1537 – The Overseers of the Fraternity or Guild of St George received a
royal charter from
Henry VIII on 25 August, when
letters patent were received authorising them to establish a perpetual corporation for the defence of the realm to be known as the Fraternity or Guild of Artillery of
Longbows,
Crossbows and
Handgonnes. This body was known by a variety of names since, but today is called the
Honourable Artillery Company, and is the oldest regiment in continuous service in the British Army.
1539 – The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineer Regiment is first mustered before becoming a militia force for the county of Monmouth. When the new Police was formed in the 19th century, the regiment switched to the Royal Engineers Reserve, becoming the
Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers Militia the senior regiment of the Reserve Army.
1572 – The Buffs were formed from London's urban militia to support the Protestants in Holland, where they remained until the outbreak of the Anglo-Dutch war in 1665, at which point they were disbanded for refusing the oath of loyalty to the Dutch States General. They fled to England and reformed as 'The Holland Regiment' in the British Army. The unit is now part of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.
1600–1699
1633 – The Royal Regiment of Foot (later the
Royal Scots) is placed on the Scottish Establishment, later becoming the oldest infantry regiment in the British Army.
1642 – Marquis of Argyll's Royal Regiment was raised by Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll for service in Ireland, renamed in 1650 Lyfe Guard of Foot and reformed as the Scottish Regiment of Foot Guards in 1661 (later the
Scots Guards).
1650 – George Monck's Regiment is formed (later the
Coldstream Guards), becoming the oldest infantry regiment in continuous service in the British Army but not under the monarch.
1656 – Lord Wentworth's Regiment is formed (later the
Grenadier Guards), later becoming the most senior infantry regiment in the British Army because of the long serving loyalty to the monarch during the English Civil War.
26 January 1661 –
King Charles II issues warrant, becoming the acknowledged beginning of the
British Army. This concerned an assemblage of English regiments and Scottish regiments brought south with Charles II. The British Army would not formally exist, however, for another 46 years, as Scotland and England remained two independent states, each with its own Army.
1 October 1661 – The Tangier Regiment is formed, later The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, the most senior English line infantry regiment in the British Army.
1746 –
Battle of Culloden, The British Army, made from Scottish,English and Irish soldiers and led by the
Duke of Cumberland, fights the last major battle on British mainland soil against French supported Scottish rebel Jacobites.
1751 – A numerical system is introduced into the Army, such as 1st Regiment of Foot, 2nd Regiment of Foot, etc.
1 July – The
First Day of the Somme begins; about 60,000 casualties are incurred, 20,000 of whom had been killed.
1917
28 July – The Heavy Branch of the Machine Gun Corps is split off to form the Tank Corps (later the
Royal Tank Regiment).[17]
8 November – About 200 men of the
Warwickshire Yeomanry and
Worcestershire Yeomanry charge with sabres drawn and defeat an Ottoman battery and a large group of Ottoman infantry at
Huj. It was one of the last cavalry charges by the British Army.
20 November – The
Battle of Cambrai begins; sees the first large-scale use of tanks.[18]
1919 – British Army takes part in Allied intervention during
Russian Civil War.
28 June 1920 – Winston Churchill as the Secretary of State for War signed the royal warrant which gave the sovereigns approval for the formation of a 'Corps of Signals'. Six weeks later in August, King George V conferred the title 'Royal Corps of Signals'.[20]
31 July 1922 – Six Irish regiments (5 infantry and one cavalry) are disbanded due to the establishment of the
Irish Free State.
30 April 2009 – British Army withdraws from Iraq,
Operation Telic continues mainly by Royal Navy personnel.
10 July 2009 – Five men from 9 Plt, C Coy,
2 RIFLES died and ten were wounded, over half of the entire patrol, in what was the worst casualty toll for a British foot patrol during the war in Afghanistan.[22]
Summer 2012 – British forces support the police and provide specialist capability during the
London 2012 Olympics.
16 March 2013 – L/Cpl James Ashworth, of the 1st Battalion,
Grenadier Guards is posthumeously awarded the
Victoria Cross.
October 2014 – British Army begins training Iraqi and Peshmerga forces to combat
ISIL as part of
Operation Shader.
^Richard M. Ketchum, Decisive Day: The Battle for Bunker Hill (1999).
^Barnet Schecter, The battle for New York: The city at the heart of the American Revolution (2003).
^Bruce Mowday, September 11, 1777: Washington's Defeat at Brandywine Dooms Philadelphia (White Mane Pub, 2002).
^Michael O. Logusz, With Musket and Tomahawk: The Saratoga Campaign and the Wilderness War of 1777 (Casemate Publishers, 2010).
^Jerome A. Greene, The Guns of Independence: The Siege of Yorktown, 1781 (Casemate Publishers, 2009).
^Nikolas Gardner, Trial by fire: Command and the British Expeditionary Force in 1914 (2003).
^Ian Beckett, Ypres: The First Battle 1914 (Routledge, 2013).
^Basil Henry Liddell Hart, The Tanks: The History of the Royal Tank Regiment and Its Predecessors, Heavy Branch, Machine-Gun Corps, Tank Corps, and Royal Tank Corps, 1914-1945 (1959).
^Robert Woollcombe, The First Tank Battle: Cambrai 1917 (Arthur Barker, 1967).
^Abigail Jacobson, From Empire to Empire: Jerusalem between Ottoman and British Rule (2011).
1537 – The Overseers of the Fraternity or Guild of St George received a
royal charter from
Henry VIII on 25 August, when
letters patent were received authorising them to establish a perpetual corporation for the defence of the realm to be known as the Fraternity or Guild of Artillery of
Longbows,
Crossbows and
Handgonnes. This body was known by a variety of names since, but today is called the
Honourable Artillery Company, and is the oldest regiment in continuous service in the British Army.
1539 – The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineer Regiment is first mustered before becoming a militia force for the county of Monmouth. When the new Police was formed in the 19th century, the regiment switched to the Royal Engineers Reserve, becoming the
Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers Militia the senior regiment of the Reserve Army.
1572 – The Buffs were formed from London's urban militia to support the Protestants in Holland, where they remained until the outbreak of the Anglo-Dutch war in 1665, at which point they were disbanded for refusing the oath of loyalty to the Dutch States General. They fled to England and reformed as 'The Holland Regiment' in the British Army. The unit is now part of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.
1600–1699
1633 – The Royal Regiment of Foot (later the
Royal Scots) is placed on the Scottish Establishment, later becoming the oldest infantry regiment in the British Army.
1642 – Marquis of Argyll's Royal Regiment was raised by Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll for service in Ireland, renamed in 1650 Lyfe Guard of Foot and reformed as the Scottish Regiment of Foot Guards in 1661 (later the
Scots Guards).
1650 – George Monck's Regiment is formed (later the
Coldstream Guards), becoming the oldest infantry regiment in continuous service in the British Army but not under the monarch.
1656 – Lord Wentworth's Regiment is formed (later the
Grenadier Guards), later becoming the most senior infantry regiment in the British Army because of the long serving loyalty to the monarch during the English Civil War.
26 January 1661 –
King Charles II issues warrant, becoming the acknowledged beginning of the
British Army. This concerned an assemblage of English regiments and Scottish regiments brought south with Charles II. The British Army would not formally exist, however, for another 46 years, as Scotland and England remained two independent states, each with its own Army.
1 October 1661 – The Tangier Regiment is formed, later The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, the most senior English line infantry regiment in the British Army.
1746 –
Battle of Culloden, The British Army, made from Scottish,English and Irish soldiers and led by the
Duke of Cumberland, fights the last major battle on British mainland soil against French supported Scottish rebel Jacobites.
1751 – A numerical system is introduced into the Army, such as 1st Regiment of Foot, 2nd Regiment of Foot, etc.
1 July – The
First Day of the Somme begins; about 60,000 casualties are incurred, 20,000 of whom had been killed.
1917
28 July – The Heavy Branch of the Machine Gun Corps is split off to form the Tank Corps (later the
Royal Tank Regiment).[17]
8 November – About 200 men of the
Warwickshire Yeomanry and
Worcestershire Yeomanry charge with sabres drawn and defeat an Ottoman battery and a large group of Ottoman infantry at
Huj. It was one of the last cavalry charges by the British Army.
20 November – The
Battle of Cambrai begins; sees the first large-scale use of tanks.[18]
1919 – British Army takes part in Allied intervention during
Russian Civil War.
28 June 1920 – Winston Churchill as the Secretary of State for War signed the royal warrant which gave the sovereigns approval for the formation of a 'Corps of Signals'. Six weeks later in August, King George V conferred the title 'Royal Corps of Signals'.[20]
31 July 1922 – Six Irish regiments (5 infantry and one cavalry) are disbanded due to the establishment of the
Irish Free State.
30 April 2009 – British Army withdraws from Iraq,
Operation Telic continues mainly by Royal Navy personnel.
10 July 2009 – Five men from 9 Plt, C Coy,
2 RIFLES died and ten were wounded, over half of the entire patrol, in what was the worst casualty toll for a British foot patrol during the war in Afghanistan.[22]
Summer 2012 – British forces support the police and provide specialist capability during the
London 2012 Olympics.
16 March 2013 – L/Cpl James Ashworth, of the 1st Battalion,
Grenadier Guards is posthumeously awarded the
Victoria Cross.
October 2014 – British Army begins training Iraqi and Peshmerga forces to combat
ISIL as part of
Operation Shader.
^Richard M. Ketchum, Decisive Day: The Battle for Bunker Hill (1999).
^Barnet Schecter, The battle for New York: The city at the heart of the American Revolution (2003).
^Bruce Mowday, September 11, 1777: Washington's Defeat at Brandywine Dooms Philadelphia (White Mane Pub, 2002).
^Michael O. Logusz, With Musket and Tomahawk: The Saratoga Campaign and the Wilderness War of 1777 (Casemate Publishers, 2010).
^Jerome A. Greene, The Guns of Independence: The Siege of Yorktown, 1781 (Casemate Publishers, 2009).
^Nikolas Gardner, Trial by fire: Command and the British Expeditionary Force in 1914 (2003).
^Ian Beckett, Ypres: The First Battle 1914 (Routledge, 2013).
^Basil Henry Liddell Hart, The Tanks: The History of the Royal Tank Regiment and Its Predecessors, Heavy Branch, Machine-Gun Corps, Tank Corps, and Royal Tank Corps, 1914-1945 (1959).
^Robert Woollcombe, The First Tank Battle: Cambrai 1917 (Arthur Barker, 1967).
^Abigail Jacobson, From Empire to Empire: Jerusalem between Ottoman and British Rule (2011).