The Royal Bermuda Regiment’s 50th anniversary commemoration book was launched at the weekend.

Buyers queued up to pick up their copies of the new 160-page history of the RBR, written by former Bermuda Sun editor Tony McWilliam, at Brown & Co’s Bookmart yesterday.

The book, Royal Bermuda Regiment – 50 Years Strong, was officially launched by an RBR bugler before Mr McWilliam signed the first copies.

“It went very well indeed,” Bookmart manager Martin Buckley said. “There’s been a fantastic response. We’ve sold a lot of books and we also took a lot of pre-orders before it arrived.

“Seeing people’s faces when they see their photographs in the book is wonderful, especially some of the older former soldiers.”

The book was written to celebrate last year’s golden anniversary of the island’s defence force.

It covers the periods of social unrest in the 1960s and 1970s, which saw the Regiment deployed and contains the stories of soldiers who served from the formation of the RBR from its beginnings in 1965 right up to soldiers serving in the modern military.

And it brings the rich story of the RBR bang up to date with a review of its current roles and responsibilities, training and looks forward to the future.

Mr McWilliam said: “It’s been a really enthusiastic response. A lot of soldiers, former soldiers, wives, girlfriends and families are keen to read this book.”

Regiment Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Michael Foster-Brown said: “It’s great to see all these friends, family and supporters of the Regiment come out and get their copies.”

“It would make any British Army regiment proud to have such a comprehensive and glossy publication dedicated to it,” added Col Foster-Brown, who will hand over to successor Major David Curley next month and return to the British Army.

The book, published by the National Museum of Bermuda Press under the auspices of the Bermuda Regiment Charitable Trust, costs $50.