From around 1692 until 1914, the United Kingdom was the dominant military and economic power in the world. and the British Army played an extremely important role in helping the United Kingdom reach such power. It has contributed, among others, to the defeat of Napoleon, the expansion of the British Empire, victory in two World Wars, helping to dismantle the British Empire it had helped build and in the latter part of the 20th Century and into the 21st, an increasing role in multi-national peacekeeping operations. It has also helped bring new technologies and new organisations into existence, such as the tank and Royal Air Force.
Origins (1661-1774)
Prior to the English Civil War in 1642, there was no standing army in England or Scotland. Troops were raised by the King when required, a development of the feudal concept of fief (in which a lord was obligated to raise a certain quota of knights, men-at-arms and yeomanry) under greater control of the King). After the Civil War and establishment of a Republic, parliament assumed control of the Army, and standing companies based on Cromwell's New Model Army formed the concept of the first regiments. The Restoration of Charles II saw the Model Army kept as a standing force, and the King raised further regiments loyal to the Crown. On 26 January, 1661 Charles II issued the warrant that is acknowledged as the official beginning of the British Army.
The British Army as it is now, came into existence upon the Union of England and Scotland in 1707, forming the Kingdom of Great Britain. In an effort to control the powers of the monarch, Parliament passed the Bill of Rights 1689 to prevent a standing army in peacetime without the consent of Parliament. To this day, annual continuation notices are required for the British Army to remain legal. However, now the Army was under the control of Parliament, and the last King to lead his troops into battle was George II at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743.
Units had originally been known by the names of their colonels, such as Sir John Mordaunt's Regiment of Foot, but in 1751 a numeral system was adopted, with each regiment gaining a number in accordance with their rank in the order of precedence, so John Mordaunt's Regiment became the 47th Regiment of Foot. During the period of 1661-1774, the British Empire expanded during the many wars it took part in against its European rivals and the Army actively participated in all the conflicts, including the Seven Years War (1755-63), deemed to be one of the first 'world wars', and saw one of the most important conquests by the Army; the taking of Quebec.
American Revolution, Napoleonic Wars and the Long Peace (1774-1854)
The American War of Independence began in 1775 when the Thirteen Colonies rised up against British-rule. Many Americans, however, sought to remain with the British Empire and duly fought for the British, and were known as Loyalists. Five American units were placed on the regular estabsliment, known as the American Establishment (formed in 1779) though there were many other Loyalist units. Upon the independence of America and the end of the war in 1783, many of the Loyalist forces fled north to Canada, where many subsequently served with the British Army. The Army itself had established many units during the war, to serve in North America or provide replacements for garrisons; all but three -- the 23rd Dragoons, 71st and 78th Foot -- were disbanded in the immediate aftermath of the war.
An officer and private of the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry)
The 60th (Royal American) and 95th Regiments of Foot. The Army by the turn of the 19th Century was beginning to embrace new technology and new tactics, some of the most important being the rifle and creation of entire regiments of light infantry and riflemen, giving the Army a capability of skirmishers, acting in a fluid manner (rather than constricted by formations, which was still the predominant method of fighting during that period). The first light infantry regiments were the 43rd and 53rd Foot in 1803, though were armed with muskets. An Experimental Corps of Riflemen was formed in 1800, armed with the Baker rifle. It was brought into the line as the 95th Regiment of Foot in 1802 (The Rifle Brigade from 1816). The French Revolutionary Wars saw the Army take part in many campaigns against the French (as-well as countries conquered by them) in the Caribbean; the Indian sub-continent (including the capture of Ceylon); Europe and in North Africa, which including a successful campaign in 1801 to expel invading French troops in Egypt. In 1803, with Napoleon as leader of France, the Napoleonic Wars began. As in the previous war with France, the Army saw service in many campaigns, including the capture of the Cape of Good Hope in Southern Africa; an abortive (initially unauthorised) invasion of Spanish-South America; further wars and campaigns in the Indian sub-continent and Caribbean; the Peninsular War (in Portugal and Spain, after France invaded). The Army also saw service in the War of 1812 against America (unrelated to the Napoleonic Wars) though it was initially Canadian forces that fought the Americans back into the USA after their invasion of Canada failed. The Napoleonic Wars ended with the defeat of the French at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815.
Due to the war, the British Empire had increased in size and was continuing to do so after the end of the war. The Government, however, implemented heavy cuts on the Armed Forces, with many units being disbanded, including the émigré units, such as the King's German Legion and Royal Corsican Rangers. The cuts proved too severe and a number of new regiments were raised. Though the Royal Navy played an extremely prominent part in the expansion and maintenance of the Empire, the Army's contribution was vital. One of the most important contributions was its participation in the many wars during the expansion of British power in the Indian sub-continent, eventually culminating in the establishment of most what is modern-day India by the 1850s. The Army also saw increasing service in Africa and in the Far East, including the First China War between 1839-42, a war ostensibly provoked for trade reason.
Crimea, Mutiny, Colonial Wars & the Cardwell-Childers reforms (1854-1914)
Due to the Indian Mutiny (1857-58), the Army was extremely overstretched, to such an extent that Canadian volunteers raised a regiment for the British Army for serve in India, titled the 100th (or Prince of Wales's Royal Canadians) Regiment of Foot, though did not see service there. In the aftermath of the Mutiny, the Crown took over control of India from the East India Company. The so-called 'European' regiments of the East India Company were transferred to the British Army, consisting of three cavalry and nine infantry regiments, as-well as troops and batteries of artillery, all joining the Royal Artillery. In 1859, there was an assassination attempt on Napoleon III, ruler of France, by Felice Orsini and the attempt was linked to the United Kingdom. In spite of the fact Britain had only just been in a war against Russia with France as its ally, there was an increased fear of war breaking out and, thus, there was a surge in interest in creating volunteer units, known as 'Volunteer Rifle Corps', formed by middle and upper class individuals whose rank and file consisted of the same type of people. There were many such corps formed, one of the most prominent being the Artists' Rifles (originally known as the 38th Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps) established in 1860 by the art student Edward Starling.
In the early 1870s, the Cardwell reforms, named after the Secretary of State of War Edward Cardwell, saw radical reforms of the armed forces implemented in the aftermath of the inadequacies found in the Crimean War. Some of the reforms included the abolishing of the purchase of commissions, replacing it with advancement by merit; the abolition of flogging and the pairing of single-battalion regiments via administrative depots on a county-based system. The Childers reforms, which came into effect on 1 July 1881, continued the reforms which strengthened regiments county affiliations by discarding the numeral system and combining most of the single battalion regiments into two-battalion regiments with, for the most part, county names in their titles. This created a force of 69 regular infantry regiments, consisting of 48 English, 10 Scottish, 8 Irish, and 3 Welsh regiments. Another aspect of the reforms included the further integration of the militia into the regular regiment system, becoming additional numbered battalions of the regiments, and the establishment of a reserve force. These changes, and the others that were implemented, bore the Army in good stead for the two World Wars it would experience in the 20th Century.
The Boer War (1899-1902) provided further impetus for the expansion of the Army -- which had already been expanding in size during the last years of the 19th Century -- including the creation of the Irish Guards in 1900 in honour of the distinguished service of Irish regiments during the conflict, and the Royal Garrison Regiment, created to fill the void of units departing for South Africa. After the end of the war, further reforms took place, known as the Haldane reforms after Richard Burdon Haldane. Some of the reforms included the establishment of the British Expeditionary Force] (BEF) in anticipation of a war on the European continent; a part-time volunteer organisation, known as the Territorial Force, was also created, encompassing the reserve units of the Army, with the militia units being transferred to the newly created Special Reserve. In 1911 the Air Battalion was formed in the Royal Engineers, becoming the Royal Flying Corps the following year, remaining part of the Army until 1918 when it became the Royal Air Force
'Charge of the Light Brigade', Painting by Richard Caton Woodville (1825-1855)The first war in Europe over 50 years, the Crimean War, began in 1854 after Britain and France declared war on Russia, fearing Russian domination of the Mediterranean a year after it had invaded Turkish territory, There were many inadequacies found in British Army organisation and incompetence in the higher echelons of command, noticed most prominently in the Charge of the Light Brigade. The war ended in 1856. In the immediate aftermath of the war, the Victoria Cross, which became the highest award for bravery in the face of the enemy, was created. The following year, a mutiny took place, causing the Army to become extremely overstretched. With the help of loyal Indian forces and Ghurkha troops, the mutiny was quelled by 1858.
The Army now increasingly concentrated on policing the empire in its many distant outposts, while also helping to expand it, along with taking part in interventions in other nations, mostly for British interests such as trade. In Canada, Irish-American ex-Union Army soldiers launched a number of encroachments into Canadian territory in 1866 and 1870, known as the Fenian Raids. These actions saw an increasing assertiveness in Canada, with Canadian units being the primary defenders. In 1878, the Second Afghan War took place between 1878-80 due to fears of Russian influence in Afghanistan, Russia being Britain's rival in the region. Elsewhere, in 1879 in Africa, the Anglo-Zulu War began, signifying further British expansion in southern Africa. The Zulu War saw disaster, at Isandlwana, and heroic legend, at Rorke's Drift. The performance of the Martini-Henry rifle (introduced in 1871) duly became a symbol of the Empire's colonial wars. There were many more wars in Africa before the end of the 19th Century, during a period of time known as the "scramble for Africa".
The Boer War began in 1899 after the two Dutch Boer republics declared war against the British. Though it was a relatively minor war in comparison to what awaited the British in the First World War, many tactics, technology and equipment used helped the British gain experience for the forthcoming World War. The war also saw the present and future Dominions -- Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand and South Africa -- become increasingly independent and assertive, all having had troops fight the Boers. The British eventually withdrew from all of these countries and the Dominions forces took over its duties. <need dates for when they left> The Army garrisons in Australia and New Zealand were withdrawn in 1870. The last British battalion to leave Canada was the 5th Battalion, The Royal Garrison Regiment in 1905 when it departed Halifax, Nova Scotia, which it was garrisoning. There were many other small wars that the Army took part in just before WWI, nearly all being in Africa, with the exception of the Boxer Rebellion (1900) and an expedition to Tibet in 1904.
The Great War (1914-18)
At the time of the First World War beginning, the British Army was a small, professional one of about 220,000 soldiers, consisting of career soldiers, many of whom had, in all likelihood, seen peacetime service in the Empire and during the small-scale colonial wars.
Vickers machine gun crew, Western Front. The machine gun in the First World War, along with trenches, became one of the dominating symbols of the conflict. The Machine Gun Corps was established on 22 October 1915 and the Household Cavalry and Foot Guards formed their own unit, the Guards Machine Gun Regiment that year. The MGC included a s Heavy Section which left the MGC in 1917 to become the Tank Corps. The Tank Corps was the only corps created in the war to survive past the 1920s, becoming the Royal Tank Corps in 1922, then Royal Tank Regiment in 1939. The Foot Guards gained its fifth and final regiment, the Welsh Guards, in 1915, created in honour of the distinguished actions of the Welsh regiments.
The old professional army had effectively been destroyed 1914. Lord Kitchener, by that time, had already begun a campaign for volunteers, who became part of the New Armies, otherwise known as Kitchener's Army. The Territorials itself saw very active service, raising many units during the war, seeing service in many theatres across the world. One aspect of this volunteer movement was the Pals and Bantam units; the Pals recruited from one area or place of work and with the slaughter of WWI, many communities were consequently shattered. Conscription was introduced in 1916. The war also saw the British having an increasing reliance upon the Dominion and Empire troops. The Royal Newfoundland Regiment and British West Indies Regiment (both formed in 1915 and disbanded in 1919) and existing regiments like the West India Regiment and West Africa Regiment (both disbanded by the end of the 1920s) all saw active service during the war.
Tyneside Irish Brigade advancing on the First Day of the Somme (1 July, 1916)The Army fought in every theatre of the war, from the more obscure actions, such as the South Wales Borderers symbolic support of Japanese forces in the capture of the German port of Tsingtao in China in 1914 and the campaigns in East Africa and Salonika, to the more important theatres, such as the Western Front (including the numerous battles of the Somme, Ypres and Cambrai); Gallipolli where the Army experienced awful slaughter during the landings at Helles and Suvla Bay; the Middle East where it fought in Palestine and Mesopotamia. The war came to an end with the signing of an Armistice on 11 November, 1918.
Inter-War and World War II (1918-1945)
The inter-war period saw the Army take part in the Allied intervention in Russia in 1919 during its civil war and establishing a British Army of the Rhine in Germany. Small British Military Mission was also advising the Polish Army during the Polish-Soviet War (1919-1921). The Army also took part in operations in Ireland, Palestine and elsewhere, all experiencing strife. The end of the First World War saw economic woes and heavy defence cuts imposed by the British Government in the early 1920s, and the introduction of the Ten Year Rule; that the UK would not be involved in another major war for 10-years. The Royal Tank Corps was the only corps formed in WWI that survived the cuts; the cavalry had sixteen regiments amalgamated into eight; a subsntial reduction in infantry battalions and a reduction in the size of the TF and its re-titlement as the Territorial Army. On 31 July, the Army also lost six Irish regiments (5 infantry and 1 cavalry) that were based and recruited from the south of Ireland, largely in part due to the creation of the Irish Free State. In spite of this, Irishmen from the south were still able to join the British Army, and many did indeed do so.
By the 1930s, another war with Germany was about to occur, now controlled by Hitler's Nazi Party who were becoming increasingly aggressive and expansionist. In 1935, the British re-introduced conscription and just before the war, a British Expeditionary Force was formed. Between 1938-39, there was a substantial expansion in the Army, including the creation of the Auxiliary Territorial Service for women in September 19338; its duties were vast, and helped release men for frontline service. The following year, on 4 April, the Royal Armoured Corps was formed to administer the cavalry regiments and Royal Tank Regiment though, however, many cavalry regiments had still not mechanised due to the restrictions in defence spending during the inter-war period, with the mechanisation process not completing until 1941 with the Royal Scots Greys]. The Territorial Army was merged with the regulars for the duration of WWII.
The Second World War saw the rise in elite and special forces units, intended to strike against enemy-occupied territory. Among the most prominent were the Army Commandos, Long Range Desert Group, the Special Air Service Regiment (formed to administer existing SAS units in 1944) and The Parachute Regiment; the latter was administered by the Army Air Corps from 1942, along with The Glider Pilot Regiment and the Air Observation Post Squadron, RA, being joined by the SAS upon its formation. Six cavalry regiments were also formed from the cadres of existing regiments, along with two new infantry regiments being created. All of these regiments were disbanded during demobilisation in the aftermath of the war. Many infantry battalions converted to numbered armoured regiments within the Royal Armoured Corps and the Royal Tank Regiment, such as the 7th Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment) becoming the 40th (The King's) Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment. A Reconnaissance Corps of over 20 regiments was also formed (absorbed by the RAC in 1944).
Just as in the First World War, the Army fought in many theatres across the war, experiencing disaster, such as the Battle of France (which saw triumph in defeat at Dunkirk) and victory, in places like North Africa and Italy, and during the invasion of France in June 1944, eventually taking part in the inexorable advance towards Germany. On its way, it fought its way through France, Belgium and its XXX Corps provided the ground forces and 1st Airborne Division provided Britain's airborne component for the invasion of the Netherlands (Operation Market Garden). In the Far East, upon Japan's entrance in the war in December 1941, it initially experienced disaster in Malaya, Singapore Burma and Hong Kong. The British gradually experiencing success, triumphing at Imphal and Kohima and liberating the occupied territories. The war officially ended in Europe on 8 May 1945, and in the Far East, on 2 September.
The United Nations (UN) was formed on 24 October 1945. The Army began demobilisation shortly after the end of war and the Territorial units were placed in 'suspended animation'. They were reconstituted upon the reformation of the TA in 1947. On 1 January 1948, National Service, the new name for conscription, formally came into effect. The Army was, however, being reduced in size upon the end of British rule in India, including the second battalions of every Line Infantry regiment either amalgamating with the 1st Battalions to maintain the 2nd Battalion's history and traditions, or simply disband, thus ending the two-battalion policy implemented by Childers in 1881. This proved too severe a decision for the overstretched Army, and a number of regiments reformed their second battalion in the 1950s. The year 1948 also saw the Army received four Ghurkha regiments (eight battalions in total) transferred to them from the Indian Army and were formed into the Brigade of Ghurkhas, initially based in Malaya. The British Army had, by now, gained a new overseas 'home' to replace India, this time in Europe: Germany. The British Army, just as in the aftermath of WWI, established a British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), centred around I Corps (upon its re-establishment in 1951), at its peak reaching about 80,000 troops. BAOR was also an integral part of the defences of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), established on 4 April 1949 with Britain one of the founding members.
More reforms of the armed forces took place with the 1957 Defence White Paper, which saw further reductions implemented; the Government realised after the debacle of the Suez War that Britain was no longer a global superpower and decided to withdraw from most of its commitments in the world, limiting the armed forces to concentrating on NATO, with an increased reliance upon nuclear weapons. The White Paper announced that the Army would be reduced in size from about 330,000 to 165,000, with National Service ending by 1963 (it officially ended on 31 December 1960, with the last conscript being discharged in May 1963) with the intention of making the Army into an entirely professional force. This enormous reduction in manpower led to, between 1958-62, eight cavalry and thirty infantry regiments being amalgamated, the latter amalgamations producing fifteen single-battalion regiments. Brigade cap badges superseded the regimental cap badge in 1959 and it was perceived as the first step in the dilution of the regimental system, though all attempts have consistently failed to do so.
Many of the regiments created during the 1957 White Paper would have only a brief existence, most being amalgamated into new 'large' regiments -- The Queen's, Royal Fusiliers, Royal Anglian, Light Infantry, Royal Irish Rangers, and the Royal Green Jackets -- all of whose 'junior' battalions were disbanded by the mid-1970s. Two regiments -- The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and The York and Lancaster Regiment-- opted to be disbanded rather than amalgamated. The fourteen administrative brigades (created in 1948) were replaced by six administrative divisions in 1968, with regimental cap badges being re-introduced the following year. The Conservative Government came to power in 1970, one of its pledges included the saving of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders after a popular campaign to save it had been provoked by the announcement of its intended demise. The Government also decided to stop the planned amalgamation of The Gloucestershire Regiment with The Royal Hampshire Regiment. Further cavalry and infantry regiments were, however, amalgamated between 1969-1971, with six cavalry (into three) and six infantry (also into three) regiments doing so.
The latter part of the 1940s saw the British begin the withdraw from its Colonies, first from its largest possession, India. It was announced in 1947 that India would become independent on 15 August, being separated into two counties, one mostly Muslim (Pakistan) and the other mostly Hindu (India). The last British Army unit to leave was the 1st Battalion, The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) on 28 February 1948. In Palestine their was a surge in attack s against the British by Zionist organisations such as Irgun and the Stern Gang after the British attempted to limit Jewish immigration into Palestine. The British eventually withdrew in 1948, with the State of Israel being established on 14 May. Elsewhere, Communist guerrillas launched an uprising in Malaya, starting the Malayan Emergency.
In the early 1950s, trouble began in Cyprus and Kenya (the Mau Mau uprising), in the former, an organisation known as EOKA sought unity with Greece, the situation being stabilised just before Cyprus was given independence in 1960. Kenya was one of many deployments for the Army in Africa during that period, most of the others being former Italian colonies placed in the temporary control of the Army. The Army also took part in the Korean War (1950-53), fighting in battles such as Imjin River which included Gloster Hill. Elsewhere, the Army withdrew from the Suez Canal Zone, Egypt in 1955. The following year, along with France and Israel, the British invaded Egypt in a conflict known as the Suez War, after the Egyptian leader, President Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal which Britain and France had shares in. The British Army contributed forces to the amphibious assault on Suez and Paras' took part in the airborne assault. Militarily, the war was a success, but international pressure forced them to withdraw soon afterwards, replaced by a UN peacekeeping force.
In the 1960s, Aden and Borneo featured heavily with the Army, the latter known as the Indonesian Confrontation. Trouble struck home that decade when a surge in violence in Northern Ireland against Catholics by Protestants led to British troops having to be sent into NI to assist in stopping the violence. They were initially welcomed by the Catholic community; however, this developed into opposition, and the IRA began to target British troops. It became known as "The Troubles" and was at its bloodiest in the 1970s and 1980s, subduing by the 1990s. The Army's operations usually centred around maintaining order, seeking to prevent confrontations between the Catholics and Protestants, as-well as stopping Republican and Loyalist paramilitary groups from committing terrorist attacks. Some prominent incidents involving British troops included the Bloody Sunday incident on 30 January 1972 in which 13 civilians were killed by The Parachute Regiment, and an incident in which eighteen British soldiers were killed in a bomb attack on 27 August 1979, on the same day Lord Mountbatten of Burma was assassinated.
Troops in Falklands Islands, 1982In 1980, the Special Air Service emerged from its secretive world when its most high-profile operation, the ending of the Iranian Embassy siege in London, was broadcast live on television. By the 1980s, even though the Army was being increasingly deployed abroad, most of its permanent overseas garrison were gone, with the largest remaining being the BAOR in Germany, while others included Belize, Brunei, Gibraltar, and Hong Kong. One garrison, not garrisoned by the Army, was the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, 6 to 8,000 miles from Britain. The Argentineans invaded the Falklands in April 1982. The British quickly responded and the Army had an active involvement in the campaign to liberate the Falklands, taking part in a series of battles that led to them reaching the outskirts of the capital, Port Stanley. The Falklands War ending with the formal surrender of the Argentinean forces on 14 June.
The collapse of the Soviet Union, ending the Cold War, saw a new defence white paper, Options for Change (produced in 1991), which saw inevitable reductions in the British armed forces. The Army experienced a substantial cut in its manpower (reduced to about 120,000), which included a number of regimental amalgamations, including two of the large regiments of the 1960s -- the Queen's Regiment and Royal Irish Rangers -- and the third battalions of the remaining large regiments being cut; the replacement of the British Army of the Rhine by British Forces Germany, with a reduction in personnel from about 55,000 to 25,000; replacement of I Corps by the British-led Headquarters Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps; the creation of two administrative corps -- the Royal Logistic Corps and the Adjutant General's Corps) -- by the amalgamation of nine administrative corps. One major development was the disbanding of the Women's Royal Army Corps (though the largest elements were absorbed by the AGC) and their integration into services that had previously been restricted to men, though they were still forbidden from joining armoured and infantry unit. The four Ghurkha regiments were amalgamated to form the three-battalion Royal Ghurkha Rifles, reduced to two in 1996 just before the handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997.
The Labour Party became the country's new government after their election victory in 1997 and they prepared a new defence white paper, known as the Strategic Defence Review, published in 1998. Some of the Army's reforms included the creation of two deployable divisions -- 1st (UK) Armoured Division and 3rd Mechanised Division, with the 1st Division being based in Germany -- and three 'regenerative' divisions -- 2nd, 4th, and 5th Divisions. The 16 Air Assault Brigade was formed from 24 Airmobile Brigade and elements of 5 Airborne Brigade to provide the Army with increased mobility, and will eventually include the Westland WAH-64 Apache attack helicopter; a Joint Rapid Reaction Force was also created, intended to provide a Bosnia-sized force capable of reacting quickly to situations. The Army Air Corp's helicopters also helped form the multi-service Joint Helicopter Command.
Another defence review was published in 2004, known as Delivering Security in a Changing World. The Army's manpower was reduced by 1,000, with four infantry battalions being cut and the manpower being redistributed elsewhere. One of the most radical aspects of the reforms was the announcement that most single-battalion regiments would amalgamate into large regiments, with most of the battalions retaining their previous regimental titles in their battalion names. The TA was also further integrated into the Army, with battalions becoming numbered into the regiment's structure. These are reminiscent, in some respects, to the Cardwell-Childers reforms and the 1960s reforms. The British Army is becoming incredibly expeditionary-based in anticipation of further small-scale wars against terrorist organisations such as Al Qaida and so-called "Rogue States".
The end of the Cold War did not provide the British Army with any respite, and the political vacuum left by the Soviet Union has seen a surge in instability in the world. Saddam Hussain's Iraq invaded Kuwait, one of its neighbour, in 1990, provoking condemnation from the United Nations, primarily led by the United States. The Gulf War and the British contribution, known as Operation Granby, was large, with the Army provided about 28,000 troops and 13,000 vehicles, mostly centred around 1 (UK) Armoured Division. After air operations ended, the land campaign against Iraq began on 24 February. 1st Armoured Division took part in the left-hook attack that helped destroy many Iraqi units. The ground campaign had lasted just 100-hours, Kuwait being officially liberated on 27 February.
The British Army has also played an increasingly prominent role in peacekeeping operations. In 1993, after Bosnia split from Yugoslavia, a civil war raged there between Bosnian Serbs, UN forces intervened and British forces contributed as part of United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR). This proved ineffective and it was replaced by the NATO IFOR though this was replaced the following year by SFOR. At its peak, Britain's involvement reached about 12,000 troops and presently (as of 2005) is about 3,000 troops. In 1999 the UK took a lead role in the NATO war against Slobodan Milosevic's forces in Kosovo. After the air war ended, the Parachute Regiment and Royal Ghurkha Rifles provided the spearhead for ground forces entering Kosovo. In 2000, British forces intervened in civil-war ravaged Sierra Leone, with the intention of evacuating British, Commonwealth and EU citizens. The British force, spearheaded by the Paras', remained, however, and they provided the catalyst for the stabilisation of the country.
The early 21st Century saw the world descend into a new war after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York by Al Qaida: the War on Terrorism. A US-led invasion of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan followed, with the British contribution led by the RN and RAF; the most important Army element being the SAS. The British later took part in the invasion of invasion of Iraq in 2003, Britain's contribution being known as Operation Telic, The Army played a more significant role in Iraq than Afghanistan, deploying a substantial force, centred around 1 (UK) Armoured Division with, again, around 28,000 troops. The war began in March and the British fought in the southern area of Iraq, eventually capturing the second largest city, Basra, in April. The Army remained in Iraq upon the end of the war and now leads the Multi-National Division (South East), with the Army presence in Iraq numbering about 8 to 9,000 soldiers.
Terminology
Army - Consists of 2 or more corps.
Corps - Operationally, it comprises 2 or more divisions. In the British Army it is used to administrate units that perform the same function, such as the Corps of Royal Engineers.
Division - About 10 to 20,000 personnel, comprising about 4 brigades and other units.
Brigade - Consists of a number of regiments and supporting units, numbering about 2,000 to 5,000 personnel.
Battalion/Regiment - Made up of companies/squadrons, numbering about 300 to 1,000 personnel. Can consist of multiple battalions.
Battery/Company/Squadron/ - Consists of about 100 to 200 personnel.
Platoon/Troop Consists of about 30 personnel.
Section - Consists of about 8 personnel.