The British Armed Forces are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping efforts and provide humanitarian aid.
Corps is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies greatly, but two to five divisions and anywhere from 40,000 to 80,000 are the numbers stated by the US Department of Defense.
The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy contested between any two international rugby union teams, pre-dating the Bledisloe Cup by 53 years, 135 days. It is also the oldest of several trophies awarded under the umbrella of the Six Nations Championship, which include the Millennium Trophy (England–Ireland), Centenary Quaich (Ireland–Scotland), Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy (France–Italy), Auld Alliance Trophy (France–Scotland), the Doddie Weir Cup (Scotland–Wales) and the Cuttitta Cup (Italy–Scotland).
The history of rugby union follows from various football games long before the 19th century, but it was not until the middle of that century that the rules were formulated and codified. The code of football later known as rugby union can be traced to three events: the first set of written rules in 1845, the Blackheath Club's decision to leave the Football Association in 1863 and the formation of the Rugby Football Union in 1871. The code was originally known simply as "rugby football". It was not until a schism in 1895, over the payment of players, which resulted in the formation of the separate code of rugby league, that the name "rugby union" was used to differentiate the original rugby code. For most of its history, rugby was a strictly amateur football code, and the sport's administrators frequently imposed bans and restrictions on players who they viewed as professional. It was not until 1995 that rugby union was declared an "open" game, and thus professionalism was sanctioned by the code's governing body, World Rugby—then known as the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB).
Colonel-in-chief is a ceremonial position in a military regiment. It is in common use in several Commonwealth armies, where it is held by the regiment's patron, usually a member of the royal family.
The Army Navy Match is the annual rugby union match played between the senior XV teams of the Royal Navy and British Army. It marks the culmination of the annual Inter-Services Competition. Although a match was played between the officers of the British Army and the officers of the Royal Navy at The Oval, London on 13 February 1878, it was not until 1907 that the Army Navy Match became an annual fixture. For the first fixture the match Secretary was Surg Lt George Levick RN. From 1909 it was jointly administered by the newly formed Royal Navy Rugby Union and the Army Rugby Union. Since then it has been played every season, with the exception of during the world wars and COVID-19 pandemic when the matches were suspended.
Rugby union is a moderately popular sport in Canada; it is quite strong as a participation sport, particularly in several hotspots like British Columbia, Atlantic Canada, the West Island of Montreal, Quebec City and Ontario but does not attract the same level of spectator support yet, likely because the CFL's popular brand of Canadian Football is still similar to rugby in many ways, whilst also being the dominant football code in the country. Rugby Canada is the administrative body for rugby union in Canada. Every province also has its own union.
Lieutenant-General Sir Ronald MacKenzie Scobie, was a senior British Army officer who fought in both the First and Second World Wars, where he commanded the 70th Infantry Division and later III Corps. He was also a Scotland international rugby union player.
This is the Operation Herrick ground order of battle, which lists any British ground forces that have taken part in the duration of Operation Herrick between 2002 and 2014.
Ernest Cotton Deane was a medical officer of the British Indian Army and an Irish international rugby player. Born in the city of Limerick, Ireland, he went to school in Kingstown in County Dublin and then studied medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), graduating in 1909. He was selected to play rugby for Ireland in one match, against England in February 1909. His rugby career was cut short when he broke his leg in a match against Oxford University.
Rugby union in Sri Lanka is mainly played at a semi-professional and recreational level. It is a popular team sport with a history dating back to 1879. In 2012, according to International Rugby Board figures, there were over 160,000 registered rugby union players in Sri Lanka, making it the second largest rugby-playing nation in Asia, behind Japan.
The Royal New Zealand Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RNZEME) was a New Zealand Army Corps comprising Army trained tradesmen (craftsmen) who repaired Army equipment wherever New Zealand Forces served.
Army 2020 Refine was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army in the mid-to-late 2010s, in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015. As its name suggests, it was a "refinement" of Army 2020, an early 2010s reorganisation of the Army to be completed by 2020, originally conducted in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010.
Ronald Francis Simson was a Scottish rugby union player for Scotland. Simson was the first Scottish rugby international to die in the First World War.
Troops began wearing berets as a part of the headgear of military uniforms in some European countries during the 19th century; since the mid-20th century, they have become a component of the uniforms of many armed forces throughout the world. Military berets are usually pushed to the right to free the shoulder that bears the rifle on most soldiers, but the armies of some countries, mostly within Europe, South America, and Asia, have influenced the push to the left.
The New Zealand Army rugby team of 1919 was a rugby union team which represented New Zealand after the end of the First World War. Although spoken of as a single team, there were several New Zealand Services teams playing in Britain at the conclusion of the War. The most notable being the touring Army XV who played a series of games throughout Great Britain and France, including an internationally recognised match against the Wales national team. With the introduction of the King's Cup; a services tournament between forces from Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, the team split intself in two. The 'A' Team taking part in the King's Cup, while the 'B' team continued touring against club and county opponents.
The Royal Navy Rugby Union (RNRU) was formed in 1907 to administer the playing of rugby union in the Royal Navy. It fields a representative side that competes in the Army Navy Match, although a side representing the Royal Navy predates the formation of the union by at least twenty-eight years. The RNRU also has had a number of international players within its representative squads in all forms of the game. In 2011 the RNRU produced its first women's international as well as providing the captain of England VIIs.
The page contains the current structure of the British Army. The British Army is currently being reorganised to the Future Soldier structure.
The Royal Air Force Rugby Union (RAFRU) was formed in 1918 to administer the playing of rugby union in the Royal Air Force. It fields a representative side that competes in the Inter-Services tournament with the Army Rugby Union and the Royal Navy Rugby Union.
Future Soldier is a reform of the British Army resulting from the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published in March 2021. The aim of the reform is to create a more lethal, agile and expeditionary force, able to fight and win wars and to operate in the grey-zone between peace and war. Future Soldier was published on 25 November 2021 and deals with the organizational changes of the British Army, with changes to personnel and equipment were set out in the Defence in a Competitive Age paper published on 22 March 2021.
