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Quiz on the British Army: History and Equipment

Test your knowledge about the British Army's history, battles, and equipment with this engaging quiz.

#British Army #Military History #World War II #SAS #Military Equipment #Historical Battles

1 ________

2 In the Far East, the British army battled the Japanese in ________.

3 The British Army does not have its own specific ensign, unlike the Royal Navy, which uses the ________, and the RAF, which uses the Royal Air Force Ensign.

4 see also: ________

5 Formed in 1941, the SAS is considered the role model for many other ________ units in the world.

6 Under Oliver Cromwell, the English Army had been active in the conquest, and the settlement, of ________ in the 1650s.

7 Advances in technology saw advent of the tank, with the creation of the Royal Tank Regiment, and advances in aircraft design, with the creation of the ________, which were to be decisive in future battles.

8 ________

9 The Second World War broke out in 1939 with the German invasion of ________.

10 The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and was administered by the War Office from ________.

💡 Interesting Facts

  • in 1943, Prigat, a small and newly created juice manufacturer at the time, sold 775,000 syrup bottles to the British Army in Israel.
  • the British Army changed its plans for operations in Greece during World War II on medical advice from Australian Brigadier Sir Neil Fairley (pictured).
  • the British Army used the Gatling gun in combat for the first time at the Battle of Ulundi during the Anglo-Zulu War.
  • the British Army was the last major military to exclusively adopt a semi-automatic handgun (the Browning Hi-Power) as their service pistol, retaining the Webley Mk IV, Enfield No 2 Mk I, and Smith & Wesson "Victory" Model revolvers in official service until 1963.
  • during the early 20th century, the depopulated Palestinian village Sarafand al-Amar was the site of the largest British Army base in the Middle East.
  • by the age of 22, Jean-Pierre Warner was an acting Major in the British Army.
  • Lieutenant-General Robert Richardson commanded units of the British Army on three separate occasions during the Troubles.
  • Sir Ian Freeland was General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland when the British Army was drawn into the beginning of the Troubles.
  • a British Gurkha Battalion has been maintained in Brunei at the request of the Sultan of Brunei since the 1962 Brunei Revolt.
  • although it is commonly referred to as Fort Detroit, the fort William Hull surrendered to the British without a fight during the War of 1812 was actually named Fort Lernoult.
  • the European Court of Human Rights in Smith and Grady v UK found that the discharge of personnel from the British Army on the basis of sexual orientation was a breach of their right to a private life.
  • the dum dum bullet invented by Neville Bertie-Clay was used by the British Army against African and Asian opponents but was considered "too cruel" for use against Europeans.
  • the first regular British light infantry regiment, the 52nd Regiment of Foot, awarded the title "Valiant Stormer" to those who survived the Forlorn Hopes at Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz.
  • the last chief of Clan MacQuarrie sold off his clan lands in Scotland and joined the British Army, at age 68, and fought in the American Revolutionary War.
  • troops of Tadayoshi Sano, a lieutenant general for the Imperial Japanese Army, were reported to have committed atrocities against civilians in Hong Kong and British prisoners of war.
  • when the British Army attacked the Agra Fort in 1803, a cannon ball fired by the artillery struck the Takht-i-Jahangir  (throne of Jahangir), but only caused a superficial crack on one side.
  • the Wilkinson motorcycle (pictured) failed to impress the British military – despite having a Maxim machine gun mounted on the handlebars.
  • the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 reorganised the reserves of the British Army, creating the Territorial Force.
  • the Sauk and the British Army defeated the U.S. Army at Campbell's Island during the War of 1812.
  • the Army Cyclist Corps, which operated the bicycle infantry of the British Army, only existed for four years.
  • the Battle of Gingindlovu showed for the first time that the British Army could defeat the Zulu tactics that had wiped them out at the famous Battle of Isandlwana.
  • the British Expeditionary Force in 1914 included 90% of the British Army units normally based in the United Kingdom, leaving less than a division of regular soldiers for home defence.
  • Vernon Erskine-Crum was appointed General Officer Commanding of the British Army in Northern Ireland in 1971, during the Troubles, but was relieved within a month after suffering a heart attack.
  • Timothy Creasey, a British Army officer, was commander of the Sultan of Oman's Forces for three years before serving in Northern Ireland.
  • paramilitary loyalist Tommy Herron declared war on the British Army, but called it off after two days.
  • Phoebe Hessel, who masqueraded as a man for 17 years to fight in the British Army alongside her husband, is buried in the churchyard at St. Nicholas Church, Brighton, England.
  • World War II RAAF fighter ace John Waddy later became a Minister of the Crown, while British Army paratrooper John Waddy went on to command the SAS.
  • Z Special Unit member F. G. L. Chester gained the nickname "Gort" due to his physical resemblance to the British Army Field Marshal John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort.
  • military historian and Purdue professor Gunther E. Rothenberg escaped the Nazis and served in the British Army, the Israel Defense Force, and the US Air Force before attending college on the GI Bill.
  • Major-General John Hill rose high as a courtier and officer in the British Army in the reign of Queen Anne, becoming Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance despite having no particular military ability.
  • British Army officer Sir William Horrocks confirmed Sir David Bruce's theory that Malta fever was spread through goat's milk.
  • army officer and M.P. William Hacket Pain was involved in planning and organising the Larne Gun Running operation, which helped to arm the Ulster Volunteers during the Home Rule crisis of 1912.
  • English clergyman Ralph Tollemache gave his many children increasingly eccentric names, such as that of British Army officer Captain Leone Sextus Denys Oswolf Fraudatifilius Tollemache-Tollemache de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache.
  • Khalid bin Barghash fought a 38-minute war with the British during his two-day rule as Sultan of Zanzibar.
  • Alex Rowe, rejected by the British Army because of a detached retina, became a highly decorated sniper for the French Foreign Legion.
  • Anthony Deane-Drummond, a British Army officer, made two parachute drops, was taken prisoner after both, and escaped each time.
  • John Crocker, a British corps commander in World War II, served as a both a private and a general in the British Army.
  • Johnny Ramensky was a Scottish criminal who used his safe-cracking abilities to help the British Army.
  • Richard Lawson, a British Army officer, was nicknamed "Dick the Lionheart" for his work in the United Nations peacekeeping force during the Congo Crisis.
  • Shakespeare Cliff Halt, a private railway station on a cliff ledge near Dover, England, has been used by miners, the British Army, and railway employees, but never by the public.
  • Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard was an explorer, adventurer, big-game hunter, international cricketer, novelist and marksman who founded the British Army's sniping school during the First World War.
  • Herman Landon (pictured) commanded five different British Army divisions during the First World War.
  • Craigiehall, a country house designed for the Earl of Annandale by Sir William Bruce in 1699, is now the headquarters of the British Army in Scotland.
  • Dining in refers to a formal military dinner, a practice thought to have begun in 16th Century England in monasteries and universities, adopted by the British Army during the 18th Century and revived in the U.S. Military during World War II.
  • Henry Horne, 1st Baron Horne was the only British artillerist to command an army in World War I.
  • anthropologist Ursula Graham Bower fought for the British Army as a guerrilla with the Naga people during World War II.
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