Those Must Be The Guards: The Household Division in Peace and War, 1969-2023

The story of the British Army's Household Division from 1969 to 2023. It is the biography of a family of three generations of soldiers who have served Crown and Country during a period of significant social and geostrategic change. The Guards established an ascendancy in the Peninsular War and at the Battle of Waterloo, and in the words of the military historian, Allan Mallinson, 'They have never truly faltered since.' They have done so by changing when change was needed. His Majesty's Household Division is a national institution, admired by the public through its mastery of ceremonial and pageantry, and the magnificent hour that is Trooping the Colour. It is respected throughout the army for its fighting ability. Unlike many other parts of the army, the Household Division has escaped cuts and its value to the army and to the nation remains undiminished. This is not a traditional regimental history. It is the story of a family of seven regiments (The Life Guards, Blues and Royals, Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards) which symbolise the Union of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Published with the full support of the Major General Commanding The Household Division and its Trustees, it relates the story of the Guards from the start of the Troubles in Northern Ireland through the Falklands War, first and second Gulf Wars, most poignantly, Afghanistan all told with full access to regimental diaries, archives, and personal stories of those who were there.