1.
Irish Guard (Notre Dame)
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The Irish Guard is a group of uniformed students that leads the Band of the Fighting Irish onto the field at home games. They are considered one of the parts in the pageantry, lore. The Irish Guard was formed in 1949 as a part of the University of Notre Dame Marching Band, the uniform of the guard is based on the pattern of the traditional Scottish kilt and incorporated the unique Notre Dame tartan. They accompany the Fighting Irish Marching Band at away games throughout the season, the Irish Guard often travels with the Band of the Fighting Irish to away games and marches with the band on campus. These traditions include the Victory Clog to the tune Damhsa Bua performed after every Irish football win, members of the Irish Guard must demonstrate a refined marching technique, a dedication to university ideals, and, most importantly, stature and poise. Mr. Fyfe taught the Guard to emulate the stoic and silent manner of the British Armys Foot Guards, in 2014, Notre Dame Band Director Dr. Seen and heard on campus University of Notre Dame Magazine
2.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was established as a sovereign state on 1 January 1801 by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. The growing desire for an Irish Republic led to the Irish War of Independence, Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom, and the state was consequently renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Britain financed the European coalition that defeated France in 1815 in the Napoleonic Wars, the British Empire thereby became the foremost world power for the next century. The Crimean War with Russia and the Boer wars were relatively small operations in a largely peaceful century, rapid industrialisation that began in the decades prior to the states formation continued up until the mid-19th century. A devastating famine, exacerbated by government inaction in the century, led to demographic collapse in much of Ireland. It was an era of economic modernization and growth of industry, trade and finance. Outward migration was heavy to the colonies and to the United States. Britain also built up a large British Empire in Africa and Asia, India, by far the most important possession, saw a short-lived revolt in 1857. In foreign policy Britain favoured free trade, which enabled its financiers and merchants to operate successfully in many otherwise independent countries, as in South America. Britain formed no permanent military alliances until the early 20th century, when it began to cooperate with Japan, France and Russia, and moved closer to the United States. A brief period of limited independence for Ireland came to an end following the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the British governments fear of an independent Ireland siding against them with the French resulted in the decision to unite the two countries. This was brought about by legislation in the parliaments of both kingdoms and came into effect on 1 January 1801, however, King George III was bitterly opposed to any such Emancipation and succeeded in defeating his governments attempts to introduce it. When the Treaty of Amiens ended the war, Britain agreed to return most of the territories it had seized, in May 1803, war was declared again. In 1806, Napoleon issued the series of Berlin Decrees, which brought into effect the Continental System and this policy aimed to eliminate the threat from the British by closing French-controlled territory to foreign trade. Frances population and agricultural capacity far outstripped that of the British Isles, Napoleon expected that cutting Britain off from the European mainland would end its economic hegemony. The Spanish uprising in 1808 at last permitted Britain to gain a foothold on the Continent, after Napoleons surrender and exile to the island of Elba, peace appeared to have returned. The Allies united and the armies of Wellington and Blucher defeated Napoleon once, simultaneous with the Napoleonic Wars, trade disputes, arming hostile Indians and British impressment of American sailors led to the War of 1812 with the United States. The war was little noticed in Britain, which could devote few resources to the conflict until the fall of Napoleon in 1814, American frigates inflicted a series of defeats on the Royal Navy, which was short on manpower due to the conflict in Europe
3.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
4.
British Army
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The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. As of 2017 the British Army comprises just over 80,000 trained Regular, or full-time, personnel and just over 26,500 trained Reserve, or part-time personnel. Therefore, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, day to day the Army comes under administration of the Ministry of Defence and is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. Repeatedly emerging victorious from these decisive wars allowed Britain to influence world events with its policies and establish itself as one of the leading military. In 1660 the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II, Charles favoured the foundation of a new army under royal control and began work towards its establishment by August 1660. The Royal Scots Army and the Irish Army were financed by the Parliament of Scotland, the order of seniority of the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, after William and Marys accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Marys father, James II. Spain, in the two centuries, had been the dominant global power, and the chief threat to Englands early transatlantic ambitions. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. From the time of the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, Great Britain was the naval power. As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, the British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars and served in campaigns across Europe. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world and at its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A Coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian Armies under the Duke of Wellington, the English had been involved, both politically and militarily, in Ireland since being given the Lordship of Ireland by the Pope in 1171. The campaign of the English republican Protector, Oliver Cromwell, involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, the English Army stayed in Ireland primarily to suppress numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for independence. Having learnt from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution, the British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created the Territorial Force as the Armys volunteer reserve component by merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force, Militia, Great Britains dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, in the 20th century, most notably Germany
5.
Foot Guards
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In some militaries, foot guards are senior infantry regiments. The Federation Guard is a tri-service Australian ceremonial unit that performs similar functions to the five British, the Foot Guards are the Regular Infantry regiments of the Household Division of the British Army. There have been six active regiments of guards and one reserve regiment. The Royal Guards Reserve Regiment was a formation of the Household Brigade in existence from 1900 to 1901. There are various other distinguishing features of the uniforms of the regiments, such as the colour of the plume, which side it is worn on the bearskin, the collar badge and the shoulder badge. When all five regiments parade together, they are in the order of Grenadier Guards on the flank, then Scots Guards, Welsh Guards, Irish Guards. This is because although the Coldstream are ranked second in seniority and these companies perform ceremonial and security duties in London. The Foot Guards have a role as the garrison for the capital, for the military security of the Sovereign. Two battalions are appointed for public duties, with a third from an infantry regiment since 1996. These provide the Queens Guard, the Tower of London Guard, the Guards Battalions on Public Duties are located in barracks close to Buckingham Palace for them to be able to reach the Palace very quickly in an emergency. In central London, a battalion is based at Wellington Barracks, Westminster, however, as of 2010, the independent incremental companies of the Grenadier and Coldstream Guards have been moved from Chelsea Barracks to the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich. While F Company, Scots Guards, are now based at Wellington Barracks alongside the resident infantry battalion. The Guards Battalion stationed at Windsor generally provides the Windsor Castle Guard, the Windsor battalion is at Victoria Barracks, a quarter of a mile south of the Castle. The Guards Division received a new following the restructuring of the army in 2004. The Royal Guards Reserve Regiment was in existence during the Second Boer War from 1900 to 1901, the Guards Machine Gun Regiment was raised for service during the First World War. Initially, each brigade of the Guards Division had a gun company attached. In 1917, these companies were regimented to form a battalion, further battalions were formed by conversion of the Household Cavalry regiments, and King George V ordered that the regiment be classified as the Sixth Regiment of Foot Guards, or Machine Gun Guards. However, it was disbanded in 1920 and they trained at the Guards Depot in Caterham, Surrey
6.
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
7.
Public duties
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Public duties are performed by military personnel, and usually have a ceremonial or historic significance rather than an overtly operational role. There are two regiments in Denmark, who provide soldiers for public duties, the Royal Life Guard regiment, the Guard Hussar Regiment Mounted Squadron provide mounted escorts for the Royal family and foreign dignitaries, and carry ceremonial services for the Royal Danish Army. The Royal Life Guards provide a permanent guard at the Amalienborg Palace, Kastellet, Rosenborg Castle/garrison of the Royal Life Guards in Copenhagen, on occasions guard is kept at Fredensborg Palace, Marselisborg Palace, Gråsten Palace, Christiansborg Palace and other locations inside the Danish realm. The Wachregiment Berlin was founded in early 1921, in addition to genuine security duties, the unit was used for ceremonial public duties in the capital. The regiment was disbanded in June 1921 and shortly after was revived as Kommando der Wachtruppe, the Wachtruppe comprised seven companies, each drawn from one of the seven active army divisions. Each company served for three months before returning to its parent division, in this way, the Wachtruppe represented the whole Reichswehr. The Kommando was based at Moabit Barracks, and every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, in 1934, the unit was renamed Wachtruppe Berlin and in 1936, a headquarters and administration company were added. In June 1937, the unit was again renamed Wach Regiment Berlin, postings were now done by individuals, not entire companies, and each man served six-month tours of duty. The unit provided escorts and Guards of Honour for State Visits, Conferences, in 1939, the unit was reorganized as the Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland. While equipped as a unit, the regiment also maintained a public duties detachment in the capital. The ceremonial guard was pressed into service during the July bomb plot in 1944, in 1957, the post-war Bundeswehr established the Wachbataillon, a tri-service unit, for ceremonial duties. Three infantry battalions of the British army are currently tasked with the provision of Public Duties, two of these are from the Foot Guards of the Household Division, and one is a line infantry battalion. Permanent Public Duties companies of the Foot Guards also supplement these men, from 1783 to 1973, the Guards provided a nightly detachment called the Bank Picquet for guard duty at the Bank of England. Public duties are carried out in Edinburgh, although not as frequently as in London. Prior to 2002, sentries were stationed at the entrance to Edinburgh Castle. Today, sentries are posted during the evenings between 6 pm and 9 am, and throughout the week that HM The Queen spends in Edinburgh at both the castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Sentries are also posted at the castle during the month of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo prior to each performance, unlike in London, there is no permanently based foot guards battalion stationed in Edinburgh, so public duties are performed by one of the resident line infantry/rifles battalions. However, as part of the Army 2020 plan, the Balaklava Company of the Royal Regiment of Scotland will be reduced to an incremental company to be based permanently in Scotland for public duties
8.
Battalion
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A battalion is a military unit. The use of the term varies by nationality and branch of service. Typically a battalion consists of 300 to 800 soldiers and is divided into a number of companies, a battalion is typically commanded by a lieutenant colonel. In some countries the word battalion is associated with the infantry, the term was first used in Italian as battaglione no later than the 16th century. It derived from the Italian word for battle, battaglia, the first use of battalion in English was in the 1580s, and the first use to mean part of a regiment is from 1708. The battalion must, of course, have a source of re-supply to enable it to sustain operations for more than a few days, the battalion is usually part of a regiment, brigade, or group, depending on the organizational model used by that service. The bulk of a battalions companies are often homogeneous with respect to type, a battalion includes a headquarters company and some sort of combat service support, typically organized within a combat support company. The term battalion is used in the British Army Infantry and some including the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. It was formerly used in the Royal Engineers, and was used in the now defunct Royal Army Ordnance Corps. Other corps usually use the term regiment instead, an infantry battalion is numbered ordinarily within its regiment. It normally has a company, support company, and three rifle companies. Each company is commanded by a major, the officer commanding, the HQ company contains signals, quartermaster, catering, intelligence, administration, pay, training, operations and medical elements. The support company usually contains anti-tank, machine gun, mortar, pioneer, mechanised units usually have an attached light aid detachment of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers to perform field repairs on vehicles and equipment. A British battalion in theatre during World War II had around 845 men in it, and, as of 2012, with successive rounds of cutbacks after the war, many infantry regiments were reduced to a single battalion. A battalion group or battlegroup consists of a battalion or armoured regiment with sub-units detached from other military units acting under the command of the battalion commander. In the Canadian Forces, most battalions are reserve units of between 100–200 soldiers that include an operationally ready, field-deployable component of approximately a half-company apiece, the nine regular force infantry battalions each contain three or four rifle companies and one or two support companies. Canadian battalions are generally commanded by lieutenant-colonels, though smaller reserve battalions may be commanded by majors, with the Dutch artillery units, the equivalent of a battalion is called an afdeling. Combat companies consist of infantry, combat engineers, or tanks, in the latter case, the unit is called an eskadron, which translates roughly to squadron
9.
Guards Division
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The Guards Division is an administrative unit of the British Army responsible for the administration of the regiments of Foot Guards and the London Regiment. The Guards division was established by renaming the Brigade of Guards in 1968, the depot was established at Wellington Barracks in London. They represent the battalions at significant events, such as Trooping the Colour. As such, each company is an independent unit of their regiment, the colours and traditions of each battalion are kept and maintained by the incremental companies. The British Army, A Pocket Guide, 2012-2013, Brigade of Guards at regiments. org by T. F. Mills at the Wayback Machine
10.
Cavalry Barracks, Hounslow
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Cavalry Barracks is a British Army installation located north of Hounslow Heath in Hounslow, west London. Hounslow was one of 40 new barracks established around London to guard against possible French invasion in the late 18th, the area around Hounslow Heath has been used for centuries to garrison Armies of The Crown because of its proximity to London, Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace. In the 17th century, Oliver Cromwell marshalled an army on the heath at the end of the English Civil War in 1647, james II also camped his troops here to hold military exercises in an unsuccessful attempt to intimidate the Parliament in London shortly before the Glorious Revolution. In 1793, the became a permanent barracks for troops using the heath when permanent buildings were erected as part of the British response to the threat of the French Revolution. The barracks became a depot for the London military district. Florence Nightingale undertook some of her training at Hounslow. In June 1846, Private Frederick John White was flogged after a Court-martial sentenced him to 150 lashes for insubordination at Hounslow Barracks and he died a month later making him the last soldier to die after a flogging in the British Army. White was buried in nearby St Leonards churchyard, Heston, calls for abolishment of flogging were made in Parliament, it was eventually outlawed in 1881. In 1875 the site was expanded to create infantry barracks. Two years earlier a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under the Cardwell Reforms, following the Childers Reforms, the regiment evolved to become the Royal Fusiliers with its depot in the barracks in 1881. In 1875 the barracks became the depot for the 57th Regiment of Foot. Following the Childers Reforms, the 57th and 77th regiments amalgamated to form the Middlesex Regiment with its depot in the barracks in 1881, by 1884, the barracks had its own railway station on the newly created London Underground. The Middlesex Regiment relocated from Hounslow Barracks to the newly-built Inglis Barracks in 1905, in late 1941, the 70th Battalion the Middlesex Regiment moved into Hounslow Cavalry Barracks. Known as the Young Soldiers Battalion because they were all 18- and 19-year-old volunteers, Hounslow was the first time the troops had been formed together as a battalion since their formation in May 1940, having been scattered in small units in and around London guarding Vulnerable Points. After the Second World War the barracks served as Headquarters Eastern Command until it moved to Wilton Park in 1954, until the 1970s, Cavalry Barracks was home to the West London Communication Centre and the Hounslow Regimental Pay Office manned by members of the Royal Army Pay Corps. From 1981 to 1986, Cavalry barracks was the home of the 1st Bn Grenadier Guards, during their stay they mounted public duties in London and Windsor. They were also responsible for providing support to the civilian services at Heathrow Airport at the time of high terrorist threat from the IRA. The Battalion also deployed from Hounslow to South Armagh in Northern Ireland, then the 2nd Bn Scots Guards were there until 1992, carrying out regular public duties, then moving to Redford Barracks in Edinburgh
11.
Quis separabit?
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Quis separabit. is a motto associated with Ireland. The phrase also appears on the Seal of South Carolina and was the motto of the Ulster Defence Union and it was the motto of the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards, a cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1922 to 1992. It was also the motto of the Connaught Rangers, an Irish regiment of the British Army, prior to this, it was the motto of the precursor regiment of the Rangers, the 88th Regiment of Foot which was founded in 1793. It was also the motto of the Ulster Defence Regiment and it was also the motto of the 5th Royal Irish Lancers. It was the motto of the former Government of Northern Ireland and it is also the motto of the Ulster Defence Association, a proscribed loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. The source is the Vulgate translation of Romans,8,35, translated as Who shall separate us from the love of Christ. The motto of Cardinal Pietro Parolin
12.
Irish Wolfhound
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The Irish Wolfhound is a breed of domestic dog, specifically a very large sighthound from Ireland. The name originates from its purpose—wolf hunting with dogs—rather than from its appearance, originally developed from war hounds to one used for hunting and guarding, Irish Wolfhounds can be an imposing sight due to their formidable size. The breed is old, there are suggestions it may have been brought to Ireland as early as 7000 BC. These dogs are mentioned, as cú in Irish laws and in Irish literature which dates from the 5th century or, in the case of the Sagas, from the old Irish period - AD 600-900. The word Cu often became an added respected prefix on the names of warriors as well as denoting that they were worthy of the respect. Ancient woodcuts and writings have placed them in existence as a breed by 273 BC, however, there is indication that huge dogs existed even as early as 279 BC when the Tectosages and Tolistobogii Celts sacked Delphi. Survivors left accounts of the fierce Celts and the dogs who fought with them. Wolfhounds were bred as hunting dogs by the ancients, who called them Cú Faoil, the Irish continued to breed them for this purpose, as well as to guard their homes and protect their stock. During the English Conquest of Ireland, only the nobility were allowed to own Irish Wolfhounds and they were much coveted and were frequently given as gifts to important personages and foreign nobles. Wolfhounds were the companions of the regal, and were housed themselves alongside them, king John of England, in about 1210 presented an Irish hound, Gelert to Llewellyn, a prince of Wales. The poet The Hon William Robert Spencer immortalised this hound in a poem, in his Historie of Ireland completed 1571, Edmund Campion gives a description of the hounds used for hunting the wolves on the Dublin and Wicklow mountains. He says, They are not without wolves and greyhounds to hunt them, bigger of bone, due to their popularity overseas many were exported to European royal houses leaving numbers in Ireland depleted. This led to a declaration by Oliver Cromwell himself being published in Kilkenny on 27 April 1652 to ensure sufficient numbers remained to control the wolf population. References to the Irish wolfhound in the 18th century tell of its size, strength. Writing in 1790, Bewick described it as the largest and most beautiful of the dog kind, about 36 inches high, generally of a white or cinnamon colour, somewhat like the Greyhound but more robust. He said that their aspect was mild, disposition peaceful, the last wolf in Ireland is thought to have been killed at Myshall, Co Carlow in 1786 by a pack of wolfdogs kept by a Mr Watson of Ballydarton. Scotsman Captain George Augustus Graham is responsible with a few other breeders for attempting to reaffirm the breeds existence and this blood is now in my possession. Captain Graham devoted his life to ensuring the survival of the Irish wolfhound, owing to the small numbers of surviving specimens outcrossing was used in the breeding programme
13.
Elizabeth II
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Elizabeth II has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 6 February 1952. Elizabeth was born in London as the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake duties during the Second World War. Elizabeths many historic visits and meetings include a visit to the Republic of Ireland. She has seen major changes, such as devolution in the United Kingdom, Canadian patriation. She has reigned through various wars and conflicts involving many of her realms and she is the worlds oldest reigning monarch as well as Britains longest-lived. In October 2016, she became the longest currently reigning monarch, in 2017 she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee. Elizabeth has occasionally faced republican sentiments and press criticism of the family, however, support for the monarchy remains high. Elizabeth was born at 02,40 on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather and her father, Prince Albert, Duke of York, was the second son of the King. Her mother, Elizabeth, Duchess of York, was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and she was delivered by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfathers London house,17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. Elizabeths only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930, the two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as Crawfie. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature and music, Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margarets childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeths love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, others echoed such observations, Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant and her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved. During her grandfathers reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father, the Duke of York. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, many people believed that he would marry and have children of his own. When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second-in-line to the throne, later that year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Elizabeths father became king, and she became heir presumptive, if her parents had had a later son, she would have lost her position as first-in-line, as her brother would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession
14.
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
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Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, KG, KT, PC, ADC is the elder son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales. He is second in line to succeed his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, William was educated at four schools in the United Kingdom and obtained a degree from the University of St Andrews. He spent parts of a gap year in Chile, Belize, in December 2006, he completed 44 weeks of training as an officer cadet and was commissioned in the Blues and Royals regiment. In April 2008, he qualified as a pilot by completing training at Royal Air Force College Cranwell. He then underwent helicopter flying training in order to become a pilot with the RAF Search. His service with the British Armed Forces ended in September 2013, William married Catherine Middleton, on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey. Hours before the wedding, he was created Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, the couples first child, Prince George, was born on 22 July 2013, and their second, Princess Charlotte, was born on 2 May 2015. William, the first child of the Prince and Princess of Wales, was born at St Marys Hospital and his names, William Arthur Philip Louis, were announced by Buckingham Palace a week later on 28 June. He was baptised in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace on 4 August by the Archbishop of Canterbury and he was the first child born to a Prince and Princess of Wales since Prince John in 1905. William was affectionately called Wombat by his parents or Wills, Williams first public appearance was on 1 March 1991, during an official visit of his parents to Cardiff, Wales. After arriving by aeroplane, William was taken to Llandaff Cathedral where he signed the visitors book, on 3 June 1991, William was admitted to Royal Berkshire Hospital after being accidentally hit on the side of the forehead by a fellow student wielding a golf club. He did not lose consciousness, but suffered a fracture of the skull and was operated on at Great Ormond Street Hospital. In a 2009 interview, he dubbed this scar a Harry Potter scar and he was reported to have said, I call it that because it glows sometimes and some people notice it—other times they dont notice it at all. His mother wanted him and his younger brother Harry to have wider experiences than are usual for royal children and she took them to Walt Disney World and McDonalds as well as AIDS clinics and shelters for the homeless. She bought them typical teenage items, such as video games, Diana, who was by then divorced from the Prince of Wales, died in a car accident in the early hours of 31 August 1997. William, then aged 15, along with his brother who was 12, the Prince of Wales waited until his sons woke the following morning to tell them about their mothers death. At his mothers funeral, William accompanied his father, brother, paternal grandfather, William began to accompany his parents on official visits at an early age. William was educated at independent schools, starting at Jane Mynors nursery school, following this, he attended Ludgrove School near Wokingham, Berkshire, and was privately tutored during summers by Rory Stewart
15.
Order of the Garter
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The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry and the third most prestigious honour in England and the United Kingdom. It is dedicated to the image and arms of Saint George and it is awarded at the Sovereigns pleasure as a personal gift on recipients from the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. Membership of the Order is limited to the Sovereign, the Prince of Wales, the order also includes supernumerary knights and ladies. New appointments to the Order of the Garter are always announced on St Georges Day, the orders emblem is a garter with the motto Honi soit qui mal y pense in gold lettering. Members of the wear it on ceremonial occasions. King Edward III founded the Order of the Garter around the time of his claim to the French throne, the list includes Sir Sanchet DAbrichecourt, who died on 20 October 1345. Other dates from 1344 to 1351 have also been proposed, the Kings wardrobe account shows Garter habits first issued in the autumn of 1348. Also, its original statutes required that member of the Order already be a knight. The earliest written mention of the Order is found in Tirant lo Blanch and it was first published in 1490. This book devotes a chapter to the description of the origin of the Order of the Garter, at the time of its foundation, the Order consisted of King Edward III, together with 25 Founder Knights, listed in ascending order of stall number in St.1431. Various legends account for the origin of the Order, the most popular legend involves the Countess of Salisbury, whose garter is said to have slipped from her leg while she was dancing at a court ball at Calais. When the surrounding courtiers sniggered, the king picked it up and returned it to her, exclaiming, Honi soit qui mal y pense, King Edward supposedly recalled the event in the 14th century when he founded the Order. This story is recounted in a letter to the Annual Register in 1774, The motto in fact refers to Edwards claim to the French throne, the use of the garter as an emblem may have derived from straps used to fasten armour. Medieval scholars have pointed to a connection between the Order of the Garter and the Middle English poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in Gawain, a girdle, very similar in its erotic undertones to the garter, plays a prominent role. A rough version of the Orders motto also appears in the text and it translates from Old French as Accursed be a cowardly and covetous heart. While the author of that poem remains disputed, there seems to be a connection between two of the top candidates and the Order of the Garter. Scholar J. P. Oakden has suggested that it is related to John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and, more importantly. Another competing theory is that the work was written for Enguerrand de Coucy, the Sire de Coucy was married to King Edward IIIs daughter, Isabella, and was given admittance to the Order of the Garter on their wedding day
16.
Order of the Thistle
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The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle is an order of chivalry associated with Scotland. The current version of the Order was founded in 1687 by King James VII of Scotland who asserted that he was reviving an earlier Order, the Order consists of the Sovereign and sixteen Knights and Ladies, as well as certain extra knights. The Sovereign alone grants membership of the Order, he or she is not advised by the Government, the Orders primary emblem is the thistle, the national flower of Scotland. The motto is Nemo me impune lacessit, the patron saint of the Order is St Andrew. Most British orders of chivalry cover the whole United Kingdom, the Order of the Thistle, which pertains to Scotland, is the second-most senior in precedence. Its equivalent in England, The Most Noble Order of the Garter, is the oldest documented order of chivalry in the United Kingdom, in 1783 an Irish equivalent, The Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick, was founded, but has now fallen dormant. James VII claimed that he was reviving an earlier Order, according to legend, Achaius, King of Scots, while engaged in battle at Athelstaneford with the Saxon King Æthelstan of East Anglia, saw in the heavens the cross of St Andrew. After he won the battle, Achaius is said to have established the Order of the Thistle, dedicating it to the saint, the tale is not credible, because the two individuals purported to have fought each other did not even live in the same century. Another story states that Achaius founded the Order in 809 to commemorate an alliance with the Emperor Charlemagne, there is some credibility to this story given the fact that Charlemagne did employ Scottish bodyguards. There is, in addition, a tradition that the order was instituted, or re-instituted and he allegedly conferred membership of the Order of the Burr or Thissil on King Francis I of France. However, there is no evidence for a fifteenth-century order. A French commentator writing in 1558 described the use of the thistle and the cross of St Andrew on Scottish coins and war banners. Similarly, John Lesley writing around 1578, refers to the three orders of chivalry carved on the gate of James Vs Linlithgow Palace with his ornaments of St Andrew. Some Scottish order of chivalry may have existed during the century, possibly founded by James V and called the Order of St. Andrew. James VII issued letters patent reviving and restoring the Order of the Thistle to its glory, lustre. Eight knights, out of a maximum of twelve, were appointed and his successors, the joint monarchs William and Mary, did not make any further appointments to the Order, which consequently fell into desuetude. In 1703, however, Anne once again revived the Order of the Thistle, in 1827, George IV augmented the Order to sixteen members. From time to time, individuals may be admitted to the Order by special statutes, such members are known as Extra Knights and do not count towards the sixteen-member limit
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St. Patrick's blue
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St. Patricks blue is a name applied to several shades of blue associated with Saint Patrick and Ireland. The colour blues association with Saint Patrick dates from the 1780s, in British usage, it refers to a sky blue used by the Order of St. Patrick, whereas in Irish usage it is often a dark, rich blue. While green is now the national colour of Ireland, St. Patricks blue is still the official colour of state. St. Patricks blue is found in symbols of both the state and the island. The Order of St. Patrick was established in 1783 as the order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Ireland. The colour of its honours needed to differ from those of the Order of the Garter, orange was considered, but the association with orangeism felt to be too sectarian, so the lighter blue of the arms of Ireland was chosen. Knights and officers of the order wore a sky blue mantle and riband, a hat lined with blue, the name St. Patricks blue was common but never officially used by the Order. The exact shade of blue used varied over time, a sky blue tinged with green was used by Lord Iveagh in 1895 and confirmed in 1903. Jim Smyth characterised the Orders adoption of St. Patricks Blue, shane Leslie speculated that the green-blue of St Patricks blue might be but a reminiscence of the woad-stain used by all colour-loving Celts. Constance Markievicz believed blue was the old colour of Ireland and incorporated it in the regalia of the Irish Citizen Army, the ICA banner, the Starry Plough, has a blue field. Antiquarian nationalist Francis Joseph Bigger considered St. Patricks blue a fake colour, more recently, Peter Alter and Christina Mahony have supported the historicity of the colour, while Brian Ó Cuív questioned it. The Irish arms used by English monarchs since Edward IV had an azure field and this is still the arms of the modern Irish state, and also appears in the lower left quarter of the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom. In Irish mythology, Flaitheas Éireann, the sovereignty of Ireland, was represented as a woman in a blue robe. Although the arms of the province of Mide has a field, when its device was used as the arms of Ireland. The Irish College in Paris, completed in 1776, was renovated in 2002, as regards green in association with Patrick, in 1681, Thomas Dineley reported people wearing crosses of green ribbon in their hats on Saint Patricks Day. At a National Ball during Edward, Prince of Wales 1868 visit to Ireland, in 1886, a garden party given by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to showcase Irish manufacturing had an Irish-themed dress code. The Guardians report of the party stated the display of the new colour, the 1912 court uniform and dress code specified that the household of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland should wear St. Patricks blue, as should Pages of Honour when the King was in Ireland. The Ireland association football team organised by the Irish Football Association wore St Patricks blue jerseys from 1882 until 1931, the IFA team is now the Northern Ireland team
18.
Bearskin
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A bearskin is a tall fur cap, usually worn as part of a ceremonial military uniform. Traditionally, the bearskin was the headgear of grenadiers and it is worn by grenadier. The cloth caps worn by the grenadiers in European armies during the 17th century were frequently trimmed with fur. The purpose appears to have been to add to the apparent height, the British Foot Guards and Royal Scots Greys did however wear bearskins in battle during the Crimean War and on peacetime manoeuvers until the introduction of khaki service dress in 1902. This did not include use of the busby and other types of smaller fur headdress sometimes confused with the high bearskin, the Italian Sardinian Grenadiers had discarded bearskins in the nineteenth century but were to readopt them for limited ceremonial wear in modern times. Until 1914, bearskins were worn in uniform by the Régiment des Grenadiers of the Belgian Army. While still seen on peacetime maneuvers until about 1900, the bearskins were left in barracks upon mobilization in August 1914 and its modern successor unit, the Regiment Carabiniers Prins Boudewijn – Grenadiers has readopted this headdress for limited ceremonial purposes. The bearskin is also worn by the mounted Royal Escort, following the Battle of Waterloo and the action in which they gained their name, the Grenadier Guards were permitted to wear the bearskin. In 1831, this practice was extended to the two regiments of Foot Guards then in existence. The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, Honourable Artillery Company and officers of Fusilier regiments also wear the bearskin as part of their ceremonial uniform. The bearskin should not be mistaken for the busby which is a much smaller fur cap worn by the Royal Horse Artillery, nor should it be confused with the similar but smaller sealskin cap worn by other ranks of the Royal Fusiliers, actually made of raccoon skin. The standard bearskin of the British Foot Guards is 18 inches tall, however, an officers bearskin is made from the fur of the Canadian brown bear as the female brown bear has thicker, fuller fur and is dyed black. An entire skin is used for each hat, the British Army purchase the hats, which are known as caps, from a British hatmaker which sources its pelts from an international auction. The hatmakers purchase between 50 and 100 black bear skins each year at a cost of about £650 each, if properly maintained, the caps last for decades. On 3 August 1888, The New York Times reported that bearskin caps might be phased out because of a shortage of bear skins. In 1997, Minister for Defence Procurement Lord Gilbert said that he wanted to see bearskins phased out as soon as possible due to ethical concerns, in 2005, the Ministry of Defence began a two-year test of artificial fur for the hats. The army has already replaced beaver hats and leopard skins, worn by some of its soldiers, in March 2005, Labour MP Chris Mullin called for an immediate ban on bearskin hats stating that they have no military significance and involve unnecessary cruelty. Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has protested against the use of real fur for the guards’ hats
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Regiment
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A regiment is a military unit. Their role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, in Medieval Europe, the term regiment denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted in one geographical area, by a leader who was often also the feudal lord of the soldiers. By the 17th century, a regiment was usually about a thousand personnel. In many armies, the first role has been assumed by independent battalions, battlegroups, task forces, brigades and other, similarly-sized operational units. By the beginning of the 18th century, regiments in most European continental armies had evolved into permanent units with distinctive titles and uniforms, when at full strength, an infantry regiment normally comprised two field battalions of about 800 men each or 8–10 companies. In some armies, an independent regiment with fewer companies was labelled a demi-regiment, a cavalry regiment numbered 600 to 900 troopers, making up a single entity. With the widespread adoption of conscription in European armies during the nineteenth century, the regimental system underwent modification. Prior to World War I, a regiment in the French, German, Russian. As far as possible, the battalions would be garrisoned in the same military district, so that the regiment could be mobilized. A cavalry regiment by contrast made up an entity of up to 1,000 troopers. Usually, the regiment is responsible for recruiting and administering all of a military career. Depending upon the country, regiments can be either combat units or administrative units or both and this is often contrasted to the continental system adopted by many armies. Generally, divisions are garrisoned together and share the same installations, thus, in divisional administration, soldiers and officers are transferred in and out of divisions as required. Some regiments recruited from specific areas, and usually incorporated the place name into the regimental name. In other cases, regiments would recruit from an age group within a nation. In other cases, new regiments were raised for new functions within an army, e. g. the Fusiliers, the Parachute Regiment, a key aspect of the regimental system is that the regiment or battalion is the fundamental tactical building block. This flows historically from the period, when battalions were widely dispersed and virtually autonomous. For example, a regiment might include different types of battalions of different origins, within the regimental system, soldiers, and usually officers, are always posted to a tactical unit of their own regiment whenever posted to field duty
20.
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
21.
Infantry
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Infantry is the general branch of an army that engages in military combat on foot. As the troops who engage with the enemy in close-ranged combat, infantry units bear the largest brunt of warfare, Infantry can enter and maneuver in terrain that is inaccessible to military vehicles and employ crew-served infantry weapons that provide greater and more sustained firepower. In English, the 16th-century term Infantry describes soldiers who walk to the battlefield, and there engage, fight, the term arose in Sixteenth-Century Spain, which boasted one of the first professional standing armies seen in Europe since the days of Rome. It was common to appoint royal princes to military commands, and the men under them became known as Infanteria. in the Canadian Army, the role of the infantry is to close with, and destroy the enemy. In the U. S. Army, the closes with the enemy, by means of fire and maneuver, in order to destroy or capture him, or to repel his assault by fire, close combat. In the U. S. Marine Corps, the role of the infantry is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy fire and maneuver. Beginning with the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, artillery has become a dominant force on the battlefield. Since World War I, combat aircraft and armoured vehicles have become dominant. In 20th and 21st century warfare, infantry functions most effectively as part of a combined arms team including artillery, armour, Infantry relies on organized formations to be employed in battle. These have evolved over time, but remain a key element to effective infantry development and deployment, until the end of the 19th century, infantry units were for the most part employed in close formations up until contact with the enemy. This allowed commanders to control of the unit, especially while maneuvering. The development of guns and other weapons with increased firepower forced infantry units to disperse in order to make them less vulnerable to such weapons. This decentralization of command was made possible by improved communications equipment, among the various subtypes of infantry is Medium infantry. This refers to infantry which are heavily armed and armored than heavy infantry. In the early period, medium infantry were largely eliminated due to discontinued use of body armour up until the 20th century. In the United States Army, Stryker Infantry is considered Medium Infantry, since they are heavier than light infantry, Infantry doctrine is the concise expression of how infantry forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. It is a guide to action, not a set of hard, doctrine provides a very common frame of reference across the military forces, allowing the infantry to function cooperatively in what are now called combined arms operations. Doctrine helps standardise operations, facilitating readiness by establishing common ways of accomplishing infantry tasks, doctrine links theory, history, experimentation, and practice
22.
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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Republic of Ireland
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Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the part of the island. The state shares its land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint Georges Channel to the south-east, and it is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President, the state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was officially declared a republic in 1949, following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955. It joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union, after joining the EEC, Ireland enacted a series of liberal economic policies that resulted in rapid economic growth. The country achieved considerable prosperity between the years of 1995 and 2007, which known as the Celtic Tiger period. This was halted by a financial crisis that began in 2008. However, as the Irish economy was the fastest growing in the EU in 2015, Ireland is again quickly ascending league tables comparing wealth and prosperity internationally. For example, in 2015, Ireland was ranked as the joint sixth most developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index and it also performs well in several national performance metrics, including freedom of the press, economic freedom and civil liberties. Ireland is a member of the European Union and is a member of the Council of Europe. The 1922 state, comprising 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland, was styled, the Constitution of Ireland, adopted in 1937, provides that the name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland. Section 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 states, It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland. The 1948 Act does not name the state as Republic of Ireland, because to have done so would have put it in conflict with the Constitution. The government of the United Kingdom used the name Eire, and, from 1949, Republic of Ireland, for the state, as well as Ireland, Éire or the Republic of Ireland, the state is also referred to as the Republic, Southern Ireland or the South. In an Irish republican context it is referred to as the Free State or the 26 Counties. From the Act of Union on 1 January 1801, until 6 December 1922, during the Great Famine, from 1845 to 1849, the islands population of over 8 million fell by 30%
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History of the Irish Guards
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The history of the Irish Guards as an infantry regiment of Foot Guards in the British Army dates from 1900. The current Irish Guards are the unit to bear this name. The current regiment was formed on 1 April 1900 by order of Queen Victoria to commemorate the Irish people who fought in the Second Boer War for the British Empire and this developed into a suggestion that an Irish Guards regiment be created. The Irish Guards first honorary Colonel-of-the-Regiment was Field Marshal Lord Roberts, selected members of the line infantry regiments were chosen to fill out the ranks of the new regiment. The regiments first Colours were presented by King Edward VII to the 1st Battalion on 30 May 1902 at Horse Guards Parade, a few Irish Guardsmen saw action as mounted infantry in the final stages of the Boer War. The battalion took part in the Battle of Mons and the subsequent arduous, the Irish Guards was part of the rearguard during the retreat and took part in a small-scale action at Landrecies against the advancing Germans. Le Cateau was an action that inflicted very heavy losses on the Germans. In August that year, the 2nd Battalion was raised at Warley Barracks, the 1st Irish Guards later in September took part in Marne and the advance towards the Aisne. The Irish Guards, having lost their CO only a few weeks after they had reached France, would take part in one of the bloodiest battles of 1914, the First Battle of Ypres, the battle caused major casualties among the old Regular Army. The 1st Battalion was involved in fighting for the duration of First Ypres, taking part in the actions, at Langemarck, Gheluvelt. By the end of First Ypres on the 22 November, the battalion had suffered over 700 casualties, the 2nd Division, of which the 1st Irish Guards were part of, suffered 5,769 officers and men killed, wounded or missing in action. The rest of 1914 and early 1915 was spent in the trenches with little action, although the soldiers were at risk from snipers and shells. OLeary rushed forward, shooting five Germans before attacking a further three in a position at the next barricade, capturing two Germans in the process. The trench and many prisoners were taken thanks to the actions of OLeary and he was awarded the Victoria Cross, the first VC the Irish Guards won in the war. In May 1915, the 1st Irish Guards took part in the Battle of Festubert, in July 1915, the 2nd Battalion was redesignated the 3rd Battalion, and another battalion, the 2nd Battalion was formed at Warley Barracks. In August that year the 1st Irish Guards, and the rest of the 4th Brigade was moved to the Guards Division, the brigade was redesignated the 1st Guards Brigade. In September that year, the battalion, as well as the 2nd Irish Guards, who had reached France in August, took part in the Battle of Loos, which lasted from 25 September until early October. The 1st Irish Guards took part in an action at Flers–Courcelette where they suffered casualties in the attack in the face of withering fire from the German machine-guns
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Queen Victoria
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Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she adopted the title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, both the Duke of Kent and King George III died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne aged 18, after her fathers three brothers had all died, leaving no surviving legitimate children. The United Kingdom was already a constitutional monarchy, in which the sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments, publicly, Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together, after Alberts death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength and her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian era and it was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover and her son and successor, Edward VII, belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father. Victorias father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, until 1817, Edwards niece, Princess Charlotte of Wales, was the only legitimate grandchild of George III. Her death in 1817 precipitated a crisis that brought pressure on the Duke of Kent. In 1818 he married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children—Carl and Feodora —by her first marriage to the Prince of Leiningen and her brother Leopold was Princess Charlottes widower. The Duke and Duchess of Kents only child, Victoria, was born at 4.15 a. m. on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace and she was baptised Alexandrina, after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina, Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Dukes eldest brother, George, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Kent married on the same day in 1818, but both of Clarences daughters died as infants. Victorias father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old, a week later her grandfather died and was succeeded by his eldest son, George IV. The Duke of York died in 1827, when George IV died in 1830, he was succeeded by his next surviving brother, William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive
26.
Second Boer War
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The Second Boer War, usually known as the Boer War and also at the time as the South African War, started on 11 October 1899 and ended on 31 May 1902. Great Britain defeated two Boer states in South Africa, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, Britain was aided by its Cape Colony, Colony of Natal and some native African allies. The British war effort was supported by volunteers from the British Empire, including Southern Africa, the Australian colonies, Canada, India. All other nations were neutral, but public opinion in them was largely hostile to Britain, inside Britain and its Empire there also was significant opposition to the Second Boer War. The British were overconfident and under-prepared, the Boers were very well armed and struck first, besieging Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking in early 1900, and winning important battles at Colenso, Magersfontein and Stormberg. Staggered, the British brought in numbers of soldiers and fought back. General Redvers Buller was replaced by Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener and they relieved the three besieged cities, and invaded the two Boer republics in late 1900. The onward marches of the British Army were so overwhelming that the Boers did not fight staged battles in defense of their homeland, the British quickly seized control of all of the Orange Free State and Transvaal, as the civilian leadership went into hiding or exile. In conventional terms, the war was over, Britain officially annexed the two countries in 1900, and called a khaki election to give the government another six years of power in London. However, the Boers refused to surrender and they reverted to guerrilla warfare under new generals Louis Botha, Jan Smuts, Christiaan de Wet and Koos de la Rey. Two more years of attacks and quick escapes followed. As guerrillas without uniforms, the Boer fighters easily blended into the farmlands, which provided hiding places, supplies, the British solution was to set up complex nets of block houses, strong points, and barbed wire fences, partitioning off the entire conquered territory. The civilian farmers were relocated into concentration camps, where very large proportions died of disease, especially the children, then the British mounted infantry units systematically tracked down the highly mobile Boer guerrilla units. The battles at this stage were small operations with few combat casualties The war ended in surrender, the British successfully won over the Boer leaders, who now gave full support to the new political system. Both former republics were incorporated into the Union of South Africa in 1910, the conflict is commonly referred to as simply the Boer War, since the First Boer War is much less well known. Boer was the term for Afrikaans-speaking white South Africans descended from the Dutch East India Companys original settlers at the Cape of Good Hope. It is officially called the South African War and it is known as the Anglo-Boer War among some South Africans. In Afrikaans it may be called the Anglo-Boereoorlog, Tweede Boereoorlog, in South Africa it is officially called the South African War
27.
British Empire
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The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It originated with the possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23% of the population at the time. As a result, its political, legal, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread, during the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France, the independence of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after the American War of Independence caused Britain to lose some of its oldest and most populous colonies. British attention soon turned towards Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, after the defeat of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Britain emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of the 19th century. In the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution began to transform Britain, the British Empire expanded to include India, large parts of Africa and many other territories throughout the world. In Britain, political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies, during the 19th Century, Britains population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, which caused significant social and economic stresses. To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the Conservative Party under Benjamin Disraeli launched a period of imperialist expansion in Egypt, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand became self-governing dominions. By the start of the 20th century, Germany and the United States had begun to challenge Britains economic lead, subsequent military and economic tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of the First World War, during which Britain relied heavily upon its empire. The conflict placed enormous strain on the military, financial and manpower resources of Britain, although the British Empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after World War I, Britain was no longer the worlds pre-eminent industrial or military power. In the Second World War, Britains colonies in Southeast Asia were occupied by Imperial Japan, despite the final victory of Britain and its allies, the damage to British prestige helped to accelerate the decline of the empire. India, Britains most valuable and populous possession, achieved independence as part of a larger movement in which Britain granted independence to most territories of the empire. The transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997 marked for many the end of the British Empire, fourteen overseas territories remain under British sovereignty. After independence, many former British colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Kingdom is now one of 16 Commonwealth nations, a grouping known informally as the Commonwealth realms, that share a monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The foundations of the British Empire were laid when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms. In 1496, King Henry VII of England, following the successes of Spain and Portugal in overseas exploration, Cabot led another voyage to the Americas the following year but nothing was ever heard of his ships again
28.
Battle of Pilckem Ridge
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The Battle of Pilckem Ridge,31 July –2 August 1917, was the opening attack of the Third Battle of Ypres in the First World War. On 31 July, the Anglo-French armies captured Pilckem Ridge and areas either side, after several weeks of changeable weather, heavy rain fell during the afternoon of 31 July. British observers in the XIX Corps area in the centre, lost sight of the troops that had advanced to the objective at the green line. The weather changed just as German regiments from specialist counter-attack Eingreif divisions intervened, for the next few days, both sides made local attacks to improve their positions, much hampered by the wet weather. A local British attack on the Gheluvelt Plateau was postponed because of the weather until 10 August, Operations in Flanders, Belgium had been desired by the British Cabinet, Admiralty and War Office since 1914. Douglas Haig succeeded John French as Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force on 19 December 1915, in January 1916, Haig ordered General Henry Rawlinson to plan an attack in the Ypres Salient. The Prime Minister David Lloyd George, sought to limit British casualties, British and French artillery would be transferred to Italy to add weight to the offensive. This suggestion was opposed by the French and Italian delegations and the British General Staff, the Nivelle plan was welcomed by the British, despite many in the Cabinet and War Office being sceptical, because a French attack would mean a lesser burden falling on the British. Haig was ordered to co-operate with Nivelle but secured French agreement that in the event the offensive failed, on 9 April, British and Empire forces undertook a preliminary attack at the Battle of Arras and the Nivelle Offensive began on 16 April. While the French recuperated, offensive action on the Western Front could only come from the BEF. It was not until June 1917 that the principle of a Flanders campaign was approved by the British Cabinet and more grudgingly by the Prime Minister, against his preference for an Italian campaign. Haig ordered General Herbert Plumer, the commander of the Second Army which occupied the Ypres Salient, Plumer believed that a force of 35 divisions and 5,000 guns would be necessary, which was far greater than the amount of artillery in the BEF. Haig also asked for an assessment from Colonel Macmullen on the General Headquarters staff, the tanks would have to detour north of Bellewaarde lake to Westhoek then wheel right at the German Albrecht Stellung. In between the German defence positions lay the Belgian villages of Zonnebeke and Passchendaele, Plumer produced a second revision of his plan, Messines Ridge and the west end of the Gheluvelt Plateau would be attacked first and then Pilckem Ridge a short while later. The Fourth Army commander, General Henry Rawlinson proposed a plan to take Messines Ridge, then the Gheluvelt Plateau, on 14 February after discussions with Rawlinson, Plumer and Haig, Macmullen submitted a memorandum which became the GHQ1917 plan. On 7 May, Haig set the timetable for the attack on Messines Ridge. A week after the Battle of Messines Ridge, Haig informed his commanders that his objectives were to wear down the German army, secure the Belgian coast. The armies were to capture Passchendaele Ridge and advance on Roulers and Thourout, to cut the railway supplying the German garrisons holding the Western Front north of Ypres and the Belgian coast
29.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
30.
Western Front (World War I)
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The Western Front or Western Theater was the main theatre of war during World War I. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, the tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne. Following the Race to the Sea, both sides dug in along a line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France. This line remained unchanged for most of the war. Between 1915 and 1917 there were several major offensives along this front, the attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. However, a combination of entrenchments, machine gun emplacements, barbed wire, as a result, no significant advances were made. In an effort to break the deadlock, this front saw the introduction of new technology, including poison gas, aircraft. But it was only after the adoption of improved tactics that some degree of mobility was restored, the German Armys Spring Offensive of 1918 was made possible by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that marked the end of the conflict on the Eastern Front. In spite of the stagnant nature of this front, this theatre would prove decisive. The terms of peace were agreed upon with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, belgiums neutrality was guaranteed by Britain under the 1839 Treaty of London, this caused Britain to join the war at the expiration of its ultimatum at 11 pm GMT on 4 August. Armies under German generals Alexander von Kluck and Karl von Bülow attacked Belgium on 4 August 1914, Luxembourg had been occupied without opposition on 2 August. The first battle in Belgium was the Siege of Liège, which lasted from 5–16 August, Liège was well fortified and surprised the German Army under von Bülow with its level of resistance. German heavy artillery was able to demolish the main forts within a few days. Following the fall of Liège, most of the Belgian field army retreated to Antwerp, leaving the garrison of Namur isolated, with the Belgian capital, Brussels, although the German army bypassed Antwerp, it remained a threat to their flank. Another siege followed at Namur, lasting from about 20–23 August, for their part, the French had five armies deployed on their borders. The pre-war French offensive plan, Plan XVII, was intended to capture Alsace-Lorraine following the outbreak of hostilities, on 7 August the VII Corps attacked Alsace with its objectives being to capture Mulhouse and Colmar. The main offensive was launched on 14 August with 1st and 2nd Armies attacking toward Sarrebourg-Morhange in Lorraine, in keeping with the Schlieffen Plan, the Germans withdrew slowly while inflicting severe losses upon the French. The French advanced the 3rd and 4th Armies toward the Saar River and attempted to capture Saarburg, attacking Briey and Neufchateau, before being driven back
31.
Battle of Mons
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The Battle of Mons was the first major action of the British Expeditionary Force in the First World War. It was an action of the Battle of the Frontiers. At Mons, the British Army attempted to hold the line of the Mons–Condé Canal against the advancing German 1st Army, britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914 and on 9 August the BEF began embarking for France. Unlike Continental European armies, the BEF in 1914 was exceedingly small, the BEF was probably the best trained and most experienced of the European armies of 1914. British training emphasised rapid-fire marksmanship and the average British soldier was able to hit a target fifteen times a minute. This ability to generate a volume of accurate rifle-fire played an important role in the BEFs battles of 1914. The Battle of Mons took place as part of the Battle of the Frontiers, the BEF was stationed on the left of the Allied line, which stretched from Alsace-Lorraine in the east to Mons and Charleroi in southern Belgium. The British reached Mons on 22 August, on that day, the French Fifth Army, located on the right of the BEF, was heavily engaged with the German 2nd and 3rd armies at the Battle of Charleroi. The British thus spent the day digging in along the canal, at the Battle of Mons the BEF had some 80,000 men, comprising the Cavalry Division, an independent cavalry brigade and two corps, each with two infantry divisions. I Corps was commanded by Sir Douglas Haig and was composed of the 1st, II Corps was commanded by Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien and consisted of the 3rd and 5th Divisions. Each division had 18,073 men and 5,592 horses, I Corps was deployed in this manner to protect the right flank of the BEF, in case the French were forced to retreat from their position at Charleroi. I Corps did not line the canal, which meant that it was involved the battle. The dominant geographical feature of the battlefield, was a loop in the canal and this loop formed a small salient which was difficult to defend and formed the focus of the battle. The first substantial action occurred on the morning of 22 August, at 6,30 a. m. the 4th Dragoon Guards laid an ambush for a patrol of German lancers outside the village of Casteau, to the north-east of Mons. When the Germans spotted the trap and fell back, a troop of the dragoons, led by Captain Hornby gave chase, followed by the rest of his squadron, all with drawn sabres. After a further pursuit of a few miles, the Germans turned and fired upon the British cavalry, drummer Edward Thomas is reputed to have fired the first shot of the war for the British Army, hitting a German trooper. Advancing towards the British was the German 1st Army, commanded by Alexander von Kluck, the 1st Army was composed of four active corps and three reserve corps, although only the active corps took part in the fighting at Mons. German corps had two each, with attendant cavalry and artillery
32.
Great Retreat
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From 5–12 September, the First Battle of the Marne ended the Allied retreat and forced the German armies to retire towards the Aisne river and fight the First Battle of the Aisne. Reciprocal attempts to outflank the opposing armies to the north followed, the Battle of the Frontiers is a general name for all of the operations of the French armies until the Battle of the Marne. A series of encounter battles began between the German, French and Belgian armies, on the German-French frontier and in southern Belgium on 4 August 1914, the Battle of Mulhouse was the first French offensive of World War I against Germany. The French captured Mulhouse until forced out by a German counter-attack on 11 August, the main French offensive, the Battle of Lorraine, began with the Battles of Morhange and Sarrebourg advances by the First Army on Sarrebourg and the Second Army towards Morhange. Château Salins near Morhange was captured on 17 August and Sarrebourg the next day, the German 6th and 7th armies counter-attacked on 20 August, the Second Army was forced back from Morhange and the First Army was repulsed at Sarrebourg. The German armies crossed the border and advanced on Nancy but were stopped to the east of the city, to the south the French retook Mulhouse on 19 August and then withdrew. On 24 August at the Battle of the Mortagne, a limited German offensive in the Vosges, by 20 August a German counter-offensive in Lorraine had begun and the German 4th and 5th Armies advanced through the Ardennes on 19 August towards Neufchâteau. An offensive by French Third and Fourth armies through the Ardennes began on 20 August, the opposing armies met in thick fog and the French mistook the German troops for screening forces. On 22 August the Battle of the Ardennes began with French attacks, the Third Army recoiled towards Verdun, pursued by the 5th Army and the Fourth Army retreated to Sedan and Stenay. Mulhouse was recaptured again by German forces and the Battle of the Meuse 26–28 August), Liège was occupied by the Germans on 7 August, the first units of the BEF landed in France and French troops crossed the German frontier. On 12 August The Battle of Haelen was fought by German and Belgian cavalry and infantry and was a Belgian defensive success. The BEF completed its move of four divisions and a division to France on 16 August. The Belgian government withdrew from Brussels on 18 August and the German army attacked the Belgian field army at the Battle of the Gete. Next day the Belgian army began to retire towards Antwerp, which left the route to Namur open, Longwy, further west, the Fifth Army had concentrated on the Sambre by 20 August, facing north either side of Charleroi and east towards the Belgian fortress of Namur. On the left, the Cavalry Corps linked with the BEF at Mons, by 20 August, the Fifth Army had begun to concentrate on a 40-kilometre front along the Sambre, centred on Charleroi and extending east to the Belgian fortress of Namur. On the left flank, the Sordet Cavalry Corps linked the Fifth Army to the British Expeditionary Force at Mons, Bülow attacked again on 22 August with three corps against the entire Fifth Army front. Fighting continued on 23 August, when the French centre around Charleroi began to fall back, the German 3rd Army had crossed the Meuse and launched an attack against the French right flank, held by I Corps. The French stopped the German advance and delivered a counter-attack, the Fifth Army was confronted by the German 3rd and 2nd armies from the east and the north
33.
First Battle of Ypres
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The First Battle of Ypres was a battle of the First World War, fought on the Western Front around Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium, during October and November 1914. The battles at Ypres began at the end of the Race to the Sea, reciprocal attempts by the German, North of Ypres, the fighting continued in the Battle of the Yser, fought between the German 4th Army and the Belgian army and French marines. General Erich von Falkenhayn, head of the Oberste Heeresleitung, then tried a limited offensive to capture Ypres and Mount Kemmel, the autumn battles in Flanders had quickly become static, attrition operations, unlike the battles of manoeuvre in the summer. French, British and Belgian troops in improvised field defences, repulsed German attacks for four weeks, from 21–23 October, German reservists had made mass attacks at Langemarck, with losses of up to 70 percent, to little effect. The defensive use of artillery and machine guns had dominated the battlefield, thirty-four German divisions fought in the Flanders battles, against twelve French, nine British and six Belgian, along with marines and dismounted cavalry. Falkenhayn reconsidered German strategy over the winter, because Vernichtungsstrategie and a dictated peace against France, Falkenhayn intended to detach Russia or France from the Allied coalition, by diplomatic as well as military action. A strategy of attrition, would make the cost of the war too great, the remaining belligerents would have to negotiate or face the Germans concentrated on the remaining front, which would be sufficient to obtain a decisive victory. On 9 October, the First German offensive against Warsaw began with the battles of Warsaw, four days later, Przemyśl was relieved by the advancing Austro-Hungarians and the Battle of Chyrow 13 October–2 November) began in Galicia. Czernowitz in the Bukovina, was re-occupied by the Austro-Hungarian army on 22 August, on 29 October, the Ottoman Empire commenced hostilities against Russia, when Turkish warships bombarded Odessa, Sevastopol and Theodosia. Next day Stanislau in Galicia was taken by Russian forces and the Serbian army began a retreat from the line of the Drina, on 4 November, the Russian army crossed the frontier of Turkey-in-Asia and seized Azap. Britain and France declared war on Turkey on 5 November and next day, Keupri-Keni in Armenia was captured, on 10 October, Przemysl was surrounded again by the Russian army, beginning the Second Siege, Memel in East Prussia was occupied by the Russians a day later. Keupri-Keni was recaptured by the Ottoman army on 14 November, the Sultan proclaimed Jihad, next day the Battle of Cracow began, the Second German Offensive against Warsaw opened with the Battle of Łódź. The Great Retreat was a withdrawal by the Franco-British armies to the Marne, from 24 August –28 September 1914. After the defeat of the French Fifth Army at the Battle of Charleroi, a counter-offensive by the French and the BEF at the First Battle of Guise, failed to end the German advance and the Franco-British retreat continued beyond the Marne. After the retreat of the French Fifth Army and the BEF, General Fournier was ordered on 25 August to defend the fortress at Maubeuge, which was surrounded two days later by the German VII Reserve Corps. Maubeuge was defended by fourteen forts, with a garrison of 30,000 French territorials and c. 10,000 French, British, on 7 September, the garrison surrendered, after super-heavy artillery from the Siege of Namur demolished the forts. The Germans took 32,692 prisoners and captured 450 guns, small detachments of the Belgian, French and British armies conducted operations in Belgium and northern France, against German cavalry and Jäger. On 27 August, a squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service flew to Ostend, British marines landed at Dunkirk on the night of 19/20 September and on 28 September, a battalion occupied Lille
34.
Battle of Gheluvelt
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The First Battle of Ypres was a battle of the First World War, fought on the Western Front around Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium, during October and November 1914. The battles at Ypres began at the end of the Race to the Sea, reciprocal attempts by the German, North of Ypres, the fighting continued in the Battle of the Yser, fought between the German 4th Army and the Belgian army and French marines. General Erich von Falkenhayn, head of the Oberste Heeresleitung, then tried a limited offensive to capture Ypres and Mount Kemmel, the autumn battles in Flanders had quickly become static, attrition operations, unlike the battles of manoeuvre in the summer. French, British and Belgian troops in improvised field defences, repulsed German attacks for four weeks, from 21–23 October, German reservists had made mass attacks at Langemarck, with losses of up to 70 percent, to little effect. The defensive use of artillery and machine guns had dominated the battlefield, thirty-four German divisions fought in the Flanders battles, against twelve French, nine British and six Belgian, along with marines and dismounted cavalry. Falkenhayn reconsidered German strategy over the winter, because Vernichtungsstrategie and a dictated peace against France, Falkenhayn intended to detach Russia or France from the Allied coalition, by diplomatic as well as military action. A strategy of attrition, would make the cost of the war too great, the remaining belligerents would have to negotiate or face the Germans concentrated on the remaining front, which would be sufficient to obtain a decisive victory. On 9 October, the First German offensive against Warsaw began with the battles of Warsaw, four days later, Przemyśl was relieved by the advancing Austro-Hungarians and the Battle of Chyrow 13 October–2 November) began in Galicia. Czernowitz in the Bukovina, was re-occupied by the Austro-Hungarian army on 22 August, on 29 October, the Ottoman Empire commenced hostilities against Russia, when Turkish warships bombarded Odessa, Sevastopol and Theodosia. Next day Stanislau in Galicia was taken by Russian forces and the Serbian army began a retreat from the line of the Drina, on 4 November, the Russian army crossed the frontier of Turkey-in-Asia and seized Azap. Britain and France declared war on Turkey on 5 November and next day, Keupri-Keni in Armenia was captured, on 10 October, Przemysl was surrounded again by the Russian army, beginning the Second Siege, Memel in East Prussia was occupied by the Russians a day later. Keupri-Keni was recaptured by the Ottoman army on 14 November, the Sultan proclaimed Jihad, next day the Battle of Cracow began, the Second German Offensive against Warsaw opened with the Battle of Łódź. The Great Retreat was a withdrawal by the Franco-British armies to the Marne, from 24 August –28 September 1914. After the defeat of the French Fifth Army at the Battle of Charleroi, a counter-offensive by the French and the BEF at the First Battle of Guise, failed to end the German advance and the Franco-British retreat continued beyond the Marne. After the retreat of the French Fifth Army and the BEF, General Fournier was ordered on 25 August to defend the fortress at Maubeuge, which was surrounded two days later by the German VII Reserve Corps. Maubeuge was defended by fourteen forts, with a garrison of 30,000 French territorials and c. 10,000 French, British, on 7 September, the garrison surrendered, after super-heavy artillery from the Siege of Namur demolished the forts. The Germans took 32,692 prisoners and captured 450 guns, small detachments of the Belgian, French and British armies conducted operations in Belgium and northern France, against German cavalry and Jäger. On 27 August, a squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service flew to Ostend, British marines landed at Dunkirk on the night of 19/20 September and on 28 September, a battalion occupied Lille
35.
Klein Zillebeke
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Zillebeke is a village in the Flemish province of West-Vlaanderen in Belgium. The former municipality is now part of Ypres, the village was mentioned in the Wipers Times, the most well-known of the trench magazines that were published by soldiers fighting on the front lines of the Great War. Located in or close to Zillebeke are Hill 60, the Hill 62 Memorial, The Bluff, the Sanctuary Wood Museum Hill 62, the nearby villages of Hollebeke and Voormezele were merged into Zillebeke in 1970. In 1976, the enlarged Zillebeke was merged into Ieper city, Railway Dugouts Burial Ground CWGC Cemetery RE Grave Railway Wood CWGC Cemetery Belgian Civil heraldry - shows the coat of arms
36.
Battle of Festubert
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The Battle of Festubert was an attack by the British army in the Artois region of France on the western front during World War I. The offensive formed part of a series of attacks by the French Tenth Army, a continuous three-day bombardment by the British heavy artillery was planned, to cut wire and demolish German machine-gun posts and infantry strong-points. The objectives were 1,000 yards forward, rather than the 3,000 yards depth of advance intended at Aubers Ridge, the battle was the first British attempt at attrition. The Battle of Festubert was the continuation of the Battle of Aubers Ridge, the attack was made by the British First Army under Sir Douglas Haig against a German salient between Neuve Chapelle to the north and the village of Festubert to the south. The assault was planned along a 3-mile front and would initially be made mainly by Indian troops and this would be the first British army night attack of the war. The battle was preceded by a 60-hour bombardment by 433 artillery pieces that fired about 100,000 shells and this bombardment failed to significantly damage the front line defences of the German 6th Army but the initial advance made some progress in good weather conditions. The attack was renewed on 16 May and by 19 May the 2nd Division, on 18 May, the 1st Canadian Division, assisted by the 51st Division, attacked but made little progress in the face of German artillery fire. The British forces dug in at the new front line in heavy rain, the Germans brought up reinforcements and reinforced their defences. From 20–25 May the attack was resumed and Festubert was captured, the offensive had resulted in a 3-kilometre advance. The British lost 16,648 casualties from 15/16–25 May, the German defenders had c. 5,000 casualties, including 800 men taken prisoner. French casualties during the Second Battle of Artois were 102,533 men, the 100th anniversary of the battle saw a range of commemorations held across the world. Some of the most poignant were those held in the Highlands of Scotland, in particular in shinty playing communities, which were affected disproportionately by losses in the battle. A week later, the Beauly Shinty Club renamed their pavilion after the Paterson brothers, Donald and Alasdair, donalds bagpipes were recovered with his other effects in the early 1980s and were played at both commemorations
37.
Battle of Loos
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The Battle of Loos was a World War I battle that took place from 25 September –13 October 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas, the French and British tried to break through the German defences in Artois and Champagne and restore a war of movement. Despite improved methods, more ammunition and better equipment, the Franco-British attacks were contained by the German armies, British casualties at Loos were about twice as high as German losses. The battle was the British part of the Third Battle of Artois, at the Frévent Conference on 27 July, Field Marshal French failed to persuade Ferdinand Foch that an attack further north offered greater prospects for success. The debate continued into August with Joffre siding with Foch and the commanders being over-ruled by Herbert Kitchener, on 3 May, the British decided upon use of poison gas in military operations in France. French was doubtful that a breakthrough would be achieved, Haig was hampered by the shortage of artillery ammunition, which meant the preliminary bombardment, essential for success in trench warfare, was insufficient. Prior to the British attack, about 140 long tons of gas was released with mixed success. Wanting to be closer to the battle, French had moved to a command post at Lilliers. In many places British artillery had failed to cut the German wire in advance of the attack, advancing over open fields, within range of German machine guns and artillery, British losses were devastating. The British were able to break through the weaker German defences and capture the town of Loos-en-Gohelle, supply and communications problems, combined with the late arrival of reserves, meant that the breakthrough could not be exploited. Haig did not hear until 10,00 a. m. that the divisions were moving up to the front, when the battle resumed the following day, the Germans had recovered and improved their defensive positions. British attempts to continue the advance with the reserves were repulsed, twelve attacking battalions suffered 8,000 casualties out of 10,000 men in four hours. A lull fell on 28 September, with the British having retreated to their positions, having lost over 20,000 casualties. The Royal Flying Corps came under the command of Brigadier-General Hugh Trenchard, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd wings under Colonels E. B. Ashmore, John Salmond and Sefton Brancker participated, as the British were short of artillery ammunition, the RFC flew target identification sorties prior to the battle, to ensure that shells were not wasted. During the first few days of the attack, target-marking squadrons equipped with wireless transmitters. Later in the battle, pilots carried out a bombing operation for the first time in history. Aircraft of the 2nd and 3rd wings dropped many 100-pound bombs on German troops, trains, rail lines, as the land offensive stalled, British pilots and observers flew low over German positions, providing target information to the artillery
38.
First day on the Somme
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The first day on the Somme,1 July 1916, was the opening day of the Battle of Albert, the name given by the British to the first two weeks of the Battle of the Somme. The objective of the attack was to capture the German first and second positions from Serre south to the Albert–Bapaume road, German counter-attacks during the afternoon recaptured most of the lost ground north of the Albert–Bapaume road and fresh attacks against Thiepval were costly defeats. On the north bank of the Ancre, the attack of VIII Corps was another failure, the VII Corps diversion at Gommecourt was also costly, with only a partial and temporary advance south of the village. Several truces were observed to recover wounded from no mans land on the British front, the French had 1,590 casualties and the German 2nd Army lost 10, 000–12,000 men. The nature of a joint offensive on the Somme began to change almost immediately, French divisions intended for the joint offensive were soon diverted to Verdun and the offensive was eventually reduced to a main effort by the British and a supporting attack by one French army. By the end of the Gallipoli Campaign in the Mediterranean, twelve British divisions were in Egypt, high losses incurred in holding ground by a policy of no retreat were preferable to higher losses, voluntary withdrawals and the effect of a belief that soldiers had discretion to avoid battle. When a more flexible policy was substituted later, discretion was still reserved to army commanders, despite the certainty by mid-June of an Anglo-French attack on the Somme against the 2nd Army, Falkenhayn sent only four divisions, keeping eight in the western strategic reserve. No divisions were moved from the 6th Army, despite it holding a line with 17 1⁄2 divisions. Longer-range guns were to engage German artillery with counter-battery fire, to deprive German infantry of artillery support during the attack, when French infantry were at their most vulnerable. Wire-cutting was to be performed by field artillery, firing high explosive shells and supported by specialist wire-cutting sections of infantry, during the attack, the field artillery would fire a linear barrage on trenches and the edges of woods and villages. Infantry tactics were to be based on reconnaissance, clear objectives, liaison with flanking units, General attacks would need to be followed by the systematic capture of remaining defences for jumping-off positions in the next general attack. The importance of organised artillery fire power and the integration of types of weapons, troops were to advance in a succession of lines grouped into waves, followed by parties to consolidate captured ground or pass through the leading troops and continue the advance. The 9th Division had attacked at Loos with four battalions on a front of 1,600 yards, a second battalion followed each of the leading battalions in the same formation, ready to leapfrog beyond and a second brigade followed the first as a reserve. Six lines of infantry, with the soldiers 2 yards apart had confronted the German defence, lines and waves had been made thinner and shallower after 1915 and on 14 July 1916, in the attack on Longueval, the division advanced with four battalions. Six platoons had gone forward on a front of about 1,000 yards, on the Somme front, Falkenhayns construction plan of January 1915 had been completed. Barbed wire obstacles had been enlarged from one belt 5–10 yards wide to two belts 30 yards wide, about 15 yards apart, double and triple thickness wire was used and laid 3–5 feet high. The trenches were traversed and had sentry-posts in concrete recesses built into the parapet, dug-outs had been deepened from 6–9 feet to 20–30 feet,50 yards apart and large enough for 25 men. An intermediate line of strongpoints about 1,000 yards behind the front line was also built, communication trenches ran back to the reserve line, renamed the second position, which was as well-built and wired as the first position
39.
Battle of the Somme
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The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British and French empires against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of the reaches of the River Somme in France. The battle was intended to hasten a victory for the Allies and was the largest battle of the First World War on the Western Front, more than one million men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history. The French and British had committed themselves to an offensive on the Somme during Allied discussions at Chantilly, Oise, in December 1915. Initial plans called for the French army to undertake the main part of the Somme offensive, the first day on the Somme was, in terms of casualties, also the worst day in the history of the British army, which suffered 57,470 casualties. These occurred mainly on the front between the Albert–Bapaume road and Gommecourt, where the attack was defeated and few British troops reached the German front line, the battle is notable for the importance of air power and the first use of the tank. At the end of the battle, British and French forces had penetrated 10 km into German-occupied territory, the Anglo-French armies failed to capture Péronne and halted 5 km from Bapaume, where the German armies maintained their positions over the winter. Debate continues over the necessity, significance and effect of the battle, David Frum opined that a century later, the Somme remains the most harrowing place-name in the history of the British Empire. Allied war strategy for 1916 was decided at the Chantilly Conference from 6–8 December 1915, in December 1915, General Sir Douglas Haig replaced Field Marshal Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of the BEF. Haig favoured a British offensive in Flanders close to BEF supply routes, to drive the Germans from the Belgian coast, Haig was not formally subordinate to Marshal Joseph Joffre but the British played a lesser role on the Western Front and complied with French strategy. A week later the Germans began an offensive against the French at Verdun, by 31 May, the ambitious Franco-British plan for a decisive victory, had been reduced to a limited offensive to relieve pressure on the French at Verdun with a battle of attrition on the Somme. The Chief of the German General Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, intended to end the war by splitting the Anglo-French Entente in 1916, Falkenhayn chose to attack towards Verdun to take the Meuse heights and make Verdun untenable. The British would then have to begin a hasty relief offensive, Falkenhayn expected the relief offensive to fall south of Arras against the Sixth Army and be destroyed. If such Franco-British defeats were not enough, Germany would attack the remnants of armies and end the western alliance for good. Eloi, south of Ypres and reduced the German counter-offensive strategy north of the Somme, to one of passive, the Battle of Verdun began a week after Joffre and Haig agreed to mount an offensive on the Somme. The battle changed the nature of the offensive on the Somme, as French divisions were diverted to Verdun, German overestimation of the cost of Verdun to the French contributed to the concentration of German infantry and guns on the north bank of the Somme. The German offensive at Verdun was suspended in July, and troops, guns, the Brusilov Offensive, absorbed the extra forces that had been requested on 2 June by Fritz von Below, commanding the German Second Army, for a spoiling attack on the Somme. During the offensive the Russians inflicted c. 1,500,000 losses including c. 407,000 prisoners, three divisions were ordered from France to the Eastern Front on 9 June and the spoiling attack on the Somme was abandoned
40.
Battle of Morval
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The postponement was extended from 21–25 September because of rain, which affected operations more frequently during September. Combles, Morval, Lesbœufs and Gueudecourt were captured and many casualties inflicted on the Germans, the French made slower progress near the inter-army boundary, due to the obstruction of St. Pierre Vaast Wood to the French attack north towards Sailly and Sailly-Saillisel. The inter-army boundary was moved north from 27–28 September, to allow the French more room to deploy their forces but the great quantity of German artillery-fire limited the French advance. The Fourth Army advance on 25 September was its deepest since 14 July and left the Germans in severe difficulties, tiredness and lack of reserves prevented the Fourth Army exploiting its success beyond patrolling and cavalry probes. The Reserve Army attack began on 26 September, at the Battle of Thiepval Ridge, deteriorating weather and the shorter days, greatly increased British and French transport difficulties, rain and fog grounded aircraft and impeded artillery observation. Mud reduced the blast effect of shells and immobilised infantry, which was an advantage to the defenders, Haig had hoped that the delay in producing tanks had been overcome and that enough would be ready to be used in September. Haig had believed that the German defence of the Somme front was weakening, after the attacks of 12 and 15 September, Foch and Haig kept the Germans off balance, by mounting smaller operations. The British 6th Division captured the Quadrilateral north of Combles on 18 September, on the nights of 19 and 20 September, parties of the 56th Division consolidated a line west and north-east of Combles, from Beef Trench to Middle Copse. The division was ready to attack from Combles to Leuze Wood and Bouleaux Wood to envelop Bouleaux Wood, careful planning for the Anglo-French attack was necessary, due to the French Sixth Army advance diverging to the east and north-east. The attack northwards at Combles to keep touch with the British needed reinforcements, more artillery and aircraft were brought from Verdun and VII Corps was relieved, V, VI and XXXII corps entered the line between I and XXXIII corps, increasing the Sixth Army to five corps. The resumption of the attack was planned for 21 September. The preliminary bombardment began on 24 September but a thick autumn mist in the morning and hazy conditions all day, a conference at the British Fourth Army headquarters on 26 September, arranged the move of the inter-army boundary to run from Lesbœufs, north-east towards Rocquigny. Foch intended to resume the French attack from Mont St. Quentin, east of the Somme bend to Combles, the Sixth Army was to advance 3,000 yards, close to the German line running from Moislains to Le Transloy. In the south, VI and XXXIII corps would advance east and south-east, to establish a defensive flank along the Tortille stream, distant objectives east of the Péronne–Bapaume road were selected, should the German defence collapse and the cavalry was made ready to prolong an advance. The British plan was for an advance to the objective set for the attacks of 15–22 September. North of the hollow the ridge continued through Morval, Lesbœufs and Gueudecourt, then the Albert–Bapaume road, an advance on the main front of the British attack of 1, 200–1,500 yards was to be made in stages. The first step was an advance to the third of the lines set for 15 September and to the Gird Trenches south of Gueudecourt. The final objective was on the east side of Morval, Lesbœufs and Gueudecourt, the open ground on the approach to Gueudecourt was also considered to be too dangerous for tanks. m
41.
Battle of Passchendaele
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The Battle of Passchendaele was a major campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies against the German Empire. Passchendaele lay on the last ridge east of Ypres,5 miles from a junction at Roulers. The next stage of the Allied plan was an advance to Thourout–Couckelaere, to close the German-controlled railway running through Roulers, further operations and a British supporting attack along the Belgian coast from Nieuwpoort, combined with Operation Hush, were to have reached Bruges and then the Dutch frontier. The campaign ended in November, when the Canadian Corps captured Passchendaele, apart from attacks in December. In 1918, the Battle of the Lys and the Fifth Battle of Ypres were fought before the Allies occupied the Belgian coast, a campaign in Flanders was controversial in 1917 and has remained so. The British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, opposed the offensive, field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, commanding the British Expeditionary Force, did not receive approval for the Flanders operation from the War Cabinet until 25 July. Belgian independence had been recognised in the Treaty of London which created a sovereign, the German invasion of Belgium on 4 August 1914, in violation of Article VII of the treaty, was the reason given by the British government for declaring war on Germany. British military operations in Belgium began with the arrival of the British Expeditionary Force at Mons on 22 August. On 10 October, Lieutenant-General Erich von Falkenhayn, the Chief of the German General Staff, ordered an attack towards Dunkirk and Calais, followed by a turn south to gain a decisive victory. On 16 October, the Belgians and some French reinforcements began the defence of western Belgium, when the offensive failed, Falkenhayn ordered the capture of Ypres to gain a local advantage. By 18 November, the First Battle of Ypres ended in failure, large British offensive operations in Flanders were not possible in 1915, due to the consequent lack of resources. The Germans conducted their own Flanders offensive at the Second Battle of Ypres, Sir Douglas Haig succeeded Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of the BEF on 19 December 1915. A week after his appointment, Haig met Vice-Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon, Haig preferred an advance from Ypres, to bypass the flooded area around the Yser and the coast, before a coastal attack was attempted, to clear the coast to the Dutch border. Other operations were begun by the British to regain territory or to evict the Germans from ground overlooking their positions, engagements took place on 12 February at Boesinghe and on 14 February at Hooge and Sanctuary Wood. There were actions from 14–15 February and 1–4 March at The Bluff,27 March –16 April at the St. Eloi Craters, in January 1917, the Second Army held the line in Flanders from Laventie to Boesinghe with eleven divisions and up to two in reserve. There was much trench mortaring, mining and raiding by both sides and from January to May, the Second Army had 20,000 casualties. In May, reinforcements began moving to Flanders from the south, in January 1916, General Herbert Plumer, the Second Army commander, began to plan offensives against Messines Ridge, Lille and Houthulst Forest. General Henry Rawlinson was also ordered to plan an attack from the Ypres Salient on 4 February, planning continued but the Battle of Verdun, at meetings in November 1916, Haig, the French commander-in-chief Joseph Joffre and the other Allies met at Chantilly
42.
Battle of Cambrai (1917)
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The Battle of Cambrai was a British offensive and German counter-offensive battle in the First World War. Major General Henry Tudor, Commander, Royal Artillery of the 9th Division, fuller, a staff officer with the Tank Corps, was in the process of looking for a place to use tanks as raiding parties. General Julian Byng, commander of the British Third Army, decided to both plans into the attack. Despite British success on the first day, mechanical unreliability, German artillery and infantry defences exposed the frailties of the Mark IV tank, on the second day, only about half of the original number of tanks were available. Numerous developments since 1915 matured at Cambrai, such as predicted artillery fire, sound ranging, infantry tactics, infantry-tank co-ordination. The techniques of warfare continued to develop and played a vital part during the Hundred Days Offensive in 1918. The German defences were formidable, Cambrai having been a stretch of front thus far enabled the Germans to fortify their lines in depth. Tudors plan sought to test new methods in combined arms, with emphasis on combined artillery and infantry techniques, Tudor advocated using the new sound ranging and silent registration of guns to achieve instant suppression fire and surprise. Despite efforts to preserve secrecy, the Germans had received sufficient intelligence to be on moderate alert, the attacking force was six infantry divisions of the III Corps on the right and IV Corps on the left, supported by nine battalions of the Tank Corps with about 437 tanks. In reserve was one division in IV Corps and the three divisions of the Cavalry Corps. Initially, there was success in most areas and it seemed as if a great victory was within reach. On the right, the 12th Division advanced as far as Lateau Wood before being ordered to dig in, the 20th Division forced a way through La Vacquerie and then advanced to capture a bridge across the St Quentin canal at Masnières. The bridge collapsed under the weight of a tank halting the hopes for an advance across the canal, in the centre the 6th Division captured Ribécourt and Marcoing but when the cavalry passed through late, they were repulsed from Noyelles. On the IV Corps front, the 51st Division was held at Flesquières and this left the attacking divisions on each flank exposed to enfilade fire. The commander of the 51st Division, George Montague Harper had substituted his own drill for the standard one laid down by the Tank Corps. Flesquières was one of the strongest points in the German line and was flanked by other strong points and its defenders under Major Krebs acquitted themselves well against the tanks, almost 40 being knocked out by the Flesquières artillery. There is little evidence for Krügers actions, although it is possible that he may have been responsible for as many as nine tanks, twenty-eight tanks were lost in the action, through German artillery-fire and breakdowns. Haig concluded that skirmishing infantry was needed, to bring the artillery crews under small-arms fire to allow the tanks to operate, the Germans abandoned Flesquières during the night
43.
Operation Michael
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Operation Michael was a major German military offensive during the First World War that began the Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin and its goal was to break through the Allied lines and advance in a north-westerly direction to seize the Channel ports, which supplied the British Expeditionary Force and to drive the BEF into the sea. Two days later General Ludendorff, the Chief of the German General Staff, changed his plan and pushed for a due west. This was designed to separate the French and British Armies and crush the British forces by pushing them into the sea, much of the ground fought over was the wilderness left by the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The action was officially named by the British Battles Nomenclature Committee as The First Battles of the Somme,1918. The failure of the offensive marked the beginning of the end of the First World War for Germany, the arrival in France of large reinforcements from the United States replaced Entente casualties but the German Army was unable to recover from its losses before these reinforcements took the field. Operation Michael failed to achieve its objectives and the German advance was reversed during the Second Battle of the Somme,1918 in the Allied Hundred Days Offensive. On 11 November 1917, the German High Command discussed what they hoped would be an offensive on the Western Front the following spring. A decision to attack was taken by General Erich Ludendorff on 21 January 1918, at the start of 1918, the German people were close to starvation and growing tired of the war. Germany had 192 divisions and three brigades on the Western Front by 21 March, out of 241 in the German Army, of these divisions,110 were in the front line,50 of which faced the shorter British front. Another 67 divisions were in reserve, with 31 facing the BEF, by May 1918,318,000 American soldiers were due in France, with another million planned to arrive before August. The Germans knew that the chance of victory was to defeat the Allies before the build-up of the American Expeditionary Force was complete. The German strategy for the 1918 Spring Offensive or Kaiserschlacht, involved four offensives, Michael, Georgette, Gneisenau, Michael took place on the Somme and then Georgette was conducted on the Lys and at Ypres, which was planned to confuse the enemy. Blücher took place against the French in the Champagne region, although British intelligence knew that a German offensive was being prepared, this far-reaching plan was much more ambitious than Allied commanders expected. Ludendorff aimed to advance across the Somme, then wheel north-west, to cut the British lines of communication behind the Artois front, trapping the BEF in Flanders. Allied forces would be away from the Channel ports, which were essential for British supply. The British would be surrounded and surrender, the line, taken over from the French, barely existed, needing much work to make it easily defensible to the positions further north, which slowed progress in the area of the Fifth Army. During the winter of 1917–1918, the new British line was established in an arc around St. Quentin, there were many isolated outposts, gaps in the line and large areas of disputed territory and waste land
44.
Second Battle of the Somme (1918)
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The Second Battle of the Somme of 1918 was fought during the First World War on the Western Front from late August to early September, in the basin of the River Somme. It was part of a series of successful counter-offensives in response to the German Spring Offensive, after a pause for redeployment, instead, Haig began to plan for an offensive at Albert, which opened on 21 August. The main attack was launched by the British Third Army, with the United States II Corps attached, the second battle began on 21 August with the opening of the Second Battle of Bapaume to the north of the river itself. That developed into an advance which pushed the German Second Army back over a 55 kilometre front, from south of Douai to La Fère, south of Saint-Quentin, Albert was captured on 22 August. On 26 August, the British First Army widened the attack by another twelve kilometres, sometimes called the Second Battle of Arras. The Australian Corps crossed the Somme River on the night of 31 August, and broke the German lines at the Battle of Mont St. Quentin and the Battle of Péronne. The British Fourth Armys commander, General Henry Rawlinson, described the Australian advances of 31 August –4 September as the greatest military achievement of the war, on the morning of 2 September, after a heavy battle, the Canadian Corps seized control of the Drocourt-Quéant line. The battle was fought by the Canadian 1st Division, 4th Division, heavy German casualties were inflicted, and the Canadians also captured more than 6,000 unwounded prisoners. By noon that day the German commander, Erich Ludendorff, had decided to withdraw behind the Canal du Nord, by 2 September, the Germans had been forced back to the Hindenburg Line, from which they had launched their offensive in the spring. In late September/early October, one of the battles of the whole war was the breach of the Hindenburg Line by British. Soon after, the Canadians breached the Hindenburg Line at the Battle of Cambrai, a key part of the German supply line ran parallel with the front. This policy worked but it some very determined work at the St. Quentin Canal, among the prepared defences. List of Canadian battles during World War I Hundred Days Offensive Bomford, beaten Down by Blood, The Battle of Mont St Quentin-Péronne 1918. 1918, Gamble for Victory, The Greatest Attack of World War I, Spring Offensive, New Zealand and the Second Battle of the Somme. The Third Armys Advance to Victory, Western Front 1918, retreat and Rearguard – Somme 1918. Media related to Second Battle of the Somme at Wikimedia Commons
45.
Hindenburg Line
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The Hindenburg Line was a German defensive position of World War I, built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front, from Arras to Laffaux, near Soissons on the Aisne. In 1916, the German offensive at the Battle of Verdun had been a costly failure, the Anglo-French offensive at the Battle of the Somme had forced a defensive battle on the Germans, leaving the western armies exhausted. On the Eastern Front, the Brusilov Offensive had inflicted huge losses on the Austro-Hungarian armies in Russia, the declaration of war by Romania had placed additional strain on the German army and war economy. The shorter defensive position behind the Noyon Salient was built to economise on manpower, contain an Allied breakthrough, the British and French armies would need about eight weeks to rebuild roads, bridges and railways in the abandoned area before they could attack. By the beginning of 1917, the outlook for the Germans made a retirement inevitable. German divisions on the Western Front numbered 133 on 25 January 1917, reducing the German manpower shortage, greater output of explosives, ammunition and weapons by German industry to provide the means to counter the Allied Materialschlacht was attempted in the Hindenburg Programme of August 1916. Production did not sufficiently increase over the winter, with only 60 percent of the expected to be fulfilled by the summer of 1917. News of the demolitions and the state of French civilians left behind, were serious blows to German prestige in neutral countries. Divisions released by Operation Alberich and other reinforcements, increased the number of divisions on the Aisne front to 38 by early April. The Hindenburg Line was attacked several times in 1917, notably at St. Quentin, Bullecourt, in August 1916 the German armies on the Somme had been subjected to great strain, the IX Reserve Corps had been shattered in the defence of Pozières. Ten fresh divisions had been brought into the Somme front and a division had been put into the line opposite the British. Destruction, capture, damage, wear and defective ammunition had caused 1,068 of 1,208 field guns and 371 of 820 heavy guns to be out of action by the end of August. The 2nd Army had been starved of reinforcements in mid-August, to replace exhausted divisions in the 1st Army, the emergency in Russia caused by the Brusilov Offensive, the entry of Romania into the war and the French counter offensive at Verdun had already overstretched the German army. The new supreme command ordered an end to attacks at Verdun and the dispatch of troops there to Romania. The western front commanders were told that no reserves were available for offensive operations, on 21 September, after the battle of Flers–Courcelette, Hindenburg ordered that the Somme front was to have priority in the west for troops and supplies. By the end of the Battle of Morval Rupprecht had no reserves left on the Somme front, during September, the Germans sent another thirteen fresh divisions to the British sector and scraped up troops wherever they could be found. Defeats inflicted by the French Tenth Army led to the sacking of the 2nd Army Chief of Staff, Hindenburg and Ludendorff demanded domestic changes to complement their strategy changes. German workers were to be subjected to an Auxiliary Service Law that subjected all Germans from 16–50 years old to compulsory service, the new programme was intended to create a trebling of artillery and machine-gun output and a doubling of munitions and trench mortar production
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1900–1922)
British Army
Australia – 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
Royal Navy – HMS Portland
