1.
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
2.
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
3.
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
4.
Airborne forces
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Airborne forces are military units, usually light infantry, set up to be moved by aircraft and dropped into battle, typically by parachute. Thus, they can be placed behind enemy lines, and have the capability to deploy almost anywhere with little warning. The formations are limited only by the number and size of their aircraft, so given enough capacity a huge force can appear out of nowhere in minutes, Major Lewis H. Brereton and his superior Brigadier General Billy Mitchell suggested dropping elements of the U. S. 1st Division behind German lines near Metz, the operation was planned for February 1919 but the war ended before such an attack could be seriously planned. Mitchell conceived that US troops could be trained to utilize parachutes. Following the war, the United States Army Air Service experimented with the concept of having carried on the wings of aircraft pulled off by the opening of their parachutes. The first true paratroop drop was by Italy in November 1927, within a few years several battalions had been raised and were eventually formed into two Folgore and Nembo divisions. Although these would fight with distinction in World War II. Men drawn from the Italian parachute forces were dropped in a special operation in North Africa in 1943 in an attempt to destroy parked aircraft of the United States Army Air Forces. Subsequently, on May 10,1928, Second Lieutenant César Álvarez War Palmas Las voluntarily jumped from a height of 3,000 meters, then on May 16,1928, Major Fernando Melgar Conde and Sergeant 1st. Jose Pineda Castro, jumped from the famous Las Palmas at altitudes of 2,000 and 4,300 meters, at about the same time, the Soviet Union was also experimenting with the idea, planning to drop entire units complete with vehicles and light tanks. To help train enough experienced jumpers, parachute clubs were organized with the aim of transferring into the armed forces if needed, one of the observing parties, Germany, was particularly interested. In 1936, Major F. W. Immans was ordered to set up a school at Stendal. The military had purchased large numbers of Junkers Ju 52 aircraft which were slightly modified for use as paratroop transports in addition to their other duties. The first training class was known as Ausbildungskommando Immans and they commenced the first course on May 3,1936. Other nations, including Argentina, Peru, Japan, France, France became the first nation to organize women in an airborne unit. Recruiting 200 nurses who during peacetime would parachute into natural disasters, several groups within the German armed forces attempted to raise their own paratroop formations, resulting in confusion. As a result, Luftwaffe General Kurt Student was put in command of developing a paratrooper force to be known as the Fallschirmjäger
5.
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
6.
5th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)
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The 5th Infantry Division was a regular army infantry division of the British Army. The division was reformed in 1995 as a division covering Wales. It was disbanded on 1 April 2012, 1st Brigade 3/1st Regiment of Foot 1/9th Regiment of Foot 1/38th Regiment of Foot 2/38th Regiment of Foot 2/47th Regiment of Foot 1 Coy. The formation was as follows, 11th Infantry Brigade initially commanded by General Edward Woodgate but he was wounded at Spion Kop and he was succeeded by General Arthur Wynne who was later wounded at the Battle of the Tugela Heights and succeeded by Colonel Walter Kitchener. It served on the Western Front for most of the war except for a period in Italian Front. 13th Brigade The 13th Brigade was temporarily under the command of 28th Division between 23 February and 7 April 1915, when it was replaced by 84th Brigade from that Division. In September 1939 the 5th Infantry Division was a Regular Army formation, commanded by Major-General Harold Franklyn, the division was based at Catterick under Northern Command. By the new year of 1940 the division was reformed with three infantry brigades –the 13th, 15th and 17th, all commanded by men who would achieve high rank in the few years. Throughout the early months of 1940 the division saw some changing of units, despite this, the division still maintained its integrity as a Regular formation. The next few months were spent in training, although this was hampered by shortages of modern equipment. Due to the lack of immediate action many soldiers believed the war would amount to very little, despite this, morale in the division was high. This period of inactivity was known as the Phoney War, in early May the 25th Infantry Brigade came temporarily under command of the division in France. In April 1942 the 13th and 17th Infantry Brigades and a portion of the troops were detached to Force 121 for Operation Ironclad. The division was not complete again until August 1942, the division, serving again alongside the 50th Division, began training in amphibious operations in preparation for Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily. Later in the year, the fought in the Moro River Campaign. The Eighth Army, operating on the Adriatic coast, had pierced the Gustav Line at its eastern end. However, the weather conditions forbade further progress and so operations there were closed down. As a result, the relatively intact 5th Division was available elsewhere, X Corps, stationed along the Garigliano river, was part of Lieutenant General Mark W. Clarks U. S
7.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
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.
Suffolk Regiment
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The Suffolk Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army with a history dating back to 1685. The regiment was raised by Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk as the Duke of Norfolks Regiment of Foot in 1685 and it was originally formed to combat the Monmouth Rebellion, but was not disbanded when the rebellion was defeated. Following the 1688 Glorious Revolution its Colonel Lord Lichfield was dismissed for his sympathies with James II and was replaced by Henry Wharton, under Wharton the regiment participated in Marshal Schombergs expedition to Ireland in 1689. It captured the town of Belfast and then took part in the Siege of Carrickfergus in August 1689. Wharton died of fever in October 1689 while the regiment was part of the Dundalk Camp. Richard Brewer took command of the regiment and led it at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690, the Capture of Waterford in July 1690 and the Siege of Limerick in August 1690. The regiment also fought at the Siege of Athlone in June 1691, the regiment also saw action at the attack Fort Knokke during the Nine Years War in Flanders. The regiment was placed on the Irish establishment following the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697 and it was subsequently stationed in Jamaica during the War of the Spanish Succession. It embarked for Flanders in 1742 for service in the War of the Austrian Succession and fought at the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743, the regiment was ranked in 1747 as the 12th Foot regiment and renamed as the 12th Regiment of Foot in 1751. In 1758 the 2nd Battalion of the regiment was separated from it, in 1782, it was given a county association as the 12th Regiment of Foot. The regiment embarked for the West Indies in 1793 and took part in the capture of Martinique, Saint Lucia and it also took part in the Invasion of Île Bonaparte in July 1810 and the Invasion of Isle de France in November 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars. Under the reforms the regiment became the Suffolk Regiment on 1 July 1881, as the county regiment of Suffolk, it also gained the countys militia and rifle volunteer battalions, which were integrated into the regiment as numbered battalions. The 1st Battalion served in the Second Boer War, it assaulted a hill near Colesberg in January 1900, by contrast between 1895 and 1914, the 2nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment was not involved in hostilities. It was stationed for the majority of the time in India, the 2nd was also regarded as a good shooting battalion with high level of musketry skills. The 1st Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 84th Brigade in the 28th Division in January 1915 for service on the Western Front and it suffered some 400 casualties at the Second Battle of Ypres in May 1915. The 2nd Battalion landed at landed at Le Havre as part of the 14th Brigade in the 5th Division in August 1914. The value of the 2nd Battalions 20 years of training was exemplified at the Battle of Le Cateau on 26 August 1914. In this action the 2nd Battalion undertook a fierce rear-guard defence out-manned and out-gunned by superior numbers of enemy, the 2nd Battalion held their defensive position despite losing their commanding officer, Lt. Col. C. A. H
10.
East Surrey Regiment
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The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. However, the Queens Regiment was soon amalgamated with the Royal Hampshire Regiment to form the present Princess of Waless Royal Regiment, in 1702 a regiment of marines was raised in the West Country by George Villier. Villier was drowned in 1703, and the regiment was taken over by Alexander Luttrell, after Luttrells death in 1705, the command went to Joshua Churchill until 1711 when it became Gorings Regiment. In 1715 the regiment was removed from the marines and became the 31st Regiment of Infantry, five years later a second battalion was raised in Scotland, the 2/31st Foot, which was re-designated in 1758, the 70th Regiment of Foot. Further changes were made in 1782, the 31st became known as the 31st Regiment of Foot, while the 70th became the 70th Regiment of Foot. They stayed with this title until 1881 when they became the 1st & 2nd battalions of the East Surrey Regiment, following amalgamation, The Barracks, Kingston upon Thames became the regimental depot. The 1st Battalion, after formation, was based in India until 1903 when it moved to Aldershot, it moved to Jersey in 1905, the 2nd Battalion on the other hand was in action soon after formation, being part of the British expedition to the Sudan in 1884. After South Africa the battalion was shipped to India in 1903 where they remained until the outbreak of the First World War, the 3rd Battalion, which was formed from the 1st Royal Surrey Militia in 1881, was a reserve battalion. It was embodied for service during the Second-Boer War in South Africa on 3 May 1900, disembodied on 15 October 1900, re-embodied on 6 May 1901 and disembodied on 26 July 1902. More than 600 officers and men returned to Southampton by the SS Gaika in July 1902, following the end of the war, the 4th Battalion, formed from the 3rd Royal Surrey Militia in 1881 was also a reserve battalion. On 4 August 1914, the 1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment was in Dublin, eleven days later, mobilization completed and at full war establishment, the 1st Battalion landed at Le Havre in France, and before the end of the month was in action against the Germans. The battalion was assigned to the 14th Brigade, 5th Division, during the Retreat from Mons and afterwards, the Battalion took part in the great battles of 1914, Le Cateau, the Marne and the Aisne. In 1915, after the Battle of La Bassée, the 1st Surreys withstood a most determined attack on Hill 60, in the desperate fighting which ensued, the Battalion won three Victoria Crosses and seven Distinguished Conduct Medals. Among the VCs was Lieutenant George Roupell, who became the last Colonel of the East Surrey Regiment. In late 1915 the brigade was transferred to the 32nd Division, in 1916, the 1st Battalion took part in the great battles of the River Somme, and distinguished itself notably at Morval in September. The Battalion took part in many of the battles of 1917, such as Arras. After a four-month tour on the Italian Front, the Battalion was back in France in March 1918, and was engaged in the Battles of Albert and Bapaume, and the subsequent advance to victory. The 2nd Battalion returned from India at the outbreak of war and it was soon in action to the south of Ypres where it lost many men, some by poison gas, the battalion lost some 800 troops out of about 1,000
11.
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
United Kingdom
British Army