A HAMPSHIRE army veteran has published a book on the history of the army reserves and the key role it has played in Hampshire.

Patrick Crowley spent three years writing Rose, Castle and Crown on how the structure of the army and its reserves changed with the start of the First World War.

Before 1914, units in the Army were kept separate but this all changed when war started. The Territorial Army had been created and the role of the Reserves was changed in what ended up becoming a major restructuring of the British Armed Forces.

The book takes the reader through the history of the Armed Forces from the Militia, Yeomanry, Volunteer, the Territorial Army and the Army Reserve, with a particular focus on the forces in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Mr Crowley said a common theme through the history of the Army Reserves was a man's struggle to balance a civilian job, family and military duties.

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He added that it was “important to have employer support” and that the themes developed early in the book’s timeline remain relevant today.

Mr Crowley is a deputy Colonel of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, which recruits from London and the South East, including Hampshire.

The regiment was formed in 1992 when the Royal Hampshire Regiment merged with the Queen's Regiment. The Royal Hampshires regimental museum is at Serle's House in Southgate Street, Winchester.

Mr Crowley, from Crondall, near Alton, served as a regular in the Armed Forces for 34 years, he is now a crown servant and the Chief Executive of the South East Reserve Forces and Cadets Association (SERFCA) which supports the Reserves (tri-Service) and cadets in the nine counties of the south east.

He served on tours in Northern Ireland and Iraq and has served with the Territorial Army and the Army Reserves across his decades-long career.

Rose, Castle and Crown is published by Medina Publishing; £25 hardback.