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Israeli soldiers rest before an exercise in built up area on July 3, 2018 in Tzeelim, South Israel. The soldiers practiced fighting in the Gaza Strip against Hamas militants.
Source: Getty Images Europe
Creator: Hurley, James Francis (Frank).
Location: Steenvoorde, France; Lat/long: 50.80944,2.582375
Date: 1917.
Description: A group of servicemen sitting around a fire, talking.
Number 18 in the 'Our Boys at the Front' series of postcards. From official photographs by special permission of the Department of Defence. Proceeds to the Australian Comforts Fund. (Printing on verso of postcard)
Original photograph taken by Frank Hurley and is in the Australian War Memorial.
A series of official war photographs of Australian service personnel in France and Belgium, which the Australian Comforts Fund turned into postcard to sell for fund raising purposes.
Learn more about this image at the State Library of Queensland: hdl.handle.net/10462/deriv/2419
Information about State Library of Queensland’s collection: www.slq.qld.gov.au/resources/picture-queensland
photos of this series flic.kr/s/aHsjGuArHG
The `Judo-Smurf´ is the running gag for the `Ju-Jitsu department´ of the Sports Club "TuS Bloherfelde" (in the city Oldenburg, in the State Lower Saxony, Germany).
Der `Judo-Schlumpf´ ist seit kurzer Zeit ständiger Begleiter der Ju-Jutsu Kinder des TuS Bloherfelde und taucht dann gelgentlich als `running-gag´ auf der Internetseite des Vereins auf!
Israeli soldiers of the Golani brigade take part in an exercise near the border with Syria on May 6, 2013 at the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Syria has accused Israel of launching a series of airstrikes on targets near the Lebanon/Syria border, including an arms shipment and the Jamraya research centre, that was thought to produce chemical weapons.
44 Infantry Group Mission Readiness Exercise
130 Defence Forces soldiers from the 44 Infantry Group are entering the final phase of intense training in preparation for the forthcoming deployment to the United Nations Disengagement Observation Forces, (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights region of Syria.
The training took place in the Glen Immal Co Wicklow. The personnel of the unit have a mix of experience, from first trip soldiers and officers, to highly experienced Senior NCO's and Commanders.
The 44 Infantry Group wil deploy to Syria in March, taking over from the 43 Infantry Group who have been serving with UNDOF since September 2013.
The Mission Readiness exercise put commanders and soldiers through a demanding series of scenarios based on the potential threats they may be encountered in the volatile mission area. The Troops face a series of scenarios involving simulated explosive strikes, air mobile helicopter drills,anti-ambush tactics, detailed operational planning and medical evacuation exercises.
Estonian Defence Force Soldiers from the Scoutspataljon during a Vehicle and foot patrol in Gao, Mali.
Photos: maat Maria Tõkke
I know that this is not the best shot.
I really love these and want to find a way of composing them such that they give a great image. There is one there, somewhere.
Perhaps i should wait for high tide and get some long exposures. I'll also go back when there is some incredibly miserable weather and see what I can get.
But most off all, I know that I need to buy the Nik software so that I can use SilverFX for B&W. Lightroom is OK, but I need that U point control. It's a shame trial versions only last 15 days.
Anyway. On a final note, I can't get longer than 90 seconds on this without pushing the aperture number too high and getting horrible soft diffraction. So I've ordered another ND grad at 6 stops. Together they should allow me to go longer and draw those clouds out into full wisps.
Estonian Defence Force Soldiers live-fire training while serving in Mali with BKN-10 as part of the French led Operation Barkhane.
Photos: n-ltn Liis Vaksmann
44 Infantry Group Mission Readiness Exercise
130 Defence Forces soldiers from the 44 Infantry Group are entering the final phase of intense training in preparation for the forthcoming deployment to the United Nations Disengagement Observation Forces, (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights region of Syria.
The training took place in the Glen Immal Co Wicklow. The personnel of the unit have a mix of experience, from first trip soldiers and officers, to highly experienced Senior NCO's and Commanders.
The 44 Infantry Group wil deploy to Syria in March, taking over from the 43 Infantry Group who have been serving with UNDOF since September 2013.
The Mission Readiness exercise put commanders and soldiers through a demanding series of scenarios based on the potential threats they may be encountered in the volatile mission area. The Troops face a series of scenarios involving simulated explosive strikes, air mobile helicopter drills,anti-ambush tactics, detailed operational planning and medical evacuation exercises.
The extended sea defence wall at the harbour of Aberaeron in Ceredigion (Cardiganshire)
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Several Bedford models continued in production beyond the demise of Bedford itself. This 4x4 is badged as an AWD but is essentially a Bedford M-Series. As well as a long and successful military career, the M-Series was popular with emergency services and aid agencies around the world. This particular image represents an actual vehicle operated by the Dublin Civil Defence organisation, although the Hi-ab crane may be down to artistic licence (20-Jul-11).
See also Dublin Civil Defence Dennis D-Series Fire Appliance:
www.flickr.com/photos/northernblue109/5944550930/in/set-7...
STRICTLY COPYRIGHT: You may download a copy of any image for your personal use, but it would be an offence to remove the copyright information or to post it elsewhere without the express permission of the copyright owner.
Horse Sand Fort is one of the larger sea forts in the Solent off Portsmouth, UK. The fort is one of four in the waterway.
It is 200 feet (61 m) across, built between 1865 and 1880, with two floors and a basement and armour-plated all round.
Looking pretty derelict now, the owners still appear to be searching for a buyer.
The Royal Air Force recently conducted a subject matter expertise exchange with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) during the visit of Eurofighter Typhoon, Voyager and A400 in New Delhi. Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/UKinIndia
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Porlock Weir lies about 1.5 miles west of Porlock, Somerset, England and is a small settlement which has grown up around the harbour.
Porlock Weir, West Somerset, UK
Estonian Defence Force Soldiers from Estpla-26 during a patrol in Mali in support of the French-led Operation Barkhane – November 2018
Photo: Estonian Defence Force
Israeli Soldiers from the Caracal battalion during a field training exercise 17th December 2011
Photos: Israel Defence Force
Sem me aperceber, uma re-edição em HDR da uma foto que já tinha postado.
La Défense, uma das minhas zonas preferidas de Paris.
Didn't realize I was re-editing an already posted photo. La Défense, one of my favourite Paris's areas.
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La Défense é um bairro nos municípios de Puteaux, Courbevoie e Nanterre, subúrbios de Paris, centro económico, onde se situam as sedes de muitas grandes empresas francesas, centros comerciais etc. Localiza-se no prolongamento do “axe historique” (eixo histórico) que começa no Louvre e prosegue pela avenida de Champs-Élysées, Arco de Triunfo, até à ponte de Neuilly e a Grande Arche.
História
Seu nome vem do monumento La Défense de Paris criado como homenagem aos soldados que defenderam a cidade durante a Guerra franco-prussiana de 1870. Trata-se uma escultura de Louis-Ernest Barrias esculpida em bronze e inaugurada em 1883 sobre o que era a glorieta de Courbevoie e sempre visível sobre Lhe Parvis.
Em setembro de 1958, o Estabelecimento público para o planejamento de La Défense (Établissement public pour l'aménagement de La Défense, EPAD) criado pelo Estado para construir, administrar e animar o distrito. La Défense começa a desenhar-se. Um primeiro Plano de Ordenação é aprovado pelo Estado em 1964. Constroem-se os primeiros imóveis (Esso, a Torre Nobel). O Centro das Novas Indústrias e Tecnologias (CNIT) desenhado pelos arquitetos: Robert Camelot, Jean de Mailly e Bernard Zehrfuss, previsto em 1956, dantes do EPAD, inaugura-se em 1958 pelo General Charles De Gaulle por motivo da exposição Lhes Floralies. As torres que obedecem a este primeiro plano, chamadas de primeira geração, são todas de uma morfologia idêntica: uma base de 42 x 24 metros, limitadas a uma altura de 100 metros e de uma superfície de 30 000 m². Em 1966, a Torre Nobel (do arquiteto Jean de Mailly) é a primeira em levantar-se na La Défense.
No início dos anos 1970, para responder a uma considerável demanda, surgem as torres de segunda geração. O plano de 1964 modifica-se para aumentar a superfície dos imóveis. Os perímetros de 100 000 m² fazem seu aparecimento em edifícios como a Torre Fiat (hoje Areva), de 184 m de altura e 44 andares. A partir de 1973, a crise econômica diminui fortemente o desenvolvimento deste distrito: durante 4 anos não se vendeu nem um m² de escritórios.
Desde princípios dos anos 1980, para implementar a construção de La Défense, constroem-se torres de terceira geração, seguindo um modelo mais econômico: menos largas e menos altas (como as torres Pascal, Voltaire e todo o Bairro Michelet). Em 1981, cria-se o maior shopping de Europa (da época): Lhes Quatre Temps (100 000 m²). Em 1982, o EPAD, sob o impulso do Presidente François Mitterrand, lança o concurso Tête Défense que conduzirá à construção do Grande Arche. Durante este mesmo período, constroem-se hotelé, se remodela o CNIT (1989) e prolonga-se a linha 1 do metro parisiense, inaugurada o 1 de abril de 1992, e acerca mais este distrito a Paris. Em 1993, La Défense conhece sua segunda crise. Teria que esperar até 1997 para que surja uma recuparação espectacular. Hoje, A Défense é o maior distrito de negócios de Europa.
in wikipedia
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon addressing an audience at the announcement of a £3.5 billion contract for Scout SV vehicles in September 2014.
More than 1,300 jobs across the UK were secured thanks to a £3.5 billion Ministry of Defence contract to deliver 589 new armoured fighting vehicles that will be the “eyes and ears” of the British Army on the battlefields of the future. Scout Specialist Vehicles (Scout SV), designed by General Dynamics UK based in Oakdale, South Wales, will give the Army enhanced intelligence, surveillance, protection, target acquisition and reconnaissance capabilities and a highly effective 40mm cannon. The Army’s first fully digitised armoured fighting vehicles, Scout SV will be effective in even the most difficult terrains around the world.
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© Crown Copyright 2014
Photographer: Andrew Linnett
Image 45158055.jpg from www.defenceimages.mod.uk
Use of this image is subject to the terms and conditions of the MoD News Licence at www.defenceimagery.mod.uk/fotoweb/20121001_Crown_copyrigh...
For latest news visit www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence
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Sorry I have not been on for a while, had major computer problems recently which ended in a new motherboard and complete reinstall.
Anyway this is a shot taken some months ago reprocessed using new Camera RAW 7.1. I am impressed so far......
Physical
Physical self defense is the use of physical force to counter an immediate threat of violence. Such force can be either armed or unarmed. In either case, the chances of success depend on a large number of parameters, related to the severity of the threat on one hand, but also on the mental and physical preparedness of the defender.
[edit]Unarmed
Many styles of martial arts are practiced for self-defense or include self-defense techniques. Some styles train primarily for self-defense, while other martial/Combat sports can be effectively applied for self-defense.[citation needed] To provide more practical self-defense, many modern day martial arts schools now use a combination of martial arts styles and techniques, and will often customize self-defense training to suit the participants' lifestyles, occupations, age groups and gender, and physical and mental capabilities.
[edit]Armed
Further information: Non-lethal weapon and knife fight
In some countries, it is legal to use or carry weapons (for example knives, firearms or batons) for purposes of self-defense. In other countries, this may be illegal or may require a license, or some items may be legal to carry without a license, while others, most commonly firearms, are not. Limitations on the use of weapons for personal defense are a source of controversy in some countries, pitting self-defense rights against efforts to combat violent crime via restricting access to common weapons.[citation needed]
Everyday objects, such as baseball bats or aerosol spray cans, can also be used as improvised weapons for self-defense, but are not likely to be as effective as purpose built weapons. Some non-lethal weapons as the Kubotan have also been built to resemble everyday objects, such as keychains.[3]
Pepper spray and personal stun guns are non-lethal self defense alternatives, which are legal in some countries. Pepper sprays can have a range between 5–20 feet, and act by delivering a spray or foam containing highly irritating chemicals. Handheld stun guns operate by delivering an incapacitating electric shock, and must actually come in contact with the assailant to be effective, with the exception of tasers which use gas-propelled barbs connected to the taser by conductive wire to deliver the shock.
[edit]Other forms
[edit]De-escalation
Verbal Self Defense aka 'Verbal Judo'[4] is defined as using one's words to prevent, de-escalate, or end an attempted assault.[5] It is a way of using words as weapons. This kind of 'conflict management' is the use of voice, tone, and body language to calm a potentially violent situation before violence actually ensues. This often involves techniques such as taking a time-out, and deflecting the conversation to individuals in the group who are less passionately involved.
Author Katy Mattingly defines verbal self-defense as simply saying no to someone or repeatedly refusing a request or telling someone who has violated a boundary what you want, or it could entail a more complicated scenario in which you are called on to refuse to engage verbally with someone manipulative, to set limits, and end the conversation.[5]
Suzette Haden Elgin the author of The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense states that verbal self-defense defends against the eight most common types of verbal violence, and redirects and defuses potential verbal confrontations.[6]
[edit]Avoidance
Being aware of and avoiding potentially dangerous situations is an emphasis of self defense. Attackers are typically larger, stronger, and are often armed or have an accomplice. These factors make fighting to defeat the attacker unlikely to succeed. In order to attack, an aggressor must have three elements in place: desire, distance, and decision. If any one of these elements can be removed, an attack can be avoided without resorting to physical self defense.[7] When avoidance is impossible, one often has a better chance at fighting to escape, such methods maybe referred to as 'break away' techniques.[8]
[edit]Personal alarms
Personal alarms are a way to practice passive self defense. A personal alarm is a small, hand-held device that emits strong, loud, high pitched sounds to deter attackers because the noise will draw the attention of passersby. Child alarms often function as locators or device alarms such as triggering an alert when a swimming pool is in use to help prevent dangerous situations in addition to being a deterrent against would-be aggressors.[9][unreliable source?]
[edit]Self-defense education
Self-defense techniques and recommended behavior under the threat of violence is systematically taught in self-defense classes. Commercial self-defense education is part of the martial arts industry in the wider sense, and many martial arts instructors also give self-defense classes. While all martial arts training can be argued to have some self-defense applications, self-defense courses are marketed explicitly as being oriented towards effectiveness and optimized towards situations as they occur in the real world. It should not be presumed however that sport based systems are inadequate, as the training methods employed regularly produce well conditioned fighters experienced in full contact fighting. There are a large number of systems taught commercially, many tailored to the needs of specific target audiences (e.g. defense against attempted rape for women). Notable systems taught commercially include:
civilian versions modern military combatives, such as kapap Krav Maga and Systema
self-defense oriented forms of jujitsu, such as Bartitsu, Goshin Jujitsu, Ketsugo jujutsu, Kodokan Goshin Jutsu, Yawara-Jitsu, etc.
rape prevention, including Rape Aggression Defense System (RAD),[10] AWARE,[11] etc.
Reality-Based Self-Defense (RBSD)[12]
Sport based systems, such as Muay Thai, Boxing, Judo, BJJ, and Wrestling.
[edit]Legal aspects
Main article: Rights of self-defense
Further information: Justifiable homicide, Self-defense (United States), Self-defence in English law, Self-defence (Australia), and Self-defense (Sweden)
The most crucial difference between self-defense training for civilian application in a society under rule of law to military combatives is the necessity to consider the extent of force permitted in a given situation under the self-defense laws of the applicable jurisdiction.
The self-defense laws of modern legislation build on the Roman Law principle of dominium where any attack on the members of the family or the property it owned was a personal attack on the pater familias.[13] In Leviathan (1651), Hobbes argues that although some may be stronger or more intelligent than others in their natural state, none are so strong as to be beyond a fear of violent death, which justifies self-defense as the highest necessity. In his 1918 speech Politik als Beruf (Politics as a Vocation), Max Weber defined a state as an authority having the monopoly of the legitimate means of organised violence within defined territorial boundaries. Modern libertarianism characterizes the majority of laws as intrusive to personal autonomy and, in particular, argues that the right of self-defense from coercion (including violence) is a fundamental human right. In this context, note that Article 12 Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Combined with the principle of the state's monopoly of violence, this means that those authorized by the state to defend the law (in practice, the police) are charged with the use of necessary force to protect such rights. The right to self-defense is limited to situations where the immediate threat of violence cannot be prevented by those authorized to do so (in practice, because no police force is present at the moment of the threat). The right to self-defense granted by law to the private citizen is strictly limited. Use of force that goes beyond what is necessary to dispel the immediate threat of violence is known as excessive self-defense (also self-defense with excessive force, excessive self-defense). The civil law systems have a theory of "abuse of right" to explain denial of justification in such cases. Thus, in English law, the general common law principle is stated in Beckford v R (1988) 1 AC 130:
"A defendant is entitled to use reasonable force to protect himself, others for whom he is responsible and his property. It must be reasonable."
Similar clauses are found in the legislation throughout the western world. They derive historically from article 6 of the French Penal Code of 1791, which ruled that "manslaughter is legitimate if it is indispensably dictated by the present necessity of legitimate defense of oneself or others".[14] The modern French penal code further specifies that excessive self-defense is punishable due to "disproportion between the means of defense used and the gravity of the attack" defended against.[15]
The evaluation of whether use of force was excessive in a given case can be a difficult task. The British Law Commission Report on Partial Defences to Murder (2004) Part 4 (pp78/86) recommends a redefinition of provocation to cover situations where a person acts lethally out of fear. This reflects the present view of psychiatrists that most people act in violent situations with a combination of fear and anger in their minds, and to separate these two types of affect is not legally constructive. In practice, self-defense laws still do make this distinction. German criminal law (§ 33) distinguishes "asthenic affect" (fear) from "sthenic affect" (anger). Excessive self-defense out of asthenic affect is not punishable. Outside of the western world, justifiable self-defense tends to be interpreted more loosely, including the right to defend against any criminal act, without limitations to reasonable or proportionate use of force based on the magnitude of the crime. Instead, it may simply be the minimum amount of force required to stop the criminal, which may lethal even for relatively small crimes. Thus, the Intermediate People's Court of Foshan, People's Republic of China in a 2009 case ruled as justifiable self-defense the killing of a robber who was trying to escape, because "the robbery was still in progress" at this time.
Housesteads Roman Fort is the remains of an auxiliary fort on Hadrian's Wall, at Housesteads, Northumberland, England, south of Broomlee Lough. The fort was built in stone around AD 124, soon after the construction of the wall began in AD 122 when the area was part of the Roman province of Britannia. Its name has been variously given as Vercovicium, Borcovicus, Borcovicium, and Velurtion. The 18th-century farmhouse Housesteads gives the modern name. The site is owned by the National Trust and is in the care of English Heritage. Finds can be seen at the site, in the museum at Chesters, and in the Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Hadrian's Wall was begun in AD 122. A fort was built in stone at the Housesteads Roman Fort site around AD 124 overlying the original Broad Wall foundation and Turret 36B, about two miles north east of an existing fort at Vindolanda. The fort was repaired and rebuilt several times, its northern defences being particularly prone to collapse. A substantial civil settlement (vicus) existed to the south, outside the fort, and some of the stone foundations can still be seen, including the so-called "Murder House", where two skeletons were found beneath an apparently newly-laid floor when excavated.
In the 2nd century AD, the garrison consisted of an unknown double-sized auxiliary infantry cohort and a detachment of legionaries from Legio II Augusta. In the 3rd century, it comprised Cohors I Tungrorum, augmented by the numerus Hnaudifridi and the Cuneus Frisiorum, a Frisian cavalry unit, cuneus referring to a wedge formation. The Tungrians were still there in the 4th century, according to the Notitia Dignitatum. By 409 AD the Romans had withdrawn.
The northern granary at Vercovicium, looking east. The pillars supported a raised floor to keep food dry and free from vermin. They are not part of a hypocaust.
The latrines at Housesteads on Hadrian's Wall, hygienically placed at the lowest corner of the fort. The water tank at left still has original lead sealing between its slabs.
Most other early forts straddle the Wall and therefore protrude into barbarian territory. It is also unusual for Britain in that it has no running water supply and is dependent upon rainwater collection (for which purpose there is a series of large stone-lined tanks around the periphery of the defences). It also has one of the best-preserved stone latrines in Roman Britain.
The name of the fort has been given as Borcovicus, Borcovicium, and Velurtion. An inscription found at Housesteads with the letters VER, is believed to be short for Ver(covicianorum) – the letters ver being interchangeable with bor in later Latin. The name of the 18th-century farmhouse of Housesteads provides the modern name.
The site is now owned by the National Trust and is currently in the care of English Heritage. Finds from Vercovicium can be seen in the site museum, in the museum at Chesters, and in the Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Housesteads is a former farm whose lands include the ruins of the fort. In 1604 Hugh Nixon, "Stealer of cattle and receiver of stolen goods", became the tenant of Housesteads farm. From 1663, Housesteads was the home of the Armstrongs, a notorious family of Border Reivers. Nicholas Armstrong bought the farm in 1692, only to have to sell it again in 1694 to Thomas Gibson of Hexham for the sum of £485. They remained as tenants. They were a well-known band of horse thieves and cattle rustlers who used the old fort as a place to hold the stolen horses and cattle. They traded as far afield as Aberdeen and the south of England. At one time every male member of the family was said to have been a 'broken man', formally outlawed by English or Scottish authorities. Nicholas was hanged in 1704, and his brothers fled to America. The Armstrongs lived in a typical 16th-century defensive bastle house of two storeys: the ground floor for livestock and the upper level for living quarters. Its ruins remain built up against the south gate of the Roman fort, with external stone steps and narrow loop windows. A corn-drying kiln was inserted into the gate's guard chamber in the 17th century.
In 1698, the farm had been sold to Thomas Gibson who turned the land around the fort to agriculture and thus ploughed up numerous Roman artefacts. The 17th-century bastle house was replaced by a farmhouse located over the Roman hospital, which was sketched by William Stukeley in 1725. Throughout the 18th century Housesteads was farmed by a single tenant farming family. Since Hodgson recorded the presence of William Magnay as the tenant during that period this fixes the tenure. In particular, the well (thought to be Roman) was documented as having actually been built by William, and used by the family as a bath. Interest in the fort increased in the 19th century, particularly after the farm was purchased by the amateur historian John Clayton in 1838, to add to his collection of Roman Wall farms. The Roman site was cleared of later buildings by Clayton, and the present farmhouse built about 1860. John Maurice Clayton attempted to auction the fort in 1929. It did not reach its reserve and was donated to the National Trust in 1930. The farm was later owned by the Trevelyans who gave the land for the site museum.
Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.
Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars. According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells (musculi) according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward.
The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia. In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million, these are very high figures.
Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.
Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor. Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.
History
Britain was known to the Classical world. The Greeks, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed.
The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to the continent.
The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.
Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters.
Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates.
Roman invasion
The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius,[26] but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana, the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix) are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum (York) in 71 and on a building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt.
The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent; at least part of the force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex.
The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Thames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (Colchester). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control.
Establishment of Roman rule
After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him. The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.
On Nero's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona (Anglesey) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across the Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves.
While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica. She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome[clarification needed] responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome[clarification needed] punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum (Colchester) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium), the rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in the Battle of Watling Street. Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether.
There was further turmoil in 69, the "Year of the Four Emperors". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively.[38] Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi.
In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from Britain back to Rome, and the Romans initially retired to a more defensible line along the Forth–Clyde isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.
For much of the history of Roman Britain, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.
Roman military organisation in the north
In 84 AD
In 84 AD
In 155 AD
In 155 AD
Hadrian's Wall, and Antonine Wall
There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate. Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation. Some of the most important sources for this era are the writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland, mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied.
Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead, in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site.[citation needed] There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene. Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway–Tyne isthmus around this time.
A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior. This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana, whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context.
In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus.
The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180.
During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces. Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts.
In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus. Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny.
The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193) was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192.
3rd century
The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war.
Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots.
The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.
Northern campaigns, 208–211
An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne.
As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts.
During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259 a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire.
Around the year 280, a half-British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus. Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel.
The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293, the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle.
Diocletian's reforms
As part of Diocletian's reforms, the provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum (Trier).
The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency.
Civilian and military authority of a province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of the frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors.
The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as the sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not.
The early-4th-century Verona List, the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus, and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of the names Britannia I, Britannia II, Maxima Caesariensis, and Flavia Caesariensis; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor (praeses) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall, in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall.
Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On the assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles. The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium" (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia, Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun., and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as a scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II (Caerleon). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province.
In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and "Duvian". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at "Urbs Legionum" (Caerleon); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at "Dorobernia" (Canterbury); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at "Lundonia" (London); "Maximia" in northern England with its capital at Eboracum (York); and Valentia in "Albania which is now Scotland" with its capital at St Andrews. Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons.
A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as the seat of the diocesan vicarius; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles;[d] and places Secunda in the north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva (Chester); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium (Carlisle); and between the walls along Dere Street.
4th century
Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus.
In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide.
As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy, was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base.[ An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration.
Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus, raised the standard of revolt at Segontium (Caernarfon) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel. Maximus held much of the western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to the limit along the Rhine and Danube. Around 396 there were more barbarian incursions into Britain. Stilicho led a punitive expedition. It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I.
End of Roman rule
The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of Michael Rostovtzeff, was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. Consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation. Some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "dark earth" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts. Turning over the basilica at Silchester to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanisation of Roman Britain.
The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There was a growing number of barbarian attacks, but these targeted vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as Chedworth, Great Casterton in Rutland and Hucclecote in Gloucestershire had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century; the story of Saint Patrick indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium and Cirencester. Some urban centres, for example Canterbury, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Winchester and Gloucester, remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates.
Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87. Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.
Sub-Roman Britain
Towards the end of the 4th century Roman rule in Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks. Apparently, there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier, Constantine III, to become emperor in 407. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by Honorius; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed. A Saxon incursion in 408 was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 409 Zosimus records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. Zosimus may be referring to the Bacaudic rebellion of the Breton inhabitants of Armorica since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to Bruttium or Bologna. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing Romano-British ideals and conventions. Historian Stuart Laycock has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.
In British tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts, Scoti, and Déisi. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries.) The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600. Around this time, many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name), Galicia and probably Ireland. A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Aetius, leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446. Another is the Battle of Deorham in 577, after which the significant cities of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester fell and the Saxons reached the western sea.
Historians generally reject the historicity of King Arthur, who is supposed to have resisted the Anglo-Saxon conquest according to later medieval legends.
Trade
During the Roman period Britain's continental trade was principally directed across the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel, focusing on the narrow Strait of Dover, with more limited links via the Atlantic seaways. The most important British ports were London and Richborough, whilst the continental ports most heavily engaged in trade with Britain were Boulogne and the sites of Domburg and Colijnsplaat at the mouth of the river Scheldt. During the Late Roman period it is likely that the shore forts played some role in continental trade alongside their defensive functions.
Exports to Britain included: coin; pottery, particularly red-gloss terra sigillata (samian ware) from southern, central and eastern Gaul, as well as various other wares from Gaul and the Rhine provinces; olive oil from southern Spain in amphorae; wine from Gaul in amphorae and barrels; salted fish products from the western Mediterranean and Brittany in barrels and amphorae; preserved olives from southern Spain in amphorae; lava quern-stones from Mayen on the middle Rhine; glass; and some agricultural products. Britain's exports are harder to detect archaeologically, but will have included metals, such as silver and gold and some lead, iron and copper. Other exports probably included agricultural products, oysters and salt, whilst large quantities of coin would have been re-exported back to the continent as well.
These products moved as a result of private trade and also through payments and contracts established by the Roman state to support its military forces and officials on the island, as well as through state taxation and extraction of resources. Up until the mid-3rd century, the Roman state's payments appear to have been unbalanced, with far more products sent to Britain, to support its large military force (which had reached c. 53,000 by the mid-2nd century), than were extracted from the island.
It has been argued that Roman Britain's continental trade peaked in the late 1st century AD and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state's desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports. Evidence has been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain's continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century AD, from c. 165 AD onwards. This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars.
From the mid-3rd century onwards, Britain no longer received such a wide range and extensive quantity of foreign imports as it did during the earlier part of the Roman period; vast quantities of coin from continental mints reached the island, whilst there is historical evidence for the export of large amounts of British grain to the continent during the mid-4th century. During the latter part of the Roman period British agricultural products, paid for by both the Roman state and by private consumers, clearly played an important role in supporting the military garrisons and urban centres of the northwestern continental Empire. This came about as a result of the rapid decline in the size of the British garrison from the mid-3rd century onwards (thus freeing up more goods for export), and because of 'Germanic' incursions across the Rhine, which appear to have reduced rural settlement and agricultural output in northern Gaul.
Economy
Mineral extraction sites such as the Dolaucothi gold mine were probably first worked by the Roman army from c. 75, and at some later stage passed to civilian operators. The mine developed as a series of opencast workings, mainly by the use of hydraulic mining methods. They are described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History in great detail. Essentially, water supplied by aqueducts was used to prospect for ore veins by stripping away soil to reveal the bedrock. If veins were present, they were attacked using fire-setting and the ore removed for comminution. The dust was washed in a small stream of water and the heavy gold dust and gold nuggets collected in riffles. The diagram at right shows how Dolaucothi developed from c. 75 through to the 1st century. When opencast work was no longer feasible, tunnels were driven to follow the veins. The evidence from the site shows advanced technology probably under the control of army engineers.
The Wealden ironworking zone, the lead and silver mines of the Mendip Hills and the tin mines of Cornwall seem to have been private enterprises leased from the government for a fee. Mining had long been practised in Britain (see Grimes Graves), but the Romans introduced new technical knowledge and large-scale industrial production to revolutionise the industry. It included hydraulic mining to prospect for ore by removing overburden as well as work alluvial deposits. The water needed for such large-scale operations was supplied by one or more aqueducts, those surviving at Dolaucothi being especially impressive. Many prospecting areas were in dangerous, upland country, and, although mineral exploitation was presumably one of the main reasons for the Roman invasion, it had to wait until these areas were subdued.
By the 3rd and 4th centuries, small towns could often be found near villas. In these towns, villa owners and small-scale farmers could obtain specialist tools. Lowland Britain in the 4th century was agriculturally prosperous enough to export grain to the continent. This prosperity lay behind the blossoming of villa building and decoration that occurred between AD 300 and 350.
Britain's cities also consumed Roman-style pottery and other goods, and were centres through which goods could be distributed elsewhere. At Wroxeter in Shropshire, stock smashed into a gutter during a 2nd-century fire reveals that Gaulish samian ware was being sold alongside mixing bowls from the Mancetter-Hartshill industry of the West Midlands. Roman designs were most popular, but rural craftsmen still produced items derived from the Iron Age La Tène artistic traditions. Britain was home to much gold, which attracted Roman invaders. By the 3rd century, Britain's economy was diverse and well established, with commerce extending into the non-Romanised north.
Government
Further information: Governors of Roman Britain, Roman client kingdoms in Britain, and Roman auxiliaries in Britain
Under the Roman Empire, administration of peaceful provinces was ultimately the remit of the Senate, but those, like Britain, that required permanent garrisons, were placed under the Emperor's control. In practice imperial provinces were run by resident governors who were members of the Senate and had held the consulship. These men were carefully selected, often having strong records of military success and administrative ability. In Britain, a governor's role was primarily military, but numerous other tasks were also his responsibility, such as maintaining diplomatic relations with local client kings, building roads, ensuring the public courier system functioned, supervising the civitates and acting as a judge in important legal cases. When not campaigning, he would travel the province hearing complaints and recruiting new troops.
To assist him in legal matters he had an adviser, the legatus juridicus, and those in Britain appear to have been distinguished lawyers perhaps because of the challenge of incorporating tribes into the imperial system and devising a workable method of taxing them. Financial administration was dealt with by a procurator with junior posts for each tax-raising power. Each legion in Britain had a commander who answered to the governor and, in time of war, probably directly ruled troublesome districts. Each of these commands carried a tour of duty of two to three years in different provinces. Below these posts was a network of administrative managers covering intelligence gathering, sending reports to Rome, organising military supplies and dealing with prisoners. A staff of seconded soldiers provided clerical services.
Colchester was probably the earliest capital of Roman Britain, but it was soon eclipsed by London with its strong mercantile connections. The different forms of municipal organisation in Britannia were known as civitas (which were subdivided, amongst other forms, into colonies such as York, Colchester, Gloucester and Lincoln and municipalities such as Verulamium), and were each governed by a senate of local landowners, whether Brythonic or Roman, who elected magistrates concerning judicial and civic affairs. The various civitates sent representatives to a yearly provincial council in order to profess loyalty to the Roman state, to send direct petitions to the Emperor in times of extraordinary need, and to worship the imperial cult.
Demographics
Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million people at the end of the second century. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million people, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.[80] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century. The capital city of Londinium is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000 people. Londinium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, from Britannia and other Roman territories, including continental Europe, Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. In a study conducted in 2012, around 45 percent of sites investigated dating from the Roman period had at least one individual of North African origin.
Town and country
During their occupation of Britain the Romans founded a number of important settlements, many of which survive. The towns suffered attrition in the later 4th century, when public building ceased and some were abandoned to private uses. Place names survived the deurbanised Sub-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods, and historiography has been at pains to signal the expected survivals, but archaeology shows that a bare handful of Roman towns were continuously occupied. According to S.T. Loseby, the very idea of a town as a centre of power and administration was reintroduced to England by the Roman Christianising mission to Canterbury, and its urban revival was delayed to the 10th century.
Roman towns can be broadly grouped in two categories. Civitates, "public towns" were formally laid out on a grid plan, and their role in imperial administration occasioned the construction of public buildings. The much more numerous category of vici, "small towns" grew on informal plans, often round a camp or at a ford or crossroads; some were not small, others were scarcely urban, some not even defended by a wall, the characteristic feature of a place of any importance.
Cities and towns which have Roman origins, or were extensively developed by them are listed with their Latin names in brackets; civitates are marked C
Alcester (Alauna)
Alchester
Aldborough, North Yorkshire (Isurium Brigantum) C
Bath (Aquae Sulis) C
Brough (Petuaria) C
Buxton (Aquae Arnemetiae)
Caerleon (Isca Augusta) C
Caernarfon (Segontium) C
Caerwent (Venta Silurum) C
Caister-on-Sea C
Canterbury (Durovernum Cantiacorum) C
Carlisle (Luguvalium) C
Carmarthen (Moridunum) C
Chelmsford (Caesaromagus)
Chester (Deva Victrix) C
Chester-le-Street (Concangis)
Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum) C
Cirencester (Corinium) C
Colchester (Camulodunum) C
Corbridge (Coria) C
Dorchester (Durnovaria) C
Dover (Portus Dubris)
Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) C
Gloucester (Glevum) C
Great Chesterford (the name of this vicus is unknown)
Ilchester (Lindinis) C
Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum) C
Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) C
London (Londinium) C
Manchester (Mamucium) C
Newcastle upon Tyne (Pons Aelius)
Northwich (Condate)
St Albans (Verulamium) C
Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) C
Towcester (Lactodurum)
Whitchurch (Mediolanum) C
Winchester (Venta Belgarum) C
Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) C
York (Eboracum) C
Religion
The druids, the Celtic priestly caste who were believed to originate in Britain, were outlawed by Claudius, and in 61 they vainly defended their sacred groves from destruction by the Romans on the island of Mona (Anglesey). Under Roman rule the Britons continued to worship native Celtic deities, such as Ancasta, but often conflated with their Roman equivalents, like Mars Rigonemetos at Nettleham.
The degree to which earlier native beliefs survived is difficult to gauge precisely. Certain European ritual traits such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the head and of water sources such as springs remain in the archaeological record, but the differences in the votive offerings made at the baths at Bath, Somerset, before and after the Roman conquest suggest that continuity was only partial. Worship of the Roman emperor is widely recorded, especially at military sites. The founding of a Roman temple to Claudius at Camulodunum was one of the impositions that led to the revolt of Boudica. By the 3rd century, Pagans Hill Roman Temple in Somerset was able to exist peaceably and it did so into the 5th century.
Pagan religious practices were supported by priests, represented in Britain by votive deposits of priestly regalia such as chain crowns from West Stow and Willingham Fen.
Eastern cults such as Mithraism also grew in popularity towards the end of the occupation. The London Mithraeum is one example of the popularity of mystery religions among the soldiery. Temples to Mithras also exist in military contexts at Vindobala on Hadrian's Wall (the Rudchester Mithraeum) and at Segontium in Roman Wales (the Caernarfon Mithraeum).
Christianity
It is not clear when or how Christianity came to Britain. A 2nd-century "word square" has been discovered in Mamucium, the Roman settlement of Manchester. It consists of an anagram of PATER NOSTER carved on a piece of amphora. There has been discussion by academics whether the "word square" is a Christian artefact, but if it is, it is one of the earliest examples of early Christianity in Britain. The earliest confirmed written evidence for Christianity in Britain is a statement by Tertullian, c. 200 AD, in which he described "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons, inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ". Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Small timber churches are suggested at Lincoln and Silchester and baptismal fonts have been found at Icklingham and the Saxon Shore Fort at Richborough. The Icklingham font is made of lead, and visible in the British Museum. A Roman Christian graveyard exists at the same site in Icklingham. A possible Roman 4th-century church and associated burial ground was also discovered at Butt Road on the south-west outskirts of Colchester during the construction of the new police station there, overlying an earlier pagan cemetery. The Water Newton Treasure is a hoard of Christian silver church plate from the early 4th century and the Roman villas at Lullingstone and Hinton St Mary contained Christian wall paintings and mosaics respectively. A large 4th-century cemetery at Poundbury with its east–west oriented burials and lack of grave goods has been interpreted as an early Christian burial ground, although such burial rites were also becoming increasingly common in pagan contexts during the period.
The Church in Britain seems to have developed the customary diocesan system, as evidenced from the records of the Council of Arles in Gaul in 314: represented at the council were bishops from thirty-five sees from Europe and North Africa, including three bishops from Britain, Eborius of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelphius, possibly a bishop of Lincoln. No other early sees are documented, and the material remains of early church structures are far to seek. The existence of a church in the forum courtyard of Lincoln and the martyrium of Saint Alban on the outskirts of Roman Verulamium are exceptional. Alban, the first British Christian martyr and by far the most prominent, is believed to have died in the early 4th century (some date him in the middle 3rd century), followed by Saints Julius and Aaron of Isca Augusta. Christianity was legalised in the Roman Empire by Constantine I in 313. Theodosius I made Christianity the state religion of the empire in 391, and by the 5th century it was well established. One belief labelled a heresy by the church authorities — Pelagianism — was originated by a British monk teaching in Rome: Pelagius lived c. 354 to c. 420/440.
A letter found on a lead tablet in Bath, Somerset, datable to c. 363, had been widely publicised as documentary evidence regarding the state of Christianity in Britain during Roman times. According to its first translator, it was written in Wroxeter by a Christian man called Vinisius to a Christian woman called Nigra, and was claimed as the first epigraphic record of Christianity in Britain. This translation of the letter was apparently based on grave paleographical errors, and the text has nothing to do with Christianity, and in fact relates to pagan rituals.
Environmental changes
The Romans introduced a number of species to Britain, including possibly the now-rare Roman nettle (Urtica pilulifera), said to have been used by soldiers to warm their arms and legs, and the edible snail Helix pomatia. There is also some evidence they may have introduced rabbits, but of the smaller southern mediterranean type. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) prevalent in modern Britain is assumed to have been introduced from the continent after the Norman invasion of 1066. Box (Buxus sempervirens) is rarely recorded before the Roman period, but becomes a common find in towns and villas
Legacy
During their occupation of Britain the Romans built an extensive network of roads which continued to be used in later centuries and many are still followed today. The Romans also built water supply, sanitation and wastewater systems. Many of Britain's major cities, such as London (Londinium), Manchester (Mamucium) and York (Eboracum), were founded by the Romans, but the original Roman settlements were abandoned not long after the Romans left.
Unlike many other areas of the Western Roman Empire, the current majority language is not a Romance language, or a language descended from the pre-Roman inhabitants. The British language at the time of the invasion was Common Brittonic, and remained so after the Romans withdrew. It later split into regional languages, notably Cumbric, Cornish, Breton and Welsh. Examination of these languages suggests some 800 Latin words were incorporated into Common Brittonic (see Brittonic languages). The current majority language, English, is based on the languages of the Germanic tribes who migrated to the island from continental Europe
Marc had just received the verdict on his PhD oral defence -- he'd passed. Here, he was with his wife and daughter as we were all getting ready to leave the defence room. He still had his academic gown on. His daughter smiled a moment later, but I like this picture better.
Under fluorescent lights, the colours were a little more garish than I'd like, so I converted it to b&w. In so doing, I punched up the local contrast all around (except their faces), to give it a kind of cartoony feel. There is little in real life that is as cartoony as getting advanced academic degrees.
I wanted to describe a street battle in Berlin with an officer (actually, I don't know if this officer is dressed correctly. If it's wrong, please understand) behind a sandbag. Maybe they're keeping the Soviets in check. But inside the building, wounded Soviet troops are pointing guns at them. Oops!
It was very bored to repeatedly place numerous 1*1 tiles on the floor! By the way, I finally achieved it at 400 followers. Thank you all :)
Israeli soldiers of the Golani brigade take part in an exercise near the border with Syria on May 6, 2013 at the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Syria has accused Israel of launching a series of airstrikes on targets near the Lebanon/Syria border, including an arms shipment and the Jamraya research centre, that was thought to produce chemical weapons.
Members of the Irish Defence Force’s 95th Cadet Class completed their Military Operations in Urban Terrain Training in Fort Davis, Cork.
This demanding exercise marks an important milestone in Cadet Training, as we move towards Christmas, the New Year, and their completion of training. November 2019
Included in the 95th Cadet Class are members of the Armed Forces of Malta
Photo: Óglaigh na hÉireann / Irish Defence Forces
08-D-49925 MH 229 Ireland Civil Defence Ford Transit Mini Bus World Rescue Change Fire Service College 2014
Students on the Standard NCO Course on exercise in Fort Davis County Cork
Students from the 3rd All Arms Standard NCO course conducting a FIBUA (Fighting in Built up Areas) exercise in Fort Davis, April 2013. During the exercise the students were tested using an Engineer Assault Bridge to gain entry and a Artillery 105mm Gun to break strong points. There are thirty nine students on the course representing the Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Engineer, Ordnance, CIS and Air Corp.
Niall Kavanagh
Niall is the son of Paul and Mary Kavanagh. He is from Cobh, Co Cork. Niall attended Coláiste Mhuire in Cobh, completing his Leaving Certificate in 2009. Niall is third generation Naval Service. His grandfather, father and siblings have all served in the Naval Service. Prior to joining the Naval Service Niall worked as a manager for Harvey Norman in Cork city. His interests include music, running, sports and history.
44 Infantry Group Mission Readiness Exercise
130 Defence Forces soldiers from the 44 Infantry Group are entering the final phase of intense training in preparation for the forthcoming deployment to the United Nations Disengagement Observation Forces, (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights region of Syria.
The training took place in the Glen Immal Co Wicklow. The personnel of the unit have a mix of experience, from first trip soldiers and officers, to highly experienced Senior NCO's and Commanders.
The 44 Infantry Group wil deploy to Syria in March, taking over from the 43 Infantry Group who have been serving with UNDOF since September 2013.
The Mission Readiness exercise put commanders and soldiers through a demanding series of scenarios based on the potential threats they may be encountered in the volatile mission area. The Troops face a series of scenarios involving simulated explosive strikes, air mobile helicopter drills,anti-ambush tactics, detailed operational planning and medical evacuation exercises.
Students on the Standard NCO Course on exercise in Fort Davis County Cork
Students from the 3rd All Arms Standard NCO course conducting a FIBUA (Fighting in Built up Areas) exercise in Fort Davis, April 2013. During the exercise the students were tested using an Engineer Assault Bridge to gain entry and a Artillery 105mm Gun to break strong points. There are thirty nine students on the course representing the Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Engineer, Ordnance, CIS and Air Corp.
Israeli Soldiers from the Caracal Battalion during their basic training – 2012
The Caracal Battalion is an infantry combat battalion of the Israel Defense Forces, composed of both male and female soldiers, of both Jewish and Arab descent.[It is named after the Caracal, a small cat whose sexes appear the same. As of 2009, approximately 70% of the battalion was female.It is part of the 512th "Sagi" Brigade of Israel's Southern territorial command.
Prior to Caracal's formation in 2000, women had been prevented from serving in direct combat positions with the IDF. The unit has since been tasked with patrolling the Israeli-Egyptian border. It took part in Israel's unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2005.
The unit badge, adopted in 2009, incorporates the Sagi Brigade badge, with the addition of the Caracal cat.
New recruits in the Caracal Battalion, are issued the Israeli-made Tavor assault rifle. Battalion members partake in a four-month basic training period that includes physical training at the Givati Brigade training base.
Soldiers specialize in various weapons including machine guns, advanced weaponry, grenades, and mortars.
All female soldiers who join the battalion are required to sign up for a third year of military service, the same as their male counterparts. The men are drawn from Nahal garinim, or have volunteered.
Plumer planned to capture Gheluvelt Plateau in four steps, with an interval of six days between each to allow time to bring forward artillery and supplies, a faster tempo of operations than that envisaged by Gough in the planning before 31 July.[Each step was to have even more limited geographical objectives, with infantry units attacking on narrower fronts in greater depth. The previous practice of attacking the first objective with two battalions and the following objectives with a battalion each, was reversed in view of the greater density of German defensive positions the further the attack penetrated. Double the medium and heavy artillery was available than that used on 31 July. The method would ensure that more infantry was on tactically advantageous ground, having had time to consolidate and regain contact with their artillery, before they received German counter-attacks. The British began a desultory bombardment on 31 August and also sought to neutralize the German batteries with gas in the days before the attack, including gas attacks on the three evenings before the assault. Aircraft were to be used for systematic air observation of German troop movements to and on the battlefield, to avoid the failures of previous battles where too few aircraft had been burdened with too many duties in bad weather.
Like the attack of 31 July, nine British divisions from four corps were to participate on a front of approximately 10,000 yards. In late August destructive fire by the heaviest artillery began on German strongpoints and counter-battery began early in September, although hampered by poor visibility.
Elastic defence had been rejected by the Fourth Army Chief of Staff, Major-General von Lossberg, who believed that a tactical withdrawal by trench garrisons would disoganise the counter-attacking reserves, leading to the loss of the sector concerned and danger to flanking units. Lossberg ordered the front line of sentry groups (Postengraben) to be held rigidly; British attacks would exhaust themselves and then be repulsed by local German reserves or Eingreif divisions if needed. Lossberg also judged that there was little prospect of British attacks being delayed by their need to move artillery forward and build supply routes. The British had a huge mass of artillery and the infrastructure necessary to supply it with ammunition, much of it built opposite Flandern I in the period between the attack at Messines and 31 July.
Lossberg's methods had succeeded on the front of XIX Corps in 31 July and against II Corps on the Gheluvelt Plateau on 31 July and during August, although the counter-attacks had been stopped in their turn by British artillery fire, when they reached areas where observation and communications between British infantry and artillery had been restored.[18] Ludendorff later wrote that losses in the August battles had been unexpectedly high.[32] The pause in British operations in early September helped to mislead the Germans. General von Kuhl (Chief of Staff, Army Group Crown Prince Rupprecht) doubted that the offensive had ended but by 13 September had changed his mind. Despite Kuhl urging caution, two divisions, thirteen heavy batteries and twelve field batteries of artillery, three fighter squadrons and four other air force units were transferred from the German Fourth Army.[33] In the area about to be attacked, the Fourth Army had six ground-holding divisions backed by three Eingref divisions and 750 guns.
Second Army
The 19th Division in IX Corps covered the southern defensive flank of the attack front against the German 9th Reserve and 207th divisions, on a 1,600 yards (1,500 m) front from the Comines canal to Groenenburg Farm on the west slope of the Bassevillebeek valley. The six attacking battalions of the 58th Brigade on the right and the 57th Brigade on the left and their supporting battalions had a difficult approach. The 58th brigade battalions had to make their way through the obstructions of Opaque Wood and Imperfect Copse and then at midnight it began to rain until 5:00 a.m.. Zero hour was decided according to the weather and the time of 5:40 a.m. was passed forward at 1:45 a.m. so all ranks had to lie quiet in the rain for more than three hours. Around dawn a heavy mist formed and at 5:40 a.m. the barrage began. On the right the short advance to the first objective (red line) was met with opposition from dug-outs south-west of Hessian Wood, Jarrocks Farm, Pioneer House and a small wood nearby. Heavy machine-gun fire was also encountered from Hollebeke Château and the railway embankment. The right battalion reached the objective on time but the two to the left had many casualties and lost touch with their flanking units and the barrage, until the pause on the red line (first objective) allowed them to reorganise, mop-up and regain touch with units which had lost direction. The third battalion on the left was still held up by Hessian Wood so a defensive flank was formed facing north.[35]
The 57th Brigade advanced to the red line with slight opposition on the right while the two battalions on the left had to cross an extremely boggy area which slowed them and stopped them from keeping up with the barrage. The delay resulted in them being caught by machine-gun fire from dug-outs near Top House while bunched up because of the heavy going. The red line (second objective) which here was little different to the first objective (green line) was reached and two platoons from each attacking company moved up ready to advance to the blue line (second objective) which began at 6:24 a.m. The second and final lines (red and blue) were contiguous on the right from Hessian Wood but the Germans defending the wood were still fighting when the advance was due to resume. Two companies of the right hand battalion had advanced after suffering many losses and then a platoon went to assist the centre battalion. A number of dug-outs were cleared 50 prisoners taken which enabled the centre battalion to get into the north end of the wood and gain touch with the left-hand battalion in the south-western corner. On the front of the 57th Brigade opposition at Wood Farm and Belgian Wood was overrun by a bayonet charge and the blue line (third objective) reached on time. During this advance machine-gun sections and a battalion liaison detachment of the 39th Division pushed forward to North Farm, which was captured with four machine-guns and 29 prisoners. At 8:10 a.m. the protective barrage lifted 200 yards (180 m) and patrols were sent forward to establish outposts and to clear the area of remaining German troops; Moat Farm and Funny Farm being mopped-up. Consolidation was begun despite machine-gun fre from Hollebeke Château, the green line (first objective) was dug-in and posts forward to the blue line (final objective) defended in depth by posts. A German counter-attack was attempted at 7:30 a.m. and "annihilated" by small-arms and artillery fire.[36]
In X Corps to the north the 39th Division on the right prolonged the southern defensive flank, from Groenenburg Farm northwards down the slope to the Bassevillebeek. The division suffered badly from German fire as it advanced 800 yards (730 m) to its objective, from hidden dug-outs in the area further north, which had already stopped the 41st Division. When the division reached its objective it swung back its left flank to link with the right hand brigade of 41st Division.[37] The main attack was made by X Corps and 1st Anzac Corps on a 4,000 yards (3,700 m) front on the Gheluvelt plateau. Steady pressure by the 47th Division had advanced the British front line near Inverness Copse a considerable distance, during the pause in large operations in early September, which made better jumping-off positions for the attack by I Anzac Corps.[21] The four divisions advanced behind a creeping barrage of unprecedented weight. The increased amount of artillery allowed the heavy guns to place two belts of fire beyond the two from the field artillery; a machine-gun barrage in the middle made five belts of fire, each 200 yards (180 m) deep in front of the infantry.[38] The creeping barrage started quickly, lifting 50 yards (46 m) every two minutes and this allowed the British infantry to surprise the German outpost garrisons while the Germans were still in their shelters, by looming out of the mist; after four lifts, the barrage slowed to 100 yards (91 m) every six minutes. Most German troops encountered were so stunned by the bombardment that they were incapable of resistance and surrendered immediately, despite few of the concrete pill-boxes and Mebu shelters being destroyed by the British artillery. In the few areas where the German defenders were capable of resisting, they inflicted heavy losses but were quickly outflanked in the mist. The new system of local reserves allowed the British to maintain momentum despite local checks.[39]
The 41st Division had to advance across the Bassevillebeek valley against the right of the German 9th Division and the left of the Bavarian Ersatz Division to capture Tower Hamlets spur. The advance was hampered by overnight rain, which affected the valley more than the plateau to the north. Fire from camouflaged German machine-gun nests in the valley caused confusion and delay in the British infantry and the barrage was lost. The Bassevillebeek stream in the valley was eventually crossed, with the 122nd Brigade struggling forward and the 124th brigade held up near the British front line, by numerous machine-guns in the Quadrilateral, fortifications in three ruined cottages inside a digging 400 by 100 yards (370 m × 91 m) at the south end of the spur. The Quadrilateral commanded the western approach to the spur and the rise north to the pill-boxes at Tower Hamlets. The left hand brigade of the division reached the third objective and threw back its right flank to the brigade on the right, which had advanced just beyond the second objective and then joined the left flank of 39th Division. Despite the failure to capture Tower Hamlets and parts of the two leading battalions of 124th brigade running away before being rallied, two dead and three wounded battalion commanders, the division defeated all German counter-attacks during the day.[40]
The 23rd Division was held up for a short time by a German strong point in Dumbarton Wood, which had been missed by the barrage and caused many casualties. Despite the delay and the difficulty of navigating through clouds of dust and smoke, caused by the barrage and the marshy ground north of Dumbarton Lake, the first objective was reached a few minutes after the barrage and consolidated along the source of the Bassevillebeek. 69th Brigade on the left managed to get through Inverness Copse but German troops emerged from cover and fired on the troops behind, as they moved up to attack the second objective, causing severe losses before they were killed or captured. The troops who had been severely reduced in numbers, following on through the copse, were still able to capture a line of German fortifications along Menin Road, north of the hamlet of Kantinje Cabaret. Of four tanks attached for the attack along Menin Road, one bogged early and the infantry advance was too swift for the other three tanks to keep up. One tank was knocked out on the road and the other two carried ammunition and equipment to the troops at the final objective.
The 1st Australian Division on the right of I Anzac Corps, advanced on a 1,000 yards front north of the Menin Road, with its right aimed at Fitzclarence Farm against part of the Bavarian Ersatz Division and most of the 121st Division. The Australians passed through Glencorse Wood, which had changed hands twice in August, quickly suppressing German resistance. The Germans at Fitzclarence Farm were kept under cover by rifle grenade fire, while other groups got behind and rushed the garrison, taking 41 prisoners. Infiltration was also used against German machine-gunners in concrete shelters in the sunken road in the north of the wood, who had caused many casualties. Close reserves worked behind the shelters and fought their way in and killed or captured the garrison. Nonne Bosschen was crossed by moving along the edges of shell craters, the second objective along the west edge of Polygon Wood being reached on time at 7:45 a.m. The Wilhelm (third) Line pill-boxes and Mebu shelters[Note 3] were captured quickly, while the German defenders were dazed by the bombardment and unable to resist.[43] Few accounts survive from the Bavarian Ersatz Division companies holding the ground either side of the Menin road, as they were quickly overwhelmed by the 23rd and 1st Australian divisions. Machine-gun fire was heard from the Albrecht (second) Line at 8:30 a.m. but by 9:00 a.m. the British were well on the way to the Wilhelm (third) Line.[44]
The 2nd Australian Division attacked with two brigades, one either side of the Westhoek – Zonnebeke road, against the German 121st Division, down the Hanebeek valley to the near bank. The German outpost garrisons were surprised and overrun. On the far side of the stream the advance overwhelmed the Germans who mostly surrendered en masse. Visibility began to improve to 200–300 yards (180–270 m) and on breasting the rise, machine-guns in Albert and Iron Cross redoubts in the Wilhelm (third) Line on Anzac House spur, the next rise to the east, were blinded by smoke grenades and the garrisons ran off. Further to the left, Anzac House, an important German artillery observation post overlooking the Steenbeek valley to the north, was captured as the garrison tried to engage the Australians by moving their machine-guns outside. As the divisions on the Gheluvelt plateau reached their second objective at 7:45 a.m. a breeze blew away the mist and revealed the magnitude of their achievement. The British had carried the defences which had held them up through August and had gained observation all the way to Broodseinde.[45]
No German counter-attacks were mounted in the two hours that the British spent consolidating the second objective, as the creeping barrage stood for fourteen minutes in front of the second objective, then advanced 2,000 yards (1,800 m) before returning to the new British front line and then advancing again to lead the British troops to the third objective. German counter-attacks were stopped before they reached the new British outposts. The German artillery only managed to fire a disjointed and sparse barrage, which did little to obstruct the troops ready to advance to the third objective as they moved up but snipers and long-range machine-gun fire began to harass the troops consolidating the second objective. Local operations were mounted to stop sniping, using the methods that had been so successful earlier in the morning, leading to Black Watch Corner at the south-west of Polygon Wood and Garter Point east of Anzac House and other strong-points being captured.[46]
At 9:53 a.m. the barrage resumed its forward movement towards the third objective, another 300–400 yards (270–370 m) away. The 23rd Division had to fight forward through pill-boxes hidden in ruined cottages along the Menin Road, concrete shelters in Veldhoek and a hedgerow in front of it, before the German garrisons retreated. The left brigade was held up by a dozen pill-boxes in the Wilhelm (third) Line until noon, which caused the division many losses but the ground at the final objective proved to be dry enough for the troops to dig in.[47] The two Australian divisions reached the third objective in half an hour, finding the Germans in those strongpoints not subdued during the halt on the second objective as stunned as those met earlier in the day. Strafing by eight German aircraft, (one of which was shot down by ground fire) and some shelling by German artillery caused minor losses as the Australian divisions consolidated captured trenches and shell holes in their new front line.[47]
Fifth Army[edit source | editbeta]
Frezenberg Ridge, September–October 1917.
The British Fifth Army attacked on the left of the Second Army, V Corps on the right to capture the Wilhelm (third) Line, XVIII Corps in the centre, to finish the capture of the line from Schuler Farm to Langemarck and then advance 500–800 yards (460–730 m) east towards Poelcappelle; XIV Corps formed the northern flank with 20th Division. V Corps had more field guns than the I Anzac Corps to the right and fewer heavy guns so only three barrage belts were possible. A creeping barrage by 18-pdr field guns was to move at the same speed as that of the Second Army. 18-pdr and 4.5-inch howitzer fire were to comb the area in front of the creeping barrage, from 100–400 yards (91–370 m) deep and a neutralizing barrage by 6-inch howitzers and 60-pdr guns was to sweep ground 450–1,200 yards (410–1,100 m) in front of the creeping barrage. Artillery not needed for counter-battery fire was to put standing barrages on the most dangerous German positions, like Hills 37 and 40 and the German assembly areas in the dips behind Zonnebeke and Gravenstafel.[48]
9th and 55th Divisions of V Corps were to attack on fronts of 1,800 yards (1,600 m) over ground held by the right of the German 121st Division and the 2nd Guards Reserve Division, which had also changed hands twice in August. The large numbers of strong-points, pill-boxes and fortified farms east of the Hanebeek and Steenbeek streams were mostly intact, despite numerous attempts to smash them with artillery fire. The artillery brought to the Ypres salient in September went to the Second Army so the Fifth Army adopted a new infantry formation, where moppers-up were reorganised into small groups of up to half a platoon, moving with the leading assault waves to capture specific strong-points and then garrison them. XVIII Corps adopted the same practice, which became standard in the Fifth Army soon after the battle.[49]
The 9th Division was confronted by the morass of the Hanebeek valley, where the stream had been choked by frequent bombardment and turned into a swamp and water-filled shell-holes. Both brigades sent two battalions forward to the first objective and leap-frogged two more through them to take the final objective. Hanebeek Wood on the right was barraged with smoke and high-explosive shell rather than shrapnel, except for a lane along which a company was able to move behind the wood. When the artillery fire moved beyond the wood it was rushed from both directions and captured with fifty prisoners and four machine-guns. The South African Brigade on the left did the same thing at Borry Farm. In the mist the strong points were easily overrun except for four pill-boxes around Potsdam House, which were eventually attacked on three sides and captured, after inflicting heavy casualties on the attackers. Delays caused by machine-gun nests dug in along the Ypres–Roulers railway did not stop the division reaching the first objective as the barrage began to creep forward again at 7:08 a.m.[50] At 7:08 a.m. when the 9th Division began the advance to the final objective, the right hand brigade found only minor opposition. The South African Brigade on the left was badly hit by German machine-gun fire from Hill 37, as delays to the 55th Division meant that it was well short of the hill. The South Africans managed to capture Bremen Redoubt and Waterend House in the Zonnebeek valley and extend a defensive flank back to the first objective.[51]
To the north of 9th Division the 55th Division began the day understrength, after the losses of 31 July. Replacements had arrived slowly and 1,000 soldiers were left out of the battle having arrived too late to be trained for the attack. German artillery and machine-gun fire from Reserve Regiment 91 of the 2nd Guards Reserve Division hit the infantry with intense fire as the attack began. The mist worked to the Germans' advantage in this part of the front, because the depleted British units missed several German strong points and dug-outs, from which the Germans were able to stop the British support waves from moving up. The advanced troops realising this either halted or turned back and lost the barrage. The difficulties of the division were made worse at 7:08 a.m. when the scheduled advance to the final objective coincided with the dispersal of the mist. Reserves were pushed forward around 10:00 a.m. from 166th Brigade, which allowed the 165th and 164th Brigades to take the first objective around Gallipoli Farm and the Schuler Galleries in front of Schuler Farm by mid-day. Fighting at Hill 35 continued and the Germans regained Hill 37 with a counter-attack. Machine-guns were placed in the Schuler Galleries and nine were dug in near Keir Farm, which were able to stop German counter-attacks from making any more progress. In the afternoon the rest of the reserve brigade was able to capture Hills 35 and 37, which dominated the Zonnebeke spur. The right of the division established touch with the 9th Division but the centre and left of 55th Division were 500 yards (460 m) short of the final objective.[52]
XVIII Corps was to advance onto the Gravenstafel and Poelcappelle spurs, held by the German 36th Division since 8 September. The divisions had to assemble east of the Steenbeek between St Julien and Langemarck in low ground which was still muddy and full of flooded shell-holes despite the better weather. The 58th Division objective was 1,000 yards (910 m) ahead, among German strong points on the west end of Gravenstafel spur. As a frontal attack here had failed, the division feinted with its right brigade, while the left brigade made the real attack from the flank. The feint captured Winnipeg cross-roads, as the main attack by three battalions one behind the other, captured Vancouver Farm, Keerselaere and Hubner Farm. The next two battalions passed through and turned right half way up the spur, to reach Wurst Farm on a tactically vital part of the spur at the same time as the barrage. Nearly 300 prisoners and fifty machine-guns were taken and outposts were established to the left overlooking the Stroombeek valley. The division ascribed the success to the excellence of their training, an excellent creeping barrage and smoke shell, which had thickened the mist and blinded the German defenders and that gas shell barrages on the German reinforcement routes had depressed German morale.[53]
51st Division further north, had the same task on Poelcappelle spur. The division advanced with one brigade on a 1,400 yards (1,300 m) front. The Germans in the Wilhelm (third) Line were ready for them and fought until they were almost annihilated in new machine-gun nests that they had dug in front of their front line, which had avoided the worst of the artillery bombardment. The division was able to reach the final objective in sight of Poelcappelle village. By these advances XVIII Corps got observation of Poelcappelle and up the Lekkerboterbeek and Lauterbeek valleys, the capture of which allowed British artillery to move forward of the Steenbeek.[54]
20th Division on the right of XIV Corps, had to form the northern defensive flank of the offensive, on a front of 1,400 yards (1,300 m) from Poelcappelle spur to the Ypres – Staden railway. Two brigades attacked with two battalions each. The German Wilhelm (third) Line, here known as Eagle trench, was held as determinedly as that part in the 51st Division sector ("Pheasant trench") despite a bombardment from Livens Projectors (which fell behind the German trench and illuminated the British infantry as they advanced). By the end of the day the division was still short of the first objective, except on the left next to the railway.[55]
The British offensive had captured most of the German outpost zones to a depth of about 1,500 yards (1,400 m). As the ground was captured it was prepared for defence, in anticipation of counter-attacks by the German Eingreif divisions. Captured German machine-gun nests and strong points were garrisoned and wired with German barbed wire found in the area. The final objective became the outpost zone and the second objective the main line of resistance, a chain of irregular posts using shell-holes concealed by folds of the ground and reverse slopes, avoiding trenches which attracted German shell fire. Communication between the infantry and artillery was established with runners, messenger dogs and pigeons. Wireless transmitters and power buzzers were set up at brigade headquarters and artillery observation posts, one for each artillery group. Engineer and pioneer units began to dig in telephone lines, which took until the afternoon of 21 September.[56]
Air operations[edit source | editbeta]
Hannover CL.II
Observing and reporting on German counter-attack movements was made a duty for all aircraft and patrol areas were given to II and V Brigades and the Ninth Wing to patrol. "Hostile Tactical Maps" were issued, showing German assembly points and the likely routes to them and towards the front line. II Brigade covered the Second Army front east to the Roulers–Menin railway. The area was divided into three sectors, each with a counter-attack patrol of two fighters, maintained for eight hours after "zero-hour", flying below 500 feet and using the special maps, to attack any German units they caught on the move and to drive off German low-flying aircraft. On return they were to telephone a report direct to the Second Army Report Centre at Locre, similar arrangements being made for the Fifth Army. Ninth Wing aircraft were to patrol at low altitude east of Zarren–Oostnieukerke–Menin beginning two hours after the start of the attack, to harass German reinforcements. Corps squadrons were to maintain counter-attack patrols on their Corps fronts, calling for immediate artillery fire and warning British infantry by smoke signal. Not all of these measures were possible on the day due to the weather, because it had rained on 19 September and was misty next morning. Air operations commenced as soon as the mist cleared at 8.00 a.m.[23] German aircraft attempting to intervene during the battle suffered from the presence of anti-aircraft guns near the front line, a Lewis gunner of a pioneer battalion in the 19th Division, shooting down a German aircraft in flames at 1:30 p.m.; the feat was repeated next day and several German formations were broken up by ground fire.[57]
German Fourth Army counter-attacks[edit source | editbeta]
Reproduction of captured German trench map, 20 Sept 1917.
During the British infantry advances, German artillery managed a considerable amount of counter-battery fire, particularly from Zillebeke to Vebrandenmolen but this was not enough to stop the British artillery heavily bombarding German reserve battalions of the ground-holding (Stellungsdivisionen) divisions as they made futile attempts to counter-attack between 10:00 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. At 1:48 p.m. the British standing barrage in front of the new line ended. Air reconnaissance from zero hour by a contact aeroplane over each Corps area, to observe the progress of the British infantry and one counter-attack observation machine watching for German counter-attacks, revealed German Eingreif units advancing from Flandern III at Menin, Moorslede and Westroosebeek. During the day 394 wireless messages were received from British observation aircraft, about a third resulting in immediate artillery fire.[58]
After 3.00 p.m. approximately three German infantry battalions were reported north of the Menin Road moving up the Reutelbeek valley towards Polderhoek, a similar force with field artillery was seen moving west towards I Anzac Corps at Polygon Wood and Anzac spur and another was observed, descending from the Poelcappelle spur at Westroosebeek towards positions held by the Fifth Army. These troops were the leading regiments of three Eingreif divisions, 16th Bavarian from Gheluwe, 236th Division from Moorslede and 234th Division from Oostniewkirke. The 16th Bavarian Division counter-attack plan "Get Closer" (Näher heran) had been ordered at 5:15 a.m. By 9:00 a.m. the division advanced towards the area between Polygon Wood and Inverness Copse.[59] British medium and heavy artillery fired on the German units, which were forced to deploy and advance from cover. After considerable delay the survivors reached British machine-gun range as their artillery support overshot the British positions. Visibility was still exceptionally good, with the sun behind the British who were easily able to see all movement in front of them on the Gheluvelt plateau. The German force moving up the Reutelbeek valley into the area of 23rd and 1st Australian divisions was watched by the infantry for an hour, when at 7:02 p.m. a field artillery and machine-gun barrage fell on the Germans for an hour, stopping all movement towards the British positions, "16th Bavarian Division was a high quality formation, but all the skill and dash in the world stood no chance in the face of the torrent of fire the British artillery could bring to bear at the critical points".[60]
A similar barrage for forty minutes in front of 2nd Australian division on a regiment of the 236th Division advancing from Molenaarelsthoek and downhill from Broodseinde, stopped the counter-attack long before it came within range of the Australian infantry. On the southern edge of the plateau, German troops dribbling forward in the 39th Division area managed to reinforce the garrison at Tower Hamlets, then tried twice to advance to the Bassevillebeek and were "smashed" by artillery and machine-gun fire.[61]
In the Fifth Army area, from 800 yards (730 m) south of the Ypres – Roulers railway, north to the Ypres – Staden railway, many Germans were seen moving west down Passchendaele ridge around 5:30 p.m. into the area held by the 55th, 58th and 51st divisions. In the 58th Division area fire was opened on the Germans after half an hour, which forced the Germans to deploy into open order. When the Germans were 150 yards (140 m) from the first British strong point, the British defensive barrage arrived with such force that the German infantry "stampeded". No Germans were seen in the area until night when patrols occupied an outpost. On the 55th Division front "an extraordinarily gallant" German counter-attack by the 459th Reserve Regiment (236th Division) from Gravenstafel, on Hill 37 through Reserve Regiment 91, was stopped by artillery and enfilade fire by machine-guns at Keir Farm and Schuler Galleries.[62] A German attack down Poelcappelle spur at 5:30 p.m. towards the 51st Division had much better artillery support and although stopped in the area of the Lekkerboterbeek by 7:00 p.m., pushed the British left back to Pheasant trench (Wilhelm Line) before the British counter-attacked, pushing the Germans back to the line of the first objective, 600 yards (550 m) short of the final objective. By nightfall the German Eingreif divisions had been defeated.[63][Note 4] The British Official History records that the counter-attack divisions had been held back, waiting for another British advance.[66]
Aftermath[edit source | editbeta]
Casualties[edit source | editbeta]
British casualties 20–25 September are given by the British Official Historian as 20,255; 3,148 being killed, the 19th Division lost 1,933 casualties.[67] 3,243 prisoners were taken with "very heavy" losses of killed or wounded inflicted on the German defenders.[68][Note 5] The Official Historian's calculations of German losses have been severely criticised ever since.[70]
Subsequent operations[edit source | editbeta]
Minor attacks took place after 20 September as both sides jockeyed for position and reorganised their defences. In the Second Army area on 21 September, a 41st Division brigade attacked towards Bassevillbeek Copse, through extremely boggy ground by short rushes and consolidated posts on the Bassevillebeek. Several German counter-attacks in the afternoon were repulsed and at 7:00 p.m. a much larger German attack was dispersed by artillery and small-arms fire.[71] In the evening a German attack was made on Hill 37 against the 55th Division, taking some ground behind a heavy barrage, until a British counter-attack restored the position by 9:15 p.m. A German raid on posts of the 8th Division (II Corps) next day failed and in the X Corps area the 23rd Division and the 1st Australian Division (I Anzac Corps) re-took the front line. In the XVIII Corps area the 58th Division held Stroppe Farm and in the evening the 51st Division repulsed a big German attack from Poelcappelle with artillery and small-arms fire. The 20th Division repulsed a German attack at 6.30 a.m., then attacked Eagle Trench from both ends and captured it, despite fierce German resistance.[72] Crown Prince Rupprecht wrote in his diary for 23 and 24 September that the Germans could not allow the British to remain in control of the higher ground around Zonnebeke or the Gheluvelt Plateau and that counter-strokes during the next enemy attack must reach their objectives. The Fourth Army lacked reserves and needed time to meet another attack.[73]
A bigger German attack on 25 September, on a 1,800 yards (1,600 m) front, from the Menin Road to Polygon Wood, began as the 23rd Division was being relieved by the 33rd Division. A German bombardment from 20 heavy and 44 field batteries (nearly four times the usual amount for a German division) began at 5:15 a.m., part of which fell short onto the German infantry of two 50th Reserve Division regiments, which fell back until the bombardment began its creep towards the British positions. The German infantry advanced in the morning mist, either side of the Reutelbeek as the artillery boxed the British position opposite, which isolated it from its supports and prevented supplies of ammunition from being brought to the front line.[74] The German attack made little progress on the British right, lost direction in the gloom and veered north, joined with the German battalion there and reached Black Watch Corner, at the south-western extremity of Polygon Wood, which was lost during the Battle of Polygon Wood next day.[75]
Notes
Botswana Defence Force Millitary Hardware on Parade at the 50th Independence Celebration.
All Images courtesy of Botswana Aviation Art
The Sea Defences on the Wirral Peninsular are bounded to the west by the River Dee, forming a boundary with Wales, to the east by the River Mersey, and to the north by the Irish Sea. The earliest evidence of human occupation of Wirral dates from the Mesolithic period, around 7000 BC. Excavations at Greasby have uncovered flint tools, signs of stake holes and a hearth used by a hunter-gatherer community. Around 70 AD, the Romans founded Chester. Evidence of their occupation on Wirral have been found.
Caldy Wirral England.