1.
Kingdom of Great Britain
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The Kingdom of Great Britain, officially Great Britain, was a sovereign state in western Europe from 1 May 1707 to 31 December 1800. It did not include Ireland, which remained a separate realm, the unitary state was governed by a single parliament and government that was based in Westminster. Also after the accession of George I to the throne of Great Britain in 1714, the early years of the unified kingdom were marked by Jacobite risings which ended in defeat for the Stuart cause at Culloden in 1746. On 1 January 1801, the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom, the name Britain descends from the Latin name for the island of Great Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons via the Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The term Great Britain was first used officially in 1474, in the instrument drawing up the proposal for a marriage between Edward IV of Englands daughter Cecily and James III of Scotlands son James. The Treaty of Union and the subsequent Acts of Union state that England and Scotland were to be United into one Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain. However, both the Acts and the Treaty also refer numerous times to the United Kingdom and the longer form, other publications refer to the country as the United Kingdom after 1707 as well. The websites of the UK parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the BBC, additionally, the term United Kingdom was found in informal use during the 18th century to describe the state. The new state created in 1707 included the island of Great Britain, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, both in existence from the 9th century, were separate states until 1707. However, they had come into a union in 1603. Each of the three kingdoms maintained its own parliament and laws and this disposition changed dramatically when the Acts of Union 1707 came into force, with a single unified Crown of Great Britain and a single unified parliament. Ireland remained formally separate, with its own parliament, until the Acts of Union 1800, legislative power was vested in the Parliament of Great Britain, which replaced both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In practice it was a continuation of the English parliament, sitting at the location in Westminster. Newly created peers in the Peerage of Great Britain were given the right to sit in the Lords. Despite the end of a parliament for Scotland, it retained its own laws. As a result of Poynings Law of 1495, the Parliament of Ireland was subordinate to the Parliament of England, the Act was repealed by the Repeal of Act for Securing Dependence of Ireland Act 1782. The same year, the Irish constitution of 1782 produced a period of legislative freedom, the 18th century saw England, and after 1707 Great Britain, rise to become the worlds dominant colonial power, with France its main rival on the imperial stage
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.
Yeomanry
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Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army Reserve, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of different military roles, in the 1790s, the threat of invasion of the Kingdom of Great Britain was high, after the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. To improve the defences, volunteer regiments were raised in many counties from yeomen. These regiments became known collectively as the Yeomanry, members of the yeomanry were not obliged to serve overseas without their individual consent. In 1827 it was decided for reasons to reduce the number of yeomanry regiments. A number of independent troops were also dissolved, following these reductions the yeomanry establishment was fixed at 22 corps receiving allowances and a further 16 serving without pay. During the 1830s the number of yeomanry units fluctuated, reflecting the level of civil unrest in any region at any particular time. The Irish Yeomanry, which had played a role in suppressing the rebellion of 1798, was completely disbanded in 1838. For the next thirty years the Yeomanry Force was retained as a line of support for the regular cavalry within Britain. Recruiting difficulties led to serious consideration being given to the disbandment of the force in 1870. These included requirements that individual yeomanry troopers attend a number of drills per year in return for a permanent duty allowance. While these reforms improved the professionalism of the Yeomanry Force, numbers remained low, in 1876 the role of the Yeomanry Force was fixed as that of light cavalry. These supernumerary units were now abolished, during the Second Boer War companies of Imperial Yeomanry were formed to serve overseas from volunteers from the Yeomanry. In 1901 all yeomanry regiments were redesignated as Imperial Yeomanry, in 1908 the Imperial Yeomanry was merged with the Volunteer Force to form the Territorial Force, of which it became the cavalry arm. The Imperial title was dropped at the same time, on the eve of World War I in 1914 there were 55 Yeomanry regiments, each of four squadrons instead of the three of the regular cavalry. Upon embodiment these regiments were brought together to form mounted brigades or allocated as divisional cavalry. For purposes of recruitment and administration the Yeomanry were linked to counties or regions. Some of the still in existence in 1914 dated back to those created in the 1790s while others had been created during a period of expansion following on the Boer War
5.
Royal Armoured Corps
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The Royal Armoured Corps provides the armour capability of the British Army, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It was created as an association of armoured regiments, both the Royal Tank Regiment and those converted from old horse cavalry regiments. Today it comprises fourteen regiments - ten Regular and four Yeomanry, the RAC was created on 4 April 1939, just before World War II started, by combining regiments from the cavalry of the line which had mechanised with the Royal Tank Corps. As the war went on and other cavalry and Territorial Army Yeomanry units became mechanised. A significant number of infantry battalions converted to the armoured role as RAC regiments. In addition, the RAC created its own training and support regiments, finally, in 1944, the RAC absorbed the regiments of the Reconnaissance Corps. The Royal Armoured Corps is divided into regiments which operate main battle tanks, those in vehicles. Of these, three regiments are designated Dragoon Guards, two as Hussars, one as Lancers and one as Dragoons, the remaining regiment is the Royal Tank Regiment. In the regular army, there are three armoured regiments, three armoured regiments and three light cavalry regiments. In the army reserve, there is one armoured regiment and three cavalry regiments. Through this, operational and training cycles are aligned, resources shared, in the Royal Armoured Corps this manifests with each yeomanry unit being paired with a regular unit of the same role. Thus, The 1st Queens Dragoon Guards is paired with Royal Yeomanry, the Scots Dragoon Guards are paired with the Scottish & North Irish Yeomanry. The Light Dragoons with the Queens Own Yeomanry, the Royal Wessex Yeomanry, uniquely as the lone armoured reserve regiment, is paired with the Kings Royal Hussars, the Queens Royal Hussars and the Royal Tank Regiment. Regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps are based in the UK and this was formed in 2014 by the amalgamation of the Heavy Cavalry and Cambrai Band, and the Light Cavalry Band. The Band of the Royal Armoured Corps is stationed at Catterick, additonally the Royal Yeomanry operates an Army Reserve Band, which, alongside the bands of the Household Division, and The Honourable Artilley Regimental Band, form the state bands. The reorganisation of the Army announced in 2004 led to significant changes to the Royal Armoured Corps, reorganisation that began in 2003 would see three armoured regiments removed from Germany to the UK, with one re-roled as an FR regiment. In addition, three Challenger 2 squadrons will be converted to Interim Medium Armour Squadrons, while each FR regiment will gain a Command and these proposals were intended to reduce the size of the army to around 82,000. Armoured regiments would consist of Type 56 regiments, each with three Sabre Squadrons and a command and recce squadron, jackal regiments will be part of the Adaptable Force, comprising three Sabre Squadrons
6.
Second Boer War
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The Second Boer War, usually known as the Boer War and also at the time as the South African War, started on 11 October 1899 and ended on 31 May 1902. Great Britain defeated two Boer states in South Africa, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, Britain was aided by its Cape Colony, Colony of Natal and some native African allies. The British war effort was supported by volunteers from the British Empire, including Southern Africa, the Australian colonies, Canada, India. All other nations were neutral, but public opinion in them was largely hostile to Britain, inside Britain and its Empire there also was significant opposition to the Second Boer War. The British were overconfident and under-prepared, the Boers were very well armed and struck first, besieging Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking in early 1900, and winning important battles at Colenso, Magersfontein and Stormberg. Staggered, the British brought in numbers of soldiers and fought back. General Redvers Buller was replaced by Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener and they relieved the three besieged cities, and invaded the two Boer republics in late 1900. The onward marches of the British Army were so overwhelming that the Boers did not fight staged battles in defense of their homeland, the British quickly seized control of all of the Orange Free State and Transvaal, as the civilian leadership went into hiding or exile. In conventional terms, the war was over, Britain officially annexed the two countries in 1900, and called a khaki election to give the government another six years of power in London. However, the Boers refused to surrender and they reverted to guerrilla warfare under new generals Louis Botha, Jan Smuts, Christiaan de Wet and Koos de la Rey. Two more years of attacks and quick escapes followed. As guerrillas without uniforms, the Boer fighters easily blended into the farmlands, which provided hiding places, supplies, the British solution was to set up complex nets of block houses, strong points, and barbed wire fences, partitioning off the entire conquered territory. The civilian farmers were relocated into concentration camps, where very large proportions died of disease, especially the children, then the British mounted infantry units systematically tracked down the highly mobile Boer guerrilla units. The battles at this stage were small operations with few combat casualties The war ended in surrender, the British successfully won over the Boer leaders, who now gave full support to the new political system. Both former republics were incorporated into the Union of South Africa in 1910, the conflict is commonly referred to as simply the Boer War, since the First Boer War is much less well known. Boer was the term for Afrikaans-speaking white South Africans descended from the Dutch East India Companys original settlers at the Cape of Good Hope. It is officially called the South African War and it is known as the Anglo-Boer War among some South Africans. In Afrikaans it may be called the Anglo-Boereoorlog, Tweede Boereoorlog, in South Africa it is officially called the South African War
7.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
8.
Sinai and Palestine Campaign
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The Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I was fought between the British Empire and the Ottoman Empire, supported by the German Empire. It started with an Ottoman attempt at raiding the Suez Canal in 1915, fighting began in January 1915, when a German-led Ottoman force invaded the Sinai Peninsula, then part of the British Protectorate of Egypt, to unsuccessfully raid the Suez Canal. After the Gallipoli Campaign, veterans from each side formed the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, after a period of stalemate in Southern Palestine from April to October 1917, General Edmund Allenby captured Beersheba from the III Corps. Serious losses on the Western Front in March 1918, during Erich Ludendorffs German Spring Offensive, Damascus and Aleppo were captured during the subsequent pursuit, before the Ottoman Empire agreed to the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918, ending the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. The British Mandate of Palestine and the French Mandate for Syria, the campaign was generally not well known or understood during the war. Australia did not have a war correspondent in the area until Captain Frank Hurley, Henry Gullett, the first Official War Correspondent, arrived in November 1917. The Republic of Turkey came into existence in 1923 after the Turkish War of Independence ended the Ottoman Empire, the Suez Canal was of vital strategic importance to the British, reducing the sailing time from India, New Zealand and Australia to Europe. As a result Egypt became a base during the war. To Germany and the Ottoman Empire the canal was the closest and weakest link in British communications, Defence of the canal posed a number of problems, with its sheer size alone making it hard to control. There was no road from Cairo, while only one railway track crossed the 30 miles of desert from Cairo to Ismaïlia on the Canal before branching north to Port Said and south to Suez. At the beginning of hostilities between Britain and the Ottoman Empire in November 1914 the 30,000 strong British defence force evacuated the Sinai Peninsula, instead they concentrated their defences on the western side of the canal. These were supported by the guns of Allied ships in the canal, opposing them were around 25,000 men, including the 25th Division. The Ottoman Empire demonstrated its interest in being reinstated in Egypt in 1915 when Ottoman forces attacked British forces in Egypt, the Germans also helped to foment unrest among the Senussi in what is now Libya, when they attacked western Egypt and threatened the Sudan during the Senussi Campaign. Egypt was neither an independent ally nor a member of the British Empire, the recently appointed High Commissioner Sir Reginald Wingate and Murray agreed that Egypts contributions would be restricted to the use of the countrys railway and Egyptian personnel. However, Maxwell had proclaimed on 6 November 1914 that Egypt would not be required to aid Britains war effort, martial law allowed the British administration to control foreign European residents, monitor foreign agents and intern dangerous persons who were the subjects of hostile nations. The powers were used to police prostitution and the sale of alcohol. The Capitulations, however provided some protection to the Europeans who controlled both these industries, in the autumn of 1917 GHQ was transferred from Cairo to the front leaving garrison battalions. This move took the commander in chief of the EEF, who was responsible for law, out of touch with the civil authorities
9.
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
10.
North African Campaign
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The North African Campaign of the Second World War took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco, the campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had colonial interests in Africa dating from the late 19th century. The Allied war effort was dominated by the British Commonwealth and exiles from German-occupied Europe, the United States entered the war in December 1941 and began direct military assistance in North Africa on 11 May 1942. Fighting in North Africa started with the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940, on 14 June, the British Armys 11th Hussars crossed the border from Egypt into Libya and captured the Italian Fort Capuzzo. Information gleaned via British Ultra code-breaking intelligence proved critical to Allied success in North Africa, victory for the Allies in this campaign immediately led to the Italian Campaign, which culminated in the downfall of the fascist government in Italy and the elimination of a German ally. On 10 May 1940, the Wehrmacht had started the Battle of France, one month later, it was plain to see that France would have to surrender within two weeks. On 10 June 1940, the Kingdom of Italy aligned itself with Nazi Germany and declared war upon France, British forces based in Egypt were ordered to undertake defensive measures, but to act as non-provocatively as possible. However, on 11 June they began a series of raids against Italian positions in Libya, following the defeat of France on 25 June, Italian forces in Tripolitania—facing French troops based in Tunisia—redeployed to Cyrenaica to reinforce the Italian Tenth Army. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered the Tenth Army to invade Egypt by 8 August, two days later, no invasion having been launched, Mussolini ordered Marshal Graziani that, the moment German forces launched Operation Sea Lion, he was to attack. The battle plan was to advance along the road, while limited armoured forces operated on the desert flank. To counter the Italian advance, Wavell ordered his forces to harass the advancing Italians, falling back towards Mersa Matruh. Positioned on the flank was the 7th Armoured Division, which would strike the flank of the Italian force. By 16 September, the Italian force had advanced to Maktila, around 80 mi west of Mersa Matruh, in response to the dispersed Italian camps, the British planned a limited five-day attack, Operation Compass, to strike at these fortified camps one by one. The British Commonwealth force, totalling 36,000 men, attacked the forward elements of the 10-division-strong Italian army on 9 December, following their initial success, the forces of Operation Compass pursued the retreating Italian forces. In January, the port at Bardia was taken, soon followed by the seizure of the fortified port of Tobruk. Some 40,000 Italians were captured in and around the two ports, with the remainder of the Tenth Army retreating along the coast road back to El Agheila. Richard OConnor sent the 7th Armoured Division across the desert, with a reconnaissance group reaching Beda Fomm some ninety minutes before the Italians. Although desperate attempts were made to overcome the British force at the Battle of Beda Fomm, the Italians were unable to break through, and the remnants of the retreating army surrendered
11.
Battle honour
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In European military tradition, military units may be acknowledged for their achievements in specific wars or operations of a military campaign. These honours usually take the form of a place and a date, theatre honours could be listed and displayed on regimental property but not emblazoned on the colours. Since battle honours are emblazoned on colours, artillery units. These honour titles were permitted to be used as part of their official nomenclature, similar honours in the same tenor include unit citations. Battle honours, theatre honours, honour titles and their ilk form a part of the variety of distinctions which serve to distinguish military units from each other. For the British Army, the need to adopt a system to recognise military units battlefield accomplishments was apparent since its formation as an army in the later part of the 17th century. Although the granting of battle honours had already been in place at the time, before then, a regiments colours were practical tools for rallying troops in the battlefield and not quite something for displaying the units past distinctions. The first battle honour to be awarded in the British Army was granted to the 15th Hussars for the Battle of Emsdorf in 1760, thereafter, other regiments received battle honours for some of their previous engagements. The battle honour is held by the successor regiment, the Princess of Waless Royal Regiment. During these early years of the British standing army, a regiment needed only to engage the enemy with musketry before it was eligible for a battle honour, thus in 1882, a committee was formed to adjudicate applications of battle honour claims. This committee, later called the Battles Nomenclature Committee, still maintains its function in the British Army today. A battle honour may be granted to infantry/cavalry regiments or battalions, as well as ships and squadrons, they are granted to sub-units such as companies. Battle honours are presented in the form of a name of a country, region, or city where the units distinguished act took place. Not every battle fought will automatically result in the granting of a battle honour, conversely, a regiment or a battalion might obtain more than one battle honour over the course of a larger operation. Similarly, while in Korea, Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry earned both Kapyong and Korea 1951–1953, supporting corps/branches such as medical, service, ordnance, or transport do not currently receive battle honours. However and uniquely the Royal Logistic Corps has five battle honours inherited from its previous transport elements, Commonwealth artillery does not maintain battle honours as they carry neither colours nor guidons—though their guns by tradition are afforded many of the same respects and courtesies. However, both the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers were in 1832 granted by King William IV the right to use the Latin Ubique, meaning everywhere and this is worn on the cap badge of both the Corps of Royal Engineers and the Royal Regiment of Artillery. The practice was extended to these same regiments and corps in the successor Commonwealth armed forces
12.
Francis Perceval Eliot
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Francis Perceval Eliot was an English soldier, auditor and man of letters. Eliot was the son of General Granville Elliott and his second wife and he was born at Kew Green, Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey, and baptised on 9 October 1755 at St Annes Church, Kew Green. Following his fathers death on 10 October 1759, the family moved on 15 April 1760 to Richmond, in 1762, Francis lodged at Hargreaves in St Martins Lane, London. On 17 April 1764, he lodged with Mrs Bathurst, Charterhouse Square, on 15 December 1773, he was commissioned as Ensign in the 14th Regiment of Foot. On 28 March 1774, he joined his first regiment, moving to quarters in Dover on 13 May 1774, in March 1775, he left for America, where, on 25 August 1775, he was appointed Lieutenant in the 14th Regiment of Foot. By 28 November 1778, he had returned to St Georges, Hanover Square, London, where he married Anne Breynton, in 1790, he bought Elmhurst Hall and various other properties in Staffordshire, while still maintaining a house in London. In 1794 he raised the Staffordshire Yeomanry Cavalry and became its Major, in 1797, he tried to sell off his Staffordshire estates. The following year 1798 he raised the Staffordshire Yeomanry Infantry, by 1800 he had moved to Lichfield and in 1803 raised the 2nd Staffordshire Militia, eventually becoming its Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1806, he disposed of his Staffordshire properties, pulling down the derelict Elmhurst Hall. He moved back to London full-time, and took an oath as a Commissioner of Public Accounts, around this time he became a man of letters, addressing the foremost politicians of the time, while also writing for a magazine — The Aegis. The next year, he attempted to be elected as MP for Westminster in the United Kingdom general election,1807 and his election was unsuccessful and he returned to his literary pursuits. His widow died 19 August 1829 at Blackheath, and was buried at St Marys Church, Lewisham,171 pages,24 cm British Library Shelfmark,1028. e.3 and 1028. e.5. 1811 A Supplement To Observations On The Fallacy Of The Supposed Depreciation Of The Paper Currency Of The Kingdom, &c. Stockdale, London 181128 pages,21 cm 1814 A series of letters on the Political and financial State of the nation at the commencement of 1814 by Falkland — published 1814
13.
William Pitt the Younger
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William Pitt the Younger, PC was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 and he left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806. He was also the Chancellor of the Exchequer throughout his premiership, born William Pitt, he is known as the Younger to distinguish him from his father, William Pitt the Elder, who had previously served as Prime Minister. The younger Pitts prime ministerial tenure, which came during the reign of George III, was dominated by events in Europe, including the French Revolution. Pitt, although referred to as a Tory, or new Tory. He is best known for leading Britain in the wars against France. Pitt was an administrator who worked for efficiency and reform. He raised taxes to pay for the war against France. To meet the threat of Irish support for France, he engineered the Acts of Union 1800, Pitt created the new Toryism, which revived the Tory Party and enabled it to stay in power for the next quarter-century. Historian Asa Briggs points out that his personality did not endear itself to the British mind, for Pitt was too solitary, too colourless and his greatness came in the war with France, with the adversary setting the pace. Pitt reacted to become what Lord Minto called the Atlas of our reeling globe and his integrity and industry and his role as defender of the threatened nation allowed him to inspire and access all the national reserves of strength. William Wilberforce said that, For personal purity, disinterestedness and love of this country, for this he is ranked highly amongst British Prime Ministers. The Honourable William Pitt, second son of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, was born at Hayes Place in the village of Hayes, Pitt was from a political family on both sides. His mother, Hester Grenville, was sister to former prime minister George Grenville, according to biographer John Ehrman, Pitt inherited brilliance and dynamism from his fathers line, and a determined, methodical nature from the Grenvilles. Suffering from occasional poor health as a boy, he was educated at home by the Reverend Edward Wilson, an intelligent child, Pitt quickly became proficient in Latin and Greek. In 1773, aged fourteen, he attended Pembroke College, Cambridge, at Cambridge, Pitt was tutored by George Pretyman, who became a close personal friend. Pitt later appointed Pretyman Bishop of Lincoln then Winchester and drew upon his advice throughout his political career, while at Cambridge, he befriended the young William Wilberforce, who became a lifelong friend and political ally in Parliament. Pitt tended to socialise only with students and others already known to him
14.
Royal Yeomanry
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The Royal Yeomanry is the senior reserve light cavalry regiment of the Army Reserve. The Regimental Headquarters is located at Fulham in London, with Squadrons spread amongst London, the regiment is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is paired with the 1st The Queens Dragoon Guards. The Royal Yeomanry was formed in 1967, following the amalgamation of six distinguished county yeomanry regiments and it continued in this role until 1996, when it became the British Armys NBC defence regiment. It served exclusively in this role until 1999, when the Joint NBC Regiment was formed, two of the Royal Yeomanrys squadrons were retained in the NBC role to provide reserves for front line NBC troops. The remaining three converted to Challenger 2 to serve as reserves for armoured regiments, in January 2003, A and W Squadrons were mobilised for Operation TELIC, the war in Iraq. The two squadrons were amalgamated with a number of augmentees from the three squadrons and from the Royal Logistic Corps to form a much-enlarged Y Squadron of the Joint NBC Regiment. This was the first deployment of a formed TA unit for operations since the Suez crisis in 1956. The Royal Yeomanry has maintained a constant presence in Iraq since March 2003, the regiments soldiers have been mobilised for each of the subsequent TELICs. Since 2007, the Royal Yeomanry has provided upwards of 500+ officers and soldiers as replacements on Operation HERRICK in Afghanistan. Under Army 2020, it is proposed that the Royal Yeomanry will lose two squadrons, the Royal Yeomanry will be paired with 1st The Queens Dragoon Guards and be under the command of 7th Infantry Brigade. The regiments main equipment will be the Land Rover RWMIK reconnaissance vehicle, the Royal Yeomanrys role is light cavalry, providing a rapidly deployable force with fast mobility and substantial firepower as part of the British Armys combat arm. Its soldiers provide reconnaissance, reassurance, security and, if the demands it. The squadrons forming the Royal Yeomanry also hold hundreds of battle honours won by their predecessors, for the purposes of parading, the Regiments of the British Army are listed according to an order of precedence. This is the order in which the corps of the army parade, from right to left
15.
George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland
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He is estimated to have been the wealthiest man of the 19th-century. He remains a figure for his role in the Highland Clearances. Sutherland was the eldest son of the Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, by his second wife Lady Louisa, daughter of Scroop Egerton, Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville, was his half-brother. He was educated at Westminster and at Christ Church, Oxford, Sutherland sat as Member of Parliament for Newcastle-under-Lyme from 1779 to 1784 and for Staffordshire from 1787 to 1799. The latter year he was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his fathers title of Baron Gower. Between 1790 and 1792 he was Ambassador to France, despite not having any previous diplomatic experience, the embassy was withdrawn in August 1792 after the imprisonment of the royal family during the French Revolution. After his return to Britain he declined the posts of Lord Steward of the Household, however, in 1799 he accepted the office of joint Postmaster General, which he retained until 1801. Sutherland played an important part in the downfall of Henry Addingtons administration in 1804, after 1807 he played little part in politics, although late in life he supported Catholic Emancipation and the 1832 Reform Act. From 1794 to 1801, Sutherland was Colonel of the Staffordshire Volunteer Cavalry, Sutherland also held the honorary posts of Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire from 1799 to 1801 and Lord Lieutenant of Sutherland from 1794 to 1830. He was invested as a Privy Counsellor in 1790, a Knight of the Garter in 1806 and was created Duke of Sutherland on 28 January 1833, the Leveson-Gower family owned extensive lands in Staffordshire, Shropshire and Yorkshire. According to the will of the Duke of Bridgewater, these passed on the death of the first Duke of Sutherland to his third son Lord Francis Leveson-Gower. This inheritance and his marriage to Elizabeth Sutherland, 19th Countess of Sutherland, Sutherland is estimated to have been the wealthiest man of the 19th-century, surpassing even Nathan Rothschild. The precise value of his estate at death is unknown, as it was classed as upper value. He was described by Charles Greville as a leviathan of wealth, Sutherland and his wife remain controversial figures for their role in carrying out the Highland Clearances, where thousands of tenants were forced out of their homes. The clearances, described by commentators as a form of ethnic cleansing, were undertaken between 1811 and 1820. In 1811 parliament passed a bill granting half the expenses of building roads in northern Scotland, the following year Sutherland commenced building roads and bridges in the county, which up to that point had been virtually non-existent. At first the clearances involved relocations from Assynt to coastal villages on the assumption that farmers could take up fishing, however, when the consequences of these actions became clear, the evictions were met with opposition, which was ruthlessly repressed. Resentment mounted when one of Sutherlands factors, Patrick Sellar, was acquitted of murder, condemnation was widespread and the Highlanders grievances were heard in the British House of Commons
16.
Troop
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A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the section or platoon. Exceptions are the Royal Horse Artillery and the US Cavalry, where troops are subunits that compare to a company or artillery battery. A cavalry soldier of private rank is called a trooper in many Commonwealth armies, a related sense of the term troops refers to members of the military collectively, as in the troops, see Troop. In some countries, like Italy, the cavalry unit is called Squadron. Today, a troop is defined differently in different armed forces, SASR troops are also unusual as they are commanded by a captain—most troop/platoon sized elements are commanded by a lieutenant. In all cases, units which refer to platoon sized elements as troops refer to company-sized elements as squadrons, privates in the RAAC and SASR hold the rank trooper, however this is not the case for any other Corps/units which use the term troops. In the British Army the definition of a troop varies by corps, household Cavalry and Royal Armoured Corps, Three or four armoured fighting vehicles commanded by a subaltern, i. e. effectively the same level element as an infantry platoon. A unit of two to four guns or launchers, or an equivalent headquarters unit, in the Royal Horse Artillery, a troop used to be the equivalent to a battery in other artillery units. The Royal Engineers and Royal Corps of Signals used platoons instead until after World War II, other army corps do not use the term. In the Royal Marines, a troop is the equivalent to an army platoon, in the Canadian Army, a troop is the equivalent of a platoon within the armoured, artillery, engineer, and signals branches. Two to four troops comprise the elements of a squadron. Companies were renamed troops in 1883, in the United States, state police forces are often regionally divided into troops. This usage came about from these organizations modelling themselves on the US Army, for this same reason the state police and highway patrol personnel of most states are known as trooper rather than officer. In Scouting, a troop is a made up of scouts or guides from the same locality under a leader. In the case of Guides, the company is used more often
17.
Stafford knot
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It is a particular representation of the simple overhand knot, the most basic knot of all. The knot was the badge of the de Stafford family, one legend of its origin, generally considered mythical, is that three convicted criminals who had committed a crime together were due to be executed in Stafford gaol. There was argument over who should be hanged first but the hangman solved the problem by devising this knot, however, the knot can be seen on a 4-foot-high carved Anglo-Saxon cross in a churchyard in Stoke-upon-Trent, and also on a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon object from the Staffordshire hoard. The design closely matches the design of the pretzel, which was made to represent arms crossed in prayer. The knot appears prominently on the flag of the county of Staffordshire. The motto of the county council is the knot unites, a reference to the Stafford knot and it also appears on the coat of arms of the Borough of Stafford. The knot formed part of the insignia of the North Staffordshire Regiment, South Staffordshire Regiment, Staffordshire Regiment and it is also used as the badge of the Staffordshire Police force. The knot appears on the logos of both Staffordshire University and Keele University, as well as on many school badges, stoke-on-Trent based football team Port Vale F. C. use the knot on their club badge as do fellow Staffordshire club Tamworth F. C. West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City have also used the knot on their respective badges, the knot symbol appeared in the railway companys badge. The Smiler, a coaster at Alton Towers, has a combined section of track known as the Stafford/Staffordshire Knot. It is given this nickname due to the resemblance to the knot shape
18.
Robert Peel
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Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet, FRS, PC, a British statesman and member of the Conservative Party, served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and twice as Home Secretary. He is regarded as the father of modern British policing and as one of the founders of the modern Conservative Party and he entered the House of Commons in 1809 under the tutelage of his father and of Sir Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington. Peel was widely seen as a star in the Conservative Party and served in various junior ministerial offices, becoming Chief Secretary for Ireland. He cut tariffs to stimulate trade, to replace the lost revenue he pushed through a 3% income tax and he played a central role in making free trade a reality and set up a modern banking system. In 1830 the Whigs finally returned to power and Peel became a member of the Opposition for the first time, Peel then issued the Tamworth Manifesto, laying down the principles upon which the modern British Conservative Party is based. His first ministry was a minority government, dependent on Whig support, after only four months, his government collapsed and he served as Leader of the Opposition during the second government of the Viscount Melbourne. Peel declined to head another minority government in May 1839, prompting a political crisis and he finally became Prime Minister again after the 1841 general election. His second government ruled for five years - its major legislation included the Mines and Collieries Act 1842, the Income Tax Act 1842, the Factories Act 1844, Peels government was weakened by anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment following the controversial Maynooth Grant of 1845. After the outbreak of the Great Irish Potato Famine, his decision to join with Whigs, Peel remained an influential backbench MP and leader of the Peelite faction until his death in 1850. Peel often started from a traditional Tory position in opposition to a measure, then reversed his stance, Peel, a Conservative, achieved repeal with the support of the Whigs in Parliament, overcoming the opposition of most of his own party. Many critics accordingly saw him as a traitor to the Tory cause, or as a Liberal wolf in sheeps clothing, taylor says, Peel was in the first rank of 19th century statesman. He carried Catholic Emancipation, he repealed the Corn Laws, he created the modern Conservative Party on the ruins of the old Toryism. Peel was born at Chamber Hall, Bury, Lancashire, to the industrialist and parliamentarian Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet and his father was one of the richest textile manufacturers of the early Industrial Revolution. Peel was educated briefly at Bury Grammar School, at Hipperholme Grammar School, then at Harrow School and finally Christ Church, Oxford and he was a law student at Lincolns Inn in 1809 before entering Parliament. Peel saw part-time military service as a Captain in the Manchester Regiment of Militia in 1808, Peel entered politics in 1809 at the age of 21, as MP for the Irish rotten borough of Cashel, Tipperary. With a scant 24 electors on the rolls, he was elected unopposed and his sponsor for the election was the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Sir Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, with whom Peels political career would be entwined for the next 25 years. Peel made his speech at the start of the 1810 session. His speech was a sensation, famously described by the Speaker, Charles Abbot, as chief secretary in Dublin in 1813, he proposed the setting up of a specialist police force, later called peelers
19.
Regiment
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A regiment is a military unit. Their role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, in Medieval Europe, the term regiment denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted in one geographical area, by a leader who was often also the feudal lord of the soldiers. By the 17th century, a regiment was usually about a thousand personnel. In many armies, the first role has been assumed by independent battalions, battlegroups, task forces, brigades and other, similarly-sized operational units. By the beginning of the 18th century, regiments in most European continental armies had evolved into permanent units with distinctive titles and uniforms, when at full strength, an infantry regiment normally comprised two field battalions of about 800 men each or 8–10 companies. In some armies, an independent regiment with fewer companies was labelled a demi-regiment, a cavalry regiment numbered 600 to 900 troopers, making up a single entity. With the widespread adoption of conscription in European armies during the nineteenth century, the regimental system underwent modification. Prior to World War I, a regiment in the French, German, Russian. As far as possible, the battalions would be garrisoned in the same military district, so that the regiment could be mobilized. A cavalry regiment by contrast made up an entity of up to 1,000 troopers. Usually, the regiment is responsible for recruiting and administering all of a military career. Depending upon the country, regiments can be either combat units or administrative units or both and this is often contrasted to the continental system adopted by many armies. Generally, divisions are garrisoned together and share the same installations, thus, in divisional administration, soldiers and officers are transferred in and out of divisions as required. Some regiments recruited from specific areas, and usually incorporated the place name into the regimental name. In other cases, regiments would recruit from an age group within a nation. In other cases, new regiments were raised for new functions within an army, e. g. the Fusiliers, the Parachute Regiment, a key aspect of the regimental system is that the regiment or battalion is the fundamental tactical building block. This flows historically from the period, when battalions were widely dispersed and virtually autonomous. For example, a regiment might include different types of battalions of different origins, within the regimental system, soldiers, and usually officers, are always posted to a tactical unit of their own regiment whenever posted to field duty
20.
Company (military unit)
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A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–250 soldiers and usually commanded by a major or a captain. Most companies are formed of three to six platoons, although the number may vary by country, unit type. Usually several companies are grouped as a battalion or regiment, the latter of which is formed by several battalions. Occasionally, independent or separate companies are organized for special purposes and these companies are not organic to a battalion or regiment, but rather report directly to a higher level organization such as a Marine Expeditionary Force headquarters. The modern military company became popularized during the reorganization of the Swedish Army in 1631 under King Gustav II Adolph, for administrative purposes, the infantry was divided into companies consisting of 150 men, grouped into regiments of eight companies. Tactically, the companies were organized into battalions and grouped with cavalry troops. From ancient times, some armies have used a base administrative. Furthermore, recent studies have indicated that humans are best able to maintain stable relationships in a group numbering between 100-250 members, with 150 members being the common number. The advent of accurate, long-range rifle fire, repeating rifles and this, coupled with the advent of radio communication, permitted relatively small numbers of men to have much greater firepower and combat effectiveness than previously possible. Companies, however, continue to remain within the range of 100-250 members, perhaps validating the premise that men fight best in organizations of around 150 members. These companies were not organic to any intermediate headquarters, but rather reported directly to the division headquarters, rifle companies consist of three platoons and a company headquarters. Until after the Second World War, the Royal Engineers and Royal Signals had both squadrons and companies depending on whether the units were supporting mounted or foot formations. The British Army infantry normally identifies its rifle companies by letter within a battalion, usually with the addition of a headquarters company and a support/heavy weapons company. Some units name their companies after regimental battle honours, this is commonly the case for composite units, for example the London Regiment with its Somme, Messines and Cambrai companies. The foot guards regiments use traditional names for some of their companies, for example Queens Company, Left Flank, Royal Marines companies are designated by a letter that is unique across the corps, not just within their command. The Intelligence Corps, Royal Army Medical Corps, Royal Military Police, the defunct Royal Army Service Corps, Royal Pioneer Corps and Royal Army Ordnance Corps had companies, the Royal Corps of Transport had squadrons. British companies are commanded by a major, the officer commanding. The Honourable Artillery Company is in fact a regiment, not a company, in terms of organisation, canadian Army organisation is modelled after the British
21.
Imperial Yeomanry
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The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer cavalry regiment of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Officially created on 24 December 1899, the regiment was based on members of standing Yeomanry regiments, in Ireland 120 men were recruited in February 1900. It was officially disbanded in 1908, on 13 December 1899, the decision to allow volunteer forces serve in the Second Boer War was made. This warrant officially created the Imperial Yeomanry, in February 1900 the Yeomanrys commander was Major-General J. P. Brabazon, being in South Africa at the time, followed shortly by Lord Chesham who was appointed as its brigadier-general. The Royal Warrant asked standing Yeomanry regiments to provide companies of approximately 115 men each. In addition to this, many British citizens volunteered to join the new regiment, although there were strict requirements, many volunteers were accepted with substandard horsemanship/marksmanship, however, they had significant time to train while awaiting transport. The first contingent of recruits contained 550 officers,10,371 men in 20 battalions of four companies each, upon arrival, the regiment was sent throughout the zone of operations. The Imperial Yeomanry’s first action was on 5 April 1900, when members of 3rd, after a series of tactical errors, the Boers were subsequently surrounded. The Count was killed, and the Imperial Yeomanry was victorious, the next action took place in Lindley, a Boer held town. On 27 May 1900, due to a miscommunication, the 13th battalion arrived at Lindley where they were ambushed by a group of Boers, rather than retreat, Spragge decided to fight until aid arrived. Although a message for help did arrive, it did not describe the urgency of the situation, under artillery fire, one officer and 16 men were killed, about 59 were wounded and 400 were captured. With the rate of disease and death rising, morale was falling, during the later part of 1900 they had a few small victories, but still nothing major. Finally, in September,1900, the City Imperial Volunteers were returned to England and this affected morale, and a high number of Yeomanry personnel volunteered to join police forces to escape the monotony of regular duty. Due to this outflow of IY plus casualties, only one-third of the force was still serving by the end of 1900. Eventually, in June or July 1901, all of the first contingent recruits were returned to England, due to the lack of numbers for the Imperial Yeomanry, the War Office expanded recruiting during the early months of 1901. The recruits for the contingent were usually working class, as opposed to the first contingent. They received extremely poor training and were shipped to South Africa, in total,16,597 men were recruited, including 655 who re-enlisted. The second contingents first battle was at Vlakfontein in May 1901, brigadier General Dixon led a force of 230 men from the 7th battalion, as well as artillery, some Scottish Horse, and some men of the Derbyshires
22.
Stafford
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Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands of England. It lies approximately 16 miles north of Wolverhampton,18 miles south of Stoke-on-Trent and 24 miles north-west of Birmingham. The population in 2001 was 63,681 and that of the borough of Stafford 122,000. Stafford means ford by a staithe, the original settlement was on dry sand and gravel peninsula that provided a strategic crossing point in the marshy valley of the River Sow, a tributary of the River Trent. There is still an area of marshland northwest of the town. It is thought Stafford was founded in about 700 AD by a Mercian prince called Bertelin who, according to legend, the tree-trunk coffin may have been placed there as an object of commemoration or veneration of St Bertelin. This new burh was fortified and provided with an area for the centralised production of Roman-style pottery which was supplied to the chain of West Midlands burhs. Anglo-Saxon women could play powerful roles in society, Æthelflæds death effectively ended the independence of Mercia. Edward the Elder of Wessex took over her fortress at Tamworth and accepted the submission of all who were living in Mercia, in late 918 Aelfwynn, Æthelflæds daughter, was deprived of her authority over Mercia and taken to Wessex. The project for the unification of England took another step forward, the Lady of Mercia, Æthelflæd, ruled Mercia for five years after the death of her father and husband, dying in Tamworth in 918. At around this time the county of Staffordshire was formed, Stafford lay within the Pirehill hundred. In 1069, a rebellion by Eadric the Wild against the Norman conquest culminated in the Battle of Stafford, two years later another rebellion, this time led by Edwin, Earl of Mercia, culminated in Edwins assassination. This meant his lands were distributed amongst the followers of William the Conqueror, robert de Tonei was granted the manor of Bradley and one third of the kings rents in Stafford. Stafford Castle was built by the Normans on the hilltop to the west in about 1090. It was first made of wood, and later rebuilt of stone and it has been rebuilt twice since, and the ruins of the 19th century gothic revival castle on the earthworks incorporate much of the original stonework. A motte was constructed on the side of the peninsula, overlooking a ford. In 1206 King John granted a Royal Charter which created the borough of Stafford, in the Middle Ages Stafford was a market town, mainly dealing in cloth and wool. In spite of being the town, Stafford required successive surges of external investment from the time of Æthelflæd to that of Queen Elizabeth I
23.
Leicester
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Leicester is a city and unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest, in the 2011 census the population of the City of Leicester unitary authority was 329,839 making it the most populous municipality in the East Midlands region. The associated urban area is also the 11th most populous in England, the name of Leicester is recorded in the 9th-century History of the Britons as Cair Lerion, and in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as Ligora-ceastre. In the Domesday Book of 1086, it is recorded as Ledecestre, the second element of the name comes from the Latin castrum which is reflected in both Welsh cair and Anglo-Saxon ceastre. Based on the Welsh name, Geoffrey of Monmouth proposes a king Leir of Britain as a founder in his Historia Regum Britanniae. Leicester is one of the oldest cities in England, with a going back at least two millennia. The native Iron Age settlement encountered by the Romans at the seems to have developed in the 2nd or 1st centuries BC. This area of the Soar was split into two channels, a stream to the east and a narrower channel on the west. The settlement seems to have controlled a ford across the larger channel, the later Roman name was a latinate form of the Brittonic word for ramparts, suggesting the site was an oppidum. The plural form of the name suggests it was composed of several villages. The Celtic tribe holding the area was recorded as the Coritanians. The Corieltauvians are believed to have ruled over roughly the area of the East Midlands and it is believed that the Romans arrived in the Leicester area around AD47, during their conquest of southern Britain. The Corieltauvian settlement lay near a bridge on the Fosse Way, in the 2nd century, it received a forum and bathhouse. In 2013, the discovery of a Roman cemetery found just outside the old city walls, the remains of the baths of Roman Leicester can be seen at the Jewry Wall, recovered artifacts are displayed at the adjacent museum. Knowledge of the following the Roman withdrawal from Britain is limited. Certainly there is continuation of occupation of the town, though on a much reduced scale in the 5th and 6th centuries. Its memory was preserved as the Cair Lerion of the History of the Britons, following the Saxon invasion of Britain, Leicester was occupied by the Middle Angles and subsequently administered by the kingdom of Mercia. It was elevated to a bishopric in either 679 or 680, this see survived until the 9th century and their settlement became one of the Five Burghs of the Danelaw, although this position was short-lived
24.
Walsall
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Walsall is an industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located 8 miles north-west of the City of Birmingham and 6 miles east of the City of Wolverhampton, historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation, and part of the Black Country. Walsall is the centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Walsall. At the 2011 census, the towns built-up area had a population of 67,594, neighbouring settlements in the borough include Darlaston, Brownhills, Willenhall, Bloxwich and Aldridge. The name Walsall is thought to have derived from the words Walh halh, Walsall is first referenced as Walesho in a document dated 1002. However, it is believed that a manor was held here by William FitzAnsculf, by the first part of the 13th century, Walsall was a small market town, with the weekly market being introduced in 1220 and held on Tuesdays. The mayor of Walsall was created as a position in the 14th century. The town was visited by Queen Elizabeth I, when it was known as Walshale and it was also visited by Henrietta Maria in 1643. She stayed in the town for one night at a building named the White Hart in the area of Caldmore, the Industrial Revolution changed Walsall from a village of 2,000 people in the 16th century to a town of over 86,000 in approximately 200 years. The town manufactured a range of products including saddles, chains, buckles. Nearby, limestone quarrying provided the town with much prosperity, in 1824, the Walsall Corporation received an Act of Parliament to improve the town by providing lighting and a gasworks. The gasworks was built in 1826 at a cost of £4,000, in 1825, the corporation built eleven tiled, brick almshouses for poor women. They were known to the area as Molesleys Almshouses, the Walsall Improvement and Market Act was passed in 1848 and amended in 1850. The Act provided facilities for the poor, improving and extending the sewerage system, on 10 October 1847, a gas explosion killed one person and destroyed the west window of St Matthews Church. Walsall finally received a line in 1847,48 years after canals reached the town. In 1855, Walsalls first newspaper, the Walsall Courier and South Staffordshire Gazette, was published, over 2000 men from Walsall were killed in fighting during the First World War. They are commemorated by the cenotaph, which is located on the site of a bomb which was dropped by Zeppelin L21 – killing the towns mayoress. Damage from the Zeppelin can still be seen on what is now a club on the corner of the main road, the town also has a memorial to two local VC recipients, John Henry Carless and Frederick Gibbs
25.
Stoke-on-Trent
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Stoke-on-Trent is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of 36 square miles. Together with the boroughs of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands, it is part of North Staffordshire. Stoke is polycentric, having formed by a federation of six towns in the early 20th century. It took its name from Stoke-upon-Trent, where the town hall, Hanley is the primary commercial centre. The four other towns are Burslem, Tunstall, Longton and Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent is the home of the pottery industry in England and is commonly known as the Potteries. Formerly a primarily industrial conurbation, it is now a centre for service industries, the name Stoke is taken from the town of Stoke-upon-Trent, the original ancient parish, with other settlements being chapelries. Stoke derives from the Old English stoc, a word that at first meant little more than place and these variant meanings included dairy farm, secondary or dependent place or farm, summer pasture, crossing place, meeting place and place of worship. It is not known which of these was intended here, because Stoke was such a common name for a settlement, some kind of distinguishing affix was usually added later, in this case the name of the river. The motto of Stoke-on-Trent is Vis Unita Fortior which can be translated as, United Strength is Stronger, or Strength United is the More Powerful and it was not until 1 April 1910 that the Six Towns were brought together. The county borough of Hanley, the boroughs of Burslem, Longton. The combined borough took the town of Stoke. In 1919, the borough proposed to further and annex the neighbouring borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. This never took place, due to objections from Newcastle Corporation. A further attempt was made in 1930, with the promotion of the Stoke-on-Trent Extension Bill, ultimately, Wolstanton was instead added to Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1932. The borough was granted city status in 1925, with a Lord Mayor from 1928. The decision was overturned, however, when an approach was made to King George V. The public announcement of the elevation to city status was made by the King during a visit to Stoke on 4 June 1925, the county borough was abolished in 1974, and Stoke became a non-metropolitan district of Staffordshire. Its status as a unitary authority was restored on 1 April 1997, for Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS3 region
26.
Burton upon Trent
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Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a town on the River Trent in East Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299, the demonym for residents of the town is Burtonian. The town originally grew up around Burton Abbey, Burton Bridge was also the site of two battles, in 1322 when Edward II defeated the rebel Earl of Lancaster and 1643 when royalists captured the town during the First English Civil War. William Lord Paget and his descendants were responsible for extending the house within the abbey grounds. Burton grew into a market town by the early modern period. The town is served by Burton-on-Trent railway station, Ryknild Street, a Roman road, ran north-east through what later became the parish of Burton, linking camps at Letocetum, near Lichfield, and Derventio, near Derby. Burton was almost certainly one of the sites, the name Andresey given to an island in the river Trent near the church means Andrews isle. The island is associated with the legend of St Modwen or Modwenna and it is likely that any surviving religious house would have been destroyed during the Danish incursion into the area in 874. Place names indicate Scandinavian influence, and several names of Scandinavian origin were still used in the area in the early 12th century. In 1003 a Benedictine abbey was established on a new site on the west bank of the Trent at Burton by Wulfric Spott and he is known to have been buried in the abbey cloister in 1010, alongside his wife. The monastery was the most important in Staffordshire and by the 1530s had the highest revenue and it is known that there were frequent Royal visits to the abbey, including those by William I, Henry II and Edward I. In the 12th and 13th centuries streets were laid out off the west side of High Street, the earliest being New Street, Horninglow Street at the north end of High Street was part of a major east-west route using the bridge over the river. A royal charter was granted on 12 April 1200 by King John to the Abbot to hold a market in Burton every Thursday. The bridge was the site of two battles, first in 1322 when Edward III defeated the rebel Earl of Lancaster and also in 1643 when the Royalists captured the town during the First English Civil War. Under Henry VIII the abbey was dissolved in 1539, to be refounded in 1541 as a church for a dean. It was again dissolved in 1545 and granted to Sir William Paget, Paget began planning to expand the Manor House within the abbey precincts, known to have existed since at least 1514, into a grand mansion. To provide the materials for this project, the old buildings were to be cannibalised. There were major alterations to the house over the three centuries
27.
Wolverhampton
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Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 249,470, the demonym for people from the city is Wulfrunian. Historically part of Staffordshire, the city is named after Wulfrun, prior to the Norman Conquest, the areas name appears only as variants of Heantune or Hamtun, the prefix Wulfrun or similar appearing in 1070 and thereafter. Alternatively, the city may have earned its name from Wulfereēantūn after the Mercian King. The variation Wolveren Hampton is seen in records, e. g. in 1381. The city grew initially as a market town specialising in the woollen trade, in the Industrial Revolution, it became a major centre for coal mining, steel production, lock making and the manufacture of cars and motorcycles. The economy of the city is based on engineering, including a large aerospace industry. A local tradition states that King Wulfhere of Mercia founded an abbey of St Mary at Wolverhampton in 659, the Mercians and West Saxons claimed a decisive victory and the field of Woden is recognised by numerous place names in Wednesfield. In 985, King Ethelred the Unready granted lands at a place referred to as Heantun to Lady Wulfrun by royal charter and this became the site for the current St. Peters Church. A statue of Lady Wulfrun, sculpted by Sir Charles Wheeler, Wolverhampton is recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086 as being in the Hundred of Seisdon and the county of Staffordshire. The lords of the manor are listed as the canons of St Mary, with the tenant-in-chief being Samson, Wolverhampton at this date is a large settlement of fifty households. In 1179, there is mention of a market held in the town and this charter for a weekly market held on a Wednesday was eventually granted on 4 February 1258 by Henry III. From the 16th century onwards, Wolverhampton became home to a number of industries including lock and key making and iron. Wolverhampton suffered two Great Fires, the first in April 1590, and the second in September 1696, both fires started in todays Salop Street. The first fire lasted for five days and left nearly 700 people homeless and this second fire led to the purchase of the first fire engine within the city in September 1703. There is also evidence that Wolverhampton may have been the location of the first working Newcomen Steam Engine in 1712. In Victorian times, Wolverhampton grew to be a town mainly due to the huge amount of industry that occurred as a result of the abundance of coal. The remains of this wealth can be seen in houses such as Wightwick Manor and The Mount
28.
Leicestershire Yeomanry
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The regiments lineage is currently perpetuated by B Squadron of the Royal Yeomanry. In Leicestershire, a meeting was held at the Three Crowns Inn in Leicester on 10 April, where the details were organised, the regiment paraded in six troops on 4 July to receive their standards. With the Peace of Amiens, the regiment was disbanded in 1802, the regiment was re-raised in September 1803, as the Leicestershire Yeomanry Cavalry. From 1825, when the Rutland Legion was disbanded, the Leicestershire Yeomanry recruited from Rutland as well as Leicestershire, the regiment was renamed for Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, in 1844. A Royal Warrant was issued on 24 December 1899 to allow forces to serve in the Second Boer War. The Royal Warrant asked standing Yeomanry regiments to provide companies of approximately 115 men each for the Imperial Yeomanry. The regiment provided the 7th Company for the 4th Battalion and the 65th Company for the 17th Battalion in 1900, in 1901 it was reorganized as mounted infantry as the Leicestershire Imperial Yeomanry. In 1908 it was transferred into the Territorial Force, returning to a role and equipping as hussars. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, therefore, TF units were split in August and September 1914 into 1st Line and 2nd Line units. Later, a 3rd Line was formed to act as a reserve, providing trained replacements for the 1st, with the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the regiment mobilised in the North Midland Mounted Brigade and moved to France in November joining the 3rd Cavalry Division. As such, it was one of only six regiments to be posted to a regular cavalry division in the war. It saw service at the First Battle of Ypres in 1914, at Frezenberg, they went into action in the trenches on May 12 as dismounted infantry, numbering 291 all ranks, alongside the 1st Life Guards and 2nd Life Guards. LY, B and C Squadrons took up positions in the advanced trenches. The Germans began to press on B Squadron, forcing them south and west along their trenches, and driving them back into the C Squadron trenches. The squadrons were rallied by the commander of C Squadron, Major Martin, who, Martin was killed holding the trench line, and at this point, the survivors remaining in the forward trenches fell back - numbering a lieutenant, the squadron sergeant-major, and fourteen men. They fell back towards a line in the rear, and reached trenches held by the 3rd Dragoon Guards, they remained in the line here until 8pm. A Squadron, meanwhile, had held the support trench under strong shellfire until 5, 30am and they were met part-way by the regimental commander, Lt. Colonel The Hon. Percy Cecil Evans-Freke, the second-in-command and the adjutant. The Colonel shouted Hold hard Leicester Yeomanry. and A squadron halted and returned to the support trench
29.
Melton Mowbray
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Melton Mowbray is a town in Leicestershire, England,19 miles northeast of Leicester, and 20 miles southeast of Nottingham. The town is on the River Eye and the River Wreake and has a population of 25,554, the town is best known for its culinary speciality, the Melton Mowbray pork pie, and it is also one of the six homes of Stilton cheese. Melton Mowbray is promoted as the Rural Capital of Food, the name comes from the early English word Medeltone – meaning Middletown surrounded by small hamlets. Mowbray is a Norman family name – the name of early Lords of the Manor – namely Robert de Mowbray, there is industrial archaeology including the Grantham Canal and the remains of the Melton Mowbray Navigation. Windmill sites, ironstone working and smelting archaeological evidence suggest that Melton borough was densely populated in Bronze, many small village communities existed and strategic points at Burrough Hill and Belvoir were fortified. There is also evidence to suggest that the site of Melton Mowbray in the Wreake Valley was inhabited before Roman occupation. Other Roman track ways in the locality passed north of Melton along the top of the vale of Belvoir scarp, they linked Market Harborough to Belvoir, evidence of settlement throughout Anglo-Saxon and Danelaw period is reflected in many place names. Along the Wreake Valley, the Danish suffix -by is common, in addition, a cemetery of 50–60 graves, of Pagan Anglo-Saxon origin, was found in Melton Mowbray. All the original crosses were removed or destroyed during the reformation, the effects of the Norman conquest are recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book. The water mills, still in use up to the 18th century, are remembered by the present names of Beckmill Court, Melton Mowbray has been a market town for over 1,000 years. Recorded as Leicestershires only market in the 1086 Domesday Survey, it is the third oldest market in England, tuesday has been market day ever since royal approval was given in 1324. The market was established with tolls before 1077, legacies from the Medieval period include consolidation of village and market town patterns, in Melton Mowbray, Bottesford, Wymondham, and Waltham-on-the-Wolds. The latter had a market in times that continued until 1921. Many buildings in Melton Market Place, Nottingham Street, Church Lane, King Street, alterations to number 16 Church Street revealed a medieval circular stone wall subjected to considerable heat. This is probably the Manor Oven mentioned in 13th century documents, surveys of 5 King Street show it to be part of an early medieval open-halled house. It may be part of the castle or fortified Manor of the Mowbrays, King Richard I and King John visited the town and may have stayed at an earlier castle. In 1549 following the Dissolution of the chantries, monasteries and religious guilds, church plate was sold, resulting rents were used to maintain Melton School, first recorded in 1347 and one of the oldest educational establishments in Britain. Funds were also used to maintain roads, bridges and to repair the church clock, Anne of Cleves house, now a Public House, is a Grade II* listed building
30.
Loughborough
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Loughborough is a town with the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and home to Loughborough University, the town had a population of 57,600 in 2004, making it the second largest settlement in Leicestershire. The town is close to the Nottinghamshire border and is within a distance of locations such as Nottingham. The first mention of Loughborough is in the 1086 Domesday Book, Loughboroughs local weekly newspaper is the Loughborough Echo. The town is served by Leicestershires daily newspaper, the Leicester Mercury. Loughboroughs earliest historical reference was as Lucteburne in the 1086 Domesday Book, Heathcoat, in partnership with the Nottingham manufacturer Charles Lacy, moved his business from there to the village of Hathern, outside Loughborough. The product of this Loughborough machine came to be known as English net or bobbinet, however, the factory was attacked in 1816 by Luddites thought to be in the pay of Nottingham competitors and 55 frames were destroyed. This prompted Heathcoat to move his business to a woollen mill in Tiverton, Devon. In 1888 a charter of incorporation was obtained, allowing a mayor, the population increased from 11,000 to 25,000 in the following ten years. In 1897, Herbert Morris set up a factory in the Empress Works in Moor Lane which become one of the foremost crane manufacturers by the mid-20th century. There was also strong municipal investment, a new works in 1895, then a waterworks in Blackbrook. The corporation took over Loughborough Gas Company in 1900, in 1841, Loughborough was the destination for the first package tour, organised by Thomas Cook for a temperance group from Leicester. Loughborough railway station is the national station serving the town. Network Rail has recently redeveloped the station, increasing the length of platforms, the local council has made concurrent improvements to the surrounding area. The station has services from London St. Pancras International, to which its twice-hourly London service goes, East Midlands Trains is the primary long-distance operator, running services between London and northern England, and provides local services throughout the East Midlands. These rail routes run north–south through Loughborough along the Midland Main Line, going south to Bedford, Luton and London, junctions at Leicester and Derby stations link with CrossCountry trains route, serving the far north-east of Scotland and the south-west of England. Today, the Great Central Railway line is in operation as the Great Central Steam Railway heritage railway and is the terminus of the section of the railway. It has an active Great Central station running services daily, the station was opened by the Great Central Railway on 15 March 1899, closed in 1969 and re-opened again in March 1974
31.
Lutterworth
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Lutterworth is a market town and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire,6.8 mi north of Rugby and it had a population of 9,353 at the 2011 UK census, up from 8,293 in 2001. The name of Lutterworth is probably derived from the Old Norse name Lutters Vordig meaning Luthers farm, Lutterworth was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The town was granted its charter in 1214 by King John and continues to hold a market to this day. Usually there are up to ten stalls selling a variety of items from fruit, the Irish statesman Robert le Poer was parish priest here c.1318. In the days of the stagecoach, Lutterworth was an important stopping-place on the road from Leicester to Oxford and London, the town also contains some historic half-timbered buildings, some of which date back to the 16th century. Three railway stations have borne the name Lutterworth, but only one was actually in the town, the first was Ullesthorpe & Lutterworth, about 3 mi to the north west, on the former Midland Railway line from Rugby to Leicester, closed on 1 January 1962. The third was on the Great Central Railway, the last main line to be constructed from the north of England to London, the engine for the UKs first jet aeroplane, the Gloster E. 28/39, was produced in Lutterworth. A statue of the stands in the middle of a roundabout just south of the town as a memorial. Two public houses in the town have born Whittles name, One of the established landmarks of the town is the 17th century building on the corner of George Street and Leicester Road, a tavern called the Cavalier Inn. The Cavalier Inn is located just on the edge of the town centre of Lutterworth. Although the building has been modified over the years, it still retains its rustic charm with granite walls and low ceilings. Originally called the Ram Inn – that part of George Street was called Ram Lane – it changed its name in the early 1970s after a brewery make-over which greatly improved the interior. In October 2010 the Cavalier Inn closed and was changed in status to a log burning store retailing log burning fires and similar products, the architect of Lutterworth Town Hall was Joseph Hansom, who took out the first patent of the horse-drawn hansom cab. He also built Birmingham Town Hall, another of the landmarks of the town centre is the thatched roof & timber framed building now known as the Shambles Inn. In 1982 it was converted back into a house and named the Shambles. To the west of the town is a logistics and distribution center called Magna Park. Magna Park is built upon the site of the old Bitteswell aerodrome, also near Lutterworth is Stanford Hall
32.
Lincoln, England
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Lincoln is a cathedral city and the county town of Lincolnshire, within the East Midlands of England. The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a 2012 population of 94,600, the 2011 census gave the entire urban area of Lincoln a population of 130,200. Lincoln developed from the Roman town of Lindum Colonia, which developed from an Iron Age settlement, Lincolns major landmarks are Lincoln Cathedral, a famous example of English Gothic architecture, and Lincoln Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle. The city is home to the University of Lincoln and Bishop Grosseteste University. See Lincoln City F. C. for Lincoln City Football Club, the earliest origins of Lincoln can be traced to the remains of an Iron Age settlement of round wooden dwellings that have been dated to the 1st century BC. This settlement was built by a pool in the River Witham at the foot of a large hill. The extent of original settlement is unknown as its remains are now buried deep beneath the later Roman and medieval ruins. The Celtic name Lindon was subsequently Latinised to Lindum and given the title Colonia when it was converted into a settlement for army veterans, the conversion to a colonia was made when the legion moved on to York in AD71. It became a flourishing settlement, accessible from the sea both through the River Trent and through the River Witham. Subsequently, however, the town and its waterways fell into decline, by the close of the 5th century the city was largely deserted, although some occupation continued under a Praefectus Civitatis, for Saint Paulinus visited a man of this office in Lincoln in AD629. During this period the Latin name Lindum Colonia was shortened in Old English to become first Lindocolina, after the first destructive Viking raids, the city once again rose to some importance, with overseas trading connections. After the establishment of the Danelaw in 886, Lincoln became one of the Five Boroughs in the East Midlands, excavations at Flaxengate reveal that this area, deserted since Roman times, received new timber-framed buildings fronting a new street system in about 900. Lincoln experienced an explosion in its economy with the settlement of the Danes. By 950, however, the banks of the Witham were newly developed with the Lower City being resettled and the suburb of Wigford quickly emerging as a major trading centre. In 1068, two years after the Norman conquest, William I ordered Lincoln Castle to be built on the site of the former Roman settlement, for the strategic reasons. The rebuilt Lincoln Minster, enlarged to the east at each rebuilding, was on a magnificent scale, its crossing tower crowned by a spire reputed to have been 525 ft high, the highest in Europe. When completed the central of the three spires is widely accepted to have succeeded the Great Pyramids of Egypt as the tallest man-made structure in the world, when Magna Carta was drawn up in 1215, one of the witnesses was Hugh of Wells, Bishop of Lincoln. One of only four surviving originals of the document is preserved in Lincoln Castle, theologian William de Montibus was the head of the cathedral school and chancellor until his death in 1213
33.
Grantham
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Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It bestrides the London to Edinburgh East Coast Main Line railway and the River Witham, Grantham is about 26 miles south of the city and county town of Lincoln, and about 24 miles east of the city of Nottingham. The resident population in 2014 was estimated as 43,117, the town is best known as the birthplace of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and the place where Isaac Newton went to school, at The Kings School. It is close to an ancient Roman road, and was the scene of Oliver Cromwells first advantage over Royalists during the English Civil War at Gonerby Moor, the origin of Grantham is uncertain, although the name is said probably to be Old English Granta+ham, meaning Grantas homestead. It appeared as early as 1086 in the Domesday Book in its present form of Grantham, the place name element grand could possibly mean gravel. The name of the town is the origin of the Scottish surname, now used as a given name. Late neolithic vessels from a burial were found at Little Gonerby, in the north of the town, a number of flint blades have been found, including from near Welham Street to the south-east of the town centre and from near Barrowby where a macehead has also been found. At Little Gonerby a neolithic settlement site was discovered with finds of pottery, Bronze Age flint scatters have also been found in several places, particularly on the higher ground near Barrowby. At Saltersford a Bronze Age ingot and a rapier were found, there are also several ring ditches on the higher ground above Saltersford. According to the Chronicles of Raphael Holinshed, Gorbonianus, a legendary King of the Britons built Grantham between 292 and 282 BC, the Domesday account notes Queen Edith having 12 carucates to the geld, with no arable land outside the village. She had a hall, two carucates and land for three ploughs without geld, and 111 burgesses, ivo had one church and four mills rendering 12 shillings, and eight acres of meadow without geld. The lands of Bishop Osmond were described, In Londonthorpe. is land for two ploughs and this land belongs to the church of Grantham. In Spittlegate, St Wulfram of Grantham has half a carucate of land to the geld, in Great Gonerby, St Wulfram of Grantham has 1 carucate of land. There is land for twelve oxen, on 4 December 1290, the funeral cortège of Eleanor of Castile, accompanied by her husband King Edward I, stopped at Grantham on its way from Lincoln to Westminster Abbey. An Eleanor Cross was later erected in the town, although its location has not been identified. In 1363 The Castles, Manors and towns of Stamford and Grantham were granted to Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the question has been raised as to whether Grantham House was the site of a castle, however, no such site has been reliably identified. The street name Castlegate cannot be traced further back than the 17th century, there are references to a Hospital in Grantham as early as the 1330s. Grantham received its Charter of Incorporation in 1463, the town developed when the railway came to the town
34.
Louth, Lincolnshire
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Louth /ˈlaʊθ/ is a market town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. Louth is the town and centre for a large rural area of eastern Lincolnshire attracting visitors for its market, Lincolnshires last remaining cattle market. Louth is at the foot of the Lincolnshire Wolds where they meet the Lincolnshire Marsh and is known as the Capital of the Lincolnshire Wolds and it developed where the ancient trackway along the Wolds, known as the Barton Street, crossed the River Lud. The town is east of a gorge carved into the Wolds that forms the Hubbards Hills and this area was formed from a glacial overspill channel in the last glacial period. The River Lud meanders through the gorge before entering the town, Louth has a population of 15,930. The Greenwich Meridian passes through the town and is marked on Eastgate with a plaque on the side of the street. The three-mile £6.6 million A16 Louth Bypass opened in 1991, the former route through the town is now designated as the B1520. Three handaxes have been found on the wolds surrounding Louth, dating from between 424,000 and 191,000 years ago, indicating inhabitation in Paleolithic era, bronze Age archeological finds include a barbed and tanged arrowhead found in the grounds of Monks Dyke Tennyson College. The Anglo-Saxon pagan burial ground, northwest of Louth, dates from the fifth to sixth centuries, with an estimated 1200 urn burials it is one of the largest Anglo-Saxon cremation cemeteries in England. Æthelhard, a Bishop of Winchester who was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 793, was an abbot of Louth in his early life, Louth is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as a town of 124 households. Louth Park Abbey was founded in 1139 by the Bishop Alexander of Lincoln as a daughter-house of the Cistercian Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire, following its dissolution in 1536 it fell into ruin and, today, only earthworks survive, on private land, between Louth and Keddington. Monks Dyke, now a ditch, was dug to supply the abbey with water from the springs of Ashwell. In 1643, Sir Charles Bolles, a resident of Louth, fighting took place in, and around the town and, at one point, Bolles was forced to take refuge under the Ramsgate bridge. By the battles end Three strangers, being souldgeres, was slain at a skirmish at Lowth, the Louth flood of 1920 occurred in the town on 29 May 1920, causing 23 deaths. One woman climbed a chimney to survive, another was the survivor from a row of twelve terrace houses. Four stone plaques exist in the town to show how high the water level reached, other, less devastating floods occurred on 25 June and 20 July in 2007. Margaret Wintringham succeeded her husband at the Louth by-election in September 1921, to become the Liberals first female MP. St Herefrith, or Herefrid, is Louths forgotten saint, whose feast day is 27 February and he was a bishop, who died around 873, possibly killed by the Danes
35.
Grimsby
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Grimsby, also known as Great Grimsby, is a large town and seaport in Lincolnshire, England, on the South Bank of the Humber Estuary close to where it reaches the North Sea. It is the centre of North East Lincolnshire. Grimsby developed as a sea port on the east coast of England. The fishing industry declined dramatically after the Cod Wars, since then the town has battled with post-industrial decline. Since the 1990s the local council has encouraged food manufacturing, the Grimsby–Cleethorpes conurbation acts as the cultural, shopping and industrial centre for a large area of northern and eastern Lincolnshire. People from Grimsby are called Grimbarians, the term codhead is also used jokingly or disparagingly,22 January is Great Grimsby Day. The town was titled Great Grimsby to distinguish it from Little Grimsby, the town had a population of 88,243 in 2011. It is physically linked to and forms a conurbation with the town of Cleethorpes. Some 11,000 of its residents live in the village of Scartho, all three areas come under the jurisdiction of the same unitary authority, North East Lincolnshire. It is close to the terminus of the A180, which ends in Cleethorpes. Grimsby lies in the national character areas of the Humber, the town was historically settled on low-lying islands and raised areas of the Humber marsh, and subsequently expanded onto the surrounding marshes as they were drained. The town still has areas named East Marsh and West Marsh, the Lincolnshire Wolds are situated to the south west of the town, from which the towns River Freshney rises. There is some evidence of a small town of Roman workers sited in the area in the second century. Located on the River Haven, which flowed into the Humber and it was also well situated to exploit the rich fishing grounds in the North Sea. Grimsby was settled by Danes sometime in the 9th century AD, according to legend, the name Grimsby derives from the name Grim, a Danish fisherman, the suffix -by being the Old Norse word for village. The legendary founding of Grimsby is described in Lay of Havelock the Dane, in Norse mythology, Grim and Grimnir are names adopted by the deity Odin when travelling incognito amongst mortals, as in the short poem known as Grimnirs Sayings in the Poetic Edda. The intended audience of the Havelock tale may have understood the fisherman Grim to be Odin in disguise, the Odinic name Grimr/Grim occurs in many English placenames within the historical Danelaw and elsewhere in Britain, examples being the numerous earthworks named Grimsdyke. As other British placenames containing the element Grim are explained as referring to Woden/Odin, Grimsby is listed in the Domesday Book as having a population of around 200, a priest, a mill and a ferry
36.
Leicestershire Royal Horse Artillery
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The Leicestershire Royal Horse Artillery was a Territorial Force Royal Horse Artillery battery that was formed in Leicestershire in 1908. A second line battery, 2/1st Leicestershire RHA, served on the Western Front with the 63rd Division from 1916 to 1918, post-war, it was reconstituted as a Royal Field Artillery battery. On formation, the TF contained 14 infantry divisions and 14 mounted yeomanry brigades, each yeomanry brigade included a horse artillery battery and an ammunition column. On 18 March 1908, Leicestershire Royal Horse Artillery was proposed as a new unit and it was recognized by the Army Council on 21 July 1908, the unit consisted of Battery HQ at No. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, therefore, TF units were split into 1st Line and 2nd Line units. 2nd Line units performed the home defence role, although in fact most of these were also posted abroad in due course, the battery was embodied with the North Midland Mounted Brigade and assigned to Third Army of the Central Force. It moved to Norfolk and joined 1st Mounted Division in September 1914 replacing the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Mounted Brigade, the brigade remained with 1st Mounted Division until October 1915 when it departed for the Mediterranean. The battery remained in the United Kingdom attached to 2/1st North Midland Mounted Brigade, in February 1916 the battery departed Southampton and disembarked at Alexandria in Egypt on 25 February. Service with III Brigade III Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery was formed in April 1916 in the Egyptian Expeditionary Force with the Somerset and Leicestershire Batteries and it was assigned to the ANZAC Mounted Division to provide artillery support. In practice, the batteries were attached to the mounted brigades of the division. The battery initially served with the ANZAC Mounted Division in the Sinai, with the division, it saw action at the Battle of Romani as part of No.3 Section, Suez Canal Defences. This saw the repulse of the final Turkish attempt to cut the Suez Canal, the division then joined the Desert Column and with it took part in the advance across the Sinai. It fought at the Battle of Magdhaba and the Battle of Rafah, the batteries were then re-equipped with four 18 pounders each before taking part in the First and Second Battles of Gaza. In June 1917, the Desert Column was reorganised from two mounted divisions of four each to three mounted divisions of three brigades each. Consequently, the 22nd Mounted Brigade was transferred from the ANZAC to the Yeomanry Mounted Division on 6 July 1917, with a reduction to three brigades, there was a corresponding reduction in the artillery to three batteries. The Leicestershire Battery departed on 20 June to join XX Brigade, Service with XX Brigade Leicestershire, RHA transferred from ANZAC Mounted Division on 20 June 1916 and joined XX Brigade RHA on 5 July 1917 where it joined the Hampshire and Berkshire Batteries. The battery remained with the division when it was restructured and indianized as the 1st Mounted Division, during its time with the Yeomanry Mounted Division, the division served as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in Palestine. From 31 October it took part in the Third Battle of Gaza, including the Battle of Beersheba, still with the DMC, it took part in the Battle of Mughar Ridge on 13 and 14 November and the Battle of Nebi Samwil from 17 to 24 November
37.
Royal Army Service Corps
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It became a Forming Corps of the Royal Logistic Corps. For centuries, army transport was operated by contracted civilians, the first uniformed transport corps in the British Army was the Royal Waggoners formed in 1794. It was not a success and was disbanded the following year, in 1799, the Royal Waggon Corps was formed, by August 1802, it had been renamed the Royal Waggon Train. This was reduced to two troops in 1818 and finally disbanded in 1833. A transport corps was not formed again until the Crimean War, in 1855, the Land Transport Corps was formed. This was renamed the Military Train the following year, in 1869, there was a major reorganisation of army supply and transport capabilities. Before 1869, supply duties had been the responsibility of the Commissariat, in 1869, the commissaries of the Commissariat and the officers of the Military Train amalgamated into the Control Department. The following year the other ranks of the Military Train were redesignated the Army Service Corps, in November 1875, the Control Department was divided into the Commissariat and Transport Department and the Ordnance Store Department. In January 1880, the Commissariat and Transport Department was renamed the Commissariat and Transport Staff, the ASC subsequently absorbed some transport elements of the Royal Engineers. In 1918, the received the Royal prefix for its service in the First World War. It was divided into Transport and Supply Branches, before the Second World War, RASC recruits were required to be at least 5 feet 2 inches tall and could enlist up to 30 years of age. They initially enlisted for six years with the colours and a six years with the reserve. Alone among the Services, RASC personnel were considered to be combatant personnel, in 1965, the RASC was merged with the Transportation and Movement Control Service of the Royal Engineers to form the Royal Corps of Transport. All its supply functions, along with the clerks, were transferred to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, leaving the new RCT solely responsible for transport. In 1993, the RCT and RAOC were merged to form the Royal Logistic Corps, officers of the Control Department, Commissariat and Transport Department, and Commissariat and Transport Staff held different ranks from the rest of the Army. From February 1885 they were given military ranks, which they held in conjunction with their commissary ranks. Officers of the ASC and RASC held full military rank
38.
Royal Army Medical Corps
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The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. Together with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps and Queen Alexandras Royal Army Nursing Corps, because it is not a fighting arm, under the Geneva Conventions, members of the RAMC may only use their weapons for self-defence. Other ranks do not fix bayonets, neither do they prefix Surgeon in front of their rank as medical officers of the Royal Navy do. The RAMC, like every other British regiment, has its own distinctive unit insignia, dark blue beret, the default Army colour worn by units without distinctive coloured berets. There is also a small attachment to Special Forces, the Medical Support Unit who wear the beret of the SAS. Cap badge depicting the Rod of Asclepius, surmounted by a crown, enclosed within a wreath, with the regimental motto In Arduis Fidelis. The cap badge is worn 1 inch above the eye on the beret. The cap badge of the ranks must also be backed by an oval patch of dull cherry-red coloured cloth measuring 3.81 cm wide and 6.35 cm high sewn directly to the beret. Officers do not use the backing, but have a cloth cap badge instead. Silver regimental collar badges, a miniature of the cap badge, stable belt comprising equal horizontal bands of dull cherry, royal blue, and old gold, reflecting the old uniform worn in the 1900s, the gold depicting the royal in the title. Silver belt buckle with engraved regimental badge, Medical services in the British armed services go as far back as the formation of the Standing Regular Army after the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. This was the first time a career was provided for a Medical Officer, known as the Regimental Surgeon, both in peacetime and in war. The Army was formed entirely on a basis, and an MO with a Warrant Officer as his Assistant Surgeon was appointed to each regiment. The MO was also for the first time concerned in the health of his troops. This regimental basis of appointment for MOs continued until 1873, when an army medical service was set up. There was much unhappiness in the Army Medical Service in the following years, for medical officers did not actually have military rank but advantages corresponding to relative military rank. They had inferior pay in India, excessive amounts of Indian and colonial service and they did not have their own identity as did the Army Service Corps, whose officers did have military rank. A number of complaints were published, and the British Medical Journal campaigned loudly, for over two years after 27 July 1887 there were no recruits to the Army Medical Department
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Handsworth, West Midlands
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Handsworth is now an inner city, urban area of northwest Birmingham in the West Midlands. Handsworth lies just outside the Birmingham City Centre, the name Handsworth originates from its Saxon owner Hondes and the Old English word weorthing, meaning farm or estate. Historically in the county of Staffordshire, it remained a village from the 13th century to the 18th century. Accommodation was built for workers, the village quickly grew. In that year, work began to build St James Church, later St Michaels Church was built as a daughter church to St James. In the census of 1881, the town was recorded as having approx, by the census of 1911, this had more than doubled to 68,610. Handsworth has two grammar schools – Handsworth Grammar School and King Edward VI Handsworth School, St Andrews Church is a listed building in Oxhill Road which also held Sunday school classes in a small building on the corner of Oxhill Road and Church Lane. The 1901 Red Lion public house was grade II* listed in 1985, Handsworth parish was transferred from Staffordshire to Warwickshire, and became part of Birmingham, in 1911. The redbrick building with the clocktower in the photograph was originally the offices of the council on Soho Road. During World War II, West Indians had arrived as part of the war effort. In the post-war period, a rebuilding programme required much unskilled labour and Birminghams industrial base expanded, during this time, there was direct recruitment for workers from the Caribbean and the area became a centre for Birminghams Afro-Caribbean community. A tram depot was erected near Birmingham Road, next to the border with West Bromwich, during the 1880s, although it has since been demolished, a replica of the depot was created later in the 20th century at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley. The West Indian population in Birmingham numbered over 17,000 by the 1961 census count, by the early 1960s, there was much racial tension in the country and a great deal of this was being felt in Handsworth. Matthew Boultons Soho Manufactory was set up on the edge of Handsworth. It operated from 1766-1848 and was demolished in 1863, boulton commissioned Samuel Wyatt to design his nearby house Soho House, which is now a museum. In 1790, Heathfield Hall, also designed by Wyatt, was built for Boultons business partner, Watt died in the house in 1819, and was buried at nearby St Marys Church. In the 1880s engineer George Tangye bought the hall and lived there until his death in 1920, from 1927 the hall was demolished and the lands redeveloped. What was the Heathfield Estate is now the land that comprises West Drive, watts workshop from the house was dismantled and rebuilt in the Science Museum, London
Kingdom of Great Britain (1794–1800)
United Kingdom (1801–1971)
British Army
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