‘In Case of Invasion’

Description

How the people of Norfolk and Suffolk were instrumental in defence against France in the 18th and 19th centuries

John Clarke

When Revolutionary and Napoleonic France threatened Britain with invasion, the defence of the realm did not rest with the Navy and the regular army alone. In Norfolk and Suffolk, it depended upon landowners, tenant farmers, labourers, drovers, millers, bakers, wagon drivers, parish officers, magistrates, militia men and volunteers – the “great body of the people” whose co-operation would be essential if the enemy came ashore.

‘In Case of Invasion’ tells the detailed story of how East Anglia prepared for war in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Set against the upheavals of the American War of Independence, the French Revolution and the long struggle with Napoleon, John Clarke examines the local machinery of defence: militia reform, armed volunteer companies, yeomanry cavalry, the posse comitatus, the commissary, coastal defence plans, local press activity and the changing responsibilities of the Norfolk and Suffolk lieutenancies.

Combining national context with close local research, this book reveals how invasion planning reached into parishes, farms, market towns and coastal communities. It explores not only military arrangements, but also questions of loyalty, class, poor relief, public order and the old social compact between master and man.

With extensive chapter coverage, many tables of figures and a full index, ‘In Case of Invasion’ is an important contribution to the history of Britain’s home defence – and a compelling account of how the people of Norfolk and Suffolk were drawn into the defence of their country against France.