Gloucester's Military Legacy

By Christine Jordan

From the establishment of Gloucester as a Roman colonia, a colony of retired military veterans, the city has held a strategic position, being close to the easiest crossing over the River Severn and into Wales. The Romans began building the city's defences, including the city walls and bastions, which were further enhanced by the great warrior Aethelflaed and which would become invaluable in the Siege of Gloucester during the Civil War in 1643. These walls would be destroyed by Charles II as a punishment for the city's role in the conflict. In the twelfth century, Gloucester's first motte and bailey castle were built and used by a number of kings as a garrison to prepare attacks against the Welsh and the Irish. The formation of what would become known as 'The Glorious Glosters', in 1782, led to a number of notable military campaigns, including the battles of Alexandria, Quatre Bras, the Second Boer War, including the Siege of Ladysmith, both World Wars and the Korean War. Christine's book will take you on an historic journey, uncovering on the way the city's military legacy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jul 3, 2017
• ISBN: 9781526707727

Christine Jordan

Christine Jordan was born in the front room of a National Coal Board house into a Yorkshire mining community. Her dad was a coal filler and her mum a homemaker. She didn’t do well at school and left at sixteen finding jobs in catering or ending up unemployed. Eventually, she returned to education finally gaining a degree in Sociology and going on to obtain an MBA. She has worked as a stewardess on a passenger ferry, picked potatoes on an Essex farm, taught English in Greece and even ran a pub.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Gloucester’s military legacy is considerable. From its Roman origins in AD 49, when it was established as a military retirement colonia, to when, in 2010, NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps found a home at Imjin Barracks, Gloucester has played a critical role in many conflicts, both local and foreign.

Perhaps the most notable conflict for Gloucester was the pivotal role it played in the English Civil War. The legacy of the English Civil War and the part played by Gloucester are still celebrated today with the annual Gloucester Day parade in September. The day celebrates the lifting of the siege on 5 September 1643, when Gloucester fought on the side of Parliament. It was a crucial turning point in the English Civil War when the citizens of Gloucester fought for parliament and democracy and showed great spirit and strong will. The sacrifice and determination of the people of Gloucester, as they defended the Parliamentarian garrison from 10 August to 5 September 1643, against the besieging army of King Charles I, changed the course of the war.

It was not the only time the city had cause to be proud. In 1801, the Gloucestershire Regiment fought a noteworthy battle against Napoleon’s army at Alexandria, Egypt. This earned them the right to wear badges on the front and the rear of their berets, a right unique in the British army.

When the First World War broke out, the city’s men rushed to sign up to fight for their country, including many well-known rugby players. The women played their role too, commanding Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) hospitals and manning the huge munitions factory in Quedgeley. By the end of the First World War, the Gloucestershire Regiment had fought in many battles, and received many battle honours, but the war had taken its toll on those who had signed up. Many did not return home, either killed on the battlefields of France, or missing in action and with no known graves. In peacetime, the city concentrated on honouring their dead by building magnificent war memorials, little knowing that more names would be added to the rolls of honour by the end of the Second World War some twenty years later.

Only seven years after the Second World War had ended, the Gloucestershire Regiment was to find itself at the heart of the Korean conflict, fighting heroically against the Chinese forces in the Korean War in 1951. The Battle of the Imjin River, also known as the Battle of Gloster Hill, took place in April 1951. This battle is seen as the bloodiest engagement fought by the British army since the Second World War, and one of the most decisive defensive battles the army has ever undertaken. The Gloucestershire Regiment made a heroic last stand against overwhelming Chinese forces, and for this action was awarded several honours as well as being given the nickname ‘The Glorious Glosters’.

In 2016, Korea opened the Wungye Hanging Bridge in Paju, South Korea. They also named it the Gloucester Heroes Bridge in honour of the men of The Glorious Glosters and in recognition of their sacrifice at the Battle of the Imjin River. The bridge spans the Kamak-San Gorge, close to the Glosters’ lines during the famous battle.

The city’s links to the Korean War continue with the recent collaboration by the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum with the model makers Corgi to produce a limited edition of the military Series 1 Land Rover. The Series 1 Land Rover was issued to the 1st Battalion, Glosters and taken to the Korean War in 1950.

The military Series 1 Land Rover, now immortalized by Corgi, the toy makers.

The Gloucester Heroes Bridge, built by the South Koreans in 2016, in honour of The Glorious Glosters.

This book is a tribute to the men and women of Gloucester who served their country in times of conflict, and who have contributed significantly to the role the city has played on the national and international stage of war.

Forget not us, O land for which we fell

May it go well with England, still go well!

Keep her bright banners without spot or stain,

Lest we should dream that we have died in vain

1. A BRIEF HISTORY

The following is a chronology of significant events, showing the extent of Gloucester’s military legacy.

Timeline

49

Establishment of a Roman fortress at Kingsholm.

97

Establishment of the Roman settlement and future city of Gloucester, Colonia Nerviana Glevensis.

100–600

Decline of Roman Gloucester.

577

The Anglo-Saxons settle in Britain.

Wessex forces fight at the Battle of Deorham.

678–9

Osric, King of the Hwicce tribe, founds St Peter’s Abbey.

877

Danish army camps in Gloucester.

880

Æthelflæd becomes associated with Gloucester through her marriage to Ethelred.

896

Mercian council meets at Gloucester.

910

Gloucester becomes a burh, a fortified settlement. Æthelflæd founds St Oswald’s Priory.

1066

The Norman Conquest. A motte-and-bailey castle is built in Gloucester.

1112

Walter of Gloucester builds a new castle west of Barbican Hill.

1135

Gloucester is key in The Anarchy. Civil war takes place between King Stephen and Empress Matilda.

1263

In the Second Barons’ War, Gloucester Castle is at the heart of the conflict.

1539

Dissolution of the monasteries. Henry VIII orders a muster roll of all men living in Gloucester to be drawn up.

1643

The Siege of Gloucester during the English Civil War.

1694

Sir John Gibson forms a regiment of soldiers, which would become known as Gibson’s Regiment of Foot.

1697

During King William’s War, Colonel John Gibson and his regiment of foot are sent to Newfoundland to fight against the French.

Following the signing of the Treaty of Ryswyck (or Ryswick), which ended the War of the Grand Alliance, Gibson’s regiment is disbanded.

1704

Gibson ‘sells’ the regiment to Colonel Sampson de Lalo. It then changes hands several times, much like a modern-day business.

1705

Colonel Gibson’s Regiment of Foot participates in the War of the Spanish Succession, seeing action at the Battle of Elixheim, also known as the Passage of the Lines of Brabant (1705), Ramillies (1706), Almanza (1701), and the Raid on Vigo (1719).

1745

In the War of the Austrian Succession, the 28th Regiment of Foot fights at the Battle of Fontenoy.

1758

During the Seven Years’ War, or French and Indian Wars, the 28th Regiment of Foot participates in the Siege of Louisburg.

1759

The Battle of Quebec, also called the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, is fought. The Battle of Guadeloupe takes place.

1776

During the American Revolutionary War, the 28th Regiment of Foot sees action in the Battle of White Plains (1776) and at the capture of St Lucia (1778).

1795

In 1794, British Prime Minister William Pitt, concerned with the threat of a French invasion, proposes the raising of volunteer cavalry units. Captain Powell Snell raises troops for these units, including from Gloucester. Each man supplies his own horse and is given a sword and a pistol. They are named the First Troop of Gloucestershire Gentlemen and Yeomanry, at the Plough Inn in Cheltenham.

1800

Gloucester is appointed as the rendezvous point of the ‘various and, more or less, independent troops’.

1801

During the French Revolutionary Wars, the 28th Regiment of Foot fights at the Battle of Alexandria, also known as the Battle of Canope.

1802

The regiments are ‘suspended from muster’ as peace is declared.

1815

During the Waterloo campaign, the 28th Regiment of Foot fights in the Battle of Quatre Bas.

1834

The Gloucestershire Yeomanry Cavalry is formed on 30 March 1834 at Petty France, a hamlet in Gloucestershire. The Duke of Beaufort is appointed commander of the regiment.

1841

The regiment is granted the title ‘Royal’.

1846

The regiment is renamed the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars.

1899

In the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902, the 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment (formerly the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot) participates in the Defence of Ladysmith.

1914

Outbreak of the First World War.

The 2/1st Royal Gloucestershire Hussars is raised at Gloucester in September 1914.

1916

In the Middle East theatre of war, A Squadron, Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, sees action in the Battle of Qatia in the Sinai Desert.

1918

The regiment arrives back in Gloucester.

1922

Re-formed into the 21st (Gloucestershire Yeomanry) Armoured Car Company.

1939

The Second World War breaks out.

The Royal Gloucestershire Hussars are expanded as an armoured regiment and, on 30 April, regain their original title of 1st Royal Gloucestershire Hussars.

The 1st Royal Gloucestershire Hussars spend most of the war acting as a UK defence and training regiment and guarding South West England.

1945

With the cessation of hostilities, the regiment is re-organized and retitled several times.

1951

In the Korean War, the 1st Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment, fights at the Battle of Imjin River, also called the Battle of Gloster Hill.

The regiment is nicknamed ‘The Glorious Glosters’ after their action at Hill 325 in 1951.

1971

The regiment is again retitled and merged with other regiments, becoming the Wessex Yeomanry.

1979

The regiment regains its ‘Royal’ title, becoming the Royal Wessex Yeomanry.

1994

The Gloucestershire Regiment becomes the Royal Gloucestershire and Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment (RGBW).

2007

The Rifles are formed.

2010

NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps finds a home at Imjin Barracks, Gloucester.

2016

South Korea opens the Wungye Hanging Bridge in Paju, naming it the