INTRO

Question 1

when was the modern British army first formed?

Answer 1

during the 17th century

Question 2

what was the British army traditionally organised into?

Answer 2

into three fighting arms and support services

Question 3

what were the three fighting arms the army was traditionally organised into?

Answer 3

infantry, cavalry and artillery

Question 4

what is infantry

Answer 4

foot soldier

Question 5

what is cavalry?

Answer 5

mounted soldiers

Question 6

what is artiller?

Answer 6

heavy weapons

Question 7

what did the support services include?

Answer 7

the support services included the engineers, medical support and commissariat.

Question 8

what did every soldier in the force belong to?

Answer 8

they belonged to a regiment, which had its own headquarters, administrative staff and colours (flag).
- regiments often had a rich history and unique traditions, which inspired great loyalty from those who served them.

Question 9

what are the groups in which infantry fight?

Answer 9

battalions, usually between 400 and 1,000 men, and a regiment will have one or more battalions.

Question 10

what is each battalion broken into?

Answer 10

each battalion will be broken into companies and each company into platoons.

Question 11

what will the artillery either belong to?

Answer 11

the artillery will either belong to the Royal Artillery Regiment or the Royal Horse Artillery Regiment.

Question 12

what is the tactical unit for artillery?

Answer 12

the tactical unit is the battery, which usually consists of six or eight guns. Batteries are treated like separate entities and will be assigned duties on that basis.

Question 13

what does reconnaissance mean?

Answer 13

it is the act of searching around the army in an effort to gain information as to the whereabouts and the condition of the enemy.

Question 14

What are infantry battalions and cavalry regiments grouped together to form?

Answer 14

to form brigades. From the 1970s onwards, brigades would be combined into divisions, which would then make up the army. Artillery could be assigned to a brigade or a division depending on the needs of the fighting and the availability of the artillery.

Question 15

Who was the corps system developed by?

Answer 15

by the French wherein two or more divisions would constitute a corps and several corps would make up the army. The corps system was not adopted by the British army until the First World War.

Question 16

how is the Royal Navy organised?

Answer 16

its basic units are ships, which are all given the title Her (or His) Majesty’s ship (HMS), depending on who the monarch was and then a name (e.g. Ark Royal, Invincible, etc). Even land based training facilities are given the title HMS, even though they are not actually ships, e.g. HMS Raleigh. Every ship has a nominal home port, although it might be serviced elsewhere depending on its circumstances. Ships served similar administrative purposes to regiments in the army.

Question 17

what are ships in the Royal Navy organised into?

Answer 17

into flotillas, which are then organised into a fleet. Fleets tended to be named after the area in which they were serving. Ships were graded by size, which often defined their function, some ships being suitable for high seas deployment, others only suitable for use in coastal waters.