History UsefulNotes / BritsWithBattleships

Many compare it to the F-22 Raptor. These people know very little about planes. Raptor and Typhoon are two different aircraft with the one pilot to fly both comparing them to apples and oranges. They have two different purposes and are both likely the best at what they do (even if it isn't very nice). Let that be the end of it, please. The RAF's actual counterpart of the F-22 is planned to be the BAR Tempest, a British-led "sixth-generation" fighter project developed with input from Italy, Japan, and Sweden. The Tempest is expected to enter service sometime after 2030.

Just called that because it's ''The'' Royal Air Force. Created from the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service just before the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Home of Literature/{{Biggles}}. Famous for the Battle of Britain. Currently the smallest it has been since the First World War, due to the end of said conflict, as well as the major downsizing shared among the other major powers after the Second World War, and finally at the end of the Cold War; it is one of the largest air forces in the world. Operates at peak roughly 1,100 fixed and rotary-wing craft of all roles. The key aircraft of the RAF is the Eurofighter Typhoon. Mostly carrying out the interceptor and air superiority role, it has also begun to dabble in ground attack lately as of the Libyan Intervention. The Typhoon has quickly become something of a preferred pick amongst pilots to get their hands on its insane agility and ability to supercruise. Designed to be as easy as possible for the pilot to fly, it not only has the most comprehensive countermeasures suite of any plane in the world and can even track what you're looking at, lock on and fire at a target you merely glance at without even having to point the plane at it! Through various combat exercises, the Typhoon is forging a lethal legacy for itself on its status as a premier line dogfighter with features such as this.

Many compare it to the F-22 Raptor. These people know very little about planes. Raptor and Typhoon are two different aircraft with the one pilot to fly both comparing them to apples and oranges. They have two different purposes and are both likely the best at what they do (even if it isn't very nice). Let that be the end of it, please.

Another combat aircraft entering service with the RAF, is the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II (the Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing variant), which is also being used by the Royal Navy on it's Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.

The British Armed Forces (as a professional fighting force) began to appear during the English Civil War (1641-1651) with the New Model Army (with two regiments--the Coldstream Guards and the Blues and Royals[[note]]The Blues and Royals were formed from the Royal Horse Guards, or "Blues", and the Royal Dragoons, which were both New Model Army units granted the title "Royal" in the 18th century[[/note]]--in the present able to trace their roots to the force) and has since fought in many wars such as The Napoleonic Wars, [[UsefulNotes/TheSecondBoerWar The Boer War]], The First World War, the Second World War, both Gulf Wars, and many others. Historically a home for "spare" male heirs to the throne, nearly every male member of the House of Windsor has served in some capacity, with several (most famously Princes Andrew and Harry) seeing action. The last time the ''sitting monarch'' actually fought with their soldiers was at Dettingen in 1743, during the UsefulNotes/WarOfTheAustrianSuccession, when [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfHanover King George II]] led the Pragmatic Army's breakout from Bavaria. He won. (And [[BadassGrandpa just a few months shy of his 60th birthday]] no less!)

The British Armed Forces (as a professional fighting force) began to appear during the English Civil War (1641-1651) with the New Model Army (with two regiments--the Coldstream Guards and the Blues and Royals[[note]]The Blues and Royals were formed from the Royal Horse Guards, or "Blues", and the Royal Dragoons, which were both New Model Army units granted the title "Royal" in the 18th century[[/note]]--in the present able to trace their roots to the force) and has since fought in many wars such as The Napoleonic Wars, [[UsefulNotes/TheSecondBoerWar The Boer War]], The First World War, the Second World War, both Gulf Wars, and many others. Historically a home for "spare" male heirs to the throne, nearly every male member of the House of Windsor has served in some capacity, with several (most famously Princes Andrew and Harry) seeing action. The last time the ''sitting monarch'' actually fought with their soldiers was at Dettingen in 1743, during the UsefulNotes/WarOfTheAustrianSuccession, when King George II led the Pragmatic Army's breakout from Bavaria. He won.

** One of the major factions in ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'', since they were one of the biggest participants of WW1. They appear in the Western Front fighting German forces, the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East, both as the British Expeditionary Force and the Royal Marines. They are very present in the campaing mode ass well, as most have a British protagonist or involves British forces.

* British military forces appear in ''Film/ThePatriot;'' unlike most of these other examples, they are presented as the antagonists. Then again, it ''was'' a film about UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution. And a notoriously inaccurate one at that.

* No discussion of this subject is complete without the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII RAF pilot, who will have a moustache, a leather flying jacket and silk scarf[[labelnote: why a silk scarf?]]In UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne, pilots wore sheepskin jackets to protect against the cold in open-cockpit aircraft, but they found that the lanolin in the wool would irritate their uncovered throats with prolonged wear. So pilots began to wear silk scarves to put a barrier between the wool and their skin. Also, it could be used as a handy mask to keep dust or bugs out.[[/labelnote]], and use several of the expressions in StockBritishPhrases. They're also often prone to skirt-chasing.

-->-Final verse of '''"Hearts of Oak"'''

* The British military in various forms plays a role in many of Tom Clancy's works, usually in a supporting role to the US Army/Navy, but is itself almost always portrayed as highly competent. One of his most famous novels, ''Literature/RainbowSix'', had the SAS as major players, representing around half the Rainbow staff, including their intelligence, and most of the Rainbow troopers are British SAS and various American special forces.

* ''Literature/HMSLeviathan'' is a tragicomic novel about the changing Royal Navy in TheSixties, set on the largest aircraft carrier ever built for the RN. An officer nearing retirement, whose outlook was formed in TheThirties and on active service in [=WW2=], has to make sense of a new generation of young officers and ratings who embody the post-war ethos.

** ''Battlefield 1942'' and its ''Road to Rome'' and ''Secret Weapons of WWII'' expansions featured the British army, air force, and on one limited occasion, its navy as the Allied nation on some maps, though in the original game they almost always use standard (read: American) equipment and weapons, though they grow more diverse in the expansion. One or two of the multiplayer maps are the second time the British-Japanese front in India during WWII has ever been depicted in a video game.

* As well as ''Hidden and Dangerous'' 2, which featured the Japanese theatre of war in one of the campaigns. Also inH&D you play as, up to four, British SAS soldiers all throughout the game.
* ''World War II Online'' prominently features the British Expeditionary Force, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy fighting alongside the French.
* The Strategy game ''Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts'', the Stand-alone sequel of ''VideoGame/CompanyOfHeroes'', largely is a homage to the British Armed forces, who saw action in europe after 1943, alongside the Americans from the original game. It features the 2. Army in the campaign, and further also the Royal Engineers (Sappers too), Royal Scots, Royal Commandos, Royal Artillery, and the Canadians, as well. Not to mention the various lieutenants, captains and ''The Major''. This Troper guesses, that this is the advantage of having a Canadian developer's studio. After all, they were and still are part of the commonwealth...
* ''Series/DadsArmy'' has the Home Guard which, while not an official part of the armed forces, had a lot of ex-servicemen in it's ranks and was eventually equipped with the same small arms.

->''The English are a strange people, and [[UsefulNotes/TheDukeOfWellington their general an extraordinary man.]] They arrive here in the morning, examine the walls, carry them, have killed all the garrison in the place, and have now gone back to breakfast. Who can resist such men as these?''

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' with UNIT, an ostensible United Nations force made up of British Army soldiers - New Who also depicts American and Chinese UNIT members and bases, indicating that the Doctor's mostly dealt with the British branch. While depicted as somewhat MildlyMilitary in Old Who for reasons of budget and the Doctor being the hero (though they were occasionally very effective), they TookALevelInBadass in New Who, going through famed [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Race]] the Sontarans (who once successfully captured ''Gallifrey'') like a hot knife through butter once they figured out a way round the Sontarans technology that was preventing their guns from working, and jury rigged a functional [[spoiler: teleporter]] from reverse engineered Sontaran tech in Project Indigo (albeit one that by Captain Jack's account, shouldn't have worked). It also had a colossal AirborneAircraftCarrier in the ''Valiant'' - unfortunately, it couldn't hold up against [[spoiler: a full scale Dalek invasion]] - and by the account of the Zygons, with the alien technology in their vault in the Tower of London, they could take over the planet in a day (though odds are they don't know what half of it does). That would be why [[spoiler: there's a tactical nuclear warhead underneath, capable of wiping out London.]]

* No discussion of this subject is complete without the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII RAF pilot, who will have a moustache, a leather flying jacket and silk scarf, and use several of the expressions in StockBritishPhrases. They're also often prone to skirt-chasing.

* The Special Air Service (SAS) regiment: The ''original'' [[UsefulNotes/TheModernDayRambo Special Forces]] unit; the people who rescue hostages from embassies and look cool doing it, as well as other, more sneaky, activities. Started out in the North African desert in WWII, in a staggeringly odd fashion; Having injured himself in a parachuting accident and on crutches, David Stirling sneaked into [=GHQ=] in Cairo, immediately ran into an officer he had had a falling-out with, retreated from that encounter into the office of the Deputy Chief Of Staff, and promptly pitched the man his idea for a unit to harry German and Italian airfields along Rommel's supply line by striking from the desert. He promised the unit wouldn't need much in the way of equipment requests - because he and his men would just steal whatever they needed. Somehow, this pitch actually worked; the unit was designated "L Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade" to reinforce a deception operation that was trying to fool the Axis into believing that the UK had a parachute brigade in North Africa, and after a disastrous first outing that got more than half of the initial members killed, wounded or captured, they rapidly began to notch up successes. Monty described Stirling as being "mad, quite mad", but in fifteen months under his command the SAS destroyed 250 enemy aircraft, dozens of supply dumps, sabotaged railways and communication lines, and put hundreds of enemy vehicles out of action. Why fifteen months? Well, after that, Stirling was captured, escaped, was re-captured, attempted escape another four times, and was finally sent to Colditz, which managed to hold him until the war was over. The SAS continued during World War II under Paddy Mayne, who was nominated for a VC but - strangely - didn't get it (although he did get a third Bar to his existing DSO), and was eventually reconstituted as a Corps in 1950. With two former members both in the novels business, they get a lot of coverage. Their motto "Who Dares Wins" is used a lot by Del Boy in ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses''. They were the world's first Special Forces (as we would use the term today) and are still considered the best; all other Special Forces groups in the world are trained by the SAS or use the methods they developed.[[note]]This was in fact the original ''raison d'etre'' of the SAS: not so much to carry out special operations themselves, but to train other special forces groups to do them so that the SAS wouldn't have to.[[/note]] Despite their fame, very little is actually known about them and they like to keep it that way - their mere existence wasn't confirmed until the Iran Embassy crisis, forty years after their formation, and that was because even the British establishment couldn't deny their existence with a straight face after part of their operation[[note]]the part that took place at the front of the building, and thus was visible from the street[[/note]] was ''broadcast live'' by the news crews covering the siege. Occasionally fulfil a similar role to the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, but contrary to popular belief, they only provide VIP escort duties under exceptional circumstances - though they can sometimes be found as part of close protection teams for senior British diplomats and their families in particularly dangerous areas. Once described by famed BBC war correspondent Kate Adie as being like Martians: quiet, watchful and wearing a lot of strange weaponry. Applicants are only allowed in after at least 3 years of good service with another regiment and undergoing an absurdly brutal Selection process, the very first phase of which [[note]]Six weeks of endurance training in the Brecon Beacons, a mountain range in North Wales. It's referred to as 'the Hill phase'. Yes, these people see mountains as hills. This tells you quite a lot about them.[[/note]] has been known to ''kill'' people, and usually weeds out 15-20% of the applicants. Only 30 out of about 200 applicants remain at the end, and even after, they spend a year on probation.

* ''Making Waves'', a British TV series from 2004 about a warship. It was cancelled because of poor ratings (The viewing figures weren't much better).

A core feature of the British army - or at least of its fighting arms - is the Regimental system. The Regiments (typically one or two battalion formations) play a far greater part than they do for many foreign armies and are a soldier's primary point of attachment. A man belongs to his regiment first and foremost, wears its (usually historic) distinctive uniform and frequently adopts its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_tfzoxjkSk unique drill]], traditions, and rivalries. Whilst he remains a private then his job title may also depend on which regiment he belongs to - titles include Trooper, Rifleman, Fusilier, Kingsman and Guardsman. Other ranks may also be renamed in some rare cases[[note]]The Household Cavalry, for instance, uses variations of Corporal for its NCO ranks (e.g. Corporal of Horse for what would otherwise be known as a Sergeant in another unit). This is supposedly because the word "Sergeant" derives from ''serviens'', Latin for "servant". The Household Cavalry originally exclusively recruited from [[GentlemanRanker the gentry and aristocracy]] and these men wouldn't be caught dead being addressed in any way that would imply them to be servants.[[/note]]. TA personnel in frontline combat roles are divided between several regiments, usually forming one battalion. The advantage of the Regimental system is that it promotes a strong espirit de corps amongst its members, but it has a disadvantage in that inter-regimental relationships can resemble football rivalries - an anecdotal saying is that the British Army is made up of regiments opposed to one another, but united in loyalty to the Crown. Having said that, much of the tension fades away once the bullets start flying.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_article-2137418-12d931df000005dc-143_964x614_4198.jpg]][[caption-width-right:350:HMS ''Queen Elizabeth'']]

Her watchword is 'Justice' her password is 'Free'!\\

-->-Final verse of ''"Hearts of Oak"''

* The British Army currently has the [[CoolTank rather cool]] '''Challenger 2''' in service as its Main Battle Tank. It has a major advantage over its US counterpart, the M1 Abrams, in that it has an inbuilt kettle [[BritsLoveTea for making tea,]] because of course it does. Unique amongst NATO tanks for still possessing a 120mm ''rifled'' gun instead of the more common smoothbore.[[note]]Since the primary anti-tank ammunition is the sabot round with a fin-stabilized tungsten dart (APFSDS), which is too long relative to its diameter to be stabilized by spin alone and can achieve higher muzzle velocity out of a smoothbore barrel, rifling was deemed redundant for tank guns by most nations. In addition, shaped-charge HEAT rounds are actually less effective if spinning (HEAT shells fired from from a rifled barrel need fins that will both stabilize them in flight ''and'' cancel the spin imparted by the rifling, not the easiest thing to do), and thus are not used by the British Army. A smoothbore gun also has the advantages of being less expensive to manufacture and being able to fire more shots before the bore is worn out and needs replacement. The British have a strange obsession however, with High Explosive Squash Head (HESH) shells, a novel weapon that, while no longer effect against modern [=MBT=] (due to composite armour) is still very capable at anti-structure work and has a solid multipurpose effect against lighter vehicles like APCs and infantry. Whereas the spin imparted by rifling is detrimental to HEAT rounds, it improves the effect of HESH (a spinning projectile will cause the plastic explosive to spread over a larger surface area on impact) and thus a smoothbore barrel would be ill-suited for HESH shells.[[/note]] However if the Challenger 2 has any one major claim to fame, it is the armour. Dorchester Composite is widely reputed to be the strongest armour on any main battle tank in the entire world and the encounters in Iraq definitely seemed to prove it. The Chally was known to shrug off RPG-7 attacks without even noticing, in addition to withstanding Iraqi tank fire with such little effect on the crew they had to be told by a flanking tank they had been hit. In one situation withstood 14 RPG hits on all angles as well as a MILAN anti-tank missile to the top of the turret (generally a weak point in tank armor, at least relative to the front and sides of the turret). Another survived over 70 RPG strikes alone in one day. This is a ''seriously hard tank.''

** The special forces love these things, as they are basically giant jeeps with loads of armour, loads of speed and [[MoreDakka loads of dakka]]. They even strapped twin-linked GPMGs to them i na version that is rumoured to be called the '''Pitbull'''. Apparently the Australian, Canadian and even American special forces are interested in these after travelling with the British in them.

-->''"Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves:\\
"Britons will never,never,never be slaves."''
-->The chorus of ''"Rule, Britannia!"

Also famous for H.M.S. ''Dreadnought'', arguably the only ship known to history that instantly rendered every other warship on the planet ''worthless'' the moment it was launched (for reference, she was, individually, and by a considerable margin, faster, more heavily armed, and more heavily armoured than any other warship ''anywhere'')[[labelnote:note]]This is not an exaggeration. No ship built before the Dreadnought had the firepower on board to sink her. True, if she were sitting perfectly still and let other ships take shots at her all day, maybe some torpedo might eventually punch through, but that's a big maybe, and only if hit in the exact same place more than once. Conversely, with unmatched guns and the first computer-aided aiming system (not as advanced as all that, but a system inside the ship to calculate ranges and angles and to automatically adjust the guns' aim to reach said ranges and angles, completely removing the need for visual aiming to reach a specific point {whether reaching that specific point actually ''hit'' anything is another tale, but that's neither here nor there}), there was not a single ship that could ''avoid being sunk'' by the Dreadnought. [=TLDR=], there was nothing that could sink it and there was nothing it could not sink. And her speed meant that if a sufficiently large number of individually weaker ships attempted to overwhelm her, she could simply leave and there would be nothing they could do about it.[[/labelnote]]. To give you an idea of exactly how important ''Dreadnought'' was to the development of the battleship, every single type of battleship built before her has been retroactively referred to as a "pre-dreadnought" because the ''Dreadnought'' was so revolutionary.

Self Explanatory. Home to all the squaddies and [[Main/{{TheSquadette}} squadettes]]. Their main weapon is the [=L85A2=] assault rifle (some military people will look at you funny if you call it the [=SA80=] as the [=SA80=] refers to a family of weapons including the standard issue rifle, carbine, light support weapon and cadet rifle), which is rather short and can't be fired left-handed unless a face full of hot cartridge casings is your idea of fun. Despite this, since recent upgrades by HK the rifle has been noted as one of the most accurate and reliable service rifles around. Note: ''Not'' named the "Royal Army" because it is descended from the institutions established by the "New Model Army" which fought for Parliament against the King in the seventeenth century civil wars, unlike the navy. There are "Royal" units in the Army, but they are regiments, divisions, even corps, rather than the Army as a whole, ''e.g.'', Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Artillery, and the Royal Flying Corps in bygone days. 110,210 regulars, 33,100 territorials and 121,800 regular reserves. Because of this factor, and the historical reality that sea borders with all major rivals in the modern era mean that it's not exactly the first line of defence, the Army is often portrayed as TheUnfavourite in the view of the establishment, together with the fact that having a standing army has historically (and even to some degree today) made British people nervous (the British Constitution of 1688 specifically states that no army shall exist except by direct consent of Parliament). While this was true in the Napoleonic Wars (where the Navy was feted and the Army often ignored) it is less true today, as aside from the UsefulNotes/FalklandsWar most of the conflicts Britain has been involved in recently are land wars.

* The Special Air Service (SAS) regiment: The ''original'' [[UsefulNotes/TheModernDayRambo Special Forces]] unit; the people who rescue hostages from embassies and look cool doing it, as well as other, more sneaky, activities. Started out in the North African desert in WWII, in a staggeringly odd fashion; Having injured himself in a parachuting accident and on crutches, David Stirling sneaked into [=GHQ=] in Cairo, immediately ran into an officer he had had a falling-out with, retreated from that encounter into the office of the Deputy Chief Of Staff, and promptly pitched the man his idea for a unit to harry German and Italian airfields along Rommel's supply line by striking from the desert. He promised the unit wouldn't need much in the way of equipment requests - because he and his men would just steal whatever they needed. Somehow, this pitch actually worked; the unit was designated "L Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade" to reinforce a deception operation that was trying to fool the Axis into believing that the UK had a parachute brigade in North Africa, and after a disastrous first outing that got more than half of the initial members killed, wounded or captured, they rapidly began to notch up successes. Monty described Stirling as being "mad, quite mad", but in fifteen months under his command the SAS destroyed 250 enemy aircraft, dozens of supply dumps, sabotaged railways and communication lines, and put hundreds of enemy vehicles out of action. Why fifteen months? Well, after that, Stirling was captured, escaped, was re-captured, attempted escape another four times, and was finally sent to Colditz, which managed to hold him until the war was over. The SAS continued during World War II under Paddy Mayne, who was nominated for a VC but - strangely - didn't get it (although he did get a third Bar to his existing DSO), and was eventually reconstituted as a Corps in 1950. With two former members both in the novels business, they get a lot of coverage. Their motto "Who Dares Wins" is used a lot by Del Boy in ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses''. They were the world's first Special Forces (as we would use the term today) and are still considered the best; all other Special Forces groups in the world are trained by the SAS or use the methods they developed.[[note]]This was in fact the original ''raison d'etre'' of the SAS: not so much to carry out special operations themselves, but to train other special forces groups to do them so that the SAS wouldn't have to.[[/note]] Some Despite their fame, very little is actually known about them and they like to keep it that way - their mere existence wasn't confirmed until the Iran Embassy crisis, forty years after their formation, and that was because even the British establishment couldn't deny their existence with a straight face after part of their operation[[note]]the part that took place at the front of the building, and thus was visible from the street[[/note]] was ''broadcast live'' by the news crews covering the siege. Occasionally fulfil a similar role to the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, but contrary to popular belief, they only provide VIP escort duties under exceptional circumstances - though they can sometimes be found as part of close protection teams for senior British diplomats and their families in particularly dangerous areas. Once described by famed BBC war correspondent Kate Adie as being like Martians: quiet, watchful and wearing a lot of strange weaponry. Applicants are only allowed in after at least 3 years of good service with another regiment and undergoing an absurdly brutal Selection process, the very first phase of which (Six weeks of endurance training in the Brecon Beacons, a mountain range in North Wales. It's referred to as 'the Hill phase'. Yes, these people see mountains as hills. This tells you quite a lot about them) has been known to ''kill'' people and usually weeds out 15-20% of applicants. Only 30 out of about 200 applicants remain at the end, and even after, they spend a year on probation.

* The Special Air Service (SAS) regiment: The ''original'' [[UsefulNotes/TheModernDayRambo Special Forces]] unit; the people who rescue hostages from embassies and look cool doing it, as well as other, more sneaky, activities. Started out in the North African desert in WWII, in a staggeringly odd fashion; Having injured himself in a parachuting accident and on crutches, David Stirling sneaked into [=GHQ=] in Cairo, immediately ran into an officer he had had a falling-out with, retreated from that encounter into the office of the Deputy Chief Of Staff, and promptly pitched the man his idea for a unit to harry German and Italian airfields along Rommel's supply line by striking from the desert. He promised the unit wouldn't need much in the way of equipment requests - because he and his men would just steal whatever they needed. Somehow, this pitch actually worked; the unit was designated "L Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade" to reinforce a deception operation that was trying to fool the Axis into believing that the UK had a parachute brigade in North Africa, and after a disastrous first outing that got more than half of the initial members killed, wounded or captured, they rapidly began to notch up successes. Monty described Stirling as being "mad, quite mad", but in fifteen months under his command the SAS destroyed 250 enemy aircraft, dozens of supply dumps, sabotaged railways and communication lines, and put hundreds of enemy vehicles out of action. Why fifteen months? Well, after that, Stirling was captured, escaped, was re-captured, attempted escape another four times, and was finally sent to Colditz, which managed to hold him until the war was over. The SAS continued during World War II under Paddy Mayne, who was nominated for a VC but - strangely - didn't get it (although he did get a third Bar to his existing DSO), and was eventually reconstituted as a Corps in 1950. With two former members both in the novels business, they get a lot of coverage. Their motto "Who Dares Wins" is used a lot by Del Boy in ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses''. They were the world's first Special Forces (as we would use the term today) and are still considered the best; all other Special Forces groups in the world are trained by the SAS or use the methods they developed.[[note]]This was in fact the original ''raison d'etre'' of the SAS: not so much to carry out special operations themselves, but to train other special forces groups to do them so that the SAS wouldn't have to.[[/note]] Some Despite their fame, very little is actually known about them and they like to keep it that way - their mere existence wasn't confirmed until the Iran Embassy crisis, forty years after their formation, and that was because even the British establishment couldn't deny their existence with a straight face. Occasionally fulfil a similar role to the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, but contrary to popular belief, they only provide VIP escort duties under exceptional circumstances - though they can sometimes be found as part of close protection teams for senior British diplomats and their families in particularly dangerous areas. Once described by famed BBC war correspondent Kate Adie as being like Martians: quiet, watchful and wearing a lot of strange weaponry. Applicants are only allowed in after at least 3 years of good service with another regiment and undergoing an absurdly brutal Selection process, the very first phase of which (Six weeks of endurance training in the Brecon Beacons, a mountain range in North Wales. It's referred to as 'the Hill phase'. Yes, these people see mountains as hills. This tells you quite a lot about them) has been known to ''kill'' people and usually weeds out 15-20% of applicants. Only 30 out of about 200 applicants remain at the end, and even after, they spend a year on probation.

* The Special Air Service (SAS) regiment: The ''original'' [[UsefulNotes/TheModernDayRambo Special Forces]] unit; the people who rescue hostages from embassies and look cool doing it, as well as other, more sneaky, activities. Started out in the North African desert in WWII. With two former members both in the novels business, they get a lot of coverage. Their motto "Who Dares Wins" is used a lot by Del Boy in ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses''. They were the world's first Special Forces (as we would use the term today) and are still considered the best; all other Special Forces groups in the world are trained by the SAS or use the methods they developed.[[note]]This was in fact the original ''raison d'etre'' of the SAS: not so much to carry out special operations themselves, but to train other special forces groups to do them so that the SAS wouldn't have to.[[/note]] Some Despite their fame, very little is actually known about them and they like to keep it that way - their mere existence wasn't confirmed until the Iran Embassy crisis, forty years after their formation, and that was because even the British establishment couldn't deny their existence with a straight face. Occasionally fulfil a similar role to the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, but contrary to popular belief, they only provide VIP escort duties under exceptional circumstances - though they can sometimes be found as part of close protection teams for senior British diplomats and their families in particularly dangerous areas. Once described by famed BBC war correspondent Kate Adie as being like Martians: quiet, watchful and wearing a lot of strange weaponry. Applicants are only allowed in after at least 3 years of good service with another regiment and undergoing an absurdly brutal Selection process, the very first phase of which (Six weeks of endurance training in the Brecon Beacons, a mountain range in North Wales. It's referred to as 'the Hill phase'. Yes, these people see mountains as hills. This tells you quite a lot about them) has been known to ''kill'' people and usually weeds out 15-20% of applicants. Only 30 out of about 200 applicants remain at the end, and even after, they spend a year on probation.

* ''Redcap'' (1964-66) and ''Series/RedCap'' (2001-4): Although different shows, with no character links and the latter set in Germany - they both feature the Special Investigation Branch of the Royal Military Police. [[Main/{{TheyFightCrime}} They Fight Crime]]. And wear scarlet covers on their caps.

Bits of it are posted all over the world for various reasons. Wiki/TheOtherWiki has a full list of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Army#Current_deployments current deployments]].

* Film/JamesBond served in the Royal Navy, holding the rank of [[CommandingCoolness Commander]], before being recruited by [=MI6=]. He's seen in uniform in ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'', ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', and ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies''.

* Franchise/{{James|Bond}} [[Film/JamesBond Bond]] is canonically a Royal Naval Reserve Commander (even donning the uniform in some films). At least one or two of his bosses with the title of "M" (the ones played by Creator/BernardLee and Robert Brown) were Royal Navy Admirals before working at MI-6, and the second Creator/DanielCraig era M (Gareth Mallory, played by Creator/RalphFiennes) is a former Lieutenant Colonel in the SAS. The first actor to star as Bond in the Creator/EonProductions films, Creator/SeanConnery, [[ActorSharedBackground also served in the Royal Navy before becoming an actor]], and in September 2021, [[LifeImitatesArt Daniel Craig himself was made Honorary Commander of the Royal Navy]].

* The Foot Guards (Grenadier/Coldstream/Scots/Irish/Welsh Guards): Five regiments. These are the ones who usually wear the [[NiceHat bearskin hats]], stand outside Buckingham Palace and get many a tourist [[BritishRoyalGuards trying to make them smile in fiction]]. Don't annoy them too much though, because those rifles are real. The Army is cagey about whether or not they're loaded, but, either way, guardsmen are permitted to point them at perceived threats and those bayonets are very real and very sharp. Also, they're trained to keep marching regardless of who they mow down and step on with their hobnailed boots. The Irish lot recruit mostly from [[UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland Stroke Country]] and from the Irish diaspora in Great Britain (the major English and Scottish cities all have big Irish populations), but also do so from the Republic (unofficially). Definitely ''not'' just ceremonial units, they have fought in many areas around the world such as North Africa, Italy and western Europe in WWII, and managed to hold the Hougoumont farmhouse at Waterloo against 14,000 Frenchmen; All Guard Regiments have seen combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, including receiving battle honours in 2005. They can be distinguished via their button designs.