1.
Royal cypher
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In the case where such a cypher is used by an emperor or empress, it is called an imperial cypher. In the system used by various Commonwealth realms, the title is abbreviated as R for rex or regina, previously, I stood for imperator or imperatrix of India. The cypher is displayed on some government buildings, impressed upon royal and state documents, the letter I for Imperatrix was added to Queen Victorias monogram after she became Empress of India in 1877. The purpose seems to have been simply to identify an individual sovereign, the initials were used mostly on government papers, duty stamps and similar objects, and were sometimes surmounted by a stylised version of the Tudor Crown or, more recently, St Edwards Crown. In Scotland, the Crown of Scotland appears in place of the Imperial Crown, though royal symbols differ among the sixteen Commonwealth realms, as they are separate monarchies, the one sovereign uses the same cypher throughout all of his or her countries. Nowadays, the initials are also called the royal cypher, but, to aid clarification, the present Queens cypher is EIIR, standing for Elizabeth II Regina. Cyphers for other members of the Royal Family are designed by the College of Arms or Court of the Lord Lyon and are approved by the Queen. These cyphers have been incorporated by the Canadian Heraldic Authority into the royal standards of Canada. Other royal houses have also use of royal or imperial cyphers. Ottoman sultans had a signature, their tughra. All the monarchs of Europes six other surviving kingdoms use cyphers, Philippe of Belgium uses the letters P and F intertwined, referring to the fact that his name is Philippe in French, but Filip in Dutch, the two main languages in Belgium. King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand uses a cypher made up of his initials in Thai script, Royal sign-manual Signum manus Heraldic badge Personal Flag of Queen Elizabeth II H7 Mon MacCormick v Lord Advocate Pillar Box War
2.
Kingdom of Great Britain
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The Kingdom of Great Britain, officially Great Britain, was a sovereign state in western Europe from 1 May 1707 to 31 December 1800. It did not include Ireland, which remained a separate realm, the unitary state was governed by a single parliament and government that was based in Westminster. Also after the accession of George I to the throne of Great Britain in 1714, the early years of the unified kingdom were marked by Jacobite risings which ended in defeat for the Stuart cause at Culloden in 1746. On 1 January 1801, the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom, the name Britain descends from the Latin name for the island of Great Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons via the Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The term Great Britain was first used officially in 1474, in the instrument drawing up the proposal for a marriage between Edward IV of Englands daughter Cecily and James III of Scotlands son James. The Treaty of Union and the subsequent Acts of Union state that England and Scotland were to be United into one Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain. However, both the Acts and the Treaty also refer numerous times to the United Kingdom and the longer form, other publications refer to the country as the United Kingdom after 1707 as well. The websites of the UK parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the BBC, additionally, the term United Kingdom was found in informal use during the 18th century to describe the state. The new state created in 1707 included the island of Great Britain, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, both in existence from the 9th century, were separate states until 1707. However, they had come into a union in 1603. Each of the three kingdoms maintained its own parliament and laws and this disposition changed dramatically when the Acts of Union 1707 came into force, with a single unified Crown of Great Britain and a single unified parliament. Ireland remained formally separate, with its own parliament, until the Acts of Union 1800, legislative power was vested in the Parliament of Great Britain, which replaced both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In practice it was a continuation of the English parliament, sitting at the location in Westminster. Newly created peers in the Peerage of Great Britain were given the right to sit in the Lords. Despite the end of a parliament for Scotland, it retained its own laws. As a result of Poynings Law of 1495, the Parliament of Ireland was subordinate to the Parliament of England, the Act was repealed by the Repeal of Act for Securing Dependence of Ireland Act 1782. The same year, the Irish constitution of 1782 produced a period of legislative freedom, the 18th century saw England, and after 1707 Great Britain, rise to become the worlds dominant colonial power, with France its main rival on the imperial stage
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.
Yeomanry
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Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army Reserve, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of different military roles, in the 1790s, the threat of invasion of the Kingdom of Great Britain was high, after the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. To improve the defences, volunteer regiments were raised in many counties from yeomen. These regiments became known collectively as the Yeomanry, members of the yeomanry were not obliged to serve overseas without their individual consent. In 1827 it was decided for reasons to reduce the number of yeomanry regiments. A number of independent troops were also dissolved, following these reductions the yeomanry establishment was fixed at 22 corps receiving allowances and a further 16 serving without pay. During the 1830s the number of yeomanry units fluctuated, reflecting the level of civil unrest in any region at any particular time. The Irish Yeomanry, which had played a role in suppressing the rebellion of 1798, was completely disbanded in 1838. For the next thirty years the Yeomanry Force was retained as a line of support for the regular cavalry within Britain. Recruiting difficulties led to serious consideration being given to the disbandment of the force in 1870. These included requirements that individual yeomanry troopers attend a number of drills per year in return for a permanent duty allowance. While these reforms improved the professionalism of the Yeomanry Force, numbers remained low, in 1876 the role of the Yeomanry Force was fixed as that of light cavalry. These supernumerary units were now abolished, during the Second Boer War companies of Imperial Yeomanry were formed to serve overseas from volunteers from the Yeomanry. In 1901 all yeomanry regiments were redesignated as Imperial Yeomanry, in 1908 the Imperial Yeomanry was merged with the Volunteer Force to form the Territorial Force, of which it became the cavalry arm. The Imperial title was dropped at the same time, on the eve of World War I in 1914 there were 55 Yeomanry regiments, each of four squadrons instead of the three of the regular cavalry. Upon embodiment these regiments were brought together to form mounted brigades or allocated as divisional cavalry. For purposes of recruitment and administration the Yeomanry were linked to counties or regions. Some of the still in existence in 1914 dated back to those created in the 1790s while others had been created during a period of expansion following on the Boer War
6.
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
7.
Norwich
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Norwich is a city on the River Wensum in East Anglia and lies about 100 miles north-east of London. It is the administrative centre for East Anglia and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London and it remained the capital of the most populous English county until the Industrial Revolution. The urban area of Norwich had a population of 213,166 according to the 2011 Census, the parliamentary seats cross over into adjacent local-government districts. A total of 132,512 people live in the City of Norwich, Norwich is the fourth most densely populated local-government district in the East of England, with 3,480 people per square kilometre. In May 2012, Norwich was designated Englands first UNESCO City of Literature, the capital of the Iceni tribe was a settlement located near to the village of Caistor St. Edmund on the River Tas approximately 8 kilometres to the south of modern-day Norwich. Following an uprising led by Boudica around AD60 the Caistor area became the Roman capital of East Anglia named Venta Icenorum, literally the market place of the Iceni. According to a rhyme, the demise of Venta Icenorum led to the development of Norwich, Caistor was a city when Norwich was none. There are two suggested models of development for Norwich, the ancient city was a thriving centre for trade and commerce in East Anglia in 1004 AD when it was raided and burnt by Swein Forkbeard the Viking king of Denmark. Mercian coins and shards of pottery from the Rhineland dating from the 8th century suggest that trade was happening long before this. Between 924 and 939, Norwich became fully established as a town, the word Norvic appears on coins across Europe minted during this period, in the reign of King Athelstan. The Vikings were a cultural influence in Norwich for 40–50 years at the end of the 9th century. At the time of the Norman Conquest the city was one of the largest in England, the Domesday Book states that it had approximately 25 churches and a population of between 5, 000–10,000. It also records the site of an Anglo-Saxon church in Tombland, the site of the Saxon market place and the later Norman cathedral. Norwich continued to be a centre for trade, the River Wensum being a convenient export route to the River Yare and Great Yarmouth. Quern stones and other artefacts from Scandinavia and the Rhineland have been found during excavations in Norwich city centre and these date from the 11th century onwards. Norwich Castle was founded soon after the Norman Conquest, the Domesday Book records that 98 Saxon homes were demolished to make way for the castle. In 1096, Herbert de Losinga, Bishop of Thetford, began construction of Norwich Cathedral, the chief building material for the Cathedral was limestone, imported from Caen in Normandy
8.
Swaffham
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Swaffham is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The town is situated 12 mi east of Kings Lynn and 31 mi west of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of 11.42 sq mi and in the 2001 census had a population of 6,935 in 3,130 households, for the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of Breckland. Its name came from Old English Swǣfa hām = the homestead of the Swabians, some of them came with the Angles. By the 14th and 15th centuries Swaffham had a sheep and wool industry As a result of this prosperity. The market cross here was built by George Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford, on the top is the statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of the harvest. About 8 km to the north of Swaffham can be found the ruins of the formerly important Castle Acre Priory and Castle Acre Castle. On the west side of Swaffham Market Place are several old buildings which for many years housed the historic Hamonds Grammar School, the Hamonds Grammar School building latterly came to serve as the sixth form for the Hamonds High School, but that use has since ceased. Carter was a distant cousin of the archaeologist and egyptologist Howard Carter who spent much of his childhood in the town, until 1968 it was served by Swaffham railway station on the Great Eastern Railway line from Kings Lynn. Just after Swaffham, the split into two, one branch heading south to Thetford, and the other east towards Dereham. The railways were closed as part of the Beeching Axe, though the possibility of rebuilding a direct link from Norwich to Kings Lynn via Swaffham is occasionally raised. The Swaffham Museum contains an exhibition on history and local geology as well as an Egyptology room charting the life of Howard Carter. Today the town is known for the presence of two large Enercon E-66 wind turbines, and the associated Green Britain Centre, formerly known as the Ecotech Centre, the Green Britain Centres displays focus on green energy, transportation options without oil, and organic gardening. The turbines are owned and operated by Ecotricity, and together more than three megawatts. One wind turbine, an Enercon E66/1500 with 1 and these have now been joined by a further eight turbines at North Pickenham, though not owned by Ecotricity. The Green Britain Centre hosted the 2008 British BASE jumping championships, the church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul is one of only a few churches that have angels carved in wood instead of stone around the top of the walls. The current building, dating from 1454, is built on the foundation of the original church, a wood carving of the “Pedlar of Swaffham” is also in the church. Swaffham has a Non-League football club Swaffham Town F. C. who play at Shoemakers Lane, Swaffham Raceway hosts stock car racing, and is a former greyhound track
9.
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
10.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
11.
Army Reserve (United Kingdom)
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The Army Reserve is the active-duty volunteer reserve force and integrated element of the British Army. Most Volunteer infantry units had unique identities, but lost these in the reorganisation, only one infantry unit, the London Regiment, has maintained a separate identity. Reservists in the past also served as constables or bailiffs, even holding positions of civic duty as overseer of their parish, the more modern Yeomen of the 18th century were cavalry-based units, which were often used to suppress riots. Several units that are now part of the Army Reserve bear the title militia, after the Second World War, for example, the Army Reserve - or Territorial Army as it was known then - was not demobilised until 1947. All Army Reserve personnel have their jobs protected to a limited extent by law should they be compulsorily mobilised. There is, however, no protection against discrimination in employment for membership of the Army Reserve in the normal course of events. As part of the process, remaining units of militia were converted to the Special Reserve. The TF was formed on 1 April 1908 and contained fourteen infantry divisions and it had an overall strength of approximately 269,000. The individual units that made up each division or brigade were administered by County Associations, the other members of the association consisted of military members, representative members and co-opted members. Associations took over any property vested in the volunteers or yeomanry under their administration, each regiment or battalion had a Regular Army officer attached as full-time adjutant. In August 1914, after the outbreak of the First World War, territorial units were given the option of serving in France and, by 25 August, in excess of seventy battalions had volunteered. This question over the availability of territorial divisions for service was one of Lord Kitcheners motivations for raising the New Army separately. The first fully Territorial division to join the fighting on the Western Front was the 46th Division in March 1915, with divisions later serving in Gallipoli and elsewhere. As the war progressed, and casualties mounted, the character of territorial units was diluted by the inclusion of conscript. Following the Armistice all units of the Territorial Force were gradually disbanded, New recruiting started in early 1920, and the Territorial Force was reconstituted on 7 February 1920. On 1 October 1920, the Territorial Force was renamed the Territorial Army, the 1st Line divisions were reconstituted in that year. However, the composition of the divisions was altered, with a reduction in the number of infantry battalions required, there was also a reduced need for cavalry, and of the 55 yeomanry regiments, only the 14 most senior retained their horses. The remaining yeomanry were converted to artillery or armoured car units or disbanded, the amalgamation of 40 pairs of infantry battalions was announced in October 1921
12.
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
13.
Gallipoli Campaign
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The peninsula forms the northern bank of the Dardanelles, a strait that provided a sea route to the Russian Empire, one of the Allied powers during the war. Intending to secure it, Russias allies Britain and France launched an attack followed by an amphibious landing on the peninsula. The naval attack was repelled and after eight months fighting, with casualties on both sides, the land campaign was abandoned and the invasion force was withdrawn to Egypt. The campaign was one of the greatest Ottoman victories during the war, in Turkey, it is regarded as a defining moment in the nations history, a final surge in the defence of the motherland as the Ottoman Empire crumbled. In 1908, a group of officers, known as the Young Turks. The new régime implemented a program of reform to modernise the political and economic system. An enthusiastic supporter, Germany provided significant investment, German diplomats subsequently found increasing influence, despite Britain previously being the predominant power in the region, while German officers assisted in training and re-equipping the army. Despite this support, the resources of the Ottoman Empire were depleted by the cost of the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913. In December 1913, the Germans sent a mission to Constantinople. The geographical position of the Ottoman Empire meant that Russia and her allies France, during the Sarajevo Crisis in 1914, German diplomats offered Turkey an anti-Russian alliance and territorial gains in Caucasia, north-west Iran and Trans-Caspia. The pro-British faction in the Cabinet was isolated due to the British ambassador taking leave until 18 August, as the crisis deepened in Europe, Ottoman policy was to obtain a guarantee of territorial integrity and potential advantages, unaware that the British might enter a European war. This action strained diplomatic relations between the two empires and the German government offered SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau to the Ottoman navy as replacements, by allowing the German ships to enter the Dardanelles, the Ottomans confirmed their links to Germany. In September, the British naval mission to the Ottomans, which had established in 1912 under Admiral Arthur Limpus, was recalled due to increasing concern that Turkey would soon enter the war. Rear Admiral Wilhelm Souchon of the Imperial German Navy took over command of the Ottoman navy, the German naval presence and the success of German armies on all fronts, gave the pro-German faction in the Ottoman government enough influence to declare war on Russia. On 27 October, Goeben and Breslau, having been renamed Yavûz Sultân Selîm and Midilli, sortied into the Black Sea, bombarded the Russian port of Odessa and sank several Russian ships. The Ottomans refused an Allied demand that they expel the German missions and on 31 October 1914, Russia declared war on Turkey on 2 November. The next day, the British ambassador left Constantinople and a British naval squadron off the Dardanelles bombarded the outer defensive forts at Kum Kale, a shell hit a magazine, knocked the guns off their mounts and killed 86 soldiers. Fighting also began in Mesopotamia, following a British landing to occupy the oil facilities in the Persian Gulf, the Ottomans prepared to attack Egypt in early 1915, aiming to occupy the Suez Canal and cut the Mediterranean route to India and the Far East
14.
Sinai and Palestine Campaign
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The Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I was fought between the British Empire and the Ottoman Empire, supported by the German Empire. It started with an Ottoman attempt at raiding the Suez Canal in 1915, fighting began in January 1915, when a German-led Ottoman force invaded the Sinai Peninsula, then part of the British Protectorate of Egypt, to unsuccessfully raid the Suez Canal. After the Gallipoli Campaign, veterans from each side formed the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, after a period of stalemate in Southern Palestine from April to October 1917, General Edmund Allenby captured Beersheba from the III Corps. Serious losses on the Western Front in March 1918, during Erich Ludendorffs German Spring Offensive, Damascus and Aleppo were captured during the subsequent pursuit, before the Ottoman Empire agreed to the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918, ending the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. The British Mandate of Palestine and the French Mandate for Syria, the campaign was generally not well known or understood during the war. Australia did not have a war correspondent in the area until Captain Frank Hurley, Henry Gullett, the first Official War Correspondent, arrived in November 1917. The Republic of Turkey came into existence in 1923 after the Turkish War of Independence ended the Ottoman Empire, the Suez Canal was of vital strategic importance to the British, reducing the sailing time from India, New Zealand and Australia to Europe. As a result Egypt became a base during the war. To Germany and the Ottoman Empire the canal was the closest and weakest link in British communications, Defence of the canal posed a number of problems, with its sheer size alone making it hard to control. There was no road from Cairo, while only one railway track crossed the 30 miles of desert from Cairo to Ismaïlia on the Canal before branching north to Port Said and south to Suez. At the beginning of hostilities between Britain and the Ottoman Empire in November 1914 the 30,000 strong British defence force evacuated the Sinai Peninsula, instead they concentrated their defences on the western side of the canal. These were supported by the guns of Allied ships in the canal, opposing them were around 25,000 men, including the 25th Division. The Ottoman Empire demonstrated its interest in being reinstated in Egypt in 1915 when Ottoman forces attacked British forces in Egypt, the Germans also helped to foment unrest among the Senussi in what is now Libya, when they attacked western Egypt and threatened the Sudan during the Senussi Campaign. Egypt was neither an independent ally nor a member of the British Empire, the recently appointed High Commissioner Sir Reginald Wingate and Murray agreed that Egypts contributions would be restricted to the use of the countrys railway and Egyptian personnel. However, Maxwell had proclaimed on 6 November 1914 that Egypt would not be required to aid Britains war effort, martial law allowed the British administration to control foreign European residents, monitor foreign agents and intern dangerous persons who were the subjects of hostile nations. The powers were used to police prostitution and the sale of alcohol. The Capitulations, however provided some protection to the Europeans who controlled both these industries, in the autumn of 1917 GHQ was transferred from Cairo to the front leaving garrison battalions. This move took the commander in chief of the EEF, who was responsible for law, out of touch with the civil authorities
15.
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
16.
Royal Artillery
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The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery, is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name Royal Regiment of Artillery it actually consists of 13 Regular Regiments and 5 Reserve Regiments, the introduction of artillery into the English army came as early as the Battle of Crécy in 1346. Henry VIII made the armys artillery semi-permanent in the sixteenth century, before the 18th century, artillery traynes were raised by royal warrant for specific campaigns and disbanded again when they were over. On 26 May 1716, however, by warrant of George I two regular companies of field artillery, each 100 men strong, were raised at Woolwich. The title Royal Artillery was first used in 1720, in 1741 the Royal Military Academy was formed in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich to provide training for RA and Royal Engineers officers. The regiment expanded rapidly and, by 1757, had 24 companies divided into two battalions, as well as a company formed in 1741. During 1748, the presidential artilleries of Bengal, Madras and Bombay were formed,1756 saw the creation of the Royal Irish Regiment of Artillery. In 1762 the Royal Artillery Band was formed at Minden, by 1771 there were 32 companies in four battalions, as well as two invalid companies comprising older and unfit men employed in garrison duties. During 1782, the regiment moved to the Royal Artillery Barracks on Woolwich Common, in January 1793, two troops of Royal Horse Artillery were raised to provide fire support for the cavalry, augmented by two more in November 1793. The Royal Irish Artillery was absorbed into the RA in 1801, during 1805, the Royal Military Academy moved to Woolwich Common. In 1819, the Rotunda was given to the regiment by the Prince Regent to celebrate end of the Napoleonic Wars, in 1832, the regimental motto, Ubique Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt, was granted. The motto signified that the regiment had seen action in all the conflicts of the British Army. The regiment was under the control of the Board of Ordnance until the board was abolished in 1855, thereafter the regiment came under the War Office along with the rest of the army. The School of Gunnery established at Shoeburyness, Essex in 1859, the third group continued to be titled simply Royal Artillery, and was responsible for ammunition storage and supply. Which branch a gunner belonged to was indicated by metal shoulder titles, the RFA and RHA also dressed as mounted men, whereas the RGA dressed like foot soldiers. In 1920 the rank of Bombardier was instituted in the Royal Artillery, the three sections effectively functioned as separate corps. This arrangement lasted until 1924, when the three amalgamated once more to one regiment. In 1938, RA Brigades were renamed Regiments, during the World War II there were over 1 million men serving in 960 gunner regiments
17.
Battle of France
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The Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries in 1940 during the Second World War. Italy entered the war on 10 June 1940 and attempted an invasion of France, the German plan for the invasion of France consisted of two main operations. After the withdrawal of the BEF, the German forces began Fall Rot on 5 June, the sixty remaining French divisions made a determined resistance but were unable to overcome the German air superiority and armoured mobility. German tanks outflanked the Maginot Line and pushed deep into France, German forces occupied Paris unopposed on 14 June after a chaotic period of flight of the French government that led to a collapse of the French army. German commanders met with French officials on 18 June with the goal of forcing the new French government to accept an armistice that amounted to surrender and this led to the end of the French Third Republic. France was not liberated until the summer of 1944, in 1939, Britain and France offered military support to Poland in the likely case of a German invasion. In the dawn of 1 September 1939, the German Invasion of Poland began, France and the United Kingdom declared war on 3 September, after an ultimatum for German forces to immediately withdraw their forces from Poland was met without reply. Following this, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, on 7 September, in accordance with their alliance with Poland, France began the Saar Offensive with an advance from the Maginot Line 5 km into the Saar. France had mobilised 98 divisions and 2,500 tanks against a German force consisting of 43 divisions, the French advanced until they met the then thin and undermanned Siegfried Line. On 17 September, the French supreme commander, Maurice Gamelin gave the order to withdraw French troops to their starting positions, following the Saar Offensive, a period of inaction called the Phoney War set in between the belligerents. Adolf Hitler had hoped that France and Britain would acquiesce in the conquest of Poland, on 6 October, he made a peace offer to both Western powers. On 9 October, Hitler issued a new Führer-Directive Number 6, the plan was based on the seemingly more realistic assumption that German military strength would have to be built up for several years. For the moment only limited objectives could be envisaged and were aimed at improving Germanys ability to survive a long war in the west. Hitler ordered a conquest of the Low Countries to be executed at the shortest possible notice to forestall the French and it would also provide the basis for a long-term air and sea campaign against Britain. On 10 October 1939, Britain refused Hitlers offer of peace and on 12 October, colonel-General Franz Halder, presented the first plan for Fall Gelb on 19 October. This was the codename of plans for a campaign in the Low Countries. Halders plan has been compared to the Schlieffen Plan, the given to the German strategy of 1914 in the First World War. It was similar in both plans entailed an advance through the middle of Belgium
18.
Western Desert Campaign
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The Western Desert Campaign, took place in the deserts of Egypt and Libya and was the main theatre in the North African Campaign during the Second World War. The campaign began in September 1940 with the Italian invasion of Egypt, Operation Compass, Benito Mussolini sought help from Adolf Hitler, who responded with a small German force sent to Tripoli under Directive 22. The German Afrika Korps was under nominal Italian command but Italian dependency on Nazi Germany made it the dominant partner. In the spring of 1941, Axis forces under Rommel pushed the British back to Egypt except for the port of Tobruk, the Axis forces were forced to retire to where they had started by the end of the year. In 1942 Axis forces drove the British back again and captured Tobruk after the Battle of Gazala, on the final Axis push to Egypt, the British retreated to El Alamein, where at the Second Battle of El Alamein the Eighth Army defeated the Axis forces. They were driven out of Libya to Tunisia, where they were defeated in the Tunisian Campaign, for Hitler the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union dwarfed the desert war, which was a holding action of secondary importance. The Axis never had sufficient resources or the means to deliver them, the British missed several opportunities to finish the campaign by diverting resources to Greece and the Levant in 1941 and the Far East in 1942. Cyrenaica had been an Italian colony since the Italo-Turkish War, supreme Headquarters had the 5th Army and the 10th Army which in mid-1940 had nine metropolitan divisions of about 13,000 men each, three Blackshirt and two Libyan divisions with 8,000 men each. Italian army divisions had been reorganised in the late 1930s, from three regiments each to two and reservists were recalled in 1939, along with the usual call-up of conscripts, morale was considered to be high and the army had recent experience of military operations. The Italian navy had prospered under the Fascist regime, which had paid for fast, well-built and well-armed ships and a large submarine fleet but the navy lacked experience and training. The air force had been ready for war in 1936 but had stagnated by 1939 and was not considered by the British to be capable of maintaining a high rate of operations. The 5th Army with eight divisions was based in Tripolitania, the half of Libya opposite Tunisia. When war was declared, the 10th Army deployed the 1st Libyan Division Sibelle on the frontier from Giarabub to Sidi Omar and XXI Corps from Sidi Omar to the coast, Bardia, the XXII Corps moved south-west of Tobruk, to act as a counter-attack force. The British had based forces in Egypt since 1882 but these were reduced by the terms of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936. The small British and Commonwealth force garrisoned the Suez Canal and the Red Sea route, the canal was vital to British communications with its Far Eastern and Indian Ocean territories. In mid-1939, Lieutenant-General Archibald Wavell was appointed General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the new Middle East Command, over the Mediterranean, until the Franco-Axis armistice, the French divisions in Tunisia faced the Italian 5th Army on the western Libyan border. In Libya, the Royal Army had about 215,000 men and in Egypt, British forces included the Mobile Division, one of only two British armoured training formations, which in mid-1939 was renamed Armoured Division. The HQ of the 6th Infantry Division, which lacked complete, Italian land and air forces in Libya, greatly outnumbered the British in Egypt but suffered from poor morale and were handicapped by some inferior equipment
19.
Italian Campaign (World War II)
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The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. It is estimated that between September 1943 and April 1945, some 60, 000–70,000 Allied and 60, overall Allied casualties during the campaign totaled about 320,000 and the corresponding German figure was well over 600,000. Fascist Italy, prior to its collapse, suffered about 200,000 casualties, mostly POWs taken in the Allied invasion of Sicily, including more than 40,000 killed or missing. Besides them, over 150,000 Italian civilians died, as did 15,197 anti-Fascist partisans and 13,021 troops of the Italian Social Republic. The campaign ended when Army Group C surrendered unconditionally to the Allies on May 2,1945, the independent states of San Marino and the Vatican, both surrounded by Italian territory, also suffered damage during the campaign. Even prior to victory in the North African Campaign in May 1943, the British, especially the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, advocated their traditional naval-based peripheral strategy. The United States, with a larger army, favoured a more direct method of fighting the main force of the German Army in Northern Europe. The ability to such a campaign depended on first winning the Battle of the Atlantic. There was even pressure from some Latin American countries to stage an invasion of Spain, the British argued that the presence of large numbers of troops trained for amphibious landings in the Mediterranean made a limited-scale invasion possible and useful. A contributing factor was Franklin D. Roosevelts desire to keep US troops active in the European theatre during 1943 and it was hoped that an invasion might knock Italy out of the conflict, or at least increase the pressure on them and weaken them further. A combined Allied invasion of Sicily began on 10 July 1943 with both amphibious and airborne landings at the Gulf of Gela, the land forces involved were the U. S. Seventh Army, under Lieutenant General George S. Patton, the original plan contemplated a strong advance by the British northwards along the east coast to Messina, with the Americans in a supporting role along their left flank. The defending German and Italian forces were unable to prevent the Allied capture of the island, but succeeded in evacuating most of their troops to the mainland, the Allied forces gained experience in opposed amphibious operations, coalition warfare and mass airborne drops. Forces of the British Eighth Army, still under Montgomery, landed in the toe of Italy on 3 September 1943 in Operation Baytown, the armistice was publicly announced on 8 September by two broadcasts, first by General Eisenhower and then by a proclamation by Marshal Badoglio. Although the German forces prepared to defend without Italian assistance, only two of their divisions opposite the Eighth Army and one at Salerno were not tied up disarming the Royal Italian Army, on 9 September, forces of the U. S. Fifth Army, under Lieutenant General Mark W, although none of the northern reserves were made available to the German 10th Army, it nevertheless came close to repelling the Salerno landing, due mainly to the cautious command of Clark. As the Allies advanced, they encountered increasingly difficult terrain, the Apennine Mountains form a spine along the Italian peninsula offset somewhat to the east, the rivers were subject to sudden and unexpected flooding, which constantly thwarted the Allied commanders plans. This would make the most of the natural geography of Central Italy, whilst denying the Allies the easy capture of a succession of airfields
20.
Western Front (World War II)
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The Western Front of the European theatre of World War II encompassed Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany. World War II military engagements in Southern Europe and elsewhere are generally considered under separate headings, the Western Front was marked by two phases of large-scale combat operations. The second phase consisted of ground combat, which began in June 1944 with the Allied landings in Normandy. The Phoney War was a phase of World War II marked by a few military operations in Continental Europe in the months following the German invasion of Poland. Although the great powers of Europe had declared war on one another, neither side had yet committed to launching a significant attack and this was also the period in which The United Kingdom and France did not supply significant aid to Poland, despite their pledged alliance. While most of the German Army was fighting against Poland, a much smaller German force manned the Siegfried Line, there were only some local, minor skirmishes. The British Royal Air Force dropped propaganda leaflets on Germany and the first Canadian troops stepped ashore in Britain, while Western Europe was in a strange calm for seven months. In their hurry to re-arm, Britain and France had both begun to buy large numbers of weapons manufacturers in the United States at the outbreak of hostilities. The non-belligerent United States, contributed to the Western Allies by discounted sales of military equipment, German efforts to interdict the Allies trans-Atlantic trade at sea ignited the Battle of the Atlantic. However, when the Allies made a counter-landing in Norway following the German invasion, the Kriegsmarine, nonetheless, suffered very heavy losses during the two-months of fighting required to seize all of mainland Norway. In May 1940, the Germans launched the Battle of France, the Western Allies soon collapsed under the onslaught of the so-called blitzkrieg strategy. The majority of the British and elements of the French forces escaped at Dunkirk, with the fighting ended, the Germans began to consider ways of resolving the question of how to deal with Britain. If the British refused to agree to a treaty, one option was to invade. However, Nazi Germanys Kriegsmarine, had suffered losses in Norway. With the Luftwaffe unable to defeat the RAF in the Battle of Britain and these were built in anticipation of an Allied invasion of France. Because of the massive logistical obstacles a cross-channel invasion would face, on 19 August 1942, the Allies began the Dieppe Raid, an attack on Dieppe, France. Most of the troops were Canadian, with some British contingents, the raid was a disaster, almost two-thirds of the attacking force became casualties. However, much was learned as a result of the operation – these lessons would be put to use in the subsequent invasion
21.
Army Air Corps (United Kingdom)
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The Army Air Corps is a component of the British Army, first formed in 1942 during the Second World War. There are eight regiments of the AAC as well as four Independent Flights and they are located in Britain, Brunei, Canada, and Germany. The AAC provides the air elements of 16 Air Assault Brigade through Joint Helicopter Command. The British Army first took to the sky during the 19th century with the use of observation balloons, in 1911 the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers was the first heavier-than-air British military aviation unit. Between the wars, the Army used RAF co-operation squadrons, at the beginning of the Second World War, Royal Artillery officers, with the assistance of RAF technicians, flew Auster observation aircraft under RAF-owned Air Observation Post Squadrons. Twelve such squadrons were raised —three of which belonged to the RCAF—, early in the war, Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, announced the establishment of a new branch of army aviation, the Army Air Corps, formed in 1942. The corps initially comprised the Glider Pilot Regiment and the Parachute Battalions, in 1944, the SAS Regiment was added to the Corps. One of their most successful exploits during the war was Operation Deadstick, including the attack on Pegasus Bridge, once the three gliders landed, some roughly which incurred casualties, the pilots joined the glider-borne troops to act as infantry. The bridge was taken within ten minutes of the battle commencing and they were soon reinforced and relieved by soldiers from Lord Lovats 1 Special Service Brigade, famously led by piper Bill Millin. It was subsequently reinforced by units of the British 3rd Division. The pilots who had flown the gliders soon had to transfer to flying powered aircraft, becoming part of the RAF Air Observation Post Squadrons. In 1957 the Glider Pilot and Parachute Corps was renamed to The Parachute Regiment, while the Glider Pilot Regiment and the Air Observation Squadrons amalgamated into a new unit, from 1970, nearly every army brigade had at least one Aviation Squadron that usually numbered twelve aircraft. The main rotor aircraft during the 1970s were the Westland Scout, the Sioux was replaced from 1973 by the Westland Gazelle used for Airborne recce, initially unarmed, they were converted to carry 68mm SNEB rocket pods in 1982, during the Falklands War. The Scout was replaced from 1978 by the Westland Lynx, which was capable of carrying additional firepower in the form of door gunners. Basic rotary flying training was carried out on the Bell Sioux in the 1970s, fixed-wing types in AAC service have included the Auster AOP.6 and AOP.9 and DHC-2 Beaver AL.1 in the observation and liaison roles. Since 1989, the AAC have operated a number of Britten-Norman Islander and Defender aircraft for surveillance, the corps operated the DHC-1 Chipmunk T.10 in the training role until its replacement by the Slingsby T67 Firefly in the 1990s. The Firefly was replaced by the Grob Tutor in 2010, a further boost in the Army Air Corps capability came in the form of the Westland Apache AH.1 attack helicopter. In 2006, British Apaches deployed to Afghanistan as part of the NATO International Security Assistance Force, the strength of the Army Air Corps is believed to be some 2,000 Regular personnel, of which 500 are officers
22.
Norfolk
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Norfolk /ˈnɔːrfək/ is a county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the west and north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea and, to the north-west, The Wash. With an area of 2,074 square miles and a population of 859,400, of the countys population, 40% live in four major built up areas, Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Kings Lynn and Thetford. The Broads is a network of rivers and lakes in the east of the county, the area is not a National Park although it is marketed as such. It has similar status to a park, and is protected by the Broads Authority. Norfolk was settled in times, with camps along the higher land in the west. A Brythonic tribe, the Iceni, inhabited the county from the 1st century BC to the end of the 1st century AD, the Iceni revolted against the Roman invasion in AD47, and again in 60 led by Boudica. The crushing of the second opened the county to the Romans. During the Roman era roads and ports were constructed throughout the county, situated on the east coast, Norfolk was vulnerable to invasions from Scandinavia and Northern Europe, and forts were built to defend against the Angles and Saxons. Norfolk, Suffolk and several adjacent areas became the kingdom of East Anglia, the influence of the Early English settlers can be seen in the many place names ending in -ton and -ham. Endings such as -by and -thorpe are also common, indicating Danish place names, in the 9th century the region came under attack. In the centuries before the Norman Conquest the wetlands of the east of the county began to be converted to farmland, and settlements grew in these areas. Migration into East Anglia must have high, by the time of the Domesday Book survey it was one of the most densely populated parts of the British Isles. During the high and late Middle Ages the county developed arable agriculture, the economy was in decline by the time of the Black Death, which dramatically reduced the population in 1349. During the English Civil War Norfolk was largely Parliamentarian, the economy and agriculture of the region declined somewhat. During the Industrial Revolution Norfolk developed little industry except in Norwich which was an addition to the railway network. In the 20th century the county developed a role in aviation, during the Second World War agriculture rapidly intensified, and it has remained very intensive since, with the establishment of large fields for growing cereals and oilseed rape. Norfolks low-lying land and easily eroded cliffs, many of which are chalk and clay, make it vulnerable to the sea, the low-lying section of coast between Kelling and Lowestoft Ness in Suffolk is currently managed by the Environment Agency to protect the Broads from sea flooding
23.
American Revolutionary War
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From about 1765 the American Revolution had led to increasing philosophical and political differences between Great Britain and its American colonies. The war represented a culmination of these differences in armed conflict between Patriots and the authority which they increasingly resisted. This resistance became particularly widespread in the New England Colonies, especially in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. On December 16,1773, Massachusetts members of the Patriot group Sons of Liberty destroyed a shipment of tea in Boston Harbor in an event that became known as the Boston Tea Party. Named the Coercive Acts by Parliament, these became known as the Intolerable Acts in America. The Massachusetts colonists responded with the Suffolk Resolves, establishing a government that removed control of the province from the Crown outside of Boston. Twelve colonies formed a Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance, and established committees, British attempts to seize the munitions of Massachusetts colonists in April 1775 led to the first open combat between Crown forces and Massachusetts militia, the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Militia forces proceeded to besiege the British forces in Boston, forcing them to evacuate the city in March 1776, the Continental Congress appointed George Washington to take command of the militia. Concurrent to the Boston campaign, an American attempt to invade Quebec, on July 2,1776, the Continental Congress formally voted for independence, issuing its Declaration on July 4. Sir William Howe began a British counterattack, focussing on recapturing New York City, Howe outmaneuvered and defeated Washington, leaving American confidence at a low ebb. Washington captured a Hessian force at Trenton and drove the British out of New Jersey, in 1777 the British sent a new army under John Burgoyne to move south from Canada and to isolate the New England colonies. However, instead of assisting Burgoyne, Howe took his army on a campaign against the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia. Burgoyne outran his supplies, was surrounded and surrendered at Saratoga in October 1777, the British defeat in the Saratoga Campaign had drastic consequences. Giving up on the North, the British decided to salvage their former colonies in the South, British forces under Lieutenant-General Charles Cornwallis seized Georgia and South Carolina, capturing an American army at Charleston, South Carolina. British strategy depended upon an uprising of large numbers of armed Loyalists, in 1779 Spain joined the war as an ally of France under the Pacte de Famille, intending to capture Gibraltar and British colonies in the Caribbean. Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in December 1780, in 1781, after the British and their allies had suffered two decisive defeats at Kings Mountain and Cowpens, Cornwallis retreated to Virginia, intending on evacuation. A decisive French naval victory in September deprived the British of an escape route, a joint Franco-American army led by Count Rochambeau and Washington, laid siege to the British forces at Yorktown. With no sign of relief and the situation untenable, Cornwallis surrendered in October 1781, Whigs in Britain had long opposed the pro-war Tory majority in Parliament, but the defeat at Yorktown gave the Whigs the upper hand
24.
George Townshend, 2nd Marquess Townshend
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George Townshend, 2nd Marquess Townshend, PC, FRS, known as The Lord Ferrers of Chartley from 1770 to 1784 and as The Earl of Leicester from 1784 to 1807, was a British peer and politician. Townshend was the eldest son of George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, by his first wife Charlotte Compton, 15th Baroness Ferrers of Chartley and he was the elder brother of Lord John Townshend and Lord Charles Townshend and the nephew of Charles Townshend. He succeeded to the held by his mother on her death in 1774. He was educated at Eton and St Johns College, Cambridge, and served for a few years in the Army, achieving the ranks of Cornet, Lieutenant, Townshend was summoned by writ to Parliament in 1774. In March 1782 he was appointed Captain of the Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners, a position he held until May 1783 and he was admitted to the Privy Council in April 1782 and also served as a member of the Committee for Trade from 1784 to 1786. In 1784 he was created Earl of Leicester in his own right and his choice of title derived from the fact that he was a female-line great-great-great-grandson of Lady Lucy Sydney, daughter of Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester. In 1807 he succeeded his father in the marquessate of Townshend, apart from his political career, Townshend was interested in archaeology and served as President of the Society of Antiquaries. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Trustee of the British Museum, Lord Townshend married Charlotte, daughter of Eaton Mainwaring-Ellerker, on 24 December 1777, who had adopted the name and arms of Ellerker by a 1750 Act of Parliament. They had two sons, George and Lord Charles, both of whom died childless, and three daughters, Lord Townshend died suddenly in July 1811, aged 58, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son George, who had previously been disinherited. On the latters death in 1855 the earldom of Leicester became extinct while the passed to his cousin John Townshend. The Hon. George Townshend The Rt, the Lord Ferrers of Chartley The Rt. The Earl of Leicester The Most Hon, the Marquess Townshend Hansard 1803–2005, contributions in Parliament by the Marquess Townshend
25.
Napoleonic Wars
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The wars resulted from the unresolved disputes associated with the French Revolution and the Revolutionary Wars, which had raged on for years before concluding with the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. Napoleon became the First Consul of France in 1799, then Emperor five years later, inheriting the political and military struggles of the Revolution, he created a state with stable finances, a strong central bureaucracy, and a well-trained army. The British frequently financed the European coalitions intended to thwart French ambitions, by 1805, they had managed to convince the Austrians and the Russians to wage another war against France. At sea, the Royal Navy destroyed a combined Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in October 1805, Prussian worries about increasing French power led to the formation of the Fourth Coalition in 1806. France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July, although Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, it did not bring a lasting peace for Europe. Hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia, the Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support. The Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, the Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia. Unwilling to bear the consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse and retreat of the Grand Army along with the destruction of Russian lands. In 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France, a lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813. The Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814 and he was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power. However, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again, the Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June. The Congress of Vienna, which started in 1814 and concluded in 1815, established the new borders of Europe and laid out the terms, Napoleon seized power in 1799, creating a de facto military dictatorship. The Napoleonic Wars began with the War of the Third Coalition, Kagan argues that Britain was irritated in particular by Napoleons assertion of control over Switzerland. Furthermore, Britons felt insulted when Napoleon stated that their country deserved no voice in European affairs, for its part, Russia decided that the intervention in Switzerland indicated that Napoleon was not looking toward a peaceful resolution of his differences with the other European powers. The British quickly enforced a blockade of France to starve it of resources. Napoleon responded with economic embargoes against Britain, and sought to eliminate Britains Continental allies to break the coalitions arrayed against him, the so-called Continental System formed a league of armed neutrality to disrupt the blockade and enforce free trade with France
26.
Imperial Yeomanry
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The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer cavalry regiment of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Officially created on 24 December 1899, the regiment was based on members of standing Yeomanry regiments, in Ireland 120 men were recruited in February 1900. It was officially disbanded in 1908, on 13 December 1899, the decision to allow volunteer forces serve in the Second Boer War was made. This warrant officially created the Imperial Yeomanry, in February 1900 the Yeomanrys commander was Major-General J. P. Brabazon, being in South Africa at the time, followed shortly by Lord Chesham who was appointed as its brigadier-general. The Royal Warrant asked standing Yeomanry regiments to provide companies of approximately 115 men each. In addition to this, many British citizens volunteered to join the new regiment, although there were strict requirements, many volunteers were accepted with substandard horsemanship/marksmanship, however, they had significant time to train while awaiting transport. The first contingent of recruits contained 550 officers,10,371 men in 20 battalions of four companies each, upon arrival, the regiment was sent throughout the zone of operations. The Imperial Yeomanry’s first action was on 5 April 1900, when members of 3rd, after a series of tactical errors, the Boers were subsequently surrounded. The Count was killed, and the Imperial Yeomanry was victorious, the next action took place in Lindley, a Boer held town. On 27 May 1900, due to a miscommunication, the 13th battalion arrived at Lindley where they were ambushed by a group of Boers, rather than retreat, Spragge decided to fight until aid arrived. Although a message for help did arrive, it did not describe the urgency of the situation, under artillery fire, one officer and 16 men were killed, about 59 were wounded and 400 were captured. With the rate of disease and death rising, morale was falling, during the later part of 1900 they had a few small victories, but still nothing major. Finally, in September,1900, the City Imperial Volunteers were returned to England and this affected morale, and a high number of Yeomanry personnel volunteered to join police forces to escape the monotony of regular duty. Due to this outflow of IY plus casualties, only one-third of the force was still serving by the end of 1900. Eventually, in June or July 1901, all of the first contingent recruits were returned to England, due to the lack of numbers for the Imperial Yeomanry, the War Office expanded recruiting during the early months of 1901. The recruits for the contingent were usually working class, as opposed to the first contingent. They received extremely poor training and were shipped to South Africa, in total,16,597 men were recruited, including 655 who re-enlisted. The second contingents first battle was at Vlakfontein in May 1901, brigadier General Dixon led a force of 230 men from the 7th battalion, as well as artillery, some Scottish Horse, and some men of the Derbyshires
27.
Edward VII
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Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, before his accession to the throne, he served as heir apparent and held the title of Prince of Wales for longer than any of his predecessors. During the long reign of his mother, he was excluded from political power. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial duties, and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and the Indian subcontinent in 1875 were popular successes, as king, Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War. He reinstituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised and he died in 1910 in the midst of a constitutional crisis that was resolved the following year by the Parliament Act 1911, which restricted the power of the unelected House of Lords. Edward was born at 10,48 in the morning on 9 November 1841 in Buckingham Palace and he was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was christened Albert Edward at St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle and he was named Albert after his father and Edward after his maternal grandfather Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. He was known as Bertie to the family throughout his life. As the eldest son of the British sovereign, he was automatically Duke of Cornwall, as a son of Prince Albert, he also held the titles of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony. He was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 8 December 1841, Earl of Dublin on 17 January 1850, a Knight of the Garter on 9 November 1858, and a Knight of the Thistle on 24 May 1867. In 1863, he renounced his rights to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in favour of his younger brother. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were determined that their eldest son should have an education that would prepare him to be a constitutional monarch. At age seven, Edward embarked on an educational programme devised by Prince Albert. Unlike his elder sister Victoria, Edward did not excel in his studies and he tried to meet the expectations of his parents, but to no avail. Although Edward was not a diligent student—his true talents were those of charm, sociability and tact—Benjamin Disraeli described him as informed, intelligent, after the completion of his secondary-level studies, his tutor was replaced by a personal governor, Robert Bruce. After an educational trip to Rome, undertaken in the first few months of 1859, he spent the summer of that year studying at the University of Edinburgh under, among others, in October, he matriculated as an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford. Now released from the strictures imposed by his parents, he enjoyed studying for the first time
28.
Sandringham House
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Sandringham House is a country house on 20,000 acres of land near the village of Sandringham in Norfolk, England. The house is owned by Queen Elizabeth II and is located on the royal Sandringham Estate. The landscaped gardens, park and woodlands surrounding the house are listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks, the site has been occupied since the Elizabethan era, and, in 1771, architect Cornish Henley cleared the site to build Sandringham Hall. The hall was modified during the 19th century by Charles Spencer Cowper, a stepson of Lord Palmerston, who added an elaborate porch and conservatory, designed by architect Samuel Sanders Teulon. However, in 1865, two years after moving in, the found the halls size insufficient for his needs. The resulting red-brick house was completed in late 1870 in a mix of styles and this section incorporated the galleried entrance hall which is used by the royal family for entertaining and family occasions. A new wing was added to one end of the house in a more traditional style. The building was ahead of its time in amenities, with gas lighting, flushing water closets, one part of the house was destroyed in a fire during preparations for the Prince of Waless 50th birthday in 1891, and later rebuilt. Sandringham House has been the home of four generations of the British Royal Family. The main features of the new building were bay windows, which helped lighten the interior, despite the size of Sandringham and the spaciousness of the main rooms, the living quarters were relatively small. Edward and Alexandras sons, Prince Albert Victor and Prince George, the spacious grounds, however, provided room for Queen Alexandras menagerie of horses, dogs, cats, and other animals. The kennels were a delight to the children. Since the death of Edward VII, Sandringham has been a holiday retreat for successive members of the Royal Family. It is an excellent location for shooting and is used for shooting parties. Such was King George Vs fondness for hunting on the estate and this tradition of Sandringham Time was kept on the estate from 1901 until 1936 when the new King Edward VIII showed he was a new broom by sweeping the custom away. Along with Balmoral Castle, Sandringham House is the property of the British royal family. Their succession became an issue in 1936, when Edward VIII abdicated as king, being legacies Edward had inherited from his father, George V, the estates did not automatically pass to his younger brother, George VI, the new king had to purchase the house from him. Queen Alexandra occupied the house of Sandringham after the death of Edward VII in 1910
29.
Suffolk Yeomanry
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The Duke of Yorks Own Loyal Suffolk Hussars was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army from 1794 to 1961. Originally formed as a cavalry in 1794, the Suffolk Yeomanry was again raised as the Loyal Suffolk Hussars. In the First World War they fought at Gallipoli, Palestine and they were subsequently converted to artillery, serving in this role during the Second World War North Africa, Italy and France. In 1961 they were amalgamated with the Norfolk Yeomanry to form the Suffolk and Norfolk Yeomanry, the regiment was formed as volunteer cavalry in 1794, during the French Revolutionary Wars. Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War, Yeomanry regiments all over the United Kingdom were mobilized as part of the Imperial Yeomanry fighting in South Africa, a company of the Loyal Suffolk Hussars first left Southampton on 31 January 1900, bound for Cape Town. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, therefore, TF units were split in August and September 1914 into 1st Line and 2nd Line units. Later, a 3rd Line was formed to act as a reserve, providing trained replacements for the 1st, the 1/1st was embodied in August 1914 at Bury St. Edmunds and became part of the Eastern Mounted Brigade, 1st Mounted Division. In September 1915, they were dismounted and moved to the ANZAC bridgehead at Gallipoli, after they were withdrawn from Gallipoli they moved to Egypt in December 1915, the first party being evacuated to Mudros on 14 December and the rest following five days later. They were next attached to the 3rd Dismounted Brigade on Suez Canal defences, in January 1917, they were converted to an infantry battalion and formed the 15th Battalion, the Suffolk Regiment in the 74th Division, which moved to France in May 1918. The 2nd Line regiment was formed in 1914 and by January 1915 it was in the 2/1st Eastern Mounted Brigade at Ely, in July 1916, the regiment was converted to a cyclist unit in 5th Cyclist Brigade, 2nd Cyclist Division, still in the Wivenhoe area. In November 1916, the division was broken up and regiment was merged with the 2/1st Norfolk Yeomanry to form 7th Yeomanry Cyclist Regiment in 3rd Cyclist Brigade, in March 1917 it resumed its identity as 2/1st Suffolk Yeomanry, still at Ipswich in 3rd Cyclist Brigade. By July 1917 the regiment had moved to Woodbridge, in May 1918 the regiment moved to Ireland and was stationed at Boyle and Collooney, still in 3rd Cyclist Brigade, until the end of the war. The 3rd Line regiment was formed in 1915 and in the summer it was affiliated to a Reserve Cavalry Regiment in Eastern Command, in 1916 it was dismounted and attached to the 3rd Line Groups of the East Anglian Division at Halton Park, Tring. Early in 1917 the regiment was disbanded and its personnel were transferred to the 2nd Line regiment, the remainder were converted to other roles, and the Suffolk Yeomanry provided two batteries in 103rd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. In 1938 the RA was reorganised, brigades became regiments, 108th Field Brigade became 55th Anti-Tank Regiment, RA and the batteries were renumbered 217–220. The unit became the divisional A/T regiment of 54th Division, the following day, orders were issued to split the unit into 55th A/T Rgt at Bury St Edmunds as part of 54th Division, and 65th A/T Rgt at Swaffham as part of the duplicate 18th Infantry Division. Between 1944 and 1950 Brian Gooch served as Brevet-Colonel of the regiment, during the major reorganisation of the Territorial Army that took place in 1967,202 Battery Royal Artillery was formed out of the old 308 Regiment Royal Artillery. The new Battery became part of 100 Regiment Royal Artillery, at the time the Battery was equipped with the BL5.5 inch Medium Gun
30.
Machine gun
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A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm designed to fire bullets in quick succession from an ammunition belt or magazine, typically at a rate of 300 to 1800 rounds per minute. Note that not all fully automatic firearms are machine guns, submachine guns, rifles, assault rifles, shotguns, pistols or cannons may be capable of fully automatic fire, but are not designed for sustained fire. Many machine guns also use belt feeding and open bolt operation, unlike semi-automatic firearms, which require one trigger pull per round fired, a machine gun is designed to fire for as long as the trigger is held down. Nowadays the term is restricted to heavy weapons, able to provide continuous or frequent bursts of automatic fire for as long as ammunition lasts. Machine guns are used against personnel, aircraft and light vehicles, or to provide suppressive fire. Some machine guns have in practice sustained fire almost continuously for hours, because they become very hot, practically all machine guns fire from an open bolt, to permit air cooling from the breech between bursts. They also usually have either a barrel cooling system, slow-heating heavyweight barrel, although subdivided into light, medium, heavy or general-purpose, even the lightest machine guns tend to be substantially larger and heavier than standard infantry arms. Medium and heavy guns are either mounted on a tripod or on a vehicle, when carried on foot. Medium machine guns use full-sized rifle rounds and are designed to be used from fixed positions mounted on a tripod. 50in, the M249 automatic rifle is operated by an automatic rifleman, but its ammunition may be carried by other Soldiers within the squad or unit. The M249 machine gun is a crew-served weapon, Machine guns usually have simple iron sights, though the use of optics is becoming more common. Many heavy machine guns, such as the Browning M2.50 caliber machine gun, are enough to engage targets at great distances. During the Vietnam War, Carlos Hathcock set the record for a shot at 7382 ft with a.50 caliber heavy machine gun he had equipped with a telescopic sight. This led to the introduction of.50 caliber anti-materiel sniper rifles, selective fire rifles firing a full-power rifle cartridge from a closed bolt are called automatic rifles or battle rifles, while rifles that fire an intermediate cartridge are called assault rifles. Unlocking and removing the spent case from the chamber and ejecting it out of the weapon as bolt is moving rearward Loading the next round into the firing chamber. Usually the recoil spring tension pushes bolt back into battery and a cam strips the new round from a feeding device, cycle is repeated as long as the trigger is activated by operator. Releasing the trigger resets the trigger mechanism by engaging a sear so the weapon stops firing with bolt carrier fully at the rear, the operation is basically the same for all autoloading firearms, regardless of the means of activating these mechanisms. Most modern machine guns use gas-operated reloading, a recoil actuated machine gun uses the recoil to first unlock and then operate the action. Machine guns such as the M2 Browning and MG42, are of this type, a cam, lever or actuator demultiplicates the energy of the recoil to operate the bolt
31.
Haldane Reforms
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The Haldane Reforms were a series of far-ranging reforms of the British Army made from 1906 to 1912, and named after the Secretary of State for War, Richard Burdon Haldane. They were the first major reforms since the Childers Reforms of the early 1880s, the major element of the reforms was the creation of an expeditionary force, specifically prepared and trained for intervening in a major war. At the same time, the forces were restructured and expanded to ensure that the overseas forces could be efficiently reinforced and supplied with new recruits. To encourage the development of skills, an Officer Training Corps was established in public schools. Finally, the Regular Army itself would be reformed by the development of a new operational and training doctrine, the first wave of reforms was from 1858 to 1860. The second wave was from 1868 to 1872, comprising a collection of administrative changes popularly known as the Cardwell Reforms after the then Secretary of State for War, Edward Cardwell. These measures at an increased the quality of the manpower of the Army. A number of half-hearted attempts were made at reform during the war and in its immediate aftermath, two important Royal Commissions were established in 1902 - the Esher Committee and the Norfolk Commission - and reported in 1904. Some of these reforms were instituted under the Conservative Secretary of State for War, Hugh Arnold-Forster, in 1904-5, but the broad thrust of his reform plans were strongly opposed. Attempts to reorganise the forces into six Army Corps had begun, but only one of these had actually been organised. In December 1905, the Balfour government collapsed, and Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman became Prime Minister, despite this inauspicious beginning, he would become, in the words of Douglas Haig, the greatest Secretary of State for War England has ever had. Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary, had agreed to commit the Army to the aid of France, if attacked. He quickly concluded that there was a need for an expeditionary force. The question now became how to provide this force, and after a short period Haldane settled on a strength of six infantry divisions and their supporting units. They would need to be organised in peacetime and prepared to mobilise in the United Kingdom, once the Regular Army had been organised as a continental Expeditionary Force, it would be necessary to provide forces for home defence. These changes were embodied in the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907, the Militia provided the Special Reserve, which would contain men who had not served in the regular Army but agreed to be liable for service with the regular forces in wartime. In November 1906, Douglas Haig was appointed Director of Staff Duties at the War Office, the Esher Report had suggested a new scheme for two sets of training manuals, but these had not been fully implemented. In 1907, the new provisional Field Service Pocket Book was produced, revised the following year, and finally standardised as Field Service Regulations, Part I - Operations in 1909
32.
Attleborough
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Attleborough is a market town and civil parish between Norwich and Thetford in Norfolk, England. The parish is in the district of Breckland and has an area of 21.9 square kilometres. The 2001 Census recorded the town as having a population of 9,702 distributed between 4,185 households, increasing to a population of 10,482 in 4,481 households in the 2011 Census. Attleborough is in the Mid-Norfolk constituency of the UK Parliament, represented since the 2010 general election by the Conservative MP George Freeman, Attleborough railway station provides a main line rail service to both Norwich and Cambridge. The Anglo-Saxon foundation of the settlement is unrecorded, a popular theory of the towns origin makes it a foundation of an Atlinge, and certainly burgh indicates that it was fortified at an early date. According to the mid-12th century hagiographer of Saint Edmund, Galfridus de Fontibus, Athla was the founder of the Ancient, in the Domesday survey launched in 1085 it is referred to as Attleburc. After the Danes swept across Norfolk and seized Thetford, it is believed that the Saxons rallied their forces at Attleborough and probably threw up some form of protection. If local records are correct, nothing but disaster was brought to Attleborough by the Danes, turkill relinquished his hold on the area to the Mortimer family towards the end of Williams reign, and they governed Attleborough for more than three centuries. However, this left Attleborough Church with a tower at the east end, many towns can claim the distinction of having had a fire, and Attleborough is no exception, a great part of the town being destroyed by fire in 1559. The arrival of the prisoners aroused a great deal of public interest and this became known as Attleborough Rogues Fair and was held on the market place on the last Thursday in March. Also on the market place festivities took place on Midsummer Day and it appears that there has been the right to hold a weekly Thursday market in the town since 1285. A weekly market is held and has recently returned to Queens Square where it is presumed the market was originally held. The first national census of 1801 listed the population of Attleborough as 1,333, by 1845 Attleborough certainly dominated the surrounding parishes with a population of nearly 2,000, and in that year the railway arrived. The town supported six hostelries, The Griffin – the oldest, the Angel, the Bear, the Cock, the Crown, the Griffin, the Bear and the Cock still operate but the Crown is now a youth centre and the Angel is a building society branch office. Nothing is known of the fate of the White Horse after 1904, there are currently two more public houses, The London Tavern and the Mulberry Tree, which is also an award-winning restaurant. At the centre of the town is Queens Square, at one time referred to as market hill, the factory has now closed for cider-making, but has recently re-opened as a chicken processing plant and the corn exchange is now a warehouse for a firm of electrical retailers. The First World War affected Attleborough probably for no better or worse than many small towns. Five hundred and fifty men joined the forces and 96 did not return
33.
Long Stratton
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Long Stratton is a civil parish in South Norfolk, in the East of England, UK. It consists of two villages, the larger, Stratton St. Mary, is to the south, and it is home to a substantial population of 4,424. The village is situated halfway between the capital, Norwich and the market town of Diss, along the Roman built road. Long Stratton borders five other parishes, Tharston and Hapton, Tasburgh, Morning Thorpe, Pulham Market, the Blennerhasett family, later prominent in the Plantation of Ulster, were Lords of the Manor in the sixteenth century. The church contains an example of a Sextons wheel. The only other example in the country is claimed to be at Yaxley, Long Stratton has two Church of England churches, as well as a Methodist church. The church of Long Stratton St Mary is one of 124 existing round-tower churches in Norfolk. According to the 2001 United Kingdom Census, Long Stratton CP is home to 3,701 people, who reside in a total of 1,598 dwellings, and have a mean age of 38.63. The statistics further confirm that Long Stratton is used as a commuter village, Long Stratton is part of the electoral ward of Stratton. This ward had a population of 5,519 at the 2011 census, there has been cause for the building of a bypass around Long Stratton for over 60 years. 2006 was supposed to bring about the construction of the new bypass by Norfolk County Council, who had assumed responsibility for the A140 from the Highways Agency in 2001. There was considerable opposition to the bypass on either side of the A140, by residents of the village of Tharston to the west, eventually, it was decided that a bypass to the east would have less environmental impact. The total cost of the three miles stretch of carriageway, with a roundabout at either end, was estimated to be £21. 8m – compared to earlier estimates of £6m to £16m. This led local resident Jason Bunn to establish an online petition on the Prime Ministers website calling for the funding to be available immediately. Local MP Richard Bacon also joined in the campaign, lobbying Transport Secretary Alistair Darling, the village accommodates three schools first known as, Manor Field First School, St. Marys Middle School, and Long Stratton High School. However, in September 2006, Manor Field First school became Manor Field Infant school, shopping facilities are located along the main street which runs through the village, as well as in two small shopping centres. A coop supermarket is located in the centre of the village, in August 2015, a Subway sandwich shop opened inside the supermarket. There are also two public houses, Long Stratton also has a Doctors surgery, as well as a Leisure centre operated by South Norfolk District Council
34.
Loddon, Norfolk
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Loddon is a small market town and electoral ward about 12 miles southeast of Norwich on the River Chet, a tributary of the River Yare within The Broads in Norfolk, England. The name Loddon is thought to mean river in Celtic in reference to the Chet. The earliest written mention of Loddon is in the will of Ælfric Modercope written in 1042 or 1043, in the will Ælfric split his land holdings in Loddon, Bergh Apton and Barton between the Bishops of Bury, Ely and St Benet of Holme. Ælfric held 450 acres of land in Loddon and was by far the biggest landowner and his manor house is believed to have been close by the church overlooking the river and the fields are known as Manor Yards. The Parish Council adopted Ælfric for Loddons town sign in 1961, although Loddon and Chedgrave have been flooded many times through history, the worst or at least the best documented occasions were in August 1912 and September 1968. At about midnight on 27 August 1912 a portion of the roadway was washed away, the footbridge across the river between the two industrial sites disappeared downstream. The mill was in jeopardy and forty men worked hard to preserve as much of the road as possible. The piling and the banks of the Chet were washed away, on 12 September 1968 a great storm followed a very wet summer, so when the heavy rain came that night the ground was too waterlogged to let the rain drain away. According to the Eastern Daily Press it had been Norfolks wettest ever September day, the torrential rain was accompanied by thunder and lightning and many roads were inches deep in water. Run by South Norfolk Council and the Broads Authority with local representation carried out by the Loddon Parish Council, the current local councillors are Lady Kate Hartland, Mr. Adrian Gunson and Mr. Colin Gould. Loddon has many buildings, from the 15th-century parish church of Holy Trinity, through the 18th-century Loddon House, to Farthing Green House. There is also a baptismal font set high on three steps, however despite its shaft and bowl were originally carved and painted, they were defaced during periods of iconoclasm. The church is said to have replaced an earlier Norman church. There was a mill mentioned at Loddon in the Domesday Book and a watermill at Chedgrave in the early 1330s, the present mill, Loddon watermill near the town centre which is no longer functioning, was built in the 18th century with the river diverted to run underneath it. Loddon watermill was sometimes known as Chedgrave mill and is one of the earliest recorded buildings in the town and it was built of weatherboard with a pantiled roof and was situated quite close to the centre of the town. The mill pool was never very big, but was apparently a widened and deepened Y shaped section of river up stream of the mill and this produced adequate power for the miller to meet the needs of the local farmers and villagers. The mill still retains 19th-century milling equipment, when the mill was built it was found that the best position for it involved diverting the river Chet to the south of its natural course. This involved considerable effort and expense and in times of flood the river attempts to revert to its original channel
35.
Diss
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Diss is a market town and electoral ward in Norfolk, England, close to the border with the neighbouring East Anglian county of Suffolk, with a population of 7,572. Diss railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line, which runs from London to Norwich, the town lies in the valley of the River Waveney, around a mere that covers 6 acres. The mere is up to 18 feet deep, although there is another 51 feet of mud, the town takes its name from dic an Anglo-Saxon word meaning either ditch or embankment. Diss has a number of buildings, including an early 14th century parish church. At the time of Edward the Confessor, Diss was part of the Hartismere hundred of Suffolk and it is recorded as being in the kings possession as demesne of the Crown, there being at that time a church and a glebe of 24 acres. This was considered to be worth £15 per annum, which had doubled by the time of William the Conqueror, it being then estimated at £30 with the benefit of the hundred and half. It was then found to be a long, around 3 miles and half this distance broad. This was afterwards called Walcote, and includes part of Heywode, as appears from its joining to Burston, Diss was granted by King Henry I to Richard de Lucy, prior to 1135. The Testa de Neville states that it was not known whether Diss was rendered unto Richard de Lucy as an inheritance or for his service, Richard de Lucy become Chief Justiciar to King Stephen and Henry II. After Richard de Lucy’s death in 1179, the inheritance of the two parts of the hundred of Diss passed to his daughter Maud, who married Walter FitzRobert. A grant made in 1298 to William Partekyn of Prilleston granted, for homage and half a mark of silver and this came on the express condition that the gross dye should be washed off first. It seems as if the church of Diss was built by the same Lord, shortly afterwards, the estate was acquired by the Ratcliffe family, who inherited the title of Baron FitzWalter. The Ratcliffe family owned the land until at least 1732, styling themselves Viscounts FitzWalter, opposite the 14th-century parish church of St. Mary the Virgin stands a 16th-century building known as the Dolphin House. This was one of the most important buildings in the town and its impressive dressed-oak beams denote it as an important building, possibly a wool merchants house. Formerly a pub, the Dolphin, from the 1800s to the 1960s, adjacent to Dolphin House is the towns market place, the geographical and social centre of the town. The market is held every Friday, a variety of traders sell fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish. The market was first granted a charter by Richard the Lionheart, the towns post office and main shopping street are also located by the marketplace. Early in 1871, substantial alterations were made to a house in Mount Street, the workmen were removing the brick flooring of one of the ground floor rooms and excavating the soil beneath, to insert the joists of a boarded floor, when they discovered a hoard of coins
36.
Redenhall with Harleston
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Redenhall with Harleston is a town, civil parish and electoral ward in the South Norfolk District of the English county of Norfolk, comprising the villages of Redenhall and Harleston. It covers an area of 13.73 km2, and had a population of 4,058 in 1,841 households at the 2001 census, many Georgian residences line the streets of Harleston. Although there is no record of a charter, Harleston has been a market town since at least 1369. The right to hold a fair during the period of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist was granted to Roger Bigod. The village of Redenhall was mentioned in the Domesday Book, as part of the Lands of the King that Godric holds, in the Half Hundred of Earsham. It states that in King Edward the Confessor time, Rada the Dane held Redenhall, the Domesday Book only makes brief reference to Harleston saying that the Abbot of Bury St. Edmunds was lord here then. One of the plots to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I was to be launched on Midsummer Day 1570 at the Harleston Fair by proclamations, the Elizabethan play Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay features this in one of its scenes. The parish includes two Church of England churches, in the town centre is the church of St John the Baptist, the present building being completed in 1872. Redenhall and Harleston railway stations linked the villages with Tivetshall St Margaret. Redenhall Station closed in 1866, and Harleston in 1953, archbishop Sancroft High School is located in Harleston, and is the main secondary school for the parish and surrounding area. Henry Ward, recipient of the Victoria Cross Members of the Fuller family were aboard the Mayflower. Notes on the Parish of Redenhall with Harleston in the County of Norfolk, media related to Category, Redenhall with Harleston at Wikimedia Commons
37.
North Walsham
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North Walsham is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England in the North Norfolk district. The civil parish has an area of 11.3 square miles, for the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of North Norfolk. The town is 7.5 mi south of Cromer and the distance north of Wroxham. The county town and city of Norwich is 15 mi south, the town is served by North Walsham railway station, on the Bittern Line between Norwich, Cromer and Sheringham. The main road through the town is the A149, also, the town is located on the B1145 a route which runs between Kings Lynn and Mundesley. The town is on the North Walsham & Dilham Canal, still owned by the North Walsham Canal Company. The canal ran from Antingham Mill, largely following the course of the River Ant to a point below Honing, a short branch canal leaves the main navigation near Honing and terminates at the village of Dilham. North Walsham, an Anglo-Saxon settlement, and the village of Worstead became very prosperous from the 12th century through the arrival of weavers from Flanders. The two settlements gave their names to the textiles they produced, Walsham became the name of a cloth for summer wear. The 14th century wool churches are a testament to the prosperity of the mill owners. North Walshams church of St. Nicholas was originally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and is one of the UKs largest parish churches and it was also the site of a wayside shrine to St. Thomas of Canterbury. This church had the second-tallest steeple in Norfolk until its collapse in 1724, plans for its rebuilding were abandoned at the outbreak of the Second World War. The ruined tower dominates the centre and is a famous landmark of the area. In the parish church of St. North Walsham was involved in the Peasants Revolt of 1381, the peasants leaders were defeated at the Battle of North Walsham and the site is marked by a wayside stone near the towns water towers. The English naval hero, Horatio Nelson and his brother William were educated at Paston Grammar School in North Walsham, Nelson left the school to start his naval career at the age of eleven. The school became Paston College in 1984, North Walsham Picturedrome opened in King Arms Street around 1912 and survived until around September 1931. In 1931 the Regal Cinema opened in New Road and was open until 1979, when the Regal closed the building was turned into a bingo hall and it is now occupied by North Walsham Plant Hire. 32 years later, North Walsham now has a once again, in the form of the Atrium which opened in 2011
38.
Brandiston
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For the purposes of local government, it falls within Broadland district. The hamlet of Guton lies within the parish, the 2001 census recorded a population for Brandiston of just 44. The bulk of the parish is occupied by farmland, mainly arable, at the 2011 Census the population less than 100 and was included in the civil parish of Booton. Brandistons Church of St Nicholas is one of 124 existing round-tower churches in Norfolk and it is redundant and in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. The south-east quadrant of the parish was occupied by a Second World War airfield, there is a small common in the west of the parish. Despite it being common land it is agreed by the villagers that it is the property and responsibility of the white house. There are four almshouses, built in the 1850s and owned by the Brandiston Gurney Charity, Greenway Wood in Brandiston is named after Richard Greenway, a longserving trustee of the charity. The remains of a cross are on the eastern boundary of the parish. Broadland District Councils page on Brandiston, with photos of St Nicholass church and The White House on Brandiston Common Website with photos of Brandiston St Nicholas
39.
Coltishall
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Coltishall is a village on the River Bure, west of Wroxham, in the English county of Norfolk, within the Norfolk Broads. The population at the 2011 Census had increased to 1,503, Coltishall was a place of note even when the Domesday Book was compiled. In 1231 the village was made a town by King Henry III. A complete history of the village and rectory up until the 1730s was compiled by Robert Parr, for 250 years Coltishall was a centre of the malting industry. Many Norfolk wherries were built here, between 1779 and 1912, it was possible to navigate the River Bure all the way to Aylsham, but now the limit of navigation for powered craft is just south of Coltishall. The nearby RAF Coltishall played an important role during World War II, and afterwards, the site is now home to HMP Bure. Horstead watermill on the Coltishall-Horstead river border was one of the most photographed mills in the county until it burned down in 1963, john Alen, Archbishop of Dublin, was born in Coltishall in 1476. John Alan, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, cousin and namesake of Archbishop Alen, was born in Coltishall about 1500, climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The Köppen climate classification subtype for this climate is Cfb
40.
Cromer
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Cromer is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is 23 miles north of the county town of Norwich and 4 miles east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline, the local government authority is North Norfolk District Council, whose headquarters is in Holt Road in the town. The civil parish has an area of 4.66 km2, the town is notable as a traditional tourist resort and for the Cromer crab, which forms the major source of income for local fishermen. The motto Gem of the Norfolk Coast is highlighted on the road signs. Cromer is not mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, the place-name Cromer is first found in a will of 1262 and could mean Crows mere or lake. There are other contenders for the derivation, a north country word cromer meaning a gap in the cliffs or less likely a direct transfer from a Danish placename. A reference to a place called Crowemere Shipden can be seen in a record, dated 1422. The other Shipden is now about a quarter of a mile to the north east of the end of Cromer Pier, under the sea and its site is marked by Church Rock, now no longer visible, even at a low spring tide. In 1888 a vessel struck the rock, and the rock was blown up for safety. Cromer became a resort in the early 19th century, with some of the rich Norwich banking families making it their summer home, visitors included the future King Edward VII, who played golf here. The resorts facilities included the late-Victorian Cromer Pier, which is home to the Pavilion Theatre, in 1883 the London journalist Clement Scott went to Cromer and began to write about the area. He named the stretch of coastline, particularly the Overstrand and Sidestrand area, Poppyland, the name Poppyland referred to the numerous poppies which grew at the roadside and in meadows. Cromer suffered several bombing raids during the Second World War, the radio play first aired in the USA on 1 December 1942 on the CBS/Columbia Workshop programme starring Joe Julian. The account mentions some of the effects of the war on people and businesses and the fact that the town adopted a minesweeper, HMS Cromer. On 5 December 2013 the town was affected by a surge which caused significant damage to the towns pier. In 2016, the Cromer shoal chalk beds, thought to be Europes largest chalk reef, were designated as a Marine Conservation Zone. Traditionally Cromer was a fishing town, the town is famous for the Cromer crab, which forms the major source of income for the local fishermen. The pattern of fishing has changed over the last thirty years, at the end of the 19th century, the beaches to the east and west of the pier were crowded with fishing boats
41.
Hanworth, Norfolk
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Hanworth is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 18.8 miles north of Norwich,5.4 miles south-west of Cromer and 133 miles north-east of London, the nearest railway station is in the village of Gunton where access to the national rail network can be made via the Bittern Line to Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. The parish had in 2001 census and 2011 census, for the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of North Norfolk. Hanworth has an entry in the Domesday Book of 1085, in the great book, Hanworth is recorded by the name Haganworda, the main landholder being Roger Bigot. The survey also mentions that there were two mills,8 beehives,5 cobs and 24 cattle, in the Tudor period, during the reign of Henry VIII and probably before, the principal landowner of the parish was the Doughty Family. The family home, Hanworth Hall, was the Doughtys residence from the 15th to the 18th century, the hall was rebuilt after a fire in 1686. Within the grounds of the hall there is a notable Spanish chestnut tree which is thought to be over 300 years old, the parish church of Saint Bartholomew dates from the 14th century but parts of the building date from an earlier building. On the outside wall of the chancel, there are traces of Saxon windows. On the eastern elevation, the east window dates from between 1290 and 1350, the Nave and South aisles are of a later date. The windows are perpendicular in style and date from between 1350 and 1530, and small pieces of stained glass can be seen in the top lights. The Clerestory has an arrangement of two windows to each arch. The tower is constructed from flint and has traceried sound holes and was built in the 15th century, the font dates from before the present church and has a large bowl supported by four plain pillars. Hanging over the arch there are the royal arms of Queen Anne which were adopted by the crown after the union of England and Scotland in 1707. The church organ was built around 1865 by Father Henry Willis the famous London organ builder and it originally cost £70 and is the only miniature Father Willis organ in Norfolk. Hanworth Common lies between Cromer and Aylsham in North Norfolk, the name is derived from Hagana, and worth meaning waters, which relates to the two streams that enclose the parish - Hagon Beck and Scarrow Beck. The Weavers Way from Cromer to Great Yarmouth runs through the village, the Common covers 35 acres protected by cattle grids, and is the largest such enclosed common in England. The first maps of Hanworth Common go back to 1628, when the Doughty family bought the Manor of Hanworth from the Duke of Norfolk and they bought more land from the Earl of Surrey in 1690. At the time, there were three commons - Bell House Common, Hook Hill Common and Barn Stable Common - together constituting Hanworth Green, in 1845, Hanworth Park, which did not include The Common, was bought by the Windham family of Felbrigg Hall
42.
Holt, Norfolk
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Holt is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the English county of Norfolk. The town is 22.8 miles north of the city of Norwich,9.5 miles west of Cromer and 35 miles east of Kings Lynn, the town is on the route of the A148 Kings Lynn to Cromer road. The nearest railway station is in the town of Sheringham where access to the rail network can be made via the Bittern Line to Norwich. Holt also has a station on the preserved North Norfolk Railway. The town has a population of 3,550, rising and including the ward to 3,810 at the 2011 census, Holt is within the area covered by North Norfolk District Council. The town has a mention in the survey of 1086 known as the Domesday Book. In the survey it is described as a town and a port with the nearby port of Cley next the Sea being described as Holts port. It also had five watermills and twelve teams and as such was seen as a busy thriving viable settlement then. The first Lord of the Manor was Walter Giffard, it passed to Hugh, Earl of Chester, by this time Holt had a well-established market and two annual fairs which were held on 25 April and 25 November. Over the years Holt grew as a place of trade. The weekly market which has taken place since before the 1080s was stopped in 1960s, on 1 May 1708 the town of Holt was devastated by a fire which destroyed most of the medieval town in the matter of three hours. The fire started at Shirehall Plain and quickly spread through the houses of the town. The church was badly damaged with its thatched chancel destroyed. Local reports of the state that the fire spread so swiftly that the butchers did not have time to rescue their meat from their stalls on the market. The damage to the town was estimated to be in the region of £11,000, which was a massive amount of money at that time. After the fire the town received many donations from all over the country, with most of the medieval buildings destroyed in the fire the townsfolk set about rebuilding the town. The rebuilding made Holt notable for its abundance of Georgian buildings, however, the town repaired and retains its Norman parish church, which is dedicated to St Andrew. It has been noted that if the town of Holt had not been destroyed by the fire in 1708 it would now look very similar to the town of Lavenham in Suffolk
43.
Reepham, Norfolk
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Reepham is a small market town in the English county of Norfolk, situated on the B1145 road between the Bure and Wensum valleys. The B1145 runs between Kings Lynn and Mundesley, the town is 12 miles northwest of Norwich. At the time of the 2001 census the parish had a population of 2,455 residents in 970 households. Increasing to a population of 2,709 in 1,169 househoids at the 2011 Census, the town is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, in which it is listed as Refham meaning the bailiffs or reeves manor from the Old English gerafa and ham. Reepham has had town status since 1277, a sign to mark this has recently been erected. The town has significant development throughout its life, with the housing in the area showing a mix of vintages, styles and purposes. Recent housing developments have mostly been on land so have not significantly expanded the perimeter of the town. The town has both a secondary school Reepham High School and College, which achieved the highest grade—Outstanding—in every category in its 2008 Ofsted inspection, and a primary school. The Reepham Society is a charity, set up in 1976 to stimulate public interest in Reepham, Hackford, Kerdiston, Salle. The town was one of the locations of Agatha Christies Poirot episode The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor. Reepham is one of two places in Europe to have three churches on the same site. Reephams church of St. Mary is joined by its choir vestry to St. Michael’s, the third church belonged to Hackford but burned down in 1543 and now only a fragment of the tower wall remains on the left of the path leading towards the market place. In medieval times, Reepham Church was an important place of pilgrimage, although it was less famous than the shrine at Walsingham, people came on pilgrimage to Reepham to visit the image of Our Lady of Reepham, which had many miracles attributed to it. What form this took is unknown. It may have been a statue, or perhaps a wood carving, the town sign was designed by the local high school and installed in 1992. It depicts three of each of the elements, churches, villagers, farm labourers, sheep, lambs. In fact, the three churches were built several generations. By 1882, the town had two stations, located on different tracks and each managed by a railway company
44.
Stalham
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Stalham is a market town and civil parish on the River Ant in the English county of Norfolk, in East Anglia. It covers an area of 2.82 sq mi and had a population of 2,951 in 1,333 households at the 2001 census and it lies within the Norfolk Broads, about 15 miles north-east of Norwich on the A149 road. For the purposes of government, it falls within the district of North Norfolk. However, those parts of the parish lying adjacent to the fall into the executive area of the Broads Authority. Stalham was once served by a station until it was closed in 1959. The nearest railway station is now Worstead, through the 1960s Stalhams economy sank from a reduction of the agricultural labour force as a result of improvements in agricultural technology. Beginning in the 1970s, though, housing developments attracted people who took up residence in Stalham, the Museum of the Broads moved to Stalham in 2000 and is situated on Stalham Staithe. It aims to bring the history of the Broads alive for locals, in 2002 Tesco built a supermarket in Stalham, with considerable controversy, with many residents fearing that it would kill the high street. Stalham is part of the ward called Stalham and Sutton. The total population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 4,312
45.
Great Yarmouth
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Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is located at the mouth of the River Yare,20 miles east of Norwich, the town has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the North Sea. The discovery of oil in the North Sea in the 1960s led to an oil rig supply industry. More recently, the development of energy sources, especially offshore wind power, has created further opportunities for support services. A wind farm of 30 generators is within sight of the town on the Scroby Sands, the town has a beach and two piers. The town itself is on a 3. 1-mile spit sandwiched between the North Sea and River Yare and its well-known features include the historic rows and the main tourist sector on the seafront. The area is linked to Gorleston, Cobholm and Southtown by Haven Bridge and to the A47 and A149 by the Breydon Bridge. The urban area that makes up the town of Great Yarmouth has an area of 8.3 sq mi and it is the main town in the larger Borough of Great Yarmouth. The ONS identify a Great Yarmouth Urban Area, which has a population of 68,317, including the sub-areas of Caister-on-Sea, the wider borough of Great Yarmouth has a population of around 92,500, increasing to 97,277 at the 2011 census. Great Yarmouth lies near the site of the Roman fort camp of Gariannonum at the mouth of the River Yare and its situation having attracted fishermen from the Cinque Ports, a permanent settlement was made, and the town numbered 70 burgesses before the Norman Conquest. Henry I placed it under the rule of a reeve, in 1101 the Church of St Nicholas was founded by Herbert de Losinga, the first Bishop of Norwich, and consecrated in 1119. This was to be the first of several priories founded in what was a trading centre of considerable importance. In 1208, King John granted a charter to Great Yarmouth, a hospital was founded in Yarmouth in the reign of Edward I by Thomas Fastolfe. In 1551, a school founded and the great hall of the old hospital was appropriated to its use. The school was closed from 1757 to 1860, was re-established by the charity trustees, in 1552 Edward VI granted a charter of admiralty jurisdiction, later confirmed and extended by James I. In 1668 Charles II incorporated Little Yarmouth in the borough by a charter which with one brief exception remained in force until 1703, in 1673 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War the Zealand Expedition was assembled in the town. In 1797, during the French Revolutionary Wars, the town was the supply base for the North Sea Fleet. The fleet collected at the roadstead, from whence it sailed to the decisive Battle of Camperdown against the Dutch fleet, again in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars, the fleet collected at and sailed from the roadstead to the Battle of Copenhagen
Kingdom of Great Britain (1794–1800)
United Kingdom (1801–Present)
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