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.
Combat engineer
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A combat engineer is a soldier who performs a variety of construction and demolition tasks under combat conditions. The combat engineers goals involve facilitating movement and support of forces while impeding those of the enemy. Combat engineers build, repair and maintain buildings, roads and power supplies and they employ explosives for construction and demolition projects, and clear minefields using specialized vehicles. Typically, an engineer is also trained as an infantryman. A general combat engineer is often called a pioneer or sapper, terms derived respectively from the French, while the officers of a combat engineering unit may be professionally certified civil or mechanical engineers, the non-commissioned members are generally not. Sapper, In the U. S. British, Indian, Canadian, Australian, in the Israeli Defence Forces, Sapper 06 is a military profession code denoting a combat engineer who has graduated from basic general engineering training. In the Canadian Army, is a term for soldiers that have completed the basic Combat Engineer training, in the Portuguese Army, a sapador de engenharia is a soldier of the engineering branch that has specialized combat engineer training. A sapador de infantaria is a soldier of the branch that has a similar training. The Italian Army uses the term Guastatori for their engineers and other specialized units. Pioneer, In the Finnish army, pioneeri is the equivalent rank in the army for a soldier who has completed the basic combat engineering training. Naval engineers retain the rank matruusi but bear the insignia on their sleeves. The German Bundeswehr uses the term Pionier for their engineers and other specialized units. Also the combat engineers in the Austro-Hungarien k. u. k, until recently, assault pioneers were responsible for the operation of flamethrowers. Field engineer, is a used in many Commonwealth armies. In modern usage, it is synonymous with combat engineer. However, the originally identified those military engineers who supported an army operating in the field as opposed to garrison engineers who built. In its original usage, field engineering would have been inclusive of, miner Pontonier Combat engineers are force multipliers and enhance the survival of other troops through the use and practice of camouflage, reconnaissance, communications and other services. These include the construction of roads, bridges, field fortifications, obstacles, in these roles, combat engineers use a wide variety of hand and power tools
4.
16 Air Assault Brigade
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16 Air Assault Brigade is a formation of the British Army based in Colchester in the county of Essex. It is the Armys rapid response airborne formation and is the brigade in the British Army capable of delivering Air Manoeuvre, Air Assault. All personnel in the brigade wear the beret, and those qualified as military parachutists wear the appropriate Parachutist Badge. The brigade was formed as part of the reforms implemented by the Strategic Defence Review on 1 September 1999, by the merging of 24 Airmobile Brigade. This grouping created a mobile brigade of parachute units and airmobile units. The brigade HQ and some of its elements deployed in August 2001 and it returned home after the NATO mission was successfully completed in September. After the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, NATO established a force in December known as the International Security Assistance Force. The brigade HQ and some of its units deployed to Afghanistan in 2001,2006,2008 and again in 2010–11, during the build-up to the invasion of Iraq, the brigade, commanded by Brigadier Jacko Page, was deployed to Kuwait in February 2003. The brigade was part of 1 Armoured Division and after training in Kuwait it took part in the beginning of the invasion on 20 March. Initial speculation in the British media suggested that the brigade would support the American 82nd and this plan did not, however, come to fruition. The brigades eventual objective was to secure the oil fields before they were destroyed by Saddam Husseins forces. The rest of the brigade, supported by its AAC helicopters, entered Iraq soon afterwards, the brigade often met sporadic resistance and had to deal with disarming the many explosives attached to the infrastructure. On 31 March, the brigade, assisted by artillery and air support, attacked an Iraqi armoured column advancing on Basra, destroying 17 T-55 tanks,5 artillery pieces and 7 armoured personnel carriers. After British forces entered Basra on 6 April,3 PARA was employed to clear the old quarter of the city on 7 April due to the streets making it inaccessible to vehicles. After Basras capture, the brigade was based in Maysan Province, the brigade carried out patrols into towns, helped bring normality back to the south, tried to maintain order and destroyed any conventional weapons caches that were found. The war was declared over on 1 May and the brigade began to return home that same month. During one patrol into Majar al-Kabir on 24 June, the brigade suffered its largest casualties in Iraq when six Royal Military Policemen of 156 Provost Company were killed by a large Iraqi mob and its structure makes it a highly flexible unit. The brigade HQ is based in Colchester Garrison and was under the command of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command
5.
RAF Woodbridge
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Royal Air Force Woodbridge or more simply RAF Woodbridge, is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Woodbridge in the county of Suffolk, England. For many years, the 81st Fighter Wing also operated from nearby RAF Bentwaters, with Bentwaters, since 2006, it has been split up and the two parts officially renamed as Woodbridge Airfield and Rock Barracks. Woodbridge Airfield is used by Army Air Corps aircraft for training, of late, Woodbridge Airfield is also regularly used to host Track Days, managed by companies such as Javelin Track Days. These airfields were intended for use by returning bombers suffering from low-fuel, all three airfields were equipped with a single runway,9,000 ft long and 750 ft wide. There was a clear area of 1,500 ft at each end of the runway. At each of the three airfields, the runway was divided into three 250 ft lanes, the northern and central lanes were allocated by flying control, while the southern lane was the emergency lane on which any aircraft could land without first making contact with the airfield. It was initially called RAF Sutton Heath, the site at Woodbridge was chosen as it was nearly fog-free and had no obstructions for miles, although more than a million trees had to be cleared from Rendlesham Forest to take the new base. Its first use, however was in July 1943, when it was used by an American Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, in early July, several B-17s, modified into BQ-7 drones, from the 562d Bomb Squadron, 388th Bomb Group arrived at Woodbridge. The aircraft were stripped of all equipment and armament and packed with explosives. The plane would be flown by a pilot, then handed over to radio control via a primitive television system. Another B-17 would act as a ship, guiding the drone across the channel to its target. No Aphrodite mission was flown from Woodbridge because, after one aborted attempt. On 13 July 1944, a Luftwaffe Ju 88 G-1 night fighter of 7 Staffel/NJG2, bearing aircraft code 4R+UR and this aircraft carried recent versions of the FuG220 Lichtenstein SN-2 radar, Naxos-Z and FuG227 Flensburg homer which were being successfully used to intercept RAF bombers. The German crew had only just completed 100 hours of training, and had flown by compass heading. Within days, the Royal Aircraft Establishment had analysed the radar equipment, fuel was transported to Melton railway station before being piped to the airfield. By the end of the Second World War 4,200 aircraft had made emergency landings at RAF Woodbridge, eventually it was closed on 14 March 1948 and put into care and maintenance status. As a result of the Cold War United States Air Force buildup in Europe, expansion of the facility to bring it up to NATO standards commenced on 16 April 1952, with the establishment of the 3928th Air Base Squadron. The first operational USAF unit to reside at Woodbridge was the 79th Fighter-Bomber Squadron which arrived on 1 October 1952, the 79th TFS was a component of the 20th Fighter-Bomber Wing based at RAF Wethersfield
6.
Woodbridge, Suffolk
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Woodbridge is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. It is in the East of England, about 8 miles from the coast and it lies along the River Deben, with a population of about 11,000. The town is served by Woodbridge railway station on the Ipswich–Lowestoft East Suffolk Line and is located just a few miles from the wider Ipswich urban area, Woodbridge is twinned with Mussidan in France. Woodbridge is close to the most important Anglo-Saxon site in the United Kingdom, with 1100 years of recorded history, the town has retained a variety of historical architecture, and there are facilities for boating and riverside walks on the River Deben. Woodbridge lies in the Suffolk Coastal district of the county of Suffolk. The Town Council was formed in 1974 as a successor to the Urban District Council and has a mayor and 16 councillors elected for four wards. The town lies in Suffolk Coastal parliamentary constituency and is represented by Conservative Therese Coffey. Archaeological finds in the area show habitation from the Neolithic Age, the area was under Roman occupation for 300 years following Queen Boadiccas failed rebellion in 59 A. D. but there is little evidence of the Romans presence. When the Roman soldiers were recalled to Rome in 410 A. D. there was a substantial Anglo-Saxon settlement and it was the Angles who gave East Anglia its name. In the early 7th century King Rædwald of East Anglia was Bretwalda and he died in around 624, and he is probably the king buried at Sutton Hoo, just across the river Deben from Woodbridge. The burial ship is 89 feet long, and when its treasures were discovered in 1939 they were the richest ever found in British soil and they are kept in the British Museum in London. Replicas of some items, and the story of the finds, are to be found in the Woodbridge Museum, the Domesday Book of 1086 describes Woodbridge as part of the Loes Hundred. Much of Woodbridge was granted to the powerful Bigod family, who built the castle at Framlingham. The town has been a centre for boat-building, rope-making and sail-making since the Middle Ages, Edward III and Sir Francis Drake had fighting ships built in Woodbridge. By the mid-15th century the Brews family had added a tower, on 12 October 1534, Prior Henry Bassingbourne confirmed Henry VIIIs supremacy over the Church and rejected the incumbent Roman Bishop. Nonetheless, Woodbridge Priory was dissolved three years later, as religious unrest continued in the reign of the Roman Catholic Mary Tudor, Alexander Gooch, a weaver of Woodbridge, and Alice Driver of Grundisburgh were burnt for heresy on Rushmere Heath. Alice previously had her ears cut off for likening Queen Mary to Jezebel, the subsequent religious settlement under Elizabeth I helped Woodbridge industries such as weaving, sail-cloth manufacture, rope-making and salt making to prosper, along with the wool trade. The port was enlarged, and shipbuilding and timber trade became very lucrative, around the town there are various buildings from the Tudor, Georgian, Regency and Victorian eras
7.
Iraq War
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The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first 3–4 years of conflict and it became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition, the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion began on 20 March 2003, with the U. S. joined by the United Kingdom and several allies, launching a shock. Iraqi forces were overwhelmed as U. S. forces swept through the country. The invasion led to the collapse of the Baathist government, President Hussein was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that same year, the United States responded with a troop surge in 2007. The winding down of U. S. involvement in Iraq accelerated under President Barack Obama, the U. S. formally withdrew all combat troops from Iraq by December 2011. Select U. S. officials accused Saddam of harboring and supporting al-Qaeda, while others cited the desire to end a repressive dictatorship, after the invasion, no substantial evidence was found to verify the initial claims about WMDs. The rationale and misrepresentation of pre-war intelligence faced heavy criticism within the U. S. in the aftermath of the invasion, Iraq held multi-party elections in 2005. Nouri al-Maliki became Prime Minister in 2006 and remained in office until 2014, the al-Maliki government enacted policies that were widely seen as having the effect of alienating the countrys Sunni minority and worsening sectarian tensions. The Iraq War caused hundreds of thousands of civilian, and thousands of military casualties, the majority of casualties occurred as a result of the insurgency and civil conflicts between 2004 and 2007. A1990 Frontline report on The arming of Iraq said, Officially, most Western nations participated in an arms embargo against Iraq during the 1980s. Western companies, primarily in Germany and Great Britain, but also in the United States, sold Iraq the key technology for its chemical, missile, any Western governments seemed remarkably indifferent, if not enthusiastic, about those deals. N Washington, the government consistently followed a policy which allowed and perhaps encouraged the growth of Saddam Husseins arsenal. The Western arming of Iraq took place in the context of the Iran-Iraq War, prior to September 2002, the CIA was the George W. Bush administrations main provider of intelligence on Iraq. The agency was out to disprove linkage between Iraq and terrorism the Pentagon adviser told me, the U. N. had prohibited Iraq from developing or possessing such weapons after the Gulf War and required Iraq to permit inspections confirming compliance. This was confirmed by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, during 2002, Bush repeatedly warned of military action against Iraq unless inspections were allowed to progress unfettered. In accordance with U. N. Security Council Resolution 1441, Iraq agreed to new inspections under United Nations Monitoring, as part of its weapons inspection obligations, Iraq was required to supply a full declaration of its current weapons capabilities and manufacturing
8.
Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)
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See Lieutenant colonel for other countries which use this rank Lieutenant colonel, is a rank in the British Army and Royal Marines which is also used in many Commonwealth countries. The rank is superior to major, and subordinate to colonel, the comparable Royal Navy rank is commander, and the comparable rank in the Royal Air Force and many Commonwealth air forces is Wing Commander. The rank insignia in the British Army and Royal Marines, as well as many Commonwealth countries, is a crown above a 4 pointed Bath star, the crown has varied in the past with different monarchs, the current one being the Crown of St Edward. Most other Commonwealth countries use the insignia, or with the state emblem replacing the crown. In the modern British Armed forces, the commander of a regiment or battalion is a lieutenant colonel. From 1 April 1918 to 31 July 1919, the Royal Air Force maintained the rank of lieutenant colonel and it was superseded by the rank of wing commander on the following day
9.
Royal Engineers
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The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers, and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army. It is highly regarded throughout the military, and especially the Army and it provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is headed by the Chief Royal Engineer. The Regimental Headquarters and the Royal School of Military Engineering are in Chatham in Kent, the corps is divided into several regiments, barracked at various places in the United Kingdom and around the world. In Woolwich in 1716, the Board formed the Royal Regiment of Artillery and established a Corps of Engineers, the manual work was done by the Artificer Companies, made up of contracted civilian artisans and labourers. In 1782, a Soldier Artificer Company was established for service in Gibraltar, ten years later the Gibraltar company, which had remained separate, was absorbed and in 1812 the name was changed to the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners. The Corps has no battle honours, in 1832, the regimental motto, Ubique Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt, was granted. The motto signified that the Corps had seen action in all the conflicts of the British Army. In 1911 the Corps formed its Air Battalion, the first flying unit of the British Armed Forces, the Air Battalion was the forerunner of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force. In 1915, in response to German mining of British trenches under the then static siege conditions of the First World War, before the Second World War, Royal Engineers recruits were required to be at least 5 feet 4 inches tall. They initially enlisted for six years with the colours and a six years with the reserve or four years. Unlike most corps and regiments, in which the age limit was 25. They trained at the Royal Engineers Depot in Chatham or the RE Mounted Depot at Aldershot, the Royal Engineers Museum is in Gillingham in Kent. Britain having acquired an Empire, it fell to the Royal Engineers to conduct some of the most significant civil engineering schemes around the world, some examples of great works of the era of empire can be found in A. J. Smitherss book Honourable Conquests. The Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, commanded by Richard Clement Moody, was responsible for the foundation, the Royal Albert Hall is one of the UKs most treasured and distinctive buildings, recognisable the world over. Since its opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the leading artists from every kind of performance genre have appeared on its stage. The Hall was designed by Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott of the Royal Engineers, the designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also been exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Much of the British colonial era infrastructure of India, of which survive today, was created by engineers of the three presidencies armies and the Royal Engineers. In 1838 he designed and built sea defences for Vizagapatam and he masterminded the Godavery Delta project where 720,000 acres of land were irrigated and 500 miles of land to the port of Cocanada was made navigable in the 1840s
United Kingdom
British Army