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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5. Watch out, the General's about
Lieutenant-General E C A Schreiber, General Officer Commanding in Western Command, is watching Home Guard soldiers who are being trained in rescue work at the civil defence rescue training school at Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton, in August 1943. Note the expression of the soldier on the left. | Express & Star archive
6. Looking for new recruits
The women's branch of the Army was the ATS - the Auxiliary Territorial Service. This is Corporal Joan Richardson, of Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton, a Wolverhampton Recruiting Corporal, as seen in a picture supplied by the War Office in December 1942. According to the accompanying information she "had been in the ATS for four years and looks on Army life as her natural element. All her relations are in the regular army and Corporal Richardson has followed her father about from one station to another all her life, up and down the country, and to Burma, Hong Kong and Cairo. Of all the places she has been in, she likes North Wales best. Corporal Richardson is a very keen cricket player. One of her hobbies which comes in useful in her present job is making up posters from photographs for ATS recruiting." | Ministry of Information/Express & Star archive
7. Happy faces on board ship
Soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment on the ship Empress of Australia in August 1949. The battalion was sailing to Hong Kong | Express & Star archive
8. Honouring the new Queen
The Guard of Honour provided by the 1st South Staffords at the Proclamation Ceremony of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Belfast City Hall on February 12, 1952. | Express & Star archive