X-Nico

68 unusual facts about British Army


1915 FA Cup Final

Vivian Woodward an amateur and England international who played for Chelsea in peacetime but was currently serving in the British Army, had been given leave to play in the final.

1917–18 Manchester United F.C. season

On 9 October 1917 while Fighting in France during the First World War, United former player Arthur Beadsworth was killed while serving as a Sergeant in the Seventh Battalion of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment of the British Army.

1996 in Northern Ireland

7 October - Thiepval barracks bombing: The IRA explodes two car bombs inside the British Army headquarters at Lisburn, killing one soldier and injuring 37 other people.

1st South Carolina Regiment

The regiment was captured at Charleston on May 12, 1780 together with the rest of the Southern Department by the British Army.

2nd South Carolina Regiment

The regiment was captured by the British Army at Charleston on May 12, 1780, together with the rest of the Southern Department.

Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction

The best friend of Adrian's son Glenn and a private in the British Army, through which he is deployed to Iraq.

Africa Star

The sand of the desert is represented by pale buff, the Royal Navy (and Merchant Navy), British Army, and Royal Air Force are represented by stripes of dark blue, red, and light blue respectively.

Alfred Finnigan

Finnigan’s family emigrated to Australia when he was a boy, where he gained experience with horses that was to stand him in good stead when he joined the Army in 1914.

Amerigo Dumini

He remained in the region for more than a decade and was captured by the British Army during the North African Campaign of World War II.

Anti-Structures Munition

The Anti-Structures Munition is a developmental program for the British Army to provide a man-portable shoulder-launched weapon capable of destroying hardened structures such as buildings or bunkers.

Arthur Guy Empey

He left the United States at the end of 1915 frustrated at its neutrality in the conflict at that point and travelled to London, England, where he joined the 1st London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), Territorial Force, of the British Army, going on to serve with it in the 56th (London) Infantry Division on the Western Front as a bomber and a machine-gunner.

Balad al-Sheikh

The residents did not reply, instead they asked the British Army for help.

Battle of Morlaix

Initially, Edward III of England could do little to help the de Montforts, he had his own problems at home, but eventually he felt able to send a small force under Sir Walter Mauny to aid them.

Bogwoman

"Bogwoman" is a play on the term of abuse shouted at a Derry woman by the British Army; the term is a play on the word used to describe those women that live in the IRA stronghold of the Bogside in Derry.

Bonapartism

The death knell for Bonapartism was probably sounded when Eugène Bonaparte, the only son of Napoleon III, was killed in action while serving as a British Army officer in Zululand in 1879.

Bower Manuscript

The Bower Manuscript is named after Hamilton Bower, the British Army intelligence officer who obtained it from a local inhabitant in Kucha early in 1890, while on a confidential mission for the government of British India.

Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land

He joins a British Army officer, Captain Hill in tracking down a secret cult while the war rages about them.

Cambridge University Association Football League

This gives Cambridge University county status (separate from Cambridgeshire), with the same voice in English football's governing body as such associations as London, the Army and Women's football.

Camp Roberts, California

Camp Roberts is host to annual training to almost every California Army National Guard unit and it is also used by the British Army.

Campbell's Island, Illinois

Campbell's Island was the site of the Battle of Rock Island Rapids, one of the westernmost battles of the War of 1812, when a band of approximately 500 Sauk warriors allied with the British Army clashed on July 19, 1814 with an American force led by Lieutenant John Campbell of the 1st U.S. Regiment of Infantry.

Capel Curig

It is also home to a youth hostel, Army training camp, a camp site, several cafes and hotels and outdoor activity gear shops.

Captain William Mackintosh

Captain William Mackintosh was an Irish-born British Army officer and Canadian surveyor and engineer.

Combat stress reaction

However, in the British Army, since most of the World War I doctors were too old for the job, young, analytically trained psychiatrists were employed.

Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman

The phrase was used as a charge in courts martial of the British Army in the 18th and early 19th centuries, although it was not defined as a specific offence in the Articles of War.

Crossmaglen Rangers GAC

In 1971 the British Army took possession of a portion of the ground despite opposition from the club and the Irish Government, and this led to a controversy regarding the British Army's conduct.

Cyril Bassett

However, his mother, from a family with a history of service in the British Army, convinced him to enlist in the New Zealand Military Forces.

Deir Yassin

Many inhabitants were employed outside the village in the nearby British Army camps as waiters, carpenters, and foremen; others as clerks and teachers in the mandatory civil service.

DOT AU Vodka

The recipe was traded with a Scottish soldier in the British Army, who took it back to Scotland.

Epistle to Dippy

The real "Dippy" was, at the time, serving in the British Army in Malaysia.

Exercise Cambrian Patrol

In 2006 the event which ran from 27 October to 5 November 2006, attracted 95 teams from the British Army (regular and territorial) and Royal Air Force.

Garrison FM

Garrison FM is a network of radio stations in the United Kingdom serving British Army bases around the country.

Geoffrey Douglas Hale Carpenter

Upon the outbreak of World War I, Carpenter was called to service in the British Army Medical Corps.

George Glas Sandeman Carey

Major General George Glas Sandeman Carey (1867-1948), an officer in the British Army who, during World War I, prevented a breakthrough of the German forces to Amiens in the Second Battle of the Somme in 1918 by assembling a scratch force of British and American troops.

German occupation of Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovak units and formations with overwhelming majority of Czechs (cca 82–85%) served with the Polish Army (Czechoslovak Legion), the French Army, the Royal Air Force, the British Army (the 1st Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade), and the Red Army (I Corps).

Giuseppe Wilson

He was born in Darlington to a Neapolitan woman Lina Di Francesca and Dennis Wilson, a Briton who worked as an iron and steel worker at the local factory, but had met Lina while serving with the British Army.

Gremmendorf

After the Second World War, the barracks originally intended for German soldiers were taken over and utilized by British occupational forces (Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, the country was divided into 4 separate sectors: American, French, British, and Soviet, which would eventually be known as East Germany ), who ended up constructing even more barracks.

Guillemard Bridge

In December 1941, at the start of the World War II in Malaya, the British forces retreating south to Kuala Krai, destroyed the last span of the bridge to prevent the Imperial Japanese Army advancing.

Henry Denny Denson

He married in Ireland but shortly afterwards joined the British Army as a lieutenant, leaving his wife behind in Dublin.

Henry Martyn Lazelle

After serving as an inspector for the Division of the Pacific and the Department of the Columbia, Lazelle represented the U. S. Army as an observer during the maneuvers of the British Army in India from November 1885 to March 1886.

James Lingan

Approached by distant cousin Samuel Hood and offered £10,000 and a commission in the British Army if he agreed to switch sides in the conflict, Lingan was reported to have replied "I'll rot first".

Jean Thierry du Mont, comte de Gages

When Marshal Saxe defeated the British Army at Battle of Fontenoy in 1745 and overran the Low Countries, the Spanish Crown granted du Mont the county of Gages, near his birthplace until then occupied by the Austrians since 1713.

Jock McLaren

During World War I, McLaren served in the British Army with the 51st Highland Division.

Johan Host Herkimer

In February 1780, at the command of the governor of Quebec, General Frederick Haldimand, Herkimer served as boat-master in the Commissariat at Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec, providing stores and supplies for the British Army posts.

John Jeremiah Bigsby

In 1816, he joined the British Army as an assistant surgeon and was stationed at the Cape of Good Hope in 1817.

Lads' Army

The majority of the remainder claim some benefit from the experience and some have chosen the British Army as a career at the end of it.

Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk

The Desert Hawk is also used by the 32nd Regiment Royal Artillery of the British Army as a tactical surveillance system, and has seen use in Afghanistan.

Loudon's Highlanders

Loudon's Highlanders, or the 64th Highlanders, or Earl of Loudon's Regiment of Foot, was an infantry regiment of the British Army.

Martin Middlebrook

This is a detailed study of the single worst day for the British Army.

Meggitt Banshee

Banshee entered service with the British Army in the mid-1980s as an aerial target for the Short Blowpipe and Javelin shoulder launched missiles.

Michael McPartland

At the age of 15, McPartland left school and worked for five years as a salesman before joining the British Army in 1960, serving for eleven years after which he worked for British Rail.

Mir Hasan Vazirov

When the Commune was toppled by the Centro Caspian Dictatorship, a British-backed coalition of Dashnaks, SRs and Mensheviks, Vazirov and his comrades were captured by British troops and executed by a firing squad between the stations of Pereval and Akhcha-Kuyma of Transcaucasian Railroad.

Niagara, New York

The Town of Niagara was founded in 1812 (originally as the "Town of Schlosser" after the local fortification Fort Schlosser and after Captain Joseph Schlosser, a German officer in the British Army) from the Town of Cambria.

Oath of office

All recruits to the British Army, Royal Air Force must take an oath of allegiance upon joining these armed forces, a process known as "attestation".

Old Lyme, Connecticut

John McCurdy (b.1724), whose home was the resting place for George Washington on April 10, 1776 while traveling to New York City to take on the British Army and Navy (source: Papers of George Washington, Connecticut State Library); grandfather of Connecticut Supreme Court judge Charles McCurdy

Quetta District

On the advance of the British Army of the Indus in 1839, Captain Bean was appointed the first Political Agent in ShalKot, and the country was managed by him on behalf of Shah Shuja-ul-mulk.

Rae McGrath

In 1968 he joined the British Army, where he served for 18 years as a military engineer.

Rayner Hoff

During World War I he was in the British Army and fought in the trenches in France, an experience from which he was to draw most passionately in the creation of his various war memorials.

Sharpe's Tiger

Rather than do this, he adopts a "prequel" approach and uses an earlier campaign period in the history of the British Army, that of colonial India.

Sindhuli District

They British Army had advanced weaponry such as guns and cannons whereas the Gurkha were with bows and arrows, spears, etc.

Sophia Kingdom

Sophia Kingdom, Lady Brunel (c. 1775 – 1854) was the daughter of William Kingdom, a contracting agent for the navy and the army, born in Plymouth.

Southern Rhodesian general election, 1980

British Army forces then set up 16 assembly points throughout Southern Rhodesia where Patriotic Front guerillas could disarm and return to civilian life; 18,300 did so by the deadline of 6 January.

St. George's Anglican Church, Berlin

The church served as the garrison church of the British Army during the Allied occupation, and reverted to civilian control in 1994.

Tetbury Woolsack Races

Most competitors come from local rugby teams or the British Army; many of the course records are held by Tetbury Rugby Club.

Thomas Storrow Brown

In November, Brown was wounded and partially blinded in one eye during the street fight between the Société des Fils de la Liberté and the Doric Club but nevertheless in December he still fought against the British Army at the Battle of Saint-Charles.

Timeline of the British Army since 2000

The Time line of the British Army since 2000, lists the conflicts and wars the British Army were involved in.

Toronto Hunt Club

The Toronto Hunt Club was established in by British Army officers of the Toronto garrison (Fort York) in 1843.

Trevor Meredith

He was conscripted into the British Army at the age of 17, and was playing semi-professional football for Kidderminster Harriers when he was scouted by Burnley.

Vagrancy Act 1824

Nine years after the end of hostilities with France, the British Army and British Navy had undergone a massive reduction in numbers.


Amba Alagi

The initial attacks on the approaches to Amba Alagi by British troops under Major-General Mayne from the north, commenced on May 4 with a pincer from the eastern and western sides.

Ancroft

Boots were also made for the British army - the Duke of Marlborough's troops marched to victory shod in Ancroft boots.

C. H. Fernando

Major General C.H. Fernando, VSV, psc, SLAC (1930 - ) is a Sri Lankan general, who was the former Director of Operations, General Staff; GOC, 2 Division; Commander, Northern Command.

Castlemartin Training Area

In 1962 there was a shortage of suitable tank training areas in Northern part of Germany for the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), an agreement was made whereby armoured training for German recruits was undertaken in the UK so the Bergen-Hohne Training Area could be freed for use by the British Army.

Continental Army

The command would be based on the 18th-century military works of Henry Bouquet, a professional Swiss soldier who served as a colonel in the British army, and French Marshal Maurice de Saxe.

Denshawai Incident

On 13 June 1906 five officers of the occupying British army, with their interpreter and a police official, visited Denshawai (AR: دنشواي) to go pigeon shooting.

Diplomatic Dan

When, in 1970, Lieutenant Colonel Dan Raschen is posted to Stockholm as Military Attaché for three years he claims it must be because the British Army can't think of anything else to do with him.

Edward Kinder Bradbury

Bradbury was an officer in the British Army during the First World War where as second-in-command of L Battery, Royal Horse Artillery he led the battery during an engagement at Néry during the Retreat from Mons on 1 September 1914, where he was killed in action.

Edwin St Hill

During the Second World War, he joined the British Army and took part in the Dunkirk evacuation before returning to England; he resumed his league career and played many wartime charity games.

Eyre Massey, 1st Baron Clarina

Eyre Massey, 1st Baron Clarina (24 May 1719–17 May 1804), was an Irish British army officer of the 18th century, known primarily for his successful action at La Belle-Famille during the French and Indian War.

Florence of Arabia

The title of the novel is a play on "Lawrence of Arabia", a popular name for the British Army officer T. E. Lawrence, who became famous for his exploits in the Middle East, particularly as a liaison during the Arab Revolt of 1916-1918.

Fort Severn

Americans suspected that the British Army might attack the area during the War of 1812, but no conflict occurred at the fort during the war.

George Stuart Henderson

Henderson was 26 years old, and a captain in the 2nd Battalion, The Manchester Regiment, British Army during the 1920 Iraqi revolt, than called Mesopotamia when the following deed took place on 24 July 1920 near Hillah, Mesopotamia for which he was awarded the VC.

George Walters

The British Army alone was an all-volunteer force, whose soldiers enlisted for an initial period of ten years in the Infantry.

Henry George Farmer

He was born in Birr Barracks, Crinkill, King's County now County Offaly, Ireland, where his father (also named Henry George Farmer, d. 1900) was serving in the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment of the British Army.

Inspector of Regimental Colours

The Inspector of Regimental Colours is an officer of arms responsible for the design of standards, colours and badges of the British Army and of those Commonwealth states where the College of Arms has heraldic jurisdiction.

John Folan

He was a private in the 3rd Battalion, Connaught Rangers, British Army during World War I when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the DCM.

Kiran Shamsher Rana

General Kiran made an official visit to Malaya in 1955 at the invitation of Commander-in-Chief, Far Eastern Command (Land Forces) of the British Army and inspected the Gurkha regiments stationed there.

Lapel

Jackets with mandarin collars, also called stand collars, band collars or choker collars, include Nehru jackets and various military dress uniforms, such as the British Army and US Marine Corps.

Mark Sutcliffe

Mark Sutcliffe MBE (born 29 July 1979 in Peterborough, England) joined the British Army in 1997 aged 17, enlisting into the 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment The Poachers, initially joining C (Northamptonshire) Company.

Moosa Ali Jaleel

MSc ndc psc was the former Chief of Defence Force of the Maldives National Defence Force and most senior military officer in the country at his time.

Ngwane National Liberatory Congress

Golden Highlanders were sent by the British Army in the early sixties due to pressure of the party’s protest actions in demanding political reforms for an Independent state and class struggle for a minimum wage.

Norman Skelhorn

Prime Minister Edward Heath had banned sensory deprivation in light of the report by Sir Edmund Compton into internment and interrogation techniques used by the British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

Order of St. Patrick

Prime Minister Winston Churchill suggested reviving the Order in 1943 to recognise the services of General The Hon.

Palace of St. Michael and St. George

The palace is designed in the Regency style by the British architect George Whitmore, who was a Colonel and later a Major-General in the Royal Engineers.

Patterson Park

The high ground at the northwest corner of Patterson Park, called Hampstead Hill, was the key defensive position for U.S. forces against British ground forces in the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812.

Pinal Airpark

It is also extensively used by the British Army for 'Conversion To Role' training for Apache combat operations in Afghanistan.

Prize of war

This included two Agusta A109 helicopters captured by the British Army from the Argentine Army which were used by the Army Air Corps until 2007.

RAF Dishforth

The airfield opened in 1936 as use by Royal Air Force (RAF) until 1943 when the Royal Canadian Air Force took over but the airfield was returned in 1945 before the site was handed over to the British Army in 1992 and became Dishforth Airfield.

Ralph Leigh

Educated at Raine's School for Boys in Bethnal Green, Queen Mary College, London, and the University of Paris (Sorbonne), he served in the British Army during the Second World War from 1941, was commissioned as a Lieutenant in 1942, promoted Major, 1944, and returned to civilian life in 1946, when he was appointed a lecturer in the Department of French at the University of Edinburgh.

Ramon Tikaram

Born in Singapore, Tikaram is the son of Fijian-Indian British Army soldier Pramod Tikaram and Sarawakian mother Fatimah Rohani.

Regimental Aid Post

In the British Army, Canadian Forces and other Commonwealth militaries, the RAP is a front line military medical establishment incorporated into an infantry battalion or armoured regiment and designed for the immediate treatment and triage of battlefield casualties.

Sir Charles Monro, 1st Baronet

General Sir Charles Carmichael Monro, 1st Baronet of Bearcrofts, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, (15 June 1860 – 7 December 1929) was a British Army General during World War I and Governor of Gibraltar from 1923 to 1929.

Steimatzky

He had originally came to the British Mandate of Palestine on a short visit for the opening of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and decided to stay after he saw the potential in opening a foreign language bookstore that would serve a growing immigrants' market as well as British Army soldiers serving under the British Mandate.

Stylianos Lenas

In a battle with the British Army in the area of Potamitissa on 17 February 1957, Stylianos Lenas was seriously wounded and captured.

The Devil in Amber

Since then he served in the British Army, specifically during action on the border of France and Switzerland which caused him to suffer a mental breakdown.

Thomas Renny-Tailyour

Colonel Thomas Francis Bruce Renny-Tailyour CB CSI (8 June 1863–10 June 1937) was a British Army officer and surveyor.

Veterinary corps

Royal Army Veterinary Corps -an administrative and operational branch of the British Army

Vintage amateur radio

There is considerable interest in vintage military and commercial radio equipment among EU amateur radio operators, especially gear from British manufacturers such as Marconi, Racal, Eddystone, Pye, and a variety of Russian, German, Canadian, British RAF and British Army equipment, such as the well known Wireless Set No. 19.

Whiggism

The opposing Tory position was held by the other great families, the Church of England, and most of the landed gentry and officers of the army and the navy.