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122 page book with 34 colour illustrations, supplied as a PDF document on CD-ROM.
FOREWORD
THE sudden expansion of the British Army to a strength undreamed of prior to August, 1914, brought in its train an ever-increasing desire on the part of the public for a better knowledge of the Army and of its glorious traditions, a subject that had previously attracted little or no attention outside military circles. Even among an average body of soldiers there is curiously enough a lack of knowledge of military history outside that closely associated with their own regiment. Yet the history of the British Army is unequalled by any other in the world for splendid achievement, while the regimental histories and traditions teem with instances of devotion to duty, gallantry in the face of overwhelming odds, and self-sacrifice of the most glorious nature. These traditions are highly treasured in the regiments, and their preservation has tended to build up and sustain in each unit that splendid esprit de corps which has animated all ranks, and made almost the impossible possible to our gallant soldiers in the presence of hardships and danger, and has led them to face death with a courage and heroism unsurpassed in the history of the world.
The traditions of the British Army stretch back over four centuries, during which it has been the acknowledged means of winning and building up the greatest Empire the world has ever known. The Army's deeds are a sealed book so far as the general public are concerned, for military matters except in times of actual war have never been a popular subject, the great heroes of the battlefield being far less known to the British public than popular performers on the football field or ..... |