| Western District | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1793–1905 1967–1995 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | District Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Government House, Devonport (1793-1905) Copthorne Barracks (1967–1995) |
Western District was a command of the British Army.
Great Britain was divided into military districts on the outbreak of war with France in 1793. [1] The role of Western District Commander, which was doubled hatted with that of Lieutenant-Governor of Plymouth, was based at Government House, Mount Wise in Devonport. [2] [3] In January 1876 a ‘Mobilization Scheme for the forces in Great Britain and Ireland’ was published, with the ‘Active Army’ divided into eight army corps based on the District Commands. This scheme disappeared in 1881, when the districts were retitled ‘District Commands. [4] By the 1890s the command included the counties of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset and all of South Wales. [5]
In 1901 Western District was grouped with South East District at Dover and Southern District at Portsmouth under Second Army Corps at Salisbury. 2nd Army Corps was renamed Southern Command in 1905. [6]
The district was formed from 48th (South Midland) Division as part of the Territorial Army Volunteer Reserve in 1967. [7] It had its headquarters at Copthorne Barracks, and was placed under the command of HQ UK Land Forces in 1972. [8] In the early 1980s West Midlands District became "Western District". [9] In 1991, the first of the minor districts to be amalgamated were North West District, the former West Midlands District (by then Western District) and Wales, to form a new Wales and Western District. [10] It was disbanded again on the formation of HQ Land Command in 1995. [11]
General officers Commanding included: [12]
Western District
West Midlands District
Western District
Wales and Western District
I Corps was an army corps in existence as an active formation in the British Army for most of the 80 years from its creation in the First World War until the end of the Cold War, longer than any other corps. It had a short-lived precursor during the Waterloo Campaign.
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Copthorne Barracks was a British Army military installation in Copthorne, a suburb of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England.
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Western Command was a command of the British Army.
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The North Devon Militia, later the Devon Artillery Militia, was a part-time military unit in the maritime county of Devonshire in the West of England. The Militia had always been important in the county, which was vulnerable to invasion, and from its formal creation in 1758 the regiment served in home defence in all Britain's major wars until 1909. Having always been an infantry regiment, the North Devon Militia was converted into an artillery unit in 1853, with a role in manning the forts that protected the vital naval base at Plymouth.
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North West District was a district command of the British Army from 1967 and 1991.
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