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Home > Structure of the British Army

 Contents
1 Divisions and Brigades
1.1 Divisions
1.2 Brigades
1.2.1 Deployable Formations
1.2.2 Administrative Formations
2 Order of Precendence
2.1 Cavalry Order of Precedence
2.2 Infantry Order of Precedence
3 Units of the Regular Army
3.1 Cavalry
3.2 Infantry
3.2.1 The Royal Irish Regiment
3.2.2 Brigade of Gurkhas
3.3 Combat Support Arms
3.4 Services
4 Units of the Territorial Army
4.1 Cavalry
4.2 Infantry
4.3 Royal Artillery
4.4 Royal Engineers
4.5 Royal Signals
4.6 Services
5 Ceremonial Units
5.1 Queen's Guard/Queen's Life Guard
5.2 Sovereign's Bodyguard
5.3 Others
6 Restructuring
7 See Also
7.1 Other Corps of the British Armed Forces
7.2 British Army Restructuring
7.3 The British Army
7.4 Traditions
8 External Links
The structure of the British Army is complex, due to the

different origins of its various constituent parts. In terms of the nature of its servicemen, it is divided into the Regular Army (full-time professional soldiers) and the Territorial Army (part-time paid soldiers). In terms of its military structure it is divided into corps (administrative groupings by common function), and divisions and brigades (large formations, somewhat fluid in nature).

The regiment is in some respects the most important unit of the British Army. It is the largest "permanent" tactical unit in most corps, although it is only an administrative grouping in the infantry. Typically, it consists of around 700 soldiers and is commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel. A battalion is the equivalent sized unit in the infantry and some of the corps.

A typical battalion or regiment follows a structure similar to the following:

Sections can be subdivided into two fire teams for tactical purposes.


1 Divisions and Brigades

Divisions and Brigades are the next smallest groupings after a Corps. The British Army comprises two active divisions and seven active manoeuvre brigades. The three remaining divisional headquarters act as regional commands in the UK itself, and would only become field formations in the event of a general war. Beyond the manoeuvre brigades, there are also a number of active brigades which have air defence, logistics and engineering functions. Finally, there are also a number of reserve manoeuvre brigades which command smaller regions than the reserve divisions. The numbering of the various brigades is not sequential, reflecting the rise and fall of various brigades over the years. The reserve brigades have often been divisions in times past, such as 51 (Scottish) Brigade being the direct descendant of the famous 51st (Highland) DivisionThe British 51st (Highland) Division was a Territorial Army division that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War. The division's insignia was a stylised 'HD' inside a red circle. Early doubts about the division's performance earn.

1.1 Divisions



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Topics: Structure Of The British Army, Divisions And Brigades...

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