<P> The Second World War broke out in September 1939 with the Russian and German Army's invasion of Poland . British assurances to the Poles led the British Empire to declare war on Germany . As in the First World War, a relatively - small BEF was sent to France and hastily evacuated from Dunkirk as the German forces swept through the Low Countries and across France in May 1940 . </P> <P> After the US entered the war and the British Army recovered from its earlier defeats, it defeated the Germans and Italians at the Second Battle of El Alamein in North Africa in 1942--1943 and helped drive them from Africa . It then fought through Italy and, with the help of American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Indian and Free French forces, took part in the D - Day invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944; nearly half the Allied soldiers were British . In the Far East, the British Army rallied against the Japanese in the Burma Campaign and regained the British Far Eastern colonial possessions . </P> <P> After the Second World War the British Army was significantly reduced in size, although National Service continued until 1960 . This period saw decolonisation begin with the partition and independence of India and Pakistan, followed by the independence of British colonies in Africa and Asia . Although the British Army was a major participant in Korea in the early 1950s and Suez in 1956, during this period Britain's role in world events was reduced and the army was downsized . The British Army of the Rhine, consisting of I (BR) Corps, remained in Germany as a bulwark against Soviet invasion . The Cold War continued, with significant technological advances in warfare, and the army saw the introduction of new weapons systems . Despite the decline of the British Empire, the army was engaged in Aden, Indonesia, Cyprus, Kenya and Malaya . In 1982, the British Army and the Royal Marines helped liberate the Falkland Islands during the conflict with Argentina after that country's invasion of the British territory . </P> <P> In the three decades following 1969, the army was heavily deployed in Northern Ireland's Operation Banner to support the Royal Ulster Constabulary (later the Police Service of Northern Ireland) in their conflict with republican paramilitary groups . The locally recruited Ulster Defence Regiment was formed, becoming home - service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment in 1992 before it was disbanded in 2006 . Over 700 soldiers were killed during the Troubles . Following the 1994--1996 IRA ceasefires and since 1997, demilitarisation has been part of the peace process and the military presence has been reduced . On 25 June 2007 the 2nd Battalion of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment left the army complex in Bessbrook, County Armagh, ending the longest operation in British Army history . </P>

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