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.
Artillery
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Artillery is a class of large military weapons built to fire munitions far beyond the range and power of infantrys small arms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach fortifications, and led to heavy, as technology improved, lighter, more mobile field artillery developed for battlefield use. This development continues today, modern self-propelled artillery vehicles are highly mobile weapons of great versatility providing the largest share of an armys total firepower, in its earliest sense, the word artillery referred to any group of soldiers primarily armed with some form of manufactured weapon or armour. In common speech, the artillery is often used to refer to individual devices, along with their accessories and fittings. However, there is no generally recognised generic term for a gun, howitzer, mortar, and so forth, the United States uses artillery piece, the projectiles fired are typically either shot or shell. Shell is a widely used term for a projectile, which is a component of munitions. By association, artillery may also refer to the arm of service that customarily operates such engines, in the 20th Century technology based target acquisition devices, such as radar, and systems, such as sound ranging and flash spotting, emerged to acquire targets, primarily for artillery. These are usually operated by one or more of the artillery arms, Artillery originated for use against ground targets—against infantry, cavalry and other artillery. An early specialist development was coastal artillery for use against enemy ships, the early 20th Century saw the development of a new class of artillery for use against aircraft, anti-aircraft guns. Artillery is arguably the most lethal form of land-based armament currently employed, the majority of combat deaths in the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, and World War II were caused by artillery. In 1944, Joseph Stalin said in a speech that artillery was the God of War, although not called as such, machines performing the role recognizable as artillery have been employed in warfare since antiquity. The first references in the historical tradition begin at Syracuse in 399 BC. From the Middle Ages through most of the era, artillery pieces on land were moved by horse-drawn gun carriages. In the contemporary era, the artillery and crew rely on wheeled or tracked vehicles as transportation, Artillery used by naval forces has changed significantly also, with missiles replacing guns in surface warfare. The engineering designs of the means of delivery have likewise changed significantly over time, in some armies, the weapon of artillery is the projectile, not the equipment that fires it. The process of delivering fire onto the target is called gunnery, the actions involved in operating the piece are collectively called serving the gun by the detachment or gun crew, constituting either direct or indirect artillery fire. The term gunner is used in armed forces for the soldiers and sailors with the primary function of using artillery. The gunners and their guns are usually grouped in teams called either crews or detachments, several such crews and teams with other functions are combined into a unit of artillery, usually called a battery, although sometimes called a company
4.
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
5.
North Yorkshire
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North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan county and larger ceremonial county in England. It is located primarily in the region of Yorkshire and the Humber, created by the Local Government Act 1972, it covers an area of 8,654 square kilometres, making it the largest county in England. The majority of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors lie within North Yorkshires boundaries, the largest settlements are York, Middlesbrough, Harrogate and Scarborough, the county town, Northallerton, has a population of 16,832. The area under the control of the county council, or shire county, is divided into a number of local government districts, Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough, the changes were planned to be implemented no later than 1 April 2009. This was rejected on 25 July 2007 so the County Council, the largest settlement in the administrative county is Harrogate, the second largest is Scarborough, while in the ceremonial county, the largest is York. The largest urban area within the county is the Middlesbrough built-up area sub-division of Teesside. Uniquely for a district in England, Stockton-on-Tees is split between North Yorkshire and County Durham for this purpose, Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, and Redcar and Cleveland boroughs form part of the North East England region. The ceremonial county area, including the authorities, borders East Riding of Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria. The geology of North Yorkshire is closely reflected in its landscape, within the county are the North York Moors and most of the Yorkshire Dales, two of eleven areas of countryside within England and Wales to be officially designated as national parks. Between the North York Moors in the east and the Pennine Hills in the west lie the Vales of Mowbray, the Tees Lowlands lie to the north of the North York Moors and the Vale of Pickering lies to the south. Its eastern border is the North sea coast, the highest point is Whernside, on the Cumbrian border, at 736 metres. The two major rivers in the county are the River Swale and the River Ure, the Swale and the Ure form the River Ouse which flows through York and into the Humber estuary. The River Tees forms part of the border between North Yorkshire and County Durham and flows from upper Teesdale to Middlesbrough and Stockton and to the coast, North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan county that operates a cabinet-style council, North Yorkshire County Council. The full council of 72 elects a council leader, who in turn appoints up to 9 more councillors to form the executive cabinet, the cabinet is responsible for making decisions in the County. The county council have their offices in the County Hall in Northallerton, the county is affluent and has above average house prices. Unemployment is below average for the UK and claimants of Job Seekers Allowance is also very low compared to the rest of the UK at 2. 7%, agriculture is an important industry, as are mineral extraction and power generation. The county also has high technology, service and tourism sectors. This is a chart of trend of gross value added for North Yorkshire at current basic prices with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling
6.
L118 light gun
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The L118 light gun is a 105 mm towed howitzer. It was originally produced for the British Army in the 1970s and has been exported since, including to the United States. The proper name for it is gun, 105mm, field, L118 and it fires the US M1 type ammunition. This widely used howitzer was designed in Italy for the Alpini. However, it lacked range, was not notably robust, had poor sights and was not entirely popular, in 1965, a general staff requirement was approved for a new 105 mm weapon system because the pack howitzer lacked range and lethality. The ammunition to be used was the 105 mm Fd Mk 2 ammunition used in the L13 ordnance of the gun equipment 105 mm L109. This ammunition uses electrical instead of percussion primers and is a different design from the US M1 type ammunition as used in the L5 pack howitzer. The two types are not interchangeable, an early requirement was for the new weapon to use 105mm Fd Mk 1 ammunition, which uses the M1 shell, in training. However, in 1968, this was changed to allow a different version of the weapon, the new gun, soon designated light gun, was designed by the government Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment, Fort Halstead, Kent. However, it emerged that some increase in weight was needed for a gun with the requisite robustness. Original production, which was authorised in late 1975, was by Royal Ordnance Factory, ROF Nottingham, the light gun entered service with the British Army in 1976. The new weapon was heavier than its predecessor, but new, more capable helicopters such as the Puma and Westland Sea King, a new vehicle, the Land Rover 101 Forward Control are also equipped with the light gun. Those University Officer Training Corps with gun troops train with the L118, on 30 November 2001, an L118 light gun replaced a 25-pounder as the One OClock Gun in Edinburgh Castle. By tradition, this fires every day at one oclock, except on Sundays, Good Friday, the light gun is also fired by 14 Regiment Royal Artillery on Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day each year. The L118 uses the L19 ordnance on the L17 carriage, the L19 ordnance is slightly shorter than the L13 used by the Abbot and hence has a slightly shorter maximum range. Also, unlike the Abbot, the barrel is autofrettaged and hence lighter, the light gun appears to owe a number of its features to the QF25 pounder, unsurprisingly since RARDE was the successor to the design department, Woolwich Arsenal. Among these features are its vertically sliding breech, and a box trail instead of a split trail. Its comparatively light weight is attributed to the nature of the steel used in the carriage and ordnance
7.
Royal Artillery
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The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery, is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name Royal Regiment of Artillery it actually consists of 13 Regular Regiments and 5 Reserve Regiments, the introduction of artillery into the English army came as early as the Battle of Crécy in 1346. Henry VIII made the armys artillery semi-permanent in the sixteenth century, before the 18th century, artillery traynes were raised by royal warrant for specific campaigns and disbanded again when they were over. On 26 May 1716, however, by warrant of George I two regular companies of field artillery, each 100 men strong, were raised at Woolwich. The title Royal Artillery was first used in 1720, in 1741 the Royal Military Academy was formed in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich to provide training for RA and Royal Engineers officers. The regiment expanded rapidly and, by 1757, had 24 companies divided into two battalions, as well as a company formed in 1741. During 1748, the presidential artilleries of Bengal, Madras and Bombay were formed,1756 saw the creation of the Royal Irish Regiment of Artillery. In 1762 the Royal Artillery Band was formed at Minden, by 1771 there were 32 companies in four battalions, as well as two invalid companies comprising older and unfit men employed in garrison duties. During 1782, the regiment moved to the Royal Artillery Barracks on Woolwich Common, in January 1793, two troops of Royal Horse Artillery were raised to provide fire support for the cavalry, augmented by two more in November 1793. The Royal Irish Artillery was absorbed into the RA in 1801, during 1805, the Royal Military Academy moved to Woolwich Common. In 1819, the Rotunda was given to the regiment by the Prince Regent to celebrate end of the Napoleonic Wars, in 1832, the regimental motto, Ubique Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt, was granted. The motto signified that the regiment had seen action in all the conflicts of the British Army. The regiment was under the control of the Board of Ordnance until the board was abolished in 1855, thereafter the regiment came under the War Office along with the rest of the army. The School of Gunnery established at Shoeburyness, Essex in 1859, the third group continued to be titled simply Royal Artillery, and was responsible for ammunition storage and supply. Which branch a gunner belonged to was indicated by metal shoulder titles, the RFA and RHA also dressed as mounted men, whereas the RGA dressed like foot soldiers. In 1920 the rank of Bombardier was instituted in the Royal Artillery, the three sections effectively functioned as separate corps. This arrangement lasted until 1924, when the three amalgamated once more to one regiment. In 1938, RA Brigades were renamed Regiments, during the World War II there were over 1 million men serving in 960 gunner regiments
8.
Topcliffe, North Yorkshire
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Topcliffe is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. The village is situated on the River Swale, on the A167 road and it is about 5 miles south-west of Thirsk and 11 miles south of the county town of Northallerton. It has a population of 1,489, an Army Barracks, formerly a Royal Air Force base, is located to the north of the village. The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Topeclive in the Yarlestre hundred, at the time of the Norman invasion, the manor was the possession of Bernwulf. Afterwards it was granted to William of Percy, the manor became the chief seat of the Percy family until the middle of the 17th century, though there was some confusion of the line of inheritance in the 12th century. This was reversed in 1469 and the manor restored to the Percy family, in the 16th century there were two other brief periods when the manor was granted first to the Archbishop of York and then to the Earl of Warwick. The manor was restored to the Percy family in 1557, the last of the family to hold the manor in their name was Josceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland, though it passed to his daughter who married Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset. Their son inherited the manor, but he died heirless and the manor was passed to his nephew Charles Wyndham, the manor remained in the Wyndham family into the 20th century. This was the residence of the Percy family until the early part of the fourteenth century. The castle was succeeded by a manor house on an adjacent site. The manor house was the home of John Topcliffe, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, the name is derived from the Old English words topp and clif and combined give the meaning top of the cliff. The village used to be a stop between Baldersby and Thirsk on the Leeds & Thirsk Railway, a station was opened on 1 June 1848 and closed on 14 September 1959. It was located at the junction of the A167 and Catton Moor Lane to the north of the village near the present day MOD base. During the Second World War an airfield was constructed 1.5 miles from the village which was for some time a Royal Canadian Air Force base. After the war it had a number of roles until 1972 when much of it was taken over by the army, the airfield continues to be used for RAF glider training. The village is located in the Thirsk and Malton UK Parliamentary constituency and it is also in the Sowerby electoral division of North Yorkshire County Council and the Topcliffe ward of Hambleton District Council. The population of this ward taken at the 2011 Census was 2,604, Topcliffe District ward includes the settlements of Skipton-onSwale, Catton, Dalton, Crakehill, Sessay and Hutton Sessay. The civil parish of Topcliffe is bounded by the parishes of Sowerby, Carlton Miniott, Catton, Rainton, Asenby, Crakehill
9.
North East England
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North East England is one of the nine regions of England that are classified at the first level of NUTS for statistical purposes. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, the region is home to three large conurbations, Teesside, Wearside, and Tyneside, the latter of which is the largest of the three and the eighth most populous conurbation in the United Kingdom. The city of Durham is the county town of County Durham, other large settlements in the region include Darlington, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, South Shields, Stockton-on-Tees and Washington. The region is hilly and sparsely populated in the North and West. The highest point in the region is The Cheviot, in the Cheviot Hills, Peters Church in Monkwearmouth, Sunderland and St. Pauls in Jarrow also hold significant historical value and have a joint bid to become a World Heritage Site. The area has a strong religious past, as can be seen in such as the Lindisfarne Gospels. The work of the 7th-century Cuthbert, Bede and Hilda of Whitby being hugely influential in the church and are still venerated today. Bede is regarded as the greatest Anglo-Saxon scholar and his best known work is The Ecclesiastical History of the English People. This body of work is thought to have been done in honour of Cuthbert, British history changed forever that day and three hundred years of Viking raids, battles and settlement were to persist until William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at Hastings in 1066. The last independent Northumbrian king from 947–8 was Eric Bloodaxe who died in battle at the Battle of Stainmore, Westmorland, after Eric Bloodaxes death, all England was ruled by Eadred the grandson of Alfred the Great and so began the machinery of national government. Today the Viking legacy can still be found in the language and place names of Northeast England, the name Newcastle comes from the new castle built shortly after their conquest in 1080 by Robert Curthose, William the Conquerors eldest son. North East England has a climate with narrower temperature ranges than further south in England. Met Office operates several stations in the region. The stations nearest significant urban areas are Durham, Stockton-on-Tees and Tynemouth, the warmest summers in the region are found in Stockton-on-Tees and the Middlesbrough area with a 1981-2010 July average high of 20.4 °C. The summers on the coastlines are clearly cooler than in the southern and central inland areas. Moving further inland, frosts during winter gets more common due to the higher elevation and these companies are members of the Northeast of England Process Industry Cluster. The early chemical industry in this region was however primarily Tyneside based and associated with the manufacture of soap and glass. The most important chemical activity in the 18th and 19th centuries was the manufacture of alkali to make soap, what came out of the industrial revolution was a period when the Northeast of Englands economy was dominated by iron and steel, coal mining and shipbuilding
10.
Sunderland
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Sunderland is a city at the centre of the City of Sunderland metropolitan borough, in Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is a city at the mouth of the River Wear with adjoining beaches of Roker. The etymology of Sunderland is derived from Sundered-land with the river travelling through the city as opposed to sitting upon the river, historically in County Durham, there were three original settlements on the site of modern-day Sunderland. On the north side of the river, Monkwearmouth was settled in 674 when Benedict Biscop founded the Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey, opposite the monastery on the south bank, Bishopwearmouth was founded in 930. A small fishing village called Sunderland, located toward the mouth of the river was granted a charter in 1179, over the centuries, Sunderland grew as a port, trading coal and salt. Ships began to be built on the river in the 14th century, by the 19th century, the port of Sunderland had grown to absorb Bishopwearmouth and Monkwearmouth. More recently, Sunderland has seen growth as a centre for the automotive industry, science & technology. A person who is born or lives around the Sunderland area is colloquially known as a Mackem. Sunderland was created a borough of County Durham in 1835. Under the Local Government Act 1888, it was given the status of a County Borough, independence from county council control. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the county borough was abolished and its combined with that of other districts to form the Metropolitan Borough of Sunderland in Tyne. The metropolitan borough was granted city status after winning a competition in 1992 to celebrate the Queens 40th year on the throne, the population of this city taken at the 2011 Census was 275,506. Sunderland has the motto of Nil Desperandum Auspice Deo or Under Gods guidance we may neve despair Much of the city is located on a low range of running parallel to the coast. On average, it is around 80 metres above sea level, Sunderland is divided by the River Wear which passes through the middle of the city in a deeply incised valley, part of which is known as the Hylton gorge. The two road bridges connecting the north and south portions of the city are the Queen Alexandra Bridge at Pallion, to the west of the city, the Hylton Viaduct carries the A19 dual-carriageway over the Wear. Most of the suburbs of Sunderland are situated towards the west of the city centre with 70% of its living on the south side of the river. The city extends to the seafront at Hendon and Ryhope in the south, in Millfield, the streets are all associated with plants, e. g. Chester, Fern, Rose, Hyacinth etc. At 3,874 hectares, Sunderland is the 45th largest urban area in England by measure of area, according to statistics based on the 2001 census, 60% of homes in the Sunderland metropolitan area are owner occupied, with an average household size of 2.4 people
11.
Freedom of the City
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The Freedom of the City is an honor bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. The Freedom of the City can also be granted by municipal authorities to military units which have earned the citys trust, in this context and this allows them the freedom to parade through the city, and is an affirmation of the bond between the regiment and the citizenry. The honor was sometimes accompanied by a box, a small gold box inscribed to record the occasion. In some countries, such as the United States, esteemed residents and visitors may instead be presented with the Key to the City, other cities award Honorary Citizenship, with just a certificate. Freedom of the City is an ancient honor granted to martial organisations, allowing them the privilege to march into the city with drums beating, colours flying and this honor dates back to ancient Rome which regarded the pomerium, the boundary of the city, as sacred. Promagistrates and generals were forbidden from entering it, and resigned their imperium immediately upon crossing it, an exception was made for victory celebrations, during which the victorious general would be permitted to enter for one day only. Under the Republic, soldiers also lost their status when entering, becoming citizens, weapons were also banned inside the pomerium for religious and traditional reasons. Similar laws were passed by other European cities throughout the Medieval era, to public security and civic rights. As a result, soldiers would be forced to camp outside the walls of the city during the winter months. The Freedom of the City was an honor granted only to troops which had earned the trust of the local populace, either through some valiant action or simply by being a familiar presence. Today, martial freedom of the city is an entirely ceremonial honor, usually bestowed upon a unit with historic ties to the area, as a token of appreciation for their long, the awarding of the Freedom is often accompanied by a celebratory parade through the city. A slightly more freedom of the city is connected to the medieval concept of free status. As such, freemen actually pre-date boroughs, early freedom of the boroughs ceremonies had great importance in affirming that the recipient enjoyed privileges such as the right to trade and own property, and protection within the town. Before parliamentary reform in 1832, freedom of the city or town conferred the right to vote in the boroughs for the MPs. Until the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 the freemen were the electorate for the boroughs. These two acts together curtailed the power of the freemen and extended the franchise to all householders, the private property belonging to the freemen collectively was retained. The freemen of York, Oxford and Newcastle upon Tyne still own considerable areas within their towns, the Local Government Act 1972 specifically preserved freemens rights. The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 removed any restrictions entitling only men to be freemen, today, the grant of honorary freedom in the United Kingdom is governed by the Local Government Act 1972
United Kingdom
British Army
