As featured in

Stand To! Western Front Association, October 2019

Guiseley Terriers really does bring home the dreadful price paid by the towns and villages of the West Riding. A valuable addition to the any First World War regimental library.

Military Historical Society

Overall this book would be of great use as a reference for anyone with a relative who fought with the 1/6th Bn.

Sky & Bullets, Paul Smiddy

Today's Army Reserve doesn't have the same ring about as its predecessor the Territorial Army, better known as the Terriers. In Stephen Barber's well sourced work 'Guiseley Terriers, the History of the 1/6th Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment', the publics view of the Terriers was that it more like a Boys' Club, a meeting place for friends and relatives. Men [and boys] with fire in their belly and iron in their blood, ready to serve their country. Their military role was not to fight a pitch battle if Guiseley district was over-run, but to remain behind and attack enemies lines of communication. A strategy reborn in 1940, when German forces were expected to land along the south coast, the secretly formed Auxiliary units were given the same role; not to be confused with the Home Guard. This role in WW ll, became more formalised with the formation of Special Operations Executive (SOE).

At the outbreak of World War l in August 1914, the Guiseley Terriers like other Territorial units were at annual camp but within a short time they were in northern France. Like dominos falling, European nations bound together in Treaties if attacked, were drawn into the conflict. In France the Guiseley Terriers, trained to hit and run behind the lines found themselves in pitched battles, shelled, sniped and gassed.

The book is well researched with photographs, maps and stories of the men and their families. Apart from being an interesting read and page turner, its detailed descriptions of local men, their families and relations also serving the Battalion, may be useful to family researchers.

Richard Gough, Military Author and Historian

Some great new books from Pen and Sword books: love the WW1 unit histories they publish & this is an excellent one with well researched text, lots of unique images & superb maps. Lots about the unit on the Somme & nice battlefield overlays showing where they fought. Recommended!

Paul Reed via Twitter

Article: 'New book focuses on vital Great War unit' as featured by

Craven Herald and Pioneer, 31st January 2019

Article: Historic unit ‘crucial’ to WWI success as featured by

Keighley News (online), 16th January 2019 - words by Alistair Shand

Faced with a dozen books to review I came to this book thinking it would be just another local history of a unit I knew little about. How wrong was I! This book is a gem. It delivers on the local history magnificently with a rich narrative deep with information on the men of the battalion who served. The sources are good, the photographs placed relevant to the narrative (which I like in this type of book) and I didn’t tire of reading about these men. Also I like that the author has taken the trouble to add information about the weapons and weapon systems he mentions so that the reader has a more rounded view of the events. Clearly the author has not hatched this book from behind a desk – he has visited the battlefield locations and his photographs of modern day locations add to this book’s value. Highly recommended.
Michael McCarthy. Battlefield Guide.

Michael McCarthy