Salisbury Plain - Home of Britain's Military Training

[Moonraker]

This new book is published by Phillimore, ISBN 978-1-86077-494-2, 144 pages, at £15.99.

Any history of the army on Salisbury Plain has two problems:

One: N D G James covered the subject in a very detailed 268-page book, Plain Soldiering, published in 1987 (not to mention his Gunners at Larkhill). With another 20 years to cover in 124 fewer pages, including much fresh material of the earlier decades would have been difficult - and Henry Buckton acknowledges Plain Soldiering as a source of reference, his first two chapters, "The Early Years" and "The First World War", inevitably relying heavily on it. Twenty-six pages are devoted to the Great War.

Two: Describing the many changes to military infrastructure on the Plain and the countless units who have served there is obviously necessary, but can make for slightly heavy reading, especially in James's books. Henry's approach is workmanlike, but, as a former professional editor, I thought that the text could have been lightened a little more by omitting passing references to insignificant officers and (also a James foible) strings of decorations after senior officers (five sets of initials for Alexander of Tunis, four for Mongomery). Nor was I sure of the need to mention units who spent only a couple of weeks on the Plain, such as some United States' armored divisions. (This, of course, is nit-picking, and I confess that my own editing experience relates to keeping text very tight indeed.)

The major strength of the book is the new material Henry has gathered on the World War Two period and the time since, with some very good personal accounts. Here Salisbury Plain is an improvement on Plain Soldiering, and much of the last chapter, of course, relates to the two decades since James's book was published. There are more 120 illustrations, many of the later ones being personal photographs and hence unique.

With Plain Soldiering long out of print (and commanding prices of £35-60 on the second-hand market, with one or two optimists asking £450), Henry Buckton's book fills a gap on the bookshelves and is good reading for anyone who has served on the Plain or who otherwise knows its well.