UNIT British contingent

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Unified Intelligence Taskforce
(British Contingent)

Cap badge of UNIT
Active 1968-
Country United Kingdom
Branch Tri-Service
Type Special Operations
Role Planetary Security
Size One battalion
Part of United Nations
Garrison/HQ Tower of London
Commanders
Current
commander		 Colonel Mace
Ceremonial chief UN Secretary-General
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash

The British contingent of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT), formerly the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, is a fictional military organisation that features in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is one of several national contingents of UNIT that come under the authority of the United Nations.

Contents

[edit] History

Within the fictional world of Doctor Who, UNIT traces its history back to the early 1960s and the Intrusion Countermeasures Group, an ad-hoc unit of personnel seconded from the RAF Regiment under the command of Group Captain Gilmore. This formation had responsibility for dealing with external threats to the United Kingdom. In 1963, the group was called on to deal with what became known as "The Shoreditch Incident". This saw the first use of military power combined with scientific and technical assistance to deal with what was revealed to be an extra-terrestrial threat (in this case a Dalek invasion). A further incident occurred in 1968, again seeing an extraterrestrial threat, in the form of the Great Intelligence and its robotic Yeti in the London Underground. Although not dealt with by the ICMG, this invasion was again defeated by a small force, this time of the British Army under the command of Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart.

These two incursions caused the United Nations to realise that, with Earth increasingly branching out into space, the planet faced dangers from extraterrestrial threats, a defence was needed. As a consequence, it established UNIT with a mandate to investigate and defend against such threats. UNIT's main headquarters was established in Geneva, with major nations each establishing a contingent of troops, with command of the British contingent being given to Lethbridge-Stewart, who was promoted to the rank of Brigadier. Not long after it was established, the British contingent was involved in stopping the worldwide invasion by the Cybermen. Following this, UNIT began to adopt the practice of gaining scientific advice to help combat extraterrestrial threats, with the British contingent recruiting a scientific adviser.

In addition to combatting alien threats, the British contingent has also been responsible for providing general security under the aegis of the UN. A significant example was the provision of security at the Styles peace conference.

[edit] Organisation

UNIT's authority comes from enabling legislation that allows the organisation to assume emergency powers as and when needed. While it is part of the UN, the personnel in each national contingent are seconded from that nation's armed forces. The British contingent is under the command of an officer of either OF-5 or OF-6 rank, but features personnel seconded from the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. Because its personnel are on secondment, they are still bound by the UK chain of command, and the commander reports to the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Defence through Department C-19. However, if the commander feels it appropriate and necessary, the commander can request that Geneva overrules the national government. UNIT's actual role is not publicly known, and is believed to be a covert counter-terrorist organisation. The British contingent had its main headquarters at a converted stately home that previously belonged to the Scarman family. However, at present UNIT's headquarters is in a bunker under the Tower of London.

[edit] Uniforms and Equipment

Original UNIT cap badge
Original UNIT cap badge

Upon its foundation, UNIT personnel were issued with khaki coloured uniforms, with all personnel wearing a khaki beret as headdress, with the UNIT cap badge. Later, more standard national uniforms were issued to the British contingent; NCOs continued to wear the beret and UNIT cap badge, while officers were issued with forage caps and their own regimental cap badge, with the UNIT badge worn as collar dogs. In later years, UNIT was issued with the standard UN blue beret, to identify it more clearly as a UN organisation. This was later replaced by a red beret akin to that worn by the Royal Military Police.

The British contingent was equipped with standard equipment issued to the British armed forces. However, thanks to its experience with extraterrestrial incidents, it has built up a cache of knowledge and equipment capable of dealing with alien threats; a significant example is its stores of adapted ammunition:

  • Armour-piercing rounds (for Daleks and robots)
  • Explosive rounds (for Yeti)
  • Silver tipped rounds (for werewolves)
  • Gold tipped rounds (for Cybermen)

[edit] List of Commanding Officers

[edit] See also