Dean Hollands – författare

Forged through centuries of armed struggle and foreign domination, aggressive invaders, oppressive monarchs, and rebellious citizens have repeatedly clashed to create Berkshire’s military heritage. A heritage stained with blood spilt during hard-fought sieges, vicious battles, terrible slaughters, and tragic accidents. The oldest remnants of Berkshire’s military heritage date to the Atrebates, an Iron Age people whose impressive hill forts once dominated the county’s skyline, and whose remains are visible today.Windsor Castle, a royal residence, embodies almost a thousand years of military action and is still one of the nation’s top ceremonial attractions. The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst formed on the site of the former Royal Military College is one of the world’s toughest and most revered military training academies in the world. Its graduates include the Sultan of Brunei, Sir Winston Churchill, fascist Sir Oswald Mosley, James Bond author Ian Fleming, sports personalities Fionidi Parker and Heather Stanning, singer James Blunt, Oscar-winning actor David Niven, and Princes William and Harry.Berkshire’s military forces include the Royal Berkshire Regiment’s ‘Biscuit Boys’, who have protected the county and nation at home and abroad since 1881; and the women of the Air Transport Auxiliary service, who were formed and operated out of the county during the Second World War.Military historian and battlefield guide, former soldier Dean Hollands writes passionately about Britain’s military heritage and this book will interest anyone keen to know more about Berkshire’s remarkable military history.

The making of Dorset’s military heritage has been a dramatic, brutal, and often turbulent affair. From the time of the Durotriges tribes and their spectacular Iron Age strongholds, to the more modern sea forts and blast-proof nuclear bunkers of the Cold War, Dorset’s landscape has been shaped by generations of defensive countermeasures.Successive and bloody invasions by Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Viking and Norman forces have paved the way for revolution, civil uprising, insurrection and rebellions that history defines as the Peasants’ Revolt, the Swing and Monmouth Rebellions, the rise of the Dorset Clubmen, the Anarchy and English Civil Wars.In Tudor times the ships of Elizabeth I’s navy dropped anchor in Dorset’s waters before engaging the Spanish Armada off Portland. Men of the local volunteers, militias, yeomanry, and Dorsetshire’s Regiment of Foot have fought bravely and with distinction at home and abroad, from the Peninsular War to South Africa, and through two world wars. The Royal Flying Corps and its successor the Royal Air Force played vital roles in defending the nation, and during the Second World War their presence proved invaluable in the planning and execution of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of northern France.Military historian, battlefield guide and former soldier Dean Hollands writes passionately about Britain’s military heritage and this book will interest anyone keen to know more about Dorset’s remarkable military history.

The county of Carmarthenshire has an impressive military history and heritage which stretches back into the Iron Age. Following Celtic settlement, this part of south-west Wales witnessed Roman occupation, Viking raids and Norman and English invasion. Remains of fortifications can be seen in Carmarthenshire from Iron Age hill forts and Roman forts to medieval castles and Civil War defences. The Second World War and the Cold War have also left relics. The military heritage also encompasses the county’s sons and daughters who have distinguished themselves militarily, its munitions factories (which were the largest in Wales) and the many memorials to conflicts.This book will be of interest to all those who would like to know more about Carmarthenshire’s remarkable military history.

The county of Pembrokeshire has a long military history, and its heritage stretches back into the late Bronze Age. Even today ancient hill forts and coastal defences can be discerned in the landscape. Norman settlement in Pembrokeshire and Welsh resistance created monumental castles which are still prominent in the landscape, including Pembroke, Carew and Manorbier, and later the strategically important harbours on the coastline such as Milford Haven, Fishguard and Pembroke Dock were further fortified. During the First and Second World Wars, Pembrokeshire played an important role in the aerial war, with what became the world’s largest military flying boat station during the Battle for the Atlantic and numerous airfields inland, some continuing into the Cold War. With numerous memorials, a military cemetery and a roll call of gallant Pembrokeshire men and women through the centuries, this book will be of interest to all those who would like to know more about Pembrokeshire’s remarkable military history.