Southern England has a small but efficient armed forces division that exists to protect the Island and its territories. The military is made up of the British army forces who chose to remain on the island as well as converted aircraft and ships.
History
Pre-Doomsday
The Isle of Wight had no major military presence prior to Doomsday with the exception of Fort Victoria, a fort that had been abandoned by the Royal Navy and British Army in 1969. The four Solent forts remained in the control of the MOD until 1982 however.
Doomsday to Evacuation to South Africa
On Doomsday the Island and its infrastructure weren't damaged at all but in the immediate aftermath of Doomsday the remnants of the Royal Navy, British Army and RAF made their way to the Island. The Royal Navy had been badly damaged and the RAF was practically non-existant and the shipyards at East Cowes were now the only place in British Provincial Administration control where ships could be fixed. The British Army took up residence in Fort Victoria and some of the other forts on the Island and the few remaining RAF planes were moved to Sandown Airport. The shipyards at East Cowes proved to be of great use to the BPA as they were used to refit some of the cargo ships that were seized by the BPA and were also used to make some of the RN vessels seaworthy.
After South Africa had been chosen as the destination for the evacuation of Britain the Island became a hive of activity as RN and Cargo ships stopped for their last major refueling before St Helen. Slowly the Island was drained of its population but around 10,000 military personal (Mostly ex-islanders or people of Isle descent) chose to stay alongside Terence Higgins to guard the Island from raiders and other nations.
Contact with Hastings to Disbanding
The Islands military was tasked with scouting the south coast and evacuating as many British people as possible. This wasn't without troubles though as when scouts made contact with a military dictatorship in the town of Worthing they were shot dead on sight. The Island's military immediately tried to respond with an assault on the town but its ships weren't fully prepared for a seaborne assault and the attack was forced back by bad weather.
The military returned to their original task of scouting the south coast and the ships of the Interim Navy encountered a fishing boat form the Interim nation of Hastings. The two nations would soon combine and the small 400 police force that had guarded Hastings joined up with the military forces from the Island. The new Confederation did consider mounting an assault on Worthing again but it was realised that there was no way of attacking it while their navy was still weak.
Soon however the Celtic Alliance arrived at the Island with the goal of controlling the rocket testing facility in the Needles battery. The Confederation was willing to allow the Alliance into the testing facility but requested the help of the Alliance in finally evicting Worthing's government. The Celtic Alliance agreed to send three naval ships to help Confederation military forces to land and in April 1992 Confederation army forces finally landed in West Sussex and within the month the town was finally brought under the control of the Confederation. The armed forces were soon disbanded though as their was a feeling within the now Federal Republics government that the Alliance would protect them.
Reformation to the new Millennium
The armed forces were not disbanded for long however as the Federal Republics government soon realised that the Celtic Alliance wasn't interested in protecting the Island as long as they retained the control of the Needle's battery. The 10,000 men of the old collective's military were forcefully re-conscripted and the Army, Navy and Air Force were reinstated. Soon the Federal Republic had its military back up to its previous state and the Federal Republic began building up a proper navy.
The Republic had control over the East Cowes shipyard as well as numerous hovercraft and commercial vessels that were suitable for conversion to military craft. The first series of conversions were on the SR.N5 hovercraft which had been used by the US Army as their PACV hovercraft. Slowly the navy of the Federal Republic was transformed from a few fishing boats with machine guns into a fast and powerful navy capable of carrying out raids on coastal regions across England. On the dawn of the Millennium the navy and army were capable of defending the Island and carrying out power projection activities in and around the channal.
Rebirth of the RAF
The Isle of Wight was home to the Norman-Britten aircraft facility before Doomsday and after the millennium the military diverted its interest towards the RAF and ordered the completion of ten Defender aircraft on order at doomsday to be used as bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. However there were no fighter aircraft facilities on the island and radical steps had to be taken, several Islander and Trislander aircraft were available and Norman-Britten were tasked with fitting machine guns to them.
Branches
Army
The majority of the 10,000 men who serve in the Republics military serve in the Army. It is made up of around 7,000 ex British army soldiers who had either been born the Island or those who felt an attraction to it. It is equipped with British army equipment and more recently with W-II Sten Guns. It has very few vehicles with the exception of a few land rovers and other armoured cars.
Organization and Strength
Unsurprisingly as Southern England's army is made up of former British army soldiers it follows the same structure as the British army prior to Doomsday. The organizational structure is listed below.
- Divisions are made up of two or three brigades with an HQ element and support troops. Commanded by a Major-General.
- Brigades are made up of three to five battalions, an HQ element and associated support troops. Commanded by a Brigadier.
- Battalions contain about 700 soldiers, made up of five companies commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel.
- Battle group. This is a mixed formation of armour, infantry, artillery, engineers and support units and its structure is task specific. It is formed around the core of either an armoured regiment or an infantry battalion, and has other units added or removed from it as necessary. A battle group will typically consist of between 600 and 700 soldiers under the command of a Lieutenant Colonel.
- Company of about 100 soldiers, typically in three platoons, commanded by a Major.
- Platoon of about 30 soldiers, commanded by a Second Lieutenant, Lieutenant or, for specialist platoons such as reconnaissance or anti-tank, a Captain.
- Section of about 8 to 10 soldiers, commanded by a Corporal.
- Platoon of about 30 soldiers, commanded by a Second Lieutenant, Lieutenant or, for specialist platoons such as reconnaissance or anti-tank, a Captain.
- Company of about 100 soldiers, typically in three platoons, commanded by a Major.
- Brigades are made up of three to five battalions, an HQ element and associated support troops. Commanded by a Brigadier.
The navy of Southern England is extremely varied. Its largest vessel is the Isle of Wight (A converted SR.N4 hovercraft) which is armed with a variety of heavy machine guns and two artillery pieces, it is referred to as a cruiser although in reality it is equivalant to a WW2 destroyer. It also has two destroyers (Converted Isle of Wight ferries), three frigates (PACV hovercraft similar to those used by the US army) and several corvettes (Converted fishing vessels). Naval ships have the prefix RNV (Republic Navy Vessel) with the exception of those commissioned before the invasion of Worthing which have the prefix CNV (Confederation Navy Vessels).
| Vessel | Origin | Type | Class | In Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cruisers | ||||||
| RNV Isle of Wight | Saunders-Roe | Converted SR.N4 | Island class | Yes | ||
| Destroyers | ||||||
| RNV Worthing | Robb Caledon Shipbuilders | Converted MV Caedmon | City Class | Yes | ||
| CNV Hastings | Robb Caledon Shipbuilders | Converted MV Cenwulf | City Class | No | ||
| Frigates | ||||||
| RNV West Sussex | Saunders-Roe | Converted SR.N5 | Sussex Class | Yes | ||
| RNV East Sussex | Saunders-Roe | Converted SR.N5 | Sussex Class | Yes | ||
| RNV Bognor Regis | Saunders-Roe | Converted SR.N5 | Sussex Class | Yes | ||
| Corvettes | ||||||
| CNV East Cowes | Not Known | Converted Fishing Vessel | Cowes Class | Yes | ||
| CNV West Cowes | Not Known | Converted Fishing Vessel | Cowes Class | Yes | ||
| CNV Cowes Shipyards | Not Known | Converted Fishing Vessel | Cowes Class | Yes | ||
| RNV Ryde | Not Known | Converted Fishing Vessel | Town Class | Yes | ||
| RNV Newport | Not Known | Converted Fishing Vessel | Town Class | No | ||
Air Force
A Defender taking off
The Republican Air Force or RAF is the newest and smallest of the military's three branches. It owes its existence to the Norman-Britten factory on the island which maintains and builds its aircraft. As well as operating around 20 heavier than air planes it operates two Zeppelins purchased from Prussia which operate as bombers.
RAS Tornado