Josh is a Sessional Lecturer at the Defence Studies Department, Shrivenham. He completed his PhD in the Department of War Studies in 2025 and holds an MA in the History of War, both from King's College London. His research examines the experience of conscription in the twentieth century and how it has been communicated to the public; this work informed his consultations with the MOD on National Service policy and the historical framing of conscription language.

He has taught at undergraduate and postgraduate level, including on ACSC and ICSC(L), and has been nominated for KCL Teaching Excellence Awards in three separate academic years (2020/21, 2021/22 and 2025/26). His research has featured on BBC Radio Berkshire, and he has contributed chapters to award-nominated edited volumes. Before entering academia, he worked as an analyst for a defence wargaming consultancy.

Research Interests

• First World War
• Masculinity
• Gender
• British Army
• Conscription
• Military Identity
• Twentieth Century and Recruitment

Publications

Peer-reviewed

Joshua Bilton, "I am not going to be put with anybody": Social class, occupation and its influence on ‘late-war’ British infantrymen’s sense of belonging in the London Regiment, 1916–1918', in C. Fair, R. Hendry and T. Thorpe (eds.), London Pride: The London Territorial Force in Peace and War, 1908-1921, Vol. II (Warwick: Helion & Company Ltd, 2026).

Book Reviews

Tim Bowman, William Butler and Michael Wheatley, The Disparity of Recruitment to the British Armed Forces, 1914–1918 (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2020). Reviewed by Josh Bilton, in Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, 99(399), Winter 2021.

Christopher Phillips, Civilians Specialists at War: Britain’s Transport Experts and the First World War (London: University of London, 2020). Reviewed by Josh Bilton, in British Journal of Military History, 7(3), Nov 2021.