Military History Publications and contributions by Lt-Gen Jonathon Riley

As an accomplished Military History author, Jonathon Riley has written 25 books and has co-authored and contributed to many more.

This meticulously researched and edited book covers the story of the Regiment’s 29 tours – more than any other regiment in the British Army. It takes the story from the start of OP BANNER to the end, when the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment closed the last operational base. It thus sets our story into the context of the politics, background and major operations in what was a turbulent time in the United Kingdom’s history.

Packed with new stories, photographs, maps and cartoons, this book will give any reader a thorough grasp of the campaign in which for 17 years and 10 months of its 26-year existence, one or more battalions of the Regiment were on operations.

All proceeds from the sale of the book after costs will be donated to The Queen's Regiment Benevolent Fund.

‘This book is a very detailed account of the operations of The Queen’s Regiment deployed to Northern Ireland over more than 30 years. It is a great tribute to the courage, perseverance, resilience and professionalism of those who served in the Regiment throughout that period and The Longest Stag records how well the battalions of The Queen’s Regiment did.’ General Sir Roger Wheeler, GOC Northern Ireland and Chief of the General Staff

REFLECTIONS ON THE TIMES AND LIFE OF
William ‘Bill’ Roache
Actor for the Ages

"Readers will soon discover that the commissioned ranks of the Royal Welch Fusiliers have included many great actors: Andrew Cruikshank (Major), Jack Hawkins (Lieutenant-Colonel), John Kidd (Captain), Desmond Llewellyn (Second-Lieutenant), André Morell (Major) and Bill Roache (Captain). The service of these actors, and of the many tens of thousands of others who have served in the ranks of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, is celebrated and commemorated by the Regimental Museum in Caernarfon Castle."

Lieutenant-General Jonathon Peter Riley, British Army officer and military historian

The Colonial Ironsides is a comprehensive survey of the role played by Oliver Cromwell’s expeditionary forces in subduing Royalist outposts abroad after the conclusion of the Civil Wars in the Three Kingdoms, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, the Scillies, the West Indies and North America.

In Europe, the book studies the role of Cromwell’s expeditionary brigade, and Charles II’s army in exile, in the struggle between France and Spain in the Low Countries during the last years of the Protectorate: the Battle of the Dunes, the sieges of Dunkirk, Ypres, Oudenaarde and other towns leading to the acquisition of Dunkirk and Mardyke as a British colony on the Continent, the first since the loss of Calais under Mary Tudor.

Edited & Annotated by Jonathon Riley - The Royal Welch Fusiliers - Published: 6th October 2021

Llewelyn Wyn Griffith's Up to Mametz, published in 1931, is now firmly established as one of the finest accounts of soldiering on the Western Front. It tells the story of the creation of a famous Welsh wartime battalion (The Royal Welsh Fusiliers), its training, its apprenticeship in the trenches, through to its ordeal of Mametz Wood on the Somme as part of 38 Division. But there it stopped. General Jonathon Riley has however discovered Wyn Griffiths unpublished diaries and letters which pick up where Up to Mametz left off through to the end of the War. With careful editing and annotation, the events of these missing years are now available alongside the original work. They tell of an officers life on the derided staff and provide fascinating glimpses of senior officers, some who attract high praise and others who the author obviously despised. The result is an enthralling complete read and a major addition to the bibliography of the period.

WINNING WARS
A multi-author volume bringing together experts on all periods of military history

What does it mean to win a war? How does this differ from a simple military victory? How have different cultures and societies answered these questions through history, and how can we apply these lessons? When considering how a war might be 'won', there are three big ideas that underpin how success can be measured: ownership, intervention for effect, and fighting for ideas. These three main themes also contain a series of sub-themes: internal and external, short-term and long-term, military success versus political success, and tactical outcomes versus campaign effects versus strategic success. This book examines the constituent parts of what may comprise ‘victory' or ‘winning' in war and then travels, chronologically, through a wide variety of historical case studies, further exploring these philosophical components and weaving them into a factual discussion. The authors of each chapter will explore the three big ideas within the context of their individual case studies, offering pointers as to where, within that framework, their case study may sit. The message of this book is not just an academic exploration for its own sake, but a really vital aspect (both morally and practically) of the political and military business of the application of force. In short, know in advance how you wish to end before you start.

Contributors: Professor Kerry Brown – Dr Aaron Edwards – Professor John France Professor Lothar Höbelt – Dr Rob Johnson – Dr Richard Kuno – Dr Carter Malkasian Professor Daniel Marston – Dr Andrew Monaghan – Dr Ali Parchami Professor David Parrott – Professor Nicholas Rees – Professor Richard Reid - Dr Jonathon Riley – Dr Andrew Sharpe – Professor Matthias Strohn Dr Christopher Tuck

Jack Lidsey was one of the first to volunteer during the Great War, enlisting as a private soldier in his local regiment, the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, in August 1914. He was sent to the Ypres Salient in March 1915, experiencing trench warfare around Ploegsteert Wood before moving south to the Somme in France. Lidsey was sent home for commissioning early in 1916, re-joining his battalion as a Second Lieutenant just in time for the Somme offensive of that summer. Time and again, he led his platoon into hails of enemy machine-gun fire, grenade and artillery attacks around Pozières, where the Oxfordshires took horrendous casualties. By any measure, Jack was lucky to survive, and in November 1916 he decided to try a different approach to warfare - from the air.

Ghosts of Old Companions. Lloyd George's Welsh Army, The Kaiser's Reichsheer and the Battle For Mametz Wood, 1914-1916

The 38th (Welsh) Division was formed from many thousands of Welsh volunteers in late 1914 and 1915 as part of Kitchener’s New Armies – a force for the long war that he was the first to recognise. It was to be ready for battle in 1917. David Lloyd George strongly supported the expansion of the British Army and even hoped for a Welsh Army Corps, to be formed from the 38th, 53rd and 68th (Welsh) Divisions, along with the Welsh infantry and cavalry units drawn from regular divisions of the Army.

This book reveals new material on, among other matters, the forces involved, the Christmas Truce of 1915, the German fortifications of Mametz Wood and the casualties on both sides.

Lt-Gen Jonathon Riley (Author), Lt-Col Peter Crocker (Author) & The Late Lt-Col Sinnett (Author)

This Volume fills the gap between the end of Volume IV in November 1918 and the beginning of Volume VI in late 1945. During the Great War, the Regiment fielded a total of forty-five battalions, if the five battalions of the Volunteer Force are included. This is the fourth highest total of any regiment on the Army List during those years, and remarkable given the relative paucity of population in Wales, compared with the great urban centres of England. During the Second World War, and without double-counting those units which changed their title, the Regiment fielded three regular battalions, including a parachute battalion, seven Territorial battalions, six service battalions, two independent companies, three anti-tank companies or batteries, five artillery regiments and two independent H.G. troops, twenty-eight Home Guard battalions and three M.T. Companies – a total of fifty-one battalion-equivalent units.

For this reason, Volume V has had to be divided into two parts. Part One covers the Regiment’s service from November 1918 – including a wrap-up of Great War units left unfinished in Volume IV – to the Summer of 1940; Part Two covers Summer 1940 to late 1945. The division in the Summer of 1940 was chosen because at that point, the 1st Battalion, 101st L.A.A. & A.T. Regiment and the Independent Companies had all been evacuated from Europe; the 2nd Battalion was homeward bound from India; the four first-line T.A. battalions had embarked for Northern Ireland; the four second-line T.A. battalions had been fully embodied; the first tranche of service battalions had been formed; and the Local Defence Volunteers were being transformed into the Home Guard. This seemed to the authors to be more logical than a rather artificial division on 3 September 1939.

The emphasis of the volume is of course on the Second World War during which our battalions, independent companies and artillery regiments served in every major theatre and campaign, except Ethiopia and Syria. However the division into two parts has allowed a proper examination of the British Army between the wars and its deployments around the world. In addition to the Imperial garrisons and the experimentation programme at home, there were operations in North and South Russia, the Transcaucasus, Turkey, Germany, Cyprus, Palestine, Somalia, Eritrea, Egypt, Ireland, Afghanistan, the North-West Frontier of India and China. It was no long week-end.

Regimental Records Volume V is being published as a commercial venture by Helion & Co. The copyright and royalties lie with the Regimental Museum of The Royal Welch Fusiliers, a registered service charity.

Llewelyn Wyn Griffith's Up to Mametz was published in 1931, forming one of the finest accounts of soldiering on the Western Front, telling the story of the creation of a famous Royal Welch Fusiliers.

Jonathon Riley discovered Wyn Griffith's unpublished diaries and letters which pick up where Up to Mametz left off through to the end of the War; carefully editing and annotating the events of those missing years.

by Michael Glover & Jonathon Riley
The History of The Royal Welch Fusiliers 1689-2006

The Royal Welch Fusiliers were one of the six Minden regiments who fought throughout the Peninsula and were present at Wellington's final glorious victory at Waterloo.

This fine book is the lasting memorial to a fiercely proud and greatly admired regiment.

This is the new revised edition of THAT ASTONISHING INFANTRY is due out shortly.

The author's detailed but lively text is fully supported by a range of illustrations and specially-commissioned maps.

OPERATION INSANITY:
The Dramatic True Story of the Mission That Saved Ten Thousand Lives

by Colonel Richard Westley (Author), Mark Ryan (Author)
Published 1st September 2016

"After two years, I received the call from Jonathon Riley, who knew I'd been a Royal Welch Fusilier for ten years after leaving Sandhurst. He asked me, "How do you fancy coming back to become a company commander?"...

Everything Riley did was an education for us; his intellect and experience were invaluable...."

In the midst of the horrors of the Bosnian War, Richard Westley found himself commanding British troops in a battle to save an entire town from massacre. It proved to be one of the British Army's finest hours since the Second World War. In the summer of 1995, the Bosnian town of Goražde came under attack from the Bosnian Serb Army, despite having been designated a Safe Area by the United Nations. Soldiers of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, sent to the area as UN peacekeepers, outnumbered, lacking firepower and without air support, began to be taken hostage by the encroaching Serbian forces, while the city itself came under bombardment.

OFT IN DANGER General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley by Jonathon Riley

A biography of the most distinguished field commander of modern times.
‘Farrar the Para’: The boy soldier who became a General

Binding: Hardback
ISBN: 9781910777251
Language: English text
Publisher: Helion & Company

"The First Colonial Soldiers. Volume 2: the Americas and the Caribbean"
(Published in 2 Volumes - Co-authored by Wienand Drenth and Jonathon Riley

Volume 2 - part I: New England, the Middle Colonies, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Hudson Bay

Volume 2 - part 2: The Southern Colonies, the Bermudas, Jamaica, the Barbadoes, the Leeward Islands and Central and South America..

The collaboration between Wienand Drenth and Jonathon Riley gives the most detailed information on the military forces and garrisons, offering unparalleled and highly detailed data on this most fascination period of history.

These two volumes give a most descriptive account for the first time, of Military Operations of the United Colonies, together with detailed lists of the officers and their Regiments.

ISBN: 978-90-818887-3-8

"The First Colonial Soldiers: A Survey of British Colonies and Their Garrisons, 1650 - 1714"

Volume 1: the British Isles, Europe, Asia and Africa. With an introduction by Professor John Childs, this volume covers the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Dunkirk, Mardyck, Gibraltar, Minorca, Tangier, the West African settlements, St Helena and the Far Eastern outposts of the Honourable East India Company.
(Co-authored by Wienand Drenth and Jonathon Riley)

These Military History books provide full lists of the officers the regular and militia forces in the colonies and overseas territories, including biographical details; they also give details of the expeditions that seized the territories.
Published by Drenth Publishing, Eindhoven, Netherlands Information Sheet...

"The Last Ironsides: The English Expedition To Portugal, 1662 - 1668"
July 15th 2014

(Book launch)
A lost story from our military history, can be found on the Helion & Co website
These battles and battlefields are described and mapped for the first time (in English at least) in more than 300 years.

"When Charles II returned home he began the search for a dynastic marriage. He fixed upon the Infanta of Portugal, Catherine of Braganza, whose dowry included the possession of Tangier, Bombay and valuable trade concessions. The Portuguese had been fighting for their independence from Spain for twenty years and needed alliances to tip the scales in their favour."

Edited by Jonathan Bailey, Richard Iron and Hew Strachan, University of Oxford, UK

For the first time, we read personal testimonies from senior ranking Military Officers, who amidst high political controversy, were faced with the challenges and changes of the operational direction of war. A true insight into Britain's involvement in major military operations... From Northern Ireland, through Kosovo and Sierra Leone, to Iraq and Afghanistan.

As one of the books' contributors, Jonathon Riley, provides a first-hand view of Britain's participation in the chapter entitled "NATO Operations in Afghanistan 2008–2009: A Theatre-Level View", which gives a 'real sense' of how the character of a war changes even as it is being fought. Essential reading for those in both Staff Colleges and Military Academies.

1813 Empire at Bay

The Sixth Coalition and the Downfall of Napoleon

By Jonathon Riley

August 2013

1813 Empire at Bay

By Jonathon Riley

1813 was a critical year in the world war that ended with the downfall of Napoleon. In a series of major battles, the converging armies of the Sixth Coalition drove the French forces back.

In graphic detail, Riley covers the 1813 campaigns, which have received less attention than those of 1812 and 1814/15 in spite of the fact that all the decisive moments came in 1813 - save for one: Waterloo.

Available from »
A Matter of Honour

The Life, Campaigns And Generalship Of Isaac Brock

By Jonathon Riley

Frontline Book - 2011

A Matter Of Honour

The Life, Campaigns And Generalship Of Isaac Brock

By Jonathon Riley

The monument to Isaac Brock (1769 1812) on Queenston Heights in Canada, as high as Nelson s column in London, pays tribute to the military commander of all troops opposing the American invasion of Canada during the War of 1812. He was killed on the morning of 13 October 1812, leading a company of the 49th Foot in a counter-attack.

Available from »
Decisive Battles

From Yorktown to Operation Desert Storm

By Jonathon Riley

Continuum Books - 2010

Decisive Battles

From Yorktown to Operation Desert Storm

By Jonathon Riley

What makes a battle decisive?

Jonathon Riley draws on his personal experience as a soldier and historian to explore the definitive battles of the modern era from Yorktown in 1781 to Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Each battle included is a turning point, the outcome of which has changed the face of history.

Available from »
Up To Mametz And Beyond

Diaries & letters of Llewelyn Wyn Griffith

By Jonathon Riley

Pen & Sword - 2010

Up To Mametz And Beyond

By Jonathon Riley

This book picks up where "Up to Mametz" the creation of the famous Welsh wartime battalion (The Royal Welch Fusiliers) left off.

General Jonathon Riley, on discovering Wyn Griffith's unpublished diaries and letters, with careful editing and annotation, presents the events of these missing years, alongside the original work.

Available from »
Napoleon As A General

Command from the Battlefield to Grand Strategy

By Jonathon Riley

Continuum Books - 2007

Napoleon As A General

Opens with a short treatise on generalship, defining Napoleon's achievement before moving on to the man himself. Riley examines Napoleon as a strategist; as a coalition commander; Napoleon's campaigns & Napoleon on the battlefield.

"Jonathon Riley is ideally placed, as a soldier and an historian, to write this definitive book on Napoleon as one of history's most renowned commanders." International Napoleonic Society

Available from »
The Life & Campaigns Of General Hughie Stockwell

From Burma to Norway
Through Suez

By Jonathon Riley

Pen & Sword - 2006

The Life & Campaigns Of General Hughie Stockwell

From Burma to Norway
Through Suez

By Jonathon Riley

A timely biography of a soldier at the heart of the action during World War II and turbulent post-war years. Commissioned into the Welch Fusiliers he fought in Norway 1940, commanded the Special Training Centre at Lochailort & 2nd Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers during the successful invasion of Madagascar 1942.

Available from »
That Astonishing Infantry

The History of the Royal Welch Fusiliers 1689-2006

By Michael Glover &
Jonathon Riley

Pen & Sword - 2007

That Astonishing Infantry

The History of the Royal Welch Fusiliers 1689-2006

By Michael Glover &
Jonathon Riley

The Royal Welch Fusiliers, were one of the six Minden regiments; they fought throughout the Peninsula and were present at Wellington's final glorious victory at Waterloo. Their 22 battalions fought not just on the Western Front but Gallipoli, Egypt, Palestine, Salonika, Mesopotamia and Italy.

Available from »
Napoleon And The World War of 1813

Lessons in
Coalition Warfighting

By J.P. Riley

Routledge - 1999

Napoleon
And The World War of 1813

Lessons in
Coalition Warfighting
By J.P. Riley

Brigadier Riley's approach, has in many ways cut 'the Gordion knot' of this difficult period. This analysis of the world war between Napoleon and the 6th coalition in 1813 covers operations in Europe, Spain and North America, examining differences between long-term international relationships in alliances & the short-term union of coalitions.

Available from »
White Dragon

The Royal Welch Fusiliers
In Bosnia

Introduction By Jonathon Riley

The Royal Welch Fusiliers Wrexham
1995 / 1997

White Dragon

The Royal Welch Fusiliers
In Bosnia

Intro by Jonathon Riley

A copiously illustrated record of the Battalion's 1995 tour of duty in Bosnia.

Available from »
From Pole to Pole: Life of Quintin Riley

1905-80

By Jonathon Riley

Bluntisham Books - 1989

From Pole to Pole:
Life of Quintin Riley
1905-80

By JP Riley

Quintin Theodore Petroc Molesworth Riley was born on 27 October 1905. In 1930, he was enlisted as meteorologist on the British Arctic Air Route Expedition from 1930 to 1931 spending a further year in Greenland. He then joined the British Graham Land Expedition from 1934 to 1937 serving as meteorologist and commissariat officer.

Available from »
Monitor Mission
In The Balkans

Official History of the European Community Monitor Mission in the former Yugoslavia
1991 - 1993
By Jonathon Riley

Monitor Mission
In The Balkans

By Lieutenant General
Jonathon Riley

The Monitor Mission was the Official History of the European Community Monitor Mission in the former Yugoslavia
1991 - 1993.

Lieutenant-General Jonathon Riley was serving on it at the time as Head of Mission.

It has since been used as a source at the International Criminal Tribunal Yugoslavia. University.
Instinctive Leadership, Intuitive Decision Making

A Command Study Of General Sir Hugh Stockwell

By Jonathon Riley
2005

Instinctive Leadership, Intuitive Decision Making
A Command Study Of General Sir Hugh Stockwell

By Jonathon Riley

Defence College
Of Management
And Technology

Cranfield University
PhD Thesis

Available from »
The History Of The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment

JP Riley

The Queen's Royal Surrey Museum

The History Of The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment

By Jonathon Riley

The history covers the Infantry Regiment of the British Army which existed from 1955 to 1966
Soldiers of The Queen
The History of
The Queen's Regiment 1966-1992

Lieutenant Colonel J.P. Riley

Picton Publishing - 1993

Soldiers of The Queen
The History of
The Queen's Regiment
1966-1992

Lieutenant Colonel JP Riley

"Take my wench, take my pay, take my ration, take my all sir, but please don`t take my Regiment!" (unknown soldier)

In the final analysis, a Regiment of over 3,000 men just ceased to exist so that some 350 members of the Royal Hampshire Regiment could join a new Regiment, comprising overwhelmingly of Queensmen

Collectible
Available from »
Regimental Records Of The Royal Welch Fusiliers

Volumes V and VI

By Jonathon Riley

The Royal Welch Fusiliers
2001

Regimental Records Of The Royal Welch Fusiliers, 1945-2000

Volumes V and VI

By Jonathon Riley

The definitive history of the Regiment from the end of the Second World War to 2000.

Volume VI (1945-69) has 489p 94 photographs plus illustrations and maps.

Volume VII (1969-2000) has 506p 105 photographs plus illustrations and maps).

Available from »
The Colours

1661-2001

By Jonathon Riley

The Colours 1661-2001

By Jonathon Riley

Books & Contributions by Lt-Gen Jonathon Riley CB DSO PhD MA FRHistS

Military History Author

OFT IN DANGER General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley by Jonathon Riley

ISBN: 978-90-818887-3-8