Although much maligned, Essex is a vibrant county with a long and exciting history. Being close to the Continent and with one of Britains longest coastlines, it was an obvious target for invasion as the threat of war grew. Many defensive structures were built by the sea and to protect major routes across the county. The remains of pill boxes can still be seen.Essex at War 1939–1945 tells how war greatly affected the county: children were evacuated both to and from Essex; being close to London the county suffered from regular air attacks; farming was important and the Womens Land Army arrived in force. Accounts of Essex airmen and sailors who supported those escaping from Dunkirk are told, and once the USA entered the war there was a new type of invasion in the county when their servicemen arrived and were welcomed at many of the countys airfields.Memories of children growing up during those difficult years are recalled. These include nights spent in cold, damp Anderson shelters, sleeping under solid tables or in claustrophobic Morrison shelters. We learn about disrupted school lessons and the fear felt when the air raid siren wailed. When the V-1 and V-2 unmanned flying bombs were launched in 1944, many still remember listening for the engines to switch off and counting the seconds until they fell to earth.

The City of London was always going to be an obvious target for German bombers during the Second World War. What better way for Nazi Germany to spread fear and panic amongst the British people than by attacking their capital city?Although not vastly populated in the same way that a bigger city or larger town would be, there were still enough people working there during the day for attacks on it to take their toll. The city’s ancient and iconic buildings also bore the brunt of the German bombs, including churches designed by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire in 1666. The book looks at the effects of war on the City of London, including the damage caused by the 8 months of the Blitz between September 1940 and May 1941\. The most devastating of the raids took place on 29 December 1940, with both incendiary and explosive bombs causing a firestorm so intense it was known as the Second Great Fire of London. It also looks at the bravery of the staff at St Bart's Hospital, which was one of the medical facilities that remained open during the course of the war. Other stories include the sterling work carried out by the City’s civilian population and the different voluntary roles that they performed to help keep the city safe, including the Home Guard and the Fire Watchers, who spent their nights on the city’s rooftops looking out for incendiary devices dropped by the German Luftwaffe. Despite the damage to its buildings and its population, by the end of the war the City of London was able to rise, like a phoenix, from the flames of destruction, ready to become the vibrant and flourishing borough that it is today.

Explore Essex's local military heritage, from Roman times to the present day, in this illustrated guide.

In February 1925 the War Office published an Army Order listing the battle honours awarded for the Great War, and although this was announced as the final list there were subsequent revisions and minor amendments. No such list was published after WWII but an (unofficial?) Record was published in 1958 by the War Office, with a limited distribution, which included the Korean War battle honours, and this is that list with 651 actions. This Record covers only British, including British Gurkha, Regiments and Colonial Regiments. In most cases there is a brief summary of the operations with an indication of the troops involved and these include Commonwealth troops though the question of their Battle Honours is one for the Commonwealth Government concerned and the Sovereign. There were a good many errors in the list, typographical, grammatical, misspelling of place names, dates and order of battle. In some cases there was confusion between those battle honours which were selected to be carried on the Colours and those which were simply awarded. Strange new regiments appeared:- Highlanders Light Infantry (a persistent favourite), King's Own Yeomanry Light Infantry, the K.A.R.R.R.C, London Irish Fusiliers, London Irish Buffs, Queen's Own Nigeria Regiment (an unauthorised ‘Queen’s Own’), and the Royal West King Regiment, to name some of them. Place names also caused some trouble and in some of the brief descriptions of the engagements or actions there were order of battle mistakes such as the confusion between the 12th Frontier Force Regiment and 13th Frontier Force Rifles, two different regiments of the old Indian Army. The index contained scores of place names that had nothing to do with anything, this has been pruned drastically so that it contains only those places for which a battle honour was awarded. Every effort has been made to eliminate errors and present a corrected version and a number of sources was used the most important of which was H.C.B.Cook’s The Battle Honours of the British and Indian Armies 1662-1982, a magnificent piece of work. Other valuable works included: Orders of BattleSecond World War 1939-1945 H.F.Joslen; Commonwealth Divisions 1939-1945 Malcolm A.Bellis; A Register of the Regiments and Corps of the British Army Arthur Swinson; Regiments and Corps of the British Army Ian S.Hallows and Handbook of British Regiments Christopher Chant.

Few could believe that within twenty years of the war to end all wars being won the world was once again at war. Veterans of the Great War feared going through the same thing again and, even worse, many knew that this time their children would also be involved in the fighting. What had all the sacrifice been about? Cambridgeshire, the city of Cambridge and the University of Cambridge were badly hit by the Great War with many lives lost, families ripped apart and a way of life that had changed forever. Building and economic recovery had been hindered by the Great Depression. The county was not ready to face another war nor for the problems of warfare in the air. Yet somehow the county, the city and the university all found the strength to unite against the enemy once more and ensure that Germany would never win the war. The book chronicles life on the Home Front during the Second World War, which itself reached into every home and affected every citizen, changing the life and the face of the county. It is also a timely reminder of the difficulties, hardships, restrictions and morale faced by the city as the war dragged on, and how the local community overcame the odds that were stacked against them.

E.J. Rudsdale's role as a museum curator and air-raid shelter superintendent at Colchester Castle during the Second World War gave him the perfect opportunity to record life on the Home Front in his journals. Seventy years later, the selected extracts gathered here provide a remarkable insight into wartime life. Rudsdale's writing is characterised throughout by his wry observations of wartime officialdom and his lack of conformity with the prevailing views of the time. He was a pacifist, which gives his journals an unusual perspective. However, even as a civilian he could not escape the conflict, living in a garrison town threatened by invasion and regular bombing raids. His journals, therefore, record anxious and tragic events, but throughout it all his sense of humour is never diminished. This absorbing collection demonstrates Rudsdale's ability to bring a scene vividly to life and each account highlights the daily pressures that people endured as they valiantly tried to carry on with normal life in spite of the war.