History of the British Army

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The history of the British Army spans over three and a half centuries since its founding in 1660 and involves numerous European wars, colonial wars and world wars. From the late 17th century until the mid-20th century, the United Kingdom was the greatest economic and imperial power in the world, and although this dominance was principally achieved through the strength of the Royal Navy (RN), the British Army played a significant role.

As of 2015^[update], there were 92,000 professionals in the

).

The British Army has been involved in many international conflicts, including the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War and both World War I and World War II. Historically, it contributed to the expansion and retention of the British Empire.

The British Army has long been at the forefront of new military developments. It was the first in the world to develop and deploy the tank, and what is now the Royal Air Force (RAF) had its origins within the British Army as the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). At the same time the British Army emphasises the continuity and longevity of several of its institutions and military tradition.

Origins

The English Army was first established as a standing military force in 1660.

Stuart Asquith argues for roots before 1660:^[6]

Many authorities quote the Restoration of 1660 as the birth date of our modern British Army. While this may be true as far as continuity of unit identity is concerned, it is untrue in a far more fundamental sense. The evidence of history shows that the creation of an efficient military machine [, The New Model Army,] and its proving on the battlefield, predates the Restoration by 15 years. It was on the fields of Naseby, Dunbar and Dunes that the foundations of the British professional army were laid.

The New Model Army was the first full-time professional army raised within the three kingdoms of England, Ireland and Scotland.^[7] It was created in 1645 by the English Long Parliament and it proved supreme in field. At the end of the First Civil War the New Model Army survived attempts by Parliament to disband it. Winston Churchill described its prowess thus:^[8]

The Story of the Second English Civil War is short and simple. King, Lords and Commons, landlords, merchants, the City and the countryside, bishops and presbyters, the Scottish army, the Welsh people, and the English Fleet, all now turned against the New Model Army. The Army beat the lot!

Having survived Parliament's attempts to disband it, the New Model Army prospered as an institution during the Interregnum. It was disbanded in 1660 with the restoration of the Stuart monarchy under Charles II.^[9]

At his restoration Charles II sought to create a small standing army made up of some former Royalist and New Model Army regiments. On 26 January 1661, Charles II issued the Royal Warrant that created the first regiments of what would become the British Army,^[10] although Scotland and England maintained separate military establishments until the Acts of Union 1707.^[11]

King Charles put into these regiments those

Many of Charles' subjects were uneasy at his creation of this small army. Pamphleteers wrote tracts voicing the fear of a people who within living memory had experienced the

The English were not fully reconciled to the need for a standing army until the reign of

Creation of British Army

The order of seniority for the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. Scottish and Irish regiments were only allowed to take a rank in the English army from the date of their arrival in England or the date when they were first placed on the English establishment. For example, in 1694 a board of general officers was convened to decide upon rank of English, Irish and Scots regiments serving in the Netherlands, the regiment that became known as the

Eighteenth century

Organisation

By the middle of the century, the army's administration had developed the form which it would retain for more than a hundred years. A number of independent offices and individual officers were responsible for various aspects of Army administration. The most important were the

In the field, a commander's staff consisted of an

Infantry and cavalry units had originally been known by the names of their colonels, such as "Sir John Mordaunt's Regiment of Foot". This could be confusing if colonels succeeded each other rapidly; and two regiments (the

The later

Towards the end of the 18th century, the battalion became the major tactical unit of the army. On the continent of Europe, where large field formations were usual, a regiment was a formation of two or more battalions, under a colonel who was a field commander. The British Army, increasingly compelled to disperse units in far-flung colonial outposts, made the battalion the basic unit, under a lieutenant colonel. The function of the regiment became administrative rather than tactical. The colonel of a regiment remained an influential figure but rarely commanded any of its battalions in the field. Many regiments consisted of one battalion only, plus a depot and recruiting parties in Britain or Ireland if the unit was serving overseas. Where more troops were required for a war or garrison duties, second, third and even subsequent battalions of a regiment were raised, but it was rare for more than one battalion of a regiment to serve in the same brigade or division.[24]

Strategy and role

From the late 17th century onwards, the British army was to be deployed in three main areas of conflict (the

Within England and especially Scotland, there were repeated attempts by the exiled

Finally, as the British empire expanded, the army was increasingly involved in service in the West Indies, North America and India.

Troops sent to serve overseas could expect to serve there for years, in an unhealthy climate far removed from the comforts of British society. This led to the army being recruited from the elements of society with the least stake in it; the very poorest or worst-behaved. The

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!" But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot; An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please; An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War, which took place from 1755 to 1763, has sometimes been described as the first true world war, in that conflict took place in almost every continent and on almost all the oceans. Although there were early setbacks, British troops eventually were victorious in every theatre.^[32]

The war can be said to have started in North America, where it was known as the French and Indian War. The early years saw several British defeats.^[33] The British units first despatched to the Continent were untrained in the bush warfare they met. To provide light infantry, several corps such as Rogers' Rangers were raised from the colonists. (A light infantry regiment, the 80th Regiment of Light-Armed Foot, was raised by Colonel Thomas Gage, but subsequently disbanded). During the war, General James Wolfe amalgamated companies from several regiments into an ad hoc unit, the Louisbourg Grenadiers.^[34]

There were also disagreements between high-ranking British officers and the

Similarly, in the

In Europe, although Britain's allies (chiefly the

Aftermath

The result of this war was to leave the British Empire as the dominant imperial power in North America, and the only European power east of the Mississippi River (although it would return East Florida back to the Spanish Empire). There was increasing tension between the British government and the American colonists, especially when it was decided to maintain a standing army in North America after the war. For the first time, the British Army would be garrisoned in North America in significant numbers in a time of peace.^[37]

With the defeat of France, the British government no longer sought actively to curry the favour of Native Americans. Urged by his superiors to cut costs, Commander in Chief General Jeffery Amherst initiated policy changes that helped prompt Pontiac's War in 1763, an uprising against the British military occupation of the former New France.^[38] Amherst was recalled during the war and replaced as commander in chief by Thomas Gage.^[39]

American War of Independence

The

For the British Army, the American War of Independence had its origins in the military occupation of Boston in 1768. Tensions between the army and local civilians helped contribute to the Boston Massacre of 1770, but outright warfare did not begin until 1775, when the "Minutemen" militias in the Massachusetts Bay Province attacked an army detachment sent to seize colonial munitions at Battles of Lexington and Concord.^[39]

Reinforcements were sent to America to put down what was initially expected to be a short-lived rebellion, despite the fact that in July 1776 the

When the war ended in 1783 with the British government forced to recognize its defeat and U.S. independence under the

The Army was forced to adapt its tactics to the poor communications and forested terrain of North America. Large numbers of light infantry (detached from line units) were organised, and the formerly rigid drills of the line infantry were modified to a style known as "loose files and an American scramble". While the British defeated the colonists in most of the set-piece battles of the war, none of these had any decisive result, whereas the British defeats at the

Napoleonic Wars

The British Army during the

The later nineteenth century

During the long reign of Queen Victoria, British society underwent great changes such as the Industrial Revolution and the enactment of liberal reforms within Britain. The Victorian era was also marked by the steady expansion and consolidation of the British Empire. The role of the military was to defend the Empire and, for the Army, to control the natives.^[50] The Industrial Revolution had changed the Army's weapons, transport and equipment, and social changes such as better education had prompted changes to the terms of service and outlook of many soldiers. Nevertheless, it retained many features inherited from the Duke of Wellington's army, and since its prime function was to maintain the expanding British Empire, it differed in many ways from the conscripted armies of continental Europe. For example, it did not undertake large-scale manoeuvres. Indeed, the Chobham Manoeuvres of 1853 involving 7,000 troops were the first such manoeuvres since the Napoleonic Wars.^[51]

The Crimean War (1854–56) had so many blunders and failures—most famously the ill-advised "Charge of the Light Brigade"—that it became an iconic symbol of logistical, medical and tactical failures and mismanagement. Public opinion in Britain was outraged at the failures of traditional methods in the face of modernization everywhere else in British society; the newspapers demanded drastic reforms, and parliamentary investigations exposed a multiplicity of grave problems. However, the reform campaign was not well organized. This allowed the traditional aristocratic leadership of the Army to pull itself together and block all serious reforms. No one was punished. The outbreak of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 shifted attention to the heroic defense of British interests by the Army, and further talk of reform went nowhere.^[52] The demand for professionalization was, however, achieved by Florence Nightingale, who gained worldwide attention for pioneering and publicizing modern nursing while treating the wounded.^[53]

Reforms

The Crimean War demonstrated that reforms were urgently needed to guarantee that the Army could protect both the home nation and the Empire. Nevertheless, reform was impossible until the 1870s when the army assumed the form it took in 1914. Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone paid little attention to military affairs apart from budgets, but as he and the rest of stunned Europe watched the German coalition led by Prussia crushed France in a matter of weeks, the myriad old inadequacies of the British army set the agenda. His Secretary of State for War, Edward Cardwell proposed far-reaching reforms that Gladstone pushed through the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Prussian system of professional soldiers with up-to-date weapons was far superior to the traditional system of gentlemen-soldiers that Britain used.^[54] The Cardwell Reforms centralised power in the War Office, abolished the purchase of officers' commissions, and created reserve forces stationed in Britain by establishing short terms of service for enlisted men.^[55]

, which learned they had to help defend themselves. The most radical change, and one that required Gladstone's political muscle, was to abolish the system of officers obtaining commissions and promotions by purchase, rather than by merit. The system meant that the rich landholding families controlled all the middle and senior ranks in the army. Promotion depended on the family's wealth, not the officer's talents, and the middle class was shut out almost completely. British officers were expected to be gentlemen and sportsmen; there was no problem if they were entirely wanting in military knowledge or leadership skills. From the Tory perspective it was essential to keep the officer corps the domain of gentlemen, and not a trade for professional experts. They warned the latter might menace the oligarchy and threaten a military coup; they preferred an inefficient army to an authoritarian state. The unification of Germany by Otto von Bismarck made this reactionary policy too dangerous for a great empire to risk. The bill, which would have compensated current owners for their cash investments, passed the Commons in 1871 but was blocked by the House of Lords. Gladstone then moved to drop the system without any reimbursements, forcing the Lords to backtrack and approve the original bill. Liberals rallied to Gladstone's anti-elitism, pointing to the case of Lord Cardigan (1797–1868), who spent £40,000 for his commission and proved utterly incompetent in the Crimean war, where he ordered the disastrous "Charge of the Light Brigade" in 1854. Cardwell was not powerful enough to install a general staff system; that had to await the 20th century. He did rearrange the war department. He made the office of Secretary of State for War superior to the Army's commander in Chief; the commander was His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge (1819–1904), the Queen's first cousin, and an opponent of the reforms. The surveyor-general of the ordnance, and the financial secretary became key department heads reporting to the Secretary. The militia was reformed as well and integrated into the Army. The term of enlistment was reduced to 6 years, so there was more turnover and a larger pool of trained reservists. The territorial system of recruiting for regiments was standardised and adjusted to the current population. Cardwell reduced the Army budget yet increased its strength of the army by 25 battalions, 156 field guns, and abundant stores, while the reserves available for foreign service had been raised tenfold from 3,500 to 36,000 men.^[56]

First World War (1914–1918)

The British Army during World War I could trace its origins to the increasing demands of imperial expansion together with inefficiencies highlighted during the Crimean War, which led to the Cardwell and Childers Reforms of the late 19th century.^[57] These gave the British Army its modern shape, and defined its regimental system. The Esher Report in 1904, recommended radical reform of the British Army, such as the creation of an Army Council, a General Staff and the abolition of the office of Commander in Chief of the Forces and the creation of a Chief of the General Staff.^[58] The Haldane Reforms in 1907, created an expeditionary force of seven divisions, it also reorganized the volunteers into a new Territorial Force of fourteen cavalry brigades and fourteen infantry divisions, and changed the old militia into the special reserve to reinforce the expeditionary force.^[59]

The British Army was different from the

During the war there were three distinct British Armies. The 'first' army was the small volunteer force of about 400,000 soldiers (comprising the Regular Army of 247,000^[63] and Territorial Force of 145,000^[64]), over half of which were posted overseas to garrison the British Empire. This total included the Regular Army and reservists in the Territorial Force. Together they formed the BEF, for service in France and became known as the Old Contemptibles. The 'second' army was Kitchener's Army, formed from the volunteers in 1914–1915, which was destined to go into action at the Battle of the Somme.^[65] The 'third' was formed after the introduction of conscription in January 1916 and by the end of 1918 the British Army had reached its peak of strength of four million men and could field over seventy divisions.^[63]

The war also saw the introduction of new weapons and equipment. The

The vast majority of the British Army fought in France and Belgium on the Western Front but some units were engaged in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Africa and Mesopotamia, mainly against the Ottoman Empire. One battalion also fought in China during the Siege of Tsingtao.^[67]

Inter-war period (1919–1939)

Organisation

In 1919–1920 there was a short-lived boom in the British economy, caused by a rush of investment pent-up during the war years and another rush of orders for new shipping to replace the millions of tons lost.^[68] But, following the boom, interwar Britain faced serious economic woes beginning with the Depression of 1920–1921. Heavy defence cuts were consequently imposed by the British Government in the early 1920s as part of a reduction in public expenditure known as the "Geddes Axe" after Sir Eric Geddes.^[69] The Government introduced the Ten Year Rule, stating its belief that Britain would not be involved in another major war for 10 years from the date of review. This ten-year rule was continually extended until it was abandoned in 1932.^[69] The Royal Tank Corps (which later became the

Within the cavalry, sixteen regiments were amalgamated into eight, producing the "Fraction Cavalry"; units with unwieldy titles combining two regimental numbers. There was a substantial reduction in the number of infantry battalions and the size of the Territorial Force, which was renamed the Territorial Army. On 31 July 1922, the Army also lost six Irish regiments (5 infantry and 1 cavalry) on the creation of the Irish Free State.^[72]

Until the early 1930s, the Army was effectively reduced to the role of imperial policeman, concentrated on responding to the small imperial conflicts that rose up across the Empire. It was unfortunate that certain of the officers who rose to high rank and positions of influence within the army during the 1930s were comparatively backward-looking.^[73] This meant that trials such as the Experimental Mechanized Force of 1927–28 did not go as far as they might have.^[74]

Operations

One of the first post-war campaigns that the Army took part in was the

The Army, throughout the inter-war period, also had to deal with quelling paramilitary organisations seeking the removal of the British. In Iraq, British forces put down the

Rearmament and development

By the mid-1930s,

During the years after the First World War, the Army's strategic concepts had stagnated. Whereas Germany, when it began rearming following Hitler's rise to power, eagerly embraced concepts of mechanised warfare as advocated by individuals such as

One step to which the Army was committed was the mechanisation of the cavalry, which had begun in 1929. This first proceeded at a slow pace, having little priority. By the mid-1930s, mechanisation in the British Army was gaining momentum and on 4 April 1939, with the mechanisation process nearing completion, the Royal Armoured Corps was formed to administer the cavalry regiments and Royal Tank Regiment (except for the Household Cavalry). The mechanisation process was finally completed in 1941 when the Royal Scots Greys abandoned their horses.^[87]

After the

Between 1938 and 1939, following a substantial expansion in the Army, a number of new organisations were formed, including the Auxiliary Territorial Service for women in September 1938; its duties were vast, and helped release men for front-line service.^[92]

Second World War (1939–1945)

The British Army in 1939 was a volunteer army that introduced conscription shortly before the declaration of war with Germany. During the early years of the Second World War, the army suffered defeat in almost every theatre it deployed, due to a variety of reasons, mainly because of decisions made before the war and politicians and senior commanders being unclear on what the army's role was. With mass conscription the expansion of the army was reflected in the creation of more divisions, army corps, armies and army groups. From 1943, the British Army's fortunes turned and it hardly suffered a strategic defeat.^[93]

25 pounders firing in support of the Guards Armoured Division during Operation Market Garden

, September 1944.

The pre-war British Army was trained and equipped to garrison and police the British Empire and, as became evident during the war, was woefully unprepared and ill-equipped to conduct a war against multiple enemies on multiple fronts. At the start of the war the army was small in comparison to its enemies', and remained an all-volunteer force until 1939. By the end of the war the British Army had grown to number over 3.5 million.^[94]

The British Army fought around the world, with campaigns in

With the expansion of the British Army to fight a

End of the Empire and Cold War (1945–1990)

Organisation

The creation of the

The Army was beginning to draw down its forces, beginning the

More reforms of the armed forces took place with the 1957 Defence White Paper, which saw further reductions implemented; the Government realised after the debacle of the Suez Crisis that Britain was no longer a global superpower and decided to withdraw from most of its commitments in the world, limiting the armed forces to concentrating on NATO, with an increased reliance upon nuclear weapons. The White Paper announced that the Army would be reduced in size from about 330,000 to 165,000, with National Service ending by 1963 (it officially ended on 31 December 1960, with the last conscript being discharged in May 1963) with the intention of making the Army into an entirely professional force. This enormous reduction in manpower led to, between 1958 and 1962, eight cavalry and thirty infantry regiments being amalgamated, the latter amalgamations producing fifteen single-battalion regiments. Brigade cap badges superseded the regimental cap badge in 1959.^[106]

Many of the regiments created during the 1957 White Paper would have only a brief existence, most being amalgamated into new 'large' regiments --

For the structure of the Army during this period, see

List of British Army regiments (1962)

.

Post-World War II operations outside Great Britain

Far East

In the immediate aftermath of the

A similar situation existed in French Indochina after Viet Minh leader Ho Chi Minh declared the independence of Vietnam on 2 September 1945, beginning the War in Vietnam. British and Indian troops, commanded by Major-General Douglas Gracey, were deployed to occupy the south of the country shortly afterwards, while the Republic of China attempted to occupy the northern areas of Vietnam. Vietnam was at this time in chaos and the population did not want French rule restored. The British military decided to rearm numerous French POWs—who then went on a rampage—and British forces also re-armed Japanese troops to help maintain order. The British and Indians departed by February 1946 and the First Indochina War began shortly afterwards. The Indochina Wars would continue for more than twenty years.^[114]

British de-colonialisation and the British Army

The latter part of the 1940s saw the British start to begin to withdraw from the Empire, the Army playing a prominent role in its dismantlement. The first colony the British withdrew from was India, the largest British possession as measured by population, though not the largest by geographical area.^[115]

In 1947 the British government announced India would become independent on 15 August, after

In the

Elsewhere, within British territories, Communist guerrillas launched an uprising in Malaya, starting the Malayan Emergency.^[118]

In the early 1950s, trouble began in

Korea

The British Army also participated in the

More British de-colonialisation

Elsewhere, the Army withdrew from the

In the 1960s two conflicts featured heavily with the Army, the Aden Emergency^[119] and the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation in Borneo.^[118]

Operations within the United Kingdom

Northern Ireland

In 1969 a

However, as the

By the late 1970s, the British Army was replaced to some degree as "frontline" security service, in preference for the local

Operation Banner came to an end in 2007 making it the longest continuous operation in the British Army's history, lasting over thirty-eight years. Troop numbers were reduced to 5,000.[132]

England

In 1980, the

Falklands War

One remaining garrison provided by the

1990–present

Organisation

The

The

Another defence review was published in 2004, known as Delivering Security in a Changing World. The defence white paper stated that the Army's manpower would be reduced by 1,000, with four infantry battalions being cut and the manpower being redistributed elsewhere. One of the most radical aspects of the reforms was the announcement that most single-battalion regiments would amalgamate into large regiments, with most of the battalions retaining their previous regimental titles in their battalion names. The TA would also be further integrated into the Army, with battalions being numbered into the regiment's structure. These are reminiscent, in some respects, to the Cardwell-Childers reforms and the 1960s reforms.^[141]

The elite units of the Army are also playing an increasingly prominent role in the Army's operations and the SAS was allocated further funds in the 2004 defence paper, conveying the SAS's increasing importance in the War on Terror. Another élite unit became operational in 2005, the

Operations

The Staffordshire Regiment

, 1 (UK) Armoured Division

The end of the Cold War did not provide the British Army with any respite, and the political vacuum left by the Soviet Union has seen a surge of instability in the world. Saddam Hussein's Iraq invaded Kuwait, one of its neighbours, in 1990, provoking condemnation from the United Nations, primarily led by the United States. The Gulf War and the British contribution, known as Operation Granby, was large, with the Army providing about 28,000 troops and 13,000 vehicles, mostly centred on 1 (UK) Armoured Division. After air operations ended, the land campaign against Iraq began on 24 February. 1st Armoured Division took part in the left-hook attack that helped destroy many Iraqi units. The ground campaign had lasted just 100-hours, Kuwait being officially liberated on 27 February.^[144]

The British Army has also played an increasingly prominent role in peacekeeping operations, gaining much respect for its comparative expertise in the area. In 1992, during the

The early 21st century saw the world descend into a new war after the

See also

Notes

Sources

• Anderson, Fred (2001). Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766. Faber and Faber.
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• Asquith, Stuart (1981). New Model Army 1645-60 (illustrated ed.). Osprey. p. 3.
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• Bamford, Andrew. Sickness, Suffering, and the Sword: The British Regiment on Campaign, 1808–1815 (2013). excerpt
• Beckett, Ian F. W., and Keith Simpson. A Nation in Arms: A Social Study of the British Army in the First World War (1990)
• Bond, Brian, et al., Look To Your Front: Studies in the First World War (1999) 11 chapters by experts on noncombat aspects of First World War army.
• Bowman, Timothy, and Mark L. Connelly. The Edwardian Army: Recruiting, Training, and Deploying the British Army, 1902–1914 (Oxford UP, 2012). DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199542789.001.0001 online
• Carver, Michael. Seven Ages of the British Army (1984) Covers 1900 to 1918
• Cassidy, Robert M (2006). Counterinsurgency and the Global War on Terror: Military Culture and Irregular War. Greenwood Publishing Group.
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• Chandler, David, ed. The Oxford History of the British Army (1996) online
• Chappell, Mike (2003). The British Army in World War I: The Western Front 1914-16. Osprey Publishing.
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• Chartrand, René (2008). American Loyalist Troops 1775-84. Osprey Publishing.
  ISBN 978-1-84603-314-8
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• Churchill, Winston S. (1956). A History Of The English Speaking Peoples. Vol. 2 The New World (Chartwell ed.). London: The Educational Book Company.
• Curtis, Edward E. The Organization of the British Army in the American Revolution (Yale U.P. 1926) online
• Ensor, (Sir) Robert (1936). England: 1870–1914. (The Oxford History of England, Volume XIV) (Revised, 1980 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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• Ferguson, Niall (2004). Colossus: The Price of America's Empire. Penguin.
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• Glover, Richard (1973). Britain at Bay: Defence Against Bonaparte, 1803–14. Historical problems: Studies and documents. Vol. 20. George Allen and Unwin Ltd.
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• Grant, Charles; Youens, Michael (1972). Royal Scots Greys. Osprey Publishing.
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• Jones, Spencer (2013). From Boer War to World War: Tactical Reform of the British Army, 1902-1914. University of Oklahoma Press.
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• Le Mesurier, Havilland (1801). The British Commissary: in two parts. A system for the British Commissariat on Foreign Service. C Roworth.
• Mallinson, Allan (2009). The Making of the British Army. Bantam Press.
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• Nester, William R. Titan: The Art of British Power in the Age of Revolution and Napoleon (2016)
• O'Brien, Brendan (1995). The Long War: The IRA and Sinn Féin, 1985 to today. Syracuse University Press.
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• Parker, John (2005). The Gurkhas: The Inside Story of the World's Most Feared Soldiers. Headline Book Publishing Publishing.
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• Reid, Stuart (2002). Culloden Moor 1746: The Death of the Jacobite Cause. Campaign series. Vol. 106. Osprey Publishing.
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• Royal Scots Greys (1840). Historical record of the Royal regiment of Scots dragoons: now the Second, or Royal North British dragoons, commonly called the Scots greys, to 1839. p. 56-57.
• Simkins, Peter. Kitchener's Army: The Are raising of New Armies, 1914–16 (1988)
• Taylor, AJP (1976). The Second World War: An Illustrated History. Penguin books.
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• Taylor, Peter (1997). Provos The IRA & Sinn Féin. Bloomsbury Publishing.
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• Willmott, H P; Kindersley, Dorling (2008). First World War. Dorling Kindersley.
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• Winter, Denis. Death's Men: Soldiers of the Great War (1978)

Primary sources

• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Colburn, H. (December 1860), "French view of our military institutions: The English Army", The United Service Magazine, Part 3 (385): 566–567

Further reading

• Barnett, Correlli. Britain and Her Army, 1509–1970: A Military, Political and Social Survey (1970), a standard scholarly history; 525pp
• Chandler, David, and Ian Beckett, eds. The Oxford History of the British Army (2003). excerpt; Illustrated edition published as The Illustrated Oxford History of the British Army
• Firth, C.H. Cromwell's Army (1902) online
• Fortescue, John William. History of the British Army from the Norman Conquest to the First World War (1899–1930), in 13 volumes with six separate map volumes. Available online for downloading; online volumes; The standard highly detailed full coverage of operations.
• French, David. Army, Empire, and Cold War: The British Army and Military Policy, 1945–1971 (2012).
• French, David. Military Identities: The Regimental System, the British Army, and the British People c.1870–2000 (2008).
• French, David. Raising Churchill's Army: The British Army and the War against Germany 1919–1945 (2001).
• Haswell, Jock, and John Lewis-Stempel. A Brief History of the British Army (2017).
• Higham, John, ed. A Guide to the Sources of British Military History (1972) 654 pages excerpt
• Holmes, Richard. Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket (HarperCollins
  ISBN 0-00-653152-0
  )
• Holmes, Richard. Tommy: The British Soldier on the Western Front (Perennial
  ISBN 0-00-713752-4
  )
• James, Lawrence. Warrior Race: A History of the British at War (2004) online edition
• LeClair, Daniel R. The British Military Revolution of the 19th Century: The Great Gun Question and the Modernization of Ordnance and Administration (McFarland, 2019) online review
• Noakes, Lucy. Women in the British Army: War and the Gentle Sex, 1907–1948 (2006) excerpt
• Reece, Henry. The Army in Cromwellian England: 1649–1660 (Oxford University Press, 2013). xv, 267 pp.
• White, Arthur S. Bibliography of Regimental Histories of the British Army (Naval and Military Press
  ISBN 1-84342-155-0
  )
• The British Army Handbook: The Definitive Guide by the MoD (Brassey's Ltd
  ISBN 1-85753-393-3
  )

External links

• The National Archives of Scotland: Doing research. Guides. Military records.
• The Age of George III: Ireland in the American War (1776-83). Mentions Anglo-Irish militarism, & enlistment of Catholics.
• History In Focus:The British Isles and the War of American Independence
• Britain's Small Wars
• National Army Museum
• The Long, Long Trail
• Royal Engineers Museum – Royal Engineers History
• Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library Military history and graphics
• SaBRE

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