Chance To Hear Seldom Heard Story Of Isle Of Wight Volunteer Soldiers

On Friday April 12, retired army Colonel Patrick Crowley will be coming to the Drill Hall in Newport to talk about the fascinating history of volunteer servicemen on the Isle of Wight.

Last year saw the publication of  Patrick's book 'Rose, Castle and Crown' - a unique history of the part-time soldier of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, from the time of the militia, yeomanry and volunteer, through to the Territorial Army and today’s Army Reserve.

This is all placed in the wider context of the British Army’s history.

For centuries, the country has defended its shores with a mixture of regular and auxiliary soldiers, but little has been written about the latter.

All military volunteers, throughout history, have had to balance the requirement of their service with family demands and their main civilian employment. This book tells their story, including:

• The three brothers in the Isle of Wight Rifles who were all killed on the same day in Gallipoli 1915, inspiring the film ‘Saving Private Ryan’.
• The local Militia who destroyed a French invasion on the Isle of Wight in 1545.
• The 4,000 Isle of Wight men volunteered to join the Home Guard at the start of the Second World War
• The local mayor who, with the support of local militia and some sailors, captured Carisbrooke Castle in the English Civil War.

The book, published by Medina Publishing in Cowes, has been very well received.

To that end, Battlefield magazine praising it for being '..an impressive piece of research, doing justice to the often overlooked aspect of volunteer military units.'