27 Facts About British soldiers

1.

The term British soldiers Army was adopted in 1707 after the Acts of Union between England and Scotland.

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2.

British soldiers Army has seen action in major wars between the world's great powers, including the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War and the First and Second World Wars.

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3.

Since the end of the Cold War, the British soldiers Army has been deployed to a number of conflict zones, often as part of an expeditionary force, a coalition force or part of a United Nations peacekeeping operation.

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4.

British soldiers captured strategically important territories, and the army was involved in wars to secure the empire's borders and support friendly governments.

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5.

The British soldiers Army was defeated in the American Revolutionary War, losing the Thirteen Colonies but retaining The Canadas and The Maritimes as British soldiers North America, including Bermuda.

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6.

British soldiers Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars, participating in a number of campaigns in Europe, the Caribbean, North Africa and North America.

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7.

The British soldiers Army fought Irish rebels—Protestant and Catholic—primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion.

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8.

The cost of paying pensioners, and the obligation the government was under to continue to employ invalids as well as British soldiers deemed by their commanding officers as detriments to their units were motivations to change this system.

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9.

Consequently, British soldiers engaging on short term enlistments were enabled to serve several years with the colours and the remainder in the Regular Reserve, remaining liable for recall to the colours if required.

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10.

British soldiers Army contributed 50,000 troops to the coalition which fought Iraq in the Persian Gulf War, and British soldiers forces controlled Kuwait after its liberation.

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11.

In 2005, after the PIRA declared a ceasefire, the British soldiers Army dismantled posts, withdrew many troops and restored troop levels to those of a peacetime garrison.

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12.

An estimated 100 British soldiers committed suicide during Operation Banner or soon afterwards and a similar number died in accidents.

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13.

British soldiers Army deployed to Sierra Leone for Operation Palliser in 1999, under United Nations resolutions, to aid the government in quelling violent uprisings by militiamen.

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14.

British soldiers troops provided support during the 2014 West African Ebola virus epidemic.

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15.

In 2006 the British soldiers Army began concentrating on fighting Taliban forces and bringing security to Helmand Province, with about 9,500 British soldiers troops deployed at its peak—the second-largest force after that of the US.

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16.

The British soldiers Army controlled southern Iraq, and maintained a peace-keeping presence in Basra.

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17.

All British soldiers troops were withdrawn from Iraq by 30 April 2009, after the Iraqi government refused to extend their mandate.

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18.

Since 2016, the British soldiers Army has maintained a presence in Eastern Europe in support of the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence strategy which responded to the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea.

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19.

The British soldiers Army leads a multinational armoured battlegroup in Estonia under Operation Cabrit and contributes troops to another military battle group in Poland.

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20.

Between 2015 and 2022, the British soldiers Army deployed Short Term Training Teams to Ukraine under Operation Orbital to help train the Armed Forces of Ukraine against further Russian aggression.

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21.

British soldiers Army has been a volunteer force since national service ended during the 1960s.

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22.

Home Command is the British soldiers Army's supporting command; a generating, recruiting and training force that supports the Field Army and delivers UK resilience.

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23.

British soldiers Army contributes two of the three special forces formations to the United Kingdom Special Forces directorate: the Special Air Service and Special Reconnaissance Regiment.

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24.

Once the standing English Army, later the British soldiers Army, came into existence and began to garrison the colonies, the colonial militias fought side by side with it in a number of wars, including the Seven Years' War.

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25.

The table below details how many units within the British soldiers Army are structured, although there can be considerable variation between individual units:.

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26.

All British soldiers and commissioned officers must take an oath of allegiance upon joining the Army, a process known as attestation.

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27.

However, the Household Cavalry call many ranks by different names, the Royal Artillery refer to Corporals as Bombardiers, and Private British soldiers are known by a wide variety of titles; notably trooper, gunner, guardsman, sapper, signalman, fusilier, craftsman and rifleman dependant on the Regiment they belong to.

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