley was nearing the German border and had ordered to orient on the Aachen gap with Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges U. S. First Army, in support of Montgomerys advance on the Ruhr, Third Army, under Lieutenant General George S. Patton, moved eastward towards the Saar. At the same time, the U. S. 6th Army Group under General Jacob L. Devers was advancing towards Germany after their landings in southern France. The Overlord plan had foreseen this, calling for the exploitation of ports in Brittany to move the supply points forward as the armies moved, Eisenhower persisted with his plans to capture these ports, but some argued that the capture of Le Havre and Antwerp made this unnecessary. Although over-the-beach supply operations outperformed expectations, September saw deteriorating weather and rising seas, deep-water ports were therefore required, Cherbourg was useful, but far from the front
21.
Battle of the Bulge
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The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive campaign of World War II. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, the surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. American forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties of any operation during the war, the battle also severely depleted Germanys armoured forces on the Western Front, and they were largely unable to replace them. German personnel and later, Luftwaffe aircraft, also sustained heavy losses, the Germans officially referred to the offensive as Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein, while the Allies designated it the Ardennes Counteroffensive. The phrase Battle of the Bulge was coined by contemporary press to describe the bulge in German front lines on wartime news maps, once that was accomplished, the German dictator Adolf Hitler believed he could fully concentrate on the Soviets on the Eastern Front. The offensive was planned by the German forces with utmost secrecy, with minimal radio traffic and movements of troops, intercepted German communications indicating a substantial German offensive preparation were not acted upon by the Allies. The Germans achieved total surprise on the morning of 16 December 1944, due to a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans, and poor aerial reconnaissance. The Germans attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, columns of armor and infantry that were supposed to advance along parallel routes found themselves on the same roads. This, and terrain that favored the defenders, threw the German advance behind schedule, improved weather conditions permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, which sealed the failure of the offensive. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment, the Germans initial attack involved 406,000 men,1,214 tanks, tank destroyers, and assault guns, and 4,224 artillery pieces. These were reinforced a couple of later, bringing the offensives total strength to around 450,000 troops. Between 67,200 and 125,000 of their men were killed, missing, for the Americans, out of 610,000 troops involved in the battle,89,000 were casualties. While some sources report that up to 19,000 were killed, British historian Antony Beevor reports the number killed as 8,407. It was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II, after the breakout from Normandy at the end of July 1944 and the Allied landings in southern France on 15 August 1944, the Allies advanced toward Germany more quickly than anticipated. The Allies were faced with several military logistics issues, - troops were fatigued by weeks of continuous combat supply lines were stretched extremely thin supplies were dangerously depleted. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his staff chose to hold the Ardennes region which was occupied by the U. S, the Allies chose to defend the Ardennes with as few troops as possible due to the favorable terrain and limited Allied operational objectives in the area. They also had intelligence that the Wehrmacht was using the area across the German border as an area for its troops. The speed of the Allied advance coupled with a lack of deep-water ports presented the Allies with enormous supply problems
22.
Operation Plunder
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Beginning on the night of March 23,1945 the 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery launched Operation Plunder, as a part of a coordinated set of Rhine crossings. The crossing of the River Rhine was at Rees, Wesel, dempsey, and the United States Ninth Army, under Lieutenant General William H. Simpson. Preparations were hidden by a smoke screen from 16 March. The operation commenced on the night of March 23,1945 and it included the Varsity parachute and glider landings near Wesel, and Operation Archway, by the Special Air Service. The landing areas were flooded, deserted farmland rising to woodland, four thousand Allied guns fired for four hours during the opening bombardment. British bombers contributed with attacks on Wesel during the day and night of 23 March 1945, Bridge construction started at 9, 45am and by 4, 00pm the first truck crossed the floating Pontoon bridge. Over 1,152 feet of M2 treadway and 93 pneumatic floats were used in just six hours and fifteen minute construction project and it took twenty-five 2-and-a-half ton GMC CCKW trucks to transport the bridge parts to the construction site, part of the Red Ball Express. Three Allied formations made the assault, the British XXX and XII Corps. These were the transports for the spearhead infantry, at 02,00 on 24 March, the 15th Infantry Division landed between Wesel and Rees. At first, there was no opposition, but later ran into determined resistance from machine-gun nests. On the same day the 51st Divisions commander, Major General Tom Rennie, was killed by mortar fire, the British 1st Commando Brigade entered Wesel. The U. S. 30th Infantry Division landed south of Wesel, the local resistance had been broken by artillery and air bombardment. Subsequently, the U. S. 79th Infantry Division also landed, German resistance to the Scottish landings continued with some effect, and there were armored counter-attacks. Landings continued, however, including tanks and other heavy equipment, US forces had a bridge across by the evening of 24 March. Operation Varsity started at 10,00 on 24 March, to disrupt enemy communications, despite heavy resistance to the airdrops and afterward, the airborne troops made progress and repelled counterattacks. The hard lessons of Operation Market Garden were applied, in the afternoon, the 15th Division linked up with both airborne divisions. Fierce German resistance continued around Bienen, north of Rees, where the entire 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade was needed to relieve the Black Watch, the bridgehead was firmly established, however, and Allied advantages in numbers and equipment were applied. By 27 March, the bridgehead was 35 miles wide and 20 miles deep, the Allied operation was opposed by the German 1st Parachute Army, commanded by General Alfred Schlemm, a part of Army Group H
23.
Brigadier (United Kingdom)
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Brigadier-general was formerly a rank or appointment in the British Army and Royal Marines, and briefly in the Royal Air Force. It first appeared in the army in the reign of James II, the appointment was abolished in both the Army and the Marines in 1921, being replaced in the Army by the appointments of colonel-commandant and colonel on the staff. Colonel-commandant was in turn replaced by the appointment of brigadier in both the Army and the Marines in 1928, from the formation of the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918 until 31 July 1919, it used the appointment of brigadier-general. This was superseded by the rank of air commodore on the following day, the equivalent naval appointment was commodore. Brigadier is the highest field officer rank, whereas brigadier-general was the lowest general officer rank, however, the two ranks are considered equal
24.
Basil Coad
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Major General Basil Aubrey Coad, CB, CBE, DSO & Bar, DL was a senior British Army officer. After his involvement in Korea, he held a divisional command. In retirement, he continued his connection with the army, serving as Colonel of his former regiment and he was also appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire. Coad was born on 27 September 1906 at Portsmouth, Hampshire and he was educated at Felsted School and Royal Military College, Sandhurst. From Sandhurst he was commissioned into the British Army as a lieutenant in the Wiltshire Regiment on 4 February 1926. He was soon bound for India to join the 1st Battalion, Coad returned to the United Kingdom in 1934 and was appointed adjutant of the 2nd Battalion, Wiltshires. On 22 January 1937 he was seconded to the 4th Battalion and he was promoted to substantive captain on 18 March 1938. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Coad was promoted to acting major for service as an instructor in the 43rd Infantry Division, in January 1941 he was appointed second-in-command of the 2nd Battalion, Wiltshires. By August 1942 he was a lieutenant colonel in command of the Battle School of the 43rd Division, now commanded by Major General Gwilym Ivor Thomas. He was then appointed Commanding Officer of the 5th Battalion, Dorset Regiment at the beginning of 1943 and he was promoted substantive major on 4 February 1943. The 5th Dorsets participated in Operation Overlord as part of the 130th Infantry Brigade, on 10 July 1944, during the opening of Operation Jupiter, the unit was ordered to capture Chateau de Fontaine, near Fontaine-Étoupefour. They successfully captured the chateau, and were ordered to take a further objective. Coad personally reconnoitred the route across open country, despite machine gun. The attack was launched and the objective taken, but it could not be held, Coad withdrew his two furthest forward companies and prepared the chateau as a defensive position. As a result of his leadership on this occasion Coad was awarded the Distinguished Service Order on 19 October 1944, the brigade participated in the continued Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine, and in September 1944 was involved in the ill-fated Operation Market Garden. On 7 October 1944, Coad was promoted acting brigadier and given command of the 130th Brigade, a year later he was awarded a Bar to his DSO on 11 October 1945 for his leadership in the intervening period, which covered the Western Allied invasion of Germany. After this Coad was promoted war substantive lieutenant colonel, then, on 28 January 1946 he was given command of the 43rd Infantry Division, now part of the British Army of the Rhine, as an acting major general. He relinquished the command, and reverted to brigadier on 10 March 1946
25.
Devon
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Devon, also known as Devonshire, which was formerly its common and official name, is a county of England, reaching from the Bristol Channel in the north to the English Channel in the south. It is part of South West England, bounded by Cornwall to the west, Somerset to the northeast, combined as a ceremonial county, Devons area is 6,707 km2 and its population is about 1.1 million. Devon derives its name from Dumnonia, which, during the British Iron Age, Roman Britain, the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain resulted in the partial assimilation of Dumnonia into the Kingdom of Wessex during the eighth and ninth centuries. The western boundary with Cornwall was set at the River Tamar by King Æthelstan in 936, Devon was constituted as a shire of the Kingdom of England thereafter. The north and south coasts of Devon each have both cliffs and sandy shores, and the bays contain seaside resorts, fishing towns. The inland terrain is rural, generally hilly, and has a low density in comparison to many other parts of England. Dartmoor is the largest open space in southern England at 954 km2, to the north of Dartmoor are the Culm Measures and Exmoor. In the valleys and lowlands of south and east Devon the soil is fertile, drained by rivers including the Exe, the Culm, the Teign, the Dart. As well as agriculture, much of the economy of Devon is linked with tourism, in the Brittonic, Devon is known as Welsh, Dyfnaint, Breton, Devnent and Cornish, Dewnens, each meaning deep valleys. One erroneous theory is that the suffix is due to a mistake in the making of the original letters patent for the Duke of Devonshire. However, there are references to Defenascire in Anglo-Saxon texts from before 1000 AD, the term Devonshire may have originated around the 8th century, when it changed from Dumnonia to Defenascir. Kents Cavern in Torquay had produced human remains from 30–40,000 years ago, Dartmoor is thought to have been occupied by Mesolithic hunter-gatherer peoples from about 6000 BC. The Romans held the area under occupation for around 350 years. Devon became a frontier between Brittonic and Anglo-Saxon Wessex, and it was absorbed into Wessex by the mid 9th century. This suggests the Anglo-Saxon migration into Devon was limited rather than a movement of people. The border with Cornwall was set by King Æthelstan on the east bank of the River Tamar in 936 AD, the arrival of William of Orange to launch the Glorious Revolution of 1688 took place at Brixham. Devon has produced tin, copper and other metals from ancient times, Devons tin miners enjoyed a substantial degree of independence through Devons Stannary Parliament, which dates back to the 12th century. The last recorded sitting was in 1748, agriculture has been an important industry in Devon since the 19th century
26.
Cornwall
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Cornwall is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area of England within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, Cornwall has a population of 551,700 and covers an area of 3,563 km2. Cornwall forms the westernmost part of the south-west peninsula of the island of Great Britain, and this area was first inhabited in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods. It continued to be occupied by Neolithic and then Bronze Age peoples, there is little evidence that Roman rule was effective west of Exeter and few Roman remains have been found. In the mid-19th century, however, the tin and copper mines entered a period of decline, subsequently, china clay extraction became more important and metal mining had virtually ended by the 1990s. Traditionally, fishing and agriculture were the important sectors of the economy. Railways led to a growth of tourism in the 20th century, however, the area is noted for its wild moorland landscapes, its long and varied coastline, its attractive villages, its many place-names derived from the Cornish language, and its very mild climate. Extensive stretches of Cornwalls coastline, and Bodmin Moor, are protected as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Cornwall is the homeland of the Cornish people and is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, retaining a distinct cultural identity that reflects its history. Some people question the present constitutional status of Cornwall, and a nationalist movement seeks greater autonomy within the United Kingdom in the form of a devolved legislative Cornish Assembly. On 24 April 2014 it was announced that Cornish people will be granted minority status under the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. The modern English name Cornwall derives from the concatenation of two ancient demonyms from different linguistic traditions, Corn- records the native Brythonic tribe, the Cornovii. The Celtic word kernou is cognate with the English word horn. -wall derives from the Old English exonym walh, the Ravenna Cosmography first mentions a city named Purocoronavis in the locality. This is thought to be a rendering of Duro-cornov-ium, meaning fort of the Cornovii. The exact location of Durocornovium is disputed, with Tintagel and Carn Brea suggested as possible sites, in later times, Cornwall was known to the Anglo-Saxons as West Wales to distinguish it from North Wales. The name appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 891 as On Corn walum, in the Domesday Book it was referred to as Cornualia and in c.1198 as Cornwal. Other names for the county include a latinisation of the name as Cornubia, the present human history of Cornwall begins with the reoccupation of Britain after the last Ice Age. The area now known as Cornwall was first inhabited in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods and it continued to be occupied by Neolithic and then Bronze Age people. The Common Brittonic spoken at the time developed into several distinct tongues
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Dorset
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Dorset /ˈdɔːrsᵻt/ is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the county, which is governed by Dorset County Council. Covering an area of 2,653 square kilometres, Dorset borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, the county town is Dorchester which is in the south. After the reorganisation of government in 1974 the countys border was extended eastward to incorporate the Hampshire towns of Bournemouth. Around half of the lives in the South East Dorset conurbation. The county has a history of human settlement stretching back to the Neolithic era. The Romans conquered Dorsets indigenous Celtic tribe, and during the early Middle Ages, the first recorded Viking raid on the British Isles occurred in Dorset during the eighth century, and the Black Death entered England at Melcombe Regis in 1348. During the Second World War, Dorset was heavily involved in the preparations for the invasion of Normandy, the former was the sailing venue in the 2012 Summer Olympics, and both have clubs or hire venues for sailing, Cornish pilot gig rowing, sea kayaking and powerboating. Dorset has a varied landscape featuring broad elevated chalk downs, steep limestone ridges, over half the county is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Three-quarters of its coastline is part of the Jurassic Coast Natural World Heritage Site due to its geological and it features notable landforms such as Lulworth Cove, the Isle of Portland, Chesil Beach and Durdle Door. Agriculture was traditionally the major industry of Dorset but is now in decline, there are no motorways in Dorset but a network of A roads cross the county and two railway main lines connect to London. Dorset has ports at Poole, Weymouth and Portland, and an international airport, the county has a variety of museums, theatres and festivals, and is host to one of Europes largest outdoor shows. It is the birthplace of Thomas Hardy, who used the county as the setting of his novels. Dorset derives its name from the county town of Dorchester, the Romans established the settlement in the 1st century and named it Durnovaria which was a Latinised version of a Common Brittonic word possibly meaning place with fist-sized pebbles. It is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in AD845 and in the 10th century the countys archaic name, the first human visitors to Dorset were Mesolithic hunters, from around 8000 BC. The first permanent Neolithic settlers appeared around 3000 BC and were responsible for the creation of the Dorset Cursus, from 2800 BC onwards Bronze Age farmers cleared Dorsets woodlands for agricultural use and Dorsets high chalk hills provided a location for numerous round barrows. During the Iron Age, the British tribe known as the Durotriges established a series of forts across the county—most notably Maiden Castle which is one of the largest in Europe. The Romans arrived in Dorset during their conquest of Britain in AD43, Maiden Castle was captured by a Roman legion under the command of Vespasian, and the Roman settlement of Durnovaria was established nearby
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136th (2/1st Devon and Cornwall) Brigade
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The 136th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the Territorial Force, part of the British Army. It was sent overseas to India in December 1914 to relieve Regular Army units for service in France, the brigade remained there for the rest of the war, supplying drafts of replacements to the British units fighting in the Middle East and later complete battalions. It was reformed as 136th Infantry Brigade in the Territorial Army in 1939, again as a duplicate formation, during the Second World War, the brigade was active in the United Kingdom throughout its service. It was disbanded on 31 August 1944, the brigade was reformed on 1 February 1945 for the reception of troops returning from overseas. It did not see service outside the United Kingdom during the war, however, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered for Imperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split into 1st Line and 2nd Line units, 2nd Line units performed the home defence role, although in fact most of these were also posted abroad in due course. On 15 August 1915, TF units were instructed to separate home service men from those who had volunteered for overseas service, on 31 August, 2nd Line units were authorized for each 1st Line unit where more than 60% of men had volunteered for overseas service. After being organized, armed and clothed, the 2nd Line units were grouped into large formations thereby forming the 2nd Line brigades. These 2nd Line units and formations had the name and structure as their 1st Line parents. On 24 November, it was decided to replace imperial service formations as they proceeded overseas with their reserve formations, a second reserve unit was then formed at the peace headquarters of the 1st Line. The brigade was formed as a 2nd Line duplicate of the Devon and Cornwall Brigade in October 1914 and it was assigned to the 2nd Wessex Division, the 2nd Line duplicate of the Wessex Division. The division was selected for service in India thereby releasing British, on 12 December, the brigade embarked at Southampton with three battlaions, the 2/4th DCLI landed at Karachi on 9 January 1915 and the rest of the brigade at Bombay between 4 and 8 January. The brigade was broken up on arrival in India, the units reverted to peacetime conditions and the battalions were dispersed to Wellington, Bombay. The Territorial Force divisions and brigades were numbered in May 1915 in the order that they departed for overseas service, the 2nd Wessex Division should have been numbered as the 45th Division, but as the division had already been broken up, this was merely a place holder. Likewise, the 2nd/1st Devon and Cornwall Brigade was notionally numbered as 136th Brigade, the units pushed on with training to prepare for active service, handicapped by the need to provide experienced manpower for active service units. By early 1916 it had become obvious that it would not be possible to transfer the division, nevertheless, individual units proceeded overseas on active service through the rest of the war. It served with the Southern Brigade, 9th Division from January 1915 to October 1917, on 15 October 1917 it sailed from Bombay, arriving at Suez on 25 October. Initially it was on Lines of Communication duties but it joined 234th Brigade and it left the division in July 1918 and was disbanded on 17 August 1918
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British infantry brigades of the First World War
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During the First World War 259 infantry brigades were raised by the British Army, two by the Royal Navy, and one from the Royal Marines. Of these brigades fifty-three were held in reserve or only used for training, the pre war regular army only had eighteen infantry brigades, with another forty-five serving with the reserve Territorial Force. Once war was declared, the army was expanded first by volunteers. At the same time volunteers for the TF formed second line formations, three infantry brigades served with a division, mostly the same one throughout the war, but some did serve for short periods with another division. At the start of the war four infantry battalions, with a small headquarters formed a brigade, but by 1918, with the number of casualties mounting, at the outbreak of the war in August 1914, the British regular army was a small professional force. It consisted of 247,432 regular troops organised into four Guards,69 line infantry and 31 cavalry regiments, along with artillery, the regular Army was supported by the Territorial Force, and by reservists. In August 1914, there were three forms of reserves, the Army Reserve of retired soldiers was 145,350 strong. The Special Reserve had another 64,000 men and was a form of part-time soldiering, similar to the Territorial Force. The National Reserve had some 215,000 men, who were on a register which was maintained by Territorial Force County Associations, these men had military experience, but no other reserve obligation. The regulars and reserves—at least on paper—totalled a mobilised force of almost 700,000 men, after 1907, the regular British Army, serving at home, was grouped into six divisions, each of three brigades numbered 1st–18th. Following the declaration of war, four battalions, which had been intended to defend the lines of communication, were brigaded together as the 19th Brigade. Near the end of 1914, when regular army battalions returned to Europe from serving around the British Empire, they formed the 7th and 8th Division, with the 20th–25th brigades. As the war progressed three more army divisions were formed the 27th, 28th and 29th, with their brigades being numbered from 80th–88th. The reserve formations of the Territorial Force comprised fourteen divisions each of three brigades, while another three brigades were independent formations intended for coastal defence. They were unnumbered until August 1915, and took the name of the region they were affiliated with, when the brigades were given numbers they became the 125th–234th brigades. As a home defence organisation, their men could not be sent overseas against their wishes, for example, the Northumbrian Division, had the Northumberland, York and Durham and the Durham Light Infantry Brigades. The second line 2nd Northumbrian Division, had the 2nd Northumberland, 2nd York and Durham, volunteers for the second line Territorial Force had the same terms and conditions as the first line, and could not be sent overseas unless they agreed to do so. The third part of the British Army was the New Army, recruits for the New Armies were technically part of the regular army, serving for three years or until the end of the war
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
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