In peace and war, and whether conscripts or volunteers, the soldiers from Wolverhampton area have always done their bit.
They have fought in the world wars and their duties have taken them to far-flung hotspots. Many served in the local regiment, the South Staffords, a unit which, like most of those who wore its badge, has passed into history, though proud memories endure.
Today we take foreign travel for granted, but for many soldiers of yesteryear their spell in the Army saw them travel abroad for the first time in a great adventure, although in wartime or times of strife what greeted them was no bed of roses, and the novelty would pall in any event after years away from their loved ones. Other aspects like the discipline, and especially the camaraderie, would shape many a young life.
Soldiers of Wolverhampton, we salute you.
Step back to 1983 and explore Wolverhampton life through these archive pictures.
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1. Defenders of the home front
"D Company (Thompson Bros. Unit), 34th (Bilston) Battalion, South Staffs, Home Guard, November 1941," is the printed caption with this picture. Thompson Brothers was at Great Bridge Road, Bilston, so presumably the photo was taken there. The Home Guard was a local defence force formed in the dark days 1940 when the threat of invasion loomed large. | Express & Star archive
2. Sand, sea... and bombs
Soldiers of the South Staffordshire Regiment on the beach at Dunkirk in 1940 awaiting evacuation. They are by a Vickers Light Tank Mark VI, which would have been abandoned, as well as huge amounts of other military equipment. | Express & Star archive
3. Brolly good show
If these soldiers thought a posting to Hong Kong would spare them from rain, they would be rudely disappointed. The 1st Battalion the South Staffordshire Regiment, led by Lieutenant Colonel R Degg, DSO, is here marching through Kowloon at the conclusion of the King's birthday parade, probably in 1951. | Express & Star archive
4. Free at last
Prisoners of war from the Midlands, including Walsall, Wolverhampton and Wednesbury, who were freed at the end of the European war in May 1945. They were liberated from a German camp in Saxony and were awaiting repatriation from a transit camp in Naumburg. From left: Private Charles King (Walsall), Driver John Evans (Wolverhampton), Private Terence Wainwright and Private George Griffin (both Birmingham), Marine George Small (Wednesbury) and Driver Norman Gilbert (Stoke). | Express & Star archive