Liverpool's Military Heritage

Liverpool was founded by King John in 1207 as a military base on the mouth of the River Mersey from which he would invade Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man. Heavily fortified, with a castle and a formidable tower and military garrison, these bastions were later besieged during the Civil War and changed hands three times. They later defended the region against the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745, after which grisly executions followed in the town. In the 18th and 19th centuries Liverpool became one of the most significant ports in Britain and defenses were built to fend off attacks during the American War of Independence and the Napoleonic Wars. Liverpool secretly built ships for the American Confederate Navy during the American Civil War, and the last act in that war was the surrender of an American warship, in the Mersey, and in Liverpool Town Hall! The Kings Scottish Regiment, the Lancashire Regiment and the Kings Liverpool Regiment were core to the culture and economy particularly of working class Liverpool. In World War I many joined the Liverpool Pals regiments, and the Territorial Army, and in World War II Liverpool played a crucial role in the Battle of the Atlantic which was directed from heavily fortified underground bunkers, which still exist below the streets of modern Liverpool, as well as receiving the North Atlantic convoys that kept Britain alive during the war. The most heavily bombed city in Britain outside London, Liverpool was devastated by the end of the war but has rebuilt itself today and continues to send its sons and daughters to military and naval service around the world.