In the opening months of the First World War, 1,500 men from Cambridgeshire came forward to serve their country as a battalion in Kitchener's New Army. They came from the city and they came from the fields. Many had never left the county before, let alone their country, and all too many would never return. Whether farm laborers, shop assistants, bricklayers, chauffeurs, university scholars or college porters, men from all walks of life united and became the Cambridgeshire Kitcheners. Sent to the Western Front in January 1916, they took part in some of the bloodiest battles of the war, including the Battle of the Somme. One hundred and eighty-seven men lost their lives on 1 July 1916, most within a few minutes of each other, as they marched over the top into no man's land and shell and machine-gun fire. This was not the end of their story. In early April, the battalion saw fierce fighting during the Battle of Arras and in a doomed assault on a heavily fortified position near Roux at the end of the month.In 1918 they resisted the German Spring Offensive, never falling back without orders, despite parts of the battalion becoming cut off and nearly surrounded during the fighting.Mixing personal accounts with official documents, this is the story of the Cambridgeshire Kitchener's war. Their momentous efforts are explained throughout this book, which is a timely reminder of this heroic battalion's dedication, skill and bravery.

Badges of Kitchener's Army is based on thirty years research in museums, archives and collections. It is an exhaustive study of the development of the battalion, brigade and divisional signs of the thirty divisions raised by Kitchener's appeal for men. While the divisional signs are well known, there has been little authoritative work on the signs worn by the infantry battalions. The book will illustrate the unique cap and shoulder titles used, as well as cloth signs worn to provide easy recognition in the trenches. Each service battalion, of each regiment has a listing, which provides a brief history of the unit and detailed information on the badges worn.It is prodigiously illustrated and contains much information, like why a shape or color was chosen, when it was adopted, what size it was, whether it was worn on a helmet, what color the helmet was and even what colors were used on horse transport; the majority of this rich and detailed information has never been published before. What helps make the information accurate and authoritative is that much of it comes from an archive created at the time and from personal correspondence with hundreds of veterans in the 1980s, many of whom still had their badges and often had razor-sharp recollections about wearing them. The book will also provide some comments from these veterans. A further unique aspect of the book is that it will look at the uniforms and badges worn before the battalions left the country, providing much new information that will enable people to identify any photographs they have lying around.

Throughout history, Cambridgeshire has figured in the conflicts shaping our nation. Doomed Roman legionaries marched from Longthorpe to defeat by Boudicca’s Iceni; Saxons and Danes fought over the edges of the Danelaw; the Normans came this way to crush Hereward’s Fenland resistance; in the Civil War it provided the defended frontier between Parliamentarian and Royalist; in the twentieth century its flat expanses provided airfields for the RFC and later for the bombers of the RAF and USAAF, and in the Cold War, locations for missile bases. Many of these events have left evidence on the ground, and this book describes the function and purpose of these defensive structures and records survivals.