1.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
2.
British Army
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The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. As of 2017 the British Army comprises just over 80,000 trained Regular, or full-time, personnel and just over 26,500 trained Reserve, or part-time personnel. Therefore, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, day to day the Army comes under administration of the Ministry of Defence and is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. Repeatedly emerging victorious from these decisive wars allowed Britain to influence world events with its policies and establish itself as one of the leading military. In 1660 the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II, Charles favoured the foundation of a new army under royal control and began work towards its establishment by August 1660. The Royal Scots Army and the Irish Army were financed by the Parliament of Scotland, the order of seniority of the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, after William and Marys accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Marys father, James II. Spain, in the two centuries, had been the dominant global power, and the chief threat to Englands early transatlantic ambitions. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. From the time of the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, Great Britain was the naval power. As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, the British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars and served in campaigns across Europe. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world and at its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A Coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian Armies under the Duke of Wellington, the English had been involved, both politically and militarily, in Ireland since being given the Lordship of Ireland by the Pope in 1171. The campaign of the English republican Protector, Oliver Cromwell, involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, the English Army stayed in Ireland primarily to suppress numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for independence. Having learnt from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution, the British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created the Territorial Force as the Armys volunteer reserve component by merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force, Militia, Great Britains dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, in the 20th century, most notably Germany
3.
London Regiment
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The London Regiment is an infantry regiment in the British Army, part of the Army Reserve. However, the regiment was raised again in 1993 and continues an existence in the present day and it was first formed in 1908 in order to regiment the 26 Volunteer Force battalions in the newly formed County of London, each battalion having a distinctive uniform. Now part of the Territorial Force, the London Regiment expanded to 88 battalions in the First World War, for example, the 10th London Regiment was transferred to the corps of the Royal Berkshire Regiment, becoming the 5th Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment. The London Regiment was reformed in 1992 through the regimentation of most of the successors of the original regiment. It is the reserve infantry battalion in London District and consists of an HQ. They are, HQ Company A Company B Company C D Company F Company Two companies of the Royal Green Jackets, F Company and G Company, formed part of the regiment between 1998 and 2004. In May 2004 Messines company, which was made up from an HQ, following the restructuring of the British Army in 2004, it was announced that the Guards Division would gain a TA battalion. This saw the London Regiment retaining its name and multi-badge structure, the two RGJ companies were transferred to the Royal Rifle Volunteers in preparation for the formation of The Rifles in 2007. The London battalions formed the London District, which consisted principally of the 1st, shortly after the outbreak of World War II, the formation of Reserve or 2nd-Line units for each existing Territorial Force unit was authorised. They were distinguished by a 2/ prefix from their parent unit, initially these were formed from men who had not volunteered for overseas service, and the recruits who were flooding in. Later they were mobilised for service in their own right. Unusually, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th London Battalions each sent three battalions overseas and formed 4th Line reserve units, thus the 26 pre-war battalions of the London regiment became 82 battalions. In June 1915, men of TF units who had volunteered for Home service were formed into composite Provisional Battalions for coast defence. For example, the 100th Provisional Battalion was formed from Home Service men of 173rd Brigade, nine provisional battalions were associated with the London Regiment and Honourable Artillery Company. British Army units from 1945 on Great War Forum London Regiment The Long, Long Trail Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth - archive site
4.
Somerset House
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Somerset House is a large Neoclassical building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The building, originally the site of a Tudor palace, was designed by Sir William Chambers in 1776, the East Wing forms part of the adjacent Strand campus of Kings College London. In the sixteenth century, the Strand, the bank of the Thames between the City of London and the Palace of Westminster was a favoured site for the mansions of the nobility. In 1539 Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, obtained a grant of land at Chester Place, outside Temple Bar, when his nephew the boy-king Edward VI came to the throne in 1547, Seymour became Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector. Pauls Cathedral which were demolished partly at his behest as part of the ongoing Dissolution of the Monasteries and it was a two storey house built around a quadrangle with a gateway rising to three stories and was one of the earliest examples of Renaissance architecture in England. It is not known who designed the building, before it was finished, however, Somerset was overthrown, attainted by Parliament and in 1552 was executed on Tower Hill. Somerset Place then came into the possession of the Crown and his royal nephews half-sister the future Queen Elizabeth I lived there during the reign of her half-sister Queen Mary I. The process of completion and improvement was slow and costly, as late as 1598 Stow refers to it as yet unfinished. In the 17th century, the house was used as a residence by queens consort, during the reign of King James I, the building became the London residence of his wife, Anne of Denmark, and was renamed Denmark House. She commissioned a number of additions and improvements, some to designs by Inigo Jones. In particular, during the period between 1630 and 1635 he built a Chapel where Henrietta Maria of France, wife of King Charles I and this was in the care of the Capuchin Order and was on a site to the south-west of the Great Court. A small cemetery was attached and some of the tombstones are still to be built into one of the walls of a passage under the present quadrangle. Royal occupation of Somerset House was interrupted by the English Civil War and they failed to find a buyer, though a sale of the contents realised the very considerable sum of £118,000. Use was still found for it however, part of it served as an Army headquarters, General Fairfax being given official quarters there, lodgings were also provided for certain other Parliamentary notables. It was in Somerset House that Oliver Cromwells body lay in state after his death in 1658, however she returned to France in 1665 before it was finished. It was then used as a residence by Catherine of Braganza. During her time it received a certain notoriety as being, in the popular mind, Somerset House was refurbished by Sir Christopher Wren in 1685. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, Somerset House entered on a period of decline, being used for grace
5.
Prince of Wales's feathers
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The Prince of Waless feathers is the heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales. It consists of three ostrich feathers emerging from a gold coronet. A ribbon below the coronet bears the motto Ich dien, as well as being used in royal heraldry, the badge is sometimes used to symbolise Wales, particularly in Welsh rugby union and Welsh regiments of the British Army. The badge has no connection with the native Princes of Wales and its use is generally traced back to Edward, the Black Prince, eldest son and heir apparent of Edward III of England. Edward bore a shield of Sable, three ostrich feathers argent, described as his shield for peace, this means it was the shield he used for jousting. These arms can be several times on his tomb chest in Canterbury Cathedral. The prince also used badges of one or more ostrich feathers in a number of other contexts, the feathers had first appeared at the marriage of Edward III to Philippa of Hainault, and it is therefore likely that the Black Prince inherited the badge from his mother. Philippa was descended from the Counts of Hainault, whose eldest son bore the title Count of Ostrevent, alternatively, the badge may have derived from the Counts of Luxembourg, from whom Philippa was also descended, and who had used the badge of an ostrich. Edward III occasionally used ostrich feather badges, as did members of the royal family in the 14th and 15th centuries. Similar badges were used by royal princes. The first Prince of Wales to use the badge in its form was Prince Arthur, eldest son of Henry VII. It was also used by Prince Edward, son of Henry VIII and afterwards Edward VI. Feathers continued to be used as lesser royal badges, by Elizabeth I among others, only from the beginning of the 17th century did the badge become exclusively associated with the Prince of Wales. According to a legend, the Black Prince obtained the badge from the blind King John of Bohemia. The story first appears in writing in 1376, the year of the Black Princes death, there is, however, no sound historical basis for it, and no evidence for King John having used either the crest or the motto. The German motto Ich dien is a near-homophone for the Welsh phrase Eich Dyn meaning Your Man, again, however, there is no historical evidence to support this theory. In 1917, during the First World War, it was rumoured that the motto might be changed to Eich Dyn to avoid the use of German. The badge is the cap badge of the Royal Welsh, an amalgamation of three Welsh regiments, the Royal Welch Fusiliers, the Royal Regiment of Wales and the Territorial Armys Royal Welsh Regiment
6.
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
7.
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
8.
Infantry
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Infantry is the general branch of an army that engages in military combat on foot. As the troops who engage with the enemy in close-ranged combat, infantry units bear the largest brunt of warfare, Infantry can enter and maneuver in terrain that is inaccessible to military vehicles and employ crew-served infantry weapons that provide greater and more sustained firepower. In English, the 16th-century term Infantry describes soldiers who walk to the battlefield, and there engage, fight, the term arose in Sixteenth-Century Spain, which boasted one of the first professional standing armies seen in Europe since the days of Rome. It was common to appoint royal princes to military commands, and the men under them became known as Infanteria. in the Canadian Army, the role of the infantry is to close with, and destroy the enemy. In the U. S. Army, the closes with the enemy, by means of fire and maneuver, in order to destroy or capture him, or to repel his assault by fire, close combat. In the U. S. Marine Corps, the role of the infantry is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy fire and maneuver. Beginning with the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, artillery has become a dominant force on the battlefield. Since World War I, combat aircraft and armoured vehicles have become dominant. In 20th and 21st century warfare, infantry functions most effectively as part of a combined arms team including artillery, armour, Infantry relies on organized formations to be employed in battle. These have evolved over time, but remain a key element to effective infantry development and deployment, until the end of the 19th century, infantry units were for the most part employed in close formations up until contact with the enemy. This allowed commanders to control of the unit, especially while maneuvering. The development of guns and other weapons with increased firepower forced infantry units to disperse in order to make them less vulnerable to such weapons. This decentralization of command was made possible by improved communications equipment, among the various subtypes of infantry is Medium infantry. This refers to infantry which are heavily armed and armored than heavy infantry. In the early period, medium infantry were largely eliminated due to discontinued use of body armour up until the 20th century. In the United States Army, Stryker Infantry is considered Medium Infantry, since they are heavier than light infantry, Infantry doctrine is the concise expression of how infantry forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. It is a guide to action, not a set of hard, doctrine provides a very common frame of reference across the military forces, allowing the infantry to function cooperatively in what are now called combined arms operations. Doctrine helps standardise operations, facilitating readiness by establishing common ways of accomplishing infantry tasks, doctrine links theory, history, experimentation, and practice
9.
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
10.
Volunteer Force
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The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated with the British Army after the Childers Reforms in 1881, most of the regiments of the present Territorial Army Infantry, Artillery, Engineers and Signals units are directly descended from Volunteer Force units. During the Crimean War, the War Office had been forced to send militia, the situation had been complicated by the fact that both auxiliary forces were under the control of the Home Office until 1855. Tensions rose between the United Kingdom and France following the Orsini affair, an attempt on Emperor Napoleon III on 14 January 1858. It emerged that the assassin, Felice Orsini had travelled to England to have the bombs used in the attack manufactured in Birmingham. On 29 April 1859 war broke out between France and the Austrian Empire, and there were fears that Britain might be caught up in a wider European conflict. Volunteer corps were to be raised under the provisions of the Volunteer Act 1804, alfred Tennyson captured the spirit of the time by publishing his poem Riflemen Form in The Times on 9 May 1859. As a basis for the units, many communities had rifle clubs for the enjoyment of the sport of shooting, Corps were only to be formed on the recommendation of the county’s lord-lieutenant. The force was liable to be called out “in case of invasion, or of appearance of an enemy in force on the coast, or in case of rebellion arising in either of these emergencies. ”While under arms volunteers were subject to military law and were entitled to be billeted. Members were not permitted to quit the force during actual military service, members were to be returned as “effective” if they had attended eight days drill and exercise in four months, or 24 days within a year. The members of the corps were to provide their own arms and equipment, Volunteers were also permitted to choose the design of their uniforms, subject to the lord-lieutenant’s approval. Although volunteers were to pay for their own firearms, they were to be provided under the superintendence of the War Office, the number of officers and private men in each county and corps was to be settled by the war office, based on the lord-lieutenant’s recommendation. Originally corps were to consist of approximately 100 all ranks under the command of a captain, the purpose of the rifle corps was to harass the invading enemy’s flanks, while artillery corps were to man coastal guns and forts. Although not mentioned in the letter, engineer corps were also formed. Stretcher-bearers attached to the rifle corps subsequently formed volunteer medical detachments affiliated to the Army Medical Corps, in a handful of counties, units of light horse or mounted rifles were formed. Two volunteer units whose services had been accepted by Queen Victoria during the early 1850s became the two senior rifle corps of the new force and these were the 1st Rifle Volunteer Corps who became the 1st Devonshire Rifle Volunteers and the Victoria Rifles who became the 1st Middlesex Rifle Volunteers. An order of precedence was established for other counties, depending upon the date of establishment of the first corps in the county. The most senior artillery corps was the 1st Northumberland formed at Tynemouth on August 2,1859, some also compared the initiative, small unit tactics and marksmanship principles of rifle regiments of the Napoleonic Wars compared with the linear tactics of the standing army
11.
Bank of England
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The Bank of England, formally the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world, after the Sveriges Riksbank, and it was established to act as the English Governments banker and is still one of the bankers for the Government of the United Kingdom. The Bank was privately owned by stockholders from its foundation in 1694 until it was nationalised in 1946, in 1998, it became an independent public organisation, wholly owned by the Treasury Solicitor on behalf of the government, with independence in setting monetary policy. The Banks Monetary Policy Committee has a responsibility for managing monetary policy. The Banks Financial Policy Committee held its first meeting in June 2011 as a macro prudential regulator to oversee regulation of the UKs financial sector, the Banks headquarters have been in Londons main financial district, the City of London, on Threadneedle Street, since 1734. It is sometimes known by the metonym The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street or The Old Lady, the busy road junction outside is known as Bank junction. Until 2016, the bank provided banking services as a popular privilege for employees. Englands crushing defeat by France, the dominant naval power, in naval engagements culminating in the 1690 Battle of Beachy Head, England had no choice but to build a powerful navy. No public funds were available, and the credit of William IIIs government was so low in London that it was impossible for it to borrow the £1,200,000 that the government wanted. To induce subscription to the loan, the subscribers were to be incorporated by the name of the Governor, the Bank was given exclusive possession of the governments balances, and was the only limited-liability corporation allowed to issue bank notes. The lenders would give the government cash and issue notes against the government bonds, the £1. 2m was raised in 12 days, half of this was used to rebuild the navy. This helped the new Kingdom of Great Britain – England and Scotland were formally united in 1707 – to become powerful, the power of the navy made Britain the dominant world power in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The establishment of the bank was devised by Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, the plan of 1691, which had been proposed by William Paterson three years before, had not then been acted upon. The Royal Charter was granted on 27 July through the passage of the Tonnage Act 1694, the first governor was Sir John Houblon, who is depicted in the £50 note issued in 1994. The charter was renewed in 1742,1764, and 1781, the Bank moved to its current location in Threadneedle Street in 1734, and thereafter slowly acquired neighbouring land to create the edifice seen today. When the idea and reality of the National Debt came about during the 18th century, the 1844 Bank Charter Act tied the issue of notes to the gold reserves and gave the Bank sole rights with regard to the issue of banknotes. Private banks that had previously had that right retained it, provided that their headquarters were outside London, a few English banks continued to issue their own notes until the last of them was taken over in the 1930s. Scottish and Northern Irish private banks still have that right, the bank acted as lender of last resort for the first time in the panic of 1866
12.
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
13.
William Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle
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William Coutts Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle KCMG PC, styled Viscount Bury between 1851 and 1891, was a British soldier and politician. He served in the British Army before entering parliament in 1857, initially a Liberal, he served as Treasurer of the Household between 1859 and 1866 in the Liberal administrations headed by Lord Palmerston and Lord Russell. He later switched to the Conservatives and held office as Under-Secretary of State for War under Lord Beaconsfield between 1878 and 1880 and under Lord Salisbury between 1885 and 1886. Keppel was born in London, England, the son of General George Keppel, 6th Earl of Albemarle, by his wife Susan Coutts Trotter, daughter of Sir Coutts Trotter. He became known by the courtesy title Viscount Bury when his father succeeded in the earldom of Albemarle in 1851. Keppel became an ensign and lieutenant in the 43rd Foot in 1843, a lieutenant in the Scots Guards in 1848, from 1854 until 1856, he was Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Canada. He raised the 21st Middlesex Rifles Volunteer Corps in 1860, initially a Liberal, Lord Bury was elected Member of Parliament for Norwich in 1857, and later represented Wick Burghs from 1860 to 1865 and Berwick-upon-Tweed from 1868 to 1874. In 1859 he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Treasurer of the Household under Lord Palmerston, a post he held until 1866, in 1870 he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. On 6 September 1876 he was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his fathers barony of Ashford, two years later Lord Bury was appointed Under-Secretary of State for War in Lord Beaconsfields Conservative administration, which he remained until the government fell in 1880. In 1881, he became a Volunteer Aide-de-Camp to the Queen and he was once again Under-Secretary of State for War from 1885 to 1886 under Lord Salisbury. In 1891 he succeeded his father in the earldom and they had ten children, Arnold Keppel, 8th Earl of Albemarle. Lady Theodora Keppel, married Colonel Leslie Davidson and had issue, lieutenant-Colonel Hon. George Keppel, husband of the royal mistress Alice Keppel. Lady Leopoldina Olivia Keppel, a nun, lady Susan Mary Keppel, married Sir Walter Townley in 1896. Lady Mary Stuart Keppel, married Sir Harold Tagart in 1900, lady Florence Cecilia Keppel, married William Boyle, 12th Earl of Cork in 1902. Lord Albemarle was received into the Roman Catholic Church on Easter Sunday,13 April 1879 and he died in August 1894, aged 62, of paralysis, and was buried at Quidenham in Norfolk. His eldest son Arnold succeeded in the earldom, Lord Albemarles third son George was the husband of Alice Keppel, a long-time mistress of King Edward VII. champion Judith Keppel. The Countess of Albemarle died in April 1917, aged 84, hansard 1803–2005, contributions in Parliament by William Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle
14.
King's Royal Rifle Corps
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Later, ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire. The KRRC became the 2nd Battalion Royal Green Jackets, on the disbandment of 1/RGJ in 1992, the RGJs KRRC battalion was redesignated as 1/RGJ, eventually becoming 2/RIFLES in 2007. The Kings Royal Rifle Corps was raised in the American colonies in 1756 as the 62nd Regiment to defend the thirteen colonies against attack by the French and their Native American allies. After Braddocks defeat in 1755, royal approval for a new regiment, as well as funds, were granted by parliament just before Christmas 1755 – hence the regiments traditional birthday of Christmas Day. However, parliamentary delays meant that it was 4 March 1756 before an act of parliament created four battalions of 1,000 men each to include foreigners for service in the Americas. ”The Earl of Loudoun. About fifty officers’ commissions were given to Germans and Swiss, according to a modern history of the regiment, the idea for creating this unique force was proposed by Jacques Prevost, a Swiss soldier and adventurer who was a friend of the Duke of Cumberland. Prevost recognised the need for soldiers who understood forest warfare, unlike the regulars who were brought to America in 1755 by General Edward Braddock, the regiment was intended to combine the characteristics of a colonial corps with those of a foreign legion. Swiss and German forest fighting experts, American colonists and British volunteers from other British regiments were recruited and these men were Protestants, an important consideration for fighting against the predominantly Catholic French. The officers were recruited from Europe – not from the American colonies – and consisted of English, Scots, Irish, Dutch, Swiss. It was the first time officers were commissioned as British Army officers. In total, the regiment consisted of 101 officers,240 non-commissioned officers and 4,160 enlisted men, the battalions were raised on Governors Island, New York. The regiment was renumbered the 60th Regiment in February 1757 when the 50th and these were conventional battles on the European model, but fighting during Pontiacs War in 1763 was of a very different character. The frontier war threatened the British control of North America, the new regiment at first lost several outlying garrisons, but finally proved its mastery of forest warfare under Bouquets leadership at the victory of Bushy Run in August 1763. Two additional battalions of the regiment were raised in North America in 1775 for service in the American Revolutionary War and these battalions were deployed to Georgia and were involved in skirmishes at Sudbury in January 1779, at Savannah in October 1779 and at Augusta in September 1780. They went on to part in the Battle of Guilford Court House in March 1781. During the Napoleonic Wars, the regiment saw action in the Peninsular War, the mixing of rifle troops and muskets proved so effective that eventually line battalion light companies were replaced with rifle companies. The line battalions found themselves in different theatres, including the West Indies. The rifle battalion was joined by a second, and these found themselves in the Peninsula with Wellingtons army, serving along with the 95th Rifles
15.
Charles Wakefield, 1st Viscount Wakefield
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Charles Cheers Wakefield, 1st Viscount Wakefield, GCVO, CBE, was an English businessman who founded the Castrol lubricants company, was lord mayor of London and was a significant philanthropist. Wakefield was born in Cheshire, the son of John Wakefield, and his wife Margaret, née Cheers, Wakefield patented the Wakefield lubricator for steam engines in the 1890s. In 1899 he founded the Wakefield Oil Company, but subsequently changed its name to Castrol, the name Castrol was chosen because of the castor oil that was added to the companys lubricating oils. This title has become a household name in the United Kingdom. The Castrol brand lubricants produced by Wakefields company were used in the engines of cars, aeroplanes. Wakefield was an Alderman, a member of the Court of Common Council, Sheriff and he received a Knighthood for services to the City of London. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Wakefield, of Hythe in the County of Kent, in 1930 and he was created a Freeman of the Borough on 30 May 1930, under the provisions of the 1885 Honorary Freedom of the Boroughs Act. His name appears on many inscriptions in Hythe today. Viscount Wakefield is buried at Spring Lane Cemetery, Seabrook within the Borough of Hythe from which he took his Title and it is often erroneously reported that Wakefield was commonly known by the nickname, or colloquial name, of Cheers. Although he did prefer this name, it was in fact a name, his middle name. Wakefield and his wife had a daughter Freda Wakefield, Freda accompanied her parents on many of their public engagements including Wakefields business trip to America as part of the Sulgrave Institution. Wakefield left Freda and her four children a living each for their futures
16.
140th (4th London) Brigade
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The 140th Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the British Armys Territorial Army that had its origins in a South London Brigade of the former Volunteer Force. It served on the Western Front in World War I and was recreated in World War II where it served only in the United Kingdom as a training formation. An invasion scare in 1859 led to the creation of the Volunteer Force, initially they were brigaded by the colour of their uniforms – scarlet, Rifle green or grey, the latter being a popular colour for RVCs in the 1860s. The Stanhope Memorandum of December 1888 proposed a formal Mobilisation Scheme for Volunteer units throughout the country, in peacetime these brigades provided a structure for collective training. Under this scheme the units from Westminster, the West End of London and these units had mainly been in the Grey Brigade, and the name stuck to the new formation. 15th Battalion, The London Regiment headquartered at Somerset House, 16th Battalion, The London Regiment, headquartered at 58 Buckingham Gate. They were immediately recalled to London to complete their mobilisation and by mid-August 4 London Bde had reached its war station round St Albans, several of the London battalions were politically well-connected and were selected for overseas service ahead of the bulk of the Territorial Force. These battalions were replaced by others from 2nd London Bde of 1st London Division, 1/8th Battalion, The London Regiment joined 6 November 1914, sent a draft to 1/17th Londons and cadre left to merge with 2/8th Londons in 58th Division on 2 February 1918. 1/15th Battalion, The London Regiment 140th Light Trench Mortar Battery formed June 1915, 2nd London Company ASC became 456th Company ASC August 1915. 1/4th Bn London Regiment joined 15 November 1915, transferred to 168th Brigade in 56th Division on 9 February 1916, 1/17th Battalion, The London Regiment joined from 141st Bde 1 February 1918. 1/21st Battalion, The London Regiment joined from 142nd Brigade 1 February 1918, 140th Machine Gun Company formed December 1915, merged into 47th Battalion Machine Gun Corps March 1918. The 1/15th Londons was the only battalion of the brigade to serve with it throughout the war. In October 1914, 2nd London Division was selected for service on the Western Front, the division embarked for France in March 1915, concentrating round Béthune. In May the division took its place in the line and was designated 47th Division, with the brigades numbered consecutively and this began in January, and the last troops left France on 10 May 1919. The brigade was demobilised at Felixstowe in May–June 1919, the 47th Division and its formations began to reform in the redesignated Territorial Army in 1920. 140 Bde was reformed with brigade HQ at the Regimental Headquarters of the Irish Guards at Wellington Barracks in Birdcage Walk, 16th London Regiment, headquartered at 58 Buckingham Gate. 28th London Regiment headquartered at Dukes Road, Euston,140 Brigade HQ was also disbanded and its battalions dispersed to other London infantry brigades. However, the expansion of the TA after the Munich Crisis saw a new 4th London Infantry Brigade reformed with 2nd Line TA battalions
17.
47th (1/2nd London) Division
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The 47th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. The Division conducted a carefully planned single battalion raid on the night of 27–8 June, in the final stages of the war the divisions GSO1 was acting Lieutenant-Colonel Bernard Montgomery, then in his very early thirties and later a leading British commander in the Second World War. After mid-1916 battles included the Battle of Le Transloy, the Battle of Messines, the following officers commanded 47th Division during the war, Major-General Vesey J. Dawson, March 1908 – March 1912 Major-General Charles C. By 1935 the increasing need for defence, particularly for London, was addressed by converting the 47th Division into the 1st Anti-Aircraft Division. During the Second World War, the division was again raised. Initially as the 2nd London Division, but was redesignated in November 1940 as the 47th Infantry Division, two wooden memorial crosses erected at High Wood and Eaucourt lAbbaye by 47 Divisional Engineers in 1916 were falling into disrepair by 1925, when they were replaced in stone. List of British divisions in World War I British Military History Imperial War Museum War Memorials Archive The Long, Long Trail
18.
Queen's Westminsters
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The Queens Westminsters were an infantry regiment of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army. Originally formed from Rifle Volunteer Corps, which were established after a French invasion scare of 1859, the unit became part of the newly established London Regiment on the formation of the Territorial Force in 1908. It was subsequently amalgamated in 1921 with the Civil Service Rifles and it ceased to exist as separate entity after it was amalgamated in 1961. The Queens Westminster Rifles had been formed in the late 19th century and they were raised by the 1st Duke of Westminster. It comprised the 22nd Rifle Volunteer Corps, The Westminster Volunteers, in the 1880s the unit had become the 13th Rifle Volunteers and were attached to the Kings Royal Rifle Corps as a Volunteer Battalion. In 1886 they established their headquarters at 58 Buckingham Gate, Westminster, by 1902 they were the largest volunteer rifle corps in London. On the outbreak of the First World War the battalion was designated 1/16th Battalion, at this stage it was part of 4th London Brigade, 2nd London Division. On mobilisation it moved to the Hemel Hempstead area, on 3 November 1914 it left the Division and landed at Le Havre. On 12 November 1914 it came under command of 18th Brigade in 6th Division, on 10 February 1916 the 1st battalion transferred to 169th Brigade in 56th Division. The 2/16th served as part of 179th Brigade in the Middle East, the regiment was reformed on 31 December 1921 as the 16th Battalion, London Regiment by the amalgamation of the 15th Battalion, London Regiment and the 16th Battalion, London Regiment. In 1922, it became the 16th London Regiment, in 1937, it was transferred to the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, being renamed as the The Queens Westminsters, Kings Royal Rifle Corps. On 3 September 1939—two days after Nazi Germany had launched its invasion of Poland—the British Empire, France, the original Westminsters became the 1st Battalion after a duplicate battalion was raised in 1939. The following year, it was converted to a motor battalion, in 1941, the 1st Battalion was re-titled as the 11th Battalion, Kings Royal Rifle Corps, and the 2nd, the 12th Battalion, Kings Royal Rifle Corps. Both units saw service during the war. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning, the 11th Westminsters moved to Sicily the following year, taking part in the campaign on the Italian island, which began on 10 July 1943. It later moved to the Italian Front, remaining there into 1944, the 12th Westminsters, having remained in the United Kingdom since the war began, took part in the Battle of Normandy in 1944, forming part of the 8th Armoured Brigade. It saw extensive service in France, including action at Rauray on 26 June and at Mont Pincon in Operation Epsom and during the advance east to the Seine, which was crossed in late August. The battalion subsequently crossed the Somme river, a scene of carnage during the Great War and it later took part in the liberation of Lille in early September, experiencing a welcoming reception by the inhabitants of the large town
19.
South Africa
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South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is the southernmost country in Africa. South Africa is the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and it is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different Bantu languages, the remaining population consists of Africas largest communities of European, Asian, and multiracial ancestry. South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a variety of cultures, languages. Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the recognition of 11 official languages. The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup détat, however, the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. During the 20th century, the black majority sought to recover its rights from the dominant white minority, with this struggle playing a role in the countrys recent history. The National Party imposed apartheid in 1948, institutionalising previous racial segregation, since 1994, all ethnic and linguistic groups have held political representation in the countrys democracy, which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa is often referred to as the Rainbow Nation to describe the multicultural diversity. The World Bank classifies South Africa as an economy. Its economy is the second-largest in Africa, and the 34th-largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, South Africa has the seventh-highest per capita income in Africa. However, poverty and inequality remain widespread, with about a quarter of the population unemployed, nevertheless, South Africa has been identified as a middle power in international affairs, and maintains significant regional influence. The name South Africa is derived from the geographic location at the southern tip of Africa. Upon formation the country was named the Union of South Africa in English, since 1961 the long form name in English has been the Republic of South Africa. In Dutch the country was named Republiek van Zuid-Afrika, replaced in 1983 by the Afrikaans Republiek van Suid-Afrika, since 1994 the Republic has had an official name in each of its 11 official languages. Mzansi, derived from the Xhosa noun umzantsi meaning south, is a name for South Africa. South Africa contains some of the oldest archaeological and human fossil sites in the world, extensive fossil remains have been recovered from a series of caves in Gauteng Province. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has termed the Cradle of Humankind
20.
Battle of Festubert
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The Battle of Festubert was an attack by the British army in the Artois region of France on the western front during World War I. The offensive formed part of a series of attacks by the French Tenth Army, a continuous three-day bombardment by the British heavy artillery was planned, to cut wire and demolish German machine-gun posts and infantry strong-points. The objectives were 1,000 yards forward, rather than the 3,000 yards depth of advance intended at Aubers Ridge, the battle was the first British attempt at attrition. The Battle of Festubert was the continuation of the Battle of Aubers Ridge, the attack was made by the British First Army under Sir Douglas Haig against a German salient between Neuve Chapelle to the north and the village of Festubert to the south. The assault was planned along a 3-mile front and would initially be made mainly by Indian troops and this would be the first British army night attack of the war. The battle was preceded by a 60-hour bombardment by 433 artillery pieces that fired about 100,000 shells and this bombardment failed to significantly damage the front line defences of the German 6th Army but the initial advance made some progress in good weather conditions. The attack was renewed on 16 May and by 19 May the 2nd Division, on 18 May, the 1st Canadian Division, assisted by the 51st Division, attacked but made little progress in the face of German artillery fire. The British forces dug in at the new front line in heavy rain, the Germans brought up reinforcements and reinforced their defences. From 20–25 May the attack was resumed and Festubert was captured, the offensive had resulted in a 3-kilometre advance. The British lost 16,648 casualties from 15/16–25 May, the German defenders had c. 5,000 casualties, including 800 men taken prisoner. French casualties during the Second Battle of Artois were 102,533 men, the 100th anniversary of the battle saw a range of commemorations held across the world. Some of the most poignant were those held in the Highlands of Scotland, in particular in shinty playing communities, which were affected disproportionately by losses in the battle. A week later, the Beauly Shinty Club renamed their pavilion after the Paterson brothers, Donald and Alasdair, donalds bagpipes were recovered with his other effects in the early 1980s and were played at both commemorations
21.
Battle of Loos
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The Battle of Loos was a World War I battle that took place from 25 September –13 October 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas, the French and British tried to break through the German defences in Artois and Champagne and restore a war of movement. Despite improved methods, more ammunition and better equipment, the Franco-British attacks were contained by the German armies, British casualties at Loos were about twice as high as German losses. The battle was the British part of the Third Battle of Artois, at the Frévent Conference on 27 July, Field Marshal French failed to persuade Ferdinand Foch that an attack further north offered greater prospects for success. The debate continued into August with Joffre siding with Foch and the commanders being over-ruled by Herbert Kitchener, on 3 May, the British decided upon use of poison gas in military operations in France. French was doubtful that a breakthrough would be achieved, Haig was hampered by the shortage of artillery ammunition, which meant the preliminary bombardment, essential for success in trench warfare, was insufficient. Prior to the British attack, about 140 long tons of gas was released with mixed success. Wanting to be closer to the battle, French had moved to a command post at Lilliers. In many places British artillery had failed to cut the German wire in advance of the attack, advancing over open fields, within range of German machine guns and artillery, British losses were devastating. The British were able to break through the weaker German defences and capture the town of Loos-en-Gohelle, supply and communications problems, combined with the late arrival of reserves, meant that the breakthrough could not be exploited. Haig did not hear until 10,00 a. m. that the divisions were moving up to the front, when the battle resumed the following day, the Germans had recovered and improved their defensive positions. British attempts to continue the advance with the reserves were repulsed, twelve attacking battalions suffered 8,000 casualties out of 10,000 men in four hours. A lull fell on 28 September, with the British having retreated to their positions, having lost over 20,000 casualties. The Royal Flying Corps came under the command of Brigadier-General Hugh Trenchard, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd wings under Colonels E. B. Ashmore, John Salmond and Sefton Brancker participated, as the British were short of artillery ammunition, the RFC flew target identification sorties prior to the battle, to ensure that shells were not wasted. During the first few days of the attack, target-marking squadrons equipped with wireless transmitters. Later in the battle, pilots carried out a bombing operation for the first time in history. Aircraft of the 2nd and 3rd wings dropped many 100-pound bombs on German troops, trains, rail lines, as the land offensive stalled, British pilots and observers flew low over German positions, providing target information to the artillery
22.
Battle of the Somme
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The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British and French empires against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of the reaches of the River Somme in France. The battle was intended to hasten a victory for the Allies and was the largest battle of the First World War on the Western Front, more than one million men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history. The French and British had committed themselves to an offensive on the Somme during Allied discussions at Chantilly, Oise, in December 1915. Initial plans called for the French army to undertake the main part of the Somme offensive, the first day on the Somme was, in terms of casualties, also the worst day in the history of the British army, which suffered 57,470 casualties. These occurred mainly on the front between the Albert–Bapaume road and Gommecourt, where the attack was defeated and few British troops reached the German front line, the battle is notable for the importance of air power and the first use of the tank. At the end of the battle, British and French forces had penetrated 10 km into German-occupied territory, the Anglo-French armies failed to capture Péronne and halted 5 km from Bapaume, where the German armies maintained their positions over the winter. Debate continues over the necessity, significance and effect of the battle, David Frum opined that a century later, the Somme remains the most harrowing place-name in the history of the British Empire. Allied war strategy for 1916 was decided at the Chantilly Conference from 6–8 December 1915, in December 1915, General Sir Douglas Haig replaced Field Marshal Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of the BEF. Haig favoured a British offensive in Flanders close to BEF supply routes, to drive the Germans from the Belgian coast, Haig was not formally subordinate to Marshal Joseph Joffre but the British played a lesser role on the Western Front and complied with French strategy. A week later the Germans began an offensive against the French at Verdun, by 31 May, the ambitious Franco-British plan for a decisive victory, had been reduced to a limited offensive to relieve pressure on the French at Verdun with a battle of attrition on the Somme. The Chief of the German General Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, intended to end the war by splitting the Anglo-French Entente in 1916, Falkenhayn chose to attack towards Verdun to take the Meuse heights and make Verdun untenable. The British would then have to begin a hasty relief offensive, Falkenhayn expected the relief offensive to fall south of Arras against the Sixth Army and be destroyed. If such Franco-British defeats were not enough, Germany would attack the remnants of armies and end the western alliance for good. Eloi, south of Ypres and reduced the German counter-offensive strategy north of the Somme, to one of passive, the Battle of Verdun began a week after Joffre and Haig agreed to mount an offensive on the Somme. The battle changed the nature of the offensive on the Somme, as French divisions were diverted to Verdun, German overestimation of the cost of Verdun to the French contributed to the concentration of German infantry and guns on the north bank of the Somme. The German offensive at Verdun was suspended in July, and troops, guns, the Brusilov Offensive, absorbed the extra forces that had been requested on 2 June by Fritz von Below, commanding the German Second Army, for a spoiling attack on the Somme. During the offensive the Russians inflicted c. 1,500,000 losses including c. 407,000 prisoners, three divisions were ordered from France to the Eastern Front on 9 June and the spoiling attack on the Somme was abandoned
23.
Second Battle of the Somme (1918)
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The Second Battle of the Somme of 1918 was fought during the First World War on the Western Front from late August to early September, in the basin of the River Somme. It was part of a series of successful counter-offensives in response to the German Spring Offensive, after a pause for redeployment, instead, Haig began to plan for an offensive at Albert, which opened on 21 August. The main attack was launched by the British Third Army, with the United States II Corps attached, the second battle began on 21 August with the opening of the Second Battle of Bapaume to the north of the river itself. That developed into an advance which pushed the German Second Army back over a 55 kilometre front, from south of Douai to La Fère, south of Saint-Quentin, Albert was captured on 22 August. On 26 August, the British First Army widened the attack by another twelve kilometres, sometimes called the Second Battle of Arras. The Australian Corps crossed the Somme River on the night of 31 August, and broke the German lines at the Battle of Mont St. Quentin and the Battle of Péronne. The British Fourth Armys commander, General Henry Rawlinson, described the Australian advances of 31 August –4 September as the greatest military achievement of the war, on the morning of 2 September, after a heavy battle, the Canadian Corps seized control of the Drocourt-Quéant line. The battle was fought by the Canadian 1st Division, 4th Division, heavy German casualties were inflicted, and the Canadians also captured more than 6,000 unwounded prisoners. By noon that day the German commander, Erich Ludendorff, had decided to withdraw behind the Canal du Nord, by 2 September, the Germans had been forced back to the Hindenburg Line, from which they had launched their offensive in the spring. In late September/early October, one of the battles of the whole war was the breach of the Hindenburg Line by British. Soon after, the Canadians breached the Hindenburg Line at the Battle of Cambrai, a key part of the German supply line ran parallel with the front. This policy worked but it some very determined work at the St. Quentin Canal, among the prepared defences. List of Canadian battles during World War I Hundred Days Offensive Bomford, beaten Down by Blood, The Battle of Mont St Quentin-Péronne 1918. 1918, Gamble for Victory, The Greatest Attack of World War I, Spring Offensive, New Zealand and the Second Battle of the Somme. The Third Armys Advance to Victory, Western Front 1918, retreat and Rearguard – Somme 1918. Media related to Second Battle of the Somme at Wikimedia Commons
24.
Battle of Le Transloy
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The Battle of Le Transloy was the last offensive of the Fourth Army of the British Expeditionary Force in the 1916 Battle of the Somme in France, during the First World War. Command of the German Air Service was centralised and the new Luftstreitkräfte was able to challenge Anglo-French air superiority with the reinforcements and new, superior fighter aircraft. The German flyers further reduced the ability of the Anglo-French airmen to support the armies with artillery-observation and contact patrols, in the rare periods of clear weather. The German armies lost much ground and had fewer casualties in October than in September. The reinforcement of the Somme front, with troops and equipment from Verdun also contributed to the German defeat in the First Offensive Battle of Verdun and the loss of forts Douaumont and Vaux. Rain, fog and mud was a problem for the Germans. The British and French benefitted from superior numbers, which enabled the Allied commanders to relieve divisions after shorter periods in the line. On 28 August, the Chief of the General Staff General Erich von Falkenhayn simplified the German command structure on the Western Front by establishing two army groups. Gruppe Kronprinz Rupprecht controlled the 6th, 1st and 2nd armies, from the Belgian coast to the boundary of Gruppe Deutscher Kronprinz, heeresgruppe Gallwitz–Somme was dissolved and General Max von Gallwitz reverted to the command of the 2nd Army. The emergency in Russia caused by the Brusilov Offensive, the entry of Rumania into the war and French counter-attacks at Verdun, Falkenhayn had been sacked from the OHL on 28 August and replaced by Hindenburg and Ludendorff. This Third OHL ordered an end to attacks at Verdun and the despatch of troops to Rumania, colonel Fritz von Lossberg, Chief of Staff of the 2nd Army, was also able to establish Ablösungsdivisionen 10–15 miles behind the battlefield, ready to replace tired divisions. German counter-attacks became bigger and more frequent, making the Anglo-French advance slower, after the Anglo-French attacks in mid-September, a comprehensive relief of the front-line divisions had been possible. On 21 September, after the battle of Flers–Courcelette, Hindenburg ordered that the Somme front was to have priority in the west for troops, during September, the Germans had sent another thirteen fresh divisions to the British sector and scraped up troops wherever they could be found. The 2nd Army had been starved of reinforcements in mid-August, to replace exhausted divisions in the 1st Army, reinforcements for the Somme front in September, began to reduce the German inferiority in guns and aircraft. Field artillery reduced its barrage frontage from 400–200 yards per battery, as the Germans had been pushed out of their original defences, Lossberg established new positions based on principles of depth, dispersal and camouflage, rather than continuous lines of trenches. Rigid defence of the front-line continued but with as few soldiers as possible, relying on the power of machine-guns firing from behind the front-line. The largest German counter-attacks of the Somme battle took place from 20–23 September, rather than pack troops into the front-line, local, corps and army reserves were held back, in lines about 2,000 yards apart, able to make progressively stronger counter-attacks. Trenches were still dug but were no longer intended to be fought from, being used for shelter during quiet periods, for the movement of reinforcements and supplies and as rallying points and decoys
25.
Battle of Messines (1917)
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The Nivelle Offensive in April and May had failed to achieve its more ambitious aims, led to the demoralisation of French troops and the dislocation of the Anglo-French strategy for 1917. The offensive at Messines forced the Germans to move reserves to Flanders from the Arras and Aisne fronts, the 4th Army divisions of Gruppe Wijtschate held the ridge, which were later reinforced by a division from Gruppe Ypern. The battle began with the detonation of a series of mines beneath German lines and this was followed by a creeping barrage 700 yards deep, covering the British troops as they secured the ridge, with support from tanks, cavalry patrols and aircraft. The effectiveness of the British mines, barrages and bombardments was improved by advances in artillery survey, flash-spotting, British attacks from 8–14 June advanced the front line beyond the former German Sehnen line. The Battle of Messines was a prelude to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres campaign, in January 1916, General Sir Herbert Plumer recommended to Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig the capture of Messines Ridge before an operation to capture the Gheluvelt plateau further north. The Flanders campaign was postponed because of the Battle of Verdun in 1916, Haig intended to force the Germans to move troops away from the French armies on the Aisne front, where demoralisation amid the failure of the Nivelle Offensive had led to mutinies. The British would gain observation of the slope of Menin Ridge at the west end of the Gheluvelt plateau. The front line around Ypres had changed little since the end of the Second Battle of Ypres. The British held the city, while the Germans held the ground of the Messines–Wytschaete Ridge to the south, the lower ridges to the east. The Ypres front was a salient bulging into the German lines but was overlooked by German artillery observers on the higher ground, the British had little ground observation of the German rear areas and valleys east of the ridges. Gradients varied from negligible, to 1,60 at Hooge and 1,33 at Zonnebeke, underneath the soil was London clay, sand and silt. The area was considered by the British to be drier than Loos, Givenchy, the Second Army devised a centralised artillery plan of great sophistication, following the practice established at the Battle of Arras in April 1917. The use of survey, gun calibration, weather data. Target-finding became systematic, with the use of new sound-ranging equipment, better organisation of flash-spotting, Second Army counter-battery artillery bombardments increased from twelve in the week ending 19 April, to 438 in the last ten days before the attack. A survey of captured ground after the found that 90 percent of the German artillery positions had been plotted. The 2nd Field Survey Company also assisted the mining companies by establishing the positions of objectives within the German lines, using intersection and a special series of aerial photographs. The company surveyed advanced artillery positions, so that moving forward to them once the battle had begun could begin firing as soon as they arrived at the positions. The British had begun an offensive against the German-held Wijtschate salient in 1916
26.
Battle of Passchendaele
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The Battle of Passchendaele was a major campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies against the German Empire. Passchendaele lay on the last ridge east of Ypres,5 miles from a junction at Roulers. The next stage of the Allied plan was an advance to Thourout–Couckelaere, to close the German-controlled railway running through Roulers, further operations and a British supporting attack along the Belgian coast from Nieuwpoort, combined with Operation Hush, were to have reached Bruges and then the Dutch frontier. The campaign ended in November, when the Canadian Corps captured Passchendaele, apart from attacks in December. In 1918, the Battle of the Lys and the Fifth Battle of Ypres were fought before the Allies occupied the Belgian coast, a campaign in Flanders was controversial in 1917 and has remained so. The British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, opposed the offensive, field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, commanding the British Expeditionary Force, did not receive approval for the Flanders operation from the War Cabinet until 25 July. Belgian independence had been recognised in the Treaty of London which created a sovereign, the German invasion of Belgium on 4 August 1914, in violation of Article VII of the treaty, was the reason given by the British government for declaring war on Germany. British military operations in Belgium began with the arrival of the British Expeditionary Force at Mons on 22 August. On 10 October, Lieutenant-General Erich von Falkenhayn, the Chief of the German General Staff, ordered an attack towards Dunkirk and Calais, followed by a turn south to gain a decisive victory. On 16 October, the Belgians and some French reinforcements began the defence of western Belgium, when the offensive failed, Falkenhayn ordered the capture of Ypres to gain a local advantage. By 18 November, the First Battle of Ypres ended in failure, large British offensive operations in Flanders were not possible in 1915, due to the consequent lack of resources. The Germans conducted their own Flanders offensive at the Second Battle of Ypres, Sir Douglas Haig succeeded Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of the BEF on 19 December 1915. A week after his appointment, Haig met Vice-Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon, Haig preferred an advance from Ypres, to bypass the flooded area around the Yser and the coast, before a coastal attack was attempted, to clear the coast to the Dutch border. Other operations were begun by the British to regain territory or to evict the Germans from ground overlooking their positions, engagements took place on 12 February at Boesinghe and on 14 February at Hooge and Sanctuary Wood. There were actions from 14–15 February and 1–4 March at The Bluff,27 March –16 April at the St. Eloi Craters, in January 1917, the Second Army held the line in Flanders from Laventie to Boesinghe with eleven divisions and up to two in reserve. There was much trench mortaring, mining and raiding by both sides and from January to May, the Second Army had 20,000 casualties. In May, reinforcements began moving to Flanders from the south, in January 1916, General Herbert Plumer, the Second Army commander, began to plan offensives against Messines Ridge, Lille and Houthulst Forest. General Henry Rawlinson was also ordered to plan an attack from the Ypres Salient on 4 February, planning continued but the Battle of Verdun, at meetings in November 1916, Haig, the French commander-in-chief Joseph Joffre and the other Allies met at Chantilly
27.
Cambrai
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Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-prefecture of the department, Cambrai is a town which had 32,518 inhabitants in the Census of 2009 and it is in the heart of the urban unit of Cambrai which, with 47,138 inhabitants, ranks as 7th largest of the department. Its urban area, an extensive range, included 65,986 inhabitants in 2009. With Lille and the towns of the former Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin, towards the end of the Roman Empire, Cambrai replaced Bavay as the capital of the land of the Nervii. The bishopric had some limited power and depended on the Holy Roman Empire until annexation to France in 1678. Fénelon, nicknamed the Swan of Cambrai, was the most renowned of the archbishops, the fertile lands which surround it and the textile industry gave it prosperity in the Middle Ages, but in modern times it is less industrialised than its neighbours of Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Cambrai was the Duke of Wellingtons headquarters, for the British Army of Occupation, occupied and partly destroyed by the German army during World War I, Cambrai saw unfold in its vicinity the Battle of Cambrai where tanks were massively and successfully used for the first time. A second Battle of Cambrai took place between 8 and 10 October 1918 as part of the Hundred Days Offensive, World War II was followed by reconstructions and a rapidly developing economy and population, abruptly reversed by the 1973 oil crisis. Cambrai today is a city and, despite the past destruction. Cambrai is affirmed as the centre of Cambrésis. Its economic life is strengthened by its position on the local highway. The town of Cambrai is located in the south of the Nord Department, the regional capital of Lille is 52 kilometres away. Cambrai is not very far from several European capitals, Brussels is 108 kilometres, Paris is 160 kilometres, the city was born and developed on the right bank of the Scheldt river. Locally known as the Escaut, the river has its source in the department of Aisne, the Saint-Quentin canal, the Canal du Nord, the A1, A2 and A26 autoroutes all borrow all this passage between the basin of the Seine and the plains of the Nord department. The chalky subsoil allowed, as in medieval cities, the digging of a network of cellars, tunnels. The poor quality of the Cambrai chalk was reserved for use in the manufacture of lime or filling, for prestigious buildings, stone from the nearby villages of Noyelles-sur-Escaut, Rumilly or Marcoing was used. The city is bordered in its part, as well as to the north. Cambrai is built on the bank of the Scheldt
28.
Saint-Quentin, Aisne
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Saint-Quentin is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It has been identified as the Augusta Veromanduorum of antiquity and it is named after Saint Quentin, who is said to have been martyred here in the 3rd century. Saint-Quentin is a sub-prefecture of Aisne, although Saint-Quentin is by far the largest city in Aisne, the capital is the third-largest city, Laon. The mayor of Saint-Quentin is Xavier Bertrand, a member of the right-wing UMP Party, the city was founded by the Romans, in the Augustean period, to replace the oppidum of Vermand as the capital of Viromandui. It received the name of Augusta Viromanduorum, Augusta of the Viromandui, the site is that of a ford across the River Somme. During the late Roman period, it is possible that the capital was transferred back to Vermand. From the 9th century, Saint-Quentin was the capital of Vermandois County, from the 10th century, the counts of Vermandois were very powerful. The city grew rapidly, the bourgeois organized themselves and obtained, in the half of the 11th century. At the beginning of the 13th century, Saint-Quentin entered the royal domain, at that time, it was a thriving city, based on its wool textile industry. It was also a centre of commerce boosted by its position on the border of the kingdom of France and it also benefited from its location in the heart of a rich agricultural region. From the 14th century, Saint-Quentin suffered from this strategic position, in the 15th century, the city was disputed between the king of France and the dukes of Burgundy. Ravaged by the plague on several occasions, its population decreased, while its economy was in crisis, its fair was increasingly irrelevant, the declining textile industry turned to the production of flax canvas. Meanwhile, the city faced major expenses to maintain its fortifications, between the end of the 15th century and the mid-17th century, this strategic position was the cause of frequent misfortune. In 1557, a siege by the Spanish army ended with the looting of the city, given back to France in 1559, it underwent intense fortification work, the medieval wall was protected by many new advanced fortifications, redesigned several times. Two districts were razed to make way for them, in the mid-17th century, the city escaped the sieges, but suffered the horrors of wars ravaging the Picardy region, accompanied by the plague and famine. In the second half of the 17th century, the conquests of Louis XIV took St Quentin away from the border, at the end of the 16th century, its textile production specialized in fine flax canvas. This brought prosperity, particularly in the 18th century, when these textiles were exported across Europe, during the First French Empire, difficulties in the export market brought an economic decline. At the request of the municipality, Napoleon authorized the razing of the fortifications, in 1814-1815, Saint-Quentin was occupied by the Russian army, but without any damage
29.
Operation Michael
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Operation Michael was a major German military offensive during the First World War that began the Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin and its goal was to break through the Allied lines and advance in a north-westerly direction to seize the Channel ports, which supplied the British Expeditionary Force and to drive the BEF into the sea. Two days later General Ludendorff, the Chief of the German General Staff, changed his plan and pushed for a due west. This was designed to separate the French and British Armies and crush the British forces by pushing them into the sea, much of the ground fought over was the wilderness left by the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The action was officially named by the British Battles Nomenclature Committee as The First Battles of the Somme,1918. The failure of the offensive marked the beginning of the end of the First World War for Germany, the arrival in France of large reinforcements from the United States replaced Entente casualties but the German Army was unable to recover from its losses before these reinforcements took the field. Operation Michael failed to achieve its objectives and the German advance was reversed during the Second Battle of the Somme,1918 in the Allied Hundred Days Offensive. On 11 November 1917, the German High Command discussed what they hoped would be an offensive on the Western Front the following spring. A decision to attack was taken by General Erich Ludendorff on 21 January 1918, at the start of 1918, the German people were close to starvation and growing tired of the war. Germany had 192 divisions and three brigades on the Western Front by 21 March, out of 241 in the German Army, of these divisions,110 were in the front line,50 of which faced the shorter British front. Another 67 divisions were in reserve, with 31 facing the BEF, by May 1918,318,000 American soldiers were due in France, with another million planned to arrive before August. The Germans knew that the chance of victory was to defeat the Allies before the build-up of the American Expeditionary Force was complete. The German strategy for the 1918 Spring Offensive or Kaiserschlacht, involved four offensives, Michael, Georgette, Gneisenau, Michael took place on the Somme and then Georgette was conducted on the Lys and at Ypres, which was planned to confuse the enemy. Blücher took place against the French in the Champagne region, although British intelligence knew that a German offensive was being prepared, this far-reaching plan was much more ambitious than Allied commanders expected. Ludendorff aimed to advance across the Somme, then wheel north-west, to cut the British lines of communication behind the Artois front, trapping the BEF in Flanders. Allied forces would be away from the Channel ports, which were essential for British supply. The British would be surrounded and surrender, the line, taken over from the French, barely existed, needing much work to make it easily defensible to the positions further north, which slowed progress in the area of the Fifth Army. During the winter of 1917–1918, the new British line was established in an arc around St. Quentin, there were many isolated outposts, gaps in the line and large areas of disputed territory and waste land
30.
Albert, Somme
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Albert is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It is located halfway between Amiens and Bapaume. Albert was founded as a Roman outpost, in about 54 BC, after being known by various forms of the name of the local river, the Ancre, it was renamed to Albert after it passed to Charles dAlbert, duc de Luynes. It was a key location in the Battle of the Somme in World War I, the British said that whoever made the statue fall would lose the war, whilst the Germans thought the opposite. A number of surrounding the Leaning Virgin developed among German, French. As The Golden Virgin it provided Henry Williamson with the title of an autobiographical book, the statue was knocked over, but has never fallen, I sent you a picture of it. It really is a wonderful sight and it is incomprehensible how it can have stayed there, but I think it is now lower than when the photograph was taken, and no doubt will come down with the next gale. The Church and village are wrecked, there’s a huge hole made by a Jack Johnson just outside the west door of the Church, the statue fell in April 1918 and was never recovered. In August 1918 the Germans were again forced to retreat, Albert was completely reconstructed after the war, including widening and re-orienting the towns main streets. The Basilica, however, was rebuilt according to its original design by Eduoard Duthoit. The underground shelters in which the museum is located served as protective bunkers for Alberts residents during aerial bombardments in World War II, the city also appears in a short story, The Garden of Forking Paths, by the Argentine writer Jorge Luís Borges. In the story it is the location of a British artillery park that the Germans are about to bomb during World War I, the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial is located only 9 kilometres from the village. It is a site dedicated to Dominion of Newfoundland forces members who were killed during World War I. Officially opened by British Field Marshal Earl Haig in 1925, the memorial is one of only two National Historic Sites of Canada located outside of Canada, Albert is twinned with the British town of Ulverston in Cumbria. The two towns regularly meet to play football at Easter with the Cyril Barker Shield being contested every year, Albert and Ulverston alternate the matchs venue. Albert is also twinned with the German towns of Aldenhoven and Niesky, Albert has also been adopted by the British city of Birmingham and the main street is named Rue de Birmingham. Battle of Albert Communes of the Somme department List of Frances twin towns Vendémiaire Pavot INSEE Museum website Image of the Albert Basilica
31.
Second Battle of Bapaume
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The Second Battle of Bapaume was a battle of the First World War that took place at Bapaume in France, from 21 August 1918 to 3 September 1918. It was a continuation of the Battle of Albert and is referred to as the second phase of that battle. The British and Dominion attack was part of what was known as the Allies Hundred Days Offensive. On 29 August, elements of the New Zealand Division, after fighting in the days prior. It then pushed onto the Bancourt Ridge, to the east of Bapaume, on 8 August 1918, the Hundred Days Offensive commenced on the Western Front and it would prove to be the last major campaign of the First World War. It began with the Battle of Amiens, an attack by the Canadian and Australian Corps at Amiens, the advance petered out after four days after the Germans began to regroup and shore up their defences. Haig decided that the Bapaume sector, with the town of Bapaume at its centre, was to be the new focus of operations, Bapaume itself was a small town linked by rail to Albert and Arras. There were also four major roads running through the town, running to Albert in the south-west, to Peronne in the south-east, to Cambrai in the east and to the north lay Arras. Captured by the forces of Imperial Germany in the stages of the war. Still in German hands, it had largely destroyed in early 1917 following their withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line. Extensive booby traps had also left and these troubled the Australians that moved into the town afterwards. It was subsequently recaptured by the Germans during the Spring Offensive, the land surrounding Bapaume was relatively flat and thus was conducive to the use of tanks. Byng allocated the Third Armys IV Corps to the forthcoming operation, IV Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General George Harper comprised five divisions, all of which would be employed during the battle. The first three to be involved were the New Zealand Division along with the 37th and 42nd Divisions, the other two divisions, the 5th and the 63rd Divisions, were held in reserve before being deployed later in the battle. Of all these divisions, only the New Zealand Division was at full strength, a further two divisions were in reserve. The battle was planned to have two phases, the first, what is now known as the Battle of Albert, was to be an attack across a 15 km front from the village of Puiseux towards the Albert–Arras railway. The New Zealanders, along with the 42nd Division, on its right, were expected to bring the right flank in line with the left, then the 5th and 63rd were to pass through the lines of the 37th Division and move onto and beyond the Albert-Arras railway. The second phase, scheduled to begin on 23 August, was to capture Bapaume and then further east to Reincourt-les-Bapaume and Bancourt-Fremicourt
32.
Canada's Hundred Days
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Canada’s Hundred Days is the name given to the series of attacks made by the Canadian Corps between 8 August and 11 November 1918, during the Hundred Days Offensive of World War I. Reference to this period as Canadas Hundred Days is due to the role the Canadian Corps of the British First Army played during the offensive. However their successes came at a heavy cost, Canadians suffered 20% of their casualties of the war during the same period. The Canadian Corps suffered 45,835 casualties during this offensive, the German Spring Offensive, which began with Operation Michael in March 1918, had petered out by the Second Battle of the Marne in July 1918. By this time the German superiority of numbers on the Western Front had sunk to a lead which would be reversed as more American troops arrived. By this point in time, the American Expeditionary Force was present in France in large numbers, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George reflected this attitude when he wrote in his memoirs, Whenever the Germans found the Canadian Corps coming into the line they prepared for the worst. A deception operation was devised to conceal and misrepresent the Canadians position in the front, meanwhile, the majority of the Canadian Corps was marched to Amiens in secret. Allied commanders included the notice Keep Your Mouth Shut into orders issued to the men, to maintain secrecy, there was to be no pre-battle bombardment, only artillery fire immediately prior to the advance. The plan instead depended on large-scale use of tanks to achieve surprise, by avoiding a preliminary bombardment, the battle began in dense fog at 4,20 am on 8 August 1918. The French 1st Army under General Debeney opened its preliminary bombardment at the same time, the operation was supported by more than 500 tanks, which helped to cut through the numerous barbed wire defences employed by the Germans. The first day of the attack, August 8, saw the attacking forces broke through the German lines in dramatic fashion, with the Canadians pushing as far as 13 kilometres from their starting points. In many places the fog provided good cover for their advances in, the tanks were very successful in this battle, as they attacked German rear positions, creating panic and confusion. By the 10th of August, the Germans had been forced to out of the salient that they had managed to occupy during Operation Michael in March. Left without an enemy to fight or a plan to pursue the retreat the Allied advances in the Amiens sector including those of the Canadians petered out by 13 August and the Amiens operation was halted. The Canadians remained on the scene at Amiens until 22 August, consolidating their gains, on the 23rd they were summoned to pull out and go into the line east of Arras for an attack that was to commence three days later. There they were stationed in the villages of Fouquescourt, Maucourt, Chilly, in the five earnest days of fighting between the 8th and 13 August the Canadian Corps captured 9,131 prisoners,190 artillery pieces, and over 1,000 machine guns and trench mortars. In Arras, the Canadians attacked eastward, smashing the outer defence lines near the powerful Drocourt-Quéant Line, after this, the Germans retreated across the Canal du Nord, which was almost completely flooded. The Canadians built bridges and crossed the canal at night, surprising the Germans with an attack in the morning and this proved the ability of Canadian engineers to construct new roads to cross the canal efficiently without the Germans noticing
33.
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
34.
Battle of Doiran (1917)
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The Battle of Doiran was a 1917 battle between the United Kingdom and Bulgaria during World War I. During the Second conference of the Military Counsel of the Entente in Chantilly, the task for the Entente forces on the Macedonian Front was to inflict major defeats on the Bulgarian army and effect a wide breakthrough in the Balkans in a relatively short time. The Allied command, which expected reinforcements, planned an assault in the direction of Vardar. In 1917 the 2nd Thracian Infantry Division was replaced at Doiran by the 9th Pleven Infantry division under the command of Colonel Vladimir Vazov, on 9 and 10 February the Allies attacked the 33rd Svishtov and 34th Troyan Regiments but were repulsed by a decisive counter-attack by the Troyan Regiment. The British advance on 21 February was repulsed by Bulgarian artillery after a two-day battle, the Allied command found that the Bulgarian positions were better fortified than in the previous year, so it ordered a systematic artillery barrage on these defences. In the meantime, it continued the development of their ground which was 800 -1,500 m from the defensive lines of the Pleven Division. To make the breakthrough, the British concentrated three divisions, with its artillery - more than 43,000 men,160 guns,110 mortars and 440 machine-guns. The objective did not differ much from the battle in the previous year, the prognosis of the Bulgarian command for a major Allied offensive was confirmed by intelligence. The 9th Pleven Division was reinforced and had a total of 30,000 men,147 guns,35 mortars,130 machine-guns, in 1917 the Bulgarian defensive positions and fortifications were further improved. It included two main positions with two rows of continuous trenches 1,5 –2 metres deep,200 to 1000 m apart, in front of these positions there was a two line system of wire entanglements. Between the rows of trenches watch points, shelters, machine-gun nests, behind these defences there were concrete galleries, fire positions for the artillery and platforms for ammunition. In front of the position there were smaller fortifications, with a partly constructed secondary position 2 –5 km to its rear. The battle for a breakthrough in the Bulgarian positions began on 22 April, the assault began with a bitter four-day artillery barrage in which the British fired about 100,000 shells. As a result, the earthworks and some structures in the front positions were destroyed. The Bulgarians also opened fire from the batteries between Vardar and Doiran, Vladimir Vazov ordered fire day and night on the Allied positions. The initial several-hour struggle between the British and Bulgarian batteries was followed by a one-hour Bulgarian counter-barrage in which 10,000 shells were fired, after a Bulgarian counter-attack the British were repulsed with heavy casualties and by 8 pm had retreated. The British assaults on the right and central fronts were also repulsed with casualties after help from the Bulgarian artillery. The British attacks in the two days were defeated by constant Bulgarian fire and counter-attacks
35.
Macedonian Front
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The expedition came too late and in insufficient force to prevent the fall of Serbia, and was complicated by the internal political crisis in Greece. The Macedonian Front remained quite stable, despite local actions, until the great Allied offensive in September 1918, which resulted in the capitulation of Bulgaria and the liberation of Serbia. Following the asassination of the Crown Prince by a Bosnian Serb, after the entry of the Ottoman Empire into the war on the side of the Central Powers, the decisive factor in the Balkans became the attitude of Bulgaria. Bulgaria occupied an important position on the Serbian flank and its intervention on either side of the belligerents would be decisive. Bulgaria and Serbia had fought each other twice in the thirty years, in the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885. Bulgaria had suffered defeat in 1913 and the Bulgarian government and people felt that Serbia had stolen land which rightfully belonged to Bulgaria. After the victory of the Serbian army in the Battle of Kolubara in December 1914, on 15 October 1915, two Bulgarian armies attacked, overrunning Serbian units, penetrating into the valley of the South Morava river near Vranje up to 22 October 1915. The Bulgarian forces occupied Kumanovo, Štip, and Skopje, and prevented the withdrawal of the Serbian army to the Greek border, for a year, the Allies had repeatedly promised to send serious military forces to Serbia, while nothing had materialized. But with Bulgarias mobilization to its south, the situation for Serbia became desperate, the main reason for the delay was the lack of available Allied forces due to the critical situation in the Western Front. The Entente used Greek neutrality as an excuse, although they could have used the Albanian coast for a deployment of reinforcements. The Entente also delayed due to protracted secret negotiations aiming at bringing Bulgaria into the Allied camp, in the event the lack of Allied support sealed the fate of the Serbian Army. Against Serbia the Central Powers marshalled the Bulgarian Army, a German Army, the Germans and Austro-Hungarians began their attack on 7 October with a massive artillery barrage, followed by attacks across the rivers. Then, on 11 October, the Bulgarian Army attacked from two directions, one from the north of Bulgaria towards Niš, the other from the south towards Skopje, the Bulgarian Army rapidly broke through the weaker Serbian forces which tried to block its advance. With the Bulgarian breakthrough, the Serbian position became hopeless, their army in the north faced either encirclement and enforced surrender. Marshal Putnik ordered a full Serbian retreat, southwards and westwards through Montenegro, the Serbs faced great difficulties, terrible weather, poor roads and the need for the army to help the tens of thousands of civilians who retreated with them. Only c.125,000 Serbian soldiers reached the Adriatic coast and embarked on Italian transport ships carried the army to Corfu. Marshal Putnik had to be carried during the retreat, he died just over a year later in a French hospital. The French and British divisions marched north from Thessaloniki in October 1915 under the joint command of French General Maurice Sarrail, however, the War Office in London was reluctant to advance too deep into Serbia
36.
Third Battle of Gaza
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Despite having held this line since March 1917, the Ottoman Army was forced to evacuate Gaza and Tel el Khuweilfe during the night of 6/7 November. Only Sheria held out for most of the 7 November before it too was captured, entrenched defences approximately on the lines held at the end of the second battle were strengthened, and both sides undertook regular mounted reconnaissances into the open eastern flank. In late June, Allenby replaced General Archibald Murray as commander of the EEF, at about the same time, the Ottoman Fourth Army was also restructured. The Ottoman defenders were reinforced at this time, and both sides carried out training while manning the front lines and monitoring the open eastern flank. Prior to the Second Battle of Gaza, the town had developed into a strong modern fortress, with entrenchments, wire entanglements. A series of works, mutually supported by artillery, machine guns and rifles. Beginning on 27 October, the EEF began a heavy and almost continuous bombardment of Gaza, yet these attacks were only partially successful due to the strength of the garrison. The bombardment of Gaza intensified on 6 November and during the night of 6/7 November successful attacks were launched on several trench systems, on the morning of 7 November, Gaza was found to have been evacuated during the night. The Gaza to Beersheba line subsequently collapsed and the Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies were forced into retreat, following several battles during the pursuit, the EEF captured Jerusalem on 9 December 1917. Gaza was a modern fortress, well entrenched and wired, with good observation. These defences which were too strong for an attack were extended eastwards by a series of field works to four miles from Beersheba. These fortifications were between 1,500 to 2,000 yards apart, each supported by fire from artillery, machine guns. As the troops of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force began to concentrate in preparation for their attacks, the EEF assumed their opponents thought there were still six infantry divisions in the Gaza area and one in the eastern sector towards Beersheba. However, according to Falls, here is evidence that the were fairly accurately informed of the British dispositions. On 28 October, they knew the camps at Khan Yunis and Rafa were empty and they estimated more cavalry at Asluj and Khalasa than was actually there. The loss of Beersheba on 31 October stunned the Yildirim Army Group commander, the Beersheba garrison withdrew either to the Ottoman defences around Tel es Sheria or northwards to Tel el Khuweilfe to defend the Hebron road. Here a considerable force, including all available units, was deployed in the Kuweilfeh area to stop a threatened advance up the Hebron road to Jerusalem about fifty miles to the north. The Turkish line had been back on its left
37.
Nabi Samwil
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An-Nabi Samwil also al-Nabi Samuil is a Palestinian village of nearly 220 inhabitants in the West Bank, within the Jerusalem Governorate, located four kilometers north of Jerusalem. The village consists of a few houses and in addition to serving worshipers, Nabi Samwil is situated atop of a mountain,890 meters above sea level, four kilometers north of the Jerusalem neighborhood Shuafat and southwest of Ramallah in the Seam Zone. Nearby localities include Beit Iksa to the south, al Jib to the north, Beit Hanina to the east, the village consists of 1,592 dunams of which only 5 dunams are built-up. The village is held to contain the tomb of the prophet Samuel. The tomb is draped by cloth and is located in a cellar in Nabi Samwils large turreted mosque. A monastery was built by the Byzantines at Nabi Samwil, serving as a hostel for Christian pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem, the monastery was restored and enlarged during the reign of Justinian I in the mid-6th-century CE. Since then, the site has been a place of pilgrimage for Jews, Christians, the tomb continued to be in use throughout the early Arab period of rule in Palestine from the 7th to 10th centuries. The Sultan asked the owner to describe the village, at which the owner enumerated the ills of the place After hearing this the ruler exclaimed Begone and we have no need for your village. 13th-century Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi, describes Mar Samwil or Maran Samwil as a town in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Mar in Syriac signifies al-Kass, the priest, and Samwil is the name of the Doctors of Law, during Islamic times, Nabi Samwil became center for pottery production, supplying nearby Jerusalem, as well as Ramla and Caesarea. In 1099, the Crusaders conquered Palestine from the Arab Fatimids and received their first view of Jerusalem from the mountain upon which Nabi Samwil is built and they soon constructed a fortress there to fend off Muslim raiding of Jerusalems northern approaches as well as to shelter pilgrim convoys. A 6th-century Christian author identified the site as Samuels burial place, according to the Bible, however, the prophet is buried at his hometown, Ramah, to the east of the hill which is located near Geba while this site is identified as Mizpah in Benjamin. As Judas Machabeus, preparing for war with the Syrians, gathered his men to Maspha, over against Jerusalem and he wrote that a church dedicated to St. Samuel of Shiloh had been built on the hill. This may refer to the church of St. Samuel built by Premonstratensian canons. In 1157, they constructed a church at Samuels tomb, king Baldwin II of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem entrusted Nabi Samwil to Cistercians religious order, who built a monastery there and then handed it over to the Premonstratensians in the 1120s. After the Ayyubids under Saladin conquered much of interior Palestine in 1187, in 1192, Richard the Lionheart reached Nabi Samwil, but did not take it. In the later Middle Ages, during the Mamluk period, Christian pilgrims continued to visit the site, including the known as John Mandeville. Jewish pilgrimage, which favoured visits in April and May each year, resumed after the Ayyubids conquered the area, in the 15th-century, Jews built a synagogue adjacent to the mosque and resumed pilgrimages to the site after losing that privilege during the Crusader era
38.
Battle of Jerusalem
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Before Jerusalem could be secured, two battles were recognised by the British as being fought in the Judean Hills to the north and east of the Hebron–Junction Station line. These were the Battle of Nebi Samwill from 17 to 24 November, as a result of these victories, British Empire forces captured Jerusalem and established a new strategically strong fortified line. This line ran from well to the north of Jaffa on the plain, across the Judean Hills to Bireh north of Jerusalem. With the capture of the road from Beersheba to Jerusalem via Hebron and Bethlehem, together with substantial Ottoman territory south of Jerusalem, the city was secured. On 11 December, General Edmund Allenby entered the Old City on foot through the Jaffa Gate instead of horse or vehicles to show respect for the holy city and he was the first Christian in many centuries to control Jerusalem, a city held holy by three great religions. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Lloyd George described the capture as a Christmas present for the British people, the battle was a great morale boost for the British Empire. The British Empire victory forced von Falkenhayn to withdraw his Seventh and Eighth Armies, as the Ottoman III Corps reached Jerusalem via the Hebron road after its defeat at Beersheba, it was ordered to develop defences around Jerusalem. This corps held the city while the XX Corps retreated from Junction Station into the Judean Hills towards Jerusalem, as they retired the XX Corps left strong rearguards to stop or slow the British advance. Time was needed to construct defences and for reorganisation of the depleted and disorganised Seventh Army, when they arrived in the city XX Corps took over responsibility for Jerusalems defences, while III Corps continued to move northwards from Jerusalem along the Nablus road. The British War Cabinet had cautioned Allenby not to commit to any operations that might not be sustainable in the term if the strength of British forces in the area could not be maintained. Their concerns were possibly linked to a proposal published on 8 November by the new Russian Bolshevik government between Russia and Germany. The document, scheduled to be signed on 3 March 1918, would constitute a separate peace treaty, all German forces on the eastern front could then turn their attention to fighting British and French forces elsewhere. His front-line forces had been fighting and advancing for a period fighting many miles from their bases and were tired and depleted. Now 35 miles from the railhead at Deir el Belah, Allenbys troops did not have a line of defensive entrenchments behind which they could stop a concerted push by these two Ottoman armies, such a counterattack could well see them driven back to Gaza and Beersheba. He decided to quickly attack Fevzi Pashas Ottoman 7th Army in the Judean Hills with the hope of capturing Jerusalem and this would keep pressure on this army in the hope of denying them time to complete their reorganisation, dig deep trenches or worst of all, counterattack. The planned advance into the Judean Hills would rely heavily on the ability of the lines of communications to keep the front line supplied with food, water. Between Gaza and Beit Hanun the road was unsealed and deep in making it difficult for lorries to proceed. Supplies were also shipped by sea and landed at Wadi Sukereir, lack of infrastructure at Jaffa meant all supplies brought via ship had to be cross-loaded onto surf boats, which then had to be unloaded on the beaches
39.
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
40.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
41.
Prince of Wales
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Charles, Prince of Wales is the eldest child and heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II. Known alternatively in South West England as Duke of Cornwall and in Scotland as Duke of Rothesay, he is the heir apparent in British history. He is also the oldest person to be next in line to the throne since Sophia of Hanover, Charles was born at Buckingham Palace as the first grandchild of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. After earning a bachelor of degree from Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1981, he married Lady Diana Spencer and they had two sons, Prince William later to become Duke of Cambridge, and Prince Harry, in 1996, the couple divorced, following well-publicised extramarital affairs. Diana died in a car crash in Paris the following year, in 2005, Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles. Charles has sought to raise awareness of the dangers facing the natural environment. As an environmentalist, he has received awards and recognition from environmental groups around the world. His support for alternative medicine, including homeopathy, has been criticised by some in the medical community and he has been outspoken on the role of architecture in society and the conservation of historic buildings. Subsequently, Charles created Poundbury, a new town based on his theories. He has authored a number of books, including A Vision of Britain, A Personal View of Architecture in 1989 and he was baptised in the palaces Music Room by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, on 15 December 1948. When Prince Charles was aged three his mothers accession as Queen Elizabeth II made him her heir apparent. As the monarchs eldest son, he took the titles Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince. Charles attended his mothers coronation at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, seated alongside his grandmother, as was customary for upper-class children at the time, a governess, Catherine Peebles, was appointed and undertook his education between the ages of five and eight. Buckingham Palace announced in 1955 that Charles would attend school rather than have a private tutor, Charles then attended two of his fathers former schools, Cheam Preparatory School in Berkshire, England, followed by Gordonstoun in the north-east of Scotland. He reportedly despised the school, which he described as Colditz in kilts. Upon his return to Gordonstoun, Charles emulated his father in becoming Head Boy and he left in 1967, with six GCE O-levels and two A-levels in history and French, at grades B and C, respectively. Tradition was broken again when Charles proceeded straight from school into university
42.
Civil Service Rifles War Memorial
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The Civil Service Rifles War Memorial is a war memorial in London that commemorates the service of soldiers in the Prince of Waless Own Civil Service Rifles in the First World War. It was designed by Edwin Lutyens in 1923, and was unveiled in the quadrangle at Somerset House in London in 1924 and it was relocated to the terrace beside the River Thames in 2002. In 1914, the 15th Battalion of the London Regiment was a unit in the Territorial Army, then part of the 4th London Brigade, the soldiers were at their annual camp on Salisbury Plain when war broke out in August 1914. The battalion was mobilised on 4 August 1914, and trained in England, before being sent to the Western Front in 1915. The battalion served in the 47th Division, at the Battle of Loos in 1915, the Battle of the Somme in 1916, the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917, a 2nd battalion was raised and served in France, then Salonika and Palestine. Both battalions were disbanded after the war, having lost 1,240 officers, a war memorial for the Civil Service Rifles was suggested in 1919 by Colonel Parish DSO MC, who had served as the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion. It took several years to secure funding, with donations, some from the regiments funds. Permission to erect a memorial in the quadrangle at Somerset House was eventlally given by the Office of Works in July 1923. At that time, Somerset House was still used as civil service offices, the memorial comprises a rectangular stone column made from Portland stone, topped by classical stone urn, and standing on a pedestal on three shallow steps. The east and west sides are decorated with painted and varnished metal flags, one of the regimental colours, the battalions list of the main military engagements are listed on the base of the memorial. The memorial was made at a works in Nine Elms, with donations, the regiments funds. It was unveiled by the Prince of Wales on 27 January 1924, the regiments Honorary Colonel, the Suffragan Bishop of Willesden William Perrin also attended. A rectangular stone pit to hold flowers and pots added at the base of the memorial in 1928, annual services of commemoration took place up to the end of the 1980s. The memorial received a Grade 2 listing in 1987, upgraded to Grade II* in October 2015
43.
Edwin Lutyens
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Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, OM KCIE RA FRIBA was a British architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials and public buildings, the architectural historian Gavin Stamp described him as surely the greatest British architect of the twentieth century. Lutyens played a role in designing and building New Delhi. In recognition of his contribution, New Delhi is also known as Lutyens Delhi, Lutyens was born in London, the tenth of thirteen children of Captain Charles Henry Augustus Lutyens, a soldier and painter, and Mary Theresa Gallwey from Killarney, Ireland. He grew up in Thursley, Surrey and he was named after a friend of his father, the painter and sculptor Edwin Henry Landseer. For many years he worked from offices at 29 Bloomsbury Square, Lutyens studied architecture at South Kensington School of Art, London from 1885 to 1887. After college he joined the Ernest George and Harold Peto architectural practice and it was here that he first met Sir Herbert Baker. He began his own practice in 1888, his first commission being a house at Crooksbury, Farnham. During this work, he met the designer and horticulturalist Gertrude Jekyll. In 1896 he began work on a house for Jekyll at Munstead Wood near Godalming and it was the beginning of a professional partnership that would define the look of many Lutyens country houses. The Lutyens-Jekyll garden had hardy shrubbery and herbaceous plantings within an architecture of stairs. This natural style was to define the English garden until modern times, Lutyens fame grew largely through the popularity of the new lifestyle magazine Country Life created by Edward Hudson, which featured many of his house designs. One of his assistants in the 1890s was Maxwell Ayrton, here he added elements of local architectural styles to his classicism, and based his urbanisation scheme on Mughal water gardens. He also designed the Hyderabad House for the last Nizam of Hyderabad and he also designed a chalk building, Marshcourt, in Hampshire, England. Built between 1901 and 1905, it is the last of his Tudor designs, in 1903 the main school building of Amesbury Prep School in Hindhead, Surrey, was designed and built as a private residence. It has been designated a Grade II* listed building and he also designed a columbarium – the Hannen Columbarium – for the Hannen family in Wargrave in 1905. Before the end of World War I, he was appointed one of three principal architects for the Imperial War Graves Commission and was involved with the creation of monuments to commemorate the dead. Larger cemeteries have a Stone of Remembrance, designed by him, the best known of these monuments are the Cenotaph in Whitehall, Westminster, and the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, Thiepval
44.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
United Kingdom
British Army
