HMForces

The Parachute Regiment was formed in 1942 on the direction of Winston Churchill. The Parachute Regiment is the Airbourne Infantry element of 16 Air Assault Brigade. Training and selection (Pre Parachute Selection Course [P Company]) is rigorous and exacting as befits the requirement of such an elite Regiment. On airborne operations the Regiment would operate with minimal or no support behind ...

REME was formed in 1942 in response to the difficulties in maintaining and servicing the increasingly technological weapons and kit in the Second World War. REME is responsible for the serviceability of equipment ranging from small arms and wheeled vehicles to helicopters and main battle tanks. [photo:20045] All Regiments and Battalions have their own REME support structure. The size of the ...

The British Army has a long and distinguished history, not to mention a very complicated hierarchy for the Regiments and Corps. This section summarises the history and the functions of the different aspects of the modern British Army. Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment Combat Arms Combat Arms are those who close with, assault and defeat the enemy. Royal Armoured Corps Infantry The ...

The Intelligence Corps was originally formed in 1914 and consisted of officers and their servants. However, this was disbanded in 1929 only to be re-created in 1940. In February 1985 The Corps was officially declared a Combat Support Arm thus removing it from the Combat Service list. [photo:20028] The Intelligence Corps is very important in the modern military scene providing counter-intelligence ...

The Royal Corps of Signals originates from the Telegraph Battalion Royal Engineers who were formed in 1884 and set up Telegraph lines in the Nile and Ashanti Campaigns and the Boer War. In World War One Despatch Riders and ‘wireless sets’ were used with The Royal Corps of Signals being formed in 1920. [photo:20015] The Corps is at the ‘cutting edge’ ...

The Royal Gurkha Rifles HQ The Brigade of Gurkhas is located at Netheravon, Wiltshire and is responsible for the administration of all units within the Brigade. In the main Gurkha units are located in UK with the exception of the 1st Bn which is located in Brunei and British Gurkhas Nepal. The Royal Gurkha Rifles The Regiment consists of the ...

The Rifles were formed in 2007 by the amalgamation of the four Light Infantry and Rifle Regiments of the Light Division: The Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry; The Light Infantry; The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry and The Royal Green Jackets. The Rifles recruit from a wide range of counties: Berkshire; Buckinghamshire; Cornwall; Devonshire; Dorset; Durham; Gloucestershire; Oxfordshire; Shropshire; ...

The Army Air Corps can trace its history back to 1878 when gas filled manned tethered observation balloons were purchased by the military. The Corps developed to its current state through the Royal Flying Corps of the First World War to the famous Glider Pilot Regiment and Air Observation Squadrons of World War 2. In 1957 The Army Air Corps was ...

The Adjutant General's Corps has responsibility for looking after many of the general administrative services within the Army. The Corps was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of the Corps of Royal Military Police (RMP), Royal Army Pay Corps (RAPC), Women’s Royal Army Corps (WRAC), Army Legal Services (ALS), Royal Army Education Corps (RAEC) and the Military Provost Staff Corps (MPSC). ...

The Army Physical Training Corps can trace its origins back to 1860. Originally named the Army Gymnastic Staff the APTC gained its current status in 1940. The Corps is responsible for all aspects of physical education and fitness of personnel serving in The British Army as well as providing Remedial Gymnasts to work in Military Rehabilitation Centres. The Corps does not ...

The Royal Regiment of Scotland was formed in March 2006. The Regiment initially consisted of 6 Regular Battalions but on 1st August 2006 the Battalions of the Royal Scots and Kings Own Scottish Borderers were amalgamated to form the 1st Battalion Royal Scots Borderers thus reducing the regular roll of the Royal Regiment of Scotland to 5 Battalions. The Regiment has ...

The Regiments of The King’s Division recruit from a specific parts of the North of England. West of the Pennines The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment recruits from North and South Lancashire and from Manchester and Liverpool while The Yorkshire Regiment recruits from the Ridings. The Regiments of the King’s Division serve all over the world in a variety of roles from ...

The Queens Division consists of three Regiments, The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (PWRR), The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (RRF) and The Royal Anglian Regiment (R ANGLIAN). The Regiments recruit from London and the counties of the South East (PWRR), East Anglia (R ANGLIAN) and Warwickshire, Lancashire and Northumberland (RRF) with each Regiment identifying closely with its traditional recruiting area. The ...

The Prince of Wales Division recruit from Wales, The West Midlands, Cheshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire. The Regiments of the Prince of Wales Division have a wide variety of roles including employment in the Armoured and Mechanised Infantry and Light Roles. [photo:19947] The Mercian Regiment The Mercian Regiment consists of the following Battalions: Regular Battalions 1st Bn The Mercian Regiment ...

The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling) 83rd and 87th and The Ulster Defence Regiment) was formed in 1992 through the amalgamation of the Royal Irish Rangers and the Ulster Defence Regiment. It originally had eleven battalions including seven Northern Irish Resident battalions for ‘home service’. These were disbanded when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) announced an end to their armed ...

The use of animals for military purposes can be traced back some 5,000 years. Horses were used to pull chariots and wagons and carry soldiers – better known as cavalry. Horses came in many different types and sizes and how they were used depended very much on the type of warfare. The type of horse used depended very much on whether ...

There are approximately 500 horses serving in the British Army. They are predominantly used for ceremonial purposes with the majority of them serving in the following units: • Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (HCMR). • Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery. Horses are used on Royal and State occasions including the provision of the Sovereigns Escort for the annual Queen’s Birthday Parade. There ...

Dogs are ‘recruited’ into the military in many ways. Some have been abandoned or left for dead by their owners with others found tied to lampposts or thrown out of cars and rescued from neglect. Many dogs are handed into Dog Rescue Centre’s because their owners can no longer manage to keep them for a variety of reasons. It is these ...

The SASC was formed in 1854 as the School of Musketry when weapons improved to the point that reasonable accuracy could be achieved by trained soldiers. It was in 1919 that it was retitled The Small Arms School and in 1929 was granted the title of The Small Arms School Corps. The Small Arms School Corps is one of the smallest ...

The Corps of Army Music was formed in 1994 following The Options for Change Review. The Corps consists of 22 regular bands and The Band of The Brigade of Gurkhas with The Corps being centred on the Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall, Twickenham. The primary role of The Corps is to provide music of a high quality to ...