nb Postage & Packing is additional unless quoted with the book information and/or Order Form.  For other books ....

1. Use the Back button above    2. Click on 'DLI/Rifles Shop' button at page top   3. Access the Order Form, read P & P conditions, complete and then ring, post or email your order)

   Exemplary Conduct - The Life and Times of Sgt. Jim Murray BEM Durham Light Infantry

                                                     an Autobiography

This is the story of Jim's life and career from shepherd boy to masseur which includes his varied service with The Durham Light Infantry.

Jim served and fought in Berlin, Korea, Hong Kong, Egypt and Borneo as well as Northern Ireland and during a break in service became a police Inspector in Kenya.

His book is full of the stories and incidents of his very varied life. Well illustrated, the reader is also treated to some of Jim's poetry. A fascinating read!

Copies, including signed copies, can be ordered from

                     The Rifles Durham Office

                     Elvet Waterside

                     Durham

                     DH1 3BW

                    or by telephoning 0191 3865496

   ISBN 1 900456 21 4                                                    For Order Form click here

   £10  (+ £1 p & p)

Jungle Conflict - The Durham Light Infantry in Borneo 1965 - 1966

by Ralph Harrison and John Heron 

In 1965 The Durham Light Infantry was in the last months of a most enjoyable tour in Hong Kong when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) posted the unit to Borneo for a tour of active service.

The British government, at the request of the Federation of Malaysia, agreed to provide a military presence in Sabah and Sarawak, areas which were experiencing incursions from adjoining Indonesian Kalimantan. These border violations, part of a policy of destabilization and undeclared war, became known as the 'confrontation'.

On arrival, the DLI was immediately launched into an intensive programme of training at 'Paradise Camp' in the north of Borneo before moving to its operational area in the south-west near Kuching. At Kuching, companies were dispersed into forward jungle bases and by aggressive patrolling were able to drive the Indonesians completely out of Sarawak and so eliminate the threat to the integrity of Malaysia.

The Battalion, superbly led by Lieutenant Colonel Gil Maughan, successfully countered the Indonesian aggression. For many of the young soldiers it was their first taste of active operations while for others it was the culmination of years of active service. It proved to be the final operation for three of them, and for the Durham Light Infantry itself. Thomas Griffiths, George Miller and Thomas Slimmings did not survive the Borneo tour and by 1968 the regiment itself had ceased to exist, having been abolished under the MoD restructuring of the British Army.  

ISBN 978 1 901888 55 3                                                         

£12.95

For Order Form click here                                           

For you Tommy the War is Over

The experiences of The Durham Light Infantry Prisoners of War during World War II

by Major Ian R English and Harry Moses

This book tells the untold story of one regiment's men in captivity from 1940 - 1945. The Durham Light Infantry served in almost every theatre of the Second World War, and over 3,500 of its men were captured and made prisoner. This book explores their experiences, describes daily life in the camps and examines the part POWs had to play in the eventual victory: preoccupying large numbers of German troops, passing vital coded information to British Intelligence at great personal risk.  Many men who joined up together found themselves imprisoned together, reflecting the fierce loyalty and comradeship typical of this renowned fighting regiment.

Compiled by Major Ian English, a DLI company and himself a prisoner in Italy, and military historian, Harry Moses, this is a frank and moving account in their own words of the bravery and suffering of the Durham Lads behind the wire.

ISBN 978 1 901888 53 9                                                         

£12.95

For Order Form click here

Well Done the 68th – The Durhams in the Crimea and New Zealand 1854-1866

by John Bilcliffe

The story of a Regiment during the Crimea and New Zealand wars 1854 -1866 told by the men of the 68th Light Infantry.

First published 1995 by Picton Publishing (Chippenham) Ltd 

ISBN 0 948251 75 1

£15.00

The Durham Light Infantry

by The Hon W.L.Vane

A volume dealing with the history of the Durham Light Infantry from its origins as the 68th Light Infantry in 1756  until its days as the Durham Light Infantry in 1914.  It includes the 106th Light Infantry and the later 1st & 2nd Battalions DLI.  It covers the period of the South African War (1899-1902)

334 pages of information, with photographs, rolls of honour, list of Colonels and Colonels Commandant, Lt Colonels and Adjutants; Regimental Music, Freemasonry, Durham Light Infantry Club, DLI Cottage Homes, The Durham Light Infantry Gazette, The Bugle, The 2 DLI Polo Club in India, Memorials.  An outline of the 3rd & 4th Battalions DLI, and information on the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th TA Battalions.

Originally published and bound by Antony Rowe Ltd in 1914. 

New Edition published by The Naval and Military Press                        

ISBN 1 845741 46 3

at £24.00

Special LI Office discount price of £18.00                        

Faithful  The Story of the Durham Light Infantry

by SGP Ward

A History of the Durham Light Infantry and its ancestor units including The Durham Militia. The book traces the history of the Regt up to 1958.  It begins with an Introduction to the History of the Regiment, the raising of the 68th and its first campaign and then covers the three tours of duty in the West Indies, Walcheren and the Peninsula War, forty years of peace and the Crimea, the New Zealand War and after (1857-1873), The Bombay European Light Infantry and 106th (1839-1874), the first services of the Durham Light Infantry (1873-1899), The Boer War (1899-1902), The Great War (1914-1918), the Years Between, and the Second World War (1939-1945), The Years After and the Korean War (1945-1958) 

573 Pages of Information, maps, a very detailed index

Originally published and bound by Antony Rowe Ltd in 1962. 

New Edition published by The Naval and Military Press

ISBN 1 845741 47 1

at £18.00

Special LI Office discount price of £15.00                           

The Gateshead Gurkhas – A History of the 9th Battalion Durham Light Infantry 1859 – 1967

by Harry Moses

The story runs from 12th May 1859 when the company was formed as a volunteer rifle company through World War 1, The Years of Peace (1919 – 1939), The Second World War (1939-45), The Middle East Campaign, Battle of El Alamein, Invasion of Sicily, Preparation for D Day, The Normandy Landings, The Pursuit, As part of 7 Armoured Bde, Army of Occupation, Parachute Battalion.

Published by County Durham Books

ISBN 1 897585 65 9

£12.95

The Durham Forces in the Field

by Capt Wilfred Miles

A volume dealing with the eleven service battalions formed in WW1 as a result of the call by Kitchener for 100,000 volunteers.

390 pages of description of campaigns, battles, personalities, illustrations and maps.

First published 1920. 

New Edition published by The Naval and Military Press

ISBN 1 845740 73 4

at £18.00

Special LI Office discount price of £14.50                      

The Fighting Bradfords - Northern Heroes of World War One

by Harry Moses

This book covers the lives of four gallant brothers, three of whom gave their lives in the bitter fighting of the First World War. In doing so they earned their country's highest awards for gallantry. George Bradford who served in the Royal Navy was killed on his 31st birthday and was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross; James Bradford won a Military Cross for his leadership on the Somme. He died of his wounds in May 1917; Roland Boyes Bradford was killed on the Cambrai battlefield on 30th November 1917. At the time he was the youngest Brigadier in the British Army and an MC holder. He had served with the 2nd, 7th and 9th Battalions DLI. Only Thomas Bradford survived the War. He was awarded the DSO and was knighted for his services to the community in 1939. A remarkable story
 

Published by Durham County Council Cultural Services Department,

IBSN 1 807585 75 6

at £11.95

Special LI Office discount price of £9.75                     

The Faithful Sixth – A History of the Sixth Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry

by Harry Moses

The story stretches from the early years as part of the Durham Rifle Volunteers in 1859, through the two World Wars until finally its disbandment in 1968 with the other battalions of the Regiment.

Chapters on: Defence not Defiance, The Territorial Years, Mobilisation and Preparation 1914, The 1st World War (1914-1918),  Between the Wars (1919-1939), The Second World War (1939-1945),  Return to England (1943), Preparations for D Day (1943-1944), D Day (1944), The Battle for Normandy (1944), The Pursuit to Brussels (1944), The Return to England (1944-1945), Prisoners of War & Escapees, The Last Chapter (1945-1968)

Lots of photos, personal reminiscences and maps.  A really good read.

Published by County Durham Books

ISBN 1 897585 19 5

at £12.95

Special LI Office discount price of £10.00                         

Into Battle with the Durhams

8 DLI in World War II

by Major PJ Lewis MC &

Major IR English MC

This book traces the exploits of the 8 Battalion DLI in World War 2 from Mobilisation in 1939 until the end of the War in 1945.  It includes all the battles and campaigns in which 8 DLI participated, including the BEF, Middle East, Palestine & Iraq, Gazala, Matruh, El Alamein, The Mareth Line, Invasion of Sicily, Primosole Bridge, Operation Overlord, the Normandy Bocage, the Pursuit to Brussels, The Battle of Gheel, north to Arnhem, and the Nijmegen Salient.

332 pages. A very full account with maps, photographs, Roll of Honour, register of Honours and Awards and a full index.

First Published by The London Stamp Exchange Ltd 1990 (at £14.95)

ISBN 0 948130 53 9

New Edition published by The Naval and Military Press

£12.00

Assisted Passage – Walking to Freedom – Italy 1943

by Ian English

Ian English’s account of his escape from his short time as a prisoner after his capture in the heroic action at Wadi Zigzaou on the Mareth Line in March 1943. 

This book is especially dedicated to the contadini, the peasant farmers of the hills.  As Major English describes, ‘they took us in when we  needed shelter, let us dry out our clothes when we were soaked to the skin, they fed us when we  were hungry, and gave us somewhere to sleep, even if sometimes it was only a draughty barn.  In many cases they were poor people scratching a living from their infertile soils.  They helped us in the full knowledge of the consequences if the Germans had discovered what they were doing’.  A very personal account.

Copyright I R English, Privately published 1994

ISBN 0 9524073 0 2

£8.00

The DLI at War - The History of the Durham Light Infantry 1939-1945

by David Rissik

France (1939-1940), The 1^st Battalion in the Middle East (1940-43), The 10^th & 11^th Battalions in Iceland (1940-1941), 151 Brigade in the Middle East and Sicily (1941-1943), The 16^th Battalion in North Africa, Italy and Greece (1942-1945), The 2^nd Battalion in India and Burma (1942-1945), The 1^st Battalion in the Mediterranean (1943-1945), The Durham Light Infantry in North West Europe (1944-1945), The 5^th and 7^th Battalions, The Durham Light Infantry in Home Forces

352 Pages, photographs, maps, descriptions

Originally published and bound by Antony Rowe Ltd in 1952. 

New Edition published by The Naval and Military Press

ISBN 1 845741 44 7

at £22.00

Special LI Office discount price of £17.00                          

The Heat of Battle - 16th Bn DLI in Italy

1943 - 1945

by Peter Hart

A very readable account of 16 DLI's Italian Campaign as told through the reminiscences of the soldiers who fought it. This book was made possible by the DLI Sound Recording Project initiated by the Imperial War Museum, to which former members of the 16th Bn contributed. The text was taken from over 200 interviews with an average length of eight hours each. Peter Hart chose some of the more evocative extracts from those 30 interviews and linked them together within a broad historical context.

This book is a really good read and the extracts take the reader right into the action.

Published by Pen & Sword Books 1999

ISBN 0 85052 690 6

at £19.95

Special LI Office discount price of £15.60                        

The Durham in Korea

The 1^st battalion The Durham Light Infantry in the Korean War 1952-53

by Harry Moses

This booklet records the activities of the 1^st Battalion in one of the earliest post-war conflicts.

The Lead up to Conflict, Regulars and National Servicemen, Britannia Camp, Life on Point 159, On Patrol, Operation Blaydon, From Point 210 to Camp Casey, On Point 355 – Little Gibraltar, Dedication, Roll of Honour, Missing, Decorations.  The story is told largely through the reminiscences of officers and men who served in the campaign.

Published by County Durham Books

ISBN 1 897585 72 1

£3.50

Exceedingly Lucky- A History of the Light Infantry 1968 – 1993

by Anthony Makepeace-Warne

The formation of a new Regiment after the disbandment of the DLI, tracing the amalgamation of the former County Light Infantry regiments:  The Somerset Light Infantry, The Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, The King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, The King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, The Durham Light Infantry and The Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment), and the forming of the Light Division.  The book follows the story from here to the news in 1991 that the Light Division was to be reduced to one Light Infantry Battalion and one battalion of Royal Green Jackets. Clearly time to write a history of the regiment.

  Published by Sydney Jary Ltd

  ISBN 0 9512078 3 0

  £18.00

Rise and Shine

by Harry Allen

This story by Harry Allen is about his time as a serviceman in 18th Battalion DLI during World War 2. There is little doubt that had it not been for the fact that he was called up in 1939 Harry Allen would never have been a soldier, but when called up he went and did his bit. He describes his service as a private soldier in 18 DLI in the Middle East, Egypt, Palestine, Bizerta and Salerno. For the most part he was Capt Martin's batman and runner, and later became batman for Colonel Cameron. After a further spell in Egypt he returned to UK, where he was reunited with his wife and daughter, who was now 4 years old and hardly recognised him. He played his part in the Normandy Landings but was allowed to return home because of family illness. He then transferred to the wartime reserve. After the War, while working for the Ford Motor Company,  the 'Jim'll Fix It' programme arranged for him to march with the DLI Band. It was his proudest moment to be marching in front of the DLI Band on Horse Guards Parade.

You will certainly enjoy this intensely personal record by a very private man.

Published by Rts (UK) Ltd. Kirkby, Merseyside

£5.95

Beyond Praise

by Stephen D Shannon

This booklet tells the stories of all eleven of the Durham Light Infantry VC holders, tracing their personal life stories, giving a description of the campaigns in which they fought and relating in detail the circumstances which resulted in the award of each Victoria Cross.

Published by Durham County Council Arts, Libraries & Museums Dept. 1998

ISBN 1 897585 44 6

£3.50

28 February 2008