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The .22 Long Rifle cartridge is a pistol and rifle cartridge probably developed by the J Stevens Arms and Tool Company in the USA, and first introduced in 1887. In 1930 Remington introduced a high-speed version of the cartridge in a solid and hollow bullet versions. The hollow bullet version was developed for hunting small game and has an effective range of about 1000 metres.
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The .223 Remington (5.56 mm NATO) cartridge was developed along side the Armalite AR15 assault rifle and introduced in 1957.
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The .308 Winchester (7.62 mm NATO) cartridge is an American small-arms cartridge produced after the Second World War and adopted by NATO as their standard calibre.
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The .357 Magnum is an American pistol cartridge developed by Smith and Wesson in 1935. The .357 Magnum has a calibre of .38, but is named 357 to distinguish its more powerful loading and longer case which prevent its use in a .38 calibre pistol or revolver.
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The .380 Auto is an American pistol cartridge developed in 1908 by Colt and adopted by FN as the 9 mm Short in 1910. The .380 Auto is a 9mm x 17 round widely adopted in Central Europe as a police and military cartridge during the period 1920 to 1940. The .380 Auto is low powered, but combines reasonable stopping power with a low velocity which reduces the risks from ricochets.
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The .45 ACP (.45 Auto Colt Pistol) is an American standard service pistol cartridge developed in 1907 and adopted into military use in 1911. The .45 ACP is renowned for its power and accuracy, but also for its powerful recoil and the difficulty of teaching people to shoot with it.
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The 1003 aiming projector is a German, lightweight illuminating source sometimes fitted to the Heckler and Koch MP5 sub-machine-gun. The 1003 aiming projector consists of a 100-watt halogen quartz bulb in a metal lamp and a 12-volt, 4.5 amp battery. In use the 1003 aiming projector allows illumination of a target at ranges of up to 100 metres in total darkness, with a light bright enough to dazzle the target, for a period not exceeding ten seconds during which six aimed shots may be fired before the light is turned off and the firers position changed.
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The 100th Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales Royal Canadians) was a British infantry regiment raised in 1857 by Canadian gentlemen to serve in India.
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The 101st Airborne Division (Screaming Eagles) is a US army division which was activated on August 15th, 1942. The first commander was Major General William C Lee. During the Second World War, the 101st Airborne Division led the way on D-Day in the night drop prior to the invasion.
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The 101st Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment, later renamed the Royal Bengal Fusiliers. The regiment was raised in 1652 as the Guard of Honour by the East India Company in Bengal as a guard force of thirty men, and in 1685 was increased in size to six companies from troops from England. In 1689 the regiment moved to Madras.
In 1785 the regiment was reformed and named the Bengal European Regiment and in 1765 the 1st Bengal European Regiment. In 1803 the regiment became the Bengal European Regiment and in 1822 the force split and they became the 1st Bengal European Regiment and the 2nd Bengal European Regiment, before in 1830 the two regiments amalgamated again to form the Bengal European Regiment and in 1840 they became the 1st Bengal (European) Light Infantry and in 1846 changed their name again to the 1st Bengal (European) Fusiliers. In 1858 the regiment was transferred from the East India Company to the control of the crown and was renamed the 1st Bengal Fusiliers before in 1861 becoming the 1st Royal Bengal Fusiliers and in 1862 the 101st Regiment of Foot.
In 1881 the regiment was merged with the 104th Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Munster Fusiliers.
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The 106th Regiment Colored Infantry was an American infantry regiment, composed of four companies, organised at Decatur, Alabama, from March 31st to August 10th, 1864, as the 4th regiment Alabama infantry, a.d. (African Descent), to serve three years. Its designation was changed to the 106th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops on May 16th, 1864. It was consolidated with the 40th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops on November 7th, 1865.
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The 107th Bengal Light Infantry was a British army unit raised in 1854. It went on to amalgamate with the 35th Foot to form the Royal Sussex Regiment.
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The 108th Regiment of Foot (Madras Infantry) was a British infantry regiment which rendered valuable service in the Indian Mutiny before becoming the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.
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The 109th (Bombay Infantry) Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment raised at Poona in 1853. They were known as the Brass Heads from their apparent immunity to sunstroke in India.
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The 10th Regiment of Foot (North Lincoln) were a British infantry regiment formed in 1685. They won great renown in William III's campaign, in Marlborough's and in the Sikh War. They earned the nickname of The Poachers from the old song 'The Lincolnshire Poacher'. They were later called the Lincolnshire Regiment.
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The 10th Wisconsin Infantry were an American infantry regiment organised at Camp Holton, Milwaukee, and mustered into the service of the United States on October 14th 1861.
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The 110th Regiment Colored Infantry was an American infantry regiment organised at Pulaski, Tennessee, from November 20th, 1863, to January 14th, 1864, as the 2nd regiment Alabama volunteers, a.d. (African Descent), to serve three years. Its designation was changed to 110th regiment US colored troops on the 23rd of June 1864.
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The 111th Regiment Colored Infantry was an American infantry regiment organised at Pulaski, Prospect, and Lynnville, Tennessee, and Sulphur Branch Trestle, Alabama, from January 13th to April 5th, 1863, as the 3d regiment Alabama volunteers, a.d. (African Descent), to serve three years. Its designation was changed to 111th regiment US Colored troops on June 25th, 1864.
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The 115th Field Artillery Brigade is a US army unit which was first organised in 1888 in the Wyoming National Guard as the 1st Regiment, to consist of Company A (Laramie Grays), organised on the 29th of May 1888 at Laramie, and company B (Cheyenne Guards), organised on the 12th of October 1888 at Cheyenne. In 1890 it was redesignated as the 1st Regiment Infantry. And after many more changes it was redesignated as the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 115th Field Brigade on the 1st of September 1978.
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The 11th Wisconsin Infantry regiment was an American infantry regiment organised at Camp Randall, Madison, and mustered into the service of the United States on October 16th 1861.
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The 1219C2 USMC ('Kabar') is an American fighting/utility knife first issued to American troops during the Second World War in 1942. The blade is a 7 inch Bowie with fuller made of carbon steel with a protective black phosphate finish and a bevel-ground edge with a sharpened clip edge. In practice the Marine Combat has proven a compromise; a little light for chopping and liable to break when used for prying or throwing, but has proven very popular with US servicemen and the public.
The 12th Dragoons were a British cavalry regiment raised in 1715 in Berkshire. They were later renamed the 12th Lancers. They fought at Waterloo and during the Great War were part of the 5th Cavalry Brigade.
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The 12th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an American infantry regiment organised at Camp Randall, Madison in October and November 1861.
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The 13th Foot was a British infantry regiment raised in 1685 to fight the Scottish Jacobites. They fought at Killiecrankie and at the Battle of the Boyne.
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The 13th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an American infantry regiment organised at Janesville, and mustered into the service of the United States on the 17th of October 1861.
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The 149th Illinois Infantry Regiment was organised at Camp Butler, Ill., and mustered in for one year in February 1865. It Moved to Nashville, Tennessee, February 14-17, 1865 and thence to Chattanooga. It was mustered out on January the 27th 1866.
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The 14th Infantry Regiment was an American infantry regiment organised at Fond du Lac and mustered into the service of the United States on January 30, 1862.
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The 15th The Kings Hussars was a British cavalry regiment raised in 1759 as the 15th Regiment of Dragoons by Lieutenant Colonel Elliott from a large number of striking tailors into a regiment modelled upon the Prussian hussars. In 1766, following distinction, they were renamed by George III the Kings Own Royal Light Dragoon Guards, before in 1861 being renamed the 15th The Kings Hussars. In 1922 they merged with the 19th Royal Hussars to form the 15th/19th Hussars. In 1939 they were transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps, and in 1992 amalgamated with the 13th/18th Royal Hussars to form The Light Dragoons.
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The 15th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an American infantry regiment organised at Camp Randall, Madison, and mustered into the service of the United States on the 14th of February, 1862.
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The 17th Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment raised in 1688 around London. They received the nickname of the 'Bengal Tigers' from their tiger badge awarded for service in India and Afghanistan between 1802 and 1823. They were later renamed the Leicestershire Regiment.
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The 17th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an American infantry regiment organised at Camp Randall, Madison, Wisconsin, and mustered into the service of the United States on the 15th of March, 1862.
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The 18th Light Dragoons were a British cavalry regiment raised in seventeen days in 1759. In 1816 they were converted to the 17th Lancers and became variously known as the 'Death or Glory Boys' from their skull and cross-bones badge and Bingham's Dandies after their colonel Lord Bingham and their smart and well fitted uniforms.
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The 18th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an American infantry regiment organised at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and mustered into the service of the United States on March the 15th, 1862.
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The 19th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an American infantry regiment. Organisation started at Racine, Wisconsin, in December 1861, and continued until the 20th of April, 1862, when the regiment was transferred to Camp Randall to guard rebel prisoners. The organisation was perfected and the 19th was mustered into the service of the United States April 30, 1862.
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The 1C1 is a Dutch fragmentation hand grenade. The 1C1 consists of a barrel-shaped cast iron case packed with 55 grams of powdered TNT.
The 1st Alabama Cavalry regiment was formed in 1862 in Huntsville and Memphis and mustered into Federal service that December in Corinth, Mississippi. Company officers were chosen from among the men and Captain George E. Spencer was later named Colonel and given overall command. The '1st' was one of six Union regiments from Alabama, the only cavalry unit, and its ranks contained both whites and blacks. The other five were infantry and artillery units raised during the war, were composed of ex-slaves and were officially called 'African Descent' regiments.
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The 1st Regiment Colored Infantry was an American infantry regiment organised at Corinth, Mississippi, May 21, 1863, as the 1st regiment Alabama volunteers, a.d. (African Descent), to serve three years. Its designation was changed to the 55th regiment U.S. colored troops on March 11th, 1864.
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The 1st South Hampshire Regiment was formed in 1782 of the old 67th Foot. The regiment won acclaim in India and was commemorated with the Royal Tiger on the regimental badge. They later became the 2nd Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment.
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1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards (The Welsh Cavalry) is a British cavalry regiment, the senior Cavalry regiment of the Line. The regiment was formed by the amalgamation of The 1st (King's) Dragoon Guards and The Queen's Bays in 1959.
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The 1st Wisconsin Infantry was an American infantry regiment organised at Camp Scott, Milwaukee, on April 27th 1861, in response to a call by President Lincoln for seventy-five thousand men to fight in the American Civil War.
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The 20th (East Devon) Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment raised at Exeter in 1688 by William III. They took part in the capture of Spanish galleons at Vigo Bay in 1702 and won fame at the Battle of Minden in 1759, where after they were known as the Minden Boys. With the Childers reorganisation of the Army in 1881 they became known as the Lancashire Fusiliers.
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The 20th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an American infantry regiment organised at Camp Randall, Madison, Wisconsin and mustered into the service of the United States on August the 23rd 1862.
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The 21st Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an American infantry regiment organised at Camp Bragg, Oshkosh, and mustered into the service of the United States on September the 5th 1862. It was disbanded on June the 17th 1865.
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The 22nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an American infantry regiment organised at Camp Utley, Racine, Wisconsin, and mustered into the service of the United States on September 2, 1862.
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The 23rd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an American infantry regiment organised at Camp Randall, Madison, and mustered into the service of the United States on the 30th of August, 1862. It was disbanded on July 24th 1865.
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The 24th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an American infantry regiment organised at Camp Sigel, Milwaukee, the last company being mustered into the service of the United States on August the 21st, 1862.
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The 25th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an American infantry regiment organised at Camp Salomon, La Crosse, Wisconsin, and mustered into the service of the United States on the 14th of September 1862. It was disbanded on June the 11th 1865.
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The 26th Middlesex were a British volunteer cycle corps.
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The 26th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an American infantry regiment organised at Camp Sigel, Milwaukee, and mustered into the service of the United States on the 17th of September, 1862.
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The 27th Regiment Massachusetts Voluntary Infantry was an American infantry regiment raised in the western counties of Massachusetts by Horace C. Lee of Springfield, who became its colonel. The companies reported at Camp Reed, Springfield, between the 19th and 24th of September 1861, and three quarters of the regiment had been mustered in by September the 27th. On November the 2nd the regiment entrained for Annapolis, where it arrived on the 5th of January 1862, as a part of Foster's Brigade, Burnside's Coast Division, it embarked with the Burnside expedition to North Carolina. It was engaged with loss at Roanoke Island, on February the 8th, and with greater loss at Newbern on March the 14th.
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The 27th Regiment of Foot was formed in 1689 when new regiments were needed to fight in Ireland. It was the only Irish regiment at the Battle of Waterloo, where it held a position for hours without being allowed to fire and suffered heavy casualties. Later it formed the 1st Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.
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The 27th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an American infantry regiment organised at Camp Sigel, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and mustered into the service of the United States on the 7th of March 1863.
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The 28th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an American infantry regiment. It was organised at Camp Washburn, Milwaukee, and finally mustered into service on September 13th, 1862. It was disbanded on the 23rd of September 1865.
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The 29th Regiment of Foot was an English infantry regiment raised in 1694 as Thomas Farrington's Regiment of Foot, disbanded in 1698 it was reformed in 1702 and in 1751 became known as the 29th Regiment of Foot. In 1782 the regiment changed its name to the 29th (the Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot and in 1881 was united with the 36th Regiment of Foot to form the Worcestershire Regiment.
In 1746 the regiment suffered when part of the regiment was surprised by the French on St John's Island and massacred. As a result of the massacre it was decreed that every officer of the regiment should wear his sword at all times, even at meals. In 1842 the rule was relaxed, requiring that only the captain and subaltern of the day be required to wear their sword at meal times. The rule led to the regiment earning the nickname of the ever-sworded.
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In 1940 in Western Australia, Lt-Colonel Anketell was directed to form a Machine Gun Battalion. The men he assembled came to be known as the
2nd 4th Machine Gun Battalion. They fought bravely in the defence of Singapore. On the 15th of February 1942, Singapore fell to the Japanese and the Battalion shared the horrors of three and a half years as prisoners of war of the Japanese.
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The 2nd Light Horse was a British cavalry regiment raised in 1759. They first saw action at the siege of Belle Isle in 1761 and later fought in the American war of Independence. They were later renamed the 16th Lancers and earned the nickname 'Scarlet Lancers' because they were the only lancers to wear a scarlet tunic. They are the only British cavalry regiment to break an infantry square, which they did at Aliwal in the Punjab in January 1846.
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The 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment was an American cavalry regiment organised at Camp Washburn, Milwaukee, and mustered in to the service of the United States by companies at various dates, the last on March the 12th 1862.
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The 2nd Infantry was an American infantry regiment first organised under the call for volunteers for three months service. The full number of troops under this call having been accepted, the 2nd was mustered, on June the 11th 1861, into the service of the United States for 'Three years or during the war' under the call of the President, dated May 3, 1861, for '500,000 men'.
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The 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment raised in 1694 and disbanded after the Treaty of Ryswick. They were reformed in 1697 as marines and took part in the capture of Gibraltar in 1704. In 1782 they became the Cambridgeshire Regiment and later formed the 1st Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment.
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The 31st Regiment of Foot (the 'Young Buffs') was a British marine regiment raised in 1702. In 1782 it was renamed the Huntingdonshire Regiment and in 1825 formed part of the East Surrey Regiment.
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The 34th Regiment of Foot was a British army regiment raised in 1702, first seeing service under the earl of Peterborough in Spain. In 1881 it became the 1st Battalion of the Border Regiment.
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The 35th Foot was a British army unit raised in 1701 at Belfast, and hence was nicknamed The Belfast Regiment. The regiment captured the standard of the Roussillon Grenadiers on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec in 1759. The regiment developed the names 'Orange Lillies' and 'Prince of Orange's Own' on account of wearing orange facings and of capturing the white plume of the Roussillon Grenadiers at Quebec. The wearing of the white plume by the regiment was discontinued in 1800. The regiment later formed the 1st Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment.
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The 35th Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an American infantry regiment, originally known as G.A. Smith's Independent Regiment. It was organised in Decatur, Illinois on July the 3rd 1861. Its organiser and first colonel was Gustavus A. Smith. On the 23rd of July, 1861, it was accepted by the secretary of war as Colonel G. A. Smith's Independent Regiment, of Illinois Volunteers. They were mustered out of service on September the 27th 1864.
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The 35th Infantry Regiment is a US army unit which was organised on the 13th July 1916 in Arizona of men from the 11th, 18th and 22nd Infantry. These units dated back to The War Between the States.
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The 36th Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an American infantry regiment organised at Camp Hammond, near Aurora, Illinois, by Colonel N. Greusel, and was mustered into the service by Colonel Brackett, U.S. Mustering Officer, September 23, 1861, for a term of three years, or during the war. They were mustered out September the 23rd, 1865.
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The 37th Foot was a British infantry regiment raised in 1701 in Ireland and later known as Meredith's Regiment. It later became the 1st Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment.
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The 38th Foot was a British army infantry unit raised in 1702. It received the title 1st Staffordshire in 1782 and went on to form part of the South Staffordshire Regiment.
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The 39th Foot was a British army regiment raised in 1702, and the first regiment to serve in India, sailing in 1754. It was merged with the 54th Foot into the Dorset Regiment.
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The 3rd Pattern Commando Knife (Fairbairn-Sykes) was a double edged fighting knife designed by Fairbairn and Sykes as a grip-heavy fighting knife that could be held in the fencing position. It was specified by the British MOD in 1943, and issued to Service Men. It had a tapered diagonal-section 7 inch, double edged carbon-steel dagger blade with a two inch oval guard, a ribbed zinc-alloy handle and a brass nut. The blade was finished in black.
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The 3rd Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment formed in 1572. They were named the Buffs on account of the colour of their clothes, and in recognition of its descent from the London train-bands had the right to march through the city of London with colours flying and drums beating.
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The 40th Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment raised in 1717 in Nova Scotia. They served mainly in Canada. The regiment later formed the 1st Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment.
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The 41st Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment formed in 1719 when the Government decided to raise a 'Regiment of Invalids' from the 'outpatients' of the Royal Hospital. The Regiment undertook guard duties and manned forts along the coast. In 1787 the title 'Invalids' was dropped and it became a marching Regiment of the Line. During the Crimean War, the regiment won two VCs, Captain Rowlands being the first Welshman to win the medal. In 1783 the regiment linked with the 69th Regiment of Foot for recruiting purposes, and became the Welch Regiment.
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The 42nd Foot was the first battalion of the Royal Highlanders.
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The 46th Middlesex Regiment was a British infantry regiment raised in 1859. They later became the London and Westminster Volunteer Rifle Corps and formed the 2nd Battalion of the London Regiment in 1909.
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The 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment raised in 1740. They fought at Falkirk in the '45 rebellion and were prominent in the Seven Years' War under Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham.
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The 4th Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment raised in 1680 for service in Tangier. They were the first considerable body of troops to join William of Orange after his landing at Torbay. In 1715 they became the Royal
4th Regiment of Foot, the Royal title being conferred by George I and in 1881 they were renamed the Royal Lancashire Regiment.
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The 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards were raised in the northern counties of England in 1697 and known from the name of their commander as 'Arran's Cuirassiers'. In 1788 they received the name of
4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards and were the only Irish regiment of dragoon guards in the Heavy Brigade at Balaclava. During the Great War the regiment formed part of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade in the original British Expeditionary Force.
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The 50th Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment raised in 1756. They later became the 1st Battalion of the Kent Regiment in 1782. They earned the nickname 'Dirty Half Hundred' from powder-begrimed faces at Vimiera where they routed 5000 French.
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The 54th Regiment of Foot was a British army regiment raised in 1755. It was later merged with the 39th Foot to form the Dorset Regiment.
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The 55th Regiment of Foot was a British army regiment raised at Stirling in 1755 and sent to America. In 1881 it became the 2nd Battalion of the Border Regiment.
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The 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment. They served in the American war of Independence and later became the 2nd Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment.
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The 5th Lancers (Royal Irish Lancers) were a British cavalry regiment descended from a corps of dragoons raised by William III for the Irish and Flemish wars. They won renown in Marlborough's battles and during the Great War were part of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade in the original British Expeditionary Force.
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The 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment raised in 1756 as part of the King's Regiment and which fought in the American War of Independence. It later became the 1st Battalion of the Manchester Regiment.
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The 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot was a British army unit raised in 1756 to be the 2nd Battalion of the 11th Foot. It received the title 'Prince of Wales's' on occasion of the Prince's visit to Malta in 1876.
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The 64th Troop Carrier Group is an American air force unit. It was activated as a Transport Group in December of 1940 and was moved from the west coast to Westover Field, Massachusetts during the first part of June 1942. The Group, at that time, consisted of the 16th, 17th, and 18th squadrons with the 35th joining the 64th on the 7th of June. The air crew cadres from these four squadrons were augmented with an estimated group of about 50 pilots from class 42-E which had just graduated in May, 1942. The Group was soon redesignated as the 64th Troop Carrier Group which meant that its primary function would be to transport paratroopers and tow gliders in airborne operations. The primary aeroplane assigned to the Group was the C-47 which was the military version of the DC-3 used in commercial aviation. Extensive training was conducted in the next several weeks at Westover and nearby Westfield. The first paratrooper drop, for some aeroplanes in the Group, was conducted later in June staging out of Pope Field, North Carolina, and dropping at Fort Jackson, North Carolina.
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The 69th Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment. In the latter half of the 18th century, the regiment won fame as Marines and served with the 'Iron Duke's' Allied Army in the Waterloo Campaign. In 1783 the regiment linked with the 41st Regiment of Foot for recruiting purposes, and became the Welch Regiment.
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The 6th Enniskillen Dragoons were raised by Gustavus Hamilton, governor of Enniskillen, for the siege of Londonderry.
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The 7.65 mm Longue is a French pistol cartridge which was designed for the SACM M1935A and was used in the French military until it was replaced in the 1950's by the 9 mm Parabellum cartridge.
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The 70th Foot was a British army regiment raised in 1758. In 1825 it formed the 2nd Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment.
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The 71st Foot were a British regiment raised in 1777 to assist in the war against the colonists of America. The regiment was comprised of two battalions, the 2nd Battalion of the regiment were originally marines under Sir George Rodney.
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The 73rd Foot was the second battalion of the Royal Highlanders and was raised in 1780.
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The 74th Foot was a British infantry regiment raised in 1787. The regiment first distinguished themselves at the Battle of Assaye in 1803, and from whence earned the name of the Assaye Regiment. They were later merged with the 71st Foot as the Highland Light Infantry - the 74th Foot forming the 2nd Battalion, the 71st Foot the 1st Battalion.
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The 75th Highland Regiment was a British infantry regiment raised in 1788. They formed the 1st Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders on its inception in 1881.
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The 78th Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs) were formed in 1756 as the 2nd Highland Battalion and reformed in 1793 as the 78th Highlanders and joined with Fraser's Highlanders in 1881 to form the Seaforth Highlanders.
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The 79th Regiment of Foot (known as the Cameron Highlanders) were a British infantry regiment raised in 1793 by Allan Cameron of Errock. They later became the 'Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders'.
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The 7th Illinois Veteran Volunteer Infantry were the first Illinois infantry regiment mustered for the civil war and numbered seven because Illinois sent six regiments to the Mexican war. A number of regiments which responded to the first call of President Lincoln for troops claimed to be the first regiment in the field, but the honour of being the first was finally accorded Colonel John Cook. This unit was mustered in at Camp Yates, April, 1861 for a 3-month enlistment by Captain John Pope. The regiment was mustered out in July 1865 in Louisville, Kentucky, arriving home in Springfield later that month for discharge.
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The 7th Regiment Colored Infantry was an American infantry regiment organised at La Grange, Lafayette, and Memphis, Tennessee, and Corinth, Mississippi, from June 20, 1863, to April 2, 1864, to serve three years, and designated the 1st regiment Alabama siege artillery, a.d. (African Descent). Its designation was changed to 6th regiment U.S. colored heavy artillery March 11, 1864, to 7th regiment U.S. colored heavy artillery April 26, 1864, and to its present designation on January 23rd, 1865.
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The 8-229th Aviation Regiment (Flying Tigers) is a US army unit formed in 1941 under the command of Colonel Claire L Chennault, and formally known as the American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force during the Second World War. In 1942 when the USA declared war on Japan, they were absorbed into the 10th Air Force and became the nucleus of the China Air Task Force.
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The 80th Foot was a British army infantry unit raised in 1793 which went on to form part of the South Staffordshire Regiment.
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The 81st (Loyal Lincolnshire Volunteers) Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment which served in the Indian Mutiny and later merged with the 47th Regiment of Foot to form the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment.
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The 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales' Volunteers) was a British infantry regiment raised in 1793. They later formed the 2nd Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment.
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The 83rd (Co. Dublin) Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment raised in 1793 and known as 'Fitch's Grenadiers'. The regiment had an honourable record in the Peninsular. The regiment merged with the 86th Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Irish Rifles.
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The 86th (Royal Co. Down) Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment raised in 1793 and then known as 'Cuyler's Shropshire Volunteers'. It received the title 86th Regiment of Foot in 1812. The regiment merged with the 83rd Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Irish Rifles.
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The 87th Regiment of Foot were a British Infantry regiment formed in 1793 and known as the Prince of Wales' Irish. The 87th Foot received the nick-name 'Old Fogs' from their war-cry Fag-en-Bealach (clear the way). The regiment later became the Royal Irish Fusiliers.
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The 89th Regiment of Foot were a British Infantry regiment formed in 1793 and variously known as Princess Victoria's and Blayney's Bloodhounds a name they got for their unerring certainty and untiring perseverance in hunting down Irish rebels in 1798, when they were commanded by Lord Blaney. The regiment later formed the Second Battalion of the Princess Victoria's Irish Fusiliers.
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The 8th Regiment of Foot were a British infantry regiment raised in 1685 to quell the Monmouth rebellion. In 1715 it was renamed the King's and in 1881 the Liverpool Regiment.
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The 9 mm Makarov is a Soviet pistol round first produced in the 1960's. The 9 mm Makarov has a higher power than the .390 Auto (9 mm Short) cartridge, but is not so high power as to require a locked breech.
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The 9 mm Parabellum is a standard military pistol cartridge developed in 1902 by George Luger and DWM with the aim of improving the stopping power of the Parabellum pistol. The 9 mm Parabellum cartridge is an enlarged 7.65 mm Parabellum cartridge, originally flat-nosed in 1915 the German army switched to an ogival bullet.
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9 mm Short is the European name for the .380 Auto cartridge.
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The 90th Light Infantry (Perthshire Volunteers) was a British army unit formed in 1794. It joined with the Cameronians in 1881 to form the Scottish Rifles.
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The 91st Argyllshire Highlanders was a British infantry regiment raised in 1794 seeing service in the South Africa Peninsula, Waterloo and India.
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The 92nd Highland Regiment was a British infantry regiment raised in 1794 by the Duchess of Gordon with a shilling between her lips. they formed the 2nd battalion of the Gordon Highlanders on its inception in 1881.
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The 93rd Sutherland Highlanders was a British infantry regiment raised in 1799 and seeing service in New Orleans, the Crimea including Balaclava, where they earned the nickname of 'the Thin Red Line', and the Indian Mutiny where they won seven Victoria Crosses.
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The 96th Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment raised in 1824 which went on to form the 2nd battalion of the Manchester Regiment, as which it fought at the Battle of Cambrai-Le Cateau in 1914 during the Great War, holding its position despite an order to retire.
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The 97th Regiment of Foot was a British infantry regiment raised in 1824. They later became the 2nd Battalion of the Kent Regiment.
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The 98th Foot was a British infantry army unit raised in 1824 as the 2nd Battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment.
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The 9th Lancers (Queen's Royal Lancers) were a British cavalry regiment raised in 1697 and disbanded after the Treaty of Utrecht. They were reformed in 1715 as Wynnes Dragoons and became lancers in 1820. At the siege of Delhi during the Indian Mutiny they received the nickname of the 'Delhi Spearmen'.
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The A244/S is an Italian anti-submarine torpedo that uses active, passive and mixed mode homing to a target range of 7 kilometres. The torpedo is armed with a 34 kilogram shaped charge.
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An Aasen bomb was an Italian aircraft bomb consisting of a converted grenade and used prior to the Great War.
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An abatis (or abattis) is a barricade or obstacle comprised of felled trees arranged with the branches pointing outwards towards the enemy. The term is also in modern times applied to a barbed-wire entanglement placed before a defensive position.
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In military terminology, an ablative propellant is a propellant containing chemicals which reduce wear and erosion.
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The Abwehr were the German Intelligence Service during the Second World War.
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An accelerograph is an apparatus for studying the combustion of powder in guns, etc.
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The accoltellatori were secret assassins based at Ravenna and other places in Italy around 1874.
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ACLANT (Allied Command Atlantic) was one of two major NATO commands. It was based at Norfolk, Virginia and was responsible for security from the North Pole southwards covering the northern tropics, and was primarily concerned with anti-submarine work using land-based aircraft with a smaller proportion of American Navy carrier-borne aircraft and surface vessels from a variety of member countries.
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In weapon terms, action refers to the working mechanism of a firearm. Various types exist, including single-shots, multi-barrels, revolvers, slide- or pump-action, lever-action, bolt-action, semi-automatic and automatic.
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An acton was a quilted or padded tunic worn under a coat of mail as a defence against bruising in combat. They were popular in the 15th century.
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Adamsite is a vomiting gas used in chemical warfare. It is a yellow to green odourless solid which causes irritation of the eyes and mucous membranes, followed by a viscous discharge from the nose, sneezing, coughing, severe headache, acute pains and tightness of the chest followed by nausea and vomiting.
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An adjutant is a regimental staff officer, who assists the colonel, or commanding officer of a garrison or regiment, in the details of regimental and garrison duty.
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The adjutant general is the principal staff officer of an army, through whom the commanding general receives communications and issues military orders. In the U. S. army he is brigadier general.
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The Adolf Hitler Line also called the Dora or Senger Line was a second Axis line of defence in Italy during the Second World War behind the main Gustav Line about 80 km south of Rome, stretching from Cassino to the West Italian coast. It formed the principal obstacle preventing the Allied 5th Army linking up with the US VI Corps in the Anzio beachhead until it was breached by Canadian forces on the 23rd of May 1944.
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An adulterine castle is a British unlicensed private castle built by a baron primarily during the Anarchy of 1135 to 1154 during the reign of King Stephen.
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In warfare, aerial reconnaissance is used to discover the position of enemy troops, fortifications, and armaments.
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The aero-dart was a weapon used by airmen during the Great War, showers of darts being released over masses of enemy troops in the open. Aero-darts were a metal rod roughly five inches long and half an inch in diameter, sharpened to a point at one end, with the other end formed into four fins.
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In military terminology, an affair is an action or engagement not of sufficient magnitude to be called a battle.
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The Afrika Korps was a German army in the western desert of North Africa, 1941 to 19443 during the Second World War, commanded by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. The Korps was formed as the German component of a joint Axis force to fend off the Allied counter-offensive against Italian advances in North Africa during 1940. Initially they were successful in revitalising the Axis effort in the area, in their first battle with the British on the 24th of March 1941, a reconnaissance force succeeded in taking the British forward outpost at El Agheila. The Afrika Korps recaptured Tobruk and advanced over the Egyptian border in June 1942 until they were halted at El Alamein in November 1942. The Allies gradually drove them back and they surrendered in May 1943.
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Agent Orange was a selective weed killer, notorious for its use in the 1960s during the Vietnam War by American forces to eliminate ground cover which could protect enemy forces. It was subsequently discovered to contain highly poisonous dioxin. Agent Orange, named for the distinctive orange stripe on its packaging, combines equal parts of 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) and 2,4,5-T (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid), both now banned in the USA. It is thought that the chemicals created many new plant mutations.
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Agent Stakeknife was the British army's top agent within the IRA during the 1980s, infamous for his supposed involvement in the death of fellow agents so as to protect his own identity. He was identified, by unnamed sources, as 'Freddie Scappaticci', in May 2003, as part of the Stevens enquiry into how the security services recruited and ran paramilitary agents in Northern Ireland. However, Freddie Scappaticci refuted the allegations, claiming that he had never been an informer or received money from the security services.
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An aid-de-camp is an officer selected by a general to carry orders, and also to assist or represent him in correspondence and in directing movements.
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An aide-de-camp is a military officer who conveys the orders of a general to the various divisions of the army on the field of battle, and at other times acts as his secretary and general confidential agent.
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The Air Force Cross is a British distinction instituted in 1918 and awarded to officers and warrant officers of the RAF for courage and devotion to duty, not necessarily in operations against the enemy. The ribbon is red and white.
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An air gun is an instrument for the projection of bullets by means of condensed air, generally either in the form of an ordinary gun, rifle, or pistol or of a pretty stout walking-stick, and about the same length. A quantity of air being compressed into the air-chamber by means of a condensing syringe, or compressed gas cylinder, the bullet is put in its place in front of this chamber, and propelled by the expansive force of a certain quantity of the compressed air, which is liberated on pressing the trigger.
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An air raid is an aerial attack, usually on a civilian target such as a factory, railway line, or communications centre. Air raids began during the Great War with the advent of military aviation, but it was the development of long-range bomber aircraft during the Second World War that made regular attacks on a large scale possible. During the Gulf War of 1991 the UN coalition forces made thousands of air raids on Baghdad, Iraq, supposedly to destroy the Iraqi infrastructure and communications network, but more probably to demoralise the Iraqi people (and thereby lead to a revolution overthrowing the regime), killing some 250,000 civilians in the process. The first air raids in the Great War were carried out by airships, since only they had the necessary range, but later in the war airplanes were also used as their performance improved. Bombing was generally indiscriminate due to the difficulty of accurately aiming the primitive bombs in use at the time. Despite the relatively limited nature of these early raids, there were 4,830
British and 2,589 German casualties in air raids during 1914 to 1918. Many thousands died in attacks by both sides in the Second World War, notably during the Blitz on London and other British cities during 1940 and 1941 and the firebombing of Dresden February in 1945, and air raids by both bombers and rockets have been a standard military tactic ever since. The first rockets to be used in air raids were the German V1 and V2 'flying bombs' which killed thousands in attacks on London and other western European cities during 1944.
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The AK47 Bayonet is a Soviet bayonet for the AK47 and AK74 assault rifles, designed to be a multi-purpose combat knife. The AK47 Bayonet has a 6 inch long clip-point, Bowie-type blade of stainless steel with a hole to allow fitting of the steel sheath to form wire cutters.
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The Alauda were a Roman legion raised by Julius Caesar in Gaul, and so called because they carried a lark's tuft on the top of their helmets.
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An ale-dagger was a dagger formerly carried and used for self defence in ale-house brawls.
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In the Second World War, the Aliakmon Line was a Greek defensive line running some 96 km from the Aegean coast near Mount Olympus to the Yugoslavian border north of Arnissa. It was in the process of being occupied by British troops in April 1941 when it was outflanked by the Germans who passed through the gap between it and the Greek Army concentrated in Albania.
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Allecret was a light plate armour of the 16th century.
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The Allies were various countries that fought the Axis forces in the Second World War.
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The Alpini were an elite Italian mountain military force founded in 1872 and expanded during the Great War into eight special regiments and 38 companies of militia. They used mule transport and were all adept mountaineers and skiers. Among their exploits was the capture in April 1916 of the Adamello Glacier during a snowstorm from an Austrian force at an altitude of over 3,000 metres.
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The Alsetex No 1 is a French metal case offensive hand grenade. The Alsetex No 1 contains 90 grams of Tolite explosive.
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The Alsetex No 2 is a French metal case defensive fragmentation hand grenade. The Alsetex No 2 contains 56 grams of Tolite explosive.
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The Alsetex No 3 is a French plastic case offensive hand grenade. The Alsetex No 3 contains 150 grams of Tolite explosive.
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The Alsetex No 4 is a French plastic case offensive hand grenade. The Alsetex No 4 contains 225 grams of Tolite explosive.
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The Alsetex Type A is a French tear gas grenade designed to be thrown by hand or fired from a rifle. The Alsetex Type A is an explosive, splinterless grenade containing 40 grams of explosive and fitted with a 2.5 second or 6 second in the rifle launched version, delay fuse.
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The Alsetex Type B is a French tear gas grenade designed to be thrown by hand or fired from a rifle. The Alsetex Type B is persistent emission grenade containing 140 grams of explosive and fitted with a 2.5 second or 6 second in the rifle launched version, delay fuse. The Alsetex Type B releases a liquid which produces an invisible cloud of tear inducing (lachrymatory) gas.
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Amatol (an abbreviation formed from the words 'ammonium' and 'toluene') is a high explosive compound composed of a mixture of ammonium nitrate and trinitrotoluene (TNT).
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Ambuscade (ambush) describes the disposition of troops concealing themselves and lying in wait for the enemy so as to surprise them. A classic example of an ambuscade occurred at Sanna's Post during the Boer War in March 1900.
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The American Expeditionary Force (AEF) were forces sent to fight in Europe from the USA after the USA entered the Great War in April 1917. Although initially only a token force of one division went to France under General Pershing, by November 1918 the AEF comprised three armies each of three corps, a total of 1,338,000 combat troops. The greater part of the force was infantry, with only small detachments of cavalry being sent to Europe, principally for liaison and remount duties, though a provisional squadron did see some mounted action. A considerable force of artillery was also deployed, but was armed entirely with British or French guns since American production had not made any serious contribution by the time the war ended. A strong tank force was planned but only three battalions, using British and French tanks, saw action. In all, some two million American troops eventually served in France.
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An Amir was the commander of a unit of Mamluks.
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Ammunition generally refers to the assembled components of complete cartridges or rounds i.e., a case or shell holding a primer, a charge of propellant (gunpowder) and a projectile (bullets in the case of handguns and rifles, multiple pellets or single slugs in shotguns). Sometimes called 'fixed
ammunition' to differentiate from components inserted separately in muzzleloaders.
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AMT (Arcadia Machine and Tool Incorporated) are an American firearms manufacturer based in California. The company was formed in 1069 by Harry W Sanford and originally called the AutoMag Corporation (AMC). The original firm went bankrupt after a few years and was bought by the Thomas Oil Company, before being bought back by Sanford in 1985 and renamed AMT.
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The AN-M14 is an American incendiary grenade. The AN-M14 comprises a sheet metal cylinder containing an incendiary mixture. The AN-M14 is fitted with a 0.7 to 2 second delay fuse.
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The AN-M8 is an American smoke grenade. The AN-M8 comprises a sheet metal cylinder containing an HC smoke mixture which produces white smoke for between 105 and 150 seconds. The AN-M8 is fitted with a 0.7 to 2 second delay fuse.
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Anlace was an old name for a broad dagger or a short, double-edged sword.
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In firearms, an annulus is a recessed ring around the primer cap in the base of a cartridge case. The annulus is sometimes coloured to assist in identifying different types of ammunition.
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Anschutz is a German firearm manufacturing company founded in 1850 by Julius Gottfried Anschutz at Zella-Mehus, Thuringia.
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An antestature is a small entrenchment or work of palisades, or of sacks of earth.
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Antiarin is a poison exuded by the Upas tree and used by Javan natives for tipping arrows.
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The Antonine Wall was a Roman line of fortification built around 142-200 AD as the Roman Empire's North West frontier between the Clyde and Forth in Scotland.
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In terms of ammunition, AP is an abbreviation for armour piercing.
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APFSDS is a military abbreviation for armour piercing, fin stabilised, discarding SABOT.
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The Applegate Fairbairn is an American manufactured fighting knife developed by Colonel Rex Applegate of the US OSS and Captain WE Fairbairn of the British Royal Marines as a progression of the Fairbairn-Sykes Commando knife. The Applegate Fairbairn has an 11 inch long parallel-sided stainless steel blade with a spear point and double-edge bevel ground edges. The handle features adjustable lead weights for adjusting the balance of the knife.
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In military tactics, approaches are zig-zag trenches connecting the parallels and dug by an attacking body, by which they may advance under cover against a fortified position.
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Aquila is an American remotely pilotless vehicle (RPV).
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Ardov was the codename of Mikhail Korneyevich Polonik, the KGB resident officer in Washington, USA during the 1970s. Following the publication in 1974 of John Barron's book about the KGB, he was instructed to compromise Barron, which he attempted to do by claiming that Barron was part of a Zionist conspiracy, and leaking these claims to the world media.
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The Argonauts of St Nicholas were an order of military knights founded by Charles III of Naples in 1382.
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Armada is a Spanish term for a fleet of men-of-war.
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Armed Neutrality is the condition of affairs when a nation assumes a threatening position, and maintains an armed force to repel any aggression on the part of belligerent nations between which it is neutral. The term is applied in history to a coalition entered into by the northern powers in 1780 and again in 1800.
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An armet was a form of round iron helmet with a visor, beaver and gorget worn between the 13th and 15th centuries.
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An armet-petit was a form of round iron helmet with a visor and gorget and a face guard of three bars in place of the beaver of an armet-grand.
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Armour is body protection worn in battle. The invention of gunpowder led, by degrees, to the virtual abandonment of armour until the Great War, when the helmet reappeared as a defence against shrapnel. Modern armour, used by the army, police, security guards, and people at risk from assassination, uses nylon and fibreglass and is often worn beneath clothing.
Some kind of defensive covering was probably of almost as early invention as weapons of offence. The principal pieces of defensive armour used by the ancients were shields, helmets, cuirasses, and greaves. In the earliest ages of Greece the shield is described as of immense size, but in the time of the Peloponnesian war about 420 BC, it was much smaller. The Romans had two sorts of shields; the scutum, a large rectangular highly convex shield, carried by the legionaries ; and the parma, a small round or oval flat shield, carried by the light-armed troops and the cavalry. In the declining days of Rome the shields became larger and more varied in form. The helmet was a characteristic piece of armour among the Assyrians, Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans. Like all other body armour it was usually made of bronze. The helmet of the historical age of Greece was distinguished by its lofty crest. The Roman helmet in the time of the early emperors fitted close to the head, and had a neck-guard and hinged cheek-pieces fastened under the chin, and a small bar across the face for a visor. Both Greeks and Romans wore cuirasses, at one time of bronze, but latterly of flexible materials. Greaves for the legs were worn by both, but among the Romans usually on one leg. The ancient Germans had large shields of plaited osier covered with leather, afterwards their shields were small, bound with iron, and studded with bosses. The Anglo-Saxons had round or oval shields of wood, covered with leather, and having a boss in the centre; and they had also corselets, or coats of mail, strengthened with iron rings. The Normans were well protected by mail; their shields were somewhat triangular in shape, their helmets conical. In Europe generally metal armour was used from the tenth to the eighteenth century, and at first consisted of a tunic made of iron rings firmly sewn flat upon strong cloth or leather. The rings were afterwards interlinked one with another so as to form a garment of themselves,
called chain- mail.
Great variety is found in the pattern of the armour, and in some cases small pieces of metal were used instead of rings, forming what is called scale-armour. A suit of armour consisting of larger pieces of metal, called plate-armour, was now introduced, and the whole body came to be encased in a heavy metal covering. The various forms of ring or scale armour were gradually superseded by the plate-armour, which continued to be worn until long after the introduction of firearms and field-artillery. A complete suit of armour was an elaborate and costly equipment, consisting of a number of different pieces, each with its distinctive name. In 19th century European armies the metal cuirass was still to some extent in use, the cuirassiers being heavy cavalry; and it is was said that this piece of armour provided a useful defence against the rifle bullets of the time. During all the time that the use of heavy armour prevailed, the horsemen, who alone were fully armed, formed the principal strength of armies; and infantry were generally regarded as of hardly any account. England was, however, an exception, as the English archers were almost at all times, before the invention of gunpowder, an important and sometimes the chief force in the army.
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Arms is a military term referring to weapons. Weapons of offence are divisible into two distinct sections: firearms, and arms used without gunpowder or other explosive substance.
The first arms of offence would probably be wooden clubs, then would follow wooden weapons made more deadly by means of stone or bone, stone axes, slings, bows and arrows with heads of flint or bone, and afterwards various weapons of bronze. Subsequently a variety of arms of iron and steel were introduced, which comprised the sword, javelin, pike, spear or lance, dagger, axe, mace, chariot scythe, etc. with a rude artillery consisting of catapults, ballistae, and battering-rams. Among ancient nations the Egyptians seem to have been most accustomed to the use of the bow, which was the principal weapon of the Egyptian infantry. Peculiar to the Egyptians was a defensive weapon intended to catch and break the sword of the enemy. With the Assyrians the bow was a favourite weapon; but with them lances, spears, and javelins were in more common use than with the Egyptians. Most of the large engines of war, chariots with scythes projecting at each side from the axle, catapults, and ballistae, seem to have been of Assyrian origin. During the historical age of Greece the characteristic weapon was a heavy spear from 21 to 24 feet in length. The sword used by the Greeks was short, and was worn on the right side. The Roman sword was from 22 to 24 inches in length, straight, two-edged, and obtusely pointed, and as by the Greeks was worn on the right side. It was used principally as a stabbing weapon. It was originally of bronze. The most characteristic weapon of the Roman legionary soldier, however, was the pilum, which was a kind of pike or javelin, some 6 feet or more in length. The pilum was sometimes used at close-quarters, but more commonly it was thrown.
The favourite weapons of the ancient Germanic races were the battle-axe, the lance or dart, and the sword. The weapons of the Anglo-Saxons were spears, axes, swords, knives, and maces or clubs. The Normans had similar weapons, and were well furnished with archers and cavalry. The cross-bow was a comparatively late invention introduced by the Normans. Gunpowder was not used in Europe to discharge projectiles until the beginning of the fourteenth century. Cannon are first mentioned in England in 1338, and there seems to be no doubt that they were used by the English at the siege of Cambrai in 1339. The projectiles first used for cannon were of stone. Hand firearms date from the fifteenth century. At first they required two men to serve them, and it was necessary to rest the muzzle on a stand in aiming and firing. The first improvement was the invention of the match-lock, about 1476; this was followed by the wheel-lock, and about the middle of the seventeenth century by the flint-lock, which was in universal use until it was superseded by the percussion-lock, the invention of a Scotch clergyman early in the nineteenth century. The needle-gun dates from 1827. The only important weapon not a fire-arm that has been invented since the introduction of gunpowder is the bayonet, which is believed to have been invented about 1650.
The bow (long-bow) of the English archers was from 5 to 6 feet in length, and the arrow discharged from it was itself a yard long. The long-bow continued in general use in England until the end of the reign of Elizabeth, and even as late as 1627 there was a body of English archers in the pay of Richelieu at the siege of La Rochelle.
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An army is a collection or body of men and or women armed for war, and organized in companies, battalions, regiments, brigades, or similar divisions, under proper officers.
Ancient armies from the time of Rameses II (Sesostris) of Egypt downwards, underwent a series of progressive improvements under the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and Carthaginians, until they reached a high degree of perfection under the Romans. In Rome every citizen from the age of seventeen to forty-six was bound to serve in the army. Under the republic a levy took place every year soon after the election of the Consuls. It was superintended by the military tribunes, who at once formed the new levies into legions. Under the empire a standing army was required for maintenance of order in the interior and the defence of the frontiers. In the reign of Augustus the strength of this army reached 450,000 men.
The earliest military system of the Teutonic races consisted of the armed freemen, ruled by elected leaders, but even then there was a personal following or bodyguard of the king or leader. Among the countries of modern Europe the foundation of a standing army was first laid in France. Charles VII of France issued an ordinance for the creation of a number of troops of horse, and a corresponding body of infantry, the whole force amounting to 25,000 men. The superiority of such a body over an assemblage of feudal troops was soon proved, and other states imitated the example of France. By the beginning of the sixteenth century France, Germany, and Spain were all in possession of considerable standing armies. From the middle of the eighteenth century a great change took place in the composition of armies through the reintroduction of the principle of the universal liability of all men capable of bearing arms to military service, or, in other words, through the raising of armies by a general conscription, which was done in every European country except Britain during the 19th century.
Before the Norman conquest the armed force of England consisted essentially of a national militia (called fyrd), in which every landholder was bound to serve when called upon; but the king and some of the great earls maintained bodies of troops out of their private means. Under William The Conqueror and his immediate successors the whole kingdom was divided into upwards of 60,000 knights' fees, every tenant of a fee being bound to attend his lord with horse and arms (or provide a substitute) at his own cost for forty days in each year. When one man held many fees he was bound to furnish the king with one fully equipped horseman for every knight's fee. In course of time it became customary for the king, when the holder of a fee was unable or unwilling to render the service required by his tenure, to accept instead a pecuniary fine (scutage); and these fines enabled the king either to maintain additional troops or to pay the feudal troops to prolong their service. The feudal army thus created almost entirely superseded the national levies of the Anglo-Saxon period, yet these were not altogether given up, and survived to the end of the 19th century in two institutions, the posse comitatus and the militia. The armies with which the English carried on their early wars with France were mostly made up of paid troops, the king usually contracting with some of his most wealthy subjects to levy the number required. At first foreign mercenaries were sometimes included in the troops so raised, but in later times the armies of England were always national. The chief strength of the feudal armies lay in the men-at-arms, who were all mounted, heavily armed, and protected by shields and defensive armour. On the other hand, the paid levies usually consisted of men educated from infancy in the use of the long-bow. The introduction of firearms closed the career of the man-at-arms, and caused the long-bow to be laid aside.
From the accession of Charles I until the reign of William III the army was a constant cause of dispute between the king and the Parliament, the latter fearing that a standing army would be used, as it was elsewhere, as an instrument of tyranny. Under the Commonwealth the first standing army was maintained, but after the Restoration it was reduced to the royal guards, besides what was necessary for two or three garrisons. During the reign of Charles II the forces of England were increased by the addition of a few other regiments, among which was the 1st or Royal Scots, originally the Scottish guard of the kings of France, transferred to England shortly after the Restoration. After Monmouth's rebellion in the reign of James II there was maintained in England a force of 20,000 men, but at the Revolution this army was to a great extent disbanded. The Bill of Bights declared the keeping of a standing army within the kingdom except with the consent of Parliament to be unlawful; but it was found necessary to grant that consent in order to subdue the adherents of James in Ireland, and in the first year of William's reign the army was formally recognized on the basis on which it still exists, that its pay, and hence its strength, remain entirely under the control of the House of Commons. By the so-called Mutiny Act, passed annually from 1689 to 1879, the Parliament formally retained control over the army, as it still does, though the old act is no longer passed. For a long time regiments were raised by contract, the government making an arrangement with some gentleman to raise the men on terms of receiving a certain amount of bounty-money per man, or of being paid by the sale of the regimental commissions, he having the right of nominating the officers. The colonel used to receive a certain sum of money annually for the men's pay and clothing, the expenses of recruiting, etc; and the men might agree to serve for life, for a term of years, or for the duration of the war.
dinary enlistment was for life. During the 18th century the strength of the army fluctuated greatly; then came the long struggle with France, which brought into existence a large army continually under arms, besides an immense body of volunteers and local militia. After the Peninsular war the army was cut down, and was long greatly neglected, while the volunteer force ceased to exist. Only after the Crimean War was reform taken up, the Indian army being taken over, a fresh body of volunteers created, reserves established, etc.
The largest permanent divisions into which modern armies are organized are the army corps. According to the system of localization commenced in 1872, the United Kingdom was divided into regimental districts, in each of which an officer has command of all the forces, including the militia and volunteers. These districts were regarded as the special recruiting areas of the corresponding territorial regiments. The terms of enlistment were for nine years' army service and three years' reserve service. After twelve years service a soldier may be permitted to re-engage for other nine years, and after the completion of twenty-one years' service was entitled to be discharged with a pension. The old system of conferring commissions by purchase was abolished by royal warrant of July the 20th, 1871. First commissions were then given to successful candidates at the Civil Service Commissioners' open examinations, candidates being selected by competition, and entering the cavalry and infantry through the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, the artillery and engineers through the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; to university students who pass certain examinations; to non-commissioned officers specially recommended ; etc; while promotion was regulated by seniority principally, but partly by selection.
The most important division of the British forces consists of the regular army, which around 1900 numbered about 200,000 men-more or less-exclusive of the British troops serving in India (about 74,000) and paid by the Indian government. Of the component parts of the regular army the infantry of the line was the most numerous. In 1900 it comprised 69 regiments, each with its own special designation, and each attached to some particular district. A few of the regiments had more than four battalions of regulars (apart from militia and volunteers attached), but the majority had only two, each representing one of the old regiments that used to be commonly known by a special number. The regimental titles are generally territorial: Bedfordshire Regiment, City of London Regiment, etc, but some are not, such as the Gordon Highlanders, etc. One of the regular battalions was always in garrison or serving outside the kingdom, the other within it. The latter trained the recruits and made good the losses suffered by the battalion serving abroad. In 1900 the full complement of private soldiers in a battalion at home was 760, in the colonies 880, in India 900; the sergeants numbering from 24 to 32, the officers from 24 to 29. In war the full complement of a battalion (904 men armed with rifles) was rather greater than in peace, drivers and others being required in connection with the baggage, ammunition, etc. The battalions in war were not linked together in regiments, but were under the direct orders of the officer commanding the brigade to which they were attached. Mounted infantry were a force embodied and employed only as occasion required, suitable men for the purpose being selected from different infantry regiments. Besides the line regiments, the infantry forces also comprised three regiments of guards: the Grenadier Guards, the Coldstream Guards, and the Scots Guards, each of three battalions, with the Irish Guards of one. The guards, or household troops, had various
leges, and served outside the United Kingdom only in time of war; otherwise being usually stationed in barracks at London, Aldershot, and Windsor.
The cavalry also consisted of guards and of troops of the line. The former comprised three regiments of cuirassiers, the 1st and 2nd Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards (or Blues), permanently garrisoned in London and Windsor. The cavalry of the line consisted of 28 regiments, designated as dragoons, dragoon guards, hussars, and lancers; the 12 regiments of hussars being also known as light cavalry, the others as heavy. On the war footing a cavalry regiment consisted of three squadrons, and numbers a total of 531 officers and men. The cavalry generally were armed with carbines and sabres, the lancers carried lances in addition. While service in the infantry was for nine years with the colours and three in the reserve, men were enlisted in the cavalry of the line for eight years with the colours and four in the reserve.
The artillery was not divided into regiments like the cavalry and infantry, but the field, horse, and garrison artillery formed together a single body (about 55,000 strong), called the Royal Regiment of Artillery, the field and horse artillery being divided into a large number of 'batteries', the garrison artillery into companies. Of these batteries a certain number were mountain-batteries (for special service). On the war footing, a battery of horse artillery had 165 men, a battery of field artillery 157, the great majority consisting of gunners and drivers. Every battery had 6 guns, those of the field artillery being heavier than those of the horse artillery. The field artillery acted with the infantry, and the gunners were not mounted but carried on the gun-carriages; the horse artillery went with the cavalry, the gunners being mounted for rapid movement. The garrison artillery was distributed over the various fortresses and garrisons.
To a special corps, the Royal Engineers, belong the construction and maintenance of military works and fortifications, military telegraphs and railways, pontoons, military balloons, etc. Another branch of the regular army was the Army Service Corps, which had to attend to transport, the purchase and issue of provisions, forage, light, fuel, the appointments of barracks, etc. It was organized in companies, which were allotted to the several brigades or other units of the army, and it comprised bakers, butchers, saddlers, farriers, clerks, etc.
The medical services called for by the army are rendered by the Royal Army Medical Corps, under the director-general and staff of the army medical service. The officers are divided into ranks corresponding to those of the rest of the army, from surgeon - generals, surgeon - colonels, etc, downwards. The privates largely consist of men that have to attend to the ambulances and other means of conveyance. Other departments of the regular army are the ordnance corps, army pay department, veterinary department, military police, etc. What were generally designated as the auxiliary forces consisted of the army reserves, militia and militia reserve, imperial yeomanry, and volunteers. The army reserve of infantry consisted of men who had served with the colours during the period for which they enlisted for active service, and were liable in case of war to be again called up for service with the particular branch of the army to which they still belonged (receiving meanwhile a small pension). The militia was a force of old standing that had repeatedly rendered valuable services to the country. The force was intended to provide a number of trained men by which, on important emergencies, the regular troops might be supplemented or relieved. It consisted chiefly of a large number of battalions of infantry of the line, linked with those belonging to the territorial regiments, the men being enlisted for a period of six years, and being called up annually for a short period of drill and training.
During the 19th century measures were taken for increasing the efficiency of the militia, and a militia reserve was formed. The volunteer force was formed in 1859, and was largely self-supporting, though it also received certain grants from government. Like the militia, it formed a number of battalions attached to the line regiments in their respective districts. The force proved very popular, but some authorities maintained that its efficiency was not equal to its numbers, and considerable changes were proposed early on. The Imperial Yeomanry, or Yeomanry Cavalry, were a force that came into existence as a volunteer force in the beginning of the 19th century, being intended to furnish mounted troops for home defence. The force was reorganized at the end of the 19th century, and formed a body of more than fifty regiments, in which were absorbed certain volunteer companies of light horse and mounted infantry. The members provided themselves with horses, and receive a certain sum as daily pay during their period of training, with an allowance also for a horse.
Army administration and reorganization underwent major changes during the 20th century. The strength of the British army by the scheme of March, 1905, was: regulars, 192,697; reserve, 80,000; militia, 148,000;
yeomanry, 28,000; volunteers, 250,000; besides over 78,000 men for India and the colonies.
Before the Second World War and the upheavals that followed, a large number of men raised in the United Kingdom were always serving abroad, in India and the colonies, but some of the British colonies had bodies of troops raised and maintained by themselves. The Indian army alone constantly absorbed drafts of men from the home countries, since there were always about 74,000 British regulars in it, besides native troops raised in India more than twice that number. The Indian army as a whole stood quite apart from the British army proper. This army had its own commander-in-chief and its own organization, and was paid from the revenues raised in India itself. Under the commander-in-chief were three great commands, those of the northern (Punjab), the western (Bombay), and the eastern (Bengal) army corps, besides the commands or districts of Madras and Burma. Both the British and the Indian regular forces comprised infantry, cavalry, and artillery; and there were volunteers, army reserves, and a body known as 'imperial service troops', kept up by native states, besides a frontier militia for the north-west frontier, and a military police, also serving on frontier duty. The native regiments were partly under British officers.
After the Great War the British Regular Army was a reproduction of the pre-war army and its reserves, established mainly on the basis of reforms instituted during the War Secretaryship of Haldane, with the improvements suggested by the Great War. The previous reforms had established a spirit of co-ordination and professional dignity. The militia had been replaced by a Special Reserve; the efficient Territorial Force replaced the old Volunteers; the General Staff was brought into being, and later the Imperial General Staff. The O.T.C. system began in 1909, and the creation of a small expeditionary force, to serve in emergency, was an innovation that splendidly proved its utility. The establishment of the pre-war regular army in the financial year 1914-15 was as follows: British troops - regimental establishments, 168,500 all ranks; British army in India, 75,896 all ranks; total, 244,396. The immense armies raised during the Great War having in the course of 1919 been almost entirely demobilized, Parliament was asked in the opening session of 1920 to sanction an establishment of approximately 220,000 men, exclusive of the army in India, which then consisted of 68,000 British troops and 164,000 Indian troops.
The British army after the Great War was distributed in general accordance with the Cardwellian system i.e., half abroad and half at home. The home units were to supply the units abroad in time of peace with drafts. The units abroad would absorb the reserves, who on mobilization would raise the units at home to full war strength. The home units would be organized so as to form, on mobilization, a force consisting of infantry, artillery, and mechanized units, and this force was the central reserve of the British Empire, available to be sent in time of trouble to any part of the world. Behind each linked battalion of the regular army there was a militia battalion. This militia battalion discharged the function hitherto discharged by the special reserve and the extra special reserve of supplying drafts for the regular battalions which were sent out of the country in time of war. There were 74 militia battalions, and it was assumed that they were capable, when the country was engaged in a war of no more than a few months' probable duration, of taking the field for the extension of the regular army - an assumption proved incorrect when the Second World War broke out a few years later. These forces - the regulars and militia battalions - constituted the first line of the British army, the second line being constituted by the 14 territorial infantry divisions and the cavalry division of the territorial army (yeomanry).
The improvements suggested by experience in the Great War were many and varied, but the rigid economy required in the national life after the armistice reduced the realization of these improvements to the lowest limits.
(1) Tanks. The big surprise of the Great War was the tank, or armoured land cruiser, for breaking through defensive organizations. Since 1919 progress was made in the evolution of this formidable weapon and a separate tank corps was revived, and mechanization of the army further proceeded by the conversion of certain cavalry units.
(2) Education A striking feature of the post-Great War army was the introduction, as a permanent and integral feature of the new army, of a system of compulsory education, both academic and technical, in unit schools, such as will ensure that any soldier on leaving the army would find employment in civil life instead of being, as in past times, shut out through a lack of appropriate skills.
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Arno was the OGPU codename for Ernest Oldham, a British cipher clerk from the Foreign Office Communications Department who offered to spy for the Russians in 1929, and was subsequently recruited and retained through the seduction of his wife by his Soviet controller (Dmitri Bystroletov).
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The Mecar ARP-RFL-40 BT is a Belgian 40 mm calibre anti-tank rifle grenade that can be fired from any rifle using live ammunition. The ARP-RFL-40 BT detonates upon impact with a hard surface and has an operational range of 200 metres when fired from a rifle using 7.62 mm ammunition and 100 metres when fired from a rifle using 5.56 mm ammunition. The ARP-RFL-40 BT can penetrate 100 mm of steel plate or 300 mm of concrete.
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The Mecar ARP-RFL-40 N is a Belgian 40 mm calibre anti-tank rifle grenade that can be fired from any rifle. The ARP-RFL-40 N detonates upon impact with a hard surface and has an operational range of 150 metres against moving targets and 200 metres against static targets, penetrating 125 mm of steel plate or 400 mm of concrete.
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An arsenal is a royal or public magazine or place appointed for the making, repairing, keeping, and issuing of military stores. An arsenal of the first class traditionally included factories for guns and gun-carriages, small-arms, small-arms ammunition, harness, saddlery, tents, and powder; a laboratory and large store-houses. In arsenals of the second class workshops take the place of the factories. The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, which manufactured warlike implements and stores for the army and navy, was formed about 1720, and comprised factories, laboratories, etc, for the manufacture and final fitting up of almost every kind of arms and ammunition. Great quantities of military and naval stores were kept at the dockyards of Chatham, Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Pembroke.
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Arsine, short for Arseniuretted hydrogen, is a blood irritant gas used during the Second World War. It has very little smell and causes violent vomiting and blood poisoning, damaging the liver and kidneys.
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Before the establishment of a standing army in 1660, when war broke out 'Articles of War' were issued by the crown to govern the troops when actually engaged in hostilities. the earliest articles of which records remain were those issued by Richard II and Henry V on the occasion of wars with France. The punishments awarded for crimes were very severe, death or loss of limb being inflicted for trivial offences. The prerogative power of the crown to issue articles was gradually encroached upon by Parliament and finally superseded by a corresponding statutory power in 1803.
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An artificer is a military mechanic, such as a blacksmith, carpenter, etc. and also, someone who prepares the shells, fuses, grenades, etc., in a military laboratory.
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The Artists' Rifles was a name given to the 28th Battalion of the London regiment, founded as a volunteer corps in 1859 by Lord Leighton and other artists, it was originally recruited from artists and sculptures, but through constant contact with regular troops became proficient, excelling at bayonet fighting. A contingent of the Artists' Rifles fought in the South African War. Mobilised on the first day of the Great War, the Artists' Rifles went to France in October 1914 and were at once established by Sir John French as a training corps for officers in the field. In 1915 the regiment was reorganised as an officers' training corps, and the 2nd Battalion was created by special order a school of instruction for officers. This school was the pioneer of officer cadet battalions, and its syllabus was adopted as a model. It supplied over 10,000 officers. In 1917 the 1st Battalion became part of the 63rd (Royal Naval) division. During the Great War eight Victoria Crosses and over 700 Military Crosses were awarded to members of the Artists' Rifles, and about 2000 of its members died on active service.
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Artur was a one-time codename for the KGB spy, Iosif Grigulevich.
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ASDIC was an abbreviation used during the Second World War for Allied Submarine Detection Investigation Committee. It was a device used for detecting underwater ships. The American name was sonar.
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Aspirin was the code name for a British radio jammer used during the Second World War.
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The assegai or assagai is a spear used as a weapon by the Kaffres of South Africa. It is a slender weapon made of hard wood with an iron tip and is used for throwing and thrusting.
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An atlatl (also known as a throwing-board or dart-sling) is a North American Indian apparatus for throwing a lance, spear or harpoon, and formerly used for hunting birds and aquatic animals. The term cas come to mean a throwing stick, but is properly applied to the sling-like apparatus used to hurl the stick (which measured between 16 and 30 inches in length).
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The Atomic bomb is a bomb deriving its explosive force from nuclear fission as a result of a neutron chain reaction. It was developed in the 1940s in the USA into a usable weapon. Research began in Britain in 1940 and was transferred to the USA after its entry into the Second World War the following year. Known as the Manhattan Project, the work was carried out under the direction of the American physicist Robert Oppenheimer at Los Alamos, New Mexico.
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The ATS were a British Army unit of non-combatant women auxiliaries in the Second World War. they were formed 1939 and provided cooks, clerks, radar operators, searchlight operators, and undertook other light non-combat duties.
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In warfare, an attack is the opening act of hostility by a force seeking to dislodge an enemy from its position. It is considered more advantageous to offer than to await attack, even in a defensive war (hence the term 'offence is the best form of defence'). The historic forms of attack are: 1. The parallel; 2. The form in which both the wings attack and the centre is kept back; 3. The form in which the centre is pushed forward and the wings kept back; 4. The famous oblique mode, dating at least from Epaminondas, and employed by Frederick the Great, where one wing advances to engage, whilst the other is kept back, and occupies the attention of the enemy by pretending an attack. Napoleon preferred to mass heavy columns against an enemy's centre. The forms of attack have changed with the weapons used. In the days of the pike heavy masses were the rule, but the use of the musket led to an extended battle-front to give effect to the fire. The advance in long and slender lines which grew out of this has been not less famous in the annals of British attack than the square formation in those of defence. Adherence to traditional techniques of attack, with a long massed line advancing slowly upon the enemy, during the Great War led to the wholesale slaughter of the attackers from defensive machine-gun fire and following the Great War a major rethink of attack methodologies. During the 1930's the German army invented the Blitzkrieg method, whereby a concentrated, fast moving armoured attack is made at a single point, the defences breached, and through the hole massed troops poured which then spread left and right along the enemy line attacking from the rear of the defensive positions.
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The Australian Imperial Force (AIF) was a volunteer military force formed at the outbreak of the Great War and was the major Australian contribution to the war. It was organised into infantry divisions (eventually five), five light horse divisions, the Australian Flying Corps and the Australian Army Nursing Service. A second AIF was formed in 1939 and 1940 during the Second World War, with its divisions numbered 6th to 9th to follow those of the first force.
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Autolycus is a short-range instrument for the detection of diesel fumes from submarines either on the surface, or recently submerged, or while snorkelling.
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An automatic is a firearm designed to feed cartridges, fire them, eject their empty cases and repeat this cycle as long as the trigger is depressed and cartridges remain in the feed system. Examples: machine guns, sub-machine guns, selective-fire rifles, including true assault rifles.
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During the Second World War Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings at Salerno, Italy, in September 1943.
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In medieval armour, an aventail or aventayle, was a flap or adjustable part of a hood , made of chain-mail, covering the mouth, chin and throat.
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In armour, an aventaile was the movable face-guard of the helmet, through which the warrior breathed.
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The Aviator is an American combat knife manufactured by Chris Reeve and based upon the Camillus Pilot Survival Knife, but constructed of a single piece of steel for strength, although the bare steel handle is a problem in cold climates. The blade is a 4 inch long clip point with a saw back, bevel-ground with a false clip edge.
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An awblaster was an infantry soldier armed with a cross-bow, hence a cross-bowman was known as an awblaster while a soldier armed with a bow was known as an archer.
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The awlspear was a Bohemian and Austrian thrusting weapon used by city militia in the 15th century consisting of a very long and narrow head of a square cross-section fastened to a short staff. Often a round shield was provided around the neck.
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An azon bomb is a standard free-fall aerial bomb with guiding tails fitted to allow course correction. They were first used by the American USAAF in December 1944 in Burma, and were chiefly used for attacking bridges and ships.
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Abbreviations
Warfare
