There has been a strong and continuing tradition of recruiting from Ireland including what is now the Republic of Ireland. Almost 150,000 Irish soldiers fought in the First World War; 49,000 died. More than 60,000 Irishmen, more than from Northern Ireland, also saw action in the Second World War; like their compatriots in the Great War, all were volunteers. There were more than 400 men serving from the Republic in 2003.
10. Oath of allegiance
All soldiers must take an oath of allegiance upon joining the Army, a process known as attestation. Those who believe in God use the following words:
I (your name), swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, her heirs and successors and that I will as in duty bound honestly and faithfully defend Her Majesty, her heirs and successors in person, crown and dignity against all enemies and will observe and obey all orders of Her Majesty, her heirs and successors and of the generals and officers set over me.
Others replace the words "swear by Almighty God" with "solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm".
11. Training establishments
-Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) is the officer training establishment. All officers, regular and reserve, attend RMAS at some point in their training.
-Army Training Regiments:
-ATR Bassingbourn
-ATR Winchester
-ATC Pirbright
-Infantry Training Centres:
-ITC Catterick
-Infantry Battle School, Brecon
-Support Weapons School, Warminster
-Army Foundation College (Harrogate)
-Regional training centres
-Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College
12. Flags and ensigns
he non-ceremonial flag of the British Army. Sometimes the word Army in gold letters appears below the badge.The British Army does not have its own specific ensign, unlike the Royal Navy, which uses the White Ensign, and the RAF, which uses the Royal Air Force Ensign. Instead, the Army has different flags and ensigns, for the entire army and the different regiments and corps. The official flag of the Army as a whole is the Union Flag, flown in a ratio of 3:5. A non-ceremonial flag also exists, which is used at recruiting events, military events and exhibitions. It also flies from the MOD building in Whitehall.
Whilst at war, the Union Flag is always used, and this flag represents the Army on the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London (the UK's memorial to its war dead). A British Army ensign also exists for vessels commanded by a commissioned officer, the Blue Ensign defaced with the Army badge. Army Vessels are operated by the Maritime element of the Royal Logistic Corps.
Each Foot Guards and line regiment (which does not include The Rifles and Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR)) also has its own flags, known as Colours—normally a Regimental Colour and a Queen's Colour. The design of different Regimental Colours. vary but typically the colour has the Regiment's badge in the centre. The RGR carry the Queen's Truncheon in place of Colours.
13. Ranks, specialisms and insignia
| NATO Code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | OF(D) | Student Officer | |
| United Kingdom | Field Marshal1 | General | Lieutenant General | Major General | Brigadier | Colonel | Lieutenant Colonel | Major | Captain | Lieutenant | Second Lieutenant | No Equivalent | Officer Cadet |
| Abbreviation | FM | Gen | Lt Gen | Maj Gen | Brig | Col | Lt Col | Maj | Capt | Lt | 2nd Lt | ||
| 1Now an honorary or wartime rank only. | |||||||||||||
| NATO Code | OR-9 | OR-8 | OR-7 | OR-6 | OR-5 | OR-4 | OR-3 | OR-2 | OR-1 | ||
| United Kingdom | Warrant Officer Class One (Conductor) | Warrant Officer Class One | Warrant Officer Class Two (Quartermaster Sergeant) | Warrant Officer Class Two (Sergeant Major) | Staff Sergeant/ Colour Sergeant | Sergeant | No Equivalent | Corporal/ Bombardier | Lance-Corporal/ Lance-Bombardier | No InsigniaPrivate/regimental equivalent | |
Every regiment and corps has its own distinctive insignia, such as cap badge, beret, tactical recognition flash and stable belt.
Throughout the army there are many official specialisms. They do not affect rank, but they do affect pay bands.
| Band 2 Specialisms: | Band 3 Specialisms: |
| Musician | Survey Technician |
| Farrier | Lab Technician |
| Driver Tank Transporter | Registered General Nurse |
| Radar Operator | Telecom Op (Special) |
| Meteorologist | Aircraft Technician |
| Bomb Disposal Engineer | SAS Trooper |
| Telecom Op (Linguist) | Ammunition Technician (Bomb Disposal) |
| Operator Special Intelligence | |
| Construction Materials Technician | |
| Driver Specialist | |
| Armoured Engineer |
14. Royal Navy and RAF ground units
The other armed services have their own infantry units which are not part of the British Army. The Royal Marines are amphibious light infantry forming part of the Naval Service, and the Royal Air Force has the RAF Regiment used for airfield defence, force protection duties and Forward Air Control.
15. Overseas Territories military units
Numerous military units were raised historically in British territories, including self-governing and Crown colonies, and protectorates. Few of these have appeared on the Army List, and their relationship to the British Army has been ambiguous. Whereas Dominions, such as Canada and Australia, raised their own armies, the defence of Crown possessions (like the Channel Islands), and colonies (now called Overseas Territories) was, and is, the responsibility of the UK (due to their status as territories of Britain, not British protectorates). All military forces of overseas territories are, therefore, under the direct command of the UK Government, via the local Governor and Commander-In-Chief.
Many of the units in colonies, or former colonies, were also actually formed at the behest of the UK Government as it sought to reduce the deployment of the British Army on garrison duties around the world at the latter end of the 19th century. Today, three overseas territories retain locally-raised military units, Bermuda, Gibraltar, and the Falkland Islands. The units are patterned on the British Army, are subject to review by the Ministry of Defence, and are ultimately under the control of the British government, not the local governments of the territories (though day-to-day control may be delegated to Ministers of the territorial governments). Despite this, the units may have no tasking or funding from the MOD, and are generally raised under acts of the territorial assemblies.
-Bermuda Regiment
-Royal Gibraltar Regiment
-Falkland Islands Defence Force
16. Conclusion
The British Army was formed in 1707 with the unification of England and Scotland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Throughout history it has seen action in almost every corner of the globe, and employs soldiers from many different areas of the commonwealth including Australia, India, Ghana, South Africa, the Republic of Ireland and the famous Nepalese Gurkhas. There are approximately 100,000 regular personnel and 26,000 territorial army soldiers currently deployed as part of the British Expeditionary Force and as United Nations peacekeepers in many countries worldwide, including Cyprus, Iraq, Afghanistan , the Balkans and Germany.
The British Army has always been at the cutting edge of military technology, and currently uses some of the most high-tech and effective equipment available including state-of-the-art Challenger 2 battle tanks, WAH-64D Apache gunship helicopters and the much improved SA80A2 Rifle.
17. Bibliography
1. Charles Heyman, "Armed Forces of the United Kingdom".
2. ED Griffin, "Encyclopedia Modern British Army Regime"
3. Carver, M., "The Seven Ages of the British Army"
4. General H. Landlois, "The British Army in a European war"