Berkshire’s Military Heritage

Forged through centuries of armed struggle and foreign domination, aggressive invaders, oppressive monarchs, and rebellious citizens have repeatedly clashed to create Berkshire’s military heritage. A heritage stained with blood spilt during hard-fought sieges, vicious battles, terrible slaughters, and tragic accidents. The oldest remnants of Berkshire’s military heritage date to the Atrebates, an Iron Age people whose impressive hill forts once dominated the county’s skyline, and whose remains are visible today.Windsor Castle, the royal residence of the Queen, embodies almost 1,000 years of military action and is still one of nation’s top ceremonial attractions. The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst formed on the site of the former Royal Military College is one of the world’s toughest and most revered military training academies in world. Its graduates include the Sultan of Brunei, Sir Winston Churchill, fascist Sir Oswald Mosley, James Bond author Ian Fleming, sports personalities Fionidi Parker and Heather Stanning, singer James Blunt, Oscar-winning actor David Niven, and Princes William and Harry.Alfred the Great fought the Viking Danes at Englefield, Ashdown, and Reading, while Newbury hosted two English Civil War battles that saw nearby Donnington Castle reduced to a ruin. In 1688 Reading was the site of England’s only military action during the Glorious Revolution, ending in a decisive victory for forces loyal to William of Orange.Berkshire’s military forces include the Royal Berkshire Regiment’s ’Biscuit Boys’, who have protected the county and nation at home and abroad since 1881; and the women of the Air Transport Auxiliary service, who were formed and operated out of the county during the Second World War.Military historian and battlefield guide, former soldier Dean Hollands writes passionately about Britain’s military heritage and this book will interest anyone keen to know more about Berkshire’s remarkable military history.