It was 1862, the second year of the Civil War, though Kansans and Missourians had been fighting over slavery for almost a decade. For the 250 Union soldiers facing down rebel irregulars on Enoch Toothman's farm near Butler, Missouri, this was no battle over abstract principles. These were men of the First Kansas Colored Infantry, and they were fighting for their own freedom and that of their families. They belonged to the first black regiment raised in a northern state, and the first black unit to see combat during the Civil War. Soldiers in the Army of Freedom is the first published account of this largely forgotten regiment and, in particular, its contribution to Union victory in the trans-Mississippi theater of the Civil War. As such, it restores the First Kansas Colored Infantry to its rightful place in American history. Composed primarily of former slaves, the First Kansas Colored saw major combat in Missouri, Indian Territory, and Arkansas. Ian Michael Spurgeon draws upon a wealth of little-known sources - including soldiers' pension applications - to chart the intersection of race and military service, and to reveal the regiment's role in countering white prejudices by defying stereotypes. Despite naysayers' bigoted predictions - and a merciless slaughter at the Battle of Poison Spring - these black soldiers proved themselves as capable as their white counterparts, and so helped shape the evolving attitudes of leading politicians, such as Kansas senator James Henry Lane and President Abraham Lincoln. A long-overdue reconstruction of the regiment's remarkable combat record, Spurgeon's book brings to life the men of the First Kansas Colored Infantry in their doubly desperate battle against the Confederate forces and skepticism within Union ranks.

Colonel Moses Hazen's 2nd Canadian Regiment was one of the first 'national' regiments in the American army. Created by the Continental Congress, it drew members from Canada, eleven states, and foreign forces. 'Congress's Own' was among the most culturally, ethnically, and regionally diverse of the Continental Army's regiments - a distinction that makes it an apt reflection of the union that was struggling to create a nation. The 2nd Canadian, like the larger army, represented and pushed the transition from a colonial, continental alliance to a national association. The problems the regiment raised and encountered underscored the complications of managing a confederation of states and troops. In this enterprising study of an intriguing and at times 'infernal' regiment, Holly A. Mayer marshals personal and official accounts - from the letters and journals of Continentals and congressmen to the pension applications of veterans and their widows - to reveal what the personal passions, hardships, and accommodations of the 2nd Canadian can tell us about the greater military and civil dynamics of the American Revolution. Congress's Own follows congressmen, commanders, and soldiers through the Revolutionary War as the regiment's story shifts from tents and trenches to the halls of power and back. Interweaving insights from borderlands and community studies with military history, Mayer tracks key battles and traces debates that raged within the Revolution's military and political borderlands wherein subjects became rebels, soldiers, and citizens. Her book offers fresh, vivid accounts of the Revolution that disclose how 'Congress's Own' regiment embodied the dreams, diversity, and divisions within and between the Continental Army, Congress, and the emergent union of states during the War for American Independence.

This is the story of the 162nd (Turkistan) Infantry Division, a World War II German division composed of Central Asian Turkistanis. The book covers the political background (pan-Turkism) of the founders of this unit in German service, debunks some historical myths surrounding it (the 'Nazi Mysteries') and focuses on the most crucial events in the history of the division, the Gottschee battle (Slovenia) and the 'great winter mopping up' (northern Italy). Pan-Turkish activists were prime movers in organizing Turkistani military units in German uniform. These men were completely unrelated to the occultist/esoteric beliefs, followed by some top Nazi leaders such as Heinrich Himmler or Alfred Rosenberg. The Pan-Turkish activists recruited the soldiers from Soviet POWs in Hitler's hands. Not all of the former prisoners were volunteers, some were forced to join, while a huge number of Soviet soldiers enlisted in order to survive German captivity (where a large number of their comrades had died because of ill treatment or starvation.) Another huge problem was that Pan-Turkism is something different from Kemalism (Turkish-Anatolian secular and Jacobin nationalism), the former being the political movement aiming at the political union of all Turkic-speaking populations. This is why the German ambassador to Ankara reported that he thought that the Turkish Government might even be embarrassed by open Pan-Turk propaganda from Berlin. Despite this, four main Turkish or partially Turkish units in German uniform were formed. These units were part of the'Eastern Troops', whose Soviet personnel (Baltics, Slavs, Caucasians, Turkmen etc) were integrated into the German forces. It seems that the largest formation of the Eastern Troops in German service was the 162nd (Turkistan) Infantry Division. The most crucial event in the history of this formation was the 'great winter mopping up' (November 1944-January 1945). This operation (the clearing of Italian partisan independent republics which had been set up in the Northern Apennine mountains) was the greatest German anti-partisan action in Western Europe and one of the greatest anti-partisan operations of World War II. The author undertook a massive field investigation to determine what happened in the mountains. He reached the conclusion that the Turkistani soldiers were victims twice over: as Easterners they were regarded as inferior beings by their Nazi masters, as non-Communists, they were regarded as traitors by the Allies. All of this explains why the life and the fate of these Turkmen was absolutely tragic. The author presents a detailed textual history accompanied by over 200 rare photographs, including a large number that are previously unpublished.

Although the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which began in late September 1918 and continued through to the Armistice, was not the first major action fought by the AEF, it was the greatest in which it engaged in the Great War. Indeed, the casualty count in the fighting at the Meuse-Argonne makes it the bloodiest battle in American military history. The Argonne was an area that had been heavily fought over, particularly in the early part of the war; its eastern part, towards the Meuse, then became enveloped in the first great attritional battle of the war, Verdun. The area is marked by extensive woodlands and rolling countryside; however, unlike the Somme, it is interspersed with numerous waterways, deep ravines and higher ridges, along with significant hills, such as at Montfaucon. To be frank, the opening stages of the Offensive were marked by considerable unforced difficulties for the Americans, who after all were facing a far from strong enemy opposition (however formidable the defensive line might have been). Errors were made, logistical problems multiplied, command was often less than satisfactory. In many respects this should not have come as a surprise: this was an army that was relatively new to the Western Front, which was being reinforced at an awesome rate (approximately 300,000 men a month by July) and whose senior commanders had never before faced the challenges of modern warfare, themselves evolving at a dizzying rate. Maarten Otte gives a background narrative to events before the opening of the Offensive and its development. Taking each of the US corps in turn, he then provides tours that will help the visitor to understand the fighting and the problems that were faced. This opening book on the Meuse-Argonne takes the reader, more or less, to the date when General Pershing handed over command of the US First Army to Major General Liggard in mid October, a change in command that marked a significant improvement in the American performance as they pushed the Germans ever backwards. The Great War battlefield of the Argonne is marked by numerous physical remains of the war, some fine (some might argue over grandiose) monuments and by the stunning American cemetery at Romagne, the second largest in the world administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission. There is much to see in a battlefield that has been largely neglected in the decades since the Second World War.

The enduring popularity of the BBC TV series Dad's Army has focused attention on one of the strangest and least military armies ever formed - the British Home Guard. What started as an improvised band of volunteers had grown by 1942 into a conscripted, disciplined and well-equipped force with a strength of nearly two million men. Norman Longmate, himself a Home Guard veteran and an authority on wartime Britain, has collected together a wealth of hilarious anecdotes as well as all the unlikely facts to produce the first popular history of the Home Guard to be written since the war. Longmate, ex-Private 'F' Company, 3rd Sussex Battalion, Home Guard, joined 'Dad's Army' at the same age as the fictional character 'Pike', and to this day he contends that the much-loved sitcom was remarkably accurate in its portrayal of life in the Home Guard.

Choice Outstanding Title Scorned by allies and enemies alike, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) was one of the most maligned fighting forces in modern history. Cobbled together by U.S. advisers from the remnants of the French-inspired Vietnamese National Army, it was effectively pushed aside by the Americans in 1965. When toward the end of the war the army was compelled to reassert itself, it was too little, too late for all concerned. In this first in-depth history of the ARVN from 1955 to 1975, Robert Brigham takes readers into the barracks and training centers of the ARVN to plumb the hearts and souls of these forgotten soldiers. Through his masterly command of Vietnamese-language sources-diaries, memoirs, letters, oral interviews, and more-he explores the lives of ordinary men, focusing on troop morale and motivation within the context of traditional Vietnamese society and a regime that made impossible demands upon its soldiers. Offering keen insights into ARVN veterans' lives as both soldiers and devout kinsmen, Brigham reveals what they thought about their American allies, their Communist enemies, and their own government. He describes the conscription policy that forced these men into the army for indefinite periods with a shameful lack of training and battlefield preparation and examines how soldiers felt about barracks life in provinces far from their homes. He also explores the cultural causes of the ARVN's estrangement from the government and describes key military engagements that defined the achievements, failures, and limitations of the ARVN as a fighting force. Along the way, he explodes some of the myths about ARVN soldiers' cowardice, corruption, and lack of patriotism that have made the ARVN the scapegoat for America's defeat. Ultimately, as Brigham shows, without any real political commitment to a divided Vietnam or vision for the future, the ARVN retreated into a subnational culture that redefined the war's meaning: saving their families. His fascinating book gives us a fuller understanding not only of the Vietnam War but also of the problems associated with U.S. nation building through military intervention.

The 1st Texas Cavalry Regiment, also known as the 1st Texas Mounted Rifles, was Texas' first contribution of soldiers to the Civil War. The regiment was the first Confederate unit organized in Texas and the longest to serve, participating in Indian skirmishes on the frontier as well as in full battles against the Union. In Horse Sweat and Powder Smoke, Stanley S. McGowen describes and honors one of the most unique and successful military units in Texas history. He provides the first complete history of the 1st Texas Cavalry Regiment, documenting their origins from the Confederate Committee on Public Safety's request for mounted units to the appointment of Henry McCulloch to colonel of cavalry. McCulloch, a former Texas Ranger, was swift and effective at motivating his fellow Texans to arms, notably Captains James B. "Buck" Barry and Thomas C. Frost. The regimental commanders, McCulloch, Augustus Buchel, and William Yager, were acknowledged for their emphasis on precise discipline and gentlemanly conduct, and their training methods were valuable in that soldiers learned both cavalry and infantry maneuvers, as well as saber fighting and the proper care of horses and equipment. As many commanders maintained lax rules of propriety and organization, the 1st Texas Mounted Rifles remained a cohesive and loyal unit, disbanding only under the proper orders. Even after, as the Confederacy fell around them, the troops remained steadfastly loyal to their fellow fighters. McGowen examines the vast range of territory that the unit covered, including Louisiana swamps, the Red River Valley, along the Rio Grande, as well as the Gulf Coast line. He discusses their involvement in the controversial campaign known as the Battle of the Nueces, casting doubts on the common interpretation of the German immigrants, sympathetic to the Union, as defenseless farmers. McGowen asserts that while there was bloodshed on both sides, the Germans were not the innocent victims that many historians have claimed, and that the cavalry was not the bloodthirsty gang many thought. Horse Sweat and Powder Smoke clearly portrays the heroism and individuality of Texas' first mounted unit in the Civil War. By combining the history of the unit with profiles of the men who led it and who gave it its unique spirit and character, as well as accounts of the battles, raids, and skirmishes in which the unit participated, McGowen provides a valuable history of men whose recognition is long overdue from those whose homes, values, and way of life were defended by their actions.

Following the success of Nice One Centurion the second volume in the Centurion series, 'Are You Tittering Centurion?' chronicles the true, personal and hilarious antics of an RAF Regiment Gunner and his fellow Penguin counterparts. Featuring more illustrations from Tim Parker, this volume continues the tales of the nitty-gritty life of training, exercises, deployment, war, and the general mayhem that followed the RAF Regiment wherever it went.Born out of an idea to help fellow service members who suffer with PTSD, a percentage of proceeds is going to Help 4 Heroes, the RAF Regiment Museum and the RAF Benevolent Fund.

It was November 1806. The explorers had gone without food for one day, then two. Their leader, not yet thirty, drove on, determined to ascend the great mountain. Waist deep in snow, he reluctantly turned back. But Zebulon Pike had not been defeated. His name remained on the unclimbed peak-and new adventures lay ahead of him and his republic. In Citizen Explorer, historian Jared Orsi provides the first modern biography of this soldier and explorer, who rivaled contemporaries Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Born in 1779, Pike joined the army and served in frontier posts in the Ohio River valley before embarking on a series of astonishing expeditions. He sought the headwaters of the Mississippi and later the sources of the Arkansas and Red Rivers, which led him to Pike's Peak and capture by Spanish forces. Along the way, he met Aaron Burr and General James Wilkinson; Auguste and Pierre Couteau, patriarchs of St. Louis's most powerful fur-trading family, who sought to make themselves indispensible to Jefferson's administration; as well as British fur-traders, Native Americans, and officers of the Spanish empire, all of whom resisted the expansion of the United States. Through Pike's life, Orsi examines how American nationalism thinned as it stretched west, from the Jeffersonian idealism on the Atlantic to a practical, materialist sensibility on the frontier. Surveying and gathering data, Pike sought to incorporate these distant territories into the republic, to overlay the west with the American map grid; yet he became increasingly dependent for survival on people who had no attachment to the nation he served. He eventually died in that service, in a victorious battle in the War of 1812. Written from an environmental perspective, rich in cultural and political context, Citizen Explorer is a state-of-the-art biography of a remarkable man.

Military Working Dogs have played a vital role in the United States armed forces throughout history. In this celebration of their contributions to our nation, Lisa Rogak profiles these heroic dogs and showcases them in vivid photographs that capture the devotion and respect these amazing canines, their devoted handlers, and fellow soldiers share for each other. A heart-warming collection for dog lovers everywhere, this is the first illustrated tribute to America's Military Working Dogs.

Llewelyn Wyn Griffiths Up to Mametz, published in 1931, is now firmly established as one of the finest accounts of soldiering on the Western Front. It tells the story of the creation of a famous Welsh wartime battalion (The Royal Welsh Fusiliers), its training, its apprenticeship in the trenches, through to its ordeal of Mametz Wood on the Somme as part of 38 Division. But there it stopped. General Jonathon Riley has however discovered Wyn Griffiths unpublished diaries and letters which pick up where Up to Mametz left off through to the end of the War. With careful editing and annotation, the events of these missing years are now available alongside the original work. They tell of an officers life on the derided staff and provide fascinating glimpses of senior officers, some who attract high praise and others who the author obviously despised. The result is an enthralling complete read and a major addition to the bibliography of the period. Llewelyn Wyn Griffiths was born into a Welsh speaking family in Llandrillo yn Rhos, North Wales. He joined the Civil Service as a Tax Surveyor. Aged 24 on the outbreak of War, he was accepted for a commission in the 15th (1st London Welsh) Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers and served in the Battalion or on the staff for the rest of the War. Returning to the Inland Revenue he was responsible for the pay-As-You-Earn tax system, retiring in 1952. He filled many distinguished appointments, such as the Arts Council, and was a regular broadcaster. Awarded an Honorary DLitt by the University of Wales, he was holder of the CBE, OBE, Croix de Guerre and an MID. He died in 1977.

The true story of the 8th Air Force s legendary 303rd bomb group Although the United States declared war against Germany in December 1941, a successful assault on Nazi-occupied Europe could not happen until Germany s industrial and military might were crippled. The first target was the Luftwaffe the most powerful and battle-hardened air force in the world. The United States Army Air Forces joined with Great Britain s already-engaged Royal Air Force to launch a strategic air campaign that ultimately brought the Luftwaffe to its knees. One of the standout units of this campaign was the legendary 303rd Bomb Group Hell s Angels. This is the 303rd s story, as told by the men who made it what it was. Taking their name from their B-17 of the same name, they became one of the most distinguished and important air combat units in history. The dramatic and terrible air battles they fought against Germany ultimately changed the course of the war.

Winner, 2008 General Wallace M. Greene Jr. Award, presented by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation Peter F. Owen offers a tautly worded, historically rigorous, and intensely human survey of the agonizing burden shouldered by the Second Battalion of the Sixth Regiment of US Marines from its formation in Quantico, Virginia, in 1917 until the cessation of hostilities in November of the following year. In places like Belleau Wood and Soissons, these young men, led by dedicated officers, died in staggering numbers-primarily because of the outmoded tactics they had learned. Owen shows how the battalion regrouped after these campaigns, however, and embarked on a period of intense retraining, molding themselves into a coldly efficient military machine. ." . . the maps, figures, and photographs are excellent . . . a timely, original, and important contribution to the record. I highly recommend it to the infantry professional operating at the tactical level of war or to any Marine who is interested in our rich and storied history."--Marine Corps Gazette "This is one of the most useful 'soldier's eye' stories published during the last few years. Built on interviews, archival deposits, memoirs, printed documents, and appropriate secondary sources, it catches in the words of the actual participants the grim realities of rain, mud, bad food, lost friends, and a formidable adversary characteristic of Great War literature. . . . a serious addition to the study of the American military experience in the Great War."--Journal of Military History PETER F. OWEN retired from the US Marine Corps as a lieutenant colonel. His first command was a weapons platoon in the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines. During his research for this book, he walked every battlefield on which 2/6 fought during the Great War. Owen previously annotated Carl Brannen's World War I memoir, Over There. Number Nine: C. A. Brannen Series

From Gazala to Tunisia: 422 Days in the Life of the 2nd Battalion, The Rifle Brigade is the story of the riflemen and their battles of Gazala to the successful end of the North African campaign. These 422 days include the bitter battles of Gazala, the conflict around the Cauldron, the loss of Tobruk before the forced withdrawal with the remainder of the Eighth Army, along the Mediterranean Coast and finally digging in at Alamein. Due to their involvement in the battles around the Alamein Line, the Mine Task Force opened gaps in the Axis defences which allowed British armour to overwhelm the Germans. The riflemen of the 2nd Battalion took on the enemy in the battles at the Mareth Line and Wadi Akirit in Tunisia before joining the First Army in the final conflicts that brought the North African campaign to a successful conclusion. It was this battalion that marched two miles into enemy lines to take occupation of the Snipe position, feeling the full brunt of Rommel's counterattack, before marching back 36 hours later. It has been said that Alamein was the turning point of the war and that Snipe was the turning point of Alamein. This superb book tells all these takes and more in a detailed, powerful and moving account of the 2nd Battalion during its finest 15 months.

This book has been written with intent of echoing a fact that the defence of a nation is a right of every one of its citizens. It tries to apprise countrymen about the availability of an efficient and flexible citizen-friendly tool the Territorial Army (TA) existing in our country for everyone to fulfill this right. It has been attempted to highlight the potential of TA as a national reserve and the identity crisis it is presently facing. Can Army be everywhere? Do we really need a force like TA when adequate standing army is there? How large a reserve force can our country afford? An attempt has been made to address all such issues and bring out answers.

In 1943, the New Brunswick Rangers were sent to Britain, converted into a heavy weapons support unit, and shipped off to Normandy.Originating as a 19th century militia, the New Brunswick Rangers were placed on active service for the first time during the Second World War, serving first in the Maritimes and Newfoundland. In 1943, the Rangers were sent to Britain, where they were converted to a heavy weapons support unit, armed with machine guns and mortars in preparation for the invasion of Normandy.In this illuminating account, Matthew Douglass uncovers their participation in the war: their arrival in Normandy and their contributions to the battles in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. Present at many of the critical moments of the campaign, the Rangers participated in the Battle of the Falaise Gap, which cleared the way for the advance on Paris and the German border; the Battle of the Scheldt, which secured the vital supply lines of the port of Antwerp; and the Battle of the Reichswald, when German resistance on the west bank of the Rhine was finally broken. Drawing on archival photographs and original source documents, Douglass's account of the Rangers' wartime experiences is a crucial piece in understanding the role of heavy weapons support units on the Western Front.The New Brunswick Rangers in the Second World War is volume 27 of the New Brunswick Military Heritage Series.

"Trained as an assault brigade, the 56th landed on D-Day and successfully liberated Bayeux the following day. It was then employed in the crossing of the River Seine and the assault on Le Havre, before fighting across Belgium and Holland culminating in the final assault on Arnhem in April 1945, by which time the brigade had served in four different divisions. No previous study has sought to explain how an infantry brigade is used in battle, let alone one holding the title Independent. Holborn considers the styles of war as carried out by British forces and casts new light on the effectiveness of British infantry units and their contribution to war effort. Extensive use has been made of previously unseen primary evidence from The National Archives, IWM Archive and Regimental Museums. The evidence is used to explore issues pertinent to life in the Army at home during the war, training for war and the Campaign in North West Europe, as well as the role of the battalion."

The book tells the story of the 10th Australian Light Horse during World War One. It takes the reader on a journey with the first enlisted men from West Australia from their enlistment, through training at Black Boy Hill, their encampment at Meadi, Egypt, the call to Gallipoli and then the slow process of taking the Sinai, the drive through Beersheba to Jerusalem and finally their capture of Damascus. The war for the 10th did not stop here because they had to maintain the peace. Eventually the men returned home. The story is told through the eyes of the author's father, Trooper Herman John Murphy. With a mixture of well researched fact added to a little fiction the Author takes a fresh look at an old topic capturing the essence of the Anzac: Courage, Mateship, Initiative, Self Reliance, Sense of Humour and very little respect for authority and military protocol. The underlying message of the book is the meaningless waste of human life in war

This book tells the little known story of the Army's regimental and garrison schools established in 1812 to provide schooling for soldiers' children and subsequently for enlisted men, some almost 30 years before public money was first provided for elementary schools in England and Wales. This is the first published work on the Army's schools during the 19th century for almost 50 years and the author takes a fresh approach, placing the narrative within the context of contemporary opinion about the need for educated soldiers and the schooling appropriate for the lowers classes ( from which the Army predominately drew its recruits), whilst also explaining the hitherto neglected, but crucial part played by the responsible ministers at the War Office in establishing and ensuring the survival of the schools. There were no published government reports on these regimental schools until 1859 and previous literature has been largely silent on the workings of the schools during the early years, when they were conducted by untrained schoolmaster-sergeants selected by their commanding officers from within the ranks of their regiments. This book breaks new ground by drawing on the archives of more than 40 regiments of infantry and cavalry preserved in their regimental museum and county records offices, including standing orders, digests of service and personal diaries, together with and other contemporary material from a larger number of regiments in the UK National Archives, in order to construct an unprecedented account of the workings of the schools during the years. The book explains the difficulties faced by COs in securing sufficient literate men from within the ranks suitable for appointment and explains the challenges faced by even the most competent schoolmasters in keeping open the schools as their regiments marched between barracks in the United Kingdom and set out on long journeys by land and sea to stations across the Empire. The author builds on the previous literature in explaining the significance of the reforms in the Army's schools that were introduced during the 1840s, including establishing the 'Normal school' at the Royal Military Asylum Chelsea to train a new class of army schoolmasters to replace the schoolmaster- sergeants, and theappointment of an Inspector to oversee the work of the schools. The approach taken in this book however differs from the previous works in a number of respects. Whilst acknowledging the important part played by Rev George Gleig, the Army's Principal Chaplain and first Inspector of Military Schools, this book aims to provide a balanced narrative, which also recognises the decisive part played of Sidney Herbert and Lord Panmure (Fox Maule) as the responsible ministers at the War Office. Their work in securing support within their governments for the additional expenditure required and in overcoming the suspicions and potential opposition of the Dukes of Wellington and Cambridge as Commanders in Chiefs at the Horse Guards were essential to the success of the reforms. The author explains that the reforms were not always well received in all parts of the Army and argues that the changes introduced by the War Office in 1846 were only the start of a long process of creating a professional structure for the Army's schools that extended well into the 1860s. The chapters describing the difficulties faced by Sydney Herbert and Lord Palmore in implementing the reforms provide some interesting examples of the manoeuvring for authority within the Army by the Secretary of State for War and the Commander in Chief at the Horse Guards during these years. Throughout the century a large part of the British Army was stationed overseas and a significate proportion was in India. The previous literature has little to say about the how the reforms of were implemented in the colonial garrisons and is silent on the separate arrangements for superintendence and inspection of the schools that operated for some thirty years in the three Indian Presidencies of Bengal, Bombay and Madras. This work pays particular attention to the particular circumstances of the Army's school in India throughout the century.##The author explains that the introduction of short service enlistment following Cardwell's reforms in 1870 and the beginnings of national system of elementary education following Forster's Education Act in the same year, raised questions about the continuing need for a separate system of Army schools. This was the subject of intense debate within the military departments which is described in the book's concluding chapters. The War Office decided that there were good reasons to retain the Army's schools, but decided in 1887 that the tuition for recruits and enlisted men seeking promotion as NCOs could be more cost effectively delivered in larger garrison schools by combining soldiers from a number of regiments. It however decided to retain the regimental schools for the children for the practical reason that the battalions of the infantry and the regiments of cavalry continued to move at regular intervals between the camps and barracks at home and across the empire.##By the final decade of the century the schools had become an established part of the life of the regiments in British Army and contributed to the sense of regimental identity that was the essence of the British Army during the period. The schoolmasters and mistresses (both the trained and untrained) who taught in the regimental schools, often in the most difficult conditions, were amongst of the unsung pioneers of elementary education in Great Britain and their schools were exceptional and probably unique in providing not only for children, but also for adults, at a time when there was little continuing education for those who wished to improve their literacy after leaving school. The story of regimental and garrison schools has long deserved a place in the history the British Army during the19th century.

An inventive study of relations between the National Guard and the Regular Army during World War II, Guard Wars follows the Pennsylvania National Guard's 28th Infantry Division from its peacetime status through training and into combat in Western Europe. The broader story, spanning the years 1939 1945, sheds light on the National Guard, the U.S. Army, and American identities and priorities during the war years. Michael E. Weaver carefully tracks the division s difficult transformation into a combat-ready unit and highlights General Omar Bradley's extraordinary capacity for leadership which turned the Pennsylvanians from the least capable to one of the more capable units, a claim dearly tested in the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest. This absorbing and informative analysis chronicles the nation's response to the extreme demands of a world war, and the flexibility its leaders and soldiers displayed in the chaos of combat."

This is the compelling story of West Belfast's involvement fighting on the Western Front throughout the First World War. This is the story of men from either side of West Belfast's sectarian divide during the Great War. This dramatic book tells the story of the volunteers of the 36th and 16th divisions who fought on the Somme and side-by-side at Messines. Grayson also brings in forgotten West Belfast men from throughout the armed forces, from the retreat at Mons to the defeat of Germany and life post-war. In so doing, he tells a new story which challenges popular perceptions of the war and explains why remembrance remains so controversial in Belfast today.