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A British infantry battalion had 4 companies and a machine-gun section (two machine-guns). In August 1914 it included 30 officers and 977 other ranks. It had 25 carts and wagons, including 4 field kitchens. [18] The single cavalry division assigned to the BEF in 1914 consisted of 15 cavalry regiments in five brigades.
Before World War II, the events of 1914–1918 were generally known as the Great War or simply the World War. [1] In August 1914, the magazine The Independent wrote "This is the Great War. It names itself". [2] In October 1914, the Canadian magazine Maclean's similarly wrote, "Some wars name themselves. This is the Great War."
Perhaps the most famous fighter plane during World War 1 was the Fokker as it was the first to include a synchronized machine gun. [23] [24] [25] Towards the end of the conflict, aircraft carriers were used for the first time, with HMS Furious launching Sopwith Camels in a raid to destroy the Zeppelin hangars at Tønder in 1918. [26]
The highly controversial introduction, in January 1916, of conscription for the first time in British history followed the raising of one of the largest all-volunteer armies in history, known as Kitchener's Army, of more than 2,000,000 men. [1]: 504 The outbreak of war was a socially unifying event. [2]
A history of the British army (19v 1899–1930) online; Higham, John, ed. A Guide to the Sources of British Military History (2015) 654 pages excerpt; Holmes, Richard. Redcoat: the British soldier in the age of horse and musket (WW Norton & Company, 2002). Usher, George. Dictionary of British military history (A&C Black, 2009).
Daily Mail on 5 August 1914. The United Kingdom entered World War I on 4 August 1914, when King George V declared war after the expiry of an ultimatum to the German Empire.The official explanation focused on protecting Belgium as a neutral country; the main reason, however, was to prevent a French defeat that would have left Germany in control of Western Europe.
List of military divisions — List of British divisions in the First World War. This page is a list of British divisions that existed in the First World War. Divisions were either infantry or cavalry. Divisions were categorised as being 'Regular Army' (professional), 'Territorial Force' (part-time) or 'New Army' (wartime).
30 April 2009 – British Army withdraws from Iraq, Operation Telic continues mainly by Royal Navy personnel. 10 July 2009 – Five men from 9 Plt, C Coy, 2 RIFLES died and ten were wounded, over half of the entire patrol, in what was the worst casualty toll for a British foot patrol during the war in Afghanistan. [22]