Hungerford historian offers WW1 insight tonight (Wednesday)

Hungerford historian Roger Day provides an insight into how one small corner of England made its own contribution during the conflict in his new book

, published by Halsgrove.
The book is filled with pictures and is the first major study of the military’s use of the Western Kennet Valley in the Great War.
During the early years of the war the British Army increased massively in size and hundreds of new companies were formed. Because of this rapid expansion it was impossible to accommodate and train all the units at existing depots and as a consequence many were quartered in provincial towns, such as Hungerford and Marlborough.
The surrounding countryside also played its part and several military sites were established on the Marlborough Downs, such as the Army camp at Chiseldon, the RFC aerodromes at Yatesbury and a PoW Camp at Ramsbury.
Many miles of practice trenches were excavated in the downland chalk by the Army’s new recruits and route marches of 20 miles or more were a regular feature of their training.
The book also looks at the local Volunteer Force, the First World War equivalent of the Home Guard, and includes the stories of nine men from the region who went off to fight giving the reader an insight into army training and service life on the Western Front.
Mr Day will reveal how the war made a lasting impact upon this secluded part of rural West Berkshire and North East Wiltshire through an illustrated talk, followed by a book signing, at The Three Swans Hotel, Hungerford, tonight (Wednesday, October 8) at 7:30pm.
Tickets are £7 and are available from The Hungerford Bookshop.