1.
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
2.
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
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.
Division (military)
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A division is a large military unit or formation, usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. Infantry divisions during the World Wars ranged between 10,000 and 30,000 in nominal strength, in most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, in turn, several divisions typically make up a corps. In the West, the first general to think of organising an army into smaller units was Maurice de Saxe, Marshal General of France. He died at the age of 54, without having implemented his idea, victor-François de Broglie put the ideas into practice. He conducted successful practical experiments of the system in the Seven Years War. The first war in which the system was used systematically was the French Revolutionary War. It made the more flexible and easy to manoeuvre. Under Napoleon, the divisions were grouped together into corps, because of their increasing size, napoleons military success spread the divisional and corps system all over Europe, by the end of the Napoleonic Wars, all armies in Europe had adopted it. In modern times, most military forces have standardized their divisional structures, the peak use of the division as the primary combat unit occurred during World War II, when the belligerents deployed over a thousand divisions. With technological advances since then, the power of each division has increased. Divisions are often formed to organize units of a particular type together with support units to allow independent operations. In more recent times, divisions have mainly been organized as combined arms units with subordinate units representing various combat arms, in this case, the division often retains the name of a more specialized division, and may still be tasked with a primary role suited to that specialization. For the most part, large cavalry units did not remain after World War II, in general, two new types of cavalry were developed, air cavalry or airmobile, relying on helicopter mobility, and armored cavalry, based on an autonomous armored formation. The former was pioneered by the 11th Air Assault Division, formed on 1 February 1963 at Fort Benning, on 29 June 1965 the division was renamed as the 1st Cavalry Division, before its departure for the Vietnam War. After the end of the Vietnam War, the 1st Cavalry Division was reorganised and re-equipped with tanks, the development of the tank during World War I prompted some nations to experiment with forming them into division-size units. Many did this the way as they did cavalry divisions, by merely replacing cavalry with AFVs. This proved unwieldy in combat, as the units had many tanks, instead, a more balanced approach was taken by adjusting the number of tank, infantry, artillery, and support units. A panzer division was a division of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS of Germany during World War II
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.
Indian Army during World War I
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The Indian Army during World War I contributed a large number of divisions and independent brigades to the European, Mediterranean and the Middle East theatres of war in World War I. Over one million Indian troops served overseas, of whom 62,000 died, in total at least 74,187 Indian soldiers died during the war. In World War I the Indian Army fought against the German Empire in German East Africa, at the First Battle of Ypres, Khudadad Khan became the first Indian to be awarded a Victoria Cross. Indian divisions were sent to Egypt, Gallipoli and nearly 700,000 served in Mesopotamia against the Ottoman Empire. While some divisions were sent overseas others had to remain in India guarding the North West Frontier and on internal security, field-Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from 1942 asserted that the British couldnt have come through both wars if they hadnt had the Indian Army. Herbert Kitchener was appointed Commander-in-Chief, India in 1902 and after five years, the reforms now directed that there would be only one Indian Army, the three armies of the Presidencies being merged into a unified force. At the same time, the regiments of the Princely states were made available to be called out to become Imperial Service Troops, the British Army also continued to supply units for service in India, in addition to those of the Indian Army. The term Army of India was instituted to refer to the command structure which included both the British and Indian Army units. The Indian Army was also responsible for supplying a division in Burma, to assist command and control of the new divisions, two field armies were formed— the Northern Army and the Southern Army. The regiments and battalions of the new organisation would be numbered in a sequence and the old titles of the Bombay, Madras. One change that was not accepted was the formation of all-British or all-Indian brigades and it was regularly called upon to deal with incursions and raids on the North West Frontier and to provide garrison forces for the British Empire in Egypt, Singapore and China. The two armies contained 39 cavalry regiments,138 infantry battalions, a joint cavalry-infantry unit the Corps of Guides, the nine divisions formed by these reforms each consisted of one cavalry and three infantry brigades. The cavalry brigade had one British and two Indian regiments while the infantry consisted of one British and three Indian battalions. Indian Army battalions were smaller than the British battalions, consisting of 30 officers and 723 other ranks as compared to the British 29 officers and 977 other ranks, Indian battalions were often segregated, with companies of different tribes, castes or religions. Additional troops attached to the headquarters of each included a cavalry regiment. Each division had about 13,000 men on strength, somewhat weaker than a British division in part due to the infantry battalions. The Indian Army was also weakened when 500 British officers on home leave, in addition to the regular Indian Army, the armies of the Princely States and regiments of the Auxiliary Force could also be called upon to assist in an emergency. The Princely States formed the Imperial Service Brigades and in 1914, had 22,613 men in 20 cavalry regiments and 14 infantry battalions, by the end of the war 26,000 men had served overseas on Imperial Service
7.
9th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment
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The 9th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment was an infantry battalion of the British Army. Part of the Volunteer Force, later the Territorial Force, the battalion was part of the Middlesex Regiment and it served as infantry in the Mesopotamian campaign during World War I and as an air defence regiment during and after World War II. The battalions origins lay in the enthusiasm for joining local Rifle Volunteer Corps engendered by an invasion scare in 1859, two of the many units formed in the populous county of Middlesex were the Marylebone & West Middlesex Rifles and the Harrow Rifles. The 9th Middlesex RVC was formed at Lords Cricket Ground on 14 October 1859 under the command of Lord Radstock, initially consisting of six companies, it rose to eight by April 1860. Under the Localisation of the Forces scheme introduced in 1872 by the Cardwell Reforms and its original uniform was grey with red facings, but in 1891 it adopted the KRRCs Rifle green with red facings. Its HQ was at 29 Park Road, Regents Park, the Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 proposed a Mobilisation Scheme for units of the Volunteer Force, which would assemble by brigades at key points in case of war. In peacetime the brigades provided a structure for collective training, the 5th Middlesex RVC formed part of the South London Volunteer Infantry Brigade. By the time the Volunteer Force was subsumed into the Territorial Force in 1908, Volunteers from the unit served in the Second Boer War, earning it the Battle honour South Africa 1900–02. The 18th Middlesex RVC was formed at Harrow as a company on 30 December 1859. Many of the recruits came from the staff and senior pupils of Harrow School. The unit also ran its own athletic club and it was always associated with the West Middlesex, together, they formed a battalion-sized unit within the Volunteer Infantry Brigades. In the renumbering of 1880, the Harrow unit became the 9th Middlesex RVC and like the 5th was attached to the Royal Fusiliers in 1881 and its uniform was Rifle green with green facings. In 1899 it amalgamated with the West Middlesex, the Harrow School Cadet Corps becoming the 27th Corps until it too joined the West Middlesex, on the formation of the Territorial Force in 1908, the 5th RVC became the 9th Battalion Middlesex Regiment. It formed part of the Middlesex Brigade of the Home Counties Division and its headquarters moved to Pound Lane, Willesden Green. During the period of tension before the outbreak of war, the 9th Battalion sent two special service sections to guard a cable station at Cuckmere Haven and Birling Gap. When the mobilisation orders were received on 4 August 1914, the Home Counties Division was on the march from Aldershot to Salisbury Plain for its annual training, the Middlesex Brigade had reached Larkhill, when the battalions were sent back to their headquarters to mobilise. The 9th Battalion entrained at Amesbury on 5 August and reached Willesden that morning, by the end of the day the battalion was entrained again for its war station at Sheerness. Here it dug trenches until relieved by Special Reserve troops and moved to Sittingbourne, on 11 August, in common with the majority of the men of the Home Counties Division, the 9th Battalion accepted liability for overseas service
8.
89th Punjabis
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The 89th Punjabis was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army raised in 1798 as a battalion of Madras Native Infantry. It was designated as the 89th Punjabis in 1903 and became 1st Battalion 8th Punjab Regiment in 1922, in 1947, it was allocated to Pakistan Army, where it continues to exist as 1st Battalion, The Baloch Regiment. The regiment was raised on 9 November 1798 at Masulipatam as the 3rd Extra Battalion of Madras Native Infantry by Captain Alexander MacLeod and was known as MacLeod ki Paltan. In 1800, it was designated as the 1st Battalion 15th Regiment, the battalion was composed mostly of Muslims, Tamils and Telugus of South India. In 1818, it was dispatched to Ceylon to suppress a rebellion of the Sinhalese, in 1832, it was stationed at Malacca, Malaya, when it was again engaged in suppressing a revolt in the State of Naning. The regiment served in Burma during the Third Burma War of 1885–87, in 1893, it was reconstituted with Punjabi Muslims, Sikhs, Rajputs & Brahmins, and permanently based in Burma. Its new designation was 29th Regiment of Madras Infantry, in 1901, its title was changed to 29th Burma Infantry. The Burma Battalions were special units raised to police the new territories acquired in the Third Anglo-Burmese War, subsequent to the reforms brought about in the Indian Army by Lord Kitchener in 1903, all former Madras units had 60 added to their numbers. Consequently, the designation was changed to 89th Punjabis. In 1910, the Burma Battalions were delocalized from Burma and in 1914, the 89th Punjabis have a most distinguished record of service during the First World War. They have the distinction of serving in more theatres of war than any other unit of the British Empire. Gallipoli, where they fought in the Second Battle of Krithia in May 1915, france, where they endured the horrors of trench warfare from May to December 1915. Mesopotamia, where the regiment fought with distinction and was almost decimated in the bloody battles for the Relief of Kut al Amara on the Tigris Front in 1916. North West Frontier of India, where served on the Mohmand Blockade in 1917. Salonika, where they arrived in 1918 but were not actively engaged, russian Transcaucasia, where they served from 1918–20 as part of the British Expeditionary Force. The regiment finally arrived home in August 1920 after six years of active service. During the war, it suffered 1018 casualties including 211 killed and their long list of honours and awards includes the Victoria Cross awarded to Naik Shahmed Khan in 1916. The regiment raised a battalion on 5 June 1917
9.
Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
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The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Queens Own, by the amalgamation of the 50th Regiment of Foot and the 97th Regiment of Foot. In January 1921, the regiment was renamed the Royal West Kent Regiment and, in April of the year, was again renamed. Throughout its existence, the Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment was popularly and operationally known as the Royal West Kents, when the regiment was formed, Kent was one of five counties that was split to create more than one regiment. Kent was split into two areas, with those in West Kent forming the Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment, the dividing line that separated the two regimental areas was east of the River Medway. The regiments recruitment area covered both the towns and rural areas of West Kent and a number of south-east London suburbs that were included in the County of London. It then spent two years on duty in Cyprus before being transferred to Sudan, where it fought at the Battle of Ginnis during the Mahdist War. It spent the years up to the outbreak of the First World War on garrison duty, the 2nd Battalion was deployed to South Africa shortly after its formation, in the aftermath of the First Boer War. It was then posted to Ireland and spent the years of the 19th century in the United Kingdom before being sent back to South Africa for the Second Boer War. Its only action was a skirmish at Biddulphsberg, alongside the 2nd battalions of the Grenadier and it then served in Ceylon, Hong Kong, Singapore, Peshawar and Multan before the outbreak of the First World War. Between 1881 and 1913, the regiment lost 219 men,22 killed in action or died from wounding,12 by accident, a memorial for those who died in service exists in All Saints Church, Maidstone, which is located next to the regiments barracks. The 4th Volunteer Battalion was disbanded, and the 1st VB was formed into the 4th and 5th Battalions of the QORWK in the Kent Brigade of the TFs Home Counties Division, during the First World War, over 60,000 men served with the Queens Own. However,6,866 officers and other ranks lost their lives, among its first major engagements were the Battle of Mons on 23 August and the Battle of Le Cateau three days later. In October, the made a heroic stand at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. Out of 750 men, only 300 commanded by a lieutenant, the 2nd Battalion was shipped from Multan to Mesopotamia, via Bombay, arriving in Basra in February 1915, where it was attached to the 12th Indian Brigade. Two companies were attached to the 30th Indian Brigade and were captured in the Siege of Kut in April 1916, the remaining companies were attached to 34th Indian Brigade, and were transferred to 17th Indian Division in August 1917. The 2nd Battalion remained in Mesopotamia for the duration of the war, the 1/4th and 1/5th Battalions were both part of the Kent Brigade, alongside the 4th and 5th Buffs, of the Home Counties Division were both sent to British India in late October 1914. The 3/4th Battalion landed at Le Havre in June 1917 and served as a Pioneer battalion on the Western Front, several of the Service battalions of the New Army fought in France and Flanders and in the Italian Front
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.
Howitzer
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In the taxonomies of artillery pieces used by European armies in the 17th to 20th centuries, the howitzer stood between the gun and the mortar. Howitzers, like other artillery equipment, are organized in groups called batteries. The English word howitzer comes from the Czech word houfnice, from houf, crowd, haufen, sometimes in the compound Gewalthaufen, also designated a pike square formation in German. This is particularly true in the forces of the United States. Because of this practice, the howitzer is used in some armies as a generic term for any kind of artillery piece that is designed to attack targets using indirect fire. Thus, artillery pieces that bear resemblance to howitzers of earlier eras are now described as howitzers. Most other armies in the reserve the word howitzer for guns with barrel lengths 15 to 25 times their caliber. The British had a method of nomenclature. In the 18th century, they adopted projectile weight for guns replacing the old naming system of culverin, saker, mortars had been categorized by calibre in inches in the 17th century and this was inherited by howitzers. The modern howitzers were invented in Sweden towards the end of the 17th century, originally intended for use in siege warfare, they were particularly useful for delivering cast-iron shells filled with gunpowder or incendiary materials into the interior of fortifications. In the middle of the 18th century, a number of European armies began to introduce howitzers that were enough to accompany armies in the field. Though usually fired at the high angles of fire used by contemporary siege howitzers. Rather, as the guns of the day were usually restricted to inert projectiles. Many, for the sake of simplicity and rapidity of fire, the Abus gun was an early form of howitzer in the Ottoman Empire. In 1758 the Russian Empire introduced a type of howitzer, with a conical chamber, called a licorne. The most famous of these gun-howitzers was the Napoleon 12-pounder, a weapon of French design that saw service in the American Civil War. The longest-serving artillery piece of the 19th century was the mountain howitzer, in 1859, the armies of Europe began to rearm field batteries with rifled field guns. These new field pieces used cylindrical projectiles that, while smaller in caliber than the spherical shells of smoothbore field howitzers, moreover, their greater range let them create many of the same effects that previously required the sharply curved trajectories of smoothbore field howitzers
British India
British Indian Army
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