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Brits With Battleships: Difference between revisions
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{{Useful Notes}}
[[File:800px-HMS_Illustrious_4.jpg|frame|HMS ''Illustrious''.]]
The men and women who defend the United Kingdom and fight wars overseas.
The British Armed Forces (As a professional fighting force) began to appear during the English Civil War (1641-1651) with the New Model Army (with two regiments--the Coldstream Guards and the Blues and Royals<ref>The Blues and Royals were formed from the Royal Horse Guards, or "Blues", and the Royal Dragoons, which were both New Model Army units granted the title "Royal" in the 18th century</ref>--in the present able to trace their roots to the force) and has since fought in many wars such as The Napoleonic Wars, The Boer War, The First World War, the Second World War, both Gulf Wars, and many others.
Has featured in the UK press quite a bit recently due to sometimes controversial deaths in the ongoing War in Afghanistan, in which British ground and some air forces are an integral part. There is a widespread, but unfounded, feeling the armed services are underfunded (despite having the third-largest defence budget in the world after the US and China, and ahead of France and Russia).
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However, the British are generally right to be proud of their military. Both Labour and the Conservatives pledged not to cut defence expenditure if elected, a promise that was reneged when the coalition government's Defence Review went through the military like an industrial laser, with some very questionable decisions being made - the most prominent of which is the construction of new aircraft carriers while retiring the Harrier, meaning that there won't be anything to launch from them until the Joint Strike Fighter comes online.
Of course, participation in Iraq and Afghanistan is starting to look like it might change that, with newspaper stories of servicemen being heckled in the street when wearing their uniform and a decline in sales of [[The Poppy]] attributed to anti-war feeling. The government has attempted to combat this with "wear your uniform to work" days for the Territorial Army (volunteer reservists) and various other pro-military propaganda campaigns. This attitude has recently changed as both the UK and the US are both becoming more pro military.
Has a collective liking for a chap called [[Top Gear|Jeremy Clarkson]]
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'''British Army'''
Self Explanatory. Home to all the squaddies and [[The Squadette|squadettes]]. Their main weapon is the L85 assault rifle (some military people will look at you funny if you call it the SA80 as the SA80 refers to the entire family of British Army rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles, etc, etc), which is rather short and can't be fired left-handed unless a face full of hot cartridge casings is your idea of fun. Note: ''Not'' named the "Royal Army" because it is descended from the institutions established by the "New Model Army" which fought for Parliament against the King in the seventeenth century civil wars, unlike the navy. There are "Royal" units in the Army, but they are regiments, divisions, even corps, rather than the Army as a whole, ''e.g.'', Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Artillery, and the Royal Flying Corps in bygone days. 110,210 regulars, 33,100 territorials and 121,800 regular reserves.
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'''[[Tank Goodness|Armoured Support]]'''
* The British Army currently has the [[Cool Tank|rather cool]] Challenger 2 tank in service as its Main Battle Tank. It has a major advantage over its US counterpart, the M1 Abrams, in that it has an inbuilt kettle [[Spot of Tea|for making tea.]]
* It also has the Warrior APC as its main [[Awesome Personnel Carrier]].
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* 617 Squadron: AKA "The Dam Busters", as they were the unit who did that famous mission and also contributed to sinking ''Tirpitz''. Today fly Tornado GR4 strike aircraft. Carry the very appropriate motto ''Apres moi, le deluge'' - Literally "After me, the flood".
* The Royal Air Force Regiment - not as well known as the rest of the military, these are an Infantry unit, "affectionately" nicknamed "rock apes". They get a lot of stick from the army (for not being a "proper" infantry unit as they seem to spend a lot of time guarding RAF bases) and from the RAF (for being allegedly thick).
* No. 1435 Flight: Who guard the [[British Frozen Rocks with Penguins and Landmines|Falkland Islands]]. Have four aircraft (Typhoons) named ''Faith'', ''Hope'', ''Charity'' and the reserve ''Desperation'' (the names come from the history of another island commonwealth of the British Empire, Malta, which defended itself against bombing raids with just three obsolete biplanes of the same names).
'''Royal Navy'''
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Has the Special Boat Service (SBS), which [[James Bond]] was a member of in the revised continuity for ''[[Casino Royale]]''. This unit has actually amalgamated with the SAS in all but name, which should tell you all you need to know.
* Basically everything the SAS is, except water navigation and combat swimmer capability added. SAS just gets more global publicity.
* Originally (in WW II) they were part of the SAS.
Includes the '''Royal Marines''':
These are the dudes who do beach landings and stuff like that. Wear green berets. In the past, like the British Army, they wore red coats. In the first ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' movie, Keira Knightley disguises herself as a Royal Marine. She looks rather good in the jacket as well... Have a fierce rivalry with the Paras. Unlike the US Marines, the Royal Marines are Commandos and are used for specialist deployment. Their recruiting campaigns focus on their toughness and exclusivity: they used to use the slogan "99.9% need not apply". The Royal Marines have two battle honours from the siege of Gibraltar and the capture of Belle Isle. The rest of their service is represented by the Globe in their cap-badge, representing that they've served all over the world and are ready to deploy all over the world. Their motto is ''Per Mare, Per Terram'' meaning ''By Sea, By Land.''
** Ironically, they're part of the reason for US Army Special Forces being associated with (and called) "Green Berets."
** Also in the new ''[[The Incredible Hulk]]'' movie, Blonsky (The Abomination) was retconned from a KGB agent into a Royal Marine, due to being played by Tim Roth. The Royal Marines are implied to be pretty badass by American standards in this movie.
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On a [[Tear Jerker|more sombre note]]: [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-12706441 bye-bye, sweetheart].
She's back: Prince Charles has agreed that the ship that that would have been named ''Prince of Wales'' will be named ''[[And the Fandom Rejoiced|Ark Royal]]''.
But on a ''lighter'' note, the oldest joke in the British military: Why does the Army rugby team wear red jerseys? So the blood won't show when they're injured. Why does the Royal Navy rugby team wear blue jerseys? [[Blue Blood|Same reason]].
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* In the British Fantasy series ''[[Redwall]]'', there is not much resembling a real army. Still, occasionally an organized force consisting of hares makes an appearance (they resemble an army by far more). It is an obvious parody to the British Army; the soldiers are uniformed, and have a typical ''I say'' - lifestyle. According to the Author Brian Jacques, they should resemble the light-headed characteristics of British Airmen from [[WW 2]] (Royal Air Force). Additionally, they have a very detailed hierarchy, ranging from Runners to Generals. They even have one specific rank, found in the British army ''only'': Colour Seargeant. Interestingly, also a typical American rank appears: Master Seargeant.
* The 1955 film ''[[The Dam Busters]]'', a mostly-historical account of the exploits of the above-mentioned RAF 617 Squadron during World War II. Quite famous in its own right, it also served as inspiration for the ''[[Star Wars]]'' "trench run", and appeared several times in the background of ''[[Pink Floyd]] [[The Wall]]''.
* One of the favorites to use as [[Recycled in Space|a model]] for a [[Space Navy]].
* ''[[Lawrence of Arabia]]'' is of course about T. E. Lawrence, who was a lieutenant-colonel in the British Army (serving in the intelligence division of the Middle East command). His work with the Arabs was intended by the Foreign Office's Arab Bureau and the Army to help Britain take Ottoman Syria, and we see the British forces come in late in the movie.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Forces With Firepower]]
[[Category:Brits With Battleships]]
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