Part of our new Aldershot Military Museum series of talks: Author Colonel (ret'd) Patrick Crowley MBE DL speaks about his new book Rose, Castle and Crown: Hampshire and the Isle of Wight's Citizen Soldiers.
The book tells the fascinating story of citizen soldiers woven through times of war and peace. It begins nearly 500 years ago with the raising of a militia that repulsed the French invasion of the Isle of Wight and continues with an examination of volunteers and the subsequent birth of the yeomanry in the late 18th century. Drawn from towns, villages and hamlets across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, volunteers have served at home and in numerous territories abroad: including the former Ottoman Empire, Burma, Siberia, France, Belgium, the Balkans, as well as post-9/11 Afghanistan and Iraq.
Rose, Castle and Crown underscores the challenge and sacrifice that all military volunteers, throughout history, have had to make balancing the needs of service with family demands and their main civilian employment. It also demonstrates that reservists continue to significantly contribute to the United Kingdom’s military capabilities.
Patrick Crowley, a deputy colonel of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, is currently the chief executive of the South East Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association, an arms-length body which supports the interest of reserves and cadets in the south east. He has written seven previous books on military history including Kut 1916: The Forgotten British Disaster in Iraq, Loyal to Empire: The Life of General Sir Charles Monro 1860-1929 and Infantry Die Hards: The Anatomy of a Regiment. He lives in Hampshire.
£7 includes tea or coffee
