1.
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
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The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom, its dependencies and its overseas territories. The monarchs title is King or Queen, the current monarch and head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, ascended the throne on the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952. The monarch and his or her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial, diplomatic, as the monarchy is constitutional, the monarch is limited to non-partisan functions such as bestowing honours and appointing the Prime Minister. The monarch is, by tradition, commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces, from 1603, when the Scottish monarch King James VI inherited the English throne as James I, both the English and Scottish kingdoms were ruled by a single sovereign. From 1649 to 1660, the tradition of monarchy was broken by the republican Commonwealth of England, the Act of Settlement 1701 excluded Roman Catholics, or those who married Catholics, from succession to the English throne. In 1707, the kingdoms of England and Scotland were merged to create the Kingdom of Great Britain, and in 1801, the British monarch became nominal head of the vast British Empire, which covered a quarter of the worlds surface at its greatest extent in 1921. After the Second World War, the vast majority of British colonies and territories became independent, George VI and his successor, Elizabeth II, adopted the title Head of the Commonwealth as a symbol of the free association of its independent member states. The United Kingdom and fifteen other Commonwealth monarchies that share the person as their monarch are called Commonwealth realms. In the uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom, the Monarch is the Head of State, oaths of allegiance are made to the Queen and her lawful successors. God Save the Queen is the British national anthem, and the monarch appears on postage stamps, coins, the Monarch takes little direct part in Government. Executive power is exercised by Her Majestys Government, which comprises Ministers, primarily the Prime Minister and the Cabinet and they have the direction of the Armed Forces of the Crown, the Civil Service and other Crown Servants such as the Diplomatic and Secret Services. Judicial power is vested in the Judiciary, who by constitution, the Church of England, of which the Monarch is the head, has its own legislative, judicial and executive structures. Powers independent of government are legally granted to public bodies by statute or Statutory Instrument such as an Order in Council. The Sovereigns role as a monarch is largely limited to non-partisan functions. This role has been recognised since the 19th century, the constitutional writer Walter Bagehot identified the monarchy in 1867 as the dignified part rather than the efficient part of government. Whenever necessary, the Monarch is responsible for appointing a new Prime Minister, the Prime Minister takes office by attending the Monarch in private audience, and after kissing hands that appointment is immediately effective without any other formality or instrument. Since 1945, there have only been two hung parliaments, the first followed the February 1974 general election when Harold Wilson was appointed Prime Minister after Edward Heath resigned following his failure to form a coalition. Although Wilsons Labour Party did not have a majority, they were the largest party, the second followed the May 2010 general election, in which the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats agreed to form the first coalition government since World War II
2.
Member of the Order of the British Empire
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There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not head of state, occasionally, honorary appointees are, incorrectly, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bill Gates or Bob Geldof, for example. In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War, when first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was divided into Military. The Orders motto is For God and the Empire, at the foundation of the Order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the British Empire Medal, in addition, the BEM is awarded by the Cook Islands and by some other Commonwealth nations. The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, and appoints all members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Mary, and the current Grand Master, the Duke of Edinburgh. The Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross,845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the number of members of the fourth and fifth classes. Foreign recipients, as members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, and so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, and second-lowest of knighthood. Because of this, Dame Commander is awarded in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor, for example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges become Knights Bachelor. The Order has six officials, the Prelate, the Dean, the Secretary, the Registrar, the King of Arms, the Bishop of London, a senior bishop in the Church of England, serves as the Orders Prelate. The Dean of St Pauls is ex officio the Dean of the Order, the Orders King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, as are many other heraldic officers. From time to time, individuals are appointed to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of the junior post-nominal letters
3.
Royal Red Cross
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The Royal Red Cross is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing. The award was established on 27 April 1883 by Queen Victoria, with a class of Member and first awarded into the founder of Modern Nursing. A second and lower class, Associate, was added during World War I in 1917 and this decoration had the distinction of being conferred exclusively to females until 1976. It is conferred on members of the nursing services regardless of rank, holders of the second class who receive a further award are promoted to the first class, although an initial award can also be made in the first class. Holders of the first class who receive an award are awarded a bar. Recipients of the Royal Red Cross are entitled to use the post-nominal letters RRC or ARRC for Members, the badge for RRC is in the shape of a golden cross,1.375 inches wide, the obverse enamelled red, with a circular medallion at its centre. The words Faith, Hope and Charity are inscribed on the limbs of the cross. The reverse is plain except a circular medallion bearing the Royal Cypher of the reigning monarch. The badge for ARRC is in the shape of a cross,1.375 inches wide, the obverse enamelled red, with broad silver edges around the enamel. The ribbon for both grades is dark blue with edge stripes. The bar is linked to the cross and is made of red enamel, a rosette is worn on the ribbon in undress to denote a bar to the RRC. Category, Members of the Royal Red Cross British and Commonwealth orders, Royal Red Cross Medal Manufacturer of The Royal Red Cross
4.
Military awards and decorations
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While the United States Government does not consider all its military awards and medals as being decorations, other countries tend to refer to all their military awards and medals as decorations. Civil decorations awarded to military personnel should not be considered military decorations, although some orders of chivalry have civil, decorations received by police and fire brigade personnel may sometimes be considered alongside military decorations, on which they may be modelled, although they are strictly not military awards. Decorations have been known since ancient times, the Egyptian Old Kingdom had the Order of the Golden Collar while the New Kingdom awarded the Order of the Golden fly. Celts and Romans wore a torc or received other military decorations such as the hasta pura, dayaks wore and still wear tattoos, etc. Necklaces and bracelets were given during the early Middle Ages, evolving into richly jewelled big necklaces, the medal was instituted by Gustav III on 28 May 1789, during his war against Russia. Whilst technically it is active, in reality it as inactive. The next oldest was the Austro-Hungarian Tapferkeits Medaille Honour Medal for Bravery 1789-1792 and this medal was instituted on 19 July 1789 by the Emperor Joseph II. Another of the oldest military decorations still in use is Polands War Order of Virtuti Militari and it was first awarded in 1792. Medals have been forged by many people to make the medal appear more valuable or to make one look like a decorated soldier. Medal forgeries can include, Adding bars, engraving a famous soldiers name on it or creating a new medal. Medal forgery is illegal in most countries and can be punishable by jail time, in most NATO militaries, only the service ribbons are normally worn on everyday occasions
5.
British Armed Forces
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They also promote Britains wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts, and provide humanitarian aid. Repeatedly emerging victorious from conflicts has allowed Britain to establish itself as one of the leading military. The Commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces is the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the armed forces by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, as required by the Bill of Rights 1689. The armed forces are managed by the Defence Council of the Ministry of Defence, with the Acts of Union 1707, the armed forces of England and Scotland were merged into the armed forces of the Kingdom of Great Britain. Britain feared that Russian expansionism in the region would eventually threaten the Empire in India and this ultimately led to British involvement in the Crimean War against the Russian Empire. The beginning of the twentieth century served to reduce tensions between Britain and the Russian Empire, partly due to the emergence of a unified German Empire. Allied victory resulted in the defeat of the Central Powers, the end of the German Empire, the Treaty of Versailles, once again tensions accumulated in European relations, and following Germanys invasion of Poland in September 1939, the Second World War began. The conflict was the most widespread in British history, with British Empire and Commonwealth troops fighting in campaigns from Europe and North Africa, to the Middle East, approximately 390,000 British Empire and Commonwealth troops lost their lives. Allied victory resulted in the defeat of the Axis powers and the establishment of the United Nations, reflecting Britains new role in the world and the escalation of the Cold War, the country became a founding member of the NATO military alliance in 1949. By the mid-1970s, the forces had reconfigured to focus on the responsibilities allocated to them by NATO. While NATO obligations took increased prominence, Britain nonetheless found itself engaged in a number of low-intensity conflicts, however the Dhofar Rebellion and The Troubles emerged as the primary operational concerns of the armed forces. Perhaps the most important conflict during the Cold War, at least in the context of British defence policy, was the Falklands War. Since the end of the Cold War, an international role for the armed forces has been pursued, with re-structuring to deliver a greater focus on expeditionary warfare. In addition to the campaign, the British Army has trained and supplied allies on the ground. Figures released by the Ministry of Defence on 31 March 2016 show that 7,185 British Armed Forces personnel have lost their lives in medal earning theatres since the end of the Second World War. As Sovereign and head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is Head of the Armed Forces, the Queen, however, remains the ultimate authority of the military, with officers and personnel swearing allegiance to the monarch. It has been claimed that this includes the power to prevent unconstitutional use of the armed forces, responsibility for the management of the forces is delegated to a number of committees, the Defence Council, Chiefs of Staff Committee, Defence Management Board and three single-service boards. The Defence Council, composed of representatives of the services
6.
Victoria Cross
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The Victoria Cross is the highest award of the United Kingdom honours system. It is awarded for gallantry in the face of the enemy to members of the British armed forces and it was previously awarded to Commonwealth countries, most of which have established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours. It may be awarded to a person of any rank in any service. Since the first awards were presented by Queen Victoria in 1857 and these investitures are usually held at Buckingham Palace. The VC was introduced on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to honour acts of valour during the Crimean War, since then, the medal has been awarded 1,358 times to 1,355 individual recipients. Only 15 medals,11 to members of the British Army, the traditional explanation of the source of the metal from which the medals are struck is that it derives from Russian cannon captured at the Siege of Sevastopol. Some research has suggested a variety of origins for the material, research has established that the metal for most of the medals made since December 1914 came from two Chinese cannons that were captured from the Russians in 1855. Owing to its rarity, the VC is highly prized and the medal has fetched over £400,000 at auction, a number of public and private collections are devoted to the Victoria Cross. The private collection of Lord Ashcroft, amassed since 1986, contains over one-tenth of all VCs awarded, following a 2008 donation to the Imperial War Museum, the Ashcroft collection went on public display alongside the museums Victoria and George Cross collection in November 2010. These are unique awards of honours system, recommended, assessed, gazetted and presented by each country. In 1854, after 39 years of peace, Britain found itself fighting a war against Russia. The Crimean War was one of the first wars with modern reporting, before the Crimean War, there was no official standardised system for recognition of gallantry within the British armed forces. This structure was limited, in practice awards of the Order of the Bath were confined to officers of field rank. Brevet promotions or Mentions in Despatches were largely confined to those who were under the notice of the commanders in the field. Other European countries had awards that did not discriminate against class or rank, France awarded the Légion dhonneur and The Netherlands gave the Order of William. There was a feeling among the public and in the Royal Court that a new award was needed to recognise incidents of gallantry that were unconnected with a mans lengthy or meritorious service. Queen Victoria issued a Warrant under the Royal sign-manual on 29 January 1856 that officially constituted the VC, the order was backdated to 1854 to recognise acts of valour during the Crimean War. Queen Victoria had instructed the War Office to strike a new medal that would not recognise birth or class, the medal was meant to be a simple decoration that would be highly prized and eagerly sought after by those in the military services
7.
Distinguished Conduct Medal
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The Distinguished Conduct Medal, post-nominal letters DCM, was established in 1854 by Queen Victoria as a decoration for gallantry in the field by other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military decoration, the medal was also awarded to non-commissioned military personnel of other Commonwealth Dominions and Colonies. Prior to the institution of this decoration, there had been no medal awarded by the British government in recognition of acts of gallantry in the Army. One known prior award for acts of gallantry by other ranks was the unofficial Sir Harry Smiths Medal for Gallantry, although the British government initially disapproved of Sir Harrys institution of the medal, it subsequently paid for it and thereby gave it recognition, but not official status. Recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal are entitled to the post-nominal letters DCM, a Bar to the medal, introduced in 1881, could be awarded in recognition of each subsequent act of distinguished conduct for which the medal would have been awarded. During the First World War, the concern arose that the number of medals which were being awarded would devalue the prestige of those already awarded. The Military Medal for bravery in battle on land was instituted on 25 March 1916. The lesser Military Medal was usually awarded for bravery from this date, around 25,000 Distinguished Conduct Medals were awarded during the First World War, while approximately 1,900 were awarded during the Second World War. The medal could also be awarded to personnel serving in any of the Sovereigns forces in the British Empire. It remained an exclusively Army award until 1942, when other ranks of the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, in May 1894, Queen Victoria authorised Colonial governments to adopt various military medals and to award them to their local military forces. The Colony of Natal and the Cape Colony introduced this system in August and September 1894 respectively, other territories which made use of the opportunity were Australia, Canada and New Zealand. In respect of the Distinguished Conduct Medal, two versions are known to have been awarded, both King Edward VII versions. A territorial version of the Distinguished Conduct Medal was also approved for the Union of South Africa in 1913, More than 300 members of the Union Defence Forces were awarded the applicable British versions of the decoration during the two World Wars. These three decorations were replaced by the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, to serve as the second award for gallantry for all ranks of all the Arms of the Service. The medal was struck in silver and is a disk,36 millimetres in diameter and 3 millimetres thick, the suspender of all versions of the medal is an ornamented scroll pattern. The manner of attachment of the suspender to the medal varied between medal versions and, on early versions, allows the medal to swivel, all medals awarded bear the recipient’s number, rank, name and unit on the rim. From 1902, after the accession of King Edward VII, the effigy of the reigning monarch replaced the trophy of arms, King Edward VII – EDWARDVS VII REX IMPERATOR. King George V, bareheaded – GEORGIVS V BRITT, OMN, REX ET IND, King George V, crowned – GEORGIVS•V•D•G•BRITT•OMN•REX•ET•INDIÆ•IMP•
8.
Conspicuous Gallantry Medal
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It could formerly also be awarded to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for conspicuous gallantry in action against the enemy at sea or in the air. The original Royal Navy medal was instituted briefly in 1855, during the Second World War, the Royal Air Force medal, the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, was added from 1943. Recipients of the medal are entitled to use the post-nominal letters CGM, in 1993, the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, Distinguished Service Order and Distinguished Conduct Medal were all replaced by the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. The CGC is tri-service and is awarded to all ranks and it is second only to the Victoria Cross for bravery in action. George Ingouville was awarded both the Victoria Cross and the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, acting Chief Petty Officer Arthur Robert Blore won a Conspicuous Gallantry Medal in 1915 and a bar to it in 1918. Frank John Knill of the Royal Marines, R. M. A, in spite of being semi-gassed, Sergt. Knill did not leave his post, but remained in charge of his gun until it ceased firing, CPO Hammond was the last recipient of the CGM before the inception of the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross in 1993. Only two CGM have been issued during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, corporal John Coughlan RAAF was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal in 1968, for actions as a helicopter crewman in Vietnam. This was the only CGM to be awarded since the 1940s, wireless Operator F/Sgt Geoffrey Keen DFM was the first member of the Royal Canadian Air Force to be awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal. During the bomb run in a raid on Essen on the night of 12/13 March 1943 his Wellington bomber was hit by flak, killing the navigator, all three remaining members of the crew were awarded the DFC while Keen was recommended for the Victoria Cross. The medal is circular, silver, 36mm in diameter, the obverse of this medal bears the head of the reigning monarch The reverse has the words FOR CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY in three lines, encircled by a laurel wreath and surmounted by an Imperial Crown. The suspender is of a scroll type. The ribbon for the version of the medal was changed in 1921 from one of two stripes of dark blue flanking a central white stripe to a white ribbon with narrow dark blue edge stripes. Upon its institution, the Air Force version of the ribbon was sky blue with dark blue edge stripes. A silver, laurelled bar was awarded for acts of pre-eminent bravery
9.
Other ranks (UK)
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In the Royal Navy, these personnel are called ratings. Non-commissioned member is the equivalent term for the Canadian Armed Forces, colloquially, members of the other ranks are known as rankers. The term is considered to exclude warrant officers, and occasionally also excludes NCOs. In the standard rank scale maintained by NATO, other ranks are coded from OR1 to OR9, in British India, a distinction was made between British other ranks and Indian other ranks
10.
Naval rating
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A naval rating is an enlisted member of a countrys navy, subordinate to warrant officers and officers hence not conferred by commission or warrant. Historically the term also applied to ships, denoting their combat strength by the number. It is analogous to the rank as used, for example. However, the rank should not be used in lieu of rate when referring to U. S. naval enlisted personnel. A rating refers to the occupational specialty, combined with their paygrade. Navy personnel in pay grades E-1 to E-3 may not have a rate and are classed into one of five groups. Petty Officers and Chief Petty Officers are sometimes referred to by a combination of rate, for example, a Petty Officer Second Class with the rating of Gunners Mate may be addressed as Gunners Mate Second Class. Similarly, a Chief Petty Officer with the rating of Quartermaster is referred to in formal occasions as Chief Quartermaster, on less formal occasions, however, senior enlisted personnel are referred to simply as Chief, Senior Chief, or Master Chief, as applicable. Rate badges consist of insignia that indicate the rate and rating. Within these a number of further specializations are available such as aviation electrician, royal Navy ratings rank insignia Enlisted rank Military Occupational Specialty Ordinary seaman Able seaman Baker, Ernest A. The New English Dictionary, Odhams Press, London,1932, the Blue Jackets Manual Centennial Edition, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland,2002
11.
Distinguished Service Order
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Instituted on 6 September 1886 by Queen Victoria in a Royal Warrant published in the The London Gazette on 9 November, the first DSOs awarded were dated 25 November 1886. It is typically awarded to officers ranked major or higher, during the First World War,8,981 DSOs were awarded, each award being announced in The London Gazette. The order was established for rewarding individual instances of meritorious or distinguished service in war, after 1 January 1917, commanders in the field were instructed to recommend this award only for those serving under fire. Prior to 1943, the order could be only to someone mentioned in despatches. The order is given to officers in command, above the rank of captain. A number of junior officers were awarded the DSO. In 1942, the award of the DSO was extended to officers of the Merchant Navy who had performed acts of gallantry while under enemy attack. Since 1993, its award has been restricted solely to distinguished service and it has, however, despite some very fierce campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, remained an officers-only award and it has yet to be awarded to a non-commissioned rank. Recipients of the order are known as Companions of the Distinguished Service Order. They are entitled to use the post-nominal letters DSO, one or more gold medal bars ornamented by the Crown may be issued to DSO holders performing further acts of such leadership which would have merited award of the DSO. The bars are worn as clasps on the ribbon of the original award. The medal signifying its award is a cross, enamelled white. In the centre, within a wreath of laurel, enamelled green, is the crown in gold upon a red enamelled background. On the reverse is the royal cypher in gold upon a red enamelled ground, within a wreath of laurel, a ring at the top of the medal attaches to a ring at the bottom of a gold suspension bar, ornamented with laurel. At the top of the ribbon is a gold bar ornamented with laurel. The red ribbon is 1.125 in wide with blue edges. The medals are issued unnamed but some recipients have had their names engraved on the reverse of the suspension bar, the bar for an additional award is plain gold with an Imperial Crown in the centre. The back of the bar is engraved with the year of the award, a rosette is worn on the ribbon in undress uniform to signify the award of a bar
12.
Obverse and reverse
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In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse means the back face. The obverse of a coin is commonly called heads, because it depicts the head of a prominent person. In fields of scholarship outside numismatics, the front is more commonly used than obverse. For prints and drawings with material on both sides the one judged as more significant will be the recto, a convention now exists typically to display the obverse to the left and the reverse to the right in photographs and museum displays, but this is not invariably observed. Following this principle, in the most famous of ancient Greek coins, the tetradrachm of Athens, the obverse is the head of Athena, similar versions of these two images, both symbols of the state, were used on the Athenian coins for more than two centuries. The opposite side may have varied from time to time and this change happened in the coinage of Alexander the Great, which continued to be minted long after his death. The various Hellenistic rulers who were his successors followed his tradition and this script alone style then was used on nearly all Islamic coinage until the modern period. The type of Justinian II was revived after the end of Iconoclasm, without images, therefore, it is not always easy to tell which side will be regarded as the obverse without some knowledge. After 695, Islamic coins avoided all images of persons and usually, the side expressing the Six Kalimas is usually defined as the obverse. The form of currency follows its function, which is to serve as an accepted medium of exchange of value. Traditionally, most states have been monarchies where the person of the monarch, if not provided for on the obverse, the reverse side usually contains information relating to a coins role as medium of exchange. Additional space typically reflects the countrys culture or government, or evokes some aspect of the states territory. Regarding the euro, some regarding the obverse and reverse of the euro coins exists. This rule does not apply to the coins as they dont have a common side. A number of the used for obverse national sides of euro coins were taken from the reverse of the old pre-euro coins of some individual countries. Several countries continue to use portraits of the monarch and the Republic of Ireland continues to use the State Arms. The Chrysanthemum Crest was no longer used after the war, and so, the side on which the date continues to be regarded as the reverse. Following ancient tradition, the obverse of coins of the United Kingdom almost always feature the head of the monarch
13.
St Edward's Crown
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St Edwards Crown is one of the oldest Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom and the centrepiece of the coronation regalia. Named after Edward the Confessor, it has traditionally used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronation ceremonies. The current version was made for the coronation of Charles II in 1661, Edward the Confessor wore the first crown of this name at Easter, Whitsun and Christmas. It may have incorporated elements of a crown that belonged to Alfred the Great, in 1066, St Edwards Crown was reputedly used at the coronation of William the Conqueror. It was subsequently used for the coronations of William II, Henry I, Stephen, Henry II, Richard I, at the first coronation of Henry III in 1216, a chaplet was used instead of the crown. From this it was inferred by the German historian, Reinhold Pauli, however, Arthur Penrhyn Stanley maintained that the original crown and regalia were kept in the Treasury until the time of Henry VIII, and survived until 1642. It was supposedly used in 1533 to crown the wife of Henry VIII. During the English Civil War in 1642, Parliament sold the medieval St Edwards Crown, the British monarchy was eventually restored in 1661, and in preparation for the coronation of Charles II, a new St Edwards Crown was made by Sir Robert Vyner. It is 30 cm tall and weighs 2.23 kg and its purple velvet cap is trimmed with ermine. In 1671, Colonel Thomas Blood briefly stole the crown from the Tower of London, a new monde was created for the coronation of James II, and for William III the base was changed from a circle to an oval. St Edwards Crown was placed on the coffin of Edward VII for his lying in state, imitation pearls on the arches and base were replaced with golden beads. It was also smaller to fit George V, the first monarch to be crowned with St Edwards Crown in over 200 years. When not used to crown the monarch, St Edwards Crown was placed on the altar during the coronation, however, it did not feature at all at the coronation of Queen Victoria. Before 1649, it was usual for a monarch to be crowned with the original St Edwards Crown, images based on the crown are used in coats of arms, badges, logos and various other insignia throughout the Commonwealth realms to symbolise the monarchs royal authority. In these contexts, it replaced the Tudor Crown in 1953 by order of Queen Elizabeth II, use of the crowns image in this way is by permission of the monarch. Coronation crown Canadian royal symbols St Edwards Crown at the Royal Collection, the Crown Jewels at the Royal Family website
14.
Wayne Mills (British Army soldier)
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Wayne Kevin Mills CGC is a former British Army soldier. He was the first gazetted recipient of the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for his actions during operations in Bosnia in 1994. The patrol returned fire, killing two of the attackers, the patrol moved away back towards their base and soon reached an open clearing, where it was obvious they would be highly vulnerable to fire from the attackers. Mills then performed his feat of bravery, turning round, back into the wood, he engaged the attacking group, delaying them long enough to allow the rest of his patrol to cross the clearing. Mills shot the leader of the group, causing the rest to scatter and he returned to his patrol safely. London gazette Gallantry Awards History of the Duke of Wellingtons Regiment
15.
Corporal
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Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. Within NATO, each member nations corresponding military rank of corporal is combined under the NATO-standard rank scale code OR-4, however, there are often differences in how each nation employs Corporals. Some militaries dont have Corporals, but may instead have a Junior Sergeant, in some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corresponds to commanding a section or squad of soldiers. The lateral promotion is used to make the soldier a non-commissioned officer without changing the soldiers pay, as the Table of Organization & Equipment rank of a fire team leader is sergeant and that of squad leader is staff sergeant. In most countries that derive their military structure from the British military system, the word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase capo corporale. It may also be derived from an appointment as an officers bodyguard, all three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic use two or three ranks of corporal, or cabo. Corporals in the Argentine military are considered suboficiales subalternos, superior only to all ranks of Volunteers, in the Argentine Army, there are two ranks of corporal, junior and senior, Cabo and cabo primero. While the Argentine Navy has three ranks, from junior to senior, Cabo segundo, Cabo primero and cabo principal. The Air Force has the number of corporal ranks as the navy. The rank is used by the Argentine National Gendarmerie and the Argentine Federal Police. Corporal is the second lowest of the officer ranks in the Australian Army. A corporal is usually appointed as a commander, and is in charge of 7-14 soldiers of private rank. They are assisted by a second-in-command, usually a lance-corporal or senior private, a Corporal within Artillery is known as a bombardier. Corporal is also a rank of the Royal Australian Air Force, with the exception Belgian Naval Component, the branches of the Belgian Armed Forces use three ranks of corporal, corporal, master corporal and 1st master corporal. Corporal is equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-3, whereas master corporal, the rank immediately below corporal is 1st private and the rank directly above 1st master corporal is sergeant. The equivalent of these ranks in the Naval Component are quartermaster, chief quartermaster, Corporal is the first NCO rank of the Army, Navy, Air Force and states military polices. Soldiers who successfully complete the course may be promoted to the rank of corporal should they excel in the course. A corporal in the Brazilian Army will lead the smallest fractions of units as machine gun squads, mortar, Corporal is an Army and Air Force non-commissioned member rank of the Canadian Forces
16.
Duke of Wellington's Regiment
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The Duke of Wellingtons Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, forming part of the Kings Division. In 1702 Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, as was the custom in those days the regiment was named Huntingdons Regiment after its Colonel. As Colonel succeeded Colonel the name changed, but in 1751 regiments were given numbers, in 1782 the regiments title was changed to the 33rd Regiment, thus formalising an association with the West Riding of Yorkshire which, even then, had been long established. The first Duke of Wellington died in 1852 and in the following year Queen Victoria, in recognition of the regiments long ties to him, in 1881, following the Childers Reforms, the 33rd was linked with the 76th Regiment of Foot, who shared their depot in Halifax. The two regiments became, respectively, the 1st and 2nd battalions of the Duke of Wellingtons Regiment, in 1948 the 1st and 2nd battalions were amalgamated into a single battalion, the 1st Battalion. On 6 June 2006 the Dukes were amalgamated with the Prince of Waless Own Regiment of Yorkshire, following further mergers, in 2012, the battalion was redesignated as the new 1st Battalion of the regiment. In Korea, the Dukes desperate defence of the Hook position halted the last major Chinese attempt to break the United Nations Line before the truce, in July 1953, brought the war to an end. In Cyprus the battalion was successful in Operation Golden Rain, destroying a major EOKA terrorist group operating in the Troodos Mountains in 1956. In 1964 the battalion joined the NATO deterrence in Germany on the front line in the Cold War and they were amongst the first units to cross the border from Kuwait in the 2003 Iraq War. The Duke of Wellingtons Regiment was originally formed in 1702 as Huntingdons Regiment, as regiments at that time took the name of the Colonel taking it over it became, - Henry Leighs Regiment, then Robert Duncansons Regiment and George Wades Regiment. On 31 August 1782 Lord Cornwallis heard that the King had approved of the new title, the 76th Regiment was originally raised, by Simon Harcourt as Lord Harcourts Regiment on 17 November 1745 and disbanded in June 1746. Following the loss of Minorca, to the French, it was reraised in November 1756 as the 61st Regiment, but renumbered to 76th, by General Order in 1758, and again disbanded in 1763. A second battalion raised by that regiment in October 1758, for service in Africa, was renumbered as the 86th Regiment and it was disbanded at Stirling Castle in March 1784. The regiment was raised for service in India by the Honorable East India Company in 1787. In 1881 the 76th Regiment, which shared the same Depot in Halifax as the 33rd, was linked to the 33rd, under the Childers Reforms, in January 1921 it was again retitled to The Duke of Wellingtons Regiment, or DWR for short. Within months of its raising the regiment was despatched to join Malboroughs army in Holland. After five months and only two battles it was sent to Portugal, along with five other of Malboroughs best regiments, the 33rd fought in many battles including Valencia de Alcantara, Zaragossa, and less favourably at Almansa and Brihuega. The 33rd itself had a reputation for its professionalism and capability
17.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, in short, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeastern Europe located on the Balkan Peninsula. Sarajevo is the capital and largest city, in the central and eastern interior of the country the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and the northeast is predominantly flatland. The inland is a larger region and has a moderate continental climate, with hot summers and cold. The southern tip of the country has a Mediterranean climate and plain topography, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a region that traces permanent human settlement back to the Neolithic age, during and after which it was populated by several Illyrian and Celtic civilizations. Culturally, politically, and socially, the country has a rich history, the Ottomans brought Islam to the region, and altered much of the cultural and social outlook of the country. This was followed by annexation into the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which lasted up until World War I. In the interwar period, Bosnia was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and after World War II, following the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the country proclaimed independence in 1992, which was followed by the Bosnian War, lasting until late 1995. The country is home to three ethnic groups or, officially, constituent peoples, as specified in the constitution. Bosniaks are the largest group of the three, with Serbs second and Croats third, a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regardless of ethnicity, is identified in English as a Bosnian. The terms Herzegovinian and Bosnian are maintained as a rather than ethnic distinction. Moreover, the country was simply called Bosnia until the Austro-Hungarian occupation at the end of the 19th century, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a bicameral legislature and a three-member Presidency composed of a member of each major ethnic group. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is itself complex and consists of 10 cantons, additionally, the country has been a member of the Council of Europe since April 2002 and a founding member of the Mediterranean Union upon its establishment in July 2008. The name is believed to have derived from the hydronym of the river Bosna coursing through the Bosnian heartland. According to philologist Anton Mayer the name Bosna could be derived from Illyrian Bass-an-as which would be a diversion of the Proto-Indo-European root bos or bogh, meaning the running water. According to English medievalist William Miller the Slavic settlers in Bosnia adapted the Latin designation Basante, to their own idiom by calling the stream Bosna, the name Herzegovina originates from Bosnian magnate Stephen Vukčić Kosačas title, Herceg of Hum and the Coast. Hum, formerly Zahumlje, was a medieval principality that was conquered by the Bosnian Banate in the first half of the 14th century. Bosnia is located in the western Balkans, bordering Croatia to the north and west, Serbia to the east and it has a coastline about 20 kilometres long surrounding the city of Neum. It lies between latitudes 42° and 46° N, and longitudes 15° and 20° E, the countrys name comes from the two regions Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have a very vaguely defined border between them
18.
Colour sergeant
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Colour sergeant or color sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer found in several militaries. Colour sergeant is a title in the Royal Marines and infantry regiments of the British Army, ranking above sergeant. The insignia is the crown above three downward pointing chevrons. The rank was introduced into British Army infantry regiments in 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars to reward long-serving sergeants, by 1913, there were two colour sergeants in each infantry company. On 1 October 1913, they were replaced by the two new ranks of sergeant major and company quartermaster sergeant, with one of each in each company. However, the CQMS of an infantry company continued to be addressed as Colour Sergeant. The Royal Marines retained the rank throughout, historically, colour sergeants of British line regiments protected ensigns, the most junior officers who were responsible for carrying their battalions colours to rally troops in battles. For this reason, to reach the rank of sergeant was considered a prestigious attainment. This tradition continues today as colour sergeants form part of a party in military parades. Colour sergeants are referred to and addressed as Colour Sergeant or Colour in the Army, or as Colour Sergeant or Colours in the Royal Marines, and never by the more junior rank of Sergeant. Unusually, NCOs with the rank of sergeant who hold the appointment of company quartermaster sergeant are still addressed and referred to by their rank. In Foot Guards regiments, colour sergeants are addressed as Sir and afforded the respect, during ceremonial events it is from the colour sergeant that the ensign collects the colour of the battalion or regiment. In the Royal Marines Band Service, the bandmasters of the seven Royal Navy Volunteer Bands usually hold the rank of colour sergeant. Colour sergeant is also a rank in the guards regiments of the Canadian Forces, specifically the Governor Generals Foot Guards. Canadian colour sergeants are addressed in the manner as their British counterparts. Colour sergeant is an NCO rank that was used at different times in the U. S. military. The rank was last used in the U. S. Army during World War I and is conferred on second class cadets of the United States Military Academy at West Point who are assigned to a colour party. It is also a used in the United States Marine Corps for sergeants who carry the colours
19.
Royal Welch Fusiliers
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The Royal Welch Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales Division. It was founded in 1689 to oppose James II and to part in the imminent war with France. The Royal accolade was earned fighting in the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713 and it was one of the oldest infantry regiments in the British Army, hence the archaic spelling of the word Welch instead of Welsh.56. During those decades, the regiment itself unofficially used the Welch form, the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Regiment of Wales on 1 March 2006, to become the 1st Battalion, Royal Welsh. The regiment primarily recruited from North Wales and it should not be confused with the Welch Regiment, which recruited from South and West Wales. The regiment was formed by Lord Henry Herbert at Ludlow in March 1689 to oppose James II, in the following year, it fought at the Siege of Athlone in June and the Battle of Aughrim in July. The regiment embarked for Flanders in 1694 for service in the Nine Years War and it fought at the Siege of Namur in July 1695. The regiment returned to Flanders in 1701 for service in the War of the Spanish Succession, it saw action at the Battle of Schellenberg in July 1704, the regiment returned to Flanders in 1742 for service in the War of the Austrian Succession. It was in action at the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743, the regiment embarked for Germany in 1758 for service in the Seven Years War. It fought at Battle of Minden in August 1759, the Battle of Warburg in July 1760, the regiment was sent to North America for service in the American Revolutionary War in 1773. The light infantry and grenadier companies of the Fusiliers saw bloody action at the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775, All companies, except the grenadiers who were garrisoning New York City, fought at the Battle of Guilford Court House in March 1781. The regiment participated in every campaign up to the Siege of Yorktown in September 1781. At the surrender of Yorktown, the Royal Welch Fusiliers was the only British regiment not to surrender its colours, the regiment embarked for the West Indies in 1794 for service in the French Revolutionary Wars. It took part in the capture of Port-au-Prince in Haiti in 1795 before returning home in 1796 and it also took part in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in August 1799 and fought at the Battle of Alkmaar in October 1799. It then went to Egypt for the Battle of Alexandria in March 1801, the regiment embarked for the Peninsula in 1810. It saw action at the Battle of Albuera in May 1811, the Siege of Badajoz also in May 1811 and the Battle of Salamanca in July 1812. It then pursued the French Army into France and fought at the Battle of the Pyrenees in July 1813, the Battle of Nivelle in November 1813 and the Battle of Toulouse in April 1814. It also took part in the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815 when it fought under Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Mitchell, in the nineteenth century, the regiment took part in the Crimean War, the Second Opium War, the Indian Mutiny and the Third Anglo-Burmese War
20.
MBE
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There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not Head of state, occasionally, honorary appointees are, incorrectly, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bill Gates or Bob Geldof, for example. In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War, when first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was divided into Military. The Orders motto is For God and the Empire, at the foundation of the Order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the British Empire Medal, in addition, the BEM is awarded by the Cook Islands and by some other Commonwealth nations. The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, and appoints all members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Mary, and the current Grand Master, the Duke of Edinburgh. The Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross,845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the number of members of the fourth and fifth classes. Foreign recipients, as members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, and so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, and second-lowest of knighthood. Because of this, Dame Commander is awarded in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor, for example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges become Knights Bachelor. The Order has six officials, the Prelate, the Dean, the Secretary, the Registrar, the King of Arms, the Bishop of London, a senior bishop in the Church of England, serves as the Orders Prelate. The Dean of St Pauls is ex officio the Dean of the Order, the Orders King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, as are many other heraldic officers. From time to time, individuals are appointed to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of the junior post-nominal letters
21.
Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)
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The Parachute Regiment, colloquially known as the Paras, is an elite airborne infantry regiment of the British Army. One battalion is permanently under the command of the Director Special Forces in the Special Forces Support Group, the other battalions are the parachute infantry component of the British Armys rapid response formation,16 Air Assault Brigade. The Paras are the line infantry regiment of the British Army that has not been amalgamated with another unit since the end of the Second World War. The Parachute Regiment was formed on 22 June 1940 during the Second World War, in Europe, these battalions formed part of the 1st Airborne Division, the 6th Airborne Division and the 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade Group. Another three battalions served with the British Indian Army in India and Burma, the regiment took part in six major parachute assault operations in North Africa, Italy, Greece, France, the Netherlands and Germany, often landing ahead of all other troops. At the end of the Second World War, the regiment was reduced to three regular army battalions first assigned to the 16th Parachute Brigade and later the 5th Airborne Brigade, the reserve 16th Airborne Division was formed using the regiment reserve battalions in the Territorial Army. Defence cuts gradually reduced the TA formations to a parachute brigade, the Parachute Regiment consists of three regular army battalions, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and an Army Reserve battalion, the 4th. The 1st is based at St Athan, Wales, and is attached to the Special Forces Support Group. They receive further training on weapons, communications equipment and specialist assault skills. All men within the Parachute Regiment can expect to serve with the SFSG on rotation and this ensures that the advanced military skills taught to the SFSG are maintained in the other two regular battalions. The 2nd and 3rd battalions are the infantry component of the 16 Air Assault Brigade, the armys rapid response brigade. The reserve 4th Battalion has its headquarters at Pudsey and companies in Glasgow, Liverpool, volunteers for the Parachute Regiment are invited to a 3-day insight course at the Parachute Regiment Assessment Course at Catterick Garrison. Over the three days, they have to pass a series of fitness assessments. All recruit training is undertaken over a 30-week course with 2nd Infantry Training Battalion at the Infantry Training Centre at Catterick. P company puts recruits through a number of physical assessments designed to test fitness, stamina, at the end of P Company, recruits take part in eight pre-parachute selection tests. Those who are successful are awarded their maroon beret, currently, recruits for the Parachute Regiment must be male and aged 16 to 33 for the regular Army, or 18 to 40 for the Army Reserve. Potential Officers must be aged 18 to 29, on completion of his basic training and entry into his battalion, recruits are posted to RAF Brize Norton for a Basic Parachute Course. Since 1995, all jumps are carried out from powered aircraft
22.
Sierra Leone
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Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north-east, Liberia to the south-east, Sierra Leone has a tropical climate, with a diverse environment ranging from savannah to rainforests. Sierra Leone has an area of 71,740 km2. Sierra Leone is divided into four regions, the Northern Province, Eastern Province, Southern Province and the Western Area. Freetown is the capital, largest city and its economic and political centre, Bo is the second largest city. The other major cities are Kenema, Makeni and Koidu Town, Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic with a directly elected president and a unicameral legislature. Sir Milton Margai built his government based on democratic principles. Throughout his time in power, Sir Milton Margai was very popular across Sierra Leone, the main opposition APC, led by its leader Siaka Stevens, narowly defeated the ruling SLPP under the leadership of Albert Margai in the 1964 general elections. Stevens ruled for eighteen years in a government, in which his critics. Soldiers and politicians convicted of plotting a coup to topple Stevens were executed, under president Stevens, the APC was made the only legal political party in Sierra Leone, and all other political parties were banned, including the main opposition. Stevens handpicked successor, retired major general Joseph Saidu Momoh, lacked the political dominance of Stevens, Momoh reestablished the country as a multi party democracy in 1991. The current constitution of Sierra Leone was adopted in 1991 during the presidency of Joseph Saidu Momoh, the rebels started the civil war in 1991 in the eastern part of the country during Momohs presidency. Momoh was very unpopular, and Public anger against the Momoh government increasingly grew due to corruption, poor economy. In 1992 a group of officers in the army led by a 25-year-old captain, Valentine Strasser. In 1996 during the war, another military coup of soldiers within Strassers inner circle, led by a 32 year old Brigadier General Julius Maada Bio, toppled Strasser. Since independent to present, Sierra Leones politics has been dominated by two political parties, the Sierra Leone Peoples Party and the All Peoples congress. From 1991 to 2002, the Sierra Leone civil war was fought and this proxy war left more than 50,000 people dead, much of the countrys infrastructure destroyed, and over two million people displaced as refugees in neighbouring countries. In January 2002, then Sierra Leones president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, fulfilled his promise by ending the civil war, with help by the British Government, ECOWAS
23.
Operation Barras
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Operation Barras was a British Army operation that took place in Sierra Leone on 10 September 2000, during the late stages of that nations civil war. The operation aimed to release five British soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment who had held by a militia group known as the West Side Boys. There the patrol was overwhelmed by a number of heavily armed rebels, taken prisoner. Negotiators concluded that these were delaying tactics rather than an effort to resolve the crisis, by 9 September, the operation freed the five soldiers as well as twenty-one Sierra Leonean civilians who had been held prisoner by the West Side Boys. Many West Side Boys fled the area during the assault, the operation restored confidence in the British forces operating in Sierra Leone, which had been undermined by the capture of the Royal Irish patrol. Sierra Leone is a former British colony in West Africa, close to the equator, by 2000, the country had been consumed by a civil war which had begun in 1991. The West Side Boys were a group who had been involved in the civil war. As part of the mission, British forces secured Sierra Leones main airport, the STTT was initially formed from a detachment from 2nd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, who were replaced in July 2000 by 1st Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment. The Special Air Service is a corps of the British Army and it consists of three regiments, of which two are drawn from the Territorial Army and one regular regiment—22 Regiment, which was involved in Operation Barras. The SAS was formed by Colonel David Stirling in Africa in 1941 and its original role was to penetrate enemy lines and strike at airfields and supply lines deep in enemy territory, first in North Africa and later around the Mediterranean and in occupied Europe. Stirling established the principle of using small teams—having realised that small, the SAS first entered the public eye after Operation Nimrod, the operation to end the Iranian Embassy siege in 1980. The 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment is part of the British Armys infantry and, as in the SAS, applicants must undergo an additional level of scrutiny in order to be accepted. Unlike in the SAS, new recruits to the army can apply to join the Parachute Regiment directly from the Infantry Training Centre at Catterick in Yorkshire or the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. On 25 August 2000, a patrol from 1 R IRISH left their base in Waterloo to visit Jordanian peacekeepers attached to the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone and based at Masiaka. The patrol turned off the road onto a dirt track that led to the village of Magbeni. As they approached the base, they were surrounded by a group of West Side Boys. Marshall dismounted his vehicle, then resisted an attempt to grab his rifle and was beaten, the negotiations were led by Lieutenant Colonel Simon Fordham, commanding officer of 1 R IRISH, who was assisted by a small team which included hostage negotiators from the Metropolitan Police. Two days later, on 31 August, five of the hostages were released in exchange for a satellite telephone
24.
Squadron leader
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Squadron leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. An air force squadron leader ranks above lieutenant and immediately below wing commander. The air force rank of squadron leader has a NATO ranking code of OF-3, the equivalent rank in the Womens Auxiliary Air Force, Womens Royal Air Force and Princess Marys Royal Air Force Nursing Service was squadron officer. Squadron leader has also used as a cavalry command appointment. In Argentina it is used as an appointment by both the armys cavalry and by the air forces flying units. The cavalry rank of squadron leader in France is also an OF-4 equivalent to a major, the rank originated in the British Royal Air Force and was adopted by several other air forces which use, or used, the RAF rank system. In response to the proposal that the RAF should use its own titles, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navys officer ranks. For example, the rank that later became squadron leader would have been air lieutenant commander, however, the Admiralty objected to this modification of their rank titles. The rank title squadron leader was chosen as squadrons were typically led by RAF majors, the rank of squadron leader has been used continuously since 1 August 1919. From 1 April 1918 to 31 July 1919, the RAF used major as the equivalent rank to squadron leader, Royal Naval Air Service lieutenant-commanders and Royal Flying Corps majors on 31 March 1918 became RAF majors on 1 April 1918. On 31 August 1919, the RAF rank of major was superseded by squadron leader which has remained in continuous usage ever since. Promotion to squadron leader is strictly on merit, and requires the individual to be appointed to a Career Commission, before the Second World War, a squadron leader commanded a squadron of aircraft. Today, however, a squadron is usually commanded by a wing commander. However, ground-operating squadrons which are sub-divisions of a wing are ordinarily commanded by a squadron leader and this includes squadrons of the RAF Regiment and University Air Squadrons. The rank insignia consists of a blue band on a slightly wider black band between two narrow blue bands on slightly wider black bands. This is worn on both the sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform. Squadron leaders are the lowest ranking officers that may fly a command flag, the flag may be depicted on the officers aircraft or, should the squadron leader be in command, the flag may be flown from a flagpole or displayed on an official car as a car flag
25.
Royal Air Force
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The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdoms aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. The RAF describe its mission statement as, an agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission. The mission statement is supported by the RAFs definition of air power, Air power is defined as the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events. Today the Royal Air Force maintains a fleet of various types of aircraft. The majority of the RAFs rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in support of ground forces, most of the RAFs aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations or at long-established overseas bases. It was founded on 1 April 1918, with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps, at that time it was the largest air force in the world. The RAFs naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm, was founded in 1924, the RAF developed the doctrine of strategic bombing which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became its main bombing strategy in the Second World War. The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed Article XV squadrons for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from countries, and exiles from occupied Europe. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations, additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force represented around nine percent of all RAF personnel who served in the European and Mediterranean theatres. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe, the largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, during the early stages of the Cold War, one of the first major operations undertaken by the Royal Air Force was in 1948 and the Berlin Airlift, codenamed Operation Plainfire. Before Britain developed its own nuclear weapons the RAF was provided with American nuclear weapons under Project E and these were initially armed with nuclear gravity bombs, later being equipped with the Blue Steel missile. Following the development of the Royal Navys Polaris submarines, the nuclear deterrent passed to the navys submarines on 30 June 1969. With the introduction of Polaris, the RAFs strategic nuclear role was reduced to a tactical one and this tactical role was continued by the V bombers into the 1980s and until 1998 by Tornado GR1s. For much of the Cold War the primary role of the RAF was the defence of Western Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union, with many squadrons based in West Germany. With the decline of the British Empire, global operations were scaled back, despite this, the RAF fought in many battles in the Cold War period
26.
Royal Marines
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The Corps of Royal Marines is the United Kingdoms amphibious light infantry force, forming part of the Naval Service, along with the Royal Navy. The Royal Marines were formed in 1755 as the Royal Navys infantry troops, as a highly specialised and adaptable light infantry force, the Royal Marines are trained for rapid deployment worldwide and capable of dealing with a wide range of threats. The Royal Marines have close ties with allied marine forces, particularly the United States Marine Corps. Today, the Royal Marines are a fighting force within the British Armed forces. The Royal Marines can trace its origins back as far as 28 October 1664 when at the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company the Duke of York and Albanys maritime regiment of foot was first formed. On 5 April 1755, His Majestys Marine Forces, fifty Companies in three Divisions, headquartered at Chatham, Portsmouth, and Plymouth, were formed by Order of Council under Admiralty control. Initially all field officers were Royal Navy officers as the Royal Navy felt that the ranks of Marine field officers were largely honorary and this meant that the furthest a Marine officer could advance was to lieutenant colonel. It was not until 1771 that the first Marine was promoted to colonel and this attitude persisted well into the 1800s. During the rest of the 18th century, they served in numerous landings all over the world and they also served in the American War of Independence, being particularly courageous in the Battle of Bunker Hill led by Major John Pitcairn. In 1788 a detachment of four companies of marines, under Major Robert Ross, due to an error the Fleet left Portsmouth without its main supply of ammunition, and were not resupplied until the Fleet docked in Rio de Janeiro midway through the voyage. In 1802, largely at the instigation of Admiral the Earl St. Vincent, the Royal Marines Artillery was formed as a separate unit in 1804 to man the artillery in bomb ketches. These had been manned by the Armys Royal Regiment of Artillery, during the Napoleonic Wars the Royal Marines participated in every notable naval battle on board the Royal Navys ships and also took part in multiple amphibious actions. In the Caribbean theatre volunteers from freed French slaves on Marie-Galante were used to form Sir Alexander Cochranes first Corps of Colonial Marines and these men bolstered the ranks, helping the British to hold the island until reinforcements arrived. This practice was repeated during the War of 1812, where escaped American slaves were formed into Cochranes second Corps of Colonial Marines and these men were commanded by Royal Marines officers and fought alongside their regular Royal Marines counterparts at the Battle of Bladensburg. Throughout the war Royal Marines units raided up and down the east coast of America including up the Penobscot River and they fought in the Battle of New Orleans and later helped capture Fort Bowyer in Mobile Bay in what was the last action of the war. In 1855 the Infantry forces were renamed the Royal Marines Light Infantry, during the Crimean War in 1854 and 1855, three Royal Marines earned the Victoria Cross, two in the Crimea and one in the Baltic. In 1862 the name was altered to Royal Marine Light Infantry. The Royal Navy did not fight any other ships after 1850, in these Naval Brigades, the function of the Royal Marines was to land first and act as skimishers ahead of the sailor Infantry and Artillery
27.
Afghanistan
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Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located within South Asia and Central Asia. It has a population of approximately 32 million, making it the 42nd most populous country in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in the north and its territory covers 652,000 km2, making it the 41st largest country in the world. The land also served as the source from which the Kushans, Hephthalites, Samanids, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Khiljis, Mughals, Hotaks, Durranis, the political history of the modern state of Afghanistan began with the Hotak and Durrani dynasties in the 18th century. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a state in the Great Game between British India and the Russian Empire. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, King Amanullah unsuccessfully attempted to modernize the country and it remained peaceful during Zahir Shahs forty years of monarchy. A series of coups in the 1970s was followed by a series of wars that devastated much of Afghanistan. The name Afghānistān is believed to be as old as the ethnonym Afghan, the root name Afghan was used historically in reference to a member of the ethnic Pashtuns, and the suffix -stan means place of in Persian. Therefore, Afghanistan translates to land of the Afghans or, more specifically in a historical sense, however, the modern Constitution of Afghanistan states that he word Afghan shall apply to every citizen of Afghanistan. An important site of historical activities, many believe that Afghanistan compares to Egypt in terms of the historical value of its archaeological sites. The country sits at a unique nexus point where numerous civilizations have interacted and it has been home to various peoples through the ages, among them the ancient Iranian peoples who established the dominant role of Indo-Iranian languages in the region. At multiple points, the land has been incorporated within large regional empires, among them the Achaemenid Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Indian Maurya Empire, and the Islamic Empire. Archaeological exploration done in the 20th century suggests that the area of Afghanistan has been closely connected by culture and trade with its neighbors to the east, west. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, urban civilization is believed to have begun as early as 3000 BCE, and the early city of Mundigak may have been a colony of the nearby Indus Valley Civilization. More recent findings established that the Indus Valley Civilisation stretched up towards modern-day Afghanistan, making the ancient civilisation today part of Pakistan, Afghanistan, in more detail, it extended from what today is northwest Pakistan to northwest India and northeast Afghanistan. An Indus Valley site has found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan. There are several smaller IVC colonies to be found in Afghanistan as well, after 2000 BCE, successive waves of semi-nomadic people from Central Asia began moving south into Afghanistan, among them were many Indo-European-speaking Indo-Iranians. These tribes later migrated further into South Asia, Western Asia, the region at the time was referred to as Ariana
28.
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
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See Captain for other versions of this army and marines rank. Captain is an officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. The rank is equivalent to a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, the rank of captain in the Royal Navy is considerably more senior and the two ranks should not be confused. In the 21st-century British Army, captains are appointed to be second-in-command of a company or equivalent sized unit of up to 120 soldiers. A rank of second captain existed in the Ordnance at the time of the Battle of Waterloo, from 1 April 1918 to 31 July 1919, the Royal Air Force maintained the junior officer rank of captain. RAF captains had a rank based on the two bands of a naval lieutenant with the addition of an eagle and crown above the bands. It was superseded by the rank of lieutenant on the following day. Badges of rank for captains were introduced on 30 January 1855 and were worn on shoulder epaulets, after the Crimean War a new rank system was introduced which contained the first complete rank insignia in British Army history. A captains rank insignia was worn on the collar and displayed a crown, the rank insignia were returned to the shoulder boards in 1880 for all officers in full dress, when the system of crowns and stars was reorganised. From this time, until 1902, a captain had just two stars, the 1902 change gave captains three stars, which continues to be used. In addition to the badges, officers ranks were also reflected in the amount. Based on equivalent naval ranks, captains had two rings of braid, in the case of Scottish regiments, the rings were around the top of the gauntlet-style cuff and the badges on the cuff itself. During World War I, some took to wearing similar jackets to the men, with the rank badges on the shoulder. This practice was frowned on outside the trenches but was given official sanction in 1917 as an alternative, being made permanent in 1920 when the cuff badges were abolished
29.
Private (rank)
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A private is a soldier of the lowest military rank. In modern military parlance, private is shortened to Pte in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to Pvt. in the United States. The term derives from the term private soldiers, denoting individuals who were either hired, conscripted. The usage of private dates from the 18th century, for information, you may refer to Israel Defense Forces ranks. In the Israel Defense Forces, טוראי Turai refers to the lowest enlisted rank, after 7–10 months of service soldiers are promoted from private to corporal, if they performed their duties appropriately during this time. Soldiers who take a course, are prisoner instructors or practical engineers become corporals earlier. An IDF private wears no insignia and is sometimes described as having a slick sleeve for this reason. The equivalent ranks to privates within the North and South Korean armies are il-byong and e-byong, the symbol for this rank is 1 line or 2 lines. Private second class is known by 1 line, while private first class is 2 lines, once recruits complete their Basic Military Training or Basic Rescue Training, they attain the rank of private. Privates do not wear ranks on their rank holder, pTEs who performed well are promoted to the rank of Private First Class. The PFC rank insignia is a chevron pointing downward. In Indonesia, this rank is referred to as Tamtama, which is the lowest rank in the Indonesian Armed Forces, in the Indonesian Army, Private has three levels, which are, Private, Private First Class, and Master Private. After this rank, it is promoted the rank, Corporal, in the Australian Army, a soldier of private rank wears no insignia. Like its British Army counterpart, the Australian Army rank of private has other titles, depending on the corps, there are three levels of private, private, private, and private. All persons holding the rank of private are referred to as such, a private is considered an apprentice in their trade, and there are no pay raises between the various levels of private except for time in rank raise. In the Royal Canadian Air Force, the rank is called Aviator and is broken into three levels, aviator, aviator and aviator. The rank is in most regards identical to the rank of Private. The insignia for aviator is a propeller, Private / Aviator – fresh recruit, untrained, holds this rank through recruit training
30.
Iraq
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The capital, and largest city, is Baghdad. The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds, others include Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians, around 95% of the countrys 36 million citizens are Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism, and Mandeanism also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish, two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that mankind first began to read, write, create laws, the area has been home to successive civilisations since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq was the centre of the Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and it was also part of the Median, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires. Iraqs modern borders were mostly demarcated in 1920 by the League of Nations when the Ottoman Empire was divided by the Treaty of Sèvres, Iraq was placed under the authority of the United Kingdom as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. A monarchy was established in 1921 and the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from Britain in 1932, in 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Baath Party from 1968 until 2003, after an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003, Saddam Husseins Baath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005. The American presence in Iraq ended in 2011, but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as fighters from the Syrian Civil War spilled into the country, the Arabic name العراق al-ʿIrāq has been in use since before the 6th century. There are several suggested origins for the name, one dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk and is thus ultimately of Sumerian origin, as Uruk was the Akkadian name for the Sumerian city of Urug, containing the Sumerian word for city, UR. An Arabic folk etymology for the name is rooted, well-watered. During the medieval period, there was a region called ʿIrāq ʿArabī for Lower Mesopotamia and ʿIrāq ʿajamī, for the region now situated in Central and Western Iran. The term historically included the south of the Hamrin Mountains. The term Sawad was also used in early Islamic times for the region of the plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In English, it is either /ɪˈrɑːk/ or /ɪˈræk/, the American Heritage Dictionary, the pronunciation /aɪˈræk/ is frequently heard in U. S. media. Since approximately 10,000 BC, Iraq was one of centres of a Caucasoid Neolithic culture where agriculture, the following Neolithic period is represented by rectangular houses. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gypsum, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations
31.
Blues and Royals
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The Blues and Royals is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. The Colonel-in-Chief is Queen Elizabeth II and the Colonel of the Regiment is Anne and it is the second-most senior regiment in the British Army. The Blues and Royals is one of two regiments of the Household Division that can trace its lineage back to the New Model Army, the other being the Coldstream Guards. The regiment was formed in 1969 from the merger of the Royal Horse Guards, which was known as the Blues or the Oxford Blues, and the Royal Dragoons, since then, the new regiment has served in Northern Ireland, Germany, and Cyprus. During the Falklands War of 1982, the regiment provided the two armoured reconnaissance troops, the regiment also had a squadron on operational duty with the United Nations in Bosnia in 1994–95. Most recently, the regiment saw action in the Iraq War, both Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Prince Harry joined the regiment as cornets in 2006. As a result of the Options for Change Review in 1991, however, they each maintain their regimental identity, with distinct uniforms and traditions, and their own colonel. Newly commissioned officers in the Blues and Royals are named Cornets, the rank of sergeant does not exist in the Household Cavalry. The equivalent is Corporal of Horse, which applies to any other ranks with the word sergeant in it, such as Regimental Sergeant Major. King Edward VII also declared the rank of Private should be replaced by the rank of Trooper in the cavalry, the Blues and Royals is the only regiment in the British Army that allows troopers and non-commissioned officers, when not wearing headdress, to salute an officer. The custom started after the Battle of Warburg in 1760 by the Marquess of Granby, during the battle, the Marquess had driven the French forces from the field, losing both his hat and his wig during the charge. When reporting to his commander, Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, in the heat of the moment he is said to have saluted without wearing his headdress, when the Marquess of Granby became the Colonel of the Blues, the regiment adopted this tradition. When the Household Cavalry mounts an escort to the Sovereign on State occasions, the historical reason behind this is that when a horse was wounded or injured so seriously that it could not be treated, its suffering was ended by killing it with the spike. The axe is also a reminder of the days when the Sovereign’s escorts accompanied royal coaches, horses often fell, becoming entangled in their harnesses and had to be freed with the cut of an axe. Today, the axe remains as a symbol of the Farrier’s duties, in addition, the Blues and Royals wear their chin strap under their chin, as opposed to the Life Guards, who wear it below their lower lip. On service dress, the Blues and Royals wear a lanyard on the left shoulder. In most dress orders, the Waterloo Eagle is worn on the arm as part of dress traditions. The Blues and Royals, as part of the Household Division, does not use the Order of the Bath Star for its officer rank pips, Prince Harry wore the uniform at the wedding of his brother, Prince William, to Catherine Middleton
32.
King's Own Scottish Borderers
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The Kings Own Scottish Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. The regiment was raised on 18 March 1689 by David Melville and its claimed that 800 men were recruited within the space of two hours. The regiments first action was at the Battle of Killiecrankie on 27 July 1689, the regiment was judged to have performed well and was granted the privilege of recruiting by beat of drum in the City of Edinburgh without prior permission of the provost. For a period it was known as Semphills Regiment of Foot, the name under which it fought at the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745, when the British infantry were allocated numerical positions in the line of Infantry the regiment was numbered 25th Regiment of Foot in 1751. The regiment fought at the Battle of Minden on 1 August 1759 with five other regiments, the 25th was the county regiment of Sussex in 1782 when it became known as the 25th Regiment of Foot. The regiment was awarded the right to bear the emblem of the Sphinx for their role in the Battle of Alexandria in 1801 and its recruiting area was moved to the Scottish Borders region in 1805 from when the regiment became known as the 25th Regiment of Foot. The regiment moved to Berwick Barracks in July 1881, under the reforms the regiment became The Kings Own Borderers on 1 July 1881. A 3rd, Militia, Battalion was formed as the Scottish Borderers Militia, the regiment became The Kings Own Scottish Borderers in 1887. It was embodied in January 1900 for service in the Second Boer War, most of the battalion returned home in June 1902. The 1st Battalion was serving in Lucknow, India when the war broke out, after returning to England it landed at Cape Helles in Gallipoli as part of the 87th Brigade in the 29th Division in April 1915. After being evacuated from Gallipoli in January 1916 it moved to Alexandria in Egypt and it saw action at the Battle of the Somme in Autumn 1916, the Battle of Ypres in Autumn 1917, the Battle of Lys in April 1918 and the Battle of Cambrai in October 1918. During the Home Rule Crisis in 1914, the 2nd Battalion was stationed in Dublin as part of 13th Brigade in the 5th Division and they killed four civilians and wounded 38 after opening fire on a group of unarmed civilians on the day of the Howth gun-running in July 1914. The 1/4th Battalion and the 1/5th Battalion landed in Gallipoli as part of the 155th Brigade in the 52nd Division in June 1915, the 6th Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 28th Brigade in the 9th Division in May 1915 for service on the Western Front. It saw action at the Battle of Loos in September 1915 the Battle of the Somme in November 1916, the Battle of Arras in May 1917 and the Battle of Passchendaele in November 1917. The 7th Battalion and the 7th Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 46th Brigade in the 15th Division in July 1915 for service on the Western Front. After the Second World War, the regiment served internal security duties in the British Mandate of Palestine and was reduced to a single battalion around 1948. The regiment was part of the United Nations forces that saw action at the First Battle of Maryang San in October 1951 during the Korean War, private Bill Speakman was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the battle. They took part in the Gulf War in 1991 but were one of the few Scottish regiments not deployed to the Yugoslav Wars, the regiment also served in Iraq on Operation Telic in 2003
33.
Sergeant
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Sergeant is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. Its origin is the Latin serviens, one who serves, through the French term sergent, the term sergeant refers to a non-commissioned officer placed above the rank of a corporal and a police officer immediately below a lieutenant. In most armies the rank of sergeant corresponds to command of a squad, in Commonwealth armies, it is a more senior rank, corresponding roughly to a platoon second-in-command. In the United States Army, sergeant is a junior rank corresponding to a four-soldier fireteam leader. More senior non-commissioned ranks are often variations on sergeant, for example staff sergeant, many countries use sergeant rank, whether in English or using a cognate with the same origin in another language. The equivalent rank in Arab armies is raqeeb, meaning overseer or watcher, in medieval European usage, a sergeant was simply any attendant or officer with a protective duty. Any medieval knight or military order of knighthood might have sergeants-at-arms, the etymology of the term is from Anglo-French sergant, serjant servant, valet, court official, soldier, from Middle Latin servientem servant, vassal, soldier. Later, a sergeant was a man of what would now be thought of as the middle class. Sergeants could fight either as heavy to light cavalry, or as well trained professional infantry, most notable medieval mercenaries fell into the sergeant class, such as Flemish crossbowmen and spearmen, who were seen as reliable quality troops. The sergeant class was deemed to be half of a knight in military value. A specific kind of military sergeant was the serjeant-at-arms, one of a body of armed men retained by English lords, the title is now given to an officer in modern legislative bodies who is charged with keeping order during meetings and, if necessary, forcibly removing disruptive members. The responsibilities of a sergeant differ from army to army, there are usually several ranks of sergeant, each corresponding to greater experience and responsibility for the daily lives of the soldiers of larger units. Sergeant is a rank in both the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force, the ranks are equivalent to each other and the Royal Australian Navy rank of petty officer. The Australian Army rank of sergeant is now redundant and is no longer awarded, due to being outside the rank equivalencies. Chief petty officers and flight sergeants are not required to call a warrant officer class two sir in accordance with Australian Defence Force Regulations 1952. The rank of sergeant exists in all Australian police forces and is more senior than a constable or senior constable, New South Wales Police Force, for example, has the additional rank of incremental sergeant. This is a progression, following appointment as a sergeant for seven years. An incremental sergeant rank is less senior than a senior sergeant but is more senior than a sergeant, upon appointment as a sergeant or senior sergeant, the sergeant is given a warrant of appointment under the commissioners hand and seal
34.
Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
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Through its ancestry via the Queens Royal Regiment, the PWRR is the most senior English line infantry regiment. The current regiment was named in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, when the Princess divorced the Prince of Wales, she resigned as Colonel-in-chief and the Queen of Denmark has remained its Colonel-in-Chief since. The 1st Battalion served a tour of Iraq in 2004 with a second tour following in 2006. Many of the carried out by the battalion during the first tour were named after stations on the London Underground. Elements of 1 PWRR helped train the Iraqi National Army and oversaw the withdrawal of UK Forces from Basra, the 1st Battalion under Army 2020 will move from Paderborn, Germany to be stationed at Bulford Camp. The regiments 2nd Battalion were based in Shackleton Barracks, Northern Ireland, after two years at Alexandria Barracks in Dhekelia in Cyprus, they moved to Woolwich Garrison, London, to take up a public duties role in August 2010, a role they performed for three years. 2nd Battalion deployed to Cyprus again in 2014 and it remains one of the infantry units rotating between the UK and British Forces Cyprus. 3rd Battalion — Army Reserve Light Infantry serving with 7th Infantry Brigade, the Princess of Waless Royal Regiment Museum is located in Dover Castle, Dover, Kent. Exhibits trace the history, and include displays of photographs, paintings, weapons, badges, medals, uniforms. Private Johnson Beharry of the 1st Battalion, PWRR was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during his units deployment to Amarah, near Basra. Whilst attached to the 1st Battalion, Michelle Norris of the Royal Army Medical Corps became the first woman to be awarded the Military Cross following her actions on 11 June 2006
35.
Royal Artillery
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The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery, is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name Royal Regiment of Artillery it actually consists of 13 Regular Regiments and 5 Reserve Regiments, the introduction of artillery into the English army came as early as the Battle of Crécy in 1346. Henry VIII made the armys artillery semi-permanent in the sixteenth century, before the 18th century, artillery traynes were raised by royal warrant for specific campaigns and disbanded again when they were over. On 26 May 1716, however, by warrant of George I two regular companies of field artillery, each 100 men strong, were raised at Woolwich. The title Royal Artillery was first used in 1720, in 1741 the Royal Military Academy was formed in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich to provide training for RA and Royal Engineers officers. The regiment expanded rapidly and, by 1757, had 24 companies divided into two battalions, as well as a company formed in 1741. During 1748, the presidential artilleries of Bengal, Madras and Bombay were formed,1756 saw the creation of the Royal Irish Regiment of Artillery. In 1762 the Royal Artillery Band was formed at Minden, by 1771 there were 32 companies in four battalions, as well as two invalid companies comprising older and unfit men employed in garrison duties. During 1782, the regiment moved to the Royal Artillery Barracks on Woolwich Common, in January 1793, two troops of Royal Horse Artillery were raised to provide fire support for the cavalry, augmented by two more in November 1793. The Royal Irish Artillery was absorbed into the RA in 1801, during 1805, the Royal Military Academy moved to Woolwich Common. In 1819, the Rotunda was given to the regiment by the Prince Regent to celebrate end of the Napoleonic Wars, in 1832, the regimental motto, Ubique Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt, was granted. The motto signified that the regiment had seen action in all the conflicts of the British Army. The regiment was under the control of the Board of Ordnance until the board was abolished in 1855, thereafter the regiment came under the War Office along with the rest of the army. The School of Gunnery established at Shoeburyness, Essex in 1859, the third group continued to be titled simply Royal Artillery, and was responsible for ammunition storage and supply. Which branch a gunner belonged to was indicated by metal shoulder titles, the RFA and RHA also dressed as mounted men, whereas the RGA dressed like foot soldiers. In 1920 the rank of Bombardier was instituted in the Royal Artillery, the three sections effectively functioned as separate corps. This arrangement lasted until 1924, when the three amalgamated once more to one regiment. In 1938, RA Brigades were renamed Regiments, during the World War II there were over 1 million men serving in 960 gunner regiments
36.
Life Guards (United Kingdom)
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The Life Guards is the senior regiment of the British Army and part of the Household Cavalry, along with the Blues and Royals. The Life Guards grew from the four troops of Horse Guards raised by Charles II around the time of his restoration, the first troop was originally raised in Bruges in 1658 as His Majestys Own Troop of Horse Guards. The second troop was founded in 1659 as Moncks Life Guards, the third troop, like the first troop was formed in 1658 from exiled Royalists and was initially known as The Duke of Yorks Troop of Horse Guards. The fourth troop was raised in 1661 in England, the first troop of horse grenadier guards was formed in 1693 from the amalgamation of three troops of grenadiers. The second troop of horse grenadier guards was raised in Scotland in 1702 and these units first saw action during the Third Anglo-Dutch War in 1672 and then at the Battle of Sedgemoor during the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685. The 3rd and 4th troops were disbanded in 1746, in 1788, the remaining 1st and 2nd troops, along with the two troops of Horse Grenadier Guards, were reorganised into two regiments, the 1st and 2nd Regiments of Life Guards. From then on, rank and file were mostly formed of commoners, in 1815 they were part of The Household Brigade at the Battle of Waterloo under Major-General Lord Edward Somerset. They reverted to their previous names and roles after the end of the war, in 1922, the two regiments were merged into one regiment, the The Life Guards. In 1928, it was re-designated The Life Guards, during the Second World War, the Life Guards took part in the Normandy landings and the advance through France to liberate Brussels. However, they maintain their identity, with distinct uniforms and traditions. In common with the Blues and Royals, they have a peculiar non-commissioned rank structure, In brief, they lack sergeants, in addition, the Life Guards wear their chin strap below their lower lip, as opposed to the Blues and Royals who wear it under their chin. On service dress the Life Guards Officers and Warrant Officer Class Ones wear a red lanyard on the right shoulder, as well as a Sam Browne belt. The Life Guards, as part of the Household Division, does not use the Order of the Bath Star for its officer rank pips, revised combined list issued May 1933, omitting from emblazonment Passchendaele and St. Quentin Canal of the 1st Life Guards. Awarded jointly to The Life Guards and Blues and Royals, for services of Household Cavalry Regiment, the Standards of the Household Cavalry. Lloyd, W. Challengers and Chargers, A History of The Life Guards 1945-1992, massacre of Innocents, The Crofton Diaries 1914-15. Watson, J N P. Guardsmen of the Sky, unofficial site for serving and ex-Life Guards of all ranks
37.
Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment
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The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales Division. The regiment served as the county regiment for Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire, the regiment was formed in 1970 through the amalgamation of the Worcestershire Regiment and the Sherwood Foresters. The regiment was based at Battlesbury Barracks in Warminster and undertook a tour in Northern Ireland in 1972 during the Troubles and it moved to Berlin later that year and to Shackleton Barracks at Ballykelly in 1974 before returning to Meanee Barracks in Colchester in 1976. After a further tour in Northern Ireland in 1977 the regiment moved to Peninsula Barracks at Hemer in 1979. After a deployment to Cyprus in 1991, the regiment moved to Lucknow Barracks at Tidworth in 1993 from where elements of the regiment were deployed to Bosnia in 1996 and 1998. The regiment undertook a tour in Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick in 2004 and then moved to Cavalry Barracks. In August 2007, the regiment became the 2nd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, the regimental ram was known as Corporal Derby. The ram was the 28th ram to act as mascot for the regiment, the first ram was captured by the 95th Regiment of Foot at the Siege of Kotah in 1858. Since 1912 successive Dukes of Devonshire have traditionally selected a Swaledale Ram from their Chatsworth Park flock, the ram had its own regimental number, was paid £3.75 per day, and drew his own rations. Archived from the original on 3 December 2012
38.
Light infantry
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Light infantry are soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry, heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight formations that were the core of large battles. Heavy infantry originally had heavier arms and more armour than light infantry, as with so called light infantry of later periods, the term more adequately describes the role of such infantry rather than the actual weight of their equipment. Peltast equipment, for example, grew steadily heavier at the time as hoplite equipment grew lighter. It was the fact that peltasts fought in order as skirmishers that made them light infantry. Early regular armies of the era frequently relied on irregulars to perform the duties of light infantry skirmishers. In the 18th and 19th centuries most infantry regiments or battalions had a company as an integral part of its composition. Its members were often smaller, more men with high shooting ability and capability of using initiative. They did not usually fight in disciplined ranks as did the infantry but often in widely dispersed groups. They were expected to avoid melee engagements unless necessary, and would fight ahead of the line to harass the enemy before falling back to the main position. Light infantry sometimes carried lighter muskets than ordinary infantrymen while others carried rifles and these became designated as rifle regiments in Britain and Jäger regiments in German speaking Europe. In France, during the Napoleonic Wars, light infantry were called voltigeurs and chasseurs, the Austrian army had Grenzer regiments from the middle of the 18th century, who originally served as irregular militia skirmishers recruited from mountainous frontier areas. Light infantry officers sometimes carried muskets or rifles, rather than pistols, orders were sent by bugle or whistle instead of drum. Some armies, including the British and French, recruited whole regiments of light infantry, by the late 19th century the concept of fighting in formation was on the wane due to advancements in weaponry and the distinctions between light and heavy infantry began to disappear. Essentially, all infantry became light infantry in operational practice, some regiments retained the name and customs, but there was in effect little difference between them and other infantry regiments. On the eve of World War I the British Army included seven light infantry regiments, today the term light denotes, in the United States table of organization and equipment, units lacking heavy weapons and armor or with a reduced vehicle footprint. At its height, this included the 6th Infantry Division, 7th Infantry Division, 10th Mountain Division, 25th Infantry Division, operation Just Cause is often cited as proof of concept. Almost 30,000 U. S. Forces, mostly light, during the 1990s, the concept of purely light forces in the US military came under scrutiny due to their decreased lethality and survivability
39.
Royal Irish Regiment (1992)
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The Royal Irish Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was founded in 1992 through the amalgamation of the Royal Irish Rangers and their oldest predecessor, the 27th Regiment of Foot, was first raised in June 1689 to fight in the Williamite War in Ireland. Other notable regiments in their lineage include the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, Royal Irish Rifles, the motto of the regiment is Faugh A Ballagh, derived from the Irish Gaelic phrase for Clear the Way. This originates from the Peninsular War, when Ensign Edward Keogh of the 87th Regiment of Foot let out the cry while capturing a French Imperial Eagle at the Battle of Barrosa. The Regimental Headquarters of the Royal Irish Regiment has been Palace Barracks, Holywood in County Down, with an antecedence reaching back to 1688, the regiment was formed in 1992. The creation followed the Options for Change proposals which recommended the amalgamation of the Royal Irish Rangers, most of the membership of the new regiment came from the UDR. The 1st and 2nd Battalions could serve worldwide as general service battalions, because of its size, the regiment was removed from the Kings Division and existed within its own Division of infantry. In August 1993, the two battalions were amalgamated as the 1st battalion. In 2000 in Sierra Leone, while deployed to government troops, eleven Royal Irish soldiers. The 1st battalion deployed to Iraq at the beginning of Operation Telic in March 2003 and its now-retired commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collins was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for distinguished service. In response the British government announced the end of Operation Banner, a redundancy package was announced in March 2006. The Home Service battalions were awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross by the Queen in Belfast on 6 October 2006, the home service battalions were declared non-operational in October 2006, and disbanded in July 2007. At the same time, the Royal Irish Rangers, then serving as the TA battalion, was renamed as 2nd Battalion, the 1st battalion returned from six months in Iraq on Op TELIC VI/VII in May 2006 having served in the Shaibah Logistics Base near Basra. Although the majority of the Battalion was deployed around the MND area a single Company was deployed to Baghdad. Three platoons of the 1st battalion deployed to Afghanistan in 2006, as part of 16 Air Assault Brigade and supported 3rd Parachute Regiment and they were involved in some of the heaviest fighting during HERRICK IV. Lance Corporal Paul Muirhead, Lance Corporal Luke McCulloch and Fijian Ranger Anare Draiva were killed by the Taliban during HERRICK IV, in summer 2007 the regiment moved its headquarters from St Patricks Barracks, Ballymena to Palace Barracks, Holywood, Belfast. Both battalions deployed to Afghanistan in 2008, as part of 16 Air Assault Brigade and they were also the first TA Company to fully man Forward Operating Bases within the green zone. One company of the 1st Battalion, attached to 2 PARA, named Ranger Company, the 1st battalion lost Ranger Justin Cupples to an improvised explosive device during HERRICK VIII
40.
Ulster Defence Regiment
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The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. It was the largest infantry regiment in the British Army, formed with seven battalions plus another four added within two years and it consisted mostly of part-time volunteers until 1976, when a full-time cadre was added. Recruiting in Northern Ireland at a time of strife, some of its members were involved in sectarianism. It is doubtful if any unit of the British Army has ever come under the same sustained criticism as the UDR. Uniquely in the British Army, the regiment was on active service throughout its 22 years of service. It was also the first infantry regiment of the British Army to fully incorporate women into its structure, in 1992, the UDR was amalgamated with the Royal Irish Rangers to form the Royal Irish Regiment. In 2006, the regiment was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. The UDR was raised in 1970, soon after the beginning of the Northern Ireland Troubles, before then, the main security forces were the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Ulster Special Constabulary, the most notorious unit of which was the B Specials. Large scale intercommunal rioting in 1969 stretched police resources in Northern Ireland, on 28 August 1969 security in Northern Ireland, including the USC, was put under the direct control of the General Officer Commanding in Northern Ireland, General Ian Freeland. The USC, which had no training in riot control, was mobilised to assist the RUC, a catalogue of incidents ensued, such as Specials from Tynan shooting dead an unarmed civil rights demonstrator in Armagh on 14 August 1969. While the Northern Ireland cabinet remained supportive of the USC, it was put to them at a London meeting on 19 August that disbanding the USC was top of the British Governments agenda. The Hunt Report commissioned by the Government of Northern Ireland published on 3 October 1969, further, a locally recruited part-time force, under the control of the G. O. C. And that it together with the volunteer reserve, should replace the Ulster Special Constabulary. The new force was to be impartial in every sense and remove the responsibility of military operations from the police. The British Government accepted the findings of the Hunt Report and published a Bill, parliamentary debate in Westminster highlighted concerns that members of the USC were to be allowed to join the new force. A working party was set up at Headquarters Northern Ireland chaired by Major General A. J, dyball of the Royal Ulster Rifles, then the deputy director of operations in Northern Ireland. The team included an officer from the Ministry of Defence, a member of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Lieutenant Colonel S Miskimmon. After discussions they advocated a strength of 6,000 men, combat dress for duties, a dark green uniform, county shoulder titles
41.
Northern Ireland
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Northern Ireland is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom in the north-east of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, region, or part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the total population. Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament, Northern Ireland has historically been the most industrialised region of Ireland. After declining as a result of the political and social turmoil of the Troubles, its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17. 2% in 1986, dropping to 6. 1% for June–August 2014,58. 2% of those unemployed had been unemployed for over a year. Prominent artists and sports persons from Northern Ireland include Van Morrison, Rory McIlroy, Joey Dunlop, Wayne McCullough, some people from Northern Ireland prefer to identify as Irish while others prefer to identify as British. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, in many sports, the island of Ireland fields a single team, a notable exception being association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games. The region that is now Northern Ireland was the bedrock of the Irish war of resistance against English programmes of colonialism in the late 16th century, the English-controlled Kingdom of Ireland had been declared by the English king Henry VIII in 1542, but Irish resistance made English control fragmentary. Victories by English forces in war and further Protestant victories in the Williamite War in Ireland toward the close of the 17th century solidified Anglican rule in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the victories of the Siege of Derry and their intention was to materially disadvantage the Catholic community and, to a lesser extent, the Presbyterian community. In the context of open institutional discrimination, the 18th century saw secret, militant societies develop in communities in the region and act on sectarian tensions in violent attacks. Following this, in an attempt to quell sectarianism and force the removal of discriminatory laws, the new state, formed in 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was governed from a single government and parliament based in London. Between 1717 and 1775 some 250,000 people from Ulster emigrated to the British North American colonies and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million Scotch-Irish Americans now living in the US. By the close of the century, autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom, in 1912, after decades of obstruction from the House of Lords, Home Rule became a near-certainty. A clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords over a controversial budget produced the Parliament Act 1911, which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. The House of Lords veto had been the unionists main guarantee that Home Rule would not be enacted, in 1914, they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for use by the Ulster Volunteers, a paramilitary organisation opposed to the implementation of Home Rule
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Queen's Gallantry Medal
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It was instituted on 20 June 1974 to replace the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry and the British Empire Medal for Gallantry. The QGM ended the situation where the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry was awarded for acts of bravery than the George Medal. The QGM has been awarded posthumously since 30 November 1977 and no awards of either the Queens Police Medal for Gallantry or the Colonial Police Medal for Gallantry have been gazetted. The QGM is awarded for acts of bravery and as at the end of 2013 there have been 1044 awards including 19 bars. The military received 525 awards and civilians 519 awards including 120 awards to the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the post nominal for the award is QGM. The QGM is silver and circular in shape,36 mm in diameter, the obverse of the medal shows the crowned effigy of the monarch. The reverse bears the image of a St. Edwards Crown above the words The Queens Gallantry Medal in four lines, the ribbon is of three equal stripes of dark blue, pearl grey and dark blue with a narrow rose pink stripe in the centre. Further awards of the QGM are indicated by a bar ornamented with laurel leaves. When the ribbon alone is worn, a silver rosette denotes award of the Clasp, after 1954, the Queens Police medal could only be awarded posthumously. Among the more notable recipients are, Guy Edwards, former Formula 1 driver, noted for assisting several drivers in rescuing Niki Lauda from his blazing Ferrari 312T at the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. Awarded 1976 for his rescue of Lauda, charles Bruce, former 22 Special Air Service Soldier. Awarded, November 1986 for his conduct in Operation Banner, Northern Ireland in December 1984, awarded, December 2007 for his actions in the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack Peter Edmonds, Metropolitan Police Officer. A Catholic man, Patrick Gillespie, who had been an employee of the British Army, was forced to drive where the soldiers would be or his two sons would be shot. He was to tell the soldiers they had forty minutes to get clear, smith, also a Catholic, died trying to warn colleagues and was awarded the Queens Gallantry Medal posthumously. Awarded 1976 for multiple rescues in Coolangatta Hotel fire on New Years Day,1975, hewett-Lacon was then a 23 year old Queensland Police officer. 36 occupants were saved after the hotel was set on fire by an arsonist under the guest area, only 40 Australians have ever been awarded the Queens Gallantry Medal with the Imperial system being replaced by the Australian system of honours and awards. The account is included in For Exemplary Bravery-The Queens Gallantry Medal by Nick Metcalfe MBE, QGM, awarded 1976 for rescue work, as above, at Coolangatta, Australia. Mr Rogers was also a 21 year old serving Queensland Police officer at the time, British and Commonwealth orders and decorations Royal Logistic Corps#Operational honours Royal Logistic Corps Operational Honours Abbott, Peter Edward, Tamplin, John Michael Alan
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Royal Engineers
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The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers, and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army. It is highly regarded throughout the military, and especially the Army and it provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is headed by the Chief Royal Engineer. The Regimental Headquarters and the Royal School of Military Engineering are in Chatham in Kent, the corps is divided into several regiments, barracked at various places in the United Kingdom and around the world. In Woolwich in 1716, the Board formed the Royal Regiment of Artillery and established a Corps of Engineers, the manual work was done by the Artificer Companies, made up of contracted civilian artisans and labourers. In 1782, a Soldier Artificer Company was established for service in Gibraltar, ten years later the Gibraltar company, which had remained separate, was absorbed and in 1812 the name was changed to the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners. The Corps has no battle honours, in 1832, the regimental motto, Ubique Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt, was granted. The motto signified that the Corps had seen action in all the conflicts of the British Army. In 1911 the Corps formed its Air Battalion, the first flying unit of the British Armed Forces, the Air Battalion was the forerunner of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force. In 1915, in response to German mining of British trenches under the then static siege conditions of the First World War, before the Second World War, Royal Engineers recruits were required to be at least 5 feet 4 inches tall. They initially enlisted for six years with the colours and a six years with the reserve or four years. Unlike most corps and regiments, in which the age limit was 25. They trained at the Royal Engineers Depot in Chatham or the RE Mounted Depot at Aldershot, the Royal Engineers Museum is in Gillingham in Kent. Britain having acquired an Empire, it fell to the Royal Engineers to conduct some of the most significant civil engineering schemes around the world, some examples of great works of the era of empire can be found in A. J. Smitherss book Honourable Conquests. The Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, commanded by Richard Clement Moody, was responsible for the foundation, the Royal Albert Hall is one of the UKs most treasured and distinctive buildings, recognisable the world over. Since its opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the leading artists from every kind of performance genre have appeared on its stage. The Hall was designed by Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott of the Royal Engineers, the designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also been exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Much of the British colonial era infrastructure of India, of which survive today, was created by engineers of the three presidencies armies and the Royal Engineers. In 1838 he designed and built sea defences for Vizagapatam and he masterminded the Godavery Delta project where 720,000 acres of land were irrigated and 500 miles of land to the port of Cocanada was made navigable in the 1840s
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Mercian Regiment
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The Mercian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army, which is recruited from five of the counties that formed the ancient kingdom of Mercia. Known as The Heart of Englands Infantry, it was formed on 1 September 2007 by the amalgamation of three existing regiments, the Regiment has deployed on eight operational deployments since its formation, making it one of the most operationally experienced regiments in the British Army. The antecedent Regiments were, The 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment, The 1st Battalion, Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment, the reserve West Midlands Regiment, with elements of the Kings and Cheshire Regiment and the East of England Regiment formed the 4th Battalion, Mercian Regiment. The regiment originally had three regular battalions and one Army Reserve battalion, though the 3rd Battalion was disbanded as part of the restructuring of the British Army. The Regiment has been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, the 1st Battalion has deployed on three operational tours since its formation in 2007, one to Iraq and two to Afghanistan. It is an infantry battalion, part of the 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade based at Bulford Camp. The 2nd Battalion deployed on three tours to Afghanistan. It is a Light Infantry battalion, part of 42 Infantry Brigade, the 3rd Battalion was an armoured infantry battalion, part of the 7th Armoured Brigade based in Bad Fallingbostel, Germany. It was disbanded in July 2014 as part of the Army 2020 defence review, the 4th Battalion is the regiments Army Reserve Light Infantry battalion. The battalion, whose HQ is based in Wolverhampton and Kidderminster, England, has five companies, a HQ Company. The regiments cap badge is a double headed Mercian Eagle with Saxon crown, in 2005, this badge was rejected by the Army Dress Committee on the grounds that it had been the badge of a territorial unit, The Mercian Volunteers, which was junior to the amalgamating regiments. Accordingly, a modified design featuring two colours of metal was adopted. In July 2014, this proposal was approved, and the regiment was renamed as The Mercian Regiment, Derby, a Swaledale ram, is the regimental mascot, inherited from the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment. The 30th iteration of the Mascot was known as Lance Corporal Derby XXX, a regimental pattern with twists of cerise, buff and green was worn by those who were extra-regimentally employed, this multi-coloured lanyard is now worn by all in the regiment. Tactical Recognition Flashes, The regiments TRF is a 3 vertical striped diamond with cerise on the left, buff in the middle and Lincoln green on the right. Each Battalion also has their own, the 1st and 2nd Battalions use their antecedent regiments flashes, buff and cerise for the 1st and cerise and Lincoln green for the 2nd. The 3rd battalion has a diamond with the Stafford knot. Regimental Side Hat, black with buff inner crease and green piping, the cap badge is in silver and gold wire embroidery
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Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
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The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the British Army utilises. Pursuant to the recommendation of a committee William Beveridge chaired, the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers was formed on the 1st October 1942, such a major re-organisation was too complex to be carried out quickly and completely in the middle of a world war. Therefore the changeover was undertaken in two phases, at the same time a number of individual tradesmen were transferred into REME from other corps. The new corps was responsible for repairing the technical equipment of all arms with certain major exceptions. REME did not yet undertake, Those repairs which were carried out by tradesmen who were driver/mechanics or fitters in regiments. Repairs of RASC-operated vehicles, which remained the responsibility of the RASC, repairs of RE specialist equipment, which remained the responsibility of the RE. In 1949, it was decided that REME Phase II should be implemented, the main changes were, The transfer to REME of most of the unit repair responsibilities of other arms. The provision of Light Aid Detachments for certain units that had not possessed them under the old organisation, the provision of new REME workshops to carry out field repairs in RASC transport companies. Maintenance of vessels of the RASC fleet whilst in port was given to the fleet repair branch and this organisation was also responsible for arranging and overseeing ship refits. After some interim designs, the badge of the Corps was formalised in June 1943 for use as the cap-badge, collar-badge, and on the buttons. It consisted of an oval Royally Crowned laurel wreath, on the wreath were four small shields at the compass points, within the wreath was a pair of calipers. Examples of these early badges can be found at the REME Museum, in 1947 the Horse and Lightning was adopted as the cap badge. The final change occurred in 1953 when the Queens crown replaced the Kings crown, at the end of the war, the Allies occupied the major German industrial centres to decide their fate. The Volkswagen factory at Wolfsburg became part of the British Zone in June 1945 and No.30 Workshop Control Unit, REME and they operated under the overall direction of Colonel Michael McEvoy at Rhine Army Headquarters, Bad Oeynhausen. Uniquely, he had experience of the KdF Wagen in his career as a motor racing engineer. Whilst attending the Berlin Motor Show in 1939 he was able to test drive one, after visiting the Volkswagen factory he had the idea of trying to get Volkswagen back into production to provide light transport for the occupying forces. The British Army, Red Cross and essential German services were short of light vehicles. If the factory could provide them, there would be no cost to the British taxpayer, to do this a good manager with technical experience would be needed
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