British Army
The British Army is the land armed forces of the United Kingdom.In contrast to the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, the British Army does not include royal in its title, because of its roots as a collection of disparate units.
The British Army is widely regarded as one of the best trained in the world, and has a long record of achieving excellent results.
=History=
The Founding of the Army
The British Army did not exist as a separate entity before the Act of Union of 1707 which united England and Scotland, but its origins date back to the aftermath of the English Civil War. Before the Civil War, the army was raised as required by the King, who would warrant gentlemen to raise companies, this being a direct throwback to the feudal concept of fief where a lord had to raise a certain quota of knights, men at arms and yeomanry. The only difference up to this point in time being that raising companies without a warrant could be considered treasonable (whereas feudal lords could raise their fief to fight each other).
After the Civil War, parliament assumed control of the Army, and standing companies based on Cromwell's New Model Army formed the concept of the first regiments. Cromwell's companies did not yet assume the unique names that came later to be associated with British Army Regiments, instead they would name their companies after psalms or biblical phrases, or were often identified with the gentleman (typically with the rank of Colonel) who had raised the company, eg Monck's Regiment of Foot. (This particular unit is notable because after the end of the Civil War it was barracked in London, and was involved in defending parliament when it voted for the restoration; this unit is now known as the Coldstream Guards.)
With the Restoration of Charles II the concept of standing regiments found favour with the King. As well as retaining some existing loyal standing units, he raised his own, one of the first being the First or Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards, today shortened to the Grenadier Guards. On January 26th, 1661 Charles II issued the warrant that officially founded the British Army.
The oldest surviving regiment in the British Army is the Honourable Artillery Company (given a royal charter in 1537), now a Territorial Army unit. It is not considered the most senior, however, because it fought on the side of Parliament in the Civil War and so doesn't have unbroken service to the crown. This honour instead goes to the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers, also now a Territorial Army unit, which was founded in 1539. The oldest surviving regular unit is the Royal Scots, founded in 1633.
The Monarch is head of the Armed Forces and is the only person who can declare war and peace, though these powers are exercised today only on the advice of responsible Ministers. The Bill of Rights of 1689 purports to prevent a standing army in peacetime.
- That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is against law.
The Army in the 18th and 19th centuries
American Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, Boer War
Vickers machine gun and crew
British Expeditionary Force sent to France, the formation of the Royal Flying Corps, Trench warfare and the development of the Tank
The BAOR lasted until 1993, when it was disbanded as part of the Options for Change defence cuts. The Army has not completely pulled out of Germany. 1st Armoured Division is still based in the country as part of British Forces Germany.
Since 1962, when the last period of conscription (National Service)
ended, the army has been a wholly professional force of volunteers. About one quarter of the Army is provided by the part-time members of the Territorial Army.
The L86A2 LSW (Light Support Weapon) is another weapon in the SA80 family. It has a longer, heavier barrel, an extra pistol grip and a bipod, providing greater sustained firepower at longer ranges, whilst being lighter than the General Purpose Machine Gun.
New to the British Army is the Minimi light machine gun. This was issued to all infantry platoons to improve their sustained and covering firepower.
The GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun) is used as a suppression weapon and as an accurate sustained fire platform when mounted on a tripod. The tripod base includes a GPS system to allow accurate map-assisted firing out to over 1000m. This weapon is also mounted on several mobile platforms such as the Landrover and off-road quad bikes.
=Structure and Personnel=
The Army and the First World War
Major Actions
Battle of the Somme, ...Equipment and Uniform
The standard rifle in this period was the Lee-Enfield Rifle, in its short magazine form (SMLE). Officers and some other ranks were equipped with a Webley Mk IV revolver. Other infantry weapons included the Lewis gun and Vickers machine gun. It was during this period that the Brodie helmet was introduced, giving one of the classic visual attributes of the tommy. The Army and the Second World War
See British military history of World War II
For the foundation and exploits of the Commandos, see British Commandos.
Major Actions
Battle of France, North African Campaign, Normandy Landings, ...Equipment and Uniform
The standard rifle in this period was the Lee-Enfield Rifle in its No.4 Mk1 form, although contingency after Dunkirk meant many older forms of the Lee-Enfield were brought back into use. Other infantry weapons included the Bren gun, Thompson submachine gun, sten gun and Vickers machine gun. The Brodie helmet continued to be standard issue.Cold War
In the aftermath of WWII, the Army concentrated most of its combat firepower in Germany. For the first time in its history, it maintained the bulk of its forces in continental Europe in peacetime, after they ceased being an army of occupation. The British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was formed to control British formations in West Germany. It varied in size during its lifetime, but for a good proportion of the time, it consisted of four divisions, with about 55,000 men in total. Another unusual feature of the formation was that it had a British corps headquarters permenantly established in peacetime as a manoeuvre formation. This was I Corps. Usually in peacetime there are not enough British formations in one place to merit this level of headquarters being established.Major Actions
Korean War, Aden, Suez CrisisEquipment and Uniform
The standard rifle in this period was the initially the Lee-Enfield family of rifles, but these was replaced in the 1950s with the L1A1 Self Loading Rifle(SLR)Modern British Army
Major Actions
Northern Ireland, the Falklands War, the Gulf Wars, Afghanistan, Sierra Leonne, Bosnia, KosovoEquipment and Uniform
The standard issue rifle is now the L85A2, known popularly as the SA80. This is a variant over the orginal L85A1 version with improvements to the working parts (cocking handle, firing pin etc.), gas parts and magazines. The SA80 is regarded by many as the most reliable and accurate standard rifle in service. During the 2003 International shooting meet at Bisley, the British Army team won after firing over 62,000 rounds with no stoppages.Ranks
The various ranks, in descending order, are as follows:Officers
Enlisted personnel
Structure of the British Army
See Structure of the British Army.Notable units of the British Army, past and present
Land units of the British Armed Forces which are not
part of the British Army include;Famous members of the British Army
Commanders of the British Army
Captains-General of the British Army, 1660-1809
Commanders-in-Chief of the Forces, 1672-1904
Chiefs of the General Staff, 1904-1908
Chiefs of the Imperial General Staff, 1908-1964
Chiefs of the General Staff, 1964-present
=See also=
=External links=