Winston Churchill famously said of the Grosvenor family, ‘the only time they were any good was when they were at war’ - and from the Norman Invasion to recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan the Grosvenors have served their Monarch and country.
A short summary of Grosvenor participation in battle would thus include:
THE CRUSADES - 1119 - Richard Grosvenor accompanies Richard the Lionheart on his Third Crusade.
THE BATTLE OF LINCOLN - 1141 - Raufe Grosvenor marches on Lincoln Castle to unseat King Stephen after the latter had taken for himself the throne of Empress Matilda, daughter of King Henry I.
CRECY - 1346 - Robert Grosvenor engages the enemy in this significant battle in which an army of 12,000 Englishmen defeat a French army of 40,000. The victory is chiefly thanks to their use of the more efficient long bow, a device which allows them to overwhelm the French from a distance.
THE CIVIL WAR - 1642 - In the four years of fighting between the King's supporters and the Parliamentary Roundheads the Grosvenors remain staunchly royalist. As Cavaliers their estates were confiscated and they were later forced to pay a fine in order to have them reinstated.
THE BOER WAR – 1899-1902 - The 2nd Duke, Bend'Or sees action in the Second Boer War and it was here that he meets and forms a strong and enduring friendship with that other great adventurer, Winston Spencer Churchill
THE GREAT WAR – 1914-18 - Several Grosvenors are active, among them Bend’Or who was at Mons where British and French troops were forced to retreat after a devasting defeat at the hands of the Germans. Recommended for a Victoria Cross he was subsequently awarded a DSO and promoted to Colonel after liberating scores of Royal Navy men in a daring action known as The Tara Rescue.
WORLD WAR II – 1939-45 - The 4th and 5th Dukes, Gerald and Robert, both saw active service, the future 5th Duke being present at one of the great victories of the Second World War, El Alamein, when German forces are denied control of the Suez Canal.
MODERN TIMES - The 6th Duke is a Major General, having served more than 30 years in the British Army. As Head of the Reserve Forces (a position he held between 2004-2007) His Grace was a familiar figure discussing policy and visiting troops in Iraq, Northern Ireland, the Balkans and Afghanistan.