Introduction

What do you think of when you think of Sheffield? - The Full Monty, Steel, Football? Sheffield also has a varied and long military history, including being a leading supplier of military equipment during the First World War.

Review

Sheffield’s Military Legacy is another book in the Military Legacy series of books printed by Pen and Sword Military. Written by Gerry Van Tonder with a cover design by Jon Wilkinson. This publication is a soft backed book comprised of 128 pages on good quality paper, with many black and white photographs throughout and a colour section in the middle depicting badges, maps, medals and modern day armour.

This book consists of 8 chapters as follows:
Introduction
A Brief History
1. Call to Arms: Home
2. Call to Arms: Foreign
3. They Served
4. The Units
5. Barracks and Buildings
6. For Valour
7. Lest We Forget
Sources and Acknowledgements
About the Author

Sheffield has had a military since the Norman invasion, with a castle built where the Don and Sheaf converge. What followed on from this is the proud people of Sheffield’s pride in answering the call to arms in many conflicts, conflicts such as the Boer War, The Second World War and Afghanistan. In the First World War Sheffield’s (Sheffield City Battalion) finest fought to capture the village of Serre on the Somme, although the battle was hopeless it was fought with heroism.

The proud tradition of answering the call spawned the 84th Regiment of Foot, in the 1700s the Loyal Independent Sheffield Volunteers, the Hallamshire Rifles Volunteers which was formed in 1859. in 1899, 275 members of the Hallamshires volunteered for active service in South Africa at the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War. This regiment during its various re-namings, has had numerous active duties from the 1st to the 2nd World Wars, with a presence in Normandy a few days after D-Day.

Conclusion

I have visited Sheffield on many occasions, but have never visited the military monuments that are in the city. This book has pricked my interest and the next time I visit Sheffield I will endeavour to find these treasures. I found this book to be well set out, with lots of interesting information charting the history of Sheffield’s military.

I particularly like the chapter ‘For Valour’ - in this chapter the author describes stories of courage and daring that resulted in the awarding of The Victoria Cross. If you are interested in the historical history of England’s cities then this would make a good addition to any collection.