This volume represents the first dedicated study of the British Yeomanry Cavalry, delving into the institution’s history from the cessation of hostilities with France in 1815 through to the eve of the First World War in 1914. This social history explores the Yeomanry’s composition and place within British society, as well as its controversial role in policing before and after Peterloo, and its unique contribution to the war in South Africa. Overturning or challenging many enduring myths and accepted truths, this book breaks new ground not just in our understanding of the Yeomanry, but the wider amateur military tradition.

Yeomen of England were called to bring their own horses to form England's first Home Guard when a dictator assembled his army across the Channel in 1794. They went on to become one of the most famous mounted regiments of the British Army. During the First World War they served on the frontline in the battles of Ypres, Neuve Chapelle and Artois. In the Second World War they found fame as one of the great tank regiments to be found on the frontline during the Normandy Landings, Battle of the Bulge and the Rhine Crossings. This book weaves together military history and personal anecdotes to follow the regiment from its horsed days, parading under the Earl Spencer who promoted Nelson to fleet command, through moments of repressing civil rioters, on to the bloodiest of cavalry charges in World War 1 and exceptional achievement with tanks in World War 2, only eventually to suffer what Napoleon, Kruger, the Kaiser and Hitler could not do – be wiped out by government cuts in the 1960s. Ken Tout, who proudly served with the regiment during the Normandy landings pays tribute to a much-loved part of the British Army.

Expanding upon the 2017 Radio 4 series ‘Britain’s Black Past’, this book presents those stories and analyses through the lens of a recovered past. Even those who may be familiar with some of the materials will find much that they had not previously known, and will be introduced to people, places, and stories brought to light by new research. In a time of international racial unrest and migration, it is important not to lose sight of similar situations that took place in an earlier time. In chapters written by scholars, artists, and independent researchers, readers will learn of an early musician, the sales of slaves in Scotland, the grave—now a shrine—of a black enslaved boy left to die in Morecombe Bay, of a country estate owned by a mixed-race slave owner, and of the two strikingly different people who lived in a Bristol house that is now a museum. Black sailors, political activists, memoirists, appear in these pages, but the book also re-examines living history, in the form of modern plays, television programmes, and genealogical sleuthing. Through them, Britain’s Black Past is not only presented anew, but shown to be very much alive in our own time.

Primus in armis, 'first in arms', is the motto of the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, Britain's senior Regiment of volunteer cavalry raised in 1794 against the threat of French invasion. The Wiltshire Yeomanry has served for over 200 years and fought in South Africa, the First and Second World Wars and more recently as individuals in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of the places where the Regiment fought in the Second War will be familiar to modern readers including Aleppo, Palmyra, Baghdad, and more bizarrely, meeting the Russian army on friendly terms in Tehran. The battle of El Alamein in the western desert was possibly their finest hour. The author has accessed the extensive Regimental archives and interviewed many families of veterans to obtain a glimpse into the personalities of these soldiers. A wealth of unseen material from around the world has surfaced including stories concerning the aristocracy of the inter-war years and the previously forgotten service of the Regiment's most famous officer. This first, illustrated history of 'The Royal Wilts' will appeal to anyone with an interest in the British Army. **Includes 368 black-and white and 70 colour photographs.**

Gloucestershire's strategic location straddling the Severn is reinforced by Bristol's importance as a port. The Forest of Dean and the Cotswolds are densely populated by prehistoric hillforts and Gloucester, Cirencester and Winchcombe were important throughout the Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. The Normans built substantial castles at Bristol, Gloucester and Berkeley, scene of Edward II's murder, with many more of earth and timber. Many figured in the conflicts between rival factions culminating in the Battle of Tewkesbury. In the Civil War, Bristol underwent two sieges and Gloucester another and one of the last battles, at Stow, followed continuous skirmishing. The next centuries saw volunteer forces established, formalised by the State by the end of Victoria's reign, to counter threats external and internal. A nascent aircraft industry would develop into aircraft factories and airfields in the First World War with further development of training and aircraft storage facilities for the newly formed RAF during the inter-War period. Anti-invasion defences were constructed in the Second World War, but the primary effort was in logistics: bases for arriving US troops; RAF and USAAF training airfields and depots; and communications facilities. This last aspect, along with intelligence gathering, continued into the Cold War and beyond.