1701 ? May: The Independent Company of Foot which were the first 50 full time soldiers in Bermuda arrive with Governor Benjamin Bennett on HMS Lincoln.

1723 ? There are over 1,000 soldiers in the British Army Garrison in Bermuda, but most have become part-time militiamen because of the low-paid salaries- about seven pounds sterling a year.

1768 ? All of the soldiers are drafted into the British Army stationed in Florida leaving Bermuda without a militia.

1792 ? After losing their colonies in America, Britain gets serious about making the island a prominent naval and military outpost. The Royal Navy hydrographer Lieutenant Thomas Hurd identified two large anchorages suitable for battleships.

1809 ? Work on the Imperial Dockyard begins.

1823 ? English and Irish convicts are shipped to Bermuda to work on the Royal Navy Dockyard which was to become a mid-Atlantic Bastion for the busy British Fleet. It takes almost 40 years to build.

1865 ? After the American Civil War there were more than 6,000 British troops in Bermuda.

1914 ? The First World War and a total of 360 Bermudians go overseas with the British Army and 40 never returned.

1940 ? Britain signs a diplomatic agreement with the US to establish US Base 24 in the Great Sound at Morgan and Tucker?s Islands. Britain maintains its residence in Dockyard.

1942 ? US pilots and royal Navy fleets make Bermuda headquarters for attacking U-boats and many Bermudians join the fight with the British Army.

1951 ? March 31 The Royal Navy Dockyard shuts down its operations and send the remaining apprentices to England to finish their training.

1954 ? February 28 Last full Regiment, 1DCLI arrive in Bermuda.

1957? British Army Garrison withdraws from Bermuda ending 256-year connection.