The Last Invasion: War, Women and Memory, 1797-1997

This study presents a cultural rather than the usual history of the French invasion of Pembrokeshire in 1797, using primary sources both in English and Welsh to debate of how the invasion was remembered and assess its historical and cultural imprint. What is now known as ‘the last invasion of Britain’ terrorised the people in and around Fishguard – but the French surrendered, more as a result of their own indiscipline and the fury of local people than any French military shortcomings. Almost immediately, stories of women in red livery appeared in propaganda and travel accounts, and subsequently acts of individual heroism would be associated above all with Jemima Nicholas. The telling and retelling of this story peaked at times of fear of invasion and war – be it against Napoleon, the Kaiser or Hitler – and, resilient to public doubt and professional scorn, the ‘legend’ of the women survived into popular memory.