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.
Army Reserve (United Kingdom)
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The Army Reserve is the active-duty volunteer reserve force and integrated element of the British Army. Most Volunteer infantry units had unique identities, but lost these in the reorganisation, only one infantry unit, the London Regiment, has maintained a separate identity. Reservists in the past also served as constables or bailiffs, even holding positions of civic duty as overseer of their parish, the more modern Yeomen of the 18th century were cavalry-based units, which were often used to suppress riots. Several units that are now part of the Army Reserve bear the title militia, after the Second World War, for example, the Army Reserve - or Territorial Army as it was known then - was not demobilised until 1947. All Army Reserve personnel have their jobs protected to a limited extent by law should they be compulsorily mobilised. There is, however, no protection against discrimination in employment for membership of the Army Reserve in the normal course of events. As part of the process, remaining units of militia were converted to the Special Reserve. The TF was formed on 1 April 1908 and contained fourteen infantry divisions and it had an overall strength of approximately 269,000. The individual units that made up each division or brigade were administered by County Associations, the other members of the association consisted of military members, representative members and co-opted members. Associations took over any property vested in the volunteers or yeomanry under their administration, each regiment or battalion had a Regular Army officer attached as full-time adjutant. In August 1914, after the outbreak of the First World War, territorial units were given the option of serving in France and, by 25 August, in excess of seventy battalions had volunteered. This question over the availability of territorial divisions for service was one of Lord Kitcheners motivations for raising the New Army separately. The first fully Territorial division to join the fighting on the Western Front was the 46th Division in March 1915, with divisions later serving in Gallipoli and elsewhere. As the war progressed, and casualties mounted, the character of territorial units was diluted by the inclusion of conscript. Following the Armistice all units of the Territorial Force were gradually disbanded, New recruiting started in early 1920, and the Territorial Force was reconstituted on 7 February 1920. On 1 October 1920, the Territorial Force was renamed the Territorial Army, the 1st Line divisions were reconstituted in that year. However, the composition of the divisions was altered, with a reduction in the number of infantry battalions required, there was also a reduced need for cavalry, and of the 55 yeomanry regiments, only the 14 most senior retained their horses. The remaining yeomanry were converted to artillery or armoured car units or disbanded, the amalgamation of 40 pairs of infantry battalions was announced in October 1921
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.
Anti-aircraft warfare
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Anti-aircraft warfare or counter-air defence is defined by NATO as all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action. They include ground-and air-based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and it may be used to protect naval, ground, and air forces in any location. However, for most countries the main effort has tended to be homeland defence, NATO refers to airborne air defence as counter-air and naval air defence as anti-aircraft warfare. Missile defence is an extension of air defence as are initiatives to adapt air defence to the task of intercepting any projectile in flight, a surface-based air defence capability can also be deployed offensively to deny the use of airspace to an opponent. Until the 1950s, guns firing ballistic munitions ranging from 20 mm to 150 mm were the weapons, guided missiles then became dominant. The term air defence was probably first used by Britain when Air Defence of Great Britain was created as a Royal Air Force command in 1925. However, arrangements in the UK were also called anti-aircraft, abbreviated as AA, after the First World War it was sometimes prefixed by Light or Heavy to classify a type of gun or unit. Nicknames for anti-aircraft guns include AA, AAA or triple-A, an abbreviation of anti-aircraft artillery, ack-ack, NATO defines anti-aircraft warfare as measures taken to defend a maritime force against attacks by airborne weapons launched from aircraft, ships, submarines and land-based sites. In some armies the term All-Arms Air Defence is used for air defence by nonspecialist troops, other terms from the late 20th century include GBAD with related terms SHORAD and MANPADS. Anti-aircraft missiles are variously called surface-to-air missile, abbreviated and pronounced SAM, non-English terms for air defence include the German FlaK, whence English flak, and the Russian term Protivovozdushnaya oborona, a literal translation of anti-air defence, abbreviated as PVO. In Russian the AA systems are called zenitnye systems, in French, air defence is called DCA. The maximum distance at which a gun or missile can engage an aircraft is an important figure, however, many different definitions are used but unless the same definition is used, performance of different guns or missiles cannot be compared. For AA guns only the part of the trajectory can be usefully used. By the late 1930s the British definition was that height at which an approaching target at 400 mph can be engaged for 20 seconds before the gun reaches 70 degrees elevation. However, effective ceiling for heavy AA guns was affected by nonballistic factors, The maximum running time of the fuse, the capability of fire control instruments to determine target height at long range. The essence of air defence is to detect aircraft and destroy them. The critical issue is to hit a target moving in three-dimensional space, Air defence evolution covered the areas of sensors and technical fire control, weapons, and command and control. At the start of the 20th century these were very primitive or non-existent
5.
Anti-tank warfare
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Anti-tank warfare arose as a result of the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the first tanks were developed by the Triple Entente in 1916 but not operated in battle until 1917, because tanks represent an enemys land greatest force projection, anti-tank warfare has been incorporated into the doctrine of nearly every combat service since. Most predominant anti-tank weapons at the start of World War II were the gun, anti-tank guns. Through the Cold War, The United States, Soviet Union, while previous technology was developed to protect crews of armored vehicles from projectiles and explosive damage, the possibility of radiation arose. In the NATO countries little if any development took place on defining a doctrine of how to use armed forces without the use of nuclear weapons. The solution they arrived at was maneuver warfare while massively increasing the number of anti-tank weapons and this led to the development of improved guided anti-tank missiles, though similar design work was being performed in Western Europe and the United States. Also being developed were new varieties of artillery munitions in the form of top-attack shells, helicopters could be used as well to rapidly deliver scattered anti-tank mines. Anti-tank warfare evolved as a countermeasure to the threat of the appearance on the battlefields of the Western Front of the First World War. The tank had been developed to negate the German system of trenches, however, there was no means of communication between the tanks crew and the accompanying infantry, or between the tanks participating in combat. Radios were not yet portable or robust enough to be mounted in a tank, attaching a field telephone to the rear would become a practice only during the next war. The early tanks were mechanically rudimentary, the 0. 23-to-0. 47-inch thick armor generally prevented penetration by small arms fire and shell fragments. However, even a near miss from field artillery or an impact from a mortar HE round easily disabled the tank, or destroyed it if the tank was ruptured. This was achieved by mounting a QF6 pounder Hotchkiss light 57 mm naval gun mounted in the hull barbettes, turrets were later introduced on medium and light tanks to react to ambushes during the advance. The tank, when it appeared on the Western Front in September 1916, was a surprise to the German troops. The French Army Staff was highly critical of the British Armys early fielding of the Mark I vehicles in small numbers because the French trials showed the armored vehicles to be highly unreliable. They judged that large numbers had to be employed to sustain an offensive despite losses to mechanical failure or vehicles being foundered in intractable no mans land terrain. These losses, coupled with those from enemy fire, later amounted to as high as 70% of the starters during some operations. Deploying small numbers of tanks would therefore cause the Allies to lose the element of surprise, because the German Army was the only force in need of anti-tank weapons, it was they that had to develop a viable technology to combat the tank
6.
Birmingham
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Birmingham is a major city and metropolitan borough of West Midlands, England lying on the River Rea, a small river that runs through Birmingham. It is the largest and most populous British city outside London, the city is in the West Midlands Built-up Area, the third most populous urban area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2,440,986 at the 2011 census. Birminghams metropolitan area is the second most populous in the UK with a population of 3.8 million and this also makes Birmingham the 8th most populous metropolitan area in Europe. By 1791 it was being hailed as the first manufacturing town in the world, perhaps the most important invention in British history, the industrial steam engine, was invented in Birmingham. From the summer of 1940 to the spring of 1943, Birmingham was bombed heavily by the German Luftwaffe in what is known as the Birmingham Blitz. The damage done to the infrastructure, in addition to a deliberate policy of demolition and new building by planners, led to extensive demolition. Today Birminghams economy is dominated by the service sector and its metropolitan economy is the second largest in the United Kingdom with a GDP of $121. 1bn, and its six universities make it the largest centre of higher education in the country outside London. Birmingham is the fourth-most visited city in the UK by foreign visitors, Birminghams sporting heritage can be felt worldwide, with the concept of the Football League and lawn tennis both originating from the city. Its most successful football club Aston Villa has won seven league titles, people from Birmingham are called Brummies, a term derived from the citys nickname of Brum. This originates from the citys name, Brummagem, which may in turn have been derived from one of the citys earlier names. There is a distinctive Brummie accent and dialect, Birminghams early history is that of a remote and marginal area. The main centres of population, power and wealth in the pre-industrial English Midlands lay in the fertile and accessible river valleys of the Trent, the Severn and the Avon. The area of modern Birmingham lay in between, on the upland Birmingham Plateau and within the wooded and sparsely populated Forest of Arden. Birmingham as a settlement dates from the Anglo-Saxon era, within a century of the charter Birmingham had grown into a prosperous urban centre of merchants and craftsmen. By 1327 it was the third-largest town in Warwickshire, a position it would retain for the next 200 years, by 1700 Birminghams population had increased fifteenfold and the town was the fifth-largest in England and Wales. The importance of the manufacture of goods to Birminghams economy was recognised as early as 1538. Equally significant was the emerging role as a centre for the iron merchants who organised finance, supplied raw materials. The 18th century saw this tradition of free-thinking and collaboration blossom into the phenomenon now known as the Midlands Enlightenment
7.
Western Front (World War I)
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The Western Front or Western Theater was the main theatre of war during World War I. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, the tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne. Following the Race to the Sea, both sides dug in along a line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France. This line remained unchanged for most of the war. Between 1915 and 1917 there were several major offensives along this front, the attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. However, a combination of entrenchments, machine gun emplacements, barbed wire, as a result, no significant advances were made. In an effort to break the deadlock, this front saw the introduction of new technology, including poison gas, aircraft. But it was only after the adoption of improved tactics that some degree of mobility was restored, the German Armys Spring Offensive of 1918 was made possible by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that marked the end of the conflict on the Eastern Front. In spite of the stagnant nature of this front, this theatre would prove decisive. The terms of peace were agreed upon with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, belgiums neutrality was guaranteed by Britain under the 1839 Treaty of London, this caused Britain to join the war at the expiration of its ultimatum at 11 pm GMT on 4 August. Armies under German generals Alexander von Kluck and Karl von Bülow attacked Belgium on 4 August 1914, Luxembourg had been occupied without opposition on 2 August. The first battle in Belgium was the Siege of Liège, which lasted from 5–16 August, Liège was well fortified and surprised the German Army under von Bülow with its level of resistance. German heavy artillery was able to demolish the main forts within a few days. Following the fall of Liège, most of the Belgian field army retreated to Antwerp, leaving the garrison of Namur isolated, with the Belgian capital, Brussels, although the German army bypassed Antwerp, it remained a threat to their flank. Another siege followed at Namur, lasting from about 20–23 August, for their part, the French had five armies deployed on their borders. The pre-war French offensive plan, Plan XVII, was intended to capture Alsace-Lorraine following the outbreak of hostilities, on 7 August the VII Corps attacked Alsace with its objectives being to capture Mulhouse and Colmar. The main offensive was launched on 14 August with 1st and 2nd Armies attacking toward Sarrebourg-Morhange in Lorraine, in keeping with the Schlieffen Plan, the Germans withdrew slowly while inflicting severe losses upon the French. The French advanced the 3rd and 4th Armies toward the Saar River and attempted to capture Saarburg, attacking Briey and Neufchateau, before being driven back
8.
Italian Front (World War I)
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The Italian Front was a series of battles at the border between Austria-Hungary and Italy, fought between 1915 and 1918 in World War I. Fighting along the front displaced much of the population, of which several thousand died from malnutrition. The Allied victory at Vittorio Veneto and the disintegration of Austria-Hungary ended the military operations, moreover, Austria-Hungary omitted to consult Italy before sending the ultimatum to Serbia and refused to discuss compensation due according to the art. By the 1910s, the expansionist ideas of this movement were taken up by a significant part of the Italian political elite. The annexation of those Austrian territories that were inhabited by Italians, became the main Italian war goal, however, of around 1.5 million people living in those areas, 45% were Italian speakers, while the rest were Slovenes, Germans and Croats. In northern Dalmatia, which was also among the Italian war aims, on 23 May, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. Italys entry was engineered in secret by the 1915 Treaty of London, set up between the British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey, the Italian Foreign Minister Sidney Sonnino and the French Foreign Minister Jules Cambon. On February 16,1915, despite concurrent negotiations with Austria, the final choice was aided by the arrival of news in March of Russian victories in the Carpathians. The Treaty of London was concluded on April 26 binding Italy to fight within one month, not until May 4 did Salandra denounce the Triple Alliance in a private note to its signatories. During the Italo-Turkish War in Libya, the Italian military suffered equipment, at the opening of the campaign, Austro-Hungarian troops occupied and fortified high ground of the Julian Alps and Karst Plateau, but the Italians initially outnumbered their opponents three-to-one. An Italian offensive aimed to cross the Soča river, take the fortress town of Gorizia. This offensive opened the first Battles of the Isonzo, because the Austrian forces occupied higher ground, Italians conducted difficult offensives while climbing. The Italian forces therefore failed to drive much beyond the river, despite a professional officer corps, severely under-trained Italian units lacked morale. Also many troops deeply disliked the newly appointed Italian commander, general Luigi Cadorna, moreover, preexisting equipment and munition shortages slowed progress and frustrated all expectations for a Napoleonic style breakout. Like most contemporaneous militaries, the Italian army primarily used horses for transport but struggled, the Italians recuperated, rearmed with 1200 heavy guns, and then on 18 October 1915 launched Third Battle of the Isonzo, another attack. Forces of Austria-Hungary again repulsed this Italian offensive, which concluded on 4 November without resulting gains, the Italians again launched another offensive on 10 November, the Fourth Battle of the Isonzo. Italian Armies in the North East of the country, the offensive began on 11 March 1916 with 15 divisions, and resulted in no gain. Later in 1916, four more battles along the Isonzo river erupted, the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo, launched by the Italians in August, resulted in a success greater than the previous attacks
9.
The Blitz
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By September 1940—two months into the battle—faulty German intelligence suggested that the Royal Air Force was close to defeat at the hands of the Luftwaffe. The German air fleets were ordered to attack London, thereby drawing up the last remnants of RAF Fighter Command into a battle of annihilation, Adolf Hitler and commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, sanctioned the change in emphasis on 6 September 1940. From 7 September 1940, one year into the war, London was systematically bombed by the Luftwaffe for 56 out of the following 57 days, on 15 September 1940, a large daylight attack against London was repulsed with significant German losses. Thereafter, the Luftwaffe gradually decreased daylight operations in favour of nocturnal attacks, ports and industrial centres outside London were also attacked. The main Atlantic sea port of Liverpool was bombed, the North Sea port of Hull, a convenient and easily found target or secondary target for bombers unable to locate their primary targets, was subjected to raids in the Hull Blitz during the war. More than one million London houses were destroyed or damaged and more than 40,000 civilians were killed, by May 1941, the threat of an invasion of Britain had ended, and Hitlers attention turned to Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. The bombing failed to demoralise the British into surrender or significantly damage the war economy, the eight months of bombing never seriously hampered British production and the war industries continued to operate and expand. The German offensives greatest effect was forcing the dispersal of aircraft production, British wartime studies concluded that cities generally took 10 to 15 days to recover when hit severely but exceptions like Birmingham took three months. The German air offensive failed for several reasons, discussions in OKL revolved around tactics rather than strategy. Poor intelligence on British industry and economic efficiency was also a factor, in the 1920s and 1930s, air power theorists Giulio Douhet and Billy Mitchell espoused the idea that air forces could win wars, without a need for land and sea fighting. It was thought there was no defence against air attack, particularly at night, enemy industry, seats of government, factories and communications could be destroyed, taking away their means to resist. It was also thought the bombing of residential centres would cause a collapse of civilian will, democracies, where the populace was allowed to show overt disapproval of the state, were thought particularly vulnerable. This thinking was prevalent in both the RAF and the United States Army Air Corps, the policy of RAF Bomber Command became an attempt to achieve victory through the destruction of civilian will, communications and industry. In the Luftwaffe, there was a view of strategic bombing. OKL did not believe that air power alone could be decisive, contrary to popular belief, evidence suggests that the Luftwaffe did not adopt an official bombing policy in which civilians became the primary target until 1942. The vital industries and transport centres that would be targeted for shutdown were valid military targets and it could be claimed civilians were not to be targeted directly, but the breakdown of production would affect their morale and will to fight. German legal scholars of the 1930s carefully worked out guidelines for what type of bombing was permissible under international law. Wever outlined five points of air strategy, To destroy the air force by bombing its bases and aircraft factories
10.
Burma Campaign
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The Burmese Independence Army was trained by the Japanese and spearheaded the initial attacks against British Empire forces. The campaign had a number of notable features, the geographical characteristics of the region meant that factors like weather, disease and terrain had a major effect on operations. The lack of transport infrastructure placed an emphasis on engineering and air transport to move and supply troops. The campaign was politically complex, with the British, the United States. It was also the land campaign by the Western Allies in the Pacific Theatre which proceeded continuously from the start of hostilities to the end of the war. This was due to its geographical location, the climate of the region is dominated by the seasonal monsoon rains, which allowed effective campaigning for only just over half of each year. Japanese objectives in Burma were initially limited to the capture of Rangoon and this would close the overland supply line to China and provide a strategic bulwark to defend Japanese gains in British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese successfully attacked over the Kawkareik Pass, and captured the port of Moulmein at the mouth of the Salween River after overcoming stiff resistance and they then advanced northwards, outflanking successive British defensive positions. Troops of the 17th Indian Infantry Division tried to retreat over the Sittaung River, on 22 February, the bridge was demolished to prevent its capture, a decision that has since been extremely contentious. The loss of two brigades of 17th Indian Division meant that Rangoon could not be defended, although some units arrived, counterattacks failed and the new commander of Burma Army, ordered the city to be evacuated on 7 March after its port and oil refinery had been destroyed. The remnants of Burma Army broke out to the north, narrowly escaping encirclement, with the effective collapse of the entire defensive line, there was little choice left other than an overland retreat to India or to Yunnan. After the fall of Rangoon in March 1942, the Allies attempted to make a stand in the north of the country, having been reinforced by a Chinese Expeditionary Force. The Japanese had also reinforced by two divisions made available by the capture of Singapore, and defeated both the newly organised Burma Corps and the Chinese force. The Allies were also faced with growing numbers of Burmese insurgents, with their forces cut off from almost all sources of supply, the Allied commanders finally decided to evacuate their forces from Burma. The retreat was conducted in very difficult circumstances, starving refugees, disorganised stragglers, and the sick and wounded clogged the primitive roads and tracks leading to India. Burma Corps managed to make it most of the way to Imphal, in Manipur in India just before the monsoon broke in May 1942, having lost most of their equipment, there, they found themselves living out in the open under torrential rains in extremely unhealthy circumstances. The army and civil authorities in India were very slow to respond to the needs of the troops, due to lack of communication, when the British retreated from Burma, almost none of the Chinese knew about the retreat. After recuperating they were re-equipped and retrained by American instructors, the rest of the Chinese troops tried to return to Yunnan through remote mountainous forests and out of these, at least half died
11.
William Gell (RAF officer)
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Air Vice Marshal William Charles Coleman Gell, CB, DSO & Bar, MC, TD, DL was a Royal Air Force officer who served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at RAF Balloon Command from 1944 to 1945. Educated at the University of Cambridge, where he gained an MA degree in Law Gell was commissioned into the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1911. Gell was commissioned into 7th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment on 12 May 1911, from 21 January 1912 he transferred to 5th and 6th Battalions The Royal Warwickshire Regiment still a Second Lieutenant. This was a unit of the Territorial Army, almost all officers, gells profession was a junior solicitor. Gell served in the First World War and commanded the 5th/6th Battalion in France, on 1 January 1917 his bravery still as a lieutenant and acting captain during his service in France was rewarded with a rare appointment as a junior officer, to the Distinguished Service Order. The Italian government awarded him the Silver Medal of Military Valor and he continued to serve in the Territorial Army. Gell married Edith Maud Gosling on 30 January 1923 in Maidstone, while serving as a lieutenant colonel in command of 5th Battalion Royal Warwicks, Gell was awarded the Territorial Decoration for his long and distinguished service in the Territorial Army. On 26 August 1931 Gell, who was living at the Croft, Blossomfield. He joined the Anti Aircraft Service of the Territorial Army in 1935, in 1937 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 5th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, of which he had been commanding officer in 1924–29. On 18 Jan 1939 Gell was appointed to a commission in the Auxiliary Air Force in the rank of wing commander Officer Commanding, No 6 Balloon Centre, Auxiliary Air Force. During the Second World War, Gell served as Officer Commanding No.5, Gell was promoted to group captain in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force on 1 September 1940. In January 1941 the RAF List shows him as the group captain in the RAF Balloon Section date 1 September 1940. Following wartime service Gell again returned to practice with Johnson
12.
Volunteer Force
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The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated with the British Army after the Childers Reforms in 1881, most of the regiments of the present Territorial Army Infantry, Artillery, Engineers and Signals units are directly descended from Volunteer Force units. During the Crimean War, the War Office had been forced to send militia, the situation had been complicated by the fact that both auxiliary forces were under the control of the Home Office until 1855. Tensions rose between the United Kingdom and France following the Orsini affair, an attempt on Emperor Napoleon III on 14 January 1858. It emerged that the assassin, Felice Orsini had travelled to England to have the bombs used in the attack manufactured in Birmingham. On 29 April 1859 war broke out between France and the Austrian Empire, and there were fears that Britain might be caught up in a wider European conflict. Volunteer corps were to be raised under the provisions of the Volunteer Act 1804, alfred Tennyson captured the spirit of the time by publishing his poem Riflemen Form in The Times on 9 May 1859. As a basis for the units, many communities had rifle clubs for the enjoyment of the sport of shooting, Corps were only to be formed on the recommendation of the county’s lord-lieutenant. The force was liable to be called out “in case of invasion, or of appearance of an enemy in force on the coast, or in case of rebellion arising in either of these emergencies. ”While under arms volunteers were subject to military law and were entitled to be billeted. Members were not permitted to quit the force during actual military service, members were to be returned as “effective” if they had attended eight days drill and exercise in four months, or 24 days within a year. The members of the corps were to provide their own arms and equipment, Volunteers were also permitted to choose the design of their uniforms, subject to the lord-lieutenant’s approval. Although volunteers were to pay for their own firearms, they were to be provided under the superintendence of the War Office, the number of officers and private men in each county and corps was to be settled by the war office, based on the lord-lieutenant’s recommendation. Originally corps were to consist of approximately 100 all ranks under the command of a captain, the purpose of the rifle corps was to harass the invading enemy’s flanks, while artillery corps were to man coastal guns and forts. Although not mentioned in the letter, engineer corps were also formed. Stretcher-bearers attached to the rifle corps subsequently formed volunteer medical detachments affiliated to the Army Medical Corps, in a handful of counties, units of light horse or mounted rifles were formed. Two volunteer units whose services had been accepted by Queen Victoria during the early 1850s became the two senior rifle corps of the new force and these were the 1st Rifle Volunteer Corps who became the 1st Devonshire Rifle Volunteers and the Victoria Rifles who became the 1st Middlesex Rifle Volunteers. An order of precedence was established for other counties, depending upon the date of establishment of the first corps in the county. The most senior artillery corps was the 1st Northumberland formed at Tynemouth on August 2,1859, some also compared the initiative, small unit tactics and marksmanship principles of rifle regiments of the Napoleonic Wars compared with the linear tactics of the standing army
13.
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
14.
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
15.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
16.
Colonel (United Kingdom)
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Colonel is a rank of the British Army and Royal Marines, ranking below brigadier, and above lieutenant colonel. British colonels are not usually field commanders, typically they serve as staff officers between field commands at battalion and brigade level, the insignia is two diamond-shaped pips below a crown. The crown has varied in the past with different monarchs, the current Queens reign has used St Edwards Crown, the rank is equivalent to captain in the Royal Navy and group captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of colonel was popularized by the tercios that were employed in the Spanish Army during the 16th and 17th centuries, general Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba divided his troops in to coronelías ). These units were led by a coronel and this command structure and its titles were soon adopted as colonello in early modern Italian and in Middle French as coronel. The modern English pronunciation of the word is derived from the French variant, the British Army has historically been organized around the regiment, with each regiment being raised, uniformed, and equipped or either directly by the crown or by a nobleman. By the end of 17th century in Great Britain, the colonel of a regiment was often a person who had been given Royal Assent to raise it for service. As such, he was required to cover all costs of the equipment, uniforms. Until the late 18th century most British regiments were known by the name of the colonelcy. It occasionally raised its own fighting units, such as battoemen, the reforms meant that the British government was now financially responsible for the pay, clothing and equipment of the troops in the service of the British Crown. Colonels were also no longer permitted to directly from the sale of officer commissions in their regiments. A lieutenant-colonel commanded the regiment in battle, by the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars, the title colonel of the regiment had become a sinecure appointment for distinguished generals and members of the royal family or British nobility. Despite an individual only being permitted to hold one colonelcy, it was a position as they were in financial charge of their regiments allowance from the government. This meant they could hope to make a profit on the allocated for equipment, supplies. As generals were mostly on half-pay, a colonelcy was a method of providing them with extra income, however it should be noted that many colonels spent large sums of their own money on their regiments. Some of the duties associated with the title Colonel of the Regiment continue to be used in the modern British Army. The ceremonial position is often conferred on retired general officers, brigadiers or colonels who have a link to a particular regiment. Non-military personnel, usually for positions within the Army Reserve may also be appointed to the ceremonial position, when attending functions as Colonel of the Regiment, the titleholder wears the regimental uniform with rank insignia of colonel, regardless of their official rank
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Scots Guards
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The Scots Guards, part of the Guards Division, is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Their origins lie in the bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced as far back as 1642, although it was placed on the English Establishment in 1686. In April 1809 the 1st Battalion made their way to the Iberian Peninsula where they were to part in the Peninsular War in Portugal. In late July 1809 the regiment took part in the Battle of Talavera, the 2nd Battalions flank companies took part in the disastrous Walcheren Campaign in the Low Countries. The 1st Battalion, part of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division, was part of the British Expeditionary Force which arrived in France in 1914. The Battalion took part in the Battle of Mons in August 1914, the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914 and the Battle of the Aisne also in September 1914. The 1st and 2nd Battalions then took part in the First Battle of Ypres in November 1914, the Battle of Aubers Ridge in May 1915 and the Battle of Loos in September 1915. In July 1916 the Scots Guards took part in the first Battle of the Somme and in July 1917, in March 1918 they fought at the second Battle of the Somme and in Autumn the regiment took part in the final battles of the war on the Western Front. In April 1940, the 1st Battalion, as part of the 24th Guards Brigade, took part in its first campaign of the war, during the expedition to Norway. In North Africa, as part of the 22nd Guards Brigade, in North Africa, in March 1943, the 2nd Battalion took part in the defensive Battle of Medenine, after the Germans had counter-attacked the Allies. In September 1943, the 2nd Battalion, as part of the 201st Guards Brigade of the 56th Division, in December 1943, the 1st Battalion, as part of 24th Guards Brigade, arrived in the Italian Theatre. At the Battle of Monte Cassino in early 1944, the 2nd Battalion suffered heavy casualties in tough fighting, the 1st Battalion, as part of its brigade, joined the 6th South African Armoured Division in May 1944. The regiment took part in many engagements throughout 1944, including those against the Gothic Line. The 2nd Battalion was once involved in war when it deployed to Malaya during the Malayan Emergency. Then in late 1951, the 1st Battalion was deployed to Cyprus and in February 1952, both the 1st and 2nd Battalion deployed to Northern Ireland during the Troubles in the early 1970s. During the Falklands War in 1982 the main force of the Scots Guards began its advance on the side of Mount Tumbledown. In 2004 the 1st Battalion deployed to Iraq on a 6-month posting as part of 4th Armoured Brigade, the 4th Brigade relieved 1st Mechanised Brigade, and joined the Multi-National Division, which was under UK command
18.
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
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Bengal Army
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The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. In 1895 all three armies were merged into the Indian Army. The Bengal Army originated with the establishment of a European Regiment in 1756, in 1757 the first locally recruited unit of Bengal sepoys was created in the form of the Lal Paltan battalion. It was recruited from Bhumihar, Bihari Rajputs and Pathan soldiers that had served in the Nawabs Army from Bihar, there were actually no soldiers from the modern Bengal region. Drilled and armed along British army lines this force served well at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and 20 more Indian battalions were raised by 1764. In 1824 the Bengal Army underwent reorganisation, with the infantry being grouped into 68 single battalion regiments numbered according to their date of establishment. Nine additional infantry regiments were raised, though several existing units were disbanded between 1826 and 1843. On the eve of the First Afghan War the Bengal Army had achieved a dominant role in the forces of the HEIC, there were 74 battalions of Bengal regular infantry against only 52 from Madras,26 from Bombay and 24 British. A new feature in the Bengal Army was the creation of irregular infantry and cavalry regiments during the 1840s and these were permanently established units but with less formal drill and fewer British officers than the regular Bengal line regiments. The main source of recruitment continued to be high caste Brahmins and Rajputs from Bihar and Oudh, during the 1840s and early 1850s numbers of Nepalese Gurkhas and Sikhs from the Punjab were however accepted in the Bengal Army. Both Gurkhas and Sikhs served in separate units but some of the latter were incorporated into existing Bengal infantry regiments, two of these BNI regiments were serving in China in 1857 and so escaped any involvement in the great rebellion of that year. A total of 64 Bengal Army regular infantry and cavalry regiments rebelled during the Indian Mutiny, from 1858 onwards the actual high-caste Awadhi and Bihari Hindu presence in the Bengal Army was reduced because of their perceived primary role as mutineers in the 1857 rebellion. A largely unspoken rationale was that an army of diverse origins was unlikely to unite in rebellion, in 1895 the three separate Presidency Armies were abolished and the Army of India was divided into four commands, each commanded by a lieutenant-general. These comprised Madras, Punjab, Bengal and Bombay, the Bengal infantry units in existence at the end of the Presidency era continued as the senior regiments (1st Brahmans to 48th Pioneers of the newly unified Indian Army. Prior to 1857, and despite the name, the actual ethnic Bengali presence was minimal to non-existent, the Bengal Army of the East India Company was mainly recruited from high castes living in Bihar and the Awadh, especially Bihari Rajputs and Bhumihars who were referred to as Purbiyas. Governor Generals Bodyguard 1st to 10th Bengal Light Cavalry Regiments, eight of these regular regiments mutinied and two were disbanded during 1857–58. None were carried over into the post-Mutiny army, 1st to 4th Bengal European Light Cavalry Regiments. Recruited hastily in Britain in November 1857 to replace the eight regiments of Bengal Light Cavalry which had mutinied, the mention of European in the name indicated that it consisted of white soldiers rather than Indian sowars
20.
King Edward's School, Birmingham
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King Edwards School is an independent day school for boys in Edgbaston, an area of Birmingham, England. Founded by King Edward VI in 1552, it is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham and it was ranked 7th in England in the Secondary school league tables in 2013. It is a school, although it shares the site. Whilst the two schools are run separately, dramatic arts, societies, music and other events are often shared. The shared area is called Winterbourne after the nearby Winterbourne Botanic Garden, the Foundation was created on 2 January 1552 by Royal Charter of King Edward VI together with £20 per annum returned by The Crown for educational purposes. The Guild of the Holy Cross in Birmingham had no school, the charter of the free Grammer Schole of King Edward VI was issued on 2 January 1552, and the school came into being in the former guild building on New Street. By the 1680s there were neer 200 boys in the school, in the latter part of the 18th Century four separate elementary schools and a girls school were set up by the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI. The school remained relatively stagnant after this until Francis Jeune was appointed Headmaster in 1835 and he erected a new building on the same site, in the Gothic Style of architecture. This was designed by Charles Barry, who employed Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin for aspects of the design, generally held to be Big School and, less certainly. From within this new building came several changes in the curriculum. Sports became an important feature, through games afternoons, and the dominance of Classics was lessened by the introduction of mathematics, ironically, the temporary buildings erected on the new site in 1936 burnt down. The school was forced to move, if only for a time, to the University of Birminghams Great Hall. The move was complicated by the outbreak of the Second World War, by 1940 enough of the new buildings designed by Holland W. Hobbiss had been built for the school to begin lessons. In 1945 the schools became direct grant grammar schools, which meant that the Governors had to some control over the running of the school. In 1976 the two became, once again, independent schools, due to the termination of the Direct Grant scheme by the then Prime Minister Harold Wilson. The school remains independent and is still on the Edgbaston site, in 2010 the school replaced A levels with the International Baccalaureate diploma. The chapel, a Grade II* listed building, was part of the upper corridor of the 1838 New Street school. It was moved brick by brick to Edgbaston by Holland W Hobbis, another glory of the School, the great desk of the Chief Master, with Sapientia inscribed over it survives from Barrys New Street school, and is still in daily use in Big School
21.
Shades of green
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Varieties of the color green may differ in hue, chroma or lightness, or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called tints and shades, a tint being a green or other hue mixed with white, a large selection of these various colors is shown below. Green is common in nature, especially in plants, many plants are green mainly because of a complex chemical known as chlorophyll which is involved in photosynthesis. Many shades of green have been named after plants or are related to plants, due to varying ratios of chlorophylls, the plant kingdom exhibits many shades of green in both hue and value. Artichoke is a color that is a representation of the color of a raw fresh uncooked artichoke, another name for this color is artichoke green. The first recorded use of green as a color name in English was in 1905. This is the color called green in Pantone. The source is Pantone 18-0125 TPX Asparagus is a tone of green that is named after the vegetable, Crayola created this color in 1993 as one of the 16 to be named in the Name the Color Contest. It is also the color of a wild asparagus plant blowing in the wind of the 1949 classic film Sands of Iwo Jima, another name for this color is asparagus green. The first recorded use of green as a color name in English was in 1805. Avocado is a color that is a representation of the color of the surface of an avocado. The color avocado is a dark yellow-green color, avocado was a common color for metal surfaces, as well as the color harvest gold, during the whole decade of the 1970s. They were both also popular colors for shag carpets, both colors went out of style by the early 1980s. Dark green is a shade of green. A different shade of green has been designated as green for certain computer uses. Fern green is a color that resembles ferns, a Crayola crayon named fern was created in 1998, which is a lighter shade of the top color shown on the right. The first recorded use of green as a color name in English was in 1902. Forest green refers to a green color said to resemble the color of the trees, the first recorded use of forest green as the name of a color in the English language was in 1810
22.
Order of the Bath
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The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the medieval ceremony for appointing a knight. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath, George I erected the Knights of the Bath into a regular Military Order. Prior to 1815, the order had only a class, Knight Companion. Recipients of the Order are now usually senior officers or senior civil servants. Commonwealth citizens who are not subjects of the Queen and foreign nationals may be made Honorary Members, in the Middle Ages, knighthood was often conferred with elaborate ceremonies. These usually involved the taking a bath during which he was instructed in the duties of knighthood by more senior knights. He was then put to bed to dry, clothed in a special robe, he was led with music to the chapel where he spent the night in a vigil. At dawn he made confession and attended Mass, then retired to his bed to sleep until it was fully daylight, in the early medieval period the difference seems to have been that the full ceremonies were used for men from more prominent families. Knights Bachelor continued to be created with the form of ceremony. The last occasion on which Knights of the Bath were created was the coronation of Charles II in 1661. From at least 1625, and possibly from the reign of James I, Knights of the Bath were using the motto Tria iuncta in uno, and wearing as a badge three crowns within a plain gold oval. These were both adopted by the Order of the Bath, a similar design of badge is still worn by members of the Civil Division. Their symbolism however is not entirely clear, the three joined in one may be a reference to the kingdoms of England, Scotland and either France or Ireland, which were held by English and, later, British monarchs. This would correspond to the three crowns in the badge, another explanation of the motto is that it refers to the Holy Trinity. The prime mover in the establishment of the Order of the Bath was John Anstis, Garter King of Arms, the Court remained the centre of the political world. The King was limited in that he had to choose Ministers who could command a majority in Parliament, the leader of an administration still had to command the Kings personal confidence and approval. A strong following in Parliament depended on being able to supply places, pensions, the attraction of the new Order for Walpole was that it would provide a source of such favours to strengthen his political position
23.
8th Foot
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As infantry of the line, the 8th peacetime responsibilities included service overseas in garrisons ranging from British North America, the Ionian Islands, India, and the British West Indies. The duration of these varied considerably, sometimes exceeding a decade, its first tour of North America began in 1768. As a consequence of Childers reforms, the 8th became the Kings, a pre-existing affiliation with the city had derived from its depot being situated in Liverpool from 1873 because of the earlier Cardwell reforms. The regiment formed as the Princess Anne of Denmarks Regiment of Foot during a rebellion in 1685 by the son of King Charles II against King James II. His replacement as commanding officer was Colonel John Beaumont, who had earlier been dismissed with six officers for refusing to accept a draft of Catholics and it took part in the Siege of Carrickfergus in Ireland in 1689 and in the Battle of the Boyne the following year. Further actions, while under the command of John Churchill took place that year involving the regiment during the sieges of Limerick, Cork and Kinsale. For almost a decade, the regiment undertook garrison duties in England, Ireland, and the Dutch United Provinces, where it paraded for King William on Breda Heath in September 1701. The War of the Spanish Succession, predicated on a dispute between a Grand Alliance and France over who would succeed Charles II of Spain, reached the Low Countries in April 1702. Supporting Athlones army, the Queens Regiment fought near Nijmegen in an action during the Dutch Armys retreat between the Maas and Rhine rivers. He invaded the French-controlled Spanish Netherlands and presided over a series of sieges at Venlo, Roermond, Stevensweert, later in the year, the regiment assisted in the capture of Huy and Limbourg, but the campaigns in 1702 and 1703 nevertheless were largely indecisive. As an army of 40,000 men assembled, Marlboroughs elaborate programme of deception concealed his intentions from the French, the army invaded Bavaria on 2 July and promptly captured the Schellenberg after a devastating assault that included a contingent from the Queens. On 13 August, the Allies encountered a Franco-Bavarian army under the command of the duc de Tallard. The Queens Regiment, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Sutton, supported General Lord Cutts left wing, Blenheim had become congested with French soldiers and its streets filled with dead and wounded. About 13,000 French soldiers eventually surrendered, including Tallard, the effective collapse of Bavaria as a French ally and the capture of its most significant fortresses followed Blenheim by years end. After a period of recuperation and reinforcement in Nijmegen and Breda, in June, French Marshal Villeroi captured Huy and besieged Liège, forcing Marlborough to abort a campaign that lacked appreciable Allied support. The Queens helped to seize Neerwinden, Neerhespen, and the bridge at Elixheim, in May 1706, Villeroi, pressured by King Louis XIV to atone for Frances earlier defeats, initiated an offensive in the Low Countries by crossing the Dyle river. Marlborough engaged Villerois army near Ramillies on 23 May, along with 11 battalions and 39 squadrons of cavalry under Lord Orkney, the Queens fought initially in what transpired to be a feint attack on the left flank of the French lines. The feint convinced Villeroi to divert troops from the centre, while Marlborough had to use representatives to repeatedly instruct Orkney not to continue the attack, most of Orkneys battalions, including the Queens, redeployed to support Marlborough on the left
24.
Royal Munster Fusiliers
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The Royal Munster Fusiliers was a regular infantry regiment of the British Army. One of eight Irish regiments raised largely in Ireland, it had its depot in Tralee. It was originally formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of two regiments of the former East India Company and it served in India and in the Great War. Following establishment of the independent Irish Free State in 1922, the five regiments that had their recruiting grounds in the counties of the new state were disbanded. The regiment won three Victoria Crosses in the Great War, there followed the localisation of recruiting districts in England between 1873 and 1874 under the Cardwell Reforms. Five of the European infantry battalions were given Irish territorial titles under the Childers Reforms of 1881, the first and second Royal Munster Fusiliers battalions were the former Bengal Fusilier regiments, the higher number battalions were the militia units. The Reforms linked regiments to recruiting areas – in this case the counties of Clare, Cork, Kerry, militarily, the whole of Ireland was administered as a separate command with Command Headquarters at Parkgate Dublin, directly under the War Office in London. The regimental depot was located at Ballymullen Barracks, Tralee, Co, following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in South Africa in late 1899, a number of regiments containing large centres of population formed additional regular battalions. The Royal Munster Fusiliers formed 3rd and 4th regular Battalions in February 1900, prior to the First World War the regiment consisted of two regular service and two reserve battalions. In August 1914 the need for further divisions resulted in the creation of a New Army, subsequently the Royal Munster Fusiliers had a total of 11 raised battalions. At the outbreak of war the 1st Munsters battalion was acting as a garrison in Rangoon. Their last home station had been Fermoy in 1899 and they arrived back at Avonmouth, UK in January 1915, and were entrained for Coventry where it was assigned to the 86th Brigade of the 29th Division. In March it sailed for the Dardanelles, Turkey, when it numbered 28 officers and 1,002 other ranks, the ship ran gently ashore, its exit bows facing the beach, for what was to be the grossly mismanaged British V beach landing at Cape Helles. Small boats first carried companies of Dubliners to the beach, when four hidden Turkish machine gun opened fire. Lighters to the shore were roped together, two companies of Munsters pouring out on to the bows gangway also to be slaughtered like rats in a trap. Those who jumped to one side, drowned under their heavy equipment, the withering fire continued as they came down the gangways and were mown down until all boats and lighters were filled with dead and the bay a red sea of blood. The ships commanding officer, Captain Edward Unwin, on being informed that they were not succeeding, replied in British military tradition, Unwin was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions that day. At daybreak next day just three companies of Munsters, two of Hampshires and one company Dubliners had made it to the shelter of some dunes, on the 26th they took fort Sedd-el-Bahr overlooking the bay, charging and taking the village behind
25.
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
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Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the county of Warwickshire. Its 50 overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears and its T20 team the Birmingham Bears, Warwickshires kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor is Gullivers Sports Travel. The clubs home is Edgbaston Cricket Ground in south Birmingham, which regularly hosts Test, the Warwickshire & Staffordshire Journal was certainly aware of the sport in 1738 for it carried a report of a London v Mitcham game at the Artillery Ground on 11 August. The earliest confirmed reference to cricket in the county is an announcement in Aris’ Gazette on 15 July 1751. There was a prominent club in Coventry towards the end of the 18th century which played two well-documented matches against Leicester in 1787 and 1788, reports of both games are included in Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket by G. B. Leicester won both games by 45 and 28 runs respectively, Warwickshire CCC was officially founded on 8 April 1882 at a meeting in The Regent Hotel, Leamington Spa. The club developed so well that by the time of the first official County Championship in 1890 it was playing some of the top first-class counties such as Surrey, Warwickshire became first-class themselves in 1894 and surprised the cricket world with wins over Surrey at The Oval and Nottinghamshire. They competed in the County Championship from 1895 but despite being strong in batting, their bowling was, until the arrival of Sam Hargreave and Frank Field in 1899, very weak. In 1911 he headed both batting and bowling averages and, along with a fully fit Frank Field, enabled Warwickshire to take the Championship from the Big Six for the time between 1890 and 1935. In 1919, with Foster having had an accident that ended his short career, Warwickshire fell to last in the table. They did not improve a great deal until the 1930s when Bob Wyatts captaincy and the bowling of Mayer, Paine and Hollies moved them to fourth in 1934, but as Paine rapidly declined, they fell away. When Wyatt left for Worcestershire after World War II, they declined even further despite Hollies wonderful bowling in 1946 – with no support at all, he took 175 wickets for only 15 each. The acquisition of New Zealand speedster Tom Pritchard gave Hollies the necessary support and it was this bowling power, along with effective if not wonderful batting, that gave them the Championship in 1951. However, as with 1911, they fell off rapidly as their batting became unreliable over the rest of the decade, after Hollies retirement in 1957, there were some very poor seasons until Tom Cartwright emerged as a top-class seam bowler in 1962. The county came second in 1964, but did not establish itself at the top until the late 1960s, in 1971 Lance Gibbs magnificent bowling enabled them to come second, whilst brilliant batting gave them a clear Championship win in 1972. Yet again, though, a Championship win was followed by a decline, in 1981 and 1982, with Bob Willis doing nothing for them whilst producing match-winning form for England, they averaged over 45 runs for each wicket they took – still a record. Only under the coaching of Bob Woolmer and captaincy of Dermot Reeve did the team become consistently successful, in 1994 they secured a historic treble, winning the County Championship, Axa Equity & Law League and Benson & Hedges Cup
26.
Bingley Hall
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Bingley Hall in Birmingham was the first purpose-built exhibition hall in Great Britain. It was built in 1850 and burned down in 1984, the International Convention Centre now stands on the site. This exhibition was visited by Charles Darwin, and also on 12 November by Prince Albert, bingley House was built about 1760 as Byngas Hall and was the home of James Farmer, whose daughter married Charles Lloyd. The house and its land were bought by a company in order to build the railway tunnel for the Birmingham, Wolverhampton. Bingley Hall was built by Messrs Branson and Gwyther, for £6,000 in six weeks in 1850 and it was built in the Roman Doric style using red and blue bricks. Covering one and a quarter acres internally, it measured 224 feet by 221 feet, used 11,700 feet of 21-inch glass, and had ten entrance doors. During its life, it was used as a venue for the Birmingham Dog Show, cattle shows, chrysanthemum shows, circus, boxing, cinema and it had a cycle track used for competitions. It was used as a meeting space. Gladstone held a meeting in November 1888, following Joseph Chamberlains split from the Liberal Party over Irish Home Rule. The speech was recorded by the journal Political World on an Edison phonograph shipped from New York – the first political speech recorded, chamberlain himself spoke there before an audience of some 10,000 people in November 1903, during his campaign for fiscal reform. The hall was used repeatedly for meetings and conversions by various non-conformist religions, including the Elim Pentecostal Church in 1930, the International Convention Centre and Symphony Hall now stand in its place
27.
Royal Warwickshire Regiment
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The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War. On 1 May 1963, the regiment was re-titled, for the time, as the Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers. The regiment traces its origins to the 17th century, in the Netherlands in 1674, the government retained two regiments of English troops, two of Scots and one Irish. In 1685, when James II requested their services during the Duke of Monmouths rebellion, after Monmouths defeat, they returned to the Netherlands. However, when William III became king of England in 1688, they accompanied him, the 6th was nicknamed the Dutch Guards by William. Service in Ireland followed and the regiment was present at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, campaigning in Flanders during 1692-1695 followed, with the Battle of Steenkerque in August 1692 and the Siege of Namur in July 1695, which was the 6ths first battle honour. During the War of the Spanish Succession, the 6th was in Spain and Portugal fighting the armies of Spain, the regiment fought at Barcelona in 1706 and suffered heavy casualties at Almanza in 1707. In 1710, the 6th played a part in the victory of Almenar and won undying fame at Saragossa. The regiments next conflict was the Jacobite rising of 1745, the 6th was sent to secure the highland forts between Inverness and Fort William. Two companies were with the army under General Sir John Cope at the Battle of Prestonpans. The 6th also defended Fort William, beating off every attack as all the highland forts surrendered. The regiment went to Gibraltar in 1753 before moving on to the West Indies on garrison duty in 1772. On the outbreak of the American War of Independence, detachments from the 6th arrived in New York in 1776 and saw action, but were of insufficient strength and were sent home. When, as an aid to recruiting, territorial links of infantry regiments were first established in 1782, the 1st Battalion went from Gibraltar to the Iberian Peninsula and was at Roliça and Vimeiro in 1808. The battalion took part in the Corunna, losing 400 men during the march, the men were then shipped to UK before taking part in the Walcheren Campaign before returning to the Peninsula in 1812. The regiment was present at Vitoria in 1813 and heavily engaged at the action at Roncesvalles. The regiment was held in reserve at the Nive and was heavily engaged at Orthez in 1814
28.
Militia (United Kingdom)
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The Militia of the United Kingdom were the military reserve forces of the United Kingdom after the Union in 1801 of the former Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland. The militia was transformed into the Special Reserve by the Territorial, for the period before the creation of the United Kingdom, in the home countries and their colonies, see Militia. A separate voluntary Local Militia was created in 1808 before being disbanded in 1816 By 1813 the British Army was experiencing a shortage of manpower to maintain their battalions at full strength. Some consideration was given to recruiting foreign nationals, however on 4 November 1813 a bill was introduced to parliament to allow Militia volunteers to serve in Europe. In the event only three battalions were raised and these were sent to serve under Henry Bayly arriving in Bordeaux on 12 April 1814, although muster rolls were prepared as late as 1820, the element of compulsion was abandoned, and the militia was transformed into a volunteer force. It was intended to be seen as an alternative to the army, men would volunteer and undertake basic training for several months at an army depot. Thereafter, they would return to life, but report for regular periods of military training. In return, they would receive pay and a financial retainer. Of course, many saw the camp as the equivalent of a paid holiday. The militia thus appealed to agricultural labourers, colliers and the like, men in casual occupations, until 1861 the militia were an entirely infantry force, but in that year a number of county regiments were converted to artillery. In 1877 the militia of Anglesey and Monmouthshire were converted to engineers, typically, an English, Welsh or Scottish regiment would have two militia battalions and Irish regiments three. The militia must not be confused with the units created in a wave of enthusiasm in the second half of the nineteenth century. In contrast with the Volunteer Force, and the similar Yeomanry Cavalry, the militia was transformed into the Special Reserve by the military reforms of Haldane in the reforming post 1906 Liberal government. In 1908 the militia battalions were redesignated as reserve and a number were amalgamated or disbanded. Numbered Territorial Force battalions, ranking after the Special Reserve, were formed from the units at the same time. Altogether,101 infantry battalions,33 artillery regiments and two regiments of special reservists were formed. Upon mobilisation, the reserve units would be formed at the depot. The original militiamen soon disappeared, and the battalions became training units pure, the Special Reserve reverted to its militia designation in 1921, then to Supplementary Reserve in 1924, though the units were effectively placed in suspended animation until disbanded in 1953
29.
Birmingham University
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The University of Birmingham is a public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It is a member of both the Russell Group of British research universities and the international network of research universities, Universitas 21. The university was ranked 15th in the UK and 82nd in the world in the QS World University Rankings for 2016-17, in 2013, Birmingham was named University of the Year 2014 in the Times Higher Education awards. The 2016 Global Employability University Ranking places Birmingham at 90th world-wide, Birmingham is also ranked 9th in the UK for Graduate Prospects in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017. The student population includes 21,495 undergraduate and 12,335 postgraduate students, the annual income of the institution for 2015–16 was £625.6 million of which £135.5 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £562.1 million. Academics and alumni of the university include former British Prime Ministers Neville Chamberlain, and Stanley Baldwin and these classes were the first ever held outside London or south of the Scottish border in the winter of 1767–68. The first clinical teaching was undertaken by medical and surgical apprentices at the General Hospital, the medical school which grew out of the Birmingham Workhouse Infirmary was founded in 1828 but Cox began teaching in December 1825. Queen Victoria granted her patronage to the Clinical Hospital in Birmingham and it was the first provincial teaching hospital in England. In 1843, the college became known as Queens College. The college was founded in 1875 and it was this institution that would eventually form the nucleus of the University of Birmingham. In 1882, the Departments of Chemistry, Botany and Physiology were transferred to Mason Science College, soon followed by the Departments of Physics and Comparative Anatomy. The transfer of the Medical School to Mason Science College gave considerable impetus to the importance of that college. As the result of the Mason University College Act 1897 it became incorporated as Mason University College on 1 January 1898 and it was largely due to Chamberlains enthusiasm that the university was granted a royal charter by Queen Victoria on 24 March 1900. The Calthorpe family offered twenty-five acres of land on the Bournbrook side of their estate in July, the Court of Governors received the Birmingham University Act 1900, which put the royal charter into effect on 31 May. Birmingham was therefore arguably the first so-called red brick university, although several other universities claim this title, the transfer of Mason University College to the new University of Birmingham, with Chamberlain as its first chancellor and Sir Oliver Lodge as the first principal, was complete. All that remained of Josiah Masons legacy was his Mermaid in the chief of the university shield and of his college. It became the first civic and campus university in England, consequently, the faculty, the first of its kind in Britain, was founded by Sir William Ashley in 1901, who from 1902 until 1923 served as first Professor of Commerce and Dean of the Faculty. From 1905 to 1908, Edward Elgar held the position of Peyton Professor of Music at the university and he was succeeded by his friend Granville Bantock
30.
Solihull School
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Solihull School is a coeducational independent school situated near the centre of Solihull, West Midlands, England. Founded in 1560, it is the oldest school in the town and is a member of the HMC. In 1560 the revenues of the chapels of St Mary and St Katherine in the parish church of St Alphege. The revenue of the chapel of St Alphege was added to the six years later. The education remained based in teachings of the Church and the desire to turn out respectable, in the 17th century it became a boarding school and the number of pupils grew. The school became more notable and well thought of owing to the involvement of prominent families. Much of this development came under the Headmastership of the Rev. Richard Mashiter who, in 1735, was elected ahead of Dr Johnson, the celebrated author, essayist. Shorts six sons were all educated at Solihull School and became professionally and socially successful, one of whom, Robert Short, rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the army of The Honourable East India Company and later became 54th Lord of The Manor of Solihull. Owing to an affection for Solihull School he expressly recommended it to his fellow officers and peers. Upon the buildings completion in 1882, the relocated to the new site on the Warwick Road from its previous location on the edge of Brueton Park. School House is now a grade II listed building, expansion continued on this Warwick Road site into the 20th century. Over the course of the 20th century the school grew steadily from 200 to nearly 1000 pupils, in 1960 a new chapel was built and was named The Chapel of St Mary and St Katherine to commemorate the origins of the school. In 1962 the School was visited by Queen Elizabeth II, in the early 1970s the school admitted girls into the Sixth Form for the first time. Only ten girls joined in the first year, but this grew quickly over the following years, the 2015-2016 academic year marked the first girls to go through the whole school from J1 to Upper Sixth. In 2010 Solihull School celebrated its 450th anniversary, both the school and the Old Silhillians Association hosted a range of ceremonial, musical and sporting events to mark the historic occasion. The tree was the idea of Holly Krober who was so moved by her trip to Auschwitz concentration camp that she was determined to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. The school currently occupies a site of approximately 65 acres and this is partly as a result of a former headmaster, Mr Warin Foster Bushell, who in the 1920s bought much of the land himself when the governors refused to finance the purchase out of school funds. On his retirement Bushell sold the fields to the school at no profit, Solihull School has a number of rugby pitches, cricket squares and nets, tennis courts, football pitches and general purpose sports fields
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Royal Leicestershire Regiment
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The Leicestershire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, with a history going back to 1688. On 27 September 1688 a commission was issued to Colonel Solomon Richards to raise a regiment of foot in the London area, in its early years, like other regiments, the regiment was known by the name of its various colonels. Following a failed attempt to break the Siege of Derry in 1689 and it transferred to Portugal in 1704 and took part in the sieges of Valencia de Alcántara, Alburquerque and Badajoz in 1705 as well as the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo in 1706. It also saw action at the Battle of Almansa in April 1807 before returning to England in 1809 and it went to Scotland to suppress the Jacobite rising of 1715 and fought at the Battle of Sheriffmuir in November 1715. In 1726 the regiment moved to Minorca and in 1751 a royal warrant assigned numbers to the regiments of the line, following that war it also saw duty during Pontiacs Rebellion before eventually returning to England in 1767. The regiment embarked for Boston, landing there on New Years Day 1776 and it saw action at the Battle of Long Island in August 1776, the Battle of White Plains in October 1776 and the Battle of Fort Washington in November 1776. Several companies were captured at the Battle of Stony Point in July 1779 by a daring bayonet charge by Mad Anthony Wayne. The regiment was in action again at the Battle of Guilford Court House in March 1781, the regiment became the 17th Regiment of Foot. The regiment moved to Nova Scotia in 1783 before returning to England in 1786, in 1804 the regiment moved to India, and remained there until 1823. In 1825 the regiment was granted the badge of a tiger to recall their long service in the sub-continent. The Regiment was posted to New South Wales from 1830 to 1836, the regiment returned to India in 1837, and then took part in the Battle of Ghazni in July 1839 and the Battle of Khelat in November 1839 during the First Anglo-Afghan War. The regiment next came under fire at the Siege of Sevastopol in winter 1854 during the Crimean War, in 1858 a second battalion was raised. Together these formed a battalion, which became the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment in 1880. By 1900, when the unit provided a detachment of volunteers to serve alongside the Regulars during the Second Boer War, under the reforms the regiment became The Leicestershire Regiment on 1 July 1881. The 1st and 3rd battalions fought in the Second Boer War 1899 –1902, the 2nd Battalion was stationed as a garrison regiment in Ireland from 1896, and in Egypt from February 1900. In 1908, with the creation of the Territorial Force, the 1st Volunteer Battalion formed the 4th and 5th Battalions, there was a minor controversy in the same year, when new colours were issued to the 1st Battalion to replace those of the 17th foot. A green tiger had been shown on the old colours and the regiment refused to take the new issue into use, the issue was resolved when the regiment received permission for the royal tiger emblazoned on the regimental colours to be coloured green with gold stripes. In the First World War, the regiment increased from five to nineteen battalions which served in France and Flanders, Mesopotamia, the 1st Battalion landed at Saint-Nazaire as part of the 16th Infantry Brigade in the 6th Division in September 1914 for service on the Western Front
32.
Worcestershire Regiment
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The Worcestershire Regiment was a line infantry regiment in the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 29th Regiment of Foot and the 36th Regiment of Foot. In September 2007, the regiment amalgamated with the Cheshire Regiment, the regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 29th Regiment of Foot and the 36th Regiment of Foot. The 1st Battalion was initially deployed to India, while the 2nd Battalion was initially deployed to Ireland, the 1st Battalion was based at Ladybrand during the Second Boer War, while the 2nd Battalion saw heavy fighting near the Modder River. As the war dragged on, a number of regiments containing large centres of population formed additional regular battalions, the Worcestershire regiment formed 3rd and 4th regular Battalions in February 1900, when the existing militia battalions were relabeled as the 5th and 6th battalions. Troops from the regiment shot dead two men during the Llanelli railway strike in August 1911, during the First World War, members of the Regiment won nine Victoria Crosses,70 Distinguished Service Orders,288 Military Crosses,227 Distinguished Conduct Medals. The 1st Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 24th Brigade in the 8th Division in November 1914 for service on the Western Front. The 1st Battalion placed an important role at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in March 1915 but lost their commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel E. C. F. Wodehouse, who was killed-in-action. The 2nd Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 5th Brigade in the 2nd Division August 1914 also for service on the Western Front. The 3rd Battalion landed at Rouen as part of the 7th Brigade in the 3rd Division in August 1914 also for service on the Western Front, the 3rd Battalion saw action at the Battle of Messines in June 1917. The 4th Battalion then took part in the Battle of Le Transloy in October 1916, the 2/7th and 2/8th Battalions landed in France as part of the 2nd Gloucester & Worcester Brigade in the 2nd South Midland Division in May 1916 for service on the Western Front. The 10th Battalion landed in France as part of the 57th Brigade in the 19th Division in July 1915 for service on the Western Front. The 11th Battalion landed in France as part of the 78th Brigade in the 26th Division in September 1915 for service on the Western Front, in December 1918, the regiment was used to suppress the Taranto Revolt, executing one of the rebels by firing squad. During the Second World War,994 officers and other ranks of the Worcestershire Regiment were killed in action or died of their wounds, however, the regiment was awarded 36 battle honours. The battalion was destined to see service in the Western Desert, in July 1940, the battalion was assigned to the 21st Infantry Brigade, serving alongside the 2nd Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment and the 1st Battalion, Essex Regiment. The brigade was assigned to the 5th Indian Infantry Division and saw service in the East African Campaign. On 22 June 1942, the battalion, still fighting in North Africa, surrendered, along with 30,000 other British Commonwealth troops, of the men of the original battalion, only 68 officers and men remained. The battalion was reformed in England by the redesignation of the 11th Battalion, the 2nd Battalion was also a Regular Army unit. On the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, it was stationed in British India, the brigade was part of the 19th Indian Infantry Division, the Dagger Division
33.
Northamptonshire Regiment
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The Northamptonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1960. As well as the two battalions, the Northampton and Rutland Militia became the 3rd Battalion, and the 1st Northamptonshire Rifle Volunteer Corps became the First Volunteer Battalion. With the enactment of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907, they became the 3rd, the 1st Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of 2nd Brigade in the 1st Division in August 1914 for service on the Western Front. The 2nd Battalion, which had been in Alexandria returned to England, the 5th Battalion landed in France as pioneer troops to the 12th Division in May 1915 for service on the Western Front. The 6th Battalion landed in France as army troops to the 18th Division in July 1915 also for service on the Western Front, the 7th Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 73rd Brigade in the 24th Division in September 1915 also for service on the Western Front. Between the two wars the regular battalions spent long periods in India, the 1st Battalion arriving there in 1932. On 17 October 1935 a Royal Scot Class locomotive of the London, Midland, the 1st Battalion was a Regular Army unit that served in the Burma Campaign and India throughout the war with the 32nd Indian Infantry Brigade, 20th Indian Infantry Division. The 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment was also part of the Regular Army, throughout the war the battalion was assigned to the 17th Infantry Brigade, alongside the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers and 2nd Seaforth Highlanders, part of the 5th Infantry Division. The battalion saw service as part of the British Expeditionary Force in the battles of Belgium. After being evacuated to England the battalion spent two years on home defence, re-training and re-equipping, 2nd Battalion then joined the forces sent to invade Madagascar in May 1942 and then travelled to India and overland to Persia and Iraq in September of the same year. It travelled to Egypt and next fought in Sicily and Italy before being transferred to North-West Europe as part of 21st Army Group in February 1945, the 4th Battalion was transferred to the Royal Engineers and converted, before the war, into the 50th Anti-Aircraft Battalion, Royal Engineers. On the outbreak of war it was serving with the 32nd Anti-Aircraft Brigade, in August 1940 the battalion was transferred to the Royal Artillery and became 50th Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery. The 5th Battalion was assigned to the 143rd Infantry Brigade, part of the 48th Infantry Division and it saw extensive service in France, Tunisia, Sicily and Italy before ending the war in Austria. The 4th Battalion was reformed as a 2nd Line Territorial Army formation serving in the 183rd Infantry Brigade and it was raised in 1939, when the Territorial Army was doubled in size, as the duplicate of the 5th Battalion. Despite being raised for war service, it remained in the United Kingdom until February 1945 when, now as part of the 115th Infantry Brigade, the 50th Battalion was raised on 12 June 1940. The role of the Holding battalion was to hold men who were medically unfit, temporarily homeless. It was redesignated the 6th Battalion in October 1940 and was assigned to the 223rd Independent Infantry Brigade, in 1948 the regiment was reduced to a single regular battalion. This regiment was short-lived, becoming part of the Royal Anglian Regiment on 1 September 1964, the Museum of the Northamptonshire Regiment is housed at Abington Park, Northampton
34.
Warwick
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Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon,11 miles south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa, at the 2011 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 31,345. There was human activity at Warwick as early as the Neolithic period and it was a Saxon burh in the 9th century, Warwick Castle was established in 1068 as part of the Norman conquest of England. Warwick School claims to be the oldest boys school in the country, the earldom of Warwick was created in 1088 and the earls controlled the town in the medieval period and built town walls, of which Eastgate and Westgate survive. The castle developed into a fortress and then a country house and is today a popular tourist attraction. The Great Fire of Warwick in 1694 destroyed much of the medieval town, though Warwick did not become industrialised in the 19th century, it has experienced growth since 1801 when the population was 5,592. Racing Club Warwick F. C. founded in 1919, is based in the town, the town is administered by Warwick District Council and Warwickshire County Council has its headquarters in Warwick. Human activity on the site of the dates back to the Neolithic. From the 6th century onwards, Warwick has been continuously inhabited and it was one of ten burhs built to defend the kingdom of Mercia against the Danes. Warwick was chosen as the site for one of these fortifications because of its proximity to the important transport routes of the Fosse Way, in the early 10th century a new shire was founded with Warwick as its administrative centre, giving the settlement new importance. The name Warwick means dwellings by the weir, in 1050 the Danes invaded Mercia and burned down much of Warwick including the nunnery. William the Conqueror founded Warwick Castle in 1068 on his way to Yorkshire to deal with rebellion in the north, building a castle within a pre-existing settlement could require demolishing properties on the site, and in the case of Warwick four houses were pulled down. The castle was within the larger Anglo-Saxon burh and a new wall was created close to the rampart of the burh. In the medieval period Warwick remained under the control of various Earls of Warwick, mostly of the Beauchamp family, today the only remains of the town walls are the east and west gatehouses. The eastern gatehouse is now a home, but formerly served as part of the Kings High School. Warwick was not incorporated as a borough until 1545, the towns Priory was founded in 1142 on the site of the current Priory Park. During the English Civil War the town and castle were garrisoned for Parliament, the garrison, under Sir Edward Peyto, withstood a two-week siege by the Royalists. Later musters from 1644 to 1646 record a garrison of up to 350 men under the command of Colonel William Purefoy, the middle of the 17th century also saw the founding of Castle Hill Baptist Church, one of the oldest Baptist churches in the world
35.
Volunteer Officers' Decoration
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The Volunteer Officers Decoration, post-nominal letters VD, was instituted in 1892 as an award for long and meritorious service by officers of the United Kingdoms Volunteer Force. Award of the decoration was discontinued in the United Kingdom when it was superseded by the Territorial Decoration in 1908, the Volunteer Officers Decoration, post-nominal letters VD and colloquially known as the Volunteer Decoration, was instituted by Queen Victorias Royal Warrant on 25 July 1892. The decoration could be awarded to efficient and thoroughly capable officers of proven capacity for long, the qualifying period of service was twenty years. Half of any service in the Regular Army also counted towards qualification. The award did not confer any individual precedence, but entitled the recipient to use the post-nominal letters VD, the Volunteer Officers Decoration could also be conferred upon any of the Princes of the Royal Family of Great Britain and Ireland. A separate new decoration was instituted, the Volunteer Officers Decoration for India and this decoration was similar in design to the Volunteer Officers Decoration, but bore the Royal Cypher VRI instead of VR. Even so, some Crown Dependencies awarded the Volunteer Officers Decoration instead of the Colonial version, the decoration is an oval skeletal design and was struck in silver, with parts of the obverse in silver-gilt. It is 43 millimetres high and 35.5 millimetres wide with a ring suspender formed of silver wire, obverse The obverse is an oak leaf wreath in silver, tied with gold, with the Royal Cypher below the Royal Crown, both in gold, in the centre. Reverse The reverse is plain with the hallmarks impressed at the bottom, the decoration was awarded unnamed, but was frequently unofficially engraved in various styles. Ribbon The ribbon is green and 1 1⁄2 inches in width and is suspended from a silver bar-brooch decorated with an oak leaf pattern. Three versions of the decoration were struck, the original version of 1892 had the Royal Cypher VR of Queen Victoria below the Royal Crown in the centre. It appears to have continued to be awarded in some Crown Dependencies until 1910, the King George V version, with his Royal Cypher GVR, was introduced after his succession to the throne in 1910. This version appears to have only been awarded in some Crown Dependencies, instead of the Volunteer Officers Decoration for India, the Volunteer Force was the precursor of the Territorial Force, which was established in the United Kingdom in 1908. At the same time, award of the Volunteer Officers Decoration was discontinued in the United Kingdom, the Volunteer Officers Decoration continued to be awarded in some Crown Dependencies until the Efficiency Decoration was instituted in September 1930. Bermuda was the last Dependency to award the decoration in 1930
36.
Territorial Decoration
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The Territorial Decoration was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army. However, the Militia were transferred to the Special Reserve rather than becoming part of the Territorial Force, a recipient of this award is entitled to the letters TD after their name. The criterion was for a minimum of 20 years service in the Territorial Force and Territorial Army, with war service counting double and it was finally replaced in 1999 by the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal, awarded to all ranks in all services. For members of the Honourable Artillery Company the ribbon differed, being a blue, half scarlet ribbon. This distinction was bestowed by King Edward VII for the Volunteer Long Service And Good Conduct Medal, the HAC ribbon colours were the household colours of King Edward VII. Note that this medal is separate from the Territorial Force Imperial Service Badge, the equivalent award for the ranks was the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal, the Territorial Efficiency Medal, and the Efficiency Medal. J M A Tamplin, The Territorial Decoration, 1908-1930, Queens Royal Surrey regiment - Territorial Decorations and Medals On Churchill being awarded a TD
37.
Second Boer War
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The Second Boer War, usually known as the Boer War and also at the time as the South African War, started on 11 October 1899 and ended on 31 May 1902. Great Britain defeated two Boer states in South Africa, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, Britain was aided by its Cape Colony, Colony of Natal and some native African allies. The British war effort was supported by volunteers from the British Empire, including Southern Africa, the Australian colonies, Canada, India. All other nations were neutral, but public opinion in them was largely hostile to Britain, inside Britain and its Empire there also was significant opposition to the Second Boer War. The British were overconfident and under-prepared, the Boers were very well armed and struck first, besieging Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking in early 1900, and winning important battles at Colenso, Magersfontein and Stormberg. Staggered, the British brought in numbers of soldiers and fought back. General Redvers Buller was replaced by Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener and they relieved the three besieged cities, and invaded the two Boer republics in late 1900. The onward marches of the British Army were so overwhelming that the Boers did not fight staged battles in defense of their homeland, the British quickly seized control of all of the Orange Free State and Transvaal, as the civilian leadership went into hiding or exile. In conventional terms, the war was over, Britain officially annexed the two countries in 1900, and called a khaki election to give the government another six years of power in London. However, the Boers refused to surrender and they reverted to guerrilla warfare under new generals Louis Botha, Jan Smuts, Christiaan de Wet and Koos de la Rey. Two more years of attacks and quick escapes followed. As guerrillas without uniforms, the Boer fighters easily blended into the farmlands, which provided hiding places, supplies, the British solution was to set up complex nets of block houses, strong points, and barbed wire fences, partitioning off the entire conquered territory. The civilian farmers were relocated into concentration camps, where very large proportions died of disease, especially the children, then the British mounted infantry units systematically tracked down the highly mobile Boer guerrilla units. The battles at this stage were small operations with few combat casualties The war ended in surrender, the British successfully won over the Boer leaders, who now gave full support to the new political system. Both former republics were incorporated into the Union of South Africa in 1910, the conflict is commonly referred to as simply the Boer War, since the First Boer War is much less well known. Boer was the term for Afrikaans-speaking white South Africans descended from the Dutch East India Companys original settlers at the Cape of Good Hope. It is officially called the South African War and it is known as the Anglo-Boer War among some South Africans. In Afrikaans it may be called the Anglo-Boereoorlog, Tweede Boereoorlog, in South Africa it is officially called the South African War
38.
Pretoria
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Pretoria is a city in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the three capital cities, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government. Pretoria is the part of the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities including Centurion. There have been proposals to change the name of Pretoria itself to Tshwane, the elder Pretorius had become a national hero of the Voortrekkers after his victory over Dingane and the Zulus in the Battle of Blood River. The elder Pretorius also negotiated the Sand River Convention, in which Britain acknowledged the independence of the Transvaal and it became the capital of the South African Republic on 1 May 1860. The founding of Pretoria as the capital of the South African Republic can be seen as marking the end of the Boers settlement movements of the Great Trek, during the First Boer War, the city was besieged by Republican forces in December 1880 and March 1881. The peace treaty ended the war was signed in Pretoria on 3 August 1881 at the Pretoria Convention. The Second Boer War resulted in the end of the Transvaal Republic, the city surrendered to British forces under Frederick Roberts on 5 June 1900 and the conflict was ended in Pretoria with the signing of the Peace of Vereeniging on 31 May 1902. The Pretoria Forts were built for the defence of the city just prior to the Second Boer War, though some of these forts are today in ruins, a number of them have been preserved as national monuments. The Boer Republics of the ZAR and the Orange River Colony were united with the Cape Colony, Pretoria then became the administrative capital of the whole of South Africa, with Cape Town the legislative capital and Bloemfontein served as the judicial capital. Between 1910 and 1994, the city was also the capital of the province of Transvaal, on 14 October 1931, Pretoria achieved official city status. When South Africa became a republic in 1961, Pretoria remained its administrative capital and it lies at an altitude of about 1,339 m above sea level, in a warm, sheltered, fertile valley, surrounded by the hills of the Magaliesberg range. Pretoria has a subtropical climate with long hot rainy summers and short cool to cold. The city experiences the typical winters of South Africa with cold, clear nights, although the average lows during winter are mild it can get bitterly cold due to the clear skies, with nighttime low temperatures in recent years in the range of 2 to −5 °C. The average annual temperature is 18.7 °C, rain is chiefly concentrated in the summer months, with drought conditions prevailing over the winter months, when frosts may be sharp. Snowfall is a rare event, snowflakes were spotted in 1959,1968 and 2012 in the city. During a nationwide heatwave in November 2011, Pretoria experienced temperatures that reached 39 °C, similar record-breaking extreme heat events also occurred in January 2013, when Pretoria experienced temperatures exceeding 37 °C on several days. The year 2014 was one of the wettest on record for the city, a total of 914 mm fell up to the end of December, with 220 mm recorded in this month alone
39.
Battle of Diamond Hill
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The Battle of Diamond Hill took place on 11 and 12 June 1900 during the Second Boer War. Fourteen thousand British soldiers squared up against four thousand Boers and forced them from their positions on the hill, the British cavalry were under the command of Sir Ian Hamilton. He despatched Robert Broadwoods 2nd Cavalry brigade, which included the 10th Royal Hussars, 12th Royal Lancers, as the sun came up it was a bitterly cold Monday morning. we are hidden in the hills at Donkerhoek. ready for battle. As a detachment of 10th Hussars swung off to the right, a section of Q Battery RHA attempted to return artillery fire, but had no infantry support, until the 12th Lancers arrived on the front line. Lord Airlie took 60 men to clear the Boers from the guns, the Boers pressed the matter hard. Two squadrons of Household Cavalry Regiment and one squadron of the 12th Hussars charged at full gallop at Boers firing from concealed positions. On 13th the Bothas army retreated to the north, they were chased as far as Elands River Station, only 25 miles from Pretoria, by Mounted Infantry and De Lisles Australians. Forty-four years after the battle, British General Ian Hamilton opined in his memoirs that the battle, Hamilton credited Winston Churchill with recognizing that the key to victory would be in storming the summit, and risking his life to signal Hamilton
40.
Battle honour
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In European military tradition, military units may be acknowledged for their achievements in specific wars or operations of a military campaign. These honours usually take the form of a place and a date, theatre honours could be listed and displayed on regimental property but not emblazoned on the colours. Since battle honours are emblazoned on colours, artillery units. These honour titles were permitted to be used as part of their official nomenclature, similar honours in the same tenor include unit citations. Battle honours, theatre honours, honour titles and their ilk form a part of the variety of distinctions which serve to distinguish military units from each other. For the British Army, the need to adopt a system to recognise military units battlefield accomplishments was apparent since its formation as an army in the later part of the 17th century. Although the granting of battle honours had already been in place at the time, before then, a regiments colours were practical tools for rallying troops in the battlefield and not quite something for displaying the units past distinctions. The first battle honour to be awarded in the British Army was granted to the 15th Hussars for the Battle of Emsdorf in 1760, thereafter, other regiments received battle honours for some of their previous engagements. The battle honour is held by the successor regiment, the Princess of Waless Royal Regiment. During these early years of the British standing army, a regiment needed only to engage the enemy with musketry before it was eligible for a battle honour, thus in 1882, a committee was formed to adjudicate applications of battle honour claims. This committee, later called the Battles Nomenclature Committee, still maintains its function in the British Army today. A battle honour may be granted to infantry/cavalry regiments or battalions, as well as ships and squadrons, they are granted to sub-units such as companies. Battle honours are presented in the form of a name of a country, region, or city where the units distinguished act took place. Not every battle fought will automatically result in the granting of a battle honour, conversely, a regiment or a battalion might obtain more than one battle honour over the course of a larger operation. Similarly, while in Korea, Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry earned both Kapyong and Korea 1951–1953, supporting corps/branches such as medical, service, ordnance, or transport do not currently receive battle honours. However and uniquely the Royal Logistic Corps has five battle honours inherited from its previous transport elements, Commonwealth artillery does not maintain battle honours as they carry neither colours nor guidons—though their guns by tradition are afforded many of the same respects and courtesies. However, both the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers were in 1832 granted by King William IV the right to use the Latin Ubique, meaning everywhere and this is worn on the cap badge of both the Corps of Royal Engineers and the Royal Regiment of Artillery. The practice was extended to these same regiments and corps in the successor Commonwealth armed forces
41.
Haldane Reforms
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The Haldane Reforms were a series of far-ranging reforms of the British Army made from 1906 to 1912, and named after the Secretary of State for War, Richard Burdon Haldane. They were the first major reforms since the Childers Reforms of the early 1880s, the major element of the reforms was the creation of an expeditionary force, specifically prepared and trained for intervening in a major war. At the same time, the forces were restructured and expanded to ensure that the overseas forces could be efficiently reinforced and supplied with new recruits. To encourage the development of skills, an Officer Training Corps was established in public schools. Finally, the Regular Army itself would be reformed by the development of a new operational and training doctrine, the first wave of reforms was from 1858 to 1860. The second wave was from 1868 to 1872, comprising a collection of administrative changes popularly known as the Cardwell Reforms after the then Secretary of State for War, Edward Cardwell. These measures at an increased the quality of the manpower of the Army. A number of half-hearted attempts were made at reform during the war and in its immediate aftermath, two important Royal Commissions were established in 1902 - the Esher Committee and the Norfolk Commission - and reported in 1904. Some of these reforms were instituted under the Conservative Secretary of State for War, Hugh Arnold-Forster, in 1904-5, but the broad thrust of his reform plans were strongly opposed. Attempts to reorganise the forces into six Army Corps had begun, but only one of these had actually been organised. In December 1905, the Balfour government collapsed, and Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman became Prime Minister, despite this inauspicious beginning, he would become, in the words of Douglas Haig, the greatest Secretary of State for War England has ever had. Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary, had agreed to commit the Army to the aid of France, if attacked. He quickly concluded that there was a need for an expeditionary force. The question now became how to provide this force, and after a short period Haldane settled on a strength of six infantry divisions and their supporting units. They would need to be organised in peacetime and prepared to mobilise in the United Kingdom, once the Regular Army had been organised as a continental Expeditionary Force, it would be necessary to provide forces for home defence. These changes were embodied in the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907, the Militia provided the Special Reserve, which would contain men who had not served in the regular Army but agreed to be liable for service with the regular forces in wartime. In November 1906, Douglas Haig was appointed Director of Staff Duties at the War Office, the Esher Report had suggested a new scheme for two sets of training manuals, but these had not been fully implemented. In 1907, the new provisional Field Service Pocket Book was produced, revised the following year, and finally standardised as Field Service Regulations, Part I - Operations in 1909
United Kingdom
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