The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and was administered by the War Office from London. Since 1963, it has been managed by the Ministry of Defence.

The British Army includes 98,000 regular soldiers and 34,000 Territorial Army soldiers, giving it a total of around 132,000 soldiers. The full-time element of the British Army has also been referred to as the Regular Army since the creation of the reservist Territorial Army in 1908. The British Army is deployed in many of the world's war zones as part of both Expeditionary Forces and in United Nations Peacekeeping forces. The British Army is currently deployed in Kosovo, Cyprus, Germany, Iraq, Afghanistan and many other places.

In contrast to the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force, the British Army does not include "Royal" in its title, although many of its constituent Regiments and Corps are styled Royal.

The professional head of the British Army is the Chief of the General Staff, currently Sir Richard Dannatt.

History

main: History of the British Army The British Army came into being with the merger of the Scottish Army and the English Army, following the unification of the two countries' parliaments and the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated existing English and Scottish regiments, and was controlled from London.

As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the Seven Years' War and subsequently suppressed a Native American uprising in Pontiac's War. The British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada.

The British army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars in which the army served in Spain, across Europe, and in North Africa. The war between the British and French Empires stretched around the world. The British Army finally came to defeat Napoleon at one of Britain's greatest military victories at the battle of Waterloo.

image:The Defence of Rorke's Drift2.jpg in which 11 VCs were awarded to British troops.

The battle is remarkable in that a hundred well-armed British soldiers managed to defend the small, walled compound of a farmstead and hold a few thousand native warriors and their spears long enough for them to give up and leave them alone.]]