New Members of the Guild

The Guild welcomes three new members:

Matthew Christmas joins from Winchester. His interests are the Role of the Cadet Movement, World War 1, World War 2, the Anglo-Zulu War and Medieval and Early Modern Warfare.

Tony Clodd joins from Manningtree. His interests are World War 1 in particular Ypres and the Somme

Neil MacKenzie joins from Purley. His interests are World War 1.

JOHN GRODZINSKI AWARDED HIS DOCTORAL DIPLOMA

Guild member John Godzinski was recently awarded his Doctoral Diploma at the Royal Military College of Canada. The picture shows John being presented with the Diploma by the College Commandant, Commodore William Truelove (on the right).

THE WAR OF 1812: MYTHS AND REALITIES CALL FOR PAPERS

2012 will be the bicentenntial of the beginning of the War of 1812-14. Once described as the 'forgotten' war, there are already indications that there will be widespread commemoration ceremonies across North America, mostly sponsored and organized by national, state and provincial governments, by tourist organizations, and by local historical societies. We have therefore decided that it would be an appropriate time to hold an international conference that revisits the scholarly literature and scholarly debates over the causes, conflicts and consequences of the War as well as the way in which the War has been remembered and commemorated in Britain, Canada and the United States over the past two centuries. As the Conference title indicates, we are particularly interested in papers that challenge existing interpretations and offer new approaches. It is our intention to produce a volume of essays selected from those given at the Conference.

The conference will be held at the University of London from 12-14 July 2012. These dates were chosen to overlap with the annual conference of the Transatlantic Studies Association, which will be held in Cork from 9-12 July 2012 so that scholars who wish to do so can attend both.

Further details on the Transatlantic Studies Association can be found on its website at www.transatlanticstudies.com. The conference on 'The War of 1812: Myths and Realities' will be held in partnership with the Institute for the Study of the Americas at the University of London, Canterbury Christ Church University, and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. If you are interested in proposing a paper, please send along a paragraph describing your proposal and a short c.v. to either Phillip Buckner (phillipbuckner@hotmail.com) or to Tony McCulloch (tony.mcculloch@canterbury.ac.uk) no later than 12 July 2011.

Please be warned that given the current funding crisis in higher education in the United Kingdom it is highly unlikely that we will be able to give financial assistance to any of the contributors.

Memoirs of the First World War

My name is Ivor Hodgson and I am writing to you regarding the Memoirs of my father, Herbert Hodgson which have been published by Martlet Books this year under the title ' Impressions of War'

My fathers memoirs cover his growing up amidst the poverty and social injustices in London during the early part of the 1900's. They move on to his training as a printer which eventually led to him meeting T.E. Lawrence and printing the very first subscribers edition of Lawrence's masterpiece, 'The Seven Pillars Of Wisdom' . This led to him moving to Wales where due to the expertise he displayed at the world renowned Gregynog Press in Montgomeryshire he achieved the distinction of being described as 'one of the finest printers of the twentieth century'. But the main point of this email, and one which I hope will be of interest to you and your members, concerns my fathers vivid and moving account of his experiences in the trenches during WWI. He was one of the many who answered when Kitchener called in 1914 and despite being injured twice, sent home, patched up and returned to the trenches, he somehow survived the horrors and was demobbed in 1918. One 'small' incident which happened to him was in April 1918. Whilst going 'over the top' for the second time, he stumbled into a shell hole and 'found' a mud encrusted bible there.

After being advised by an officer that he might as well keep it adding, 'it might bring you luck', he took that advice and eventually bought the book back to England. The identity of the original owner of the bible remained a secret until Geoffrey Hodgson (no relation), the publisher of my fathers memoirs, decided to search the web in the summer of 2010. Eventually he was able to prove that the Army serial number written across the top pages of the books belonged to a New Zealand soldier named Richard Cook who lost it a few weeks before he was wounded, and subsequently died, in the Battle of Messines in October 1917. When my father found it the following April it was also in the continuing same battle at Messines. When this story broke it became very big news in New Zealand with widespread media coverage. On October 8th this year which was the 93rd anniversary of Richard Cook's death, an emotional meeting took place at his graveside in the Etaples Military Cemetery in France. Two descendants of the fallen soldier with their partners met up with my elder brother Bernard and I plus my wife, son and grandson along with other members of our families and Geoffrey Hodgson. My brother, as the present custodian of the bible bought the book along to show the descendants and have some photographs taken. The story was covered and filmed by Meridian TV and also a New Zealand TV company. The film was shown on TV that evening in both countries. Another brother is, along with Geoff Hodgson, taking the bible over to New Zealand next March where we have donated it to a Army Museum in Wellington where it can be seen and its story can be enjoyed by present and future generations. Whilst we were on our Battle Fields tour in October and visiting High Wood, another place where my father fought, we encountered a coach full of British children from Cambridgeshire and their guide.

When they learnt of our story they all gathered around my brother and I and we let them touch the bible and spent some time answering their questions relating to the story. It was so rewarding to be able to find children who were so genuinely interested in learning all they could about the story and the battles. One of them even bought a copy of my fathers book for her own father who apparently reads anything relating to WWI. In addition, the children's Battlefield guide asked me for a copy of the poem I have written entitled 'The Bible In The Mud' . This tries to put the story into verse.. I was honoured and felt very privileged as I handed him a copy. He hoped to use it the following week when he was taking another party on a poetry tour around the Messines Battlefields. Naturally this led me to thinking perhaps you and your members might be interested in learning more of my fathers experiences in that terrible conflict. So to that end perhaps you would care to follow the guide I recommend below. Http://www.martlet-books.co.uk or www.martlet-books.co.uk When you get this up click onto IMPRESSIONS OF WAR Then follow ALL the links for the full and varied story.

By following all the links you will be able to not only read a very comprehensive account of my fathers life story you will also be able to see two video interviews broadcast by by Meridian TV – one of my brother Bernard and his daughter plus the Bible and secondly the video Meridian took of the graveside ceremony on October 8th 2010. Plus there is also a very short Movie clip which I shot and has been edited by Geoff Hodgson.

Lastly if you look for the section headed WHERE HERBERT HODGSON FOUND THE BIBLE and then scroll down and look for a line starting CLICK HERE FOR POEM WRITTEN BY IVOR HODGSON etc you will see my contribution in memory of two brave soldiers. I apologise for the length of this letter but as you have probably gathered by now I am very proud and passionate about my fathers story and in passing it on I hope others can also enjoy reading it.

Thank you

Yours sincerely

Ivor Hodgson

Help Requested

I wonder if you might assist with my research? I am investigating a former searchlight position and listening post in my village of Daws Heath in the county of Essex in the borough of Castle Point.

The site is almost adjacent to an arterial road (A127) which takes one straight into the East End of London. Later on in WW2 as the German Bomber and fighter crews sought to avoid the heavily defended Thames Estuary and Thames Mouth they began to come slightly more in land before heading up to bomb the East End. I am attempting to identify the purpose of the large concrete block that stands at the entrance/exit point of what would have been the troop hut/listening post.

You will note the steps around the base. Do you think it could have been a generator mounting position? I am further confused by the fact I was always led to believe the searchlight was a fixed position lamp (therefore not on tracks). If this was the case where would it have been mounted and how? Clearly if this was also a listening post basically manned full-time they would require power not only for the lamp but also for the wireless set? I presume further there may have been another location where an aerial was mounted?

I have established contact with and interviewed a local man whose father actually worked there. He confirms the existence of the position and advises it was manned by Home Guard Officers almost continually both for listening and searching. Any help you can give would be very well received, particularly any photographic impressions of what the site may have looked like with its accompanying searchlight. It has been made clear it was a large static light, not truck mounted.

Please reply directly to Richard Burgess at richard751burgess@btinternet.com