The air, sea, and land forces of a country;
see army, navy, air force; also called the
armed forces. history, UK The army and navy
can be traced back to the locally raised
forces that prevented King Alfred's Wessex
from being overrun by the Danes. All three
armed services are professionals, with no
conscript element. The Royal Navy is known as
the Senior Service, because of its formal
origin under Henry VIII, whereas no permanent
standing army was raised until the time of
Charles II (see also marines). The
Territorial Army is a back-up force of
volunteers. The Royal Air Force was formed
1918. Women's services originated in World
War I.