Modern Period (1900-2003 Flashcards
How did the size of the army stay the same in this period?
There was a small standing army during peacetime that grew for wars and shrunk when ended
How did the size of armies change during this period?
Grew hugely for wars such as 3.5million for WW1. Standing army had grown in industrial period but standing army in 1900 was the size of the 1840 army
How did infantry numbers change in this period?
65% of army in 1914. 25% of army in 2015 as warfare more complex
How did cavalry numbers change in this period?
10% in 1914 - used as scouts and for raids. Tanks replaced cavalry and made up around 10% in 2015.
How did artillerymen numbers change in this period?
20% of army in 1914. 10% army was royal artillery in 2015 as aircraft and ranks shared role of artillery bombardment
How did specialist unit numbers change in this period?
5% in 1914. 55% in present day such as mechanical engineers
What were Haldane’s reforms in response to?
Poor performance in the Boer War
Who was Lord Haldane?
Secretary of State for war
What did Lord Haldane do?
Restructured British army in a way that still influences army today: split army into regular army and territorial force.
How was the regular army planned to run in Haldane’s reforms?
Have 150,000 permanent volunteers that were sent to war in 1914 and 1939
When were Haldane’s reforms?
1908 modern army structure
How was territorial force of Haldane’s reforms planned to work?
Combined part-time forces and reserves into a reinforcement option for the regular army, consisting of 270,000 men by 1914
What was planned in 2010?
Army 2020 structure
How did the army 2020 structure work?
Full time professional volunteers with a planned 82,000 troops.
What did the Territorial army become in 2013 and what did it plan to have?
Army Reserve and planned to have 30,000 troops.
What are army logistics?
Transporting and providing food, supplies and ammo; moving wounded troops.
How well was army logistics organised before 1900?
Awfully
How was food and transport supplied till 1790s?
Arranged by army commanders and included raiding food supplies and requisitioning food stores from friendly suppliers.
When were the Royal Waggoners created and what for?
1790s as a uniformed army transport in the British army
What happened in 1855?
Problems with logistics in Crimean War led to the creation of the military train to move supplies
When was the Military train renamed Army Service Corps (ASC)?
1888
Why did logistics of such a big army become a problem during WW1?
The ASC had to provide things like petrol now
How much supplies did the ASC have to provide for by 1918?
3 million men
How much of the army was made up of the ASC by 1918?
10% and men served as drivers etc
What was the ASC renamed as?
Royal Army Service Corps (RASC)
What is evidence that logistics was even more complicated in WW2?
Landing in France on D-day (June 1944) took 4300 ships to transport and land under fire
Why did RASC become Royal Logistics Corps (RLC)?
In 1993, RASC joined with other army corps and now made up 15% of army
Who planned logistics for the Iraq War and how many troops where transported over what distance?
RLC. 45,000 troops transported over 3000km.
When did it become clear that specialists needed to increase safety?
Bombs didn’t explode in WW2.
What happened in 1940 for specialist units?
25 army bomb disposal units formed.
How many bombs were made safe in June 1940?
25,000
What did Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) troops specialise in?
Bomb disposals, land mines and improvised explosive devices
When were bomb disposal robots made?
1972
What is the most up-to-date bomb disposal robot?
The British ‘Dragon Runner’
How many EOD personnel and sniffer dogs did the British army have by 2015?
2000 EOD personnel and 300 sniffer dogs
Why was changes in weaponry, transport and surveillance so common and rapid between 1900-45?
As armies got new weapons, transport/surveillance methods, it strengthened attacked and enabled territory to be captured quickly
How did stalemates occur in the long term?
Using new weapons as an advantage meant weapons of defence resisted and made it equal
What are ‘wars of attrition’?
Slowly wearing down the enemy
How were stalemates and wars of attrition seen from 1914-1918?
Railways and massed troops gave attackers upper hand, until 1914-16 when artillery, rifles and machine guns strengthened defence and led to a war of attrition. Then in 1917-18 tanks and aircraft gave attackers upper hand again so stalemate broken.
How did Germany use railways in 1914?
For military transport to ensure surprise against France by going througn Belgium
How did Germany outmanoeuvre the French?
Trains were 15x faster than marching
What new type of war did military transport create?
‘War of movement’
How was a stalemate still produced in France vs Germany?
Machine guns dominated in 1914 so even though the attacking army was in perfect position, a stalemate produced as they couldn’t combat the machine guns ans artillery defences
Why were Maxim Guns too heavy to carry?
50kg
Why were Maxim Guns bad in rapid advances but awesome in defence?
Had to be fed, fired and cooled but could shoot at 600rpm
How was the Western Front formed?
Defences halted Germans just short of Paris so trenches had to be dug. Opposing trenches remained unchanged until around 1917 and became known as the Western Front
Why were 60,000 British soldiers wounded/died on first day of Battle Of the Somme (1916)?
Due to machine guns, rifles and artillery shells
How did WW1 become a war of attrition?
Movement was replaced by stalemate by 1916
How were wars of movements broight back in 1916-18?
Due to new weapons, motorised transport and surveillance
How did tanks develop since the Somme?
At the Somme: only moved at 1mph and to scare people
After: British developed Whippets which could go 10mph.
Who initially supplied the aircraft in 1914?
British Flying Corps (BFC) which had 63 aircrafts
Where did the BFC bomb in 1916?
Factories in Ruhr and Rhineland
How many horses and motorcars were there in 1914?
50,000 horses but only 800 motor cars
Why were motor cars gradually used more?
For comms and moving supplies
How many motorised trucks were in the British army by 1918?
55,000
What maintained the war of movement at the start of Ww2?
Tanks and aircraft
How fast could tanks move in WW2?
20-40mph
How did aircrafts work in WW2 wars?
Dropped 509kg bombs, used parachutes to drop troops behind enemy lines
What were radios used to do?
Coordinate attacks
How did the German army combine all tactics of troops in a war of movement?
The Blitzkrieg (‘lightning war’)
What was the Blitzkrieg?
When speed of attacking weapons punched through defence then initiative was used to continue the attack
What returned to stalemate from 1940?
Other weapons and surveillance methods
Why was bombing from aircrafts during WW2 not immediately decisive?
There were many stalemates before they were
What was Britain’s faster fighter plane in WW2?
Spitfire - 350mph
Which fighter plane shot down most German planes during WW2?
Hawker Hurricane
What did Robert Watson-Watt do?
In 1935, created radars which led Brits to build the Chain Home
What was the Chain Home?
A seriess of towers like modern day national grid to detect incoming aircraft
How did anti-aircraft guns work?
Used automated reloading and radars to help aiming
How many anti-aircraft guns did Germans use against Allied bombers?
50,000
What did defences like land mines and bazookas eventually end up in after having an impact?
A stalemate
What happened in 1943 in terms of stalemates?
Britain and allies overcame German defences and broke stalemate, showing air attack as stronger once again
What factors caused the German stalemate to be broken in 1943?
Government actions, improved technology and industrial strength.
Example of how bombers improved?
Lancaster bombers had a range of 2500km and Britian built 7000 of them by 1945
Example of how bombing technology improved?
Brits developed the ‘oboe system’ to target bombs by using radio signals to guide a bomber.
Example of how bombing strategy changed?
Initially everyone used strategic bombing but by 1943, area bombing was used to reduce civilian morale.
Example of the impact of bombs on Hamburg?
In only four raids, then RAF used 3000 bombers to drop 9000 tonnes of bombs on Hamburg.
How many German civilians were killed by allied bombs in WW2?
400,000
How did bombing tie up military assets in WW2?
85% of German anti-aircraft guns had to be used in cities to fend of air attacks