Posted on May 15, 2026

High Drama with the 32nd Light Infantry

Act I The Cornwall’s have endured many moments of drama in their long and distinguished military history. So it was...

Posted on April 3, 2026

Historical Threads: General Smith-Dorrien and the DCLI

There are many controversies regarding British generalship in the First World War and the subject is too large and complicated...

Posted on January 30, 2026

Keepers by Rachael Jones

On the last day of February and the first day of March, an art festival called FLAMM will take place...

Posted on January 30, 2026

A Napoleonic Treasure

Perhaps the most valuable items stored within an archive are the first hand accounts of experiences endured. We are fortunate...

Posted on December 15, 2025

History Repeated: Aden in the Archives

The 1/4th Battalion of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry were warned for active service on 8 January 1916 and...

Posted on September 3, 2025

Cornwall’s Home Guard

Establishing the Home Guard On 14 May 1940, and only four days after Churchill had become Prime Minister, his Secretary...

Posted on June 5, 2025

Victory in Europe Day

VE Day Rightly celebrates the end of a truly awful European war and those who celebrated in May 1945 knew...

Posted on April 9, 2025

April to early May: Pursuit through Germany and surrender

The opening entry in the War Diary for 5 DCLI – the Cornish battalion – for 1 April 1945 noted:...

Posted on April 9, 2025

March 1945 – Crossing The Rhine

Following the battles of the Reichwald, by 1 March 1945, the War Diary of the 5th Battalion of the Duke...

Posted on March 3, 2025

February 1945: The battles of the Reichwald

Between D Day on 6 June 1944 and VE Day on 8 May 1945 the Allied advance towards Germany saw...

Posted on March 3, 2025

5 DCLI January 1945: Gargling, Weasels, and Kangaroos

[i]             The National Archive, WO171-5177, pp. 5-6. [ii]             TNA, WO171-5177, p. 9. [iii]             TNA, WO171-5177, p. 14. [iv]             TNA, WO171-5177,...

Posted on November 28, 2024

University of Plymouth Internships

In Spring 2024, three students from the University of Plymouth History Department participated in paid internships at Bodmin Keep –...

Posted on July 24, 2023

Philip Curtis, Victoria Cross – A Very Human Story

Written by Andrew Sims, Project Archivist. As we commemorate the 70th anniversary of the signing of the peace agreement on...