Field Marshal Lord Montgomery of Alamein described Non-Commissioned Officers as ‘the backbone of the army’, While there are few who would disagree with ‘Monty’s’ description, curiously, the NCO in the two world wars have received little attention from serious historians. In this talk, Professor Gary Sheffield looks at NCOs in the period 1914 to 1945, examining their role as leaders on the battlefield, enforcers of discipline, and as managers – in effect as ‘works foremen’, acting as the vital link between the ‘workforce’ of privates and the ‘higher managers’ or officers. He will be drawing on a wide range examples from the British army (Regular, Territorial and New Army);  and also from the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian armies, which were closely modelled on the British.