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.
Field artillery
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Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, long range, short range and this was in contrast to horse artillery, whose emphasis on speed while supporting cavalry units necessitated lighter guns and crews riding on horseback. Modern artillery has also advanced to rapidly deployable wheeled and tracked vehicles, thus, their role was limited to such functions as breaking sieges. Following the beginning of the era, the first field artillery came into being as metallurgy allowed thinner cannon barrels to withstand the explosive forces without bursting. However, there was still a risk of the constant changes of the battlefield conspiring to leave behind slow-moving artillery units - either on the advance, or more dangerously. Artillery units were particularly vulnerable to assault by light cavalry, which were used in this role. Only with a number of inventions, did the concept of field artillery really take off. One of the earliest documented uses of field artillery is found in the 14th-century Ming Dynasty treatise Huolongjing, the text describes a Chinese cannon called a thousand ball thunder cannon, manufactured of bronze and fastened with wheels. The book also describes another mobile form of artillery called a barbarian attacking cannon consisting of an attached to a two-wheel carriage. Before World War I, field artillery batteries fired directly at visible targets measured in distances of meters. Today, modern field batteries measure targets in kilometers and miles, most field artillery situations require indirect fire due to weather, terrain, night-time conditions, distance or other obstacles. Modern field artillery has three sections, All batteries have a Fire Support Man, Fire Direction Control. The FOs are forward with the infantry where they can see the targets and they call the FDC on the radio and transmit a request for fire in the format of CFF. The FDC calculates the CFF and send a deflection and elevation to the gun line, the gun line cranks the specified elevation and deflection on the howitzers, punch the artillery shell followed by the bag. Depending on the CFF, the gunline will fire the round when they are ready or when the FO calls and tells them to fire, the FO spots the round and sends a correction back to the FDC and the process starts all over again until its done. The batteries are many kilometres behind the FLOT and they plan a location where they can be Fire Capability for some certain amount of time and do multiple fire missions before needing to displace. In normal operations the FOs locate targets and transmits the CFF to the FDCs and they can also calculate defensive fire tasks. Because the calculations have already been done, the fire can be called down very quickly when it is needed, the advance party consists of the battery commander, his driver, first sergeant, gunnery sergeant, FDC guide, gun guides, and communications representatives
4.
Regiment
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A regiment is a military unit. Their role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, in Medieval Europe, the term regiment denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted in one geographical area, by a leader who was often also the feudal lord of the soldiers. By the 17th century, a regiment was usually about a thousand personnel. In many armies, the first role has been assumed by independent battalions, battlegroups, task forces, brigades and other, similarly-sized operational units. By the beginning of the 18th century, regiments in most European continental armies had evolved into permanent units with distinctive titles and uniforms, when at full strength, an infantry regiment normally comprised two field battalions of about 800 men each or 8–10 companies. In some armies, an independent regiment with fewer companies was labelled a demi-regiment, a cavalry regiment numbered 600 to 900 troopers, making up a single entity. With the widespread adoption of conscription in European armies during the nineteenth century, the regimental system underwent modification. Prior to World War I, a regiment in the French, German, Russian. As far as possible, the battalions would be garrisoned in the same military district, so that the regiment could be mobilized. A cavalry regiment by contrast made up an entity of up to 1,000 troopers. Usually, the regiment is responsible for recruiting and administering all of a military career. Depending upon the country, regiments can be either combat units or administrative units or both and this is often contrasted to the continental system adopted by many armies. Generally, divisions are garrisoned together and share the same installations, thus, in divisional administration, soldiers and officers are transferred in and out of divisions as required. Some regiments recruited from specific areas, and usually incorporated the place name into the regimental name. In other cases, regiments would recruit from an age group within a nation. In other cases, new regiments were raised for new functions within an army, e. g. the Fusiliers, the Parachute Regiment, a key aspect of the regimental system is that the regiment or battalion is the fundamental tactical building block. This flows historically from the period, when battalions were widely dispersed and virtually autonomous. For example, a regiment might include different types of battalions of different origins, within the regimental system, soldiers, and usually officers, are always posted to a tactical unit of their own regiment whenever posted to field duty
5.
15th (Scottish) Infantry Division
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The 15th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that served with distinction in both World War I and World War II. In the Great War the 15th Division was formed from men volunteering for Kitcheners New Armies, the division was later disbanded, after the war, in 1919. The division was a New Army unit formed in September 1914 as part of the K2 Army Group, the division moved to France in July 1915 and spent the duration of the First World War in action on the Western Front. The division fought in the Battle of Loos, the Battle of the Somme which included the battles of Pozières and Flers–Courcelette, the Battle of Arras 1917 and it merged with the 6th Battalion in May 1916 to form the 6th/7th Battalion. The 15th Infantry Division subsequently came into being as an exact duplicate of the 52nd Infantry Division. The division, under the command of Major General Roland Le Fannu, was composed of the 44th, 45th and 46th Infantry Brigades, together with supporting artillery, engineer. As a result of the German Armys invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, the Second World War began two days later and the division was mobilised for full-time war service. The division was serving in Scottish Command, alongside its parent 52nd Division, however, it was raised back to Higher Establishment in March 1943 and was reorganised as a Mixed Division, consisting of a single armoured brigade and two infantry brigades. Epsom did not achieve its overall objective but forced the Wehrmacht to abandon their offensive plans, to be certain of anticipating any German attack, Epsom was launched on 26 June. Further to their left the 43rd Division also gained ground, on 27 June, after repulsing small armoured counter-attacks, the 15th Division gained more ground and captured a bridge over the River Odon. The 11th Armoured Division passed through to capture Hill 112, a mile to the southeast and this deep penetration alarmed the German command and General Hausser was ordered to commit his units to contain and eliminate the Allied salient. German armoured counter-attacks from 27 June–1 July were repulsed and the foothold over the Odon was consolidated, during the operation, the 15th Division had suffered heavy losses of over 2,300 casualties, nearly a third of the total infantry strength of the entire division. Total strength of this battalion was approximately 35 officers and 786 other ranks, thus one days losses amounted to 34% of their officers, the British forces included the men of the 15th Division, 11th Armoured Division, 43rd Division and 53rd Division. Principal among the fighting on Hill 112, and the tanks of 7th and 9th Royal Tank Regiments. Approximately 63,000 men over a period of seven weeks fought on, Hill 112 was only an intermediate objective on the way to the Orne River crossings but such was the German reaction that the 23rd Hussars were only able to capture and hold the hill with difficulty. The main attack on Hill 112 was strategically designed to FIX the German panzers, the German defenders survived naval bombardment, air attack and artillery fire but held their ground, crucially supported by Tiger tanks from the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion. These mighty tanks armed with the 88 mm gun had both greater protection and firepower and outclassed the opposing British Churchill tank and Sherman tank, even though the hill was not captured and was left as a no-mans-land between the two armies, important surrounding villages had been taken. Above all, however, the 9th Hohenstaufen SS Panzer Division, therefore, on the strategic level Operation JUPITER was a significant success
6.
Operation Epsom
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Operation Epsom, also known as the First Battle of the Odon, was a British Second World War offensive that took place between 26 and 30 June 1944, during the Battle of Normandy. The offensive was intended to outflank and seize the German-occupied city of Caen, preceded by Operation Martlet to secure the right flank of the advance, Operation Epsom began early on 26 June, with units of the 15th Infantry Division advancing behind a rolling artillery barrage. Air cover was sporadic for much of the operation, because poor weather in England forced the cancellation of bomber support. In response to powerful German counter-attacks, by 30 June some of the British forces across the river were withdrawn, the British retained the initiative, attacked several more times over the following two weeks and captured Caen in Operation Charnwood in mid-July. Interpretations of the intention and conduct of Operation Epsom differ widely, the Norman city of Caen was a D-Day objective for the British 3rd Infantry Division that landed on Sword Beach on 6 June 1944. The capture of Caen, while ambitious, was described by the historian, L. F. Ellis, as the most important D-Day objective assigned to Lieutenant-General John Crocker. Immediate follow-up attacks failed as German resistance solidified, abandoning the direct approach, Operation Perch—a pincer attack by I and XXX Corps—was launched on 7 June, to encircle Caen from the east and west. To force Panzer-Lehr to withdraw or surrender and to keep operations fluid, part of the 7th Armoured Division pushed through a gap in the German front line and captured Villers-Bocage. Another attack by the 7th Armoured Division and other operations were abandoned when a severe storm descended on the English Channel on 19 June. The storm lasted for three days and delayed the Allied build-up, planning began for a second offensive, codenamed Operation Dreadnought, to be launched out of the Orne bridgehead by the British VIII Corps, outflanking Caen from the east. Dreadnought was cancelled following objections from OConnor and an attack towards Évrecy was considered and this was also cancelled, either by Montgomery, the Allied ground forces commander in Normandy, or Dempsey, the Second Army commander. Dempsey, in a interview with Chester Wilmot, claimed that he told Montgomery that he was going to cancel the proposed operation on 18 June. 7088 mm guns in hedgerows and woods. On 20 June Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, commanding German forces in Normandy, was ordered by Hitler to launch a counter-offensive against the Allies between the towns of Caumont-lÉventé and Saint-Lô. The objective was to cut a corridor between the American and British armies by recapturing the city of Bayeux and the coast beyond, four SS Panzer Divisions and one Heer Panzer Division were assigned to the task. Their assault was to be spearheaded by the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen and 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg of the II SS Panzer Corps, the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich and 2nd Panzer Division would be supporting the attack. The initial plan called for I and XXX Corps to attack west of Caen for four days before VIII Corps launched the main out of the Orne bridgehead, east of Caen. However, it was realised that VIII Corps would not be able to assemble within the small perimeter of the Orne bridgehead. The revised plan called for an operation to take place three days before the main assault
7.
Operation Bluecoat
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Operation Bluecoat was an offensive in the Battle of Normandy, from 30 July until 7 August 1944, during the Second World War. The geographical objectives of the attack, undertaken by VIII Corps and XXX Corps of the British Second Army, were to secure the junction of Vire. After Goodwood, Ultra revealed that the Germans planned to move the 21st Panzer Division out of the line, on 25 July, after a false start the day before, the United States First Army began Operation Cobra. Dempsey planned to attack on 2 August but the speed of events forced him to advance the date, the British XXX Corps was to lead the attack with the 43rd Infantry Division to advance to the top of Bois du Homme. The left flank was to be protected by the 50th Infantry Division, a raid by over 1,000 bombers in preference to a preliminary artillery barrage was to prepare the way for the attack. Visibility was poor but the bombers accurately placed 2,000 long tons of bombs, the advance of the left flank units of the 11th Armoured Division through Area A made rapid progress. Many British units were held up by minefields, sunken roads, thick hedges and steep gullies but in the centre the attackers gained 5 miles. On 31 July, the 11th Armoured Division of VIII Corps exploited a German inter–army boundary weakness, reinforcing the opportunity quickly with Cromwell tanks followed by further support units, they broke up the first German armoured units sent to counter-attack. British forces advanced to about 5 mi from Vire by 2 August, there was confusion as to who had the rights to use certain roads and the British attack was restricted and diverted south-east. The British advance was held up by these reinforcements, VIII Corps also had to protect its eastern flank, because XXX Corps had not kept up the same rate of advance. The commander of XXX Corps, Lieutenant-General Gerard Bucknall, was dismissed on 2 August, lieutenant General Brian Horrocks, a veteran of North Africa replaced Bucknall on 4 August. The 2nd Army advance was brought to a halt on 4 August. Vire fell to an American night attack by the 116th Regiment of the US 29th Division against the defenders of the 363rd Division on 6 August, on the same day, the 43rd Division and tanks of the 13th/18th Royal Hussars captured Mont Pinçon. Operation Bluecoat kept German armoured units fixed on the British eastern front, the breakthrough in the centre of the Allied front surprised the Germans, when they were distracted by the Allied attacks at both ends of the Normandy bridgehead. During Bluecoat and later operations in Normandy the VIII Corps had 5,114 casualties, German defensive fire restricted the advance on the eastern flank to 400 yards. The British advance continued towards Point 242 north of Chênedollé, where a German counter-attack knocked out six Shermans for a loss of two Panthers and an assault gun, to the west, the 2nd Irish Guards–5th Coldstream tank-infantry group made faster progress and reached the west side of Chênedollé. When the village was attacked it was found that the garrison had withdrawn and as the bombers had failed to arrive, Chênedollé was consolidated and further attacks were postponed, from Moncy, the attack was to be continued to Point 260 on Mont de Cerisi 5 kilometres further on. German resistance was as determined as that in the east, to the north of La Personnerie, minefields covered by fire from the 3rd Fallschirmjäger Division, held up the advance
8.
Geel
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Geel is a city located in the Belgian province of Antwerp, which acquired city status in the 1980s. It comprises Central-Geel which is constituted of 4 old parishes a/o towns, Sint-Amand, Sint-Dimpna, Holven, further on around the center are the parish-towns of Ten Aard, Bel, Winkelomheide, Stelen, Oosterlo and Zammel, Punt and Larum. On January 1,2006, Geel had a population of 35,189. The total area is 109.85 km2 which gives a density of 320 inhabitants per km². Geel’s patron saint, the Irish Saint Dymphna, inspired the town’s pioneering de-institutionalized method of care for the mentally ill, the city is also a regional hub of commerce and industry due to its location alongside the Albert Canal. Geel is also featured in Ciarán Carsons novel Shamrock Tea, archeological finds in the area point to iron-age settlements, but the name of Geel hails from a Germanic root meaning “yellow” and dates from the early Middle Ages. A hamlet already existed in the century, at which time a certain Petrus Cameracencis, canon of Cambrai. The cult of the saint attracted numerous pilgrims to the area, in the 12th century, the extended territory around Geel was given to the Grimbergen Abbey. It then became property of one family after another throughout medieval times. The noble lords or dames were masters of their community, some form of municipal government was granted to Geel as early as the first half of the 13th century. Throughout the Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century, during all this time, the economy of the city depended on the breeding of sheep for the cloth industry, complemented by the cultivation of flax for the manufacture and trade of linen. A cloth hall was built at the beginning of the 15th century, the Eighty Years War greatly damaged the Geel economy as well as its buildings and churches. The textile industry recovered to last until the early 19th century, but the economy was now supported by agriculture, specifically rye, oat, barley. Geel was also known at time for its Latin School. In 1795, the Duchy of Brabant was dissolved and Geel made part of the French department of Deux-Nèthes, the nobles and clerics of the Ancien Régime gave way to a mayor, who was now answerable to the town’s people. Geel actively participated in the Belgian Revolution of 1830, resulting in the award of a flag from King Leopold II. The 19th century also saw the building of new churches at the demand of the various parishes. A major occurrence in the history of Geel is the battle of Geel in September 1944, eventually the territory of Geel, and the smaller villages around it, were finally liberated on September 23, but it had claimed numerous military and civilian casualties
9.
's-Hertogenbosch
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S-Hertogenbosch, colloquially known as Den Bosch, is a city and municipality in the southern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant, the citys official name is a contraction of the Dutch des Hertogen bosch—the Dukes forest. The duke in question was Duke Henry I of Brabant, whose family had owned an estate at nearby Orthen for at least four centuries. He founded a new town located on some forested dunes in the middle of a marsh, at age 26, he granted s-Hertogenbosch city rights and the corresponding trade privileges in 1185. This is, however, the date given by later chroniclers. The original charter has been lost and his reason for founding the city was to protect his own interests against encroachment from Gelre and Holland, from its first days, he conceived of the city as a fortress. It was destroyed in 1203 in a joint expedition of Gelre and Holland, some remnants of the original city walls may still be seen. In the late 14th century, a larger wall was erected to protect the greatly expanded settled area. Artificial waterways were dug to serve as a city moat, through which the rivers Dommel, until 1520, the city flourished, becoming the second largest population centre in the territory of the present Netherlands, after Utrecht. The city was also a center of music, and composers, such as Jheronimus Clibano, the wars of the Reformation changed the course of the citys history. During the Eighty Years War, the city took the side of the Habsburg authorities and it was besieged several times by Prince Maurice of Orange, stadtholder of most of the Dutch Republic, who wanted to bring s-Hertogenbosch under the rule of the rebel United Provinces. The city was defended by Claude de Berlaymont, also known as Haultpenne. In the years of Truce, before the fighting after 1618. The surrounding marshes made a siege of the conventional type impossible, after a siege of three months, the city had to surrender—an enormous blow to Habsburg geo-political strategy during the Thirty Years War. This surrender cut the town off from the rest of the duchy, after the Peace of Westphalia, the fortifications were again expanded. In 1672, the Dutch rampjaar, the city held against the army of Louis XIV of France. In 1794, French revolutionary troops under command of Charles Pichegru took the city with hardly a fight, in the Batavian Republic, from 1806, the city became part of the Kingdom of Holland and from 1810, it was incorporated into the First French Empire. It was captured by the Prussians in 1814, the next year,1815, when the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was established, it became the capital of North Brabant
10.
Asten, Netherlands
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Asten is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. It is home to the Royal Eijsbouts bell foundry and also a carillon museum, the spoken language is Peellands, an East Brabantian dialect. Asten Heusden Ommel Asten has a history going back to the Roman period. In the swamp of the national park De Peel an ancient Roman centurion helmet was found. Silhouets of Hunter-Gatherer and Agricultural societies were also found in the area, the village has a castle dating back to the 12th century, at the south of the current village. It has also given its name to the village, Aa-Stein, a second stone-built fortified building was suspected at the north, at the site of the current Slotweg to be precise. Some stone fragments have been excavated, although no evidence of a fortified building has been produced here. The village was pillaged and burnt twice in the 17th century, by Austrian and Swedish army troops
United Kingdom
British Army