Military Wives

For as long as there have been armed forces there have been camp followers - the families who move with the military to stay with their men. This book looks at the experiences of just a few of these families, through the eyes of the military wives and their relatives. From the First World War, when many women were fiancées but never wives, through the Second World War and postwar Britain to the present day and twenty-first-century service life, military wives talk about their experiences as never before. What is it really like to be married to a member of Britain's Armed Forces? Can you ever be prepared for the reality that awaits you when you say 'I do' and walk down the aisle? From Big Bertha's booms, rationing and bomb shelters, to military wives choirs, Afghanistan and marathons, this book celebrates that great British heroine, the military wife.

PENNY LEGG is a writer and photographer, resident in Southampton. A former Navy wife, she has accompanied her husband across the globe on diplomatic postings. A member of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists, the National Union of Journalists and the Bitterne Historical Society, she edits The Woman Writer magazine and tutors non-fiction for The Writers Bureau.