| British Army | |
|---|---|
 Badge of the British Army[1]  Logo since 2018[2] | |
| Founded | 1 April 1707; 318 years ago (1707-04-01)[a][4][5] |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Type | Army |
| Role | Land warfare |
| Size | |
| Part of |  British Armed Forces |
| General Staff Offices | Whitehall,London |
| March | List of marches of the British Army |
| Equipment | List of equipment of the British Army |
| Website | www |
| Commanders | |
| Head of the Armed Forces |  King Charles III |
| Chief of the General Staff |  GeneralSir Roland Walker |
| Deputy Chief of the General Staff | Lieutenant GeneralDavid Eastman |
| Assistant Chief of the General Staff | Major GeneralPaul Griffiths |
| Army Sergeant Major | .svg) Warrant Officer Class 1 John Miller[8] |
| Insignia | |
| War flag | .svg) |
| Non-ceremonial flag |  |
|
| British Army of theBritish Armed Forces |
|---|
| Components |
| Administration |
| Overseas |
| Personnel |
| Equipment |
| History |
| Location |
| United Kingdom portal |
TheBritish Army is the principalland warfare force of theUnited Kingdom. As of 1 January 2025,[update] the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127Gurkhas, 25,742volunteer reserve personnel and 4,697 "other personnel", for a total of 108,413.[7]
The British Army traces back to 1707 and theformation of the unitedKingdom of Great Britain which joined the Kingdoms ofEngland andScotland into asingle state and, with that, united theEnglish Army and theScots Army as the British Army.[9][10] TheEnglishBill of Rights 1689 andScottishClaim of Right Act 1689 require parliamentary consent forthe Crown to maintain a peacetimestanding army.[11] Members of the British Army swear allegiance to themonarch as theircommander-in-chief.[12] The army is administered by theMinistry of Defence and commanded by theChief of the General Staff.[13]
At its inception, being composed primarily of cavalry and infantry, the British Army was one of twoRegular Forces (there were also separateReserve Forces) within the British military (those parts of the British Armed Forces tasked with land warfare, as opposed to the naval forces),[14] with the other having been theOrdnance Military Corps (made up of theRoyal Artillery,Royal Engineers, and theRoyal Sappers and Miners) of theBoard of Ordnance, which along with the originally civilianCommissariat Department, stores and supply departments, as well as barracks and other departments, were absorbed into the British Army when the Board of Ordnance was abolished in 1855. Various other civilian departments of the board were absorbed into theWar Office.[15][16][17]
The British Army has seen action in major wars between the world'sgreat powers, including theSeven Years' War, theNapoleonic Wars, theCrimean War and theFirst andSecond World Wars. Britain's victories in most of these decisive wars allowed it to influence world events and establish itself as one of the world's leadingmilitary andeconomic powers.[18][19] Since the end of theCold War, the British Army has been deployed to a number of conflict zones, often as part of anexpeditionary force, acoalition force or part of aUnited Nations peacekeeping operation.[20]
Until theWars of the Three Kingdoms (1639–1653), neither England nor Scotland had astanding army with professional officers and career corporals and sergeants. England relied onmilitia organised by local officials or private forces mobilised by the nobility, or on hired mercenaries from Europe.[21] From thelater Middle Ages until the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, when a foreign expeditionary force was needed, such as the one that KingHenry V took toFrance and that fought at theBattle of Agincourt (1415), the army, a professional one, was raised for the duration of the expedition.[22]
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During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the members of the EnglishLong Parliament realised that the use of county militia organised into regional associations (such as theEastern Association), often commanded by local members of Parliament (both from the House of Commons and the House of Lords), while more than able to hold their own in the regions whichParliamentarians ('Roundheads") controlled, were unlikely to win the war. So Parliament initiated two actions. TheSelf-denying Ordinance forbade members of Parliament (with the notable exception ofOliver Cromwell, then a member of parliament and futureLord Protector) from serving as officers in the Parliamentary armies. This created a distinction between the civilians in Parliament, who tended to bePresbyterian and conciliatory to the Royalists ("Cavaliers") in nature, and a corps of professional officers, who tended to be Independent (Congregational) in theology. The second action was legislation for the creation of a Parliamentary-funded army, commanded by Lord GeneralThomas Fairfax, which became known as theNew Model Army (originally phrased "new-modelled Army").[23]
While this proved to be a war-winning formula, the New Model Army, being organised and politically active, went on to dominate the politics of theInterregnum and by 1660 was widely disliked. The New Model Army was paid off and disbanded at the laterRestoration of the monarchy in 1660 with the accession of KingCharles II. For many decades the alleged excesses of the New Model Army underthe Protectorate / Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell were used as propaganda (and still feature in Irish folklore)[24] and theWhig Party element recoiled from allowing a standing army to continue with the agreed-upon rights and privileges under the return of a king.[25] The militia acts of 1661 and 1662 prevented local authorities from calling up militia and oppressing their own local opponents. Calling up the militia was possible only if the king and local elites agreed to do so.[26]
King Charles II and his "Cavalier" / Royalist supporters favoured a new army under royal control, and immediately after the Restoration of 1660 to 1661 began working on its establishment.[27] The firstEnglish Army regiments, including elements of the disbandedNew Model Army, were formed between November 1660 and January 1661[28] and became a standing military force for England (financed byParliament).[29][30] TheRoyal Scots andIrish Armies were financed by the parliaments ofScotland andIreland.[31] Parliamentary control was established by theBill of Rights 1689 andClaim of Right Act 1689, although the monarch continued to influence aspects of army administration until at least the end of the 19th century.[32]
After the Restoration, King Charles II pulled together four regiments of infantry and cavalry, calling them his guards, at a cost of £122,000 from his general budget. This became the foundation of the permanent English Army. By 1685, it had grown to number 7,500 soldiers in marching regiments, and 1,400 men permanently stationed in garrisons. AMonmouth Rebellion in 1685 allowed successor KingJames II to raise the forces to 20,000 men. There were 37,000 in 1678, when England played a role in the closing stage of the cross-channelFranco-Dutch War. AfterProtestant dual MonarchsWilliam III, formerly William of the DutchHouse of Orange, and his wifeMary II's joint accession to the throne after a short constitutional crisis with Parliament sending Mary's father, predecessor King James II, (who remained a Catholic) during his brief controversial reign, off the throne and into exile. England then involved itself in theWar of the Grand Alliance on the Continent, primarily to prevent a possible French Catholic monarch organizing an invasion restoring the exiled James II (Queen Mary's father and still aRoman Catholic).[33] Later in 1689, William III to solidify his and Mary's hold on the monarchy, expanded the new English army to 74,000, and then a few years later to 94,000 in 1694. Parliament was very nervous and reduced the cadre to 70,000 in 1697. Scotland and Ireland had theoretically separate military establishments, but they were unofficially merged with the English Crown force.[34][35]
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By the time of the 1707Acts of Union, many regiments of the English and Scottish armies were combined under one operational command and stationed in theNetherlands for theWar of the Spanish Succession. Although all the regiments were now part of the new British military establishment,[3] they remained under the old operational-command structure and retained much of the institutional ethos, customs and traditions of the standing armies created shortly after theRestoration of the Monarchy 47 years earlier. The order of seniority of the most-senior British Army line regiments is based on that of the earlier English army. Although technically the ScotsRoyal Regiment of Foot was raised in 1633 and is the oldest Regiment of the Line,[36] Scottish and Irish regiments were only allowed to take a rank in the English army on the date of their arrival in England (or the date when they were first placed on the English establishment). In 1694, a board of general officers was convened to decide the rank of English, Irish and Scots regiments serving in the Netherlands; the regiment which became known as theScots Greys were designated the4th Dragoons because there were three English regiments raised prior to 1688 when the Scots Greys were first placed in the English establishment. In 1713, when a new board of general officers was convened to decide the rank of several regiments, the seniority of the Scots Greys was reassessed and based on their June 1685 entry into England. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, and the Scots Greys eventually received the British Army rank of 2nd Dragoons.[37]
After 1707, British continental policy was to contain expansion by competing powers such as France and Spain. Although Spain was the dominant global power during the previous two centuries and the chief threat to England's early trans-Atlantic colonial ambitions, its influence was now waning. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession[38] and the laterNapoleonic Wars.[39]
Although theRoyal Navy is widely regarded as vital to the rise of theBritish Empire, the British Army played an important role in the formation of colonies,protectorates anddominions in theAmericas,Africa,Asia,India andAustralasia.[40] British soldiers captured strategically important sites and territories, with the army involved in wars to secure the empire's borders, internal safety and support friendly governments and princes. Among these actions were the French and Indian War / Seven Years' War,[41] theAmerican Revolutionary War,[42] theNapoleonic Wars,[39] theFirst andSecond Opium Wars,[43] theBoxer Rebellion,[44] theNew Zealand Wars,[45] theAustralian frontier wars,[46] theSepoy Rebellion of 1857,[47] thefirst andsecond Boer Wars,[48] theFenian raids,[49] theIrish War of Independence,[50] interventions inAfghanistan (intended to maintain abuffer state betweenBritish India and theRussian Empire)[51] and theCrimean War (to keep the Russian Empire to the north on theBlack Sea at a safe distance by aiding theOttoman Empire).[52] Like theEnglish Army, the British Army fought the kingdoms of Spain, France (including theFirst French Empire) and the Netherlands (Dutch Republic) for supremacy inNorth America and theWest Indies. With native and provincial and colonial assistance, the Army conqueredNew France in theFrench and Indian War (North American theatre) of the parallelSeven Years' War[41] and suppressed aNative / Indian North Americans uprising inPontiac's War around theGreat Lakes.[53] The British Army was defeated in theAmerican Revolutionary War, losing theThirteen Colonies but retainingThe Canadas andThe Maritimes as inBritish North America, includingBermuda (originally part of theColony of Virginia, and which had been originally strongly sympathetic to the American colonial rebels early in the war).[54]
Halifax, Nova Scotia andBermuda were to becomeImperial fortresses (although Bermuda, being safer from attack over water and impervious to attack overland, quickly became the most important in British North America), along withMalta andGibraltar, providing bases in the easternAtlantic Ocean andMediterranean Sea forRoyal Navy squadrons to control the oceans and trade routes, and heavily garrisoned by the British Army both for defence of the bases and to provide mobile military forces to work with the Navy in amphibious operations throughout their regions.[55][56][57][58][59]
The British Army was heavily involved in theNapoleonic Wars, participating in a number of campaigns in Europe (including continuous deployment in thePeninsular War), theCaribbean, North Africa andNorth America. The war between the British and theFirst French Empire ofNapoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world; at its peak in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian armies under theDuke of Wellington andField Marshal von Blücher finally defeated Napoleon atWaterloo in 1815.[60]
The English were involved politically and militarily in Ireland. The campaign of English republican ProtectorOliver Cromwell involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns (most notablyDrogheda andWexford) which supported the Royalists during theEnglish Civil War. The English Army (and the subsequent British Army) remained in Ireland primarily to suppress Irish revolts or disorder. In addition to its conflict with Irish nationalists, it was faced with the prospect of battling Anglo-Irish andUlster Scots in Ireland who were angered by unfavourable taxation of Irish produce imported into Britain. With other Irish groups, they raised a volunteer army and threatened to emulate the American colonists if their conditions were not met. Learning from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution. The British Army fought Irish rebels—Protestant and Catholic—primarily inUlster andLeinster (Wolfe Tone'sUnited Irishmen) in the1798 rebellion.[61]
In addition to battling the armies of other European empires (and its former colonies, the United States, in theWar of 1812),[62] the British Army fought the Chinese in the First and SecondOpium Wars[43] and theBoxer Rebellion,[44]Māori tribes in the first of the New Zealand Wars,[45]Nawab Shiraj-ud-Daula's forces andBritish East India Company mutineers in theSepoy Rebellion of 1857,[48] the Boers in the first and second Boer Wars,[48] IrishFenians in Canada during theFenian raids[49] andIrish separatists in theAnglo-Irish War.[43] The increasing demands of imperial expansion and the inadequacy and inefficiency of the underfunded British Army,Militia, Ordnance Military Corps,Yeomanry andVolunteer Force after the Napoleonic Wars led to series of reforms following the failures of theCrimean War.[63]
_prior_to_August%2c_1914.jpg)
Inspired by the successes of thePrussian Army (which relied on short-term conscription of all eligible young men to maintain a large reserve of recently discharged soldiers, ready to be recalled on the outbreak of war to immediately bring the small peacetime regular army up to strength), theRegular Reserve of the British Army was originally created in 1859 bySecretary of State for WarSidney Herbert, and re-organised under theReserve Force Act 1867. Prior to this, a soldier was generally enlisted into the British Army for a 21-year engagement, following which (should he survive so long) he was discharged as a Pensioner. Pensioners were sometimes still employed on garrison duties, as were younger soldiers no longer deemed fit for expeditionary service who were generally organised in invalid units or returned to the regimental depot for home service. The cost of paying pensioners, and the obligation the government was under to continue to employ invalids as well as soldiers deemed by their commanding officers as detriments to their units were motivations to change this system. The long period of engagement also discouraged many potential recruits. The long service enlistments were consequently replaced with short service enlistments, with undesirable soldiers not permitted to re-engage on the completion of their first engagement. The size of the army also fluctuated greatly, increasing in war time, and drastically shrinking with peace. Battalions posted on garrison duty overseas were allowed an increase on their normal peacetime establishment, which resulted in their having surplus men on their return to aHome station. Consequently, soldiers engaging on short term enlistments were enabled to serve several years with the colours and the remainder in the Regular Reserve, remaining liable for recall to the colours if required. Among the other benefits, this thereby enabled the British Army to have a ready pool of recently trained men to draw upon in an emergency. The name of the Regular Reserve (which for a time was divided into aFirst Class and aSecond Class) has resulted in confusion with theReserve Forces, which were the pre-existing part-time, local-service home-defenceforces that were auxiliary to the British Army (orRegular Force), but not originally part of it: theYeomanry,Militia (orConstitutional Force) andVolunteer Force. These were consequently also referred to asAuxiliary Forces orLocal Forces.[64]
The late-19th-centuryCardwell andChilders Reforms gave the army its modern shape and redefined itsregimental system.[65] The 1907Haldane Reforms created theTerritorial Force as the army's volunteer reserve component, merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force and Yeomanry, while the Militia was replaced by the Special Reserve.[66]
Great Britain was challenged by other powers, primarily theGerman Empire andNazi Germany, during the 20th century. A century earlier it vied with Napoleonic France for global pre-eminence, andHanoverian Britain's natural allies were the kingdoms and principalities ofnorthern Germany. By the middle of the 19th century, Britain and France were allies in preventing Russia's appropriation of theOttoman Empire, although the fear of French invasion led shortly afterwards to the creation of the Volunteer Force. By the first decade of the 20th century, the United Kingdom was allied with France (by theEntente Cordiale) and Russia (which had a secret agreement with France for mutual support in a war against thePrussian-led German Empire and theAustro-Hungarian Empire).[67]
When the First World War broke out in August 1914 the British Army sent theBritish Expeditionary Force (BEF), consisting mainly ofregular army troops, toFrance and Belgium.[68] The fighting bogged down into statictrench warfare for the remainder of the war. In 1915 the army created theMediterranean Expeditionary Force to invade theOttoman Empire viaGallipoli, an unsuccessful attempt to captureConstantinople and secure a sea route toRussia.[69]
The First World War was the most devastating inBritish military history, with nearly 800,000 men killed and over two million wounded. Early in the war, the BEF was virtually destroyed and was replaced first byvolunteers and then by aconscript force. Major battles included those atthe Somme andPasschendaele.[70] Advances in technology saw the advent of thetank[71] (and the creation of theRoyal Tank Regiment) and advances in aircraft design (and the creation of theRoyal Flying Corps) which would be decisive in future battles.[72] Trench warfare dominated Western Front strategy for most of the war, and the use ofchemical weapons (disabling and poison gases) added to the devastation.[73]
TheSecond World War broke out in September 1939 with the Soviet andGerman Army'sinvasion of Poland.[74] British assurances to the Poles led the British Empire to declare war onGermany. As in the First World War, a relatively smallBEF was sent to France[74] but then hastily evacuated fromDunkirk as the German forcesswept through the Low Countries and across France in May 1940.[75]
After the British Army recovered from its earlier defeats, it defeated the Germans and Italians at theSecond Battle of El Alamein inNorth Africa in 1942–1943 and helped drive them from Africa. It then fought throughItaly[76] and, with the help of American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Indian and Free French forces,[77] was the principal organiser and participant in theD-Day invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944; nearly half the Allied soldiers were British.[78] In theFar East, the British Army rallied against the Japanese in theBurma Campaign and regained the British Far Eastern colonial possessions.[79]
After the Second World War the British Army was significantly reduced in size, althoughNational Service continued until 1960.[80] This period sawdecolonisation begin with thepartition andindependence of India and Pakistan, followed by the independence of British colonies in Africa and Asia.
TheCorps Warrant, which is the official list of which bodies of the British Military (not to be confused withnaval) Forces were to be considered Corps of the British Army for the purposes of theArmy Act, the Reserve Forces Act, 1882, and the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act, 1907, had not been updated since 1926 (Army Order 49 of 1926), although amendments had been made up to and including Army Order 67 of 1950. A new Corps Warrant was declared in 1951.
Although the British Army was a major participant inKorea in the early 1950s[80] andSuez in 1956,[81] during this period Britain's role in world events was reduced and the army was downsized.[82] TheBritish Army of the Rhine, consisting ofI (BR) Corps, remained in Germany as a bulwark against Soviet invasion.[83] TheCold War continued, with significant technological advances in warfare, and the army saw the introduction of new weapons systems.[84] Despite the decline of the British Empire, the army was engaged inAden,[85]Indonesia,Cyprus,[85]Kenya[85] andMalaya.[86] In 1982, the British Army and theRoyal Marines helped liberate theFalkland Islands during theconflict with Argentina after that country's invasion of the British territory.[87]
In the three decades following 1969, the army was heavily deployed inNorthern Ireland'sOperation Banner to support theRoyal Ulster Constabulary (later thePolice Service of Northern Ireland) in their conflict with republican paramilitary groups.[88] The locally recruitedUlster Defence Regiment was formed, becoming home-service battalions of theRoyal Irish Regiment in 1992 before it was disbanded in 2006. Over 700 soldiers were killed duringthe Troubles. Following the 1994–1996IRA ceasefires and since 1997, demilitarisation has been part of the peace process and the military presence has been reduced.[89] On 25 June 2007 the 2nd Battalion of thePrincess of Wales's Royal Regiment left the army complex inBessbrook,County Armagh, ending the longest operation in British Army history.[90]
The British Army contributed 50,000 troops to the coalition which foughtIraq in thePersian Gulf War,[91] and British forces controlledKuwait after its liberation. Forty-seven British military personnel died during the war.[92]
The army was deployed to formerYugoslavia in 1992. Initially part of theUnited Nations Protection Force,[93] in 1995 its command was transferred to theImplementation Force (IFOR) and then to theStabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR);[94] the commitment rose to over 10,000 troops. In 1999, British forces under SFOR command were sent toKosovo and the contingent increased to 19,000 troops.[95] Between early 1993 and June 2010, 72 British military personnel died during operations in the former Yugoslavian countries of Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia.[96]
Although there have been permanent garrisons in Northern Ireland throughout its history, the British Army was deployed as a peacekeeping force from 1969 to 2007 inOperation Banner.[97] Initially, this was (in the wake ofunionist attacks on nationalist communities inDerry[98] andBelfast)[99] to prevent further loyalist attacks on Catholic communities; it developed into support of theRoyal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and its successor, thePolice Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) against theProvisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA).[100] Under the 1998Good Friday Agreement, there was a gradual reduction in the number of soldiers deployed.[101] In 2005, after the PIRA declared a ceasefire, the British Army dismantled posts, withdrew many troops and restored troop levels to those of a peacetime garrison.[102]
Operation Banner ended at midnight on 31 July 2007 after about 38 years of continuous deployment, the longest in British Army history.[103] According to an internal document released in 2007, the British Army had failed to defeat the IRA but made it impossible for them to win by violence. Operation Helvetic replaced Operation Banner in 2007, maintaining fewer service personnel in a more-benign environment.[103][104] Of the 300,000 troops who served in Northern Ireland since 1969, there were 763 British military personnel killed[105] and 306 killed by the British military, mostly civilians.[106] An estimated 100 soldiers committed suicide during Operation Banner or soon afterwards and a similar number died in accidents. A total of 6,116 were wounded.[107]
Sierra Leone
The British Army deployed to Sierra Leone forOperation Palliser in 1999, under United Nations resolutions, to aid the government in quelling violent uprisings by militiamen. British troops also provided support during the 2014West African Ebola virus epidemic.[108]
In November 2001, as part ofOperation Enduring Freedom with the United States, the United Kingdom deployed forces inAfghanistan to topple theTaliban inOperation Herrick.[109] The3rd Division were sent toKabul to assist in the liberation of the capital and defeat Taliban forces in the mountains. In 2006 the British Army began concentrating on fighting Taliban forces and bringing security toHelmand Province, with about 9,500 British troops (including marines, airmen and sailors) deployed at its peak[110]—the second-largest force after that of the US.[111] In December 2012 Prime MinisterDavid Cameron announced that the combat mission would end in 2014, and troop numbers gradually fell as theAfghan National Army took over the brunt of the fighting. Between 2001 and 26 April 2014 a total of 453 British military personnel died in Afghan operations.[112] Operation Herrick ended with the handover ofCamp Bastion on 26 October 2014,[113] but the British Army maintained a deployment in Afghanistan as part ofOperation Toral.[114]
Following an announcement by the US Government of the end of their operations in the Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence announced in April 2021 that British forces would withdraw from the country by 11 September 2021.[115] It was later reported that all UK troops would be out by early July.[116] Following the collapse of the Afghan Army, and the completion of the withdrawal of civilians, all British troops had left by the end of August 2021.[117]
In 2003, the United Kingdom was a major contributor to theinvasion of Iraq, sending a force of over 46,000 military personnel. The British Army controlled southern Iraq, and maintained a peace-keeping presence inBasra.[118] All British troops were withdrawn from Iraq by 30 April 2009, after the Iraqi government refused to extend their mandate.[119] One hundred and seventy-nine British military personnel died in Iraqi operations.[96] TheBritish Armed Forces returned to Iraq in 2014 as part ofOperation Shader to counter theIslamic State (ISIL).[120]
The British Army maintains a standing liability to support the civil authorities in certain circumstances, usually in either niche capabilities (e.g. explosive ordnance removal) or in general support of the civil authorities when their capacity is exceeded.[121][122] In recent years this has been seen as army personnel supporting the civil authorities in the face of the2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, the 2002 firefighters strike, widespread flooding in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2014,Operation Temperer following theManchester Arena bombing in 2017 and, most recently,Operation Rescript during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[123][124]
Since 2016, the British Army has maintained a presence in theBaltic states in support of theNATO Enhanced Forward Presence strategy which responded to the2014 Russian annexation of Crimea. The British Army leads a multinational armoured battlegroup inEstonia under Operation Cabrit and contributes troops to another military battle group inPoland.[125] As part of the NATO plans, Britain has committed a full mechanized infantrybrigade to be on a high state of readiness to defend Estonia.[126]
Between 2015 and 2022, the British Army deployed Short Term Training Teams (STTTs) toUkraine underOperation Orbital to help train theArmed Forces of Ukraine against further Russian aggression.[127] This operation was succeeded byOperation Interflex in July 2022.[128]
The British Army has been a volunteer force since national service ended during the 1960s.[80] Since the creation of the part-time, reserveTerritorial Force in 1908 (renamed the Territorial Army in 1921 and the Army Reserve in 2014), the full-time British Army has been known as the Regular Army. In July 2020 there were just over 78,800 Regulars, with a target strength of 82,000, and just over 30,000Army Reservists, with a target strength of 30,000.[129] All former Regular Army personnel may also be recalled to duty in exceptional circumstances during the 6-year period following completion of their Regular service, which creates an additional force known as theRegular Reserve.[130]
As of January 2025, the British Army had 73,847 regular soldiers, 4,127 Gurkhas, and 25,742 volunteer reserve personnel.[6] Under the recommendations of the 2025Strategic Defence Review, the number of regular soldiers is planned to stop declining and eventually increase to 76,000.[131]
The table below illustrates British Army personnel figures from 1710 to 2025.
| British Army strength[147][148] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1707–1810 | 1810–1921 | 1930–Present | |||||||
| Year | Regular Army | Year | Regular Army | Year | Regular Army | Army Reserve | Total | ||
| 1710 | 68,000 | 1820 | 93,000 | 1930 | 188,000 | — | |||
| 1720 | 20,000 | 1830 | 89,000 | 1945 | 2,930,000 | Included in Regular | 3,120,000 | ||
| 1730 | 17,000 | 1838 | 89,000 | 1950 | 364,000 | 83,000 | 447,000 | ||
| 1740 | 46,000 | 1840 | 94,000 | 1960 | 258,000 | 120,000 | 387,000 | ||
| 1750 | 79,000 | 1850 | 99,000 | 1970 | 174,000 | 80,000 | 256,000 | ||
| 1760 | 65,000 | 1860 | 236,000 | 1980 | 159,000 | 63,000 | 222,000 | ||
| 1770 | 24,000 | 1870 | 185,000 | 1990 | 153,000 | 73,000 | 226,000 | ||
| 1780 | 35,000 | 1880 | 165,000 | 2000 | 110,000 | 45,000 | 155,000 | ||
| 1790 | 53,000[149] | 1890 | 210,000 | 2010 | 109,000 | 29,000 | 142,000 | ||
| 1800 | 200,000[149] | 1900 | 302,000 | 2020 | 79,000 | 30,000 | 116,000 | ||
| 1810 | 281,000[149] | 1918 | 3,838,000 | 2025 | 74,000 | 26,000 | 108,000 | ||
The British Army's basic weapon is the 5.56 mmL85A2 or L85A3 assault rifle, with some specialist personnel using the L22A2 carbine variant (pilots and some tank crew). The weapon was traditionally equipped with eitheriron sights or an opticalSUSAT, although other optical sights have been subsequently purchased to supplement these.[150] The weapon can be enhanced further utilising thePicatinny rail with attachments such as theL17A2 under-barrel grenade launcher.[151] In 2023, theArmy Special Operations Brigade, which includes theRanger Regiment, began using theL403A1, anAR-pattern rifle also used by theRoyal Marines.[152] An initiative to find a replacement for the SA80 family, known asProject Grayburn, was in the concept phase in 2025,[153] and is expected to enter the assessment phase in 2026.[154]
Some soldiers are equipped with the 7.62mmL129A1 sharpshooter rifle,[155] which in 2018 formally replaced theL86A2 Light Support Weapon. Support fire is provided by theL7 general-purpose machine gun (GPMG),[156] and indirect fire is provided byL16 81mm mortars. Sniper rifles include theL118A1 7.62 mm,L115A3 and theAW50F, all manufactured byAccuracy International.[157] The British Army utilises theGlock 17 as its side arm.[151]
Anti tank guided weapons include theJavelin, the medium range anti-tank guided weapon replacement forMilan, with overfly and direct attack modes of operation, and theNLAW. The Next-generation Light Anti-tank Weapon (NLAW) is the first, non-expert, short-range, anti-tank missile that rapidly knocks out any main battle tank in just one shot by striking it from above.[158]
The army'smain battle tank is theChallenger 2, which is being upgraded toChallenger 3.[159][160] It is supported by theWarrior tracked armoured vehicle as the primaryinfantry fighting vehicle,[161] (which will soon be replaced by theBoxer 8x8 armoured fighting vehicle) and theBulldog armoured personnel carrier.[162] TheAjax armoured fighting vehicle is also being brought into service. Light armoured units often utilise theSupacat "Jackal" MWMIK andCoyote tactical support vehicle for reconnaissance and fire support.[163]
The army has three main artillery systems: theM270 multiple launch rocket system (MLRS), theArcher and theL118 light gun.[164] The MLRS, first used inOperation Granby, has an 85-kilometre (53 mi) standard range, or with thePrSM, up to 500 km.[165] The Archer is a 155 mm self-propelled armoured gun with a 50-kilometre (31 mi) range. The L118 light gun is a 105 mm towed gun, which is typically towed by aPinzgauer all-terrain vehicle.[166] The army plans to replace the Archer with theRCH 155 in the near future.[167]
To identify artillery targets, the army operates the TAIPAN artillery detection radar[168] and utilisesartillery sound ranging.[169] For air defence it uses the newSky Sabre system, which in 2021 replaced theRapier.[170] It also deploys the Very Short-Range Air Defence (VSHORAD)Starstreak HVM (high-velocity missile) launched by a single soldier or from aStormer HVM vehicle-mounted launcher.[171]
Where armour is not required or mobility and speed are favoured the British Army utilises protected patrol vehicles, such as the Panther variant of theIveco LMV, theFoxhound, and variants of theCougar family (such as the Ridgeback, Husky and Mastiff).[172] For day-to-day utility work the army commonly uses theLand Rover Wolf, which is based on theLand Rover Defender.[173]
Specialist engineering vehicles include bomb-disposal robots such as theT7 Multi-Mission Robotic System and the modern variants of theArmoured Vehicle Royal Engineers, including the Titan bridge-layer,Trojan armoured engineer vehicle,Terrier armoured digger.[174] Day-to-day utility work uses a series of support vehicles, including six-, nine- and fifteen-tonneMAN trucks,Oshkosh heavy-equipment transporters (HET), close-support tankers, quad bikes and ambulances.[175][176] Tactical communication uses theBowman radio system, and operational or strategic communication is controlled by theRoyal Corps of Signals.[177]
TheArmy Air Corps (AAC) provides direct aviation support, with theRoyal Air Force providing support helicopters. The primary attack helicopter is theBoeing AH-64E Apache which replaced theAgustaWestland Apache AH-1 in the anti-tank, anti-air defence, and anti-armour role.[178] TheAgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat is a dedicatedintelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) helicopter.[179] TheEurocopter AS 365N Dauphin is used forspecial operations aviation, primarilycounter terrorism operations, within the UK.[180] The army operatesunmanned aerial vehicles in a surveillance role, such as the smallLockheed Martin Desert Hawk III.[181][182]
| Location | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Iraq | Since 2014 | Operation Shader: The UK has a leading role in the 67-member Global Coalition committed to defeating ISIL. The coalition includes Iraq, European nations and the US. British soldiers are not in a combat role in Iraq but are on the ground with coalition partners providing training and equipment to Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and Kurdish Security Forces (KSF). There were approximately 400 military personnel in Iraq in 2020.[183] |
| Cyprus | Since 1964 | Operation Tosca: There were 275 troops deployed as part of the UNFICYP in 2016.[184] |
| Estonia | Since 2017 | NATO Enhanced Forward Presence: The British Army deploys approximately 900 troops to Estonia and 150 to Poland as part of its commitment to NATO.[185] |
| Africa | Since 2019 | The British Army maintains several short-term military training teams to help build the capacity of national military forces, ensuring a number of states across Africa can respond appropriately and proportionally to the security threats they face, including terrorism, the illegal wildlife trade, violations of human rights and emerging humanitarian crises.[146] |
| Location | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Belize | 1949 | British Army Training and Support Unit Belize: The British Army has maintained a presence in Belize since its independence. Currently the British Army Training Support Unit in Belize enables close country and tropical environment training to troops from the UK and international partners.[186] |
| Bermuda | 1701 | Royal Bermuda Regiment: Colonial Militia and volunteers existed from 1612 to 1816. The regular English Army, then British Army,Bermuda Garrison was first established by anIndependent Company in 1701.[187] Volunteers were recruited into the regular army and theBoard of Ordnance Military Corps for part-time, local-service from the 1830s to the 1850s due to the lack of a Militia. The British Government considered Bermuda as anImperial fortress, rather than a colony. After the French Revolution, theGovernor of Bermuda was normally a military officer (usually a Lieutenant-General or Major-General of the Royal Artillery or Royal Engineers) in charge of all military forces in Bermuda, with the Bermuda Garrison falling under the Nova Scotia Command. From 1868, the Bermuda Garrison became the independent Bermuda Command, with Governors being Generals, Lieutenant-Generals or Major Generals occupying the role of Commander-in-Chief orGeneral Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C). Locally recruited reserve units, the Royal Artillery-badgedBermuda Militia Artillery (BMA) andBermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC) were raised again from 1894, later joined by the Royal Engineers-badgedBermuda Volunteer Engineers (1931–1946),General Service Corps-badgedBermuda Militia Infantry (1939–1946), and a Home Guard (1942–1946). After theRoyal Naval Dockyard was redesignated a naval base in 1951, the army garrison was closed in 1957, leaving only the part-time BMA (re-tasked as infantry in 1953, though still badged and uniformed as Royal Artillery) and BVRC (renamed Bermuda Rifles in 1949). The Bermuda Command Headquarters and all regular army personnel other than members of the Permanent Staff of the local Territorials and theAide-de-Camp to the Governor of Bermuda (today normally a Captain from theRoyal Bermuda Regiment employed full-time for the duration of the appointment) were withdrawn. Home defence has been provided by theRoyal Bermuda Regiment since formed by the 1965 amalgamation of the BMA and Bermuda Rifles.[188] |
| Brunei | 1962 | British Forces Brunei: One battalion of theRoyal Gurkha Rifles,British Garrison,Training Team Brunei (TTB). A Gurkha battalion has been maintained in Brunei since theBrunei Revolt in 1962 at the request ofSultanOmar Ali Saifuddin III. Training Team Brunei (TTB) is the Army's jungle-warfare school, and a small number of garrison troops support the battalion. 7 Flight AAC formerly provided helicopter support to the Gurkha battalion and TTB[189] but its role has since been assumed byNo. 230 Squadron RAF. |
| Canada | 1972 | British Army Training Unit Suffield: A training centre inAlberta prairie for the use of British Army andCanadian Forces under agreement with thegovernment of Canada. British forces conduct regular, major armoured training exercises every year, with helicopter support provided by 29 (BATUS) FlightAAC.[190][191] |
| Cyprus | 1960 | 2 resident infantry battalions,Royal Engineers and Joint Service Signals Unit atAyios Nikolaos as part ofBritish Forces Cyprus. The UK retains twoSovereign Base Areas on Cyprus after the rest of the island's independence, which are forward bases for deployments to the Middle East. Principal facilities are Alexander Barracks at Dhekelia and Salamanca Barracks atEpiskopi.[192] |
| Falkland Islands | 1982 | Part ofBritish Forces South Atlantic Islands: After the 1982 conflict, the UK established a garrison on the Falkland Islands, consisting of naval, land and air elements. The British Army contribution consists of an infantry company group, a Royal Artillery Battery and an Engineer Squadron.[193] |
| Gibraltar | 1704 | Part ofBritish Forces Gibraltar: The Army has had a presence in Gibraltar for more than 300 years. The people of Gibraltar took up arms as the Gibraltar Volunteer Corps from 1915 to 1920 and again as the Gibraltar Defence Force shortly before the outbreak of WW2. This force later became theRoyal Gibraltar Regiment, which remains as the only formed Army unit in Gibraltar.[194] |
| Kenya | 2010 | British Army Training Unit Kenya: The army has a training centre in Kenya. BATUK is a permanent training support unit based mainly in Nanyuki, 200 km north of Nairobi. BATUK provides demanding training to exercising units preparing to deploy on operations or assume high-readiness tasks. BATUK consists of around 100 permanent staff and reinforcing short tour cohort of another 280 personnel. Under an agreement with the Kenyan Government, up to six infantry battalions per year carry out eight-week exercises in Kenya.[146] There are also Royal Engineer exercises, which carry out civil engineering projects, and medical deployments, which provide primary health care assistance to the civilian community under an agreement with the Kenyan government, which provides training facilities for 3 infantry battalions per year.[195] |
| Oman | 2019 | Omani-British Joint Training Area: A training area for combined arms battlegroup training, jointly maintained with theRoyal Army of Oman.[196] |
|
| Arms of theBritish Army |
|---|
| Combat Arms |
| Combat Support Arms |
| Combat Services |
|
Army Headquarters is located inAndover, Hampshire, and is responsible for providing forces at operational readiness for employment by thePermanent Joint Headquarters.[13] The command structure is hierarchical, with overall command residing with theChief of the General Staff (CGS), who is immediately subordinate to The Chief of Defence Staff, the head of the British Armed Services. The CGS is supported by theDeputy Chief of the General Staff. Army Headquarters is further organised into two subordinate commands,Field Army andHome Command, each commanded by alieutenant general.[197] These two Commands serve distinct purposes and are divided into a structure ofdivisions andbrigades, which themselves consist of a complex mix of smaller units such asBattalions. British Army units are either full-time 'Regular' units, or part-timeArmy Reserve units.[198]
Led by a British Army three-star general, one ofNATO's High Readiness (Land) Forces based inGloucestershire, UK, with the following British units under its command:[199]
Led byCommander Field Army, the Field Army is responsible for generating and preparing forces for current and contingency operations. The Field Army comprises:[197]
Home Command is the British Army's supporting command; a generating, recruiting and training force that supports the Field Army and delivers UK resilience.[197] It comprises
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The British Army contributes two of the threespecial forces formations to theUnited Kingdom Special Forces directorate: theSpecial Air Service (SAS) andSpecial Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR).[204] The SAS consists of one regular and two reserve regiments.[205] The regular regiment, 22 SAS, has its headquarters atStirling Lines,Credenhill,Herefordshire. It consists of 5 squadrons (A, B, D, G and Reserve) and a training wing.[206] 22 SAS is supported by 2 reserve regiments,21 SAS and 23 SAS, which collectively form the Special Air Service (Reserve) (SAS [R]), who in 2020 were transferred back under the command of Director of Special Forces after previously being under the command of the1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade.[207] The SRR, formed in 2005, performs close reconnaissance and special surveillance tasks.[204] TheSpecial Forces Support Group, under the operational control of the Director of Special Forces, provides operational manoeuvring support to the United Kingdom Special Forces.[208]
The British Army historically included many units from what are now separateCommonwealth realms. When theEnglish Empire was established inNorth America (including Bermuda), and the West Indies in the early 17th century there was no standing English Army, only theMilitia,Yeomanry, andRoyal bodyguards, of which the Militia, as the primary home-defence force, was immediately extended to the colonies.Colonial militias defended colonies single-handedly at first against indigenous peoples and European competitors. Once the standing English Army, later the British Army, came into existence and began to garrison the colonies, the colonial militias fought side by side with it in a number of wars, including theSeven Years' War. Some of the colonial militias rebelled during theAmerican War of Independence. The militia fought alongside the regular British Army (and native allies) in defendingBritish North America from their former countrymen during theWar of 1812.[209]
Locally raised units in strategically locatedImperial fortress colonies (including:Nova Scotia before theCanadian Confederation;Bermuda – which was treated as part ofThe Maritimes under the Commander-in-Chief at Nova Scotia until Canadian Confederation;Gibraltar; andMalta) and theChannel Islands were generally maintained from army funds and more fully integrated into the British Army as evident from their placements in British Army lists, unlike units such as theKing's African Rifles.[210]
The larger colonies (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, etc.) mostly achievedCommonwealth Dominion status before or after the First World War and were granted full legislative independence in 1931. While remaining within the British Empire, this placed their governments on a par with the British government, and hence their military units comprised separate armies (e.g. theAustralian Army), although Canada retained the term "militia" for its military forces until the Second World War. From the 1940s, these dominions and many colonies chose full independence, usually becomingCommonwealth realms (as member states of the Commonwealth are known today).[211][212]
Units raised inself-governing andCrown colonies (those without local electedLegislatures, as was the case withBritish Hong Kong) that are part of the British realm remain under British Government control. As the territorial governments are delegated responsibility only for internal government, the UK Government, as the government of theSovereign state, retains responsibility for national security and the defence of the fourteen remainingBritish Overseas Territories,[213] of which six have locally raised regiments:
![WO1 Herman Eve, RSM of the Royal Bermuda Regiment in 1992[220]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aRSM_of_the_Bermuda_Regiment_1992.jpg)
The structure of the British Army beneath the level of Divisions and Brigades is also hierarchical and command is based on rank. The table below details how many units within the British Army are structured, although there can be considerable variation between individual units:[197]
| Type of unit | Division | Brigade | Battlegroup | Battalion,Regiment | Company,Squadron,Battery | Platoon orTroop | Section | Fire team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contains | 3 brigades | 3–5 battalions (battlegroups) | Combined arms unit | 4–6 companies | 3 platoons | 3 sections | 2 fire teams | 4 individuals |
| Personnel | 10,000 | 5,000 | 700–1,000 | 720 | 120 | 30 | 8–10 | 4 |
| Commanded by | Maj-Gen | Brig | Lt Col | Lt Col | Major | Lt or2nd Lt | Cpl | LCpl |
Whilst many units are organised as Battalions or Regiments administratively, the most common fighting unit is the combined arms unit known as a Battlegroup. This is formed around a combat unit and supported by units (or sub-units) from other capabilities. An example of a battlegroup would be two companies of armoured infantry (e.g. from the 1st Battalion of theMercian Regiment), one squadron of heavy armour (e.g. A Squadron of theRoyal Tank Regiment), a company of engineers (e.g. B Company of the 22nd Engineer Regiment), a Battery of artillery (e.g. D Battery of the 1st Regiment of theRoyal Horse Artillery) and smaller attachments from medical, logistic and intelligence units. Typically organised and commanded by a battlegroup headquarters and named after the unit which provided the most combat units, in this example, it would be the 1 Mercian Battlegroup. This creates a self-sustaining mixed formation of armour, infantry, artillery, engineers and support units, commanded by a lieutenant colonel.[221]
_Britons_(Kitchener)_wants_you_(Briten_Kitchener_braucht_Euch)._1914_(Nachdruck)%2c_74_x_50_cm._(Slg.Nr._552).jpg)
The British Army primarily recruits from within the United Kingdom, but accept applications from all British citizens. It also accepts applications from Irish citizens andCommonwealth citizens, with certain restrictions.[222] Since 2018 the British Army has been an equal-opportunity employer (with some legal exceptions due to medical standards), and does not discriminate based on race, religion or sexual orientation.[223] Applicants for the Regular Army must be a minimum age of 16, although soldiers under 18 may not serve in operations, and the maximum age is 36. Applicants for the Army Reserve must be a minimum of 17 years and 9 months, and a maximum age of 43. Different age limits apply for Officers and those in some specialist roles. Applicants must also meet several other requirements, notably regarding medical health, physical fitness, past-criminal convictions, education, and regarding any tattoos and piercings.[222]
Soldiers and officers in the Regular Army now enlist for an initial period of 12 years, with options to extend if they meet certain requirements. Soldiers and officers are normally required to serve for a minimum of 4 years from date of enlistment and must give 12 months' notice before leaving; soldiers who joined before the age of 18 years old are normally required to serve for a minimum of 6 years.[224]
All soldiers and commissioned officers must take an oath of allegiance upon joining the Army, a process known as attestation. Those who wish to swear byGod use the following words:[12]
I, [soldier's or commissioned officer's name], swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance toHis Majesty King Charles III, his heirs and successors and that I will as in duty bound honestly and faithfully defend His Majesty, his heirs and successors in person,crown and dignity against all enemies and will observe and obey all orders of His Majesty, his heirs, and successors and of the generals and officers set over me.[225]
Others replace the words "swear by Almighty God" with "solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm".[12]
Candidates for the Army undergo common training, beginning withinitial military training, to bring all personnel to a similar standard in basic military skills, which is known as Phase 1 training. They then undertake further specialist trade-training for their specific Regiment or Corps, known as Phase 2 training. After completing Phase 1 training a soldier is counted against the Army's trained strength, and upon completion of Phase 2 are counted against the Army's fully trained trade strength.[226]
Soldiers under the age of 17 and six months will complete Phase 1 training at theArmy Foundation College.[227] Infantry Soldiers will complete combined Phase 1 & 2 training at theInfantry Training Centre, Catterick, whilst all other Soldiers will attend Phase 1 training at theArmy Training Centre Pirbright orArmy Training Regiment, Winchester, and then complete Phase 2 training at different locations depending on their specialism.[226] Officers conduct their initial training at theRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS),[228] before also completing their Phase 2 training at multiple different locations.[226]
The British Army's official flag is theUnion Jack. The Army also has a non-ceremonial flag that is often seen flying from military buildings and is used at recruiting and military events and exhibitions.[229] Traditionally most British Army units had a set of flags, known as thecolours—normally a Regimental Colour and a King's Colour (the Union Jack). Historically these were carried into battle as a rallying point for the soldiers and were closely guarded. In modern units the colours are often prominently displayed, decorated withbattle honours, and act as a focal point for Regimental pride.[230] A soldier re-joining a regiment (upon recall from the reserve) is described asre-called to the Colours.[231]
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.svg)
| British Army officer rank insignia | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank group | Field marshals | General officers | Field officers | Junior officers | Officer cadets | |||||||
| NATO code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | N/A | |
| Insignia | _OF-10_(rounded).svg) | _OF-9_(rounded).svg) | _OF-8_(rounded).svg) | _OF-7_(rounded).svg) | _OF-6_(rounded).svg) | _OF-5.svg) | _OF-4.svg) | _OF-3.svg) | _OF-2.svg) | _OF-1b.svg) | _OF-1a.svg) | _OF_(D).svg) |
| Rank[232] | Field marshal[b] | General[c] | Lieutenant-general[c] | Major-general[c] | Brigadier[d] | Colonel[d] | Lieutenant colonel[d] | Major[d] | Captain[d] | Lieutenant[d] | Second lieutenant[d] | Officer cadet[d] |
| Abbreviation | FM | Gen | Lt Gen | Maj Gen | Brig | Col | Lt Col | Maj | Capt | Lt | 2Lt | OCdt |
| Rank insignia of the other ranks of the British Army | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank group | Warrant officers | Senior NCOs | Junior NCOs | Soldiers | ||||||||
| NATO code | OR-9 | OR-8 | OR-7 | OR-6 | OR-5 | OR-4 | OR-3 | OR-2 | OR-1 | |||
| Insignia[234][235] | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) | .svg) |  |  |  |  | No insignia | |||
| Typical appointment[236] | Army sergeant major[e] | Regimental sergeant major[f] | Regimental quartermaster sergeant[g] | Squadron/battery/company sergeant major[h] | Squadron/battery/company quartermaster sergeant[i] | |||||||
| Rank[234] | Warrant officer class 1 | Warrant officer class 2 | Staff/colour sergeant | Sergeant[j] | Corporal | Lance corporal | Private(or equivalent) | |||||
| Abbreviation | WO1 | WO2 | SSgt/CSgt | Sgt | Cpl | LCpl | Pte | |||||
Most ranks across the British Army are known by the same name regardless of which Regiment they are in. However, theHousehold Cavalry call many ranks by different names, theRoyal Artillery refer to Corporals as Bombardiers, the Rifles spell Sergeant as Serjeant,[238] and Private soldiers are known by a wide variety of titles; notably trooper, gunner, guardsman, kingsman, sapper, signaller, fusilier, craftsman and rifleman dependant on the Regiment they belong to.[239] These names do not affect a soldier's pay or role.[240]
The oldest of the Reserve Forces was theMilitia Force (also referred to as theConstitutional Force),[241][242][243][244] which (in theKingdom of England, prior to 1707) was originally the main military defensive force (until the 1645 creation of theNew Model Army, there otherwise were originally only Royal bodyguards, including theYeomen Warders and theYeomen of the Guard, with armies raised only temporarily for expeditions overseas), made up of civilians embodied for annual training or emergencies, which had used various schemes of compulsory service during different periods of its long existence. From the 1850s it recruited volunteers who engaged for terms of service. The Militia was originally an all-infantry force, thoughMilitia coastal artillery, field artillery, and engineers units were introduced from the 1850s.[245]
Volunteer Force units were also frequently raised during wartime and disbanded upon peace. This was re-established as a permanent (i.e., in war and peace) part of the Reserve Forces in 1859. It differed from the Militia in a number of ways, most particularly in that volunteers did not commit to a term service, and were able to resign with fourteen days notice (except while embodied). As volunteer soldiers were originally expected to fund the cost of their own equipment, few tended to come from the labouring class among whom the Militia primarily recruited.[246][247]
TheYeomanry Force was made up of mounted units, organised similarly to the Volunteer Force, first raised during the two decades of war with France that followed the French Revolution. As with the Volunteers, members of the Yeomanry were expected to foot much of the cost of their own equipment, including their horses, and the make-up of the units tended to be from more affluent classes.[248][249]
Although Militia regiments were linked with British Army regiments during the course of the Napoleonic Wars to feed volunteers for service abroad into the regular army, and volunteers from the Reserve Forces served abroad either individually or in contingents, service companies, or battalions in a succession of conflicts from theCrimean War to theSecond Boer War, personnel did not normally move between forces unless re-attested as a member of the new force, and units did not normally move from the Reserve Forces to become part of the Regular Forces, or vice versa. There were exceptions, however, as with theNew Brunswick Regiment of Fencible Infantry, raised in 1803, which became the104th (New Brunswick) Regiment of Foot when it was transferred to the British Army on 13 September 1810.[250]
Another type of reserve force was created during the period between the French Revolution and the end of the Napoleonic Wars. CalledFencibles, these were disbanded after the Napoleonic Wars and not raised again, although theRoyal Malta Fencible Regiment, later theRoyal Malta Fencible Artillery, existed from 1815 until the 1880s when it became theRoyal Malta Artillery,[251] and theRoyal New Zealand Fencible Corps was formed in 1846.[252][253]
The Reserve Forces were raised locally (in Britain, under the control ofLords-Lieutenant of counties, and, inBritish colonies, under thecolonial governors, and members originally were obliged to serve only within their locality (which, in the United Kingdom, originally meant within the county or other recruitment area, but was extended to anywhere in Britain, though not overseas). They have consequently also been referred to asLocal Forces. As they were (and in some casesare) considered separate forces from the British Army, though still within the British military, they have also been known asAuxiliary Forces. The Militia and Volunteer units of a colony were generally considered to be separate forces from theHome Militia Force and Volunteer Force in the United Kingdom, and from the Militia Forces and Volunteer Forces of other colonies. Where a colony had more than one Militia or Volunteer unit, they would be grouped as a Militia or Volunteer Force for that colony, such as the Jamaica Volunteer Defence Force. Officers of the Reserve Forces could not sit on Courts Martial of regular forces personnel. TheMutiny Act did not apply to members of the Reserve Forces. TheReserve Forces within the British Isles were increasingly integrated with the British Army through a succession of reforms (beginning with theCardwell Reforms) of the British military forces over the last two decades of the Nineteenth Century and the early years of the Twentieth Century, whereby the Reserve Forces units mostly lost their own identities and became numbered Militia or Volunteer battalions of regular British Army corps or regiments.[254]
In 1908, the Yeomanry and Volunteer Force were merged to create theTerritorial Force (changed toTerritorial Army after the First World War), with terms of service similar to the army and Militia, and the Militia was renamed theSpecial Reserve,[255][256][257] After the First World War the Special Reserve was renamed the Militia, again, but permanently suspended (although a handful of Militia units survived in the United Kingdom, its colonies, and the Crown Dependencies). Although the Territorial Force was nominally still a separate force from the British Army, by the end of the century, at the latest, any unit wholly or partly funded from Army Funds was considered part of the British Army. Outside the United Kingdom-proper, this was generally only the case for those units in theChannel Islands or theImperial fortress colonies (Nova Scotia, beforeCanadian confederation;Bermuda;Gibraltar; andMalta).[258][259][260]
TheBermuda Militia Artillery,Bermuda Militia Infantry,Bermuda Volunteer Engineers, and theBermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps,[261][245] by example were paid for by the War Office and considered part of the British Army, with their officers appearing as such in theArmy List unlike those of many other colonial units deemed auxiliaries. Today, the British Army is the only Home British military force, including the various other forces it has absorbed, though British military units organised on Territorial Army lines remain in British Overseas Territories that are still not considered formally part of the British Army, with only theRoyal Gibraltar Regiment and theRoyal Bermuda Regiment (an amalgam of the old Bermuda Militia Artillery and Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps) appearing on theBritish Army order-of-precedence and in theArmy List, as well as on theCorps Warrant (the official list of those British military forces that are considered corps of the British Army).[262][263][264][265][266][267][268][269]
In October 2012 the Ministry of Defence announced that the Territorial Army was to be renamed the Army Reserve.[270]
The British Army uniform has sixteen categories, ranging from ceremonial uniforms to combat dress to evening wear. No. 8 Dress, the day-to-day uniform, is known as "Personal Clothing System – Combat Uniform" (PCS-CU)[271] and consists of aMulti-Terrain Pattern (MTP) windproof smock, a lightweight jacket and trousers with ancillary items such asthermals andwaterproofs.[272] The army has introducedtactical recognition flashes (TRFs); worn on the right arm of a combat uniform, the insignia denotes the wearer's regiment or corps.[273] In addition to working dress, the army has a number of parade uniforms for ceremonial and non-ceremonial occasions. The most-commonly-seen uniforms are No. 1 Dress (full ceremonial, seen at formal occasions such as at the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace) and No. 2 Dress (Service Dress), a brownkhaki uniform worn for non-ceremonial parades.[272][274]
Workingheaddress is typically aberet, whose colour indicates its wearer's type of regiment. Beret colours are:[275]
It is generally accepted that the regular standing army in Britain was officially created – in the sense of being fully accommodated within parliamentary control in 1689, although it is, strictly speaking, only correct to refer to the British army from the Act of Union with Scotland in 1707.
The first standing Army for Britain, a force of some 5,000 men on the English establishment, was formed at the Restoration in 1660–61. Separate forces were maintained on the Scottish and Irish establishments.
After the Restoration there were separate English and Scottish (until 1707 unification) and Irish (until later 1800 union) military establishments, reflecting the national revenue from which a military unit was maintained. In operational and administrative matters all three combined into a single formation of a unified British Army by the start of the 19th century. From 1688, the description 'British' army is both textually convenient and historically accurate.
There were more than 44,000 troops stationed overseas in colonial garrisons, and slightly more than half of these were in imperial fortresses: in the Mediterranean, Bermuda, Halifax, St. Helena, and Mauritius. The rest of the forces were in colonies proper, with a heavy concentration in New Zealand and South Africa. The imperial government paid approximately £1,715,000 per annum toward the maintenance of these forces, and the various colonial governments contributed £370,000, the largest amounts coming fromCeylon andVictoria inAustralia.
As a fortress, Bermuda is of the first importance. It is situated almost exactly half-way between the northern and the southern naval stations; while nature has made it practically impregnable. The only approach lies through that labyrinth of reefs and narrow channels which Captain Kennedy has described. The local pilots are sworn to secrecy; and, what is more reassuring, by lifting buoys and laying down torpedoes, hostile vessels trying to thread the passage must come to inevitable grief, So far Bermuda may be considered safe, whatever may be the condition of the fortifications and the cannon in the batteries. Yet the universal neglect of our colonial defences is apparent in the fact that no telegraphic communication has hitherto been established with the West Indies on the one side, or with the Dominion of Canada on the other.
The objectives for America are clearly marked — Halifax, Quebec, Montreal, Prescott, Kingston, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. Halifax and Vancouver are certain to be most energetically attacked, for they will be the naval bases, besides Bermuda, from which England would carry on her naval attack on the American coasts and commerce.
There is a strongly fortified dockyard, and the defensive works, together with the intricate character of the approaches to the harbour, render the islands an almost impregnable fortress. Bermuda is governed as a Crown colony by a Governor who is also Commander-in-Chief, assisted by an appointed Executive Council and a representative House of Assembly.
Besides the Imperial fortress of Malta, Gibraltar, Halifax and Bermuda it has to maintain and arm coaling stations and forts at Siena Leone, St. Helena, Simons Bay (at the Cape of Good Hope), Trincomalee, Jamaica and Port Castries (in the island of Santa Lucia).
All the Territories have a UK-appointed Governor, who generally holds responsibility for managing the Territory's external affairs, defence and internal security like the police, and often the power to make or veto laws.......As a matter of constitutional law, the UK Parliament has unlimited power to legislate for the Territories. However, passing legislation for the Territories is rare.
Troop shortages and patriotic zest during the imperial crises and expansion of the British Empire in the second half of the 19th century prompted the creation of other volunteer and yeomanry units, such as the Volunteer Force, with a far less distinct role, as well as the permanent embodiment of the militia in vulnerable British towns.
The yeomanry, a mounted force drawn from the upper classes, was created at the peak of the fear of French invasion and used extensively in support of the civil authority to put down riots and disturbances.
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