Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: British military

British military stories: 31 news summaries

1 - 20 of 31 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

Switch to grid view »

 Rogue Afghan Cop 
 Kills 5 Brit Soldiers 

Culprit escapes after turning weapon on training team

Nov 4, 09 6:17 AM CST
(Newser) - Five British soldiers died in Helmand province yesterday after a rogue Afghan cop opened fire on a group of Afghan policemen and their British mentors drinking tea together. The mentors had been training the Afghans for two weeks when one of the trainees turned his weapon on them without warning.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • Taliban • British troops • British military • Helmand province • Afghan police

 Times Scribe 
 Recounts Ordeal 
 as 'Taliban Embed 
 at Gunpoint' 

Afghanis, negotiators angered by operation that killed Steven Farrell's interpreter

Sep 10, 09 3:01 AM CDT
(Newser) - Four days in the hands of the Taliban often felt more like a tour of insurgent territory than a hostage ordeal, writes rescued New York Times journalist Stephen Farrell. The militants struck his interpreter, Sultan Munadi, with a rifle when the two were seized, but did not mistreat them afterward—... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • Taliban • New York Times • journalists killed • journalist • British military • Stephen Farrell • Sultan Munadi

MUSIC REVIEW

 Radiohead Stuns With 
 Anthem for WWI Vet 


Aug 10, 09 7:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - Radiohead made waves when they let fans download their last album for whatever price they wanted, yet a new online-only track has been released in the past week to far less fanfare. "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)" commemorates the last British veteran of World War I, who died last... More »

MORE ABOUT:
music • veterans • music downloads • British military • Radiohead • Thom Yorke • World War I

(Newser) - Eight British soldiers were killed in Afghanistan last week within just 24 hours, the worst day of casualties the UK had seen in 30 years. After 15 fatalities in July alone, Gordon Brown is facing severe criticism for underfinancing the war effort, particularly for not providing enough helicopters to troops,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • United Kingdom • Gordon Brown • coalition troops • opium • British military • fatalities • Helmand province • Afghanistan war

(Newser) - British troops called Iraqi detainees "apes," beat them so that their moans of pain sounded like an "orchestrated choir," and forced them to dance like Michael Jackson, a public inquiry into the death of one of the detainees heard yesterday. The inquiry panel was told... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iraq • Basra • detainee • British Army • British military • inquiry • Iraq war • Baha Mousa

 UK Military Seeks 
 Canine Recruits 

Vets told to find dogs for service

Jun 10, 09 3:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - Short on canine recruits, Britain’s military has launched an effort to recharge the ranks, the Guardian reports. “Your country needs your dog,” the Ministry of Defence campaign proclaims, seeking German or Belgian shepherds, English springers, and Labradors in particular. The military typically gets dogs from shelters and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
British military • military recruits • dog • animal • guard dog

Brits Grab $105M in Drugs From Afghan Taliban

Taliban drug factory found and destroyed in Helmand province

Jun 9, 09 3:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - British troops have seized a huge stash of Taliban drugs after fierce fighting in Afghanistan, the Telegraph reports. Soldiers from the elite Black Watch squad discovered opium, heroin, and cannabis with a street value of some $105 million after attacking a Taliban drug factory in Helmand province. A number of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • Taliban • drugs • opium • British military • Helmand province

Brit Families
Can Sue Over Soldier Deaths

Court: Troops protected by human rights law, even on battlefield

May 19, 09 8:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - A British court has ruled that defense heads can be sued for neglecting soldiers’ human rights—meaning decisions made on the battlefield could be subject to litigation, the Times of London reports. The ruling stemmed from an inquest into the heatstroke death of a soldier due to what the coroner... More »

MORE ABOUT:
human rights • lawsuit • soldier • British Army • British military • human rights abuse

British Town Honors War Dead With Silent Farewells

Impromptu silence as soldier's hearse passed grew into tradition

May 19, 09 4:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - A lone man's silent salute to a military hearse grew into a tradition that now involves thousands who line the streets of a small British town, the New York Times reports. The bodies of UK troops killed in Afghanistan pass through Wootton Bassett on the way from the nearby air... More »

MORE ABOUT:
British Army • British military • Royal Air Force • Britain • war dead

(Newser) - The British Defense Ministry is under fire for backing a new line of all-male toy soldiers, reports the Guardian.The promotional campaign for the new toys is also all-white. The figures were created with the help of senior officials from Britain's army, navy, and the Royal Air Force. They carry... More »

MORE ABOUT:
missing soldiers • toys • British military • Royal Air Force • Britain • navy • RAF • Ministry of Defense

 Wills 'Cooked' 
 Engine of 
 $1.5M Plane  



Royal made rookie error during training, retired officer recalls

Apr 14, 09 2:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sometimes a royal can screw up royally: Britain’s Prince William made an error that “overcooked” a plane’s engine during his Royal Air Force training, grounding the aircraft for days, the Daily Mail reports. “He flicked the wrong switch on shutdown and overcooked the turbo,” says... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Prince William • training • British military • British royals • airplane • RAF

(Newser) - A few drinks apparently inspired a British soldier to go joyriding and crash two tanks today, the Guardian reports. The unnamed Desert Rat, stationed at the Bergen-Hohne army base in Germany, hopped in an armored vehicle and promptly drove it off the road. Undaunted, he walked back and commandeered another... More »

MORE ABOUT:
alcohol • Germany • British military • tanks

 Crashed 
 Subs Carried 
 '1200 Hiroshimas' 

Lawmakers demand answers after British, French subs collide under the Atlantic

Feb 17, 09 7:15 AM CST
(Newser) - British lawmakers are demanding to know how the flagships of the British and French nuclear submarine fleets—each carrying missiles with enough power for 1,250 Hiroshima bombings—managed to collide earlier this month, the Independent reports. Defense sources say the crash was just incredibly bad luck, but experts are... More »

MORE ABOUT:
France • nuclear weapons • Hiroshima • crash • submarine • British military • Britain • French military

Harry Faces Disciplinary
Action for Racist Slur

Prince's use of "Paki" violates no-racism policy

Jan 18, 09 5:40 AM CST
(Newser) - Prince Harry will likely receive a formal reprimand after a video of him using a racist slur made waves in the British press, reports the Telegraph. Harry has already had one meeting with his regiment commander over his use of "our little Paki friend" to describe a captain... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Prince Harry • British military • British royals • racist remark

 US Soldier Among 9 
 Killed in Afghan Market 

Attack brings year's death toll to 5,400

Nov 13, 08 8:09 AM CST
(AP) - A suicide car bomber struck a US military convoy passing through a crowded livestock market in eastern Afghanistan today, killing an American soldier and at least eight civilians and wounding an additional 74 civilians. Yesterday, two British troops were also killed when their vehicle was struck by an explosive while... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • US military • suicide bombing • car bomb • market • soldier • British military

 Queen's Guards Fired for Drugs

Five members of a ceremonial unit test positive

Aug 26, 08 12:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - Five soldiers from the Queen of England's ceremonial guard unit have been fired after testing positive for Class A drugs, reports the Times of London. A failed test is virtually a guaranteed career-ender in the British Army, and only a slim 0.8% of personnel have tested positive in the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
British military • Britain • drug test • Royal Horse Artillery

First British Woman Killed
in Afghanistan

Servicewoman dies
in bomb attack
on convoy

Jun 18, 08 6:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - An attack on a British military convoy in Afghanistan killed four troops, including the first British female soldier to die since the conflict began. The soldiers died in an explosion in Helmand province, Afghanistan's most volatile region, reports the Guardian. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband expressed his "deepest condolences"... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • David Miliband • British military • female troops

Honor Killing Dad: 'Daughter Deserved Death'

Iraqi proudly murdered 17-year-old over her crush on British solider

May 11, 08 11:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Iraqi father who suffocated and stabbed his 17-year-old daughter has only one regret over her honor killing: That he didn't murder her "the instant her mother delivered her." "Speaking with a foreign solider, she lost what is the most precious thing for any woman," Abdel-Qader... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iraq • murder • Basra • British military • Iraq police • honor killings

Prince Pilots Chopper
to Gal Pal's Home

Military defends
'royal heir farce'

Apr 20, 08 5:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - British officials have defended allowing Prince William to land a military helicopter on a field next to the home of his girlfriend’s family after the media blasted it as “ridiculous and inappropriate,” the BBC reports. “This was a routine training sortie"—and no one entered... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Prince William • Kate Middleton • British military • Ministry of Defence • Royal Air Force

Iraqi Troops Seize
Sadr Stronghold

Fighting in Baghad kills 12, wounds 130

Apr 19, 08 9:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - In a major new clash, Iraqi troops backed by American and British firepower today captured a stronghold of fighters loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Basra, said Iraqi officials. In a show of force, American planes and British artillery attacked a deserted area outside the Sadr-controlled section of Hayaniya... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Sadr City • Baghdad • Basra • US military • British military • Iraq Army • Muqtada al-Sadr • Iraq war

1 - 20 of 31 Stories | 1 2 Next >>


from our news partners

Associated PressAssociated Press