Dr William Butler

Having been brought up in Swansea, South Wales, Dr William Butler undertook his undergraduate degree in War Studies at the University of Kent, and followed this with a Master’s degree and PhD, both at Kent. 

William is the Outreach Officer for the School of History. Together with his team of postgraduates and undergraduates, he takes the study of history into local schools. Working with over 50 schools in the area, the team offers close curriculum support (particularly at GCSE and A Level), extra-curricular activities in conjunction with external partners, and study days at the University campus. If any schools or teachers are interested in arranging any support then please get in touch. 

If any students are interested in joining the team of ambassadors then do not hesitate to get in contact. The outreach team run a recruitment round a couple of times a year so look out for those opportunities too. 

William undertook his PhD on ‘The Irish Amateur Military Tradition in the British Army, 1854-1945’, which came out as a monograph with Manchester University Press in 2016. In addition to this, he contributed a chapter to an edited volume (I. Beckett (ed.), Citizen Soldiers and the British Empire) released in August 2012 and has also published on the Ulster Home Guard during the Second World War.

In 2018 he published an article on the demobilisation strikes in the British Army after the First World War and is due to publish, with Liverpool University Press, a co-authored book on recruitment in Ireland during the First World War, due for release in late 2019. 

Will is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Membership Secretary for the Army Records Society.