ArmourArmour, from the effigy of Sir Richard Peyton, in Tong Church, Shropshire
ArmsandArmour. The former term is applied to weapons of offence, the latter to the various articles of defensive covering used in war and military exercises, especially before the introduction of gunpowder. Weapons of offence are divisible into two distinct sections—firearms, and arms used without gunpowder or other explosive substance. The first arms of offence would probably be wooden clubs, then would follow wooden weapons made more deadly by means of stone or bone, stone axes,slings, bows and arrows with heads of flint or bone, and afterwards various weapons of bronze. Subsequently a variety of arms of iron and steel was introduced, which comprised the sword, javelin, pike, spear or lance, dagger, axe, mace, chariot scythe, &c.; with a rude artillery consisting of catapults, ballistæ, and battering-rams. From the descriptions of Homer we know that almost all the Grecian armour, defensive and offensive, in his time was of bronze; though iron was sometimes used. The lance, spear, and javelin were the principal weapons of this age among the Greeks. The bow is not often mentioned. Among ancient nations the Egyptians seem to have been most accustomed to the use of the bow, which was the principal weapon of the Egyptian infantry. Peculiar to the Egyptians was a defensive weapon intended to catch and break the sword of the enemy. With the Assyrians the bow was a favourite weapon; but with them lances, spears, and javelins were in more common use than with the Egyptians. Most of the large engines of war—chariots with scythes projecting at each side from the axle, catapults, and ballistæ—seem to have been of Assyrian origin. During the historical age of Greece the characteristic weapon was a heavy spear from 21 to 24 feet in length. The sword used by the Greeks was short, and was worn on the right side. The Roman sword was from 22 to 24 inches in length, straight, two-edged, and obtusely pointed, and as by the Greeks was worn on the right side. It was used principally as a stabbing weapon. It was originally of bronze. The most characteristic weapon of the Roman legionary soldier, however, was thepilum, which was a kind of pike or javelin, some 6 feet or more in length. The pilum was sometimes used at close quarters, but more commonly it was thrown. The favourite weapons of the ancient Germanic races were the battle-axe, the lance or dart, and the sword. The weapons of the Anglo-Saxons were spears, axes, swords, knives, and maces or clubs. The Normans had similar weapons, and were well furnished with archers and cavalry. The cross-bow was a comparatively late invention introduced by the Normans. Gunpowder was not used in Europe to discharge projectiles till the beginning of the fourteenth century. Cannon are first mentioned in England in 1338, and there seems to be no doubt that they were used by the English at the siege of Cambrai in 1339. The projectiles first used for cannon were of stone. Hand fire-arms date from the fifteenth century. At first they required two men to serve them, and it was necessary to rest the muzzle on a stand in aiming and firing. The first improvement was the invention of the match-lock, about 1476; this was followed by the wheel-lock, and about the middle of the seventeenth century by the flint-lock, which was in universal use until it was superseded by the percussion-lock, the invention of a Scottish clergyman early in the nineteenth century. The needle-gun dates from 1838. The only important weapon not a fire-arm that has been invented since the introduction of gunpowder is the bayonet, which is believed to have been invented about 1650. SeeCannon,Musket,Rifle, &c.
Horse-armourHorse-armour of Maximilian I of Germanya, Chamfron.b, Manefaire.c, Poitrinal, poitrel, or breastplate.d, Croupiere or buttock-piece.
Chain ArmourChain Armour
Roman ArmourRoman Armour—Soldiers wearing Cuirass
Greek ArmourGreek Armour
Light Plate ArmourAllecret (Light Plate) Armour,A.D.1540
Some kind of defensive covering was probably of almost as early invention as weapons of offence. The principal pieces of defensive armour used by the ancients were shields, helmets, cuirasses, and greaves. In the earliest ages of Greece the shield is described as of immense size, but in the time of the Peloponnesian War (about 420B.C.) it was much smaller. The Romans had two sorts of shields: thescutum, a large oblong rectangularhighly-convex shield, carried by the legionaries; and theparma, a small round or oval flat shield, carried by the light-armed troops and the cavalry. In the declining days of Rome the shields became larger and more varied in form. The helmet was a characteristic piece of armour among the Assyrians, Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans. Like all other body armour it was usually made of bronze. The helmet of the historical age of Greece was distinguished by its lofty crest. The Roman helmet in the time of the early emperors fitted close to the head, and had a neck-guard and hinged cheek-pieces fastened under the chin, and a small bar across the face for a visor. Both Greeks and Romans wore cuirasses, at one time of bronze, but afterwards of flexible materials. Greaves for the legs were worn by both, but among the Romans usually on one leg. The ancient Germans had large shields of plaited osier covered with leather; afterwards their shields were small, bound with iron, and studded with bosses. The Anglo-Saxons had round or oval shields of wood, covered with leather, and having a boss in the centre; and they had also corselets, or coats of mail, strengthened with iron rings. The Normans were well protected by mail; their shields were somewhat triangular in shape, their helmets conical. In Europe generally metal armour was used from the tenth to the eighteenth century, and at first consisted of a tunic made of iron rings firmly sewn flat upon strong cloth or leather. The rings were afterwards interlinked one with another so as to form a garment of themselves, calledchain-mail. Another variety of this flexible armour was known asbanded-mail. This consisted of rings sewn upon a fabric foundation, the whole being covered with leather. In addition to this, 'scale armour', which had been in use from the very earliest periods of history, was still in common fashion in the thirteenth century. By degrees the suit of mail was reinforced by the addition of pieces of plate on the breast, knees, elbows, and arms, and by the end of the fourteenth century the full suit of plate had been evolved, the mail being only worn as a skirt round the waist or as a coif attached to the helmet. The golden age of plate armour is the middle of the fifteenth century, when the design was light and graceful, and at the same time fully protective. In the sixteenth century, when 'shock tactics' of cavalry were the order of the day, the 'war harness' became heavier. This was particularly noticeable in the armour for the joust or tournament, in which sport the aim of the contestants was to score points and not to inflict injury. Many of these jousting armours weigh over 80 lb. The weapons in use through the whole of the plate-armour period were the lance, the sword, the axe or war-hammer, the long-bow, and the cross-bow. The introduction of fire-arms in the fourteenth century was one of the causes which led to the increase of weight in armour, for the armourer was continually improving and strengthening his products to make them proof against musket and pistol, and he generally succeeded, but by doing so increased the weight till it became insupportable. In the seventeenth century leg armour was abandoned, and by the end of the civil war the popular defence was the steel cap and breastplate. In the eighteenth century armour entirely disappeared, except for ceremonial, and was thought to be entirely obsolete till it was revived in the recent war in the form of the steel shrapnel-helmet, which was favoured by all the Allies and also by the enemy. The German troops occasionally used heavy body armour. Daggers and clubs, weapons likewise thoughtto be obsolete, were frequently used by all combatants, especially on raids.—Bibliography: A. Hutton,The Sword of the Centuries; H. S. Cowper,The Art of Attack; C. ffoulkes,Armour and Weapons; C. H. Ashdown,British and Foreign Arms and Armour; C. Hall,Modern Weapons of War by Land.
Armstrong, John, Scottish poet and physician, born about 1709, died 1779. After studying medicine in Edinburgh he settled in London. In 1744 he published his chief work, theArt of Preserving Health, a didactic poem. This work raised his reputation to a height which his subsequent efforts scarcely sustained. In 1746 he became physician to a hospital for soldiers, and in 1760 he was appointed physician to the forces which went to Germany. After his return to London he published a collection of hisMiscellanies, which contained, however, nothing valuable. He afterwards visited France and Italy, and published an account of his tour under the name of Lancelot Temple. His last production was a volume ofMedical Essays.
Armstrong, William George, Lord, engineer and mechanical inventor, born at Newcastle-on-Tyne, 10th Nov., 1810. He was trained as a solicitor, and practised as such for some time. Among his early inventions were the hydro-electric machine, a powerful apparatus for producing frictional electricity, and the hydraulic crane. In 1847 the Elswick works, near Newcastle, were established for the manufacture of his cranes and other heavy iron machinery, and these works are now among the most extensive of their kind. Here the first rifled ordnance gun which bears his name was made in 1854. His improvements in the manufacture of guns and shells led to his being appointed engineer of rifled ordnance under Government, and he was knighted in 1858. This appointment came to an end in 1863, since which time his ordnance has taken a prominent place in the armaments of different countries. He was made a peer, as Baron Armstrong, in 1887. He died 27th Dec., 1900.
Armstrong Gun, a kind of cannon, so called from its inventor. It has an inner tube or core of steel, rifled with numerous shallow grooves, the tube being surrounded by a jacket of spirally-coiled bars of wrought iron, so disposed as to bring the metal into the most favourable position for the strain to which it is to be exposed. His first guns were small, but larger ones were soon made, and afterwards those of the very highest calibre. The breech-loading principle was also adopted in them, and special provision to effect this satisfactorily was invented by him. The improved shells introduced by him were of the elongated and pointed type now so well known, the charge being inserted in a special chamber behind the bore.
Army, a collection of bodies of men armed, disciplined, and organized for war. The essence of a modern army is that it shall be composed of organized units each under its own commander, grouped in formations of ever-increasing size, and owing allegiance through these commanders to one supreme head. Discipline and organization are essential, or such a force becomes merely a collection of armed men.
In the early days of our history every able-bodied man was, to a greater or lesser extent, a possible fighting man, and all had arms of one kind or another. Consequently, when an army was required, landowners and county authorities were ordered to provide the troops necessary. Every free landowner between the ages of sixteen and sixty was liable to service, which was limited to two months in a year. This was the Saxon 'fyrd' system. Later it was improved on by the institution of 'Thane's Service', which made it incumbent on the more considerable landowners to appear fully armed and mounted, and to serve for the whole campaign. The horse, however, was only used as a means of locomotion: for fighting purposes their riders dismounted, as did the dragoons of the seventeenth century and the mounted infantry of still more modern times. The fyrd was an unorganized and undisciplined force and entirely ephemeral in its nature, so that we find the Danish kings of England casting about for some more permanent force, which came into existence under the title of the 'House Carles', or Royal Guard. With the Norman Conquest the fyrd was largely supplanted by the feudal system of knight's service, according to which the country was divided into knight's fees, each of which had to provide its quotum of men. The gradual appearance of the custom of avoiding service by payments of money—in time regulated under the name of scutage—led to the employment of paid mercenaries, who for some two centuries were almost invariably foreigners. In the twelfth century it was found that sufficient troops could not be provided under these two systems, so the fyrd was re-established as a National Militia by the Assize of Arms, and in the next century further steps were taken to protect it under the Statute of Winchester. In the fourteenth century the archer, with his longbow, became a very important part of the fighting forces of England, and an army of those days consisted of the heavily-armed and armoured knights and men-at-arms for shock action, and the unarmoured archers for 'volley action', to use a later term. With the gradual disappearance of the foreign mercenaries, it became the custom for the king to issue indents to certain influential subjects for the raising of paid troops.From this custom arose the free companies, which, in time, became nothing more or less than commercial undertakings. The indents were accepted, and the men enlisted primarily for what could be got out of the business of fighting, either in the shape of ransom or the sack of towns. Some attempt was also made at tactical organization, and an army of the period was divided into vanguard, battle, and rearguard. Artillery also was beginning to be developed in Germany for siege purposes. The sixteenth century saw the first formation of companies into regiments, though as yet of no fixed strength. Arms were also modernized, and by the end of the century muskets, 18-feet pikes, and swords, were the arms of infantry instead of the varied assortment of halberds, pikes, muskets, harquebuses, and longbows common at the beginning. Elizabeth introduced the press-gang as an aid to recruiting, and abolished the white coat of the soldier in favour of a long red or blue cassock. In the next century Cromwell's new model army became the first standing army of England, and, though it was disbanded by Act of Parliament at the Restoration, one of its regiments—Monk's—remained, and is now the Coldstream Guards. After this regiments were raised from time to time on one pretext or another, and the nucleus of a standing army became afait accompli, though it was for a long time considered more as an appanage of the king than as a national institution. With the standing army came the first beginnings of civilian control, a Secretary-at-War being appointed in 1660. He had, however, no responsibility, and was subordinate to the commander-in-chief, and it was not till 1710 that he assumed his present responsibility to Parliament. During the eighteenth century the strength of the army rose or fell according to the state of the military barometer and the success or otherwise of the various recruiting expedients, among which was the first attempt at a short-service system in 1703. In 1871-2 the old numbering in regiments was abolished and a territorial designation substituted. According to this scheme, the first twenty-five regiments, all of which had already two battalions, were grouped together, the rest being joined arbitrarily to form new regiments under county designations. With these regiments were affiliated the militia and volunteer battalions, which have now been amalgamated into the Special Reserve and the Territorial Force.
For the requirements of the war of 1914-8 the Empire, as a whole, including India, raised and maintained a total of 8,654,467 men, of which the contribution of the United Kingdom was over 6,000,000. Casualties for the whole Empire were 3,060,616, of which the United Kingdom has for her share nearly 2,500,000, including 666,083 killed, 1,644,786 wounded, and 140,312 missing.
During 1918 the combatant strength of all arms of the British army in France fluctuated between 1,293,000 in March and 1,164,790 in November, while the rifle or infantry strength was from 616,000 to 416,748 during the same periods. From the date of the armistice to 31st Dec., 1919, the following number of demobilizations and discharges were effected:—
Demobilized.—Officers, 144,144; other ranks, 3,332,882.
Discharged as medically unfit.—Officers, 23,476; other ranks, 207,500.
Discharged from reserves.—Other ranks, 143,603.
The modern British army is governed by the Army Council (instituted 1904), presided over by the Secretary of State for War. This Council, which consists of five military and five civilian members, including the president, works through the War Office, of which the principal departments are in charge of one or other of the members of the Council. On the military side these departments are those of the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, the Adjutant-General to the Forces, the Quartermaster-General to the Forces, and the Master-General of the Ordnance. For administrative and training purposes the United Kingdom is divided into seven Commands and the London District. When necessary, Commands are further subdivided into Districts. The army, generally speaking, consists of (1) the Regular Army, (2) the Territorial Force, and (3) the Reserves. The service battalions, which formed such a large and important part of the army in the war, do not, properly speaking, form part of the permanent military forces, though the organization of the army as a whole is such that it is capable of expansion to any extent by the process of raising new battalions and affiliating them to existing regular or territorial units. The regular army comprises the Household Cavalry, Cavalry of the Line, the Royal Regiment of Artillery, the Corps of Royal Engineers, the Brigade of Guards, and Infantry of the Line. In addition there are administrative troops and services such as the Royal Army Service Corps, the Royal Army Medical Corps, with its allied service Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service, the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, and others. Other corps brought into existence during the war, such as the Tank and Machine-gun Corps, have at present no permanent status. In the future, however, machine-gun companies will form an integral portion of each battalion of the regular army.
Under the conditions of the war the old national method of voluntary recruitment wasfound to be insufficient, and recourse was had to the principle of universal military service. Under the Military Service Acts the age limit was gradually raised till it finally included all men up to the age of fifty. Exceptions were made in the case of munition-workers, or those employed on work of national importance. Since the signature of the Treaty of Peace the army so raised was gradually demobilized till, by 31st March, 1920, it had decreased to 400,000, including 100,000 Indians paid by the Imperial Government. Concurrently with demobilization, voluntary enlistment was reintroduced, and the post-war army is once more a voluntary one, in which men serve under very much improved conditions as to pay and prospects. The period of service under this system is twelve years, of which seven normally are with the colours and five in the reserve: in certain cases modifications of these periods are allowed, and, in addition, a soldier may be allowed to extend his colour service to the full twelve years, or, in exceptional cases, to complete twenty-one years for pension. Discharge or transfer to the reserve is ordinarily granted on completion of the agreed period of service. Pay of all ranks was very materially improved in 1919. Whereas formerly a private soldier on enlistment received 1s.a day, he now receives 2s.9d., and after two years' service 3s.6d.To this last amount is added, under very reasonable conditions, a further daily sum of 6d.proficiency pay. A sergeant now gets 7s.a day instead of from 2s.4d.to 3s.4d., and a regimental sergeant-major 14s.instead of 5s.or 6s.Add to these rates of pay free rations, free housing, free medical attendance, and, in the future, doubtless free education, and it must be admitted that the present-day soldier is not badly paid. The rate of pay is a flat rate for all arms, special allowances being given where necessary.
The Household Cavalry comprises the 1st and 2nd Life Guards and the Horse Guards (Blues). In peace-time they serve only in London and Windsor. They alone retain the old cavalry rank of corporal of horse instead of sergeant. Cavalry of the line consists of dragoon guards, dragoons, hussars, and lancers. The dragoon guards are numbered separately from 1 to 7, while dragoons, hussars, and lancers run consecutively from 1 to 21. A regiment of cavalry is commanded by a lieutenant-colonel and consists of 25 officers and 497 other ranks. Each regiment is organized in three squadrons commanded by majors, while a squadron is divided into four troops, each under a subaltern officer, troops being further subdivided into sections under non-commissioned officers. Cavalry regiments, except hussars, carry guidons or standards for ceremonial purposes. These differ from the colours of infantry in that they are not consecrated and are carried by non-commissioned officers instead of by officers. Hussars carry no standards. There are six cavalry depots for recruiting and preliminary-training purposes, i.e. for lancers at Woolwich, hussars at Scarborough, Bristol, and Dublin, and dragoons at Newport (Mon.) and Dunbar. The Cavalry Special Reserve consists of the Irish Horse and King Edward's Horse, and during the war reserve cavalry regiments were maintained.
The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises batteries of horse artillery designated by letters of the alphabet, and batteries of field, siege, heavy, and mountain by numbers. A battery, with some exceptions in the case of the heaviest type, consists of six guns or howitzers, horse artillery having 13-pounder guns, and field artillery 18-pounder guns or 4.5-inch howitzers. Horse artillery is intended to act with cavalry, and is therefore provided with a rather lighter gun. It can go anywhere that cavalry can go, and all the gun detachments are mounted. Field artillery works with infantry, and the gun detachments either walk or are carried on the limbers, only the officers, certain non-commissioned officers, and specialists such as scouts, range-finders, and trumpeters being mounted.
A battery is commanded by a major, with a captain as second-in-command, and is organized in three sections of two guns each under a subaltern. These sections are again subdivided into subsections of one gun each under a sergeant. Each gun is drawn by six horses, the driver of the leading pair being responsible for direction and pace. A corporal in the Royal Artillery is known as a bombardier, and the rank and file as gunners or drivers, according to their special duties, though drivers are also trained to some extent as gunners.
Heavy and siege artillery have come into their own in the late war, and consist roughly of all armament heavier than that of field artillery. Sixty-pounders and 4.7-inch howitzers form heavy batteries, while guns of 6 inch and upwards drawn by mechanical transport or mounted on railway trucks are known as siege batteries. Mountain artillery, of which most of the batteries are in India, is armed with 2.95-inch screw guns capable of being dismantled and carried piecemeal on mules. Another form is found on the west coast of Africa, where carriers take the place of mules. These guns are brought into action very quickly, but their shell-power is small.
The corps of Royal Engineers is responsible for the construction and maintenance of barracks, fortifications, and other military works, and for the personnel required for search-lights and electrical communications of the coast and anti-aircraft defences. With few exceptions the personnel of the corps is recruited entirely fromskilled tradesmen and artisans. For service in the field, Royal Engineer units known as field squadrons and field companies accompany the fighting troops, and carry a certain amount of bridging material and tools. More highly specialized units carry out such services as mining, heavy bridging, railway, survey, and sound-ranging work. An important feature of Royal Engineer work in war is the supply of materials and stores, for which purpose an elaborate organization is provided in addition to the units already noted.
The Brigade of Guards—the infantry of the household troops—comprises the five regiments of foot-guards. These are the Grenadier, the Coldstream, the Scots, the Irish, and the Welsh Guards of from one to three battalions each. Being household troops these regiments are subject to certain special regulations and have certain privileges. As a general rule they serve only in London, Windsor, or Aldershot, and only leave England for active service, though individual battalions have served in the past both in Cairo and Gibraltar.
The infantry, of which there are sixty-eight regiments of from two to four battalions each, provides the bulk of the army. Infantry is formed into regiments for recruiting and territorial distribution purposes, but the battalion is the actual unit both for fighting and administration. In many cases the Army List gives the name of an officer holding the appointment of colonel of the regiment: this is in all cases a purely honorary appointment and entails no duties or responsibilities. An infantry battalion is commanded by a lieutenant-colonel and consists of 32 officers and 1000 other ranks. Both in peace and war a battalion is divided into head-quarters and four companies, each of the latter having six officers, including the company commander, who is a major or senior captain. Subalterns command platoons. For recruiting purposes for infantry of the line the country is divided into Regimental Districts, in which are located the depots of the regiment concerned: these depots are commanded by a senior officer of one of the battalions of the regiment with the necessary staff for training purposes. Recruits are usually first trained at the depot and later transferred to the battalion requiring them. The Regimental Districts are again combined into larger districts in which are situated the Record Offices dealing with the regiments of the district. The denomination of the district dealing with any particular regiment is shown in the Army List in brackets. The principles of interior organization are the same throughout the army, and as they can be best illustrated with the example of an infantry battalion a short description of this organization follows. Owing to the continual growth of military science, the improvement in arms and means of destruction generally, and the confusion and noise inseparable from a modern battle, the size of the personally-controlled unit has gradually decreased till, in the present day, in the British army, it is accepted as an axiom that no larger number of men than six can be conveniently controlled in battle by one man. In former days companies, battalions, and even larger formations were both controlled and received their executive orders direct from their commanders—and to such an extent was this carried that Fortescue, in hisHistory of the British Army, notes that Marlborough was in the habit of putting his whole army through the platoon exercise by means of flags and bugle-calls. This, of course, was not actually in face of the enemy, but the principle is the same. The stress of modern war now makes individual control of large bodies impossible, and the British army is therefore organized both for peace and war in a series of units of ever-increasing size, each under its own commander, who is responsible to his immediate superior for the well-being, training, and leading of his command. Taking the infantry organization as an example, we find that in the lowest stage, that of the 'section', the command is both personal and direct, in that the corporal controls and commands the six men composing his fighting unit personally and directly by word of mouth. In peace-time, and for administrative and training purposes, the section may reach to ten men, who live, work, and play together. In the next stage—that of the 'platoon', consisting of four sections—we find the control is rather less personal and direct, in that the platoon commander, a subaltern, controls his command largely through his subordinates, the section commanders. A further stage is that of the 'company', which consists of four platoons and company head-quarters. A company is commanded by a major or senior captain, has a captain as second-in-command, and a company sergeant-major and quartermaster-sergeant to assist in running it. Here again the control is less direct though still personal. The next stage is the amalgamation of companies into a battalion, consisting of a head-quarters and four companies. Battalion head-quarters consist of a lieutenant-colonel commanding, a major second-in-command, an adjutant, and a quartermaster. Certain other officers, when required, and the regimental sergeant-major and quartermaster-sergeant, and various other ranks make up the total of some 130. The commanding officer of a battalion is directly responsible for the well-being of his command, for its training, discipline, equipment, and general efficiency. In carrying on his duties he works through his companycommanders, and with the assistance of the regimental staff mentioned above, so that we have a direct chain of command and responsibility from the corporal commanding a section of six to ten men through platoons and companies to the lieutenant-colonel commanding a battalion of some thousand men. A detail of armament made possible by the enormous increase of machine-guns necessitated during the war is interesting. Thirty-two Lewis-guns are now provided for each infantry battalion, and are distributed to alternate sections in a platoon. Thus in each platoon two sections are known as rifle sections and two as Lewis-gun sections, and these arms are normally used by the respective sections; but men of all sections are trained in the use of both rifle and Lewis-gun.
When we come to formations larger than a battalion, we find the system of control and command becoming less and less personal and direct, as in all such formations the commander works to a less or greater extent through his staff. Roughly speaking, the staff is of two divisions, the one consisting of the general staff branch and the other of the branch of the adjutant and quartermaster-general. Again speaking very generally, the general staff is charged with duties bearing directly on military operations, while officers of the adjutant and quartermaster-general's branch deal more with administrative questions. Officers of the general staff are known as general staff officers, while those of the other branch are called, for example, assistant or deputy-assistant adjutant or quartermaster-general, according to their several duties.
The formation in which distinct and separate units are first collected under one superior commander is known as a brigade. This, according to present establishment, consists of three battalions and a trench-mortar battery, the whole under a general officer called a brigadier-general, assisted by a staff of two officers—a brigade-major and a staff-captain. Since March, 1920, however, the title of brigadier-general has been altered to 'colonel-commandant'. The strength of a brigade is something over 3000 of all ranks. In a division, which is the next highest formation, and which is commanded by a major-general with a staff of three general staff officers and three officers belonging to the A.G. and Q.M.G. branch, we find the first appearance of a mixed force. It is not a force of 'all arms', as cavalry is not included, but, in addition to infantry (three brigades), it has a considerable strength in artillery, besides engineers and the necessary administrative troops. Two or more divisions, together with a cavalry regiment and certain other troops, form an 'army corps', and two or more corps go to make up an 'army'. These are not at present peace-time formations of the British army.
Of the administrative troops and services already mentioned, the Royal Army Service Corps provides for the material wants of the army both in the way of food and transport. It is organized in companies designated by numerals.
The Royal Army Medical Corps provides the personnel and organization for the medical and sanitary services of the army. In peace-time this service is organized on a garrison basis, hospitals being established where required for the use of all troops in that particular garrison. For war purposes medical officers are still attached to regiments, and in addition the corps provides the personnel and organization necessary for field ambulances, casualty clearing-stations, hospital trains and ships, and various classes of fixed hospitals. The corps is organized in numbered companies, and the rank and file are trained in first aid and ambulance duties generally. It is administered by a director-general of Army Medical Services with the rank of lieutenant-general, who is an officer of the adjutant-general's department.
The other departments and administrative services of the army consist of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, dealing generally with munitions of war; the Army Pay Department; the Royal Army Chaplains' Department; and the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, of which the functions are sufficiently designated by their title. In addition, there are manufacturing establishments at Woolwich Arsenal and elsewhere.
The Army Reserve consists of men who have completed their term of colour service, or service with a unit, and have thus passed into civil life, though still remaining liable for a period of years to be recalled to the colours if mobilization is ordered.
The Special Reserve was formed under the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act of 1907 out of the old militia. It consists generally of one battalion to each regiment of infantry, and is numbered consecutively with regular battalions of the regiment. It will, in the future, probably be again known as the Militia.
The Royal Marines—artillery and infantry, or the 'blue' and the 'red' marines, Kipling's "soldier and sailor too"—are not part of the army proper, as they are administered entirely by the Admiralty. They are, however, amenable to the Army Act when serving ashore. The term of service is for twelve years, which may be extended to make up twenty-one. Men may be transferred to or from the army at their own request.
The Territorial Force, or, as it is to be called in future, the Territorial Army, is raised entirelyon a county or territorial basis. It was originally created by the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act of 1907 out of a nucleus of the old yeomanry and volunteers. It is raised and administered by County Associations in each county and principal city. These associations consist of a president, chairman, military representative, and co-opted members. The administration of the Territorial Army is carried out by the County Associations in accordance with schemes provided by the Army Council, while all questions of training are reserved to the War Office. The Territorial Army consists of all arms, including machine-gun corps and the necessary administrative services: its full war establishment is fixed at approximately 345,000 of all ranks, though, for the present, only some 60 per cent of them are to be enlisted. The rejuvenated Territorial Army is to be in all respects a true second line of imperial defence, self-contained and self-supporting, while the regular army and its special reserve of militia battalions form the first line. Defence entails a certain amount of offence to bring it to a successful issue: it has therefore been decided that the new Territorial Army will not be relegated merely to the duty of guarding the country from invasion, but will, in a national emergency, be entitled to take its place under its own organization in the fighting line in any part of the world where its services may be required. This will entail enlistment for general service, but the interest of the force and of individuals composing it are safeguarded by the proviso that before the Territorial Army can be ordered out of the country an Act authorizing the movement be passed by Parliament. It is further provided that the Territorial Army will on no account be called on to supply drafts for regular regiments, and that in case fresh regiments have to be raised on the lines of the New Army, the machinery of the Territorial Army will be used to organize them. Enlistment will be for three or four years, according to whether a man has served during the European War (1914-8) or not; age limits are normally between 18 and 38. The army is to be organized in one cavalry (yeomanry) division of 12 regiments, and 14 infantry divisions each under a selected general officer, either regular or territorial. Pay and allowances during training periods will be as in the regular army, and in addition certain bounties will be obtainable. Training periods will be fifteen days in camp annually, besides a minimum number of drills and a musketry course. On completion of colour service a man will pass to the Territorial Reserve.
The New Army, consisting of the 'service battalions' of existing regiments, is a product of the war. When, on the outbreak of war, many new regiments were rapidly raised, they were affiliated to regular regiments with consecutive numbers after the territorial battalions, and this organization was continued and extended to cope with the personnel obtained under the Military Service Acts.
Educational establishments connected with the army include the Staff College, the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, and the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. At the Staff College officers obtain a course of instruction and study to fit them for service on the staff of the army. At Sandhurst, where the course of instruction is two years, some 700 gentlemen cadets are trained for commissions in the guards, cavalry, and infantry of the line, and the Indian army. At Woolwich gentlemen cadets desirous of entering the Royal Artillery or the Royal Engineers receive their training. In addition to these there are schools of gunnery and engineering, the Small Arms School at Hythe, the School of Physical Training at Aldershot, and many others: while, for sons and orphans of soldiers, there are the Duke of York's Royal Military School and the Royal Hibernian School. The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, and the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin, are institutions for the care of old and distressed soldiers. In every garrison there are garrison schools for soldiers under fully qualified army schoolmasters, while in the future there is likely to be a very great increase in educational facilities of all kinds for the rank and file of the army. The training of the British army for war now embraces a variety of subjects, and at the Royal Military College and Academy the gentlemen cadets are not only taught the principles and practice of their future profession, but are also instructed in the methods of imparting their knowledge to others. For example, the course of training at the Royal Military College embraces drill and weapon training—under which head is included musketry (both theory and practice) and bayonet work—physical training, and riding. As part of the physical-training course they receive instruction as to the best methods of organizing regimental assaults-at-arms and sports. Among the more academic subjects are military history and tactics, field sketching and topography, field engineering, military law and administration, and elementary hygiene. A great deal of practical work is done, and the course of two years is designed to fit a young officer, on joining his regiment, to undertake the entire charge and training of his troop or platoon. At the Royal Military Academy extra subjects, such as artillery work and more advanced engineering, are also taught.
As to the soldier's training generally, drill is insisted on as an aid to discipline, which itundoubtedly is, and exact performance of the various movements ordered is expected. In other branches of training more individuality is allowed, and the days when the bayonet-exercise was performed by a battalion to the music of the regimental band having passed, considerable latitude as to positions and execution is permitted in this particular branch, attention being principally concentrated on inculcating the 'offensive spirit'. The modern soldier also learns how to use a Lewis-gun, to throw or fire a grenade, what to do in case of a gas attack, the rudiments of field engineering, and how to keep himself healthy.
In addition to the more generally-known units of the army there are certain corps which, though raised in the colonies, still form part of the army, and which are administered by the imperial authorities. Under this head are the Royal Malta Artillery (local service); the West India Regiment (two battalions) and the West African Regiment, both for general service and both administered by the War Office. Among other colonial corps maintained by the imperial Government, though not forming part of the regular army, are the West African Frontier Force (Nigeria) and the King's African Rifles (East Africa). Both these are administered by the Colonial Office.
Dominions.—The military forces of the self-governing dominions are raised and organized under the laws of such dominions.
Those of the Commonwealth of Australia are organized on a system of compulsory military training for all males between the ages of twelve and twenty-six. In the earlier stages boys are trained in cadet corps, from which they pass to the Citizen Army, and from there, having attained the age of twenty-six, to recognized rifle clubs. The annual period of training in the Citizen Army is sixteen days. When the scheme is in full working order this force will consist of twenty-three 4-battalion brigades of infantry, twenty-three regiments of light horse, fifty-six 4-gun batteries, and the necessary complement of engineers and administrative troops. During the war this organization was in abeyance, and regiments were raised as required for overseas service, and, though proposals for conscription were negatived, the commonwealth still managed to send some 330,000 men to the various theatres of war out of 417,000 raised. The casualties, killed, wounded, and missing, were 210,724.
The Commonwealth also maintains a small permanent force of trained professional soldiers.
The New Zealand forces are also organized on the principle of universal training for all males. The details differ somewhat from those in favour in Australia, but the principle is the same, i.e. that every male should be trained for home defence. Boys of from twelve to eighteen years of age are trained in cadet corps, from which they pass to regiments of the Territorial Force, and from twenty-five to thirty belong to the reserve. Cadets do annually a specified number of drills, while the territorial training extends to seven clear days, a musketry course, and certain drills every year. For the purposes of the war, conscription was introduced in 1916, and 220,000 men were raised between 1914 and 1918, out of which the casualties were nearly 57,000.
Canada, unlike Australia and New Zealand, has no system of graduated military training. The military forces of the dominion are organized as a militia under a Minister of Militia and Defence working with a Council. This militia is recruited by voluntary enlistment, and, on the outbreak of war, consisted of a permanent force of 3000 and some 60,000 men who had received militia training. This made possible the rapid dispatch to France of a division which, by 1916, had increased to a corps of four divisions and a cavalry brigade. Like the Mother Country and New Zealand, Canada introduced conscription in 1917, and during the war raised nearly 641,000 men and suffered 206,149 casualties, of which 56,110 were killed, 149,733 wounded, and 306 missing.
The Union of South Africa divides its military forces into the permanent force and the citizen force. There is also a coast-defence force. The permanent force consists of the five regiments of the South African Mounted Rifles. South Africa's greatest military effort during the war was directed towards German South-West and East Africa, but some 27,000 men were enlisted for and sent to Europe out of a total number of 136,000 raised. This total does not include coloured troops. The casualties were 18,000.
In other self-governing portions of the Empire troops were raised as required, and in the West and East African colonies the existing formations of native troops were considerably increased for service in suitable portions of the various theatres of war. The official statement of troops raised shows under the heading of 'other colonies' 134,837, including coloured troops from South Africa and the West Indies. The casualties among them amounted to 7519.
The Army in India.—The military forces in India consist of those units of British cavalry, artillery, and infantry temporarily serving in the country, and the Indian army proper, consisting of regiments recruited from among the native inhabitants and normally serving there. Enlistment is voluntary and for general service, one of the promises made by a man on enrolment being "to go wherever ordered by land and sea and not to allow caste usages to interfere with his duties as a soldier". The Indian army, as a disciplined and organized force, dates from theyears between 1748 and 1758. In 1748 Major Stringer Lawrence arrived in Madras with a commission from the Company as commander-in-chief. His first act was to form the existing European independent companies into regiments; his second to raise certain native independent companies. In 1758 he formed these companies in their turn into battalions, which he designated 'coast sepoys', and which still exist under their present names of the 61st Pioneers and following numbers. His system was extended to the other presidencies, and at the period of the mutiny, in 1857, the native army in India consisted of some 230,000 regular troops, besides irregulars. When the post-mutiny reconstruction took place, the army was reorganized on an irregular basis instead of as regular regiments on the British model. According to this new system, the number of British officers in a regiment was considerably reduced; native officers were given command of troops and companies, while the British officer's command became the squadron, or wing. Native artillery, with the exception of certain mountain batteries, was abolished, and cavalry was reconstituted on the Silladar system, whereby, in consideration of a larger monthly pay than was given to the infantry sepoy, the trooper, or sowar, provided his own horse and sword. The system thus introduced virtually remains to the present day, though it has been modified and improved to suit later conditions. The infantry officer's command has decreased from the wing of four companies to the double company of two, and it is now known as a company and is organized in four platoons on the British service model, platoons being commanded by Indian officers. Of late years the number of British officers with an Indian regiment has been increased to twelve, and at the present time a committee is sitting in India to deliberate on the future construction of the army. It is therefore impossible to give details of its future strength. This, just before the war, was some 160,000, organized in 38 regiments of cavalry, the corps of guides, 3 regiments of sappers and miners, 118 regiments of infantry of 1 battalion each, and 10 regiments of Gurkhas of 2 battalions each. There were also 13 mountain batteries. The 'Imperial Service Troops', of which many contingents took part in the war, are raised, paid, and maintained by princes and chiefs as a contribution to the defence of the country, while their training is supervised by British inspecting officers. The 'Indian Defence Force', which has lately replaced the volunteers, and in which service is compulsory for Europeans, is available for home defence only. During the war India, by voluntary enlistment, provided 1,401,350 men. Of these many new regiments were formed, and second, third, and fourth battalions added to existing regiments. Casualties were very nearly 114,000, including some 48,000 killed. Native Indian officers of cavalry are known as ressaldars, ressaiders, and jemadars, while those of the infantry are called subadars and jemadars. In each regiment the senior Indian officer is called ressaldar or subadar-major.
The army in India, by which is meant all military forces in India, is administered by a commander-in-chief, who is a member of council. The head-quarter staff includes a military secretary, the chief of the general staff, an adjutant and a quartermaster-general, director-general of ordnance and military works, and a director of medical services.—Bibliography: Hon. J. W. Fortescue,History of the British Army; C. W. C. Oman,A History of the Art of War: Middle Ages; C. H. Firth,Cromwell's Army; C. Walton,History of the British Standing Army, 1660-1700; War Office,Army Book for the British Empire; F. N. Maude,Evolution of Modern Strategy; G. F. R. Henderson,The Science of War; C. Romagny,Histoire générale de l'armée nationale; Heimann,L'Armée allemande.
Army Act.SeeMilitary Law.