1.
Cap badge
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A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearers nationality and/or organisation. Cap badges are a form of heraldry and their design generally incorporates highly symbolic devices. In the British Army each regiment and corps has its own cap badge and that of the Grenadier Guards is known as The Grenade Fired Proper The concept of regimental badges appears to have originated with the British Army. Plastic cap badges were introduced during the Second World War, when metals became strategic materials. Nowadays many cap badges in the British Army are made of a material called stay-brite, regimental cap badges are usually cast as one single piece but in a number of cases they may be cast in different pieces. The Royal Corps Of Signals also have a two part badge, the top being a brass crown and the bottom consisting of a silver flying body of Mercury above a brass world and the motto Certa Cito. A regiment or battalion may maintain variations of the cap badge for different ranks. These variations are usually in the material, size and stylization. Variations in cap badges are made for, Officers, usually three-dimensional in design with more expensive materials such as silver, enamel. Most officers beret badges are embroidered rather than metal or stay-brite, there are exceptions such as the Welsh Guards, where all ranks wear a cloth cap badge. Officers wearing an elaborate version to that of soldiers, made using gold thread and has a more three-dimensional design. All ranks of the Special Air Service wear an embroidered capbadge and all ranks of The Rifles, some regiments maintain a blackened or subdued version of their cap badges as shiny brass cap badges may attract the enemys attention on the battlefield. However, since the practice of British soldiers operating in theatre with regimental headdress has all but died out, the back badge is unique in the British Army and was awarded to the 28th Regiment of Foot for their actions at the Battle of Alexandria in 1801. Additional items that reflect a regiments historical accomplishments, such as backing cloth and hackles, in Scottish regiments, for instance, it is a tradition for soldiers to wear their cap badges on a small square piece of their regimental tartans. Officer Cadets may wear a white backing behind their badges. For a period leading up to Remembrance Day artificial poppies are worn by people in the United Kingdom. When worn in uniform the plastic stem of the poppy is discarded, on forage caps the paper petals are fitted under the left hand chin strap button. In the Royal Marines, the cap badges of commissioned officers are split into two, the crown and lion atop, but separated from, the globe and laurels, the Canadian Forces utilize a variety of metal and cloth cap badges on their headdress
2.
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
3.
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
4.
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
5.
Line infantry
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Line infantry is the type of infantry that composed the basis of European land armies from the middle of the 17th century to the middle of the 19th century. For both battle and parade drill it consisted of 2 to 4 ranks of soldiers drawn up side by side in rigid alignment. By extension, the term came to be applied to the regiments of the line as opposed to skirmishers, foot guards, militia. Line infantry mainly used three formations in its battles, the line, the square and the column, a line consisted of 2,3 or 4 ranks of soldiers. During the time period that line infantry were prevalent, the object was to cause the formation to rout, which was done by breaking it. The line was considered as the battle formation as it allowed for the largest deployment of firepower. Troops in skirmish formation, though able to cover and use initiative, were highly vulnerable to cavalry. Line infantry provided an anchor for skirmishers and cavalry to retreat to if threatened, against surrounding enemy cavalry, line infantry could swiftly adopt square formations to provide protection. Such squares were hollow, unlike the pikemen and old-style musketeers square, movement in line formation was very slow, and unless the battalion was superbly trained, a breakdown in cohesion was virtually assured, especially in any kind of uneven or wooded terrain. As a result, line was used as a stationary formation, with troops moving in column formations. Usually, columns would be adopted for movement and melee attacks, line infantry was trained in the manual of arms evolutions, the main objectives of which were fast deployment of a line, rapid shooting and manoeuvre. Line tactics required a strict discipline and simple movements, practiced to the point where they became second-nature, during training, the drill and corporal punishments were widely used. Line infantry quickly became the most common type of infantry in European countries, musketeers and grenadiers, formerly elite troops, gradually became part of the line infantry, switching to linear tactics. In the middle of the 17th century, the muskets of some line infantry were equipped with bayonets. Bayonets were attached to the muzzles of muskets and were used when line troops entered melee combat and they also helped to defend against cavalry. In many countries, the new fusils retained the name musket, both muskets and fusils were smoothbore, which lessened their accuracy and range, but made for faster loading, lesser amount of bore fouling and more robust, less complicated firearms. The bulk of the infantry had no protective equipment, as armor that could provide protection from musket fire were considered too expensive. Only the former elite troops could keep by tradition some elements of protection, for example, initially, soldiers equipped with firearms formed only a small part of the infantry branch of most armies, because of their vulnerability to hostile cavalry
6.
Militia (United Kingdom)
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The Militia of the United Kingdom were the military reserve forces of the United Kingdom after the Union in 1801 of the former Kingdom of Great Britain and Kingdom of Ireland. The militia was transformed into the Special Reserve by the Territorial, for the period before the creation of the United Kingdom, in the home countries and their colonies, see Militia. A separate voluntary Local Militia was created in 1808 before being disbanded in 1816 By 1813 the British Army was experiencing a shortage of manpower to maintain their battalions at full strength. Some consideration was given to recruiting foreign nationals, however on 4 November 1813 a bill was introduced to parliament to allow Militia volunteers to serve in Europe. In the event only three battalions were raised and these were sent to serve under Henry Bayly arriving in Bordeaux on 12 April 1814, although muster rolls were prepared as late as 1820, the element of compulsion was abandoned, and the militia was transformed into a volunteer force. It was intended to be seen as an alternative to the army, men would volunteer and undertake basic training for several months at an army depot. Thereafter, they would return to life, but report for regular periods of military training. In return, they would receive pay and a financial retainer. Of course, many saw the camp as the equivalent of a paid holiday. The militia thus appealed to agricultural labourers, colliers and the like, men in casual occupations, until 1861 the militia were an entirely infantry force, but in that year a number of county regiments were converted to artillery. In 1877 the militia of Anglesey and Monmouthshire were converted to engineers, typically, an English, Welsh or Scottish regiment would have two militia battalions and Irish regiments three. The militia must not be confused with the units created in a wave of enthusiasm in the second half of the nineteenth century. In contrast with the Volunteer Force, and the similar Yeomanry Cavalry, the militia was transformed into the Special Reserve by the military reforms of Haldane in the reforming post 1906 Liberal government. In 1908 the militia battalions were redesignated as reserve and a number were amalgamated or disbanded. Numbered Territorial Force battalions, ranking after the Special Reserve, were formed from the units at the same time. Altogether,101 infantry battalions,33 artillery regiments and two regiments of special reservists were formed. Upon mobilisation, the reserve units would be formed at the depot. The original militiamen soon disappeared, and the battalions became training units pure, the Special Reserve reverted to its militia designation in 1921, then to Supplementary Reserve in 1924, though the units were effectively placed in suspended animation until disbanded in 1953
7.
Army Reserve (United Kingdom)
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The Army Reserve is the active-duty volunteer reserve force and integrated element of the British Army. Most Volunteer infantry units had unique identities, but lost these in the reorganisation, only one infantry unit, the London Regiment, has maintained a separate identity. Reservists in the past also served as constables or bailiffs, even holding positions of civic duty as overseer of their parish, the more modern Yeomen of the 18th century were cavalry-based units, which were often used to suppress riots. Several units that are now part of the Army Reserve bear the title militia, after the Second World War, for example, the Army Reserve - or Territorial Army as it was known then - was not demobilised until 1947. All Army Reserve personnel have their jobs protected to a limited extent by law should they be compulsorily mobilised. There is, however, no protection against discrimination in employment for membership of the Army Reserve in the normal course of events. As part of the process, remaining units of militia were converted to the Special Reserve. The TF was formed on 1 April 1908 and contained fourteen infantry divisions and it had an overall strength of approximately 269,000. The individual units that made up each division or brigade were administered by County Associations, the other members of the association consisted of military members, representative members and co-opted members. Associations took over any property vested in the volunteers or yeomanry under their administration, each regiment or battalion had a Regular Army officer attached as full-time adjutant. In August 1914, after the outbreak of the First World War, territorial units were given the option of serving in France and, by 25 August, in excess of seventy battalions had volunteered. This question over the availability of territorial divisions for service was one of Lord Kitcheners motivations for raising the New Army separately. The first fully Territorial division to join the fighting on the Western Front was the 46th Division in March 1915, with divisions later serving in Gallipoli and elsewhere. As the war progressed, and casualties mounted, the character of territorial units was diluted by the inclusion of conscript. Following the Armistice all units of the Territorial Force were gradually disbanded, New recruiting started in early 1920, and the Territorial Force was reconstituted on 7 February 1920. On 1 October 1920, the Territorial Force was renamed the Territorial Army, the 1st Line divisions were reconstituted in that year. However, the composition of the divisions was altered, with a reduction in the number of infantry battalions required, there was also a reduced need for cavalry, and of the 55 yeomanry regiments, only the 14 most senior retained their horses. The remaining yeomanry were converted to artillery or armoured car units or disbanded, the amalgamation of 40 pairs of infantry battalions was announced in October 1921
8.
Volunteer Force (Great Britain)
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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
9.
Lower Barracks
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Lower Barracks was a military installation in Winchester. It was the depot of the Royal Hampshire Regiment from its formation in 1881 until it moved out in 1959, the Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum reopened at Serles House in 2004. It is one of several independent museums that comprise Winchesters Military Museums, the buildings at the Lower Barracks at Winchester date back to 1730 when Serles House, which had been designed by Thomas Archer, was built for William Seldon. The house was acquired by James Serle, a lawyer, in 1781, most of the other buildings in the Lower Barracks, including a barrack block and a small parade ground, were built during the Crimean War. In 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under the Cardwell Reforms and the became the depot for the 37th Regiment of Foot. Following the Childers Reforms, the 37th and 67th regiments amalgamated to form the Royal Hampshire Regiment with its depot in the barracks in 1881, the Lower Barracks were demoted to the status of out-station to the Wessex Brigade depot at Topsham Barracks in Exeter in 1959. Serles House was retained by the Ministry of Defence but many of the buildings were converted for private residential use in the late 1990s. The Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum reopened at Serles House in 2004, Royal Hampshire Regiment Memorial Garden & Museum - official site
10.
Winchester
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Winchester is a city and the county town of Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a government district. It is situated 61 miles south-west of London and 13.6 miles from Southampton, at the time of the 2011 Census, Winchester had a population of 45,184. The wider City of Winchester district which includes such as Alresford. Winchester developed from the Roman town of Venta Belgarum, which in turn developed from an Iron Age oppidum. Winchesters major landmark is Winchester Cathedral, one of the largest cathedrals in Europe, with the distinction of having the longest nave and overall length of all Gothic cathedrals in Europe. The city is home to the University of Winchester and Winchester College, the area around Winchester has been inhabited since prehistoric times, with three Iron Age hillforts, Orams Arbour, St. Catherines Hill, and Worthy Down all in the nearby vicinity. In the Late Iron Age, an urban settlement type developed, known as an oppidum. It was overrun by the confederation of Gaulish tribes known as the Belgae sometime during the first century BCE and it seems to have been known as Wentā or Venta, from the Brittonic for town or meeting place. After the Roman conquest of Britain, the settlement served as the capital of the Belgae and was distinguished as Venta Belgarum, Venta of the Belgae. Although in the years of the Roman province it was of subsidiary importance to Silchester and Chichester. At the beginning of the century, Winchester was given protective stone walls. At around this time the city covered an area of 144 acres, there was a limited suburban area outside the walls. Like many other Roman towns however, Winchester began to decline in the fourth century. Ford identifies the community as the Cair Guinntguic listed by Nennius among the 28 cities of Britain in his History of the Britains, amid the Saxon invasions of Britain, cemeteries dating to the 6th and 7th centuries suggest a revival of settlement. The city became known as Wintan-ceastre in Old English, in 648, King Cenwalh of Wessex erected the Church of SS Peter and Paul, later known as the Old Minster. This became a cathedral in the 660s when the West Saxon bishopric was transferred from Dorchester-on-Thames, the citys first mint appears to date from this period. In the early tenth century there were two new establishments, the convent of Nunnaminster, founded by Alfreds widow Ealhswith
11.
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
12.
67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot
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The 67th Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1756. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 37th Regiment of Foot to form the Hampshire Regiment in 1881, the formation of the regiment was prompted by the expansion of the army as a result of the commencement of the Seven Years War. On 25 August 1756 it was ordered that a number of existing regiments should raise a second battalion, the 2nd Battalion of the 20th Regiment of Foot was formed on 10 December 1756 and renumbered as the 67th Regiment of Foot on 21 April 1758. In spring 1761 the regiment formed part of a force which successfully captured Belle Île and it embarked for Portugal in 1762 and moved on to Minorca in 1763. After returning home in 1771, it was posted to Ireland in 1775, in 1782 the regiment took a county title as the 67th Regiment of Foot. In 1785 the regiment was posted to the West Indies, it arrived at Barbados and it moved to Grenada in 1788 and returned to Barbados in 1793 before travelling home in 1794. The regiment returned to the West Indies in 1795 and helped and it moved to Jamaica in 1798 and then with numbers depleted by disease returned to England in 1801. In July 1803 a second battalion was raised, the battalions were amalgamated again in May 1817. The regiment returned from India in November 1826 and it embarked for Gibraltar in 1832 and moved on to the West Indies in 1833, it was initially based at Saint Kitts but moved to Demerara in 1837 and to Barbados in 1839 before returning home in 1840. It embarked for India in 1858 and them moved on the China in 1860 for service in the Second Opium War. It saw action in the Battle of the Taku Forts in August 1860, the regiment moved to Japan in 1864 and to South Africa in 1865 before returning home in 1866. The regiment was posted to Burma in 1872, from there it moved to Afghanistan for service in the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1878. It fought at the Battle of Charasiab in October 1879 and the Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment in December 1879 before returning to India in 1881,40 at Lower Barracks in Winchester. On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 37th Regiment of Foot to form the Hampshire Regiment, sir Henry Erskine, 5th Baronet 1761–1774, Lt-Gen. Hamilton Lambert 1774–1803, Gen. Edward Maxwell Browne 1803, Lt-Gen, Francis DOyly 1803–1811, Gen. Peter Craig 1811–1828, Gen. Sir William Keppel, GCB 1828–1844, Lt-Gen, sir John Macdonald, GCB 1844–1852, Lt-Gen. John Frederick Ewart, CB 1854–1858, F. M, sir Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde, GCB, KCSI 1858–1874, Gen. Francis John Davies 1874–1877, Gen. Henry Phipps Raymond 1877–1881, Gen. William Mark Wood Cannon, Richard. Historical Record of the Sixty-Seventh, or the South Hampshire Regiment
13.
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
14.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
15.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
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Queen's Regiment
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The Queens Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1966 through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the Home Counties Brigade. In turn, the regiment became part of Princess of Waless Royal Regiment in an amalgamation with the Royal Hampshire Regiment in 1992. The regiment was formed as a regiment on 31 December 1966 by the amalgamation of the four remaining regiments of the Home Counties Brigade as a consequence of the Defence Review of 1957. The four regiments formed four battalions, retaining their previous names in the titles and these were, 1st Battalion – formerly the Queens Royal Surrey Regiment. 2nd Battalion – formerly Queens Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment, 3rd Battalion – formerly the Royal Sussex Regiment. 4th Battalion – formerly the Middlesex Regiment, 5th Battalion, a TAVR II unit, formed in 1967 to be employed for use with NATO forces in West Germany during tense times in the Cold War. The following year, on 1 July, the battalions discarded their previous regimental identification when the subtitles were omitted, 6th and 7th Battalions were formed in 1971 with headquarters at Wandsworth and Horsham respectively. On 1 April 1975 these two combined to form the 6th/7th Battalion, The Queens Regiment. 8th Battalion, Queens Fusiliers were formed on 16 May 1988 as a battalion composed of the Queens Regiment. A & B Companies were badged as Queens Regiment, C Company as RRF, shoulder titles for all companies read Queens Fusiliers. In 1992, the London Scottish and London Irish Rifles were removed from 1st Battalion, 51st Highland Regiment and 4th Battalion, Royal Irish Rangers, in 1993 8QF was retitled the London Regiment with the disbandment of the existing A Company. For example elements of the 1st battalion were almost continuously deployed to Northern Ireland between August 1969 and November 1976, in 1970 the 1st Battalion joined the Berlin Brigade in West Berlin, a small enclave in Communist-controlled East Germany, leaving in 1972. The 4th Battalion was disbanded that year, as every other junior battalion of the new large regiments. Also that year, the 3rd Battalion arrived in Gibraltar where it remained with the garrison for almost two years, by 1975 the 1st Battalion had arrived in Werl, Germany from where they did operational tours to Derry in 1976 and West Belfast in 1978. The 1st Battalion moved to Canterbury in 1980, from there it undertook a six-month tour of Belize before deploying in November 1982 to Omagh in Co Tyrone. It served there until January 1985 with south east Fermanagh as its primary focus, during this period all three battalions served in Ireland –2 Queens in Londonderry, also on a two-year tour, and 3 Queens in Belfast on a six-month tour. A freedom parade was held in Belfast in 1984 at which all three battalions Regimental Colours were paraded, in 1985 the battalion moved to Gibraltar for two years before returning to the United Kingdom in 1987 where it was to remain until 1990. During this period it undertook two 6-month tours of Northern Ireland – South Armagh in 1987 and Belfast in 1989/90, in 1990 the battalion moved to Minden in Germany where it disbanded in 1992
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Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
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Through its ancestry via the Queens Royal Regiment, the PWRR is the most senior English line infantry regiment. The current regiment was named in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, when the Princess divorced the Prince of Wales, she resigned as Colonel-in-chief and the Queen of Denmark has remained its Colonel-in-Chief since. The 1st Battalion served a tour of Iraq in 2004 with a second tour following in 2006. Many of the carried out by the battalion during the first tour were named after stations on the London Underground. Elements of 1 PWRR helped train the Iraqi National Army and oversaw the withdrawal of UK Forces from Basra, the 1st Battalion under Army 2020 will move from Paderborn, Germany to be stationed at Bulford Camp. The regiments 2nd Battalion were based in Shackleton Barracks, Northern Ireland, after two years at Alexandria Barracks in Dhekelia in Cyprus, they moved to Woolwich Garrison, London, to take up a public duties role in August 2010, a role they performed for three years. 2nd Battalion deployed to Cyprus again in 2014 and it remains one of the infantry units rotating between the UK and British Forces Cyprus. 3rd Battalion — Army Reserve Light Infantry serving with 7th Infantry Brigade, the Princess of Waless Royal Regiment Museum is located in Dover Castle, Dover, Kent. Exhibits trace the history, and include displays of photographs, paintings, weapons, badges, medals, uniforms. Private Johnson Beharry of the 1st Battalion, PWRR was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during his units deployment to Amarah, near Basra. Whilst attached to the 1st Battalion, Michelle Norris of the Royal Army Medical Corps became the first woman to be awarded the Military Cross following her actions on 11 June 2006
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Ancient counties of England
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The historic counties of England were established for administration by the Normans, in most cases based on earlier kingdoms and shires established by the Anglo-Saxons and others. They ceased to be used for administration with the creation of the counties in 1889. They are alternatively known as ancient counties or traditional counties, where they are not included among the modern counties of England they are also known as former counties. Counties were used initially for the administration of justice, collection of taxes and organisation of the military and they continue to form the basis of modern local government in many parts of the country away from the main urban areas, although sometimes with considerably altered boundaries. The name of a county often gives a clue to how it was formed, either as a division took its name from a centre of administration. The majority of English counties are in the first category, with the name formed by combining the central town with the suffix -shire, for example Yorkshire. Former kingdoms, which became earldoms in the united England did not feature this formulation, so for Kent, Counties ending in the suffix -sex are also in this category and are former Saxon kingdoms. Many of these names are formed from compass directions, the third category includes counties such as Cornwall and Devon where the name corresponds to the tribes who inhabited the area. County Durham is anomalous in terms of naming and origin, not falling into any of the three categories, instead it was a diocese that was turned into the County Palatine of Durham, ruled by the Bishop of Durham. The expected form would otherwise be Durhamshire, but it was rarely used, there are customary abbreviations for many of the counties. In most cases these consist of simple truncation, usually with an s at the end signifying shire, some abbreviations are not obvious, such as Salop for Shropshire, Oxon for Oxfordshire, Hants for Hampshire and Northants for Northamptonshire. Counties were often prefixed with County of in official contexts, such as County of Kent and those counties named after central towns lost the -shire suffix, for example Yorkshire would be known as County of York. This usage was sometimes followed even where there was no town by that name, the -shire suffix was also appended for some counties, such as Devonshire, Dorsetshire and Somersetshire, despite their origin. There is still a Duke of Devonshire, Great Britain was first divided into administrative areas by the Romans, most likely following major geographical features such as rivers. Before their arrival there were distinct tribal areas, but they were in a constant state of flux as territory was gained, the areas that would later form the English counties started to take shape soon afterwards, with the Kingdom of Kent founded by settlers around 445. Once the Kingdom of England was united as a whole in 927 it became necessary to subdivide it for convenience and to this end. The whole kingdom was divided into shires by the time of the Norman conquest, robert of Gloucester accounts for thirty-five shires and William of Malmesbury thirty-two, Henry of Huntingdon, thirty-seven. In most cases the counties or shires in medieval times were administered by a sheriff on behalf of the monarch, after the Norman conquest the sheriff was replaced and the shires became counties, or areas under the control of a count, in the French manner
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Hampshire
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Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, the capital city of England. The larger South Hampshire metropolitan area has a population of 1,547,000, Hampshire is notable for housing the birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force. It is bordered by Dorset to the west, Wiltshire to the north-west, Berkshire to the north, Surrey to the north-east, the southern boundary is the coastline of the English Channel and the Solent, facing the Isle of Wight. At its greatest size in 1890, Hampshire was the fifth largest county in England and it now has an overall area of 3,700 square kilometres, and measures about 86 kilometres east–west and 76 kilometres north–south. Hampshires tourist attractions include many seaside resorts and two parks, the New Forest and the South Downs. Hampshire has a maritime history and two of Europes largest ports, Portsmouth and Southampton, lie on its coast. The county is famed as home of writers Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, Hampshire takes its name from the settlement that is now the city of Southampton. Southampton was known in Old English as Hamtun, roughly meaning village-town, the old name was recorded in the Domesday book as Hantescire, and it is from this spelling that the modern abbreviation Hants derives. From 1889 until 1959, the county was named the County of Southampton and has also been known as Southamptonshire. The region is believed to have continuously occupied since the end of the last Ice Age about 12,000 BCE. At this time Britain was still attached to the European continent and was covered with deciduous woodland. The first inhabitants came overland from Europe, these were anatomically and behaviourally modern humans, notable sites from this period include Bouldnor Cliff. Agriculture had arrived in southern Britain by 4000 BCE, and with it a neolithic culture, some deforestation took place at that time, although it was during the Bronze Age, beginning in 2200 BCE, that this became more widespread and systematic. Hampshire has few monuments to show from early periods, although nearby Stonehenge was built in several phases at some time between 3100 BCE and 2200 BCE. It is maintained that by this period the people of Britain predominantly spoke a Celtic language, hillforts largely declined in importance in the second half of the second century BCE, with many being abandoned. Julius Caesar invaded southeastern England briefly in 55 and again in 54 BCE, notable sites from this period include Hengistbury Head, which was a major port. There is a Museum of the Iron Age in Andover, the Romans invaded Britain again in 43 CE, and Hampshire was incorporated into the Roman province of Britannia very quickly
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Barberton, Mpumalanga
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Barberton is a town in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, which has its origin in the 1880s gold rush in the region. It is situated in the De Kaap Valley and is fringed by the Makhonjwa Mountains and it is 43 kilometres south of Nelspruit and 360 kilometres east of Johannesburg. The mountains around Barberton are amongst the oldest in the world, dating back 3.5 billion years, and these volcanic rocks, which scientists call the Barberton Greenstone Belt, have given direct evidence of the conditions of life on the surface of the very early earth. In the satellite image, the rocks of mountain peaks appear as a pale gray-green, accentuated by the sharp relief of sunlit slopes. Deeper shades of green vegetation, including some vegetation on the lower slopes. In the mountain valleys, bright green areas suggest well-watered grassy areas, deeper green areas are probably forests. The series of green circles north of the town of Barberton result from centre-pivot irrigation systems. The area north and west of Barberton appears slightly pale and fuzzy compared to the rest of this image, the first form of life on earth, a bacterial micro fossil Archaeosphaeroides barbertonensis was discovered here in 1967 and has been identified as being 3.1 billion years old. In 1881 gold in the Barberton area was discovered by Tom McLachlan who found gold at Jamestown. However, due to the location no-one wanted to go there until Auguste Roberts discovered gold in Concession Creek on 20 June 1883 and this discovery resulted in a gold rush to the area. The State Secretary then asked the Magistrate in Lydenburg to investigate the matter and for David Wilson, Wilson investigated on 24 July 1884 and declared the township of Barberton. The town was named after Graham Hoare Barber who discovered a rich gold-bearing reef there in 1884, Barberton became a municipality in 1904. At first it was just a simple mining camp but grew when Edwin Bray, large amounts of money flowed into Barberton and the first Stock Exchange to operate in the then Transvaal opened its doors. More buildings were erected, billiard saloons and music halls established, the Criterion and Royal Standard hotels were opened. In 1896, Barberton was connected by rail to the Netherlands-South African Railway Company s Oosterlijn through a specifically constructed side line running from Kaapmuiden to Barberton. Barberton flourished for only a period and soon the inhabitants began to move away to the newly discovered gold fields on the Reef. Among the owners of mines in the Barberton area are Pan African Resources, on 5 February 2016,87 miners were rescued after a cave-in at the main entrance of Makonjwaan Gold Mine, operated by Australian-based Vantage Goldfields. This reserve is situated in the Barberton Mountain lands and is the Mpumalanga Parks Boards largest reserve, the British built a concentration camp here during the Boer War to house Boer women and children
21.
Southampton
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Southampton, on the south coast of England, is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire. It is 75 miles south-west of London and 19 miles north-west of Portsmouth, Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest. It lies at the northernmost point of Southampton Water at the confluence of the Rivers Test and Itchen, the city, which is a unitary authority, has an estimated population of 253,651. The citys name is abbreviated in writing to Soton or Soton. Significant employers in the city include the University of Southampton, Southampton Solent University, Southampton Airport, Ordnance Survey, BBC South, Southampton has a large shopping centre and retail park, Westquay. In 2014, the city approved a follow-up from the Westquay park, WestQuay Watermark. This built-up area is part of the area known as South Hampshire. With a population of over 1.5 million this makes the one of the United Kingdoms most populous metropolitan areas. Archaeological finds suggest that the area has been inhabited since the stone age, following the Roman invasion of Britain in AD43 and the conquering of the local Britons in 70 AD the fortress settlement of Clausentum was established. It was an important trading port and defensive outpost of Winchester, Clausentum was defended by a wall and two ditches and is thought to have contained a bath house. Clausentum was not abandoned until around 410, the Anglo-Saxons formed a new, larger, settlement across the Itchen centred on what is now the St Marys area of the city. The settlement was known as Hamwic, which evolved into Hamtun, archaeological excavations of this site have uncovered one of the best collections of Saxon artefacts in Europe. It is from this town that the county of Hampshire gets its name, viking raids from 840 onwards contributed to the decline of Hamwic in the 9th century, and by the 10th century a fortified settlement, which became medieval Southampton, had been established. Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, Southampton became the port of transit between the then capital of England, Winchester, and Normandy. By the 13th century Southampton had become a port, particularly involved in the import of French wine in exchange for English cloth. The Franciscan friary in Southampton was founded circa 1233, the friars constructed a water supply system in 1290, which carried water from Conduit Head some 1.7 kilometres to the site of the friary inside the town walls. Further remains can be observed at Conduit House on Commercial Road, the friars granted use of the water to the town in 1310. The town was sacked in 1338 by French, Genoese and Monegasque ships, on visiting Southampton in 1339, Edward III ordered that walls be built to close the town
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Special Reserve (militia)
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For instance, the members of some U. S. Army National Guard units are considered professional soldiers, as they are trained to maintain the same standards as their full-time counterparts. Militias thus can be military or paramilitary, depending on the instance, some of the contexts in which the term militia is used include, Forces engaged in defense activity or service, to protect a community, its territory, property, and laws. The entire able-bodied population of a community, town, county, or state, a subset of these who may be legally penalized for failing to respond to a call-up. A subset of these who actually respond to a call-up, regardless of legal obligation, a private, non-government force, not necessarily directly supported or sanctioned by its government. An irregular armed force enabling its leader to exercise military, economic, an official reserve army, composed of citizen soldiers. Called by various names in different countries, such as the Army Reserve, National Guard, the national police forces in several former communist states such as the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries, but also in the non-aligned SFR Yugoslavia. The term was inherited in Russia and other former CIS countries, in France the equivalent term Milice has become tainted due to its use by notorious collaborators with Nazi Germany. A select militia is composed of a small, non-representative portion of the population, as regular military forces were insufficient to counter the British attackers, Santiago de Liniers drafted all males in the city capable of bearing arms into the military. These recruits included the peoples, who ranked low down in the social hierarchy. With these reinforcements, the British armies were twice defeated, the militias became a strong factor in the politics of the city afterwards, as a springboard from which the criollos could manifest their political ambitions. They were a key element in the success of the May Revolution, a decree by Mariano Moreno derogated the system of promotions involving criollos, allowing instead their promotion on military merit. The Argentine Civil War was waged by militias again, as both federalists and unitarians drafted common people into their ranks as part of ongoing conflicts and these irregular armies were organized at a provincial level, and assembled as leagues depending on political pacts. This system had declined by the 1870s, mainly due to the establishment of the modern Argentine Army, provincial militias were outlawed and decimated by the new army throughout the presidential terms of Mitre, Sarmiento, Avellaneda and Roca. Armenian militia also played a role in the Georgia-Abkhazia War of 1992–1993, in the Colony of New South Wales Governor Lachlan Macquarie proposed a colonial militia but the idea was rejected. Governor Ralph Darling felt a mounted force was more efficient than a militia. A military volunteer movement attracted wide interest during the Crimean War, following Federation, the various military reserve forces of the Commonwealth of Australia became the Citizen Military Force. In the beginning, members didnt have uniforms and often paraded in business attire and they were given instruction on guerrilla warfare, and later the private organization was taken over by the Australian Government and became part of the Australian Military Forces. After World War I, multiple militias formed as soldiers returned home to their villages, only to many of them occupied by Slovene
23.
SS River Clyde
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SS River Clyde was a 3,913 GRT British collier built by Russell & Co of Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde and completed in March 1905. In the First World War the Admiralty requisitioned her for the Royal Navy, after the war she was repaired and sold to Spanish owners, with whom she spent a long civilian career trading in the Mediterranean before being scrapped in 1966. The engine was built by J. G, kincaid & Co of Greenock and was rated at 374 NHP. Early in 1915 River Clyde was adapted to be a ship for the joint French. Openings were cut in her hull as sally ports from which troops would emerge onto gangways. Boiler plate and sandbags were mounted on her bow, and behind them a battery of 11 machine guns was installed, the machine gun battery was manned by Royal Naval Air Service men commanded by Josiah Wedgwood. Work began on painting River Clydes hull sandy yellow as camouflage, by 11 April 1915 River Clyde was in the natural harbour of Moudros on the Aegean island of Lemnos, where French and British ships were assembling in final preparation for the landings. Both Battalions were units of the 88th Brigade, which was part of the 29th Division, on 25 April 1915 River Clyde sailed to take part in the landing at Cape Helles. She was commanded by Commander Edward Unwin, formerly of the Dryad-class torpedo gunboat HMS Hussar. She was carrying 2,000 soldiers, mostly from 86th Brigade units of the 29th Division, the 1st Battalion of the Royal Munster Fusiliers and men from the 1st Battalion, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Unwin beached River Clyde at V Beach beneath the Sedd el Bahr castle, the plan failed and the River Clyde, beached under the guns of the Turkish defenders, became a death trap. Three attempts to land made by companies of Munsters, Royal Dublins, further landing attempts were abandoned and the surviving soldiers waited until nightfall before trying again. Members of River Clydes crew maintained the bridge from the ship to the beach, Williams was killed in the landing and was decorated posthumously. Samson was severely wounded the day but survived. On his return to Scotland he was handed a white feather while wearing civilian clothes, tisdall was killed on 6 May when the 6th Battalion RND advanced along Kanlı Dere in the Second Battle of Krithia. Drewry, Samson and Williams had come with Unwin from HMS Hussar, malleson, who died in 1975, served on the Duncan-class battleship HMS Cornwallis. After the Helles beach-head was established, V Beach became the base for the French contingent and her condensers provided fresh water and her holds became a field dressing station. She remained a constant target for Turkish gunners ashore, in 1919, River Clyde was refloated by the Ocean Salvage Co. and taken to Malta
24.
Sedd el Bahr
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Sedd el Bahr is a village in the district of Eceabat, Çanakkale Province, Turkey. It is located at Cape Helles on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey, the village lies east of the cape, on the shore of the Dardanelles. It was the site of V Beach, the zone for two Irish battalions, including one from the SS River Clyde, on 25 April 1915 during the Gallipoli Campaign in World War I. At the tip of the Sedd el Bahr promontory is the castle, Sedd el Bahr Kale, the British designated the castle Fort No.3 and it was equipped with 10 artillery pieces, including two 28 cm Krupp L/22 guns. The castle was bombarded by the Royal Navy on 3 November 1914 causing serious damage, the British attacked the Turkish forts on 19 February 1915 at the start of the naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign. Sedd el Bahr was subjected to repeated bombardment and raids by naval demolition teams, by the peak of naval operations on 18 March, Sedd el Bahr and Kum Kale, across the straits, had been eliminated as threats. The Easter Rising, which began the Irish War of Independence started on 24 April 1916, today, the population of the village is 286, as of 2011
25.
Gallipoli Campaign
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The peninsula forms the northern bank of the Dardanelles, a strait that provided a sea route to the Russian Empire, one of the Allied powers during the war. Intending to secure it, Russias allies Britain and France launched an attack followed by an amphibious landing on the peninsula. The naval attack was repelled and after eight months fighting, with casualties on both sides, the land campaign was abandoned and the invasion force was withdrawn to Egypt. The campaign was one of the greatest Ottoman victories during the war, in Turkey, it is regarded as a defining moment in the nations history, a final surge in the defence of the motherland as the Ottoman Empire crumbled. In 1908, a group of officers, known as the Young Turks. The new régime implemented a program of reform to modernise the political and economic system. An enthusiastic supporter, Germany provided significant investment, German diplomats subsequently found increasing influence, despite Britain previously being the predominant power in the region, while German officers assisted in training and re-equipping the army. Despite this support, the resources of the Ottoman Empire were depleted by the cost of the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913. In December 1913, the Germans sent a mission to Constantinople. The geographical position of the Ottoman Empire meant that Russia and her allies France, during the Sarajevo Crisis in 1914, German diplomats offered Turkey an anti-Russian alliance and territorial gains in Caucasia, north-west Iran and Trans-Caspia. The pro-British faction in the Cabinet was isolated due to the British ambassador taking leave until 18 August, as the crisis deepened in Europe, Ottoman policy was to obtain a guarantee of territorial integrity and potential advantages, unaware that the British might enter a European war. This action strained diplomatic relations between the two empires and the German government offered SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau to the Ottoman navy as replacements, by allowing the German ships to enter the Dardanelles, the Ottomans confirmed their links to Germany. In September, the British naval mission to the Ottomans, which had established in 1912 under Admiral Arthur Limpus, was recalled due to increasing concern that Turkey would soon enter the war. Rear Admiral Wilhelm Souchon of the Imperial German Navy took over command of the Ottoman navy, the German naval presence and the success of German armies on all fronts, gave the pro-German faction in the Ottoman government enough influence to declare war on Russia. On 27 October, Goeben and Breslau, having been renamed Yavûz Sultân Selîm and Midilli, sortied into the Black Sea, bombarded the Russian port of Odessa and sank several Russian ships. The Ottomans refused an Allied demand that they expel the German missions and on 31 October 1914, Russia declared war on Turkey on 2 November. The next day, the British ambassador left Constantinople and a British naval squadron off the Dardanelles bombarded the outer defensive forts at Kum Kale, a shell hit a magazine, knocked the guns off their mounts and killed 86 soldiers. Fighting also began in Mesopotamia, following a British landing to occupy the oil facilities in the Persian Gulf, the Ottomans prepared to attack Egypt in early 1915, aiming to occupy the Suez Canal and cut the Mediterranean route to India and the Far East
26.
11th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters South East
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The Brigade was re-established on 1 August 2014 when 145 Brigade was re-designated as Headquarters 11th Infantry Brigade. In December 2014 the brigade merged with 2 Brigade to form Headquarters 11th Infantry Brigade, the brigade served in both World War I and World War II. Deactivated in 1958, it was reactivated in 2008 to assume command of the planned Operation Herrick deployment to Afghanistan in late 2009, the 11th Infantry Brigade was part of the 4th Division. It was one of the British units sent overseas to France on the outbreak of the Great War in August 1914 and it was part of the British Expeditionary Force and fought on the Western Front for the next four years. The brigade landed in North Africa at Algiers in November 1942 and it then served with 78th Division throughout the campaigns in Sicily and Italy. The Brigade was headquartered in Aldershot and was formed using units from existing formations and it was disbanded in 2010 on its return from Afghanistan, with its component units returning to their previous formations. The brigade is the Regional Point of Command for the South East of England, as well as responsibility for British Forces Brunei
27.
4th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)
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It was disbanded after the war and reformed in the 1950s as an armoured formation before being disbanded and reformed again and finally disbanded on 1 January 2012. The 4th Division was originally formed in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the Peninsular War. It fought in the Battle of Talavera and the Battle of Salamanca, Battle of Badajoz, Major General Sir Charles Colville Major General Lowry Cole 1st Brigade, Major General Kemmis 3/27th Regiment of Foot 1/40th Regiment of Foot 1/48th Regiment of Foot 2nd Provisional Battalion 1 Coy. Brunswick-Oels Jaegers 3rd Brigade, Major General Skerrett 3/1st Foot Guards 2/47th Regiment of Foot 2/87th Regiment of Foot 2 Cos, the commanding general at this time was Charles Colville. In his novel Les Misérables Victor Hugo credits Colville with asking for the surrender of the Imperial Guard at Waterloo and it saw action in the Battle of Alma the Battle of Inkerman and the Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854. In June 1942 the division, now under Major-General John Hawkesworth, was selected to be converted into a mixed division, as a result of this change the divisions 11th Infantry Brigade left the division and was replaced by the 21st Army Tank Brigade. The division departed for North Africa in early 1943, arriving in Tunisia in March, coming under Lieutenant-General John Crockers IX Corps, however, during the assault the division suffered heavy losses, with four battalions sustaining over 300 casualties. S. In March the division transferred to Lieutenant-General Sidney Kirkmans British XIII Corps, during the battle of Cassino Captain Richard Wakeford of the 2/4th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment was awarded the Victoria Cross. At the time the Division also incorporated the 4th Infantry Brigade, during the 1970s, the division consisted of two square brigades, the 11th Armoured Brigade and the 20th Armoured Brigade. It was renamed 4th Armoured Division and served with I Corps being based at Hammersmith Barracks in Herford from 1978. After being briefly reorganised into two forces in the late 1970s, the division consisted of the 11th Armoured Brigade, the 20th Brigade Division. The division ceased its role as a front line Armoured Division on 1 July 1993, the Division was reformed again in 1995 as a regenerative division – a military district in all but name – that served as the parent formation for units in Southern England. The Divisions last insignia was a tiger and it was commanded from HQ at Steeles Road, Aldershot and reported to Army Headquarters at Andover. HQ 2nd division in Edinburgh and HQ 5th division in Shrewsbury were both disbanded in April 2012. F. Becke, History of the Great War, Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 1, The Regular British Divisions, London, HM Stationery Office, 1934/Uckfield, Naval & Military Press,2007, ISBN 1-847347-38-X. Litchfield, The Territorial Artillery 1908–1988, Nottingham, Sherwood Press,1992, the British Army in the Great War, The 4th Division 4 Infantry Division British Unit Histories The Royal Artillery 1939–45 Orbat. com
28.
British Expeditionary Force (World War I)
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The British Expeditionary Force or BEF was the British Army sent to the Western Front during the First World War. Planning for a British Expeditionary Force began with the Haldane reforms of the British Army carried out by the Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane following the Second Boer War. The term British Expeditionary Force is often used to only to the forces present in France prior to the end of the First Battle of Ypres on 22 November 1914. By the end of 1914—after the battles of Mons, Le Cateau, an alternative endpoint of the BEF was 26 December 1914, when it was divided into the First and Second Armies. B. E. F. remained the name of the British armies in France. Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, who was dismissive of the BEF. The treacherous English and walk over General Frenchs contemptible little army, hence, in later years, the survivors of the regular army dubbed themselves The Old Contemptibles. No evidence of any such order being issued by the Kaiser has ever been found, in October 1914, 7th Division arrived in France, forming the basis of III Corps and the cavalry had grown to form the Cavalry Corps of three divisions. By December 1914, the BEF had expanded to such an extent that the First Army, the force was commanded by Field Marshal Sir John French until December 1915, when he was replaced by General Sir Douglas Haig. The BEFs Chief of Staff on mobilization was General Archibald Murray and he was replaced in January 1915 by General William Robertson. Lieutenant-General Launcelot Kiggell then served as Chief of Staff from December 1915 to January 1917 when he was succeeded by Lieutenant-General Herbert Lawrence, the two initial Army Corps were commanded by Douglas Haig and Horace Smith-Dorrien. As the Regular Armys strength declined, the numbers were made up, first by the Territorial Force, by the end of August 1914, he had raised six new divisions and by March 1915, the number of divisions had increased to 29. The Territorial Force was also expanded, raising second and third battalions and forming eight new divisions. The Third Army was formed in July 1915 and with the influx of troops from Kitcheners volunteers and further reorganisation, the Fourth Army and the Reserve Army, became the Fifth Army in 1916. The BEF grew from six divisions of British regular army and reserves in 1914, to encompass the British Empires war effort on the Western front in 1918 and some of its allies. Over the course of the war 5,399,563 men served with the BEF, the First Army was formed on 26 December 1914. Its first commander was Douglas Haig promoted from command of the I Corps, when Haig took over command of the BEF in 1915, the new commander was General Henry Horne. First Army remained in France until the end of the war, the Second Army was formed at the same time as the First Army on 26 December 1914
29.
German Army (German Empire)
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The Imperial German Army was the name given to the combined land and air forces of the German Empire. The term Deutsches Heer is also used for the modern German Army, the German Army was formed after the unification of Germany under Prussian leadership in 1871 and dissolved in 1919, after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I. When operating together, the units were known as the Federal Army, Prussia formed the North German Confederation and the treaty provided for the maintenance of a Federal Army and a Federal Navy. Further laws on military duty also used these terms, through these conventions and the 1871 Constitution of the German Empire, an Army of the Realm was created. The contingents of the Bavarian, Saxon and Württemberg kingdoms remained semi-autonomous, the Constitution of the German Empire, dated April 16,1871, changed references in the North German Constitution from Federal Army to either Army of the Realm or German Army. After 1871, the armies of the four kingdoms remained relatively distinct. German Army was used in legal documents, such as the Military Penal Code. Württemberg and Saxon units were numbered according to the Prussian system, the commander of the Imperial German Army, less the Bavarian contingent, was the Kaiser. He was assisted by a Military Cabinet and exercised control through the Prussian Ministry of War, the Chief of the General Staff became the Kaisers main military advisor and the most powerful military figure in the Empire. Bavaria kept its own Ministry of War and General Staff, saxony also maintained its own Ministry of War and the Ministry of War of Württemberg also continued to exist. Command of the Prussian Army had been reformed in the wake of the defeats suffered by Prussia in the Napoleonic Wars, the General Staff system, that sought to institutionalize military excellence, was the main result. It provided planning and organizational work during peacetime and wartime, the Prussian General Staff, proven in battle in the Wars of Unification, became the German General Staff upon formation of the German Empire, given Prussias leading role in the German Army. During wartime, the staff of the Army inspectorates formed field army commands, during World War I, a higher command level, the army group, was created. Each army group controlled several field armies, Germany was divided into army inspectorates, each of which oversaw three or four corps. There were five in 1871, with three more added between 1907 and 1913, the corps consisted of two or more divisions and various support troops, covering a geographical area. The corps was responsible for maintaining the reserves and Landwehr in the corps area. By 1914, there were 21 corps areas under Prussian jurisdiction, besides the regional corps, there was also a Guard Corps, which controlled the elite Prussian Guard units. A corps usually included an infantry battalion, a heavy artillery battalion, an engineer battalion, a telegraph battalion
30.
Battle of Le Cateau
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On the morning of 26 August, the Germans arrived and attacked II Corps. The British deployed their artillery in the open, about 50–200 metres behind their infantry, the British 5th Division was positioned on the right flank, on the southern side of the Le Cateau–Cambrai road between Inchy and Le Cateau. The 3rd Division was in the centre, holding the ground between Caudry and Inchy, the 4th Division was on the left flank, on the northern bank of the Warnelle. This was a choice of terrain on the part of the British, because the road was sunken in places. In fact, in most cases, the Germans could march close up to the British positions, which is what they often did. This was especially true at the weakest point in the British line, the right flank west of Le Cateau, the British position was on the forward slope and consequently, casualties were heavy during the withdrawal. At 03,30, Smith-Dorrien decided to strike the enemy hard and after he had done so, the purpose of the operation was unclear to his subordinates. A hold at all costs mentality was evident in the 5th Division on the British right flank, the order was confirmed by a colonel from the II Corps staff, who, upon arriving, repeated it. Smith-Dorriens delaying operation never occurred because the order to defend arrived at the front line about the time the Germans did. Nor were the conditions of a doctrinal delay observed, such as refusing to let British units become decisively engaged with the enemy and he did not choose positions with adequate fields-of-fire and with prepared and hidden routes of withdrawal. 75 percent of IV Corps troops were in contact before they received this order, the IV Corps commander did not control the other half of the German forces, II Cavalry Corps, which fought independently. Holding their ground despite many casualties, the British right and then the left began to break around midday. That night, the Allies withdrew to Saint-Quentin, of the 40,000 British troops fighting at Le Cateau,7,812 British casualties were incurred, including 2,600 taken prisoner. Thirty-eight guns were abandoned, most having their breech blocks removed, II Corps retreated on the morning of 27 August and in two days of marching, broke contact with the Germans. Having lost 7,000 of its infantry at Le Cateau and 2, 500–3,000 footsore and exhausted men who had to be evacuated to Le Mans for recuperation, II Corps was not battleworthy for at least two days. Although credited at the time by Field Marshal Sir John French for having saved the BEF, the Germans were pleased with their victory. It was this mistake which allowed II Corps to retire as German troops were given a night of rest instead of being sent to pursue the British forces. Retreat from Mons La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial The Battle of Le Cateau,1914 The Battle of Le Cateau,26 August 1914 Battle of Le Cateau,26 August 1914
31.
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
32.
First Battle of the Marne
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The Battle of the Marne was a World War I battle fought from 7–12 September 1914. It resulted in an Allied victory against the German Army, the battle was the culmination of the German advance into France and pursuit of the Allied armies which followed the Battle of the Frontiers in August and had reached the eastern outskirts of Paris. The Battle of the Marne was a victory for the Allies, the Battle of the Frontiers is a general name for all the operations of the French armies from 7 August to 13 September. A series of encounter battles began between the German, French and Belgian armies on the German-French frontier and in southern Belgium on 4 August 1914, Liège was occupied by the Germans on 7 August. The first units of the British Expeditionary Force landed in France, the Battle of Mulhouse was the first French offensive of World War I. The French captured Mulhouse, until forced out by a German counter-attack on 11 August, on 12 August, the Battle of Haelen was fought by German and Belgian cavalry and infantry, resulting in a Belgian defensive success. The BEF completed its move of four divisions and a division to France on 16 August. The Belgian government withdrew from Brussels on 18 August, the main French offensive, the Battle of Lorraine, began with the Battles of Morhange and Sarrebourg advances by the First Army on Sarrebourg and the Second Army towards Morhange. Château-Salins near Morhange was captured on 17 August and Sarrebourg the next day, the German 6th and 7th Armies counter-attacked on 20 August, and the Second Army was forced back from Morhange and the First Army was repulsed at Sarrebourg. The German armies crossed the border and advanced on Nancy, but were stopped to the east of the city. The Belgian 4th Division, the part of the Belgian army not to retreat to the defensive lines around Antwerp, dug in to defend Namur. Further west, the French Fifth Army had concentrated on the Sambre by 20 August, facing north on either side of Charleroi and east towards Namur, additional support was given to the Belgians at Namur by the French 45th Infantry Brigade. On the left, the Cavalry Corps of General Sordet linked up with the BEF at Mons, to the south, the French retook Mulhouse on 19 August and then withdrew. By 20 August, a German counter-offensive in Lorraine had begun, an offensive by the French Third and Fourth Armies through the Ardennes began on 20 August in support of the French invasion of Lorraine. The opposing armies met in thick fog, the French mistook the German troops for screening forces, on 22 August, the Battle of the Ardennes began with French attacks, which were costly to both sides and forced the French into a disorderly retreat late on 23 August. The Third Army recoiled towards Verdun, pursued by the 5th Army, Mulhouse was recaptured again by German forces and the Battle of the Meuse, caused a temporary halt of the German advance. At the Battle of Mons, the BEF attempted to hold the line of the Mons–Condé Canal against the advancing German 1st Army. The British were eventually forced to withdraw due to being outnumbered by the Germans and the retreat of the French Fifth Army
33.
First Battle of the Aisne
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The Advance to the Aisne consisted of the Battle of the Marne and the Battle of the Aisne. When the Germans turned to face the pursuing Allies on 13 September, between Compiègne and Berry-au-Bac, the Aisne River winds westward and is about 100 feet wide, ranging from 12–15 feet deep. Low-lying ground extends a 1-mile on each side, rising abruptly to a line of steep cliffs 300–400 feet high, the Germans settled on the higher northern side 2 miles beyond the crest, behind a dense thicket that covered the front and slope. Low crops in the unfenced countryside offered no natural concealment to the Allies, deep, narrow paths cut into the escarpment at right angles, exposing any infiltrators to extreme hazard. The forces on the plateau commanded a wide field of fire. At Chivres-Val east of Venizel, there was an escarpment the Germans had selected as their strongest position. The French Fifth Army crossed the Aisne at Berry-au-Bac and captured the eastern tip of Chemin des Dames, contact was established along the entire front. East of Chemin des Dames, the French Fourth, Fifth and Ninth armies made only negligible progress beyond the positions they had reached on 13 September, under the thick cover of the foggy night, the BEF advanced up the narrow paths to the plateau. When the mist evaporated under a bright morning sun, they were raked by fire from the flank. Those caught in the valley without the fogs protective shroud fared no better, on 14 September, Sir John French ordered the entire BEF to entrench, but few entrenching tools were available. Soldiers scouted nearby farms and villages for pickaxes, spades and other implements, without training for stationary warfare, the troops merely dug shallow pits in the soil. These were at first intended only to cover against enemy observation. Soon the trenches were deepened to about seven feet, other protective measures included camouflage and holes cut into trench walls then braced with timber. Trench warfare was also new for the Germans, whose training and equipment were designed for a war to be won in six weeks. Siege howitzers now lobbed massive shells into the Allied trenches, skilful use of trench mortars and hand and rifle grenades, enabled the Germans to inflict great losses upon Allied troops, who had neither been trained nor equipped with these weapons. Searchlights, flares and periscopes were also part of the German equipment intended for other purposes, a shortage of heavy weapons handicapped the British. Only their 60-pounders were powerful enough to shell enemy gun emplacements from the Aisnes south shore, four artillery battery of 6-inch guns, were rushed from England. Although a poor match against the German 8-inch howitzers, they helped somewhat, defensive firepower was limited to rifles and two machine guns allotted to each battalion
34.
Battle of Messines (1914)
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The Battle of Messines was fought in October 1914 between the armies of the German and British empires, as part of the Race to the Sea, between the river Douve and the Comines–Ypres canal. From 17 September –17 October the belligerents had made attempts to turn the northern flank of their opponent. By the next day French attacks north of the Aisne, led to Falkenhayn ordering the 6th Army to repulse French forces to secure the flank, by 6 October the French needed British reinforcements to withstand German attacks around Lille. The North-east of France and the south-west Belgium were known as Flanders, west of a line between Arras and Calais in the north-west, lay chalk downlands, covered with soil sufficient for arable farming. East of the line, the declines in a series of spurs into the Flanders plain, bounded by canals linking Douai, Béthune, St. Omer. To the south-east, canals ran between Lens, Lille, Roubaix and Courtrai, the Lys river from Courtrai to Ghent and to the north-west lay the sea. The plain was almost flat, apart from a line of low hills from Cassel, east to Mont des Cats, Mont Noir, Mont Rouge, Scherpenberg, a coastal strip about 10 miles wide, was near sea level and fringed by sand dunes. Inland the ground was mainly meadow, cut by canals, dykes, drainage ditches, the ground surface quickly turned to a consistency of cream cheese and on the coast troops were confined to roads, except during frosts. The rest of the Flanders Plain was woods and small fields, divided by hedgerows planted with trees and cultivated from small villages, south of La Bassée Canal around Lens and Béthune was a coal-mining district full of slag heaps, pit-heads and miners houses. North of the canal, the city of Lille, Tourcoing and Roubaix formed a complex, with outlying industries at Armentières, Comines, Halluin and Menin. In France, the roads were closed by the authorities during thaws, to preserve the surface and marked by Barrières fermėes signs. The difficulty of movement after the end of summer absorbed much of the local labour on road maintenance, leaving field defences to be built by front-line soldiers. The 1st and 2nd Cavalry divisions under General Allenby, covered the assembly of the III Corps at St. Omer and Hazebrouck from 10–12 October, the cavalry was ordered to extend as far north as Ypres. On 12 October, the British cavalry advanced and found the Germans dug in on Mont des Cats and at Flêtre, next day the cavalry advanced onto high ground east of Mont des Cats and occupied Mont Noir,3 miles north of Bailleul. On 15 October, the cavalry was ordered to reconnoitre the Lys from Estaires to Menin, a foothold was gained at Warneton and German outposts at Houthen and Hollebeke, west of the Ypres–Comines canal, were pushed back to the far side. By the end of 15 October, the Cavalry Corps and the 3rd Cavalry Division held the Lys river from Armentières to Comines and the Comines canal to Ypres. The BEF was ordered to make an advance on 16 October, as the German forces were falling back, except for III Reserve Corps. The cavalry were ordered to cross the Lys between Armentières and Menin as the III Corps advanced north-east, to clear the way for the cavalry and gain touch with the 7th Division near Ypres
35.
Christmas truce
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The Christmas truce refers to a series of widespread but unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front of World War I around Christmas 1914. In the week leading up to the 25th, French, German, in some areas, men from both sides ventured into no mans land on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to mingle and exchange food and souvenirs. There were joint burial ceremonies and prisoner swaps, while several meetings ended in carol-singing, men played games of football with one another, giving one of the most memorable images of the truce. Peaceful behavior was not ubiquitous, fighting continued in some sectors, soldiers were no longer amenable to truce by 1916. The war had become increasingly bitter after devastating human losses suffered during the battles of the Somme and Verdun, the Germans fell back to the Aisne valley, where they prepared defensive positions. To the north, on the right of the German army, there had no defined front line. In the ensuing Race to the Sea, the two sides clashed, each trying to push forward and threaten the end of the others line. After several months of fighting, during which the British forces were withdrawn from the Aisne and sent north into Flanders, by November, there was a continuous front line running from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier, occupied on both sides by armies in prepared defensive positions. In the lead up to Christmas 1914, there were several peace initiatives, pope Benedict XV, on 7 December 1914, had begged for an official truce between the warring governments. He asked that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang, fraternisation—peaceful and sometimes friendly interactions between opposing forces—was a regular feature in quiet front-line sectors of the Western Front. Truces between British and German units can be dated to early November 1914, around the opposing armies had begun static trench warfare. At this time, both sides rations were brought up to the front line after dusk, and soldiers on both sides noted a period of peace while they collected their food. By 1 December, a British soldier could record a visit from a German sergeant one morning to see how we were getting on. Relations between French and German units were generally tense, but the same phenomenon began to emerge. In early December, a German surgeon recorded a regular half-hourly truce each evening to recover dead soldiers for burial, during which French and German soldiers exchanged newspapers. Other truces could be enforced on both sides by weather conditions, especially when trench lines flooded in low-lying areas, though these often lasted after the weather had cleared. The proximity of lines made it easy for soldiers to shout greetings to each other. Men would frequently exchange news or greetings, helped by a language, many German soldiers had lived in England, particularly London, and were familiar with the language
36.
No man's land
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No mans land is land that is unoccupied or is under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied due to fear or uncertainty. The term was used to define a contested territory or a dumping ground for refuse between fiefdoms. The same term was used as the name for the piece of land outside the north wall of London that was assigned as the place of execution. The term was applied to an area on ships called the forecastle, a place where various ropes, tackle, block. The British Army did not widely employ the term when the Regular Army arrived in France in August 1914, the terms used most frequently at the start of the war to describe the area between the trench lines included between the trenches or between the lines. The term no mans land was first used in a military context by soldier, Swinton used the term in war correspondence on the Western Front, with specific mention of the terms with respect to the Race to the Sea in late 1914. In World War I, no land often ranged from several hundred yards to in some cases less than 10 yards. The area was devastated by the warfare. It was open to fire from the trenches and hard going generally slowed down any attempted advance. No mans land remained a feature of the battlefield until near the end of World War I. During the Cold War, one example of no land was the territory close to the Iron Curtain. The US Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba is separated from Cuba proper by a called the Cactus Curtain. This was dubbed the Cactus Curtain, an allusion to Europes Iron Curtain, US and Cuban troops placed some 55,000 land mines across the no mans land, creating the second-largest minefield in the world, and the largest in the Americas. On 16 May 1996, Bill Clinton, the President of the United States, the US land mines have since been replaced with motion and sound sensors to detect intruders. The Cuban government has not removed the corresponding minefield on its side of the border, the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and Jordan were signed in Rhodes with the help of UN mediation on 3 April 1949. Armistice lines were determined in November 1948, between the lines territory was left that was defined as no mans land. Such areas existed in Jerusalem, in the area between the western and southern parts of the Walls of Jerusalem and Musrara, a strip of land north and south of Latrun was also known as no mans land because it was not controlled by either Israel or Jordan in 1948–1967. In 1885, the United States Interior Department ruled that what was called The Neutral Strip was public land, the Strip began to be called No Mans Land around 1886 after one official stated no man can own the land
37.
Second Battle of Ypres
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It was the first mass use by Germany of poison gas on the Western Front. For the first time, a colonial force defeated a European power on European soil. The eastern part of the salient was defended by one Canadian, the II Corps and V Corps of the Second Army comprised the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Cavalry Divisions and the 4th, 27th, 28th, Northumbrian, Lahore and 1st Canadian Divisions. Although poison gas had been used before, at the Battle of Bolimów three months earlier, the gas had liquified in the cold and become inert, German troops carried 5,730 gas cylinders, weighing 90 pounds each, to the front by hand. The cylinders, opened by hand, relied on the wind to carry the gas towards enemy lines. Because of this method of dispersal, a number of German soldiers were injured or killed while carrying out the attack. The French troops in the path of the gas cloud sustained about 6,000 casualties, many died within ten minutes, and many more were blinded. Chlorine gas forms hypochlorous acid when combined with water, destroying moist tissue such as the lungs, the chlorine gas, denser than air, quickly filled the trenches and forced the troops out into heavy enemy fire. Although many French troops ran for their lives, others stood their ground, the German High Command had not foreseen the effectiveness of the new weapon and all available troops had been transferred to Russia, leaving few reserves in the west. General von Falkenhayn, Chief of the German General Staff, had ordered the attack as an effort by the German 4th Army. German troops advanced at 5,00 p. m. but dusk, apprehension about the effect of the gas, Canadian troops defended the flank of the break-in by urinating into cloth and holding them to their faces to counter the effects of the gas. At Kitcheners Wood, the 10th Battalion of the 2nd Canadian Brigade was ordered to counter-attack in the gap created by the gas attack. They formed up after 11,00 p. m. on 22 April, both battalions attacked with over 800 men, in waves of two companies each, at 11,46 p. m. Without reconnaissance, the battalions ran into obstacles halfway to their objective, engaged in fire from the wood. The attack cleared the former oak plantation of Germans at a 75-percent casualty rate, the village of St. Julien was in the rear of the 1st Canadian Division until the poison-gas attack of 22 April, when it became the front line. Julien into the rear of the Canadian front line and he was killed the following day. On the morning of 24 April, the Germans released another gas cloud towards the re-formed Canadian line just west of St. Julien, word was passed to the troops to urinate on their handkerchiefs and place them over their nose and mouth. The countermeasures were insufficient, and German troops took the village, the next day the York and Durham Brigade units of the Northumberland Division counter-attacked, failing to secure their objectives but establishing a new line closer to the village
38.
Chemical warfare
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Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. None of these fall under the conventional weapons which are primarily effective due to their destructive potential. With proper protective equipment, training, and decontamination measures, the effects of chemical weapons can be overcome. Many nations possess vast stockpiles of weaponized agents in preparation for wartime use, the threat and the perceived threat have become strategic tools in planning both measures and counter-measures. Chemical warfare is different from the use of weapons or nuclear weapons because the destructive effects of chemical weapons are not primarily due to any explosive force. Under this Convention, any chemical, regardless of its origin, is considered a chemical weapon unless it is used for purposes that are not prohibited. About 70 different chemicals have been used or stockpiled as chemical agents during the 20th century. The entire class known as Lethal Unitary Chemical Agents and Munitions have been scheduled for elimination by the CWC and these may only be produced or used for research, medical, pharmaceutical or protective purposes. Examples include nerve agents, ricin, lewisite and mustard gas, any production over 100 g must be reported to the OPCW and a country can have a stockpile of no more than one tonne of these chemicals. Schedule 2 – Have no large-scale industrial uses, but may have legitimate small-scale uses, schedule 3 – Have legitimate large-scale industrial uses. Both have been used as weapons but phosgene is an important precursor in the manufacture of plastics. The OPCW must be notified of, and may inspect, any plant producing more than 30 tonnes per year, Ancient Greek myths about Hercules poisoning his arrows with the venom of the Hydra monster are the earliest references to toxic weapons in western literature. Homers epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, allude to poisoned arrows used by both sides in the legendary Trojan War, some of the earliest surviving references to toxic warfare appear in the Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. The Laws of Manu, a Hindu treatise on statecraft forbids the use of poison and fire arrows, kautilyas Arthashastra, a statecraft manual of the same era, contains hundreds of recipes for creating poison weapons, toxic smokes, and other chemical weapons. Ancient Greek historians recount that Alexander the Great encountered poison arrows, arsenical smokes were known to the Chinese as far back as c.1000 BC and Sun Tzus Art of War advises the use of fire weapons. Other Chinese writings dating around the same period contain hundreds of recipes for the production of poisonous or irritating smokes for use in war along with accounts of their use. These accounts describe an arsenic-containing soul-hunting fog, and the use of finely divided lime dispersed into the air to suppress a peasant revolt in 178 AD. The earliest recorded use of gas warfare in the West dates back to the fifth century BC, There is archaeological evidence that the Sassanians deployed chemical weapons against the Roman army in the Siege of Dura Europos in the third century AD
39.
Battle of Albert (1916)
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The Battle of Albert, comprised the first two weeks of Anglo-French offensive operations in the Battle of the Somme. 60,000 British casualties of the day were incurred. German reinforcements were able to slow the French advance and defeat attacks on Barleux. Some minor attacks took place and German counter-attacks at Hem on 6–7 July nearly retook the village, a German attack at Bois Favières delayed a joint Anglo-French attack from Hardecourt to Trônes Wood by 24 hours until 8 July. British attacks south of the road between Albert and Bapaume began on 2 July, despite congested supply routes to the French XX Corps, British XIII Corps, XV Corps and III Corps. German reinforcements reaching the Somme front, were thrown into the battle as soon as they arrived and had many casualties as did the British attackers. Both sides were reduced to operations, which were hurried, poorly organised. Attacks were poorly supported by artillery-fire, which was not adequately co-ordinated with the infantry and sometimes fired on ground occupied by friendly troops. The loss of c. 60,000 British casualties on 1 July, was not repeated and in the fighting from 2–13 July the British lost another c. 25,000 men, the effect of the battle on the German defenders has received less attention in English-language writing. To obtain decisive victory, Falkenhayn needed to find a way to break through the Western Front and defeat the strategic reserves, Falkenhayn planned to provoke the French into attacking, by threatening a sensitive point close to the existing front line. Falkenhayn chose to attack towards Verdun over the Meuse Heights, to ground which overlooked Verdun. The British would have no choice but to begin a hasty relief-offensive, to divert German attention from Verdun, if these defeats were not enough, Germany would attack both 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 and unyielding defence. On the Eastern Front the Brusilov Offensive began on 4 June and on 7 June a German corps was sent to Russia from the western reserve, Anglo-French intentions were quickly undermined by the German offensive at Verdun which began on 21 February 1916. The French would attack with 39 divisions on a front of 30 miles, the original intention had been for a rapid eastwards advance to the higher ground beyond the Somme and Tortille rivers, during which the British would occupy the ground beyond the upper Ancre. The combined armies would then attack south-east and north-east, to roll up the German defences on the flanks of the breakthrough, the First day on the Somme was the opening day of the Battle of Albert. The objective of the attack was to capture the German first and second positions from Serre south to the Albert–Bapaume road, German counter-attacks during the afternoon, recaptured most of the lost ground and fresh attacks against Thiepval were defeated, with more great loss to the British. On the north bank of the Ancre, the attack of VIII Corps was another disaster, the VII Corps diversion at Gommecourt was also costly, with only a partial and temporary advance south of the village. A German counter-attack north of the Somme was ordered but took until 3,00 a. m. on 2 July to begin and it took until 4 July for the British relieve the divisions shattered by the attack of 1 July and resume operations south of the Albert–Bapaume road
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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
41.
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
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29th Division (United Kingdom)
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Under the command of Major-General Aylmer Hunter-Weston, the division fought throughout the Gallipoli Campaign, including the original landing at Cape Helles. From 1916 to the end of the war the division fought on the Western Front in Belgium, according to the published divisional history, The total casualties of the 29th Division amounted to something like 94,000. This must be, if not a record, among the highest totals in any division … The number of Victoria Crosses won by members of this division was 27. The 29th Division served on the Gallipoli peninsula, a point in the strategic Dardanelles straits between the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea, the division was there for the duration of the ill-fated campaign. It made the first landings as part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in April 1915 and was among the last to leave in January 1916, the division suffered through the worst of the fighting at Cape Helles before being moved to fight on the Suvla front as well. Three of the landings faced little or no opposition but were not exploited, the two main landings, at V and W Beaches on either side of the cape, met with fierce Turkish resistance and the landing battalions were decimated. The original objectives of the first day of the campaign had been the village of Krithia, the first concerted attempt to capture these was made by the division three days after the landings on 28 April. In this First Battle of Krithia an advance up the peninsula was made but the division was halted short of its objective, the attack was resumed on 6 May with the launch of the Second Battle of Krithia. On this occasion the 88th Brigade attacked along Fig Tree Spur and, on 24 May Major-General Beauvoir De Lisle took over command of the Division. On 4 June the 88th Brigade was once required to make an advance along Fig Tree Spur in the Third Battle of Krithia. In the subsequent counter-attacks, Second Lieutenant G. R. D Moor of the 2nd Hampshires was awarded the Victoria Cross for shooting four of his own men who attempted to retreat. The division finally saw successful fighting at Helles during the Battle of Gully Ravine on 28 June when the 86th Brigade managed to advance along Gully Spur. As a prelude to the launch of the August Offensive, a diversion was carried out at Helles on 6 August to prevent the Turks withdrawing troops. In what became known as the Battle of Krithia Vineyard, the 88th Brigade made another costly, at Suvla, the Battle of Scimitar Hill on 21 August was the final push of the failed August Offensive. The 29th Division had been moved from Helles to Suvla to participate, the 87th Brigade was briefly able to capture the summit of the hill but was soon forced to retreat. The division was evacuated from Gallipoli on 2 January 1916 and moved to Egypt before being sent to France in March, passing through the Mediterranean port of Marseilles the 29th Division arrived in the rear of the Somme battle front from 15 to 29 March 1916. From this time the Division was put into the British Front in the north of the Ancre River. Following a 7-day artillery bombardment of the German Front and Rear areas, at 07.20 hours the huge Hawthorn mine was blown on the left of the divisions position
United Kingdom
British Army
