IT was 150 years ago today that the main European powers were plunged into a war that still, many generations later, has the power to shock.

On March 24, 1854, Great Britain and France declared war on Russia, heralding the start of the slaughter that became known as the Crimean War.

The course of that conflict has now been traced in a book that uses contemporary diaries and memoirs of local soldiers - and one of their wives.

Echoes from the Crimea has been written by Major Roger Chapman, curator of the Green Howards Regimental Museum, in Richmond, North Yorkshire.

It looks at the war through the eyes of ten of the regiment's men, from a lieutenant-colonel to two privates, who experienced it first-hand.

It also includes the fascinating memories of Margaret Kirwin, a private's wife, who accompanied her husband to the front line.

She was one of the few women ever to do so - and the only one known to have recorded her impressions, in an interview later in life with the Green Howards Gazette.

Among the events covered is the Battle of Alma, in September 1854, in which the Green Howards won their first battle honour and captured a number of Russian drums, which are now in the museum.

Also covered is the siege of Sevastopol, in which Privates John Lyons and Samuel Evans won the first two of the regiment's 18 Victoria Crosses.

Mrs Kirwin lived under canvas for two years and was a washerwoman to her husband's company. During marches, she carried her washing tub and kitchen utensils on her head.

During the British assault on the Redan in 1855, the famous war correspondent William Howard Russell invited her to see the fighting.

"The battle commenced at three o'clock," she later recalled.

"I went up the hill to look at it and I saw a gentleman there, the name of Mr Russell, who asked me would I like to see the battle or would I be frightened.

"I said I would like to see it and he gave me his telescope to look through, which brought the battle under my eyes - men bayoneting one another and drawing back and meeting one another again.

"When I saw this, I could stand it no longer and gave the gentleman his telescope back again."

* Echoes from the Crimea costs £20 and is available from bookshops or from the Green Howards Regimental Museum, Trinity Church Square, Richmond, DL10 4QN. Postage is £2.50