Herefordshire's Military Heritage

Herefordshire has always been a border region and prone to conflict. During the Iron Age it was the dividing line between the Silures and Dobunni tribes and many hill forts in the area are still visible. The division heightened with the coming of the Romans as Dobunni accepted Roman rule but the Silures carried out a successful guerilla campaign against the invaders. The arrival of the Saxons pushed the people that came to be called the Welsh back through the county, so that when the Normans took control, they found an unruly land that demanded their full attention and building of border castles by the Marcher Lords. Throughout the medieval period Herefordshire was fought over by Viking, Norman and Welsh, culminating in the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr. Civil wars also played out among the green fields of Herefordshire, from the Anarchy of the twelfth century, to the War of the Roses and the Civil War of the seventeenth century. Later, Herefordshire supplied many men for Britain’s armed forces in its county regiments, not least in the World Wars of the twentieth century and the county is a fitting home for the Special Air Service, the most feared unit in the British Army.This book will be of interest to all those who would like to know more about Herefordshire’s remarkable military history.