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77-509: Hence the battle honour "North-West Europe" was awarded to any unit involved in land, sea and air campaigns and operations in, over or near Belgium , Denmark , France , Germany , Luxembourg , Netherlands , Norway and the United Kingdom during World War II . It includes many more specific campaigns and/or battle honours. The battle honour " North-West Europe campaign of 1940 , was awarded to some army units that were involved in

154-416: A battle honour board. This is usually a solid wooden board (traditionally teak ) mounted on the ship's superstructure, carved with the ship's badge and scrolls naming the ship and the associated honours, and either left completely unpainted, or with the lettering painted gold. The size of the board and number of scrolls is dependent on the number of honours earned by a ship and her predecessors, although it

231-723: A battle honour for the ships that served in the Vietnam War, then moved to a completely independent system before 1993, to avoid HMAS  Newcastle (named for the city of Newcastle, New South Wales ) inheriting the battle honours of Royal Navy ships named Newcastle . The Royal Canadian Navy began displaying battle honours in the 1950s, but after the Unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968, new units entering service would only carry those honours earned by Canadian ships. The earliest recorded naval battle honour

308-501: A battle honour, such as École polytechnique 's Pour la Patrie, les sciences et la gloire ('for Fatherland, sciences and glory') in addition to the "true" battle honour Paris, 1814 . During the 19th century, honours were limited to eight on a regiment's flag, leading to the removal of some honours to make room for newer ones. This limitation was upped to twelve honours after the Second World War. Some units, such as

385-466: A battle or campaign, or those for single-ship actions . Honours for battles take their name from the location of the battle, while honours for actions are named for the opposing ship. These are rendered differently, in order to distinguish between the two types and to limit confusion between battle honours with the same name (for example, between the multi-ship Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781, and

462-531: A certain number of honours (up to ten each for the First and Second World Wars) could be selected for emblazonment , that is appear on colours or drums. This was due to the large number of battle honours awarded. It is often the case that battle honours not carried on the colours (limited by space and design) will be emblazoned on the drum major's baldric. While regimental colours and guidons are no longer carried on operations by British and Commonwealth military, as

539-418: A cost of £122,000 paid out of his regular budget. This became the foundation of the permanent British Army. By 1685 it had grown to 7,500 soldiers in marching regiments, and 1,400 men permanently stationed in garrisons. The Monmouth Rebellion in 1685 provided James II with a pretext to increase the size of the force to 20,000 men, and there were 37,000 in 1688, when England played a role in the closing stage of

616-623: A large standing army, comparing it, mischievously, to a standing penis : "An excellent assurance of domestic tranquility, but a dangerous temptation to foreign adventure." After the Battle of Bladensburg in 1814, during the War of 1812 , in which the Maryland and Virginia militias were soundly defeated by the British Army, President James Madison commented, "I could never have believed so great

693-515: A military campaign. These honours usually take the form of a place and a date (e.g. " Cambrai 1917 "). Theatre honours , a type of recognition in the British tradition closely allied to battle honours, were introduced to honour units which provided sterling service in a campaign but were not part of specific battles for which separate battle honours were awarded. Theatre honours could be listed and displayed on regimental property but not emblazoned on

770-560: A part of the wider variety of distinctions which serve to distinguish military units from each other. For the British Army , the need to adopt a system to recognise military units' battlefield accomplishments was apparent since its formation as a standing army in the later part of the 17th century. Although the granting of battle honours had already been in place at the time, it was not until 1784 that infantry units were authorised to bear battle honours on their colours . Before then,

847-404: A regiment's colours were practical tools for rallying troops in the battlefield and not quite something for displaying the unit's past distinctions. The first battle honour to be awarded in the British Army was granted to the 15th Hussars for the Battle of Emsdorf in 1760. Thereafter, other regiments received battle honours for some of their previous engagements. The earliest battle honour in

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924-667: A reward for service. The first modern standing armies on European soil during the Middle Ages were the Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire , which were formed in the 14th century under Sultan Murad I . The first Christian standing army since the fall of the Western Roman Empire to be paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established by King Charles VII of France in the 1430s while

1001-512: A ship are inherited by all subsequent warships of the same name. Battle honours for Commonwealth warships were initially awarded and controlled by the British Admiralty , under the "Commonwealth Battle Honours List". Warships of Commonwealth navies would also inherit the honours of any preceding British warship of the name. Commonwealth navies later moved to independent but parallel systems. Australia began moving away by instituting

1078-711: A standing army to Parliament, not the king. In his influential work The Wealth of Nations (1776), economist Adam Smith comments that standing armies are a sign of modernizing society, as modern warfare requires the increased skill and discipline of regularly trained standing armies. In the British Thirteen Colonies in America, there was a strong distrust of a standing army not under civilian control. The U.S. Constitution in ( Article 1, Section 8 ) limits federal appropriations to two years, and reserves financial control to Congress, instead of to

1155-639: A standing army, enabling them to effectively control other city states and spread their influence. Unlike the Western Zhou, the Eastern Zhou initially did not have a standing army. Instead they drafted militias from around 150 city states. While the Eastern Zhao did not initially maintain a standing army, the state of Jin became the first to do so in 678 BCE. The first professional army in China

1232-492: Is Valmy, 1792 , the last one to date is Koweït, 1991 . The honours are sewn in gold letters on the regiment's flag or standard under the form battle name, date (such as Austerlitz, 1805 ). In some cases, the honour refers to a whole conflict and take the form geographical designation, date (such as AFN, 1952–1962 ) or simply war, date (such as Grande guerre, 1914–1918 ). Some military schools and academies have their motto sewn on their flags as

1309-580: Is ARMADA 1588, the defeat of the Spanish Armada at Gravelines by a combined British-Dutch fleet. Because of the significant number of ships sunk during World War I and World War II , only three battle honours have been awarded for single-ship actions since the start of the 20th century: to the Town-class cruiser HMAS  Sydney for sinking the German light cruiser SMS  Emden during

1386-559: Is common for blank scrolls to be included in a design. Other designs are also in use: these include plaques for the ship and honours mounted on a backing board, or the details painted onto a flat board. The British Admiralty set honour board sizes for various types of ship: 10 by 6 feet (3.0 by 1.8 m) for capital ships and shore bases, 6 by 5 feet (1.8 by 1.5 m) for cruisers and large auxiliary ships, 4 by 3 feet (1.22 by 0.91 m) for all other surface ships, and 21 by 17 inches (53 by 43 cm) for submarines (the size restriction

1463-445: Is no order of precedence for battle honours, they are listed in chronological order, either in a single list, or in multiple even numbers of columns, reading left to right, and top to bottom. On drums, the honours are listed on scrolls, usually with the cap badge central, and other unit devices present (such as a representation of a unit distinction or motto). The honours for the First and Second World Wars were restricted in that only

1540-668: Is not required to earn a battle honour: the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps received the battle honour "Hong Kong" despite the defeat and capture of most of the force during the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong , while the cruiser HMAS  Sydney was awarded the naval engagement honour " Kormoran 1941" after being sunk with all aboard by the German raider Kormoran . Supporting corps/branches such as medical, service, ordnance, or transport do not currently receive battle honours. However, and uniquely

1617-513: Is so the board can be moved through the submarine's hatches, as it is only displayed when the submarine is on the surface). Two educational institutions have been awarded battle honours. La Martinere College in Lucknow , India was awarded a battle honour, Defence of Lucknow 1857 , for the role played by its students and teachers during the mutiny of 1857. McGill University in Canada received

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1694-783: The Indian Army continued after independence in 1947 and these honours continue to be listed against a regiment's achievements. Battle honours, but not theatre honours, are permitted to be emblazoned on the President's Colours , which have replaced the King's colours after independence. Battle honour days are celebrated by a few units or regiments. Present battle honour days however pertain to battles for which honours have been won post-independence. Some battle honours, granted prior to independence to units for battles or campaigns in India against

1771-510: The 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment , have been awarded more than twelve honours, but their flag displays only the twelve considered the most important in the history of the regiment. Other units, such as the 1st Marine Infantry Regiment , have been granted a dispensation allowing them to emblazon all their battle honours, regardless of their number. In addition to battle honours, military units can be awarded collective military decorations and collective mentions-in-dispatches , leading eventually to

1848-730: The Battle of Alexandria in 1801. Knowledge of that battle honour, represented by the back badge, is said to have encouraged the soldiers of the Gloucestershire Regiment in the defence of Gloster Hill during the Battle of the Imjin River in April 1951 during the Korean War . Other uniform distinctions include: Subject to approval by the sovereign, awards made by other allied nations may be permitted to be worn or carried. For example, several units have been awarded

1925-748: The Battle of Cocos in November 1914 ('Emden' 1914), to the Commonwealth warships involved in the pursuit and last battle of the German battleship  Bismarck in May 1941 ('Bismarck' 1941), and to the Leander -class cruiser HMAS  Sydney for the mutually destructive engagement with the German auxiliary cruiser  Kormoran in November 1941 ('Kormoran' 1941). As warships do not carry regimental colours , battle honours are instead displayed on

2002-910: The Battle of France , and was restricted to the Belgian and French Channel ports. During this campaign, the French Army was responsible for the rest of the Western Front from Luxembourg to Switzerland, much of which was defended by the Maginot Line . The first campaign ended for the British forces with the defeat of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and its evacuation from the beaches of Dunkirk . Between 1940 and 1944, Commonwealth army units conducted coastal raids in German- Occupied Europe ,

2079-731: The Battle of Long Tan in the Vietnam War. Although awarded to D Company, it is carried on the 6th Battalion's Colours and worn on the uniform of all members of the battalion. The PUC was awarded to the 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment for its actions at the Battle of Imjin River in 1951, with the tradition continued by its successor, the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment , until its amalgamation into The Rifles . Naval battle honours are battle honours awarded to warships. There are two types of naval battle honours: those awarded to ships that participate in

2156-672: The Hundred Years' War was still raging. As he realized that France needed professional reliable troops for ongoing and future conflicts, units were raised by issuing "ordonnances" to govern their length of service, composition and payment. These compagnies d'ordonnance formed the core of the French gendarmes that dominated European battlefields in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. They were stationed throughout France and summoned into larger armies when needed. Provisions were also made for franc-archers and foot soldiers raised from

2233-743: The Mahajanapadas , which relied on paid professional soldiers year round. The most prominent of the Mahajanapadas was the Kingdom of Magadha . It is accepted that the first standing army of India was created in Maghada by the ruler Bimbisara . Under the reign of Augustus , the first Roman emperor , a standing professional army of the Roman Empire was gradually instituted, with regularized pay. This professional force of legionaries

2310-619: The Royal Logistic Corps has five battle honours inherited from its previous transport elements, such as the Royal Waggon Train . Commonwealth artillery does not maintain battle honours as they carry neither colours nor guidons—though their guns by tradition are afforded many of the same respects and courtesies. However, both the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers were in 1832 granted by King William IV

2387-595: The Royal Scots , the senior Scottish and British Regiment), for their protracted 23-year defence of the Colony of Tangier . The battle honour is still held by the successor regiment, the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment . During these early years of the British standing army, a regiment needed only to engage the enemy with musketry before it was eligible for a battle honour. However, older battle honours are carried on

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2464-674: The Songhai Empire under the Askia Mohammad I (1493–1528) possessed a full-time corps of 40,000 professional warriors. Al-Sa'di, the chronicler who wrote the Tarikh al-Sudan , compared Askia Mohammad I's army to that of his predecessor; "he distinguished between the civilian and the army unlike Sunni Ali [1464–92] when everyone was a soldier." Askia Mohammad I is said to have possessed cynical attitudes towards kingdoms that lacked professional armies like his, notably in reference to

2541-525: The capture of USS Chesapeake by HMS Shannon in 1813). In older sources and on battle honour boards, battles are written in all capitals, while actions are capitalised normally and surrounded by single quotation marks (CHESAPEAKE 1781 and 'Chesapeake' 1813). Newer sources display battles with normal capitalisation, and italicise actions in the same way ships' names are italicised; both may or may not be contained in double quotation marks ("Chesapeake 1781" and " Chesapeake 1813"). The battle honours awarded to

2618-587: The fourragère award. Prior to independence , battle honours were awarded to British Indian Army as part of the British military tradition. Awards prior to the takeover of the Presidency Armies by the Crown in 1858 were done by the Governor General in India or the respective Presidency government that the units belonged to. The practice of awarding battle honours and theatre honours to

2695-529: The landings in Normandy and ended on 4 May 1945 with Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery taking the German military surrender of all German forces in the Netherlands, north west Germany and Denmark on Lüneburg Heath , (situated between the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen). Battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon

2772-489: The 16th century to the first half of the 17th century. Although other powers adopted the tercio formation, their armies fell short of the fearsome reputation of the Spanish, whose core of professional soldiers gave them an edge that was hard for other states to match. Prior to the influence of Oliver Cromwell , England lacked a standing army, instead relying on militia organized by local officials, private forces mobilized by

2849-589: The 2nd Battalion of the Scots Guards were awarded two battle honours for their role in the Falklands War ; "Tumbledown Mountain" specifically for the Battle of Mount Tumbledown , and "Falkland Islands 1982" for the overall conflict. Similarly, while in Korea, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry earned both "Kapyong" (for the Battle of Kapyong ) and "Korea 1951–1953" (for the overall war). Victory

2926-643: The 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment received their awards for their actions at the Battle of Kapyong during the Korean War. Although their regiments carry the honour "Kapyong" as a whole, only these specific battalions are permitted to carry the PUC streamer that denotes the award by the United States and wear the ribbon on the uniform. D Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment were awarded their Presidential Unit Citation for their actions during

3003-485: The Black Army had an arquebus , which was an unusual ratio at the time. The high price of medieval gunpowder prevented them from raising it any further. The main troops of the army were the infantry, artillery and light and heavy cavalry. The function of the heavy cavalry was to protect the light armoured infantry and artillery, while the other corps delivered sporadic, surprise assaults on the enemy. In West Africa,

3080-666: The British Army is Tangier 1662–80, granted to the Tangier Horse (later known as the 1st Royal Dragoons), the oldest line cavalry regiment of the British army, who in 1969 amalgamated with the Royal Horse Guards to become The Blues and Royals. Also awarded the honour was the 2nd Regiment of Foot, or the Tangier Regiment now The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, the senior English regiment in the Union (after

3157-554: The Franco-Dutch War. In 1689, William III expanded the army to 74,000, and then to 94,000 in 1694. Nervous at the power such a large force afforded the king whilst under his personal command, Parliament reduced the cadre to 7,000 in 1697. Scotland and Ireland had theoretically separate military establishments, but they were de facto merged with the English force. The Bill of Rights 1689 officially reserved authority over

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3234-560: The French Croix de guerre 1914–1918 and Croix de guerre 1939–1945 , the ribbon of which can be worn on the uniform. The United States Presidential Unit Citation , as with other similar citations, is similarly worn on the uniform (usually on the arm), but is also carried on the colour or guidon of the unit it has been awarded to. In the Commonwealth, three units are permitted to carry this award on their Regimental Colour: The 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and

3311-590: The French army by forming standing infantry regiments to replace the militia structure. The first, the Régiments de Picardie, Piémont, Navarre and Champagne, were called Les Vieux Corps (The Old Corps). It was normal policy to disband regiments after a war was over to save costs. The Vieux Corps and the king's own household troops (the Maison militaire du roi de France ) were the only survivors. The Black Army , established in 1462 by Hungarian king, Matthias Hunyadi

3388-522: The President. The President, however, retains command of the armed forces when they are raised, as commander-in-chief . The Framers' suspicion of a standing army is reflected in the constitutional requirement that the appointment and promotion of high-ranking military officers (like civil officers) be confirmed by the Senate . At the 1787 Constitutional Convention , Elbridge Gerry argued against

3465-529: The RCMP received the honorary distinction of the badge of the Canadian Provost Corps , in recognition of the fact that the first Canadian military police unit was formed from volunteers from the RCMP. The Army Post Office Corps (APOC) was the first British Volunteer unit to be awarded a battle honour for their participation in the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War . The honour (Egypt 1882) was displayed on

3542-544: The Spartan army commonly consisted of helots (serfs), who considerably outnumbered the Spartiates , as well as numerous allies of Sparta. Philip II of Macedon instituted the first true professional Hellenic army, with soldiers and cavalrymen paid for their service year-round, rather than a militia of men who mostly farmed the land for subsistence and occasionally mustered for campaigns. The Western Zhou maintained

3619-413: The army. Battle honours are usually presented in the form of a name of a country, region, or city where the unit's distinguished act took place, usually together with the year when it occurred. Not every battle fought will automatically result in the granting of a battle honour. Conversely, a regiment or a battalion might obtain more than one battle honour over the course of a larger operation. For example,

3696-495: The authority of the Crown , but also because the colours contain a regiment's battle honours, and thus represent the regiment's history and its deeds. Saluting a colour or guidon is thus a pivotal act in retaining an awareness of regimental history and traditions—key in the functioning of the regimental system . It remains common for army instructors to ensure that their recruits have memorised and are able to recite all of their regiment's battle honours. Such methods are meant to bring

3773-486: The award for their contingent's bravery at Arras in 1917 during the First World War . The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , although a civilian police force, was awarded the status of a dragoon regiment by King George V following the service of many of its members during the First World War . As a consequence, it then became entitled to display the many honours it had won dating back to 1885: In addition,

3850-628: The battalion the Battle Honour "South Africa 1900-1902". They are permitted to wear a miniature KRRC cap badge with this single battle honour, and call their members " riflemen " rather than cadets. In France, battle honours, known officially as inscriptions des noms de batailles au drapeau (literally "inscriptions of names of battles on the flag"), were created during the Wars of the French Revolution . The first honour such awarded

3927-448: The butts of their spears (accordingly they are named “apple-bearers” by Heraclides Cumaeus ). In ancient Greece , the city-states' ( poleis ) armies were essentially drafted citizen militias. The exception was in ancient Sparta , which had a standing army that trained year-round (and not only in summertime). Through the 5th century, they comprised the only professional soldiers in ancient Greece, aside from hired mercenaries. However,

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4004-443: The civilian population only during a war or threat of war, and disbanded once the war or threat is over. Standing armies tend to be better equipped, better trained, and better prepared for emergencies, defensive deterrence, and particularly, wars. The term dates from approximately 1600, although the phenomenon it describes is much older. Sargon of Akkad , the founder of the  Akkadian Empire , is believed to have formed

4081-447: The colours. Since battle honours are primarily emblazoned on colours, artillery units, which do not have colours in the British military tradition, were awarded honour titles instead. These honour titles were permitted to be used as part of their official nomenclature, for example 13 Field Regiment (Chushul) . Similar honours in the same tenor include unit citations . Battle honours, theatre honours, honour titles and their ilk form

4158-500: The defence of Lucknow during the Mutiny of 1857 . In the honour of this institution, The President of India also launched a stamp post in its name. Standing army A standing army is a permanent, often professional, army . It is composed of full-time soldiers who may be either career soldiers or conscripts . It differs from army reserves , who are enrolled for the long term, but activated only during wars or natural disasters , and temporary armies, which are raised from

4235-484: The expansion of the Empire . Thus in 1882, a committee was formed to adjudicate applications of battle honour claims. This committee, later called the Battles Nomenclature Committee, still maintains its function in the British Army today. A battle honour may be granted to infantry / cavalry regiments or battalions , as well as ships (see Naval battle honours below) and squadrons ; they are rarely granted to sub-units such as companies , platoons and sections in

4312-418: The final approval of claims. The ceremonial granting of new battle honours would be made in the form of the presentation of new Regimental and Sovereign's Colours to the regiment by the British monarch or an agent of the Crown, such as the Governor General of a commonwealth dominion. In British and Commonwealth armies a unit's battle honours can normally be found engraved, painted or embroidered on: As there

4389-461: The first standing professional army. Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria (ruled 745–727 BC) created Assyria's first standing army. Tiglath-Pileser III disbanded militias and instead paid professional soldiers for their services. His army was composed largely of Assyrian soldiers but was supplemented with foreign mercenaries and vassal states. The standing army he created was the most sophisticated administrative and economic institution of its time, and

4466-413: The honorary colonel and lieutenant colonel . The regimental committee reviewed the report to determine which battle honours were claimable based on the unit's wartime service. The regiment submitted an application of claims to the army with evidence showing that the unit was worthy of the battle honours. Claims could also be made for actions not listed in the report. In Britain, public announcements followed

4543-428: The king or his representative, is called kāra in the inscriptions. At the heart of this army was its elite guard, The 10,000 Immortals . Herodotus describes that if any of these guardsmen drops out owing to death or disease, a substitute is immediately supplied and the number again filled. Thousands of these 10,000 guardsmen composed the royal bodyguards in the palace, their insignia were golden apples or pomegranates at

4620-446: The largest of which was the Dieppe raid of 1942. British Commonwealth air force units who served over Occupied Europe, between the fall of France and D-Day were awarded the battle honour " Fortress Europe 1940–1944." The battle honour North-West Europe campaign of 1944–45 , was typically awarded to units of the British Second Army and First Canadian Army , as elements of the British 21st Army Group . The campaign started with

4697-403: The local rulers or nationalist forces, have been declared as ' repugnant ' and are not celebrated or held in esteem. The earliest battle to be commemorated in the history of the British Indian Army was Plassey in 1757 which was awarded in 1829 vide Gazette of the Governor General No 43. La Martinière is the only school in the world to have been awarded royal battle honours for its role in

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4774-524: The name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military tradition, military units may be acknowledged for their achievements in specific wars or operations of a military campaign . In Great Britain and those countries of the Commonwealth which share a common military legacy with the British, battle honours are awarded to selected military units as official acknowledgement for their achievements in specific wars or operations of

4851-401: The neighboring kingdoms in the land of Borgu . The Majapahit thalassocracy was recorded by a Chinese observer as having 30,000 full-time professional troops, whose soldiers and commanders were paid in gold. This shows the existence of a standing army, an achievement that only a handful of Southeast Asian empires could hope to achieve. In addition to these professional soldiers, Majapahit

4928-427: The new soldier into the regimental ethos and sub-culture by means of imprinting shared history. In some cases where a battle honour was not granted, a special distinction has been substituted. For example, soldiers of The Rifles wear a cap badge on both the front and the rear of their hats. This so-called "back badge" is unique in the British Army and was awarded to the 28th Regiment of Foot for their actions at

5005-399: The nobility and hired mercenaries from Europe. This changed during the English Civil War , when Cromwell formed his New Model Army of 50,000 men. This professional body of soldiers proved more effective than untrained militia, and enabled him to exert control over the country. The army was disbanded by Parliament following the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, and the Cromwellian model

5082-561: The non-noble classes, but those units were disbanded at the end of the Hundred Years' War . The bulk of the infantry for warfare was still provided by urban or provincial militias, raised from an area or city to fight locally and named for their recruiting grounds. Gradually these units became more permanent, and in the 1480s, Swiss instructors were recruited and some of the 'bandes' (militia) were combined to form temporary 'legions' of up to 9,000 men. The men would be paid and contracted and would receive training. Henry II further regularised

5159-466: The regimental flag of 24 Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps ( Post Office Rifles ). The only cadet unit to receive a battle honour is 1st Cadet Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC). Around 100 older cadets, principally non-commissioned officers, served in the South African War with the KRRC, the City Imperial Volunteers and the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC). Four cadets were killed in action. In recognition of this service, King Edward VII granted

5236-452: The right to use the Latin " Ubique ", meaning everywhere , as a battle honour. This is worn on the cap badge of both the Corps of Royal Engineers and the Royal Regiment of Artillery (but not the Royal Horse Artillery ). Likewise the Royal Marines , although a colours-carrying service, was granted, along with the conventional battle honour of "Gibraltar" , the "Great Globe itself" by King George IV for its very numerous battle honours around

5313-404: The standards of the Yeomen of the Guard and the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms , neither of which are part of the army, but are instead the Sovereign's Bodyguard , in the personal service of the sovereign. The need to develop a centralised system to oversee the selection and granting of battle honours arose in the 19th century following the increase of British military engagements during

5390-467: The world. The practice was later extended to these same regiments and corps in the successor Commonwealth armed forces. The Battles Nomenclature Committee advised operational Army Headquarters on the granting of battle honours. At the end of the war, the army received a report from the committee containing: The army ordered regiments to form honours committees comprising at least five regimental officers, including past and present commanding officers, and

5467-442: Was established by the Qin dynasty in 221 BCE, which ushered Imperial China. Under the Qin dynasty, wars were fought by trained vocational soldiers instead of relying on temporary soldiers. In Ancient India , warfare was first attested during the Vedic period. However, warfare was primarily waged between various clans and kingdoms solely by the kshatriya class during times of conflict. True standing armies in India developed under

5544-410: Was expensive to maintain, but supported the authority of the empire, not only as combat troops but also as provincial police forces, engineers , and guards. Legionaries were citizen volunteers entitled to a discharge bounty upon 25 years of honorable service; supplementing the legions were the auxilia , auxiliary forces composed of non-citizens in the provinces who typically earned citizenship as

5621-472: Was initially considered a failure due to various logistical and political problems with the force. The Militia Act 1661 prohibited local authorities from assembling militia without the approval of the king, to prevent such a force being used to oppress local opponents. This weakened the incentive for local officials to draw up their own fighting forces, and King Charles II subsequently assembled four regiments of infantry and cavalry, calling them his guards, at

5698-578: Was strengthened by troops from subordinate countries and regional leaders. As was common in Southeast Asia, Majapahit also used a levy system, in fact, the majority of the Majapahit troops were a levy. The Spanish Empire tercios were the first Spanish standing units composed of professional soldiers. Their pike and shot composition assured predominance in the European battlefields from

5775-497: Was the engine of Assyrian economy which capitalized on warfare. Cyrus the Great formed the first professional army of Persia. The composition of the army varied and developed in the course of time. The empire's great armies were, like the empire itself, very diverse. Its standing army was composed of Persians (the bravest people of empire according to Herodotus) and Medes. This standing army, which may have been reviewed every year by

5852-420: Was the first Central/Eastern European standing army. However, while the Black Army was certainly the first standing field army in that part of Europe, Hungary in fact had maintained a permanent army in the form of garrisons of border fortresses since the 1420s. Matthias recognized the importance and key role of early firearms in the infantry, which greatly contributed to his victories. Every fourth soldier in

5929-415: Was their initial military function, the battle honours they carry are held in high esteem by military personnel. Regiments take pride in their battle honours, and the winning of further battle honours, as these are seen to enhance a unit's reputation. It remains a tradition that whenever military personnel meet a colour or guidon, it must be saluted. This is not only because it is an object which represents

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