British Armed Forces War. Repeatedly emerging victorious from conflicts has allowed Britain to establish itself as one of the world's leading military and economic powers. Today, the British Armed Forces consist of: the Royal Navy, a blue-water navy with a fleet of 74 commissioned ships, together with the Royal Marines, a highly specialised amphibious light infantry force; the British Army, the UK's principal land warfare branch; and the Royal Air Force, a technologically sophisticated air force with a diverse operational fleet consisting of both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. The British Armed Forces include standing forces, Regular Reserve, Volunteer Reserves and Sponsored Reserves. Its
Irish in the British Armed Forces Ulster Tower to the men who died at the Battle of the Somme. During the Second World War, Ireland maintained a policy of neutrality and was not a military combatant in the conflict. Aside from a far larger number of previously non-attached Irish-born persons who served in World War II, 4,987 recorded members of the Irish Defence Forces ("Óglaigh na hÉireann") deserted their positions to join combatant nations, primarily the British Armed Forces during what is known as The Emergency. In response to this and to deter further desertions, Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, enacted EPO 362 in 1945 which deprived