Why the British Army?

cyrusdvirus

No, not another joining up thread, and not another Paddy the Mercenary Thread, but it IS a thread that from what I can remember has been answered before, however I'm sitting on a ferry and posting on a blackberry, so the dearch function is somewhat limited

Anyway, I'm on my way to the UK for a wedding, where the groom is a published military historian, and no doubt there will be others there as well. I'm trying to remember why the British Army is the British Army and not the Royal Army, same as the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. I remember a post on here quite some time ago mentioning something about a mutiny or similar event, but cannot remember any details.

Can anyone help me out with this?

getz

gatecrash wrote: »

No, not another joining up thread, and not another Paddy the Mercenary Thread, but it IS a thread that from what I can remember has been answered before, however I'm sitting on a ferry and posting on a blackberry, so the dearch function is somewhat limited

Anyway, I'm on my way to the UK for a wedding, where the groom is a published military historian, and no doubt there will be others there as well. I'm trying to remember why the British Army is the British Army and not the Royal Army, same as the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. I remember a post on here quite some time ago mentioning something about a mutiny or similar event, but cannot remember any details.

Can anyone help me out with this?

the british army consists of ,the general staff and the deployable field army and the regional forces that support them,as well as joint elements that work with the royal airforce and royal navy. the [field] army is so big that only individual regiments will have royal attached to them,or other such :queen own; ect

fbrophy

It has to do with Cromwell and the English civil war. The winner, Mr. Cromwell created the New Model Army form which the British Army traces it routes from.

There is a hell of a lot more detail in the story but that is the simple answer. Its also why the Royal Navy is called the Senior Service.

getz

fbrophy wrote: »

It has to do with Cromwell and the English civil war. The winner, Mr. Cromwell created the New Model Army form which the British Army traces it routes from.

There is a hell of a lot more detail in the story but that is the simple answer. Its also why the Royal Navy is called the Senior Service.

olivers army had a air force [bombing pigeons]

cruasder777

fbrophy wrote: »

It has to do with Cromwell and the English civil war. The winner, Mr. Cromwell created the New Model Army form which the British Army traces it routes from.

There is a hell of a lot more detail in the story but that is the simple answer. Its also why the Royal Navy is called the Senior Service.

Thats not actually true,the Household division, the most senior in the BA traces its lineage back to Charles II who fought Cromwell and were his bodyguards.

Some English regiments fought on Cromwells side, other against him.

Royal is simply reserved as a title to be earned by individual regiments.


Origins

The British Army came into being with the merger of the Scottish Army and the English Army, following the Acts of Union 1707 and the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.


The English Army existed while England was an independent state and was at war with other states, but it was not until the Interregnum and the New Model Army (raised by Parliament to defeat the Royalists in the English Civil War) that England acquired a peace time professional standing army. At the restoration of the monarchy Charles II kept a small standing army, formed from elements of the Royalist army in exile and elements of the New Model Army, from which the most senior regiments of the today's British Army can trace their antecedence.


..............There you go, most regiments trace their lineage back to Charles II and fought against Cromwell, others like the Coldstream Guards and Chester regiment were raised by Cromwell.

tac foley

cruasder777 wrote: »

..............There you go, most regiments trace their lineage back to Charles II and fought against Cromwell, others like the Coldstream Guards and Chester Cheshire rRegiment were raised by Cromwell.

Fixed it for ya'.

tac