Timeline of the British Army explained
This timeline covers the main wars, battles and engagements and related issues for the Scottish, English and British Army, from 1537 to the present.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] See also Timeline of British diplomatic history.
1500–1599
- 1537The Overseers of the Fraternity or Guild of St George received a royal charter from Henry VIII on 25 August, when letters patent were received authorising them to establish a perpetual corporation for the defence of the realm to be known as the Fraternity or Guild of Artillery of Longbows, Crossbows and Handgonnes. This body was known by a variety of names since, but today is called the Honourable Artillery Company, and is the oldest regiment in continuous service in the British Army.
- 1539The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineer Regiment is first mustered before becoming a militia force for the county of Monmouth. When the new Police was formed in the 19th century, the regiment switched to the Royal Engineers Reserve, becoming the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers Militia the senior regiment of the Reserve Army.
- 1572The Buffs were formed from London's urban militia to support the Protestants in Holland, where they remained until the outbreak of the Anglo-Dutch war in 1665, at which point they were disbanded for refusing the oath of loyalty to the Dutch States General. They fled to England and reformed as 'The Holland Regiment' in the British Army. The unit is now part of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.
1600–1699
- 1633The Royal Regiment of Foot (later the Royal Scots) is placed on the Scottish Establishment, later becoming the oldest infantry regiment in the British Army. And still to this day as The Royal Regiment of Scotland.
- 1642Marquis of Argyll's Royal Regiment was raised by Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll for service in Ireland, renamed in 1650 Lyfe Guard of Foot and reformed as the Scottish Regiment of Foot Guards in 1661 (later the Scots Guards).
- 1650George Monck's Regiment is formed (later the Coldstream Guards), becoming the oldest infantry regiment,not of the line, in the British Army but not under the monarch.
- 1656Lord Wentworth's Regiment is formed (later the Grenadier Guards), later becoming the most senior infantry regiment in the British Army because of the long serving loyalty to the monarch during the English Civil War.
- 26 January 1661King Charles II issues warrant, becoming the acknowledged beginning of the British Army. This concerned an assemblage of English regiments and Scottish regiments brought south with Charles II. The British Army would not formally exist, however, for another 46 years, as Scotland and England remained two independent states, each with its own Army.
- 1 October 1661The Tangier Regiment is formed, later The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, the most senior English line infantry regiment in the British Army.
- 1684The English withdraw from the Colony of Tangier.
- 1688The War of the Grand Alliance begins.
1700–1799
- 1702War of the Spanish Succession begins.
- 1707Kingdom of Great Britain is formed. Scottish and English armies merged to create the British Army.
- 1722Royal Regiment of Artillery is formed.
- 1742War of the Austrian Succession begins.[7]
- 1743Battle of Dettingen, King George II becomes the last British monarch to lead his troops into battle.
- 1746Battle of Culloden, The British Army, made from Scottish,English and Irish soldiers and led by the Duke of Cumberland, fights the last major battle on British mainland soil against French supported Scottish rebel Jacobites.
- 1751A numerical system is introduced into the Army, such as 1st Regiment of Foot, 2nd Regiment of Foot, etc.
- 1755Seven Years' War begins.
- 1759Battle of Minden, the Duke of Brunswick leads an Anglo-German army against the French.
- 1759British forces, led by General James Wolfe, take French Quebec.[8]
- 1775American War of Independence begins.[9]
- 1776British victory at the Battle of Long Island.[11]
- 1777British victory at the Battle of Brandywine.[12]
- 1777British defeat at the Battle of Saratoga.[13]
- 1781British defeat at the siege of Yorktown.[14]
- 1793War on revolutionary France declared
- 1795Capture of Ceylon.
- 1796slave forces in Haiti led by Toussaint L'ouverture British Forces defeated
- 1798Large-scale rebellion in Ireland.
- 1799Capture of Seringapatam.
1800-1898
1899–1918
Second Boer War
- 1899
- 11 OctoberWar is declared.
- 20 OctoberThe first major battle of the war takes place at Talana Hill.
- December"Black Week", in which the Army suffered a series of defeats, takes place.
- 1900
- 1902
- 1905The 5th Battalion, The Royal Garrison Regiment is the last British battalion to leave Canada.
- 1908The Territorial Force (later Army) is formed.
- 1911
- 1912The Vickers machine gun is introduced into the Army; it remains in service until 1968.
- 13 MayThe Air Battalion Royal Engineers becomes the Royal Flying Corps. It remains part of the Army.
First World War
- 1914
- 1915
- 1916
- 1917
- 1918
- 11 NovemberThe First World War ends with the signing of the Armistice.
1918–1945
Interwar Period
- January 1919Anglo-Irish War begins; British forces combat guerilla operations by the Irish Republican Army.
- 1919British Army takes part in Allied intervention during Russian Civil War.
- 28 June 1920Winston Churchill as the Secretary of State for War signed the royal warrant which gave the sovereigns approval for the formation of a 'Corps of Signals'. Six weeks later in August, King George V conferred the title 'Royal Corps of Signals'.[20]
- 31 July 1922Six Irish regiments (5 infantry and one cavalry) are disbanded due to the establishment of the Irish Free State.
- 1929The British Army of the Rhine in Germany is withdrawn.
- 1935Abyssinian Crisis takes place; Army deploys substantial reinforcements to Africa and the Middle East.
- 1936uprising in Palestine begins.
- 4 April 1939The Royal Armoured Corps is formed.
Second World War
- 3 September 1939Britain enters the Second World War when it declares war, along with its Allies, on Nazi Germany.
- September 1939British Expeditionary Force begins to land in France.
- 17 May 1940The Local Defence Volunteers (later the Home Guard) is formed.
- 20 May 1940– In France, British armoured units counter-attack at Arras.
- 26 May 1940The Dunkirk evacuation begins; over 330,000 British and French soldiers are evacuated by 4 June.
- 22 June 1940The Parachute Corps (later The Parachute Regiment) is formed.
- April 1941Germany invades Crete; Army and Commonwealth forces eventually evacuated by Royal Navy.
- 25 December 1941The garrison at Hong Kong surrenders to the Japanese.
- 15 February 1942Singapore garrison surrenders to Japanese forces.
- 23 October 1942Second Battle of El Alamein takes place; Montgomery's British Eighth Army defeats the Afrika Korps in offensive.
- 10 July 1943The Allied invasion of Sicily begins.
- 3 September 1943Invasion of Italian mainland begins.
- March 1944The Japanese launch their offensive against India; battles of Imphal and Kohima takes place.
- 1 April 1944The Special Air Service Regiment is formed to administer existing SAS units.
- 6 June 1944in airborne operations prior to D-Day landings, Pegasus and Horsa Bridges are taken by D Company, 2nd Ox & Bucks, and the Merville gun battery is destroyed by the 9th Parachute Battalion.
- 6 June 1944The D-Day landings take place; British Army lands at Gold and Sword; some British units allocated to Canadian beach at Juno.
- 18 July 1944Allied armoured offensive, Operation Goodwood, begins.
- September 1944Operation Market Garden takes place.
- 24 March 1945Airborne crossing of the Rhine, Operation Varsity, takes place.
- 8 May 1945VE Day.
- 2 September 1945Formal surrender of Japan.
1945–1990
- 1 January 1948Four Gurkha regiments are transferred from the Indian Army to the British Army, forming the Brigade of Gurkhas.
- 28 February 1948The 1st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry becomes the last British regiment to leave India.
- 1948The Malayan Emergency begins.
- 1948The Army withdraws from Palestine.
- 1 January 1949National Service, the new name for conscription, is introduced.
- 1 February 1949The Women's Royal Army Corps is formed.
- 1950The Korean War begins.
- 1952The Mau Mau uprising in Kenya begins.
- 1953The Army withdraws its garrison from Bermuda.
- 1954The last troops leave Trieste, having been there since 1945 as part of British Forces Element Trieste.
- 1955Occupying troops leave upon Austrian independence.
- June 1956Last British troops leave the Suez Canal Zone, Egypt.
- 31 October 1956Operation Musketeer, the invasion of Suez begins.
- 5 November3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment dropped at El Gamil airfield.
- 6 NovemberAmphibious landings take place; Army Centurion tanks land in support.
- 1 September 1957The Glider Pilot Regiment was merged with the Air Observation Post Squadrons to form the Army Air Corps.[21]
- 1957The Sandys Review of the armed forces takes place.
- 16 July 1958Independent Parachute Brigade Group (less 3 Para), air-landed in Amman, Jordan from Cyprus.
- 1961Army deploys troops to Kuwait after its request for British to deter invasion by Iraq.
- 1962The Brunei uprising takes place.
- 1963Last National Serviceman is discharged from the Army.
- 1967Withdrawal from Aden after a period of time known as the Aden Emergency.
- 1968The only year in the century when the British Army lost no soldiers in action.
- August 1969British troops deployed to Northern Ireland to assist in stopping sectarian violence. It is the beginning of "The Troubles".
- 5 May 1980Special Air Service ends the Iranian Embassy siege.
- 2 April 1982Falklands War begins.
1990–present
- 1991 The Gulf War begins; Army contributes 28,000 troops.
- 1991The last British Army regiment leaves Gibraltar. The Gibraltar Regiment is subsequently placed on the Army's regular establishment.
- 6 April 1992the WRAC was disbanded and its members integrated into various British Army units.
- 1 October 1992I (BR) Corps is disbanded and replaced by the Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps.
- 1992British forces deployed to Bosnia as part of UNPROFOR.
- 31 March 1994The British Army of the Rhine is disbanded and replaced by British Forces Germany.
- 1994The main force of the Army garrison in Belize is withdrawn; small detachment remains as part of British Army Training and Support Unit Belize.
- 19941st Battalion, The Queen's Lancashire Regiment becomes the last British battalion to leave Berlin.
- 30 June 19971st Battalion, The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) becomes the last British unit to leave Hong Kong.
- 1998The Strategic Defence Review white paper is published.
- 1999Kosovo War begins.
- 20002 PARA arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leone to evacuate British, Commonwealth and EU citizens.
- 2000The Army deploys to the Republic of Macedonia.
- 7 October 2001U.S. invasion of Afghanistan begins. The SAS was, initially, the main Army contribution.
- December 2001Major-General John McColl takes command of ISAF in Afghanistan.
- 20 March 2003The US-led invasion of Iraq begins.
- 21 July 2004The defence white paper "Delivering Security in a Changing World" is published.
- March 2005Private Johnson Beharry, of the 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment is awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in Iraq.
- 6 April 2005The Special Reconnaissance Regiment becomes operational.
- 7 March 2007Corporal Bryan Budd, of the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, is posthumeously awarded the Victoria Cross.
- March 2007Operation Achilles launched to clear Helmand province of the Taliban.
- 31 July 2007Operation Banner ends after 38 years of deployment.
- 30 April 2009British Army withdraws from Iraq, Operation Telic continues mainly by Royal Navy personnel.
- 10 July 2009Five 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]
- Summer 2012British forces support the police and provide specialist capability during the London 2012 Olympics.
- 16 March 2013L/Cpl James Ashworth, of the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards is posthumeously awarded the Victoria Cross.
- October 2014British Army begins training Iraqi and Peshmerga forces to combat ISIL as part of Operation Shader.
- 26 October 2014Combat operations in Afghanistan come to an end, Camp Bastion is handed over to the Afghan National Army.
- 1 January 2015Army begins training and mentoring Afghan forces and providing force protection as part of NATO's Resolute Support Mission.
- 26 February 2015L/Cpl Joshua Leakey, of the Parachute Regiment is awarded the Victoria Cross.
- May 2016British Army deployment begins in Malakal and Bentiu, South Sudan to support the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.
- 17 March 2017British Army begins deploying to Estonia and Poland in support of NATO Enhanced Forward Presence.
- 22 May 2017Operation Temperer is put into effect following the Manchester Arena bombing.
- February 2020Completion of the withdrawal of British Forces Germany.
- April 2020British Army begins deploying troops to Mali to form a Long Range Reconnaissance Group (LRRG) Task Group as part of MINUSMA.
- 13 August 2021Operation Pitting begins, 600 military personnel deployed to Kabul International Airport.
- 15 August 2021Fall of Kabul, Taliban control Afghanistan.
- 28 August 2021Evacuation of British nationals, embassy staff and eligible Afghans ends.
- 25 November 2021The Future Soldier programme is published.
- 1 December 2021The Ranger Regiment is formed.
- 24 February 2022Russia invades Ukraine.
- July 2022Operation Interflex launched, British Army begins training Ukrainian service personnel in the UK.
- 8 September 2022Death of Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III accedes to the throne and becomes Commander-in-Chief of the British Army.
- 18 September 2022Thousands of British Army personnel form part of HM The Queen's funeral procession.
- 6 April 2023The Yorkshire Regiment becomes The Royal Yorkshire Regiment.
- September 2023Exercise Iron Titan takes place, the largest British Army exercise for over twenty years.
- October 20231st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment is rapidly deployed to Kosovo in response to heightened regional tension.
Notes
- See John William Fortescue, History of the British Army (13 vol, 1899-1930), which tells the story to 1870.
- David G. Chandler and Ian Frederick William Beckett, eds. The Oxford illustrated history of the British army (Oxford UP, 1994)
- David G. Chandler, The Oxford history of the British army. (Oxford UP, 2003).
- Eric William Sheppard, A short history of the British army. (Constable, 1950).
- Robert Money Barnes, A history of the regiments & uniforms of the British Army (London: Seeley Service, 1950).
- Peter Young and James Philip Lawford, History of the British Army (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1970).
- [Basil Williams (historian)|Basil Williams]
- Oliver Warner, With Wolfe to Quebec: the path to glory (1972).
- See Jeremy Black, "Could the British Have Won the American War of Independence?." Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. (Fall 1996), Vol. 74 Issue 299, pp 145-154. online 90-minute video lecture given at Ohio State in 2006; requires Real Player
- Richard M. Ketchum, Decisive Day: The Battle for Bunker Hill (1999).
- Barnet Schecter, The battle for New York: The city at the heart of the American Revolution (2003).
- Bruce Mowday, September 11, 1777: Washington's Defeat at Brandywine Dooms Philadelphia (White Mane Pub, 2002).
- Michael O. Logusz, With Musket and Tomahawk: The Saratoga Campaign and the Wilderness War of 1777 (Casemate Publishers, 2010).
- Jerome A. Greene, The Guns of Independence: The Siege of Yorktown, 1781 (Casemate Publishers, 2009).
- Nikolas Gardner, Trial by fire: Command and the British Expeditionary Force in 1914 (2003).
- Ian Beckett, Ypres: The First Battle 1914 (Routledge, 2013).
- Basil Henry Liddell Hart, The Tanks: The History of the Royal Tank Regiment and Its Predecessors, Heavy Branch, Machine-Gun Corps, Tank Corps, and Royal Tank Corps, 1914-1945 (1959).
- Robert Woollcombe, The First Tank Battle: Cambrai 1917 (Arthur Barker, 1967).
- Abigail Jacobson, From Empire to Empire: Jerusalem between Ottoman and British Rule (2011).
- Web site: The Corps of Royal Signals celebrates its centenary in Salisbury Cathedral.
- Web site: Our Story . 2023-11-03 . Army Air Corps . en.
- Web site: BBC Radio 4 - Beyond Today - Deadliest Day: How one patrol in Afghanistan still haunts British soldiers ten years on . 2023-11-03 . BBC . en-GB.
