Guild Update 23rd October 2015

Guild AGM

Secretary writes:

The Guild AGM weekend will be held at Highgate House Northampton between the 29th and 31st January 2016. All members and associate members are invited. An application form to book your accommodation requirements is attached.

The Guild AGM will be held on the afternoon of Saturday 30th and formal notification of this will follow.

The final details of the programme for the weekend are in the process of being prepared and will be put up on the website in due course. However one element will be a Naseby battlefield walk which will be held on the afternoon of Friday 29th. It would be useful if members interested in participating in this would indicate that on the application form at this stage.

Payment for the weekend can be made by cheque (made payable to the Guild of Battlefield Guides) or bank transfer (if using this method please let me know when you have paid and reference the payment so that I can identify it). Payment must be made before 31st December 2015.   

The 100th Anniversary of Edith Cavell's execution

John Richardson writes:

On Monday 12th October at 1045hrs there was a service of remembrance and multiple wreath laying ceremony at the statue of Edith Cavell to mark the centenary of her execution.  It was by her statue in St Martin's Place outside St Martin's-in-the Fields Church.  It including a last post played by a member of the Rifles. There is an annual act of remembrance there.  I saw at least four "members" of the Guild there, possibly five.  The Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Association (Millbank Branch) standard was flanking the statue with the RBL National Standard as the  as the Chairman of the RBL was present and he laid a wreath as did the Chairwoman of the Association. There were half a dozen other RBL Standards.  There were probably about two hundred mourners present.

I guided thirty members of the QARANC Association Millbank Branch to Brussels a fortnight before following Edith Cavell's life and death in the city on a bespoke tour for "Spirit of Remembrance", who are prepared to organize tours for groups wishing to follow the Cavell trail. The narrow streets are very difficult to negotiate by coach.

Guide Wanted

Secretary writes:

I have received the following specialist guide request. If you can help please let me know.

I am looking to organise a battle field study based on the Maginot line  for 15 armed forces motorcyclist. The aim of the study is to enhance the knowledge of the group.  I will be heading it up and planning etc

There is monies in the budget to pay for time and all other expenses will be covered ( hotel and meals)

My question is could you put me in touch with a historian who rides a motorcycle and is willing to spend up to 7 days away in France around June 2016

Vehicle Break Ins

Gary Weight writes:

On the matter of Thefts from vehicles in the latest Guild Update I can confirm that Normandy has been hit again this year. Indeed my vehicle was broken into in early October at the Hillman Battery at Colleville-Montgomery (between Sword Beach and Caen). Two windows were smashed and some items stolen. I can also confirm that break-ins have been reported in car parks at Pegasus Bridge, Utah Beach and Point-du-Hoc this year. These are just the ones I know about and I am certain there will have been more judging by the reaction of the Gendarme at Ouistreham whom I had to report my incident to.

Napoleonic Events in October and November 2015

Suzanne Brunt writes:

23 Oct 1930 Norman Cross Gallery, Peterborough PE7 3TB talk by Paul Chamberlain on The Battle of Waterloo £5 for non-members. fonx2015@gmail.com 

  

24-31 Oct Windsor Castle half-term events. 

  

02 Nov      Cavalry and Guards Club, 127 Piccadilly. London

talk by Marcus Beresford, Lord Decies. details from angloportuguese@talktalk.net 

  

04 Nov      Council Room, Kings College, The Strand London 

next door to Somerset House, all welcome at the Autumn Meeting of The Waterloo Association. starts 1800 Sir William Mahon speaks on The Life of Henry Percy. 

  

04 Nov Glyndwr University, Mold Rd, Wrexham LL11 2AW Mick Crumplin gives the ABF Lecture. reception@glyndwr.ac.uk 01978 290666 

  

05 Nov 1715 Kings College, Room K6.07 Dept of War Studies, 6th floor Kings Building, Strand WC2R 2LS 'Maritime Relief:trans-national charities for British POW's in Napoleonic France' 

lecture by Elodie Duche. contact     alan.2.james@kcl.ac.uk 

www.maritimehistory.org.uk 

  

06 Nov Friends of Lord Hills Column, Council Chamber, Shire Hall, Shrewsbury SY2 6ND

1800 £5 book with Amanda Mullins 01743 851115 or 07720 677530 Mick Crumplin talks on The Bloody Fields of Waterloo. 

  

06 Nov 1930 Church Meeting Room, Stilton, Peterborough talk on Stiltons part in the story of Norman Cross £5 fonx2015@gmail.com

JOHN TAMS CONCERTS

07 Nov Sherborne Abbey, Sherborne Dorset  

WARHORSE CONCERT with John Tams and Michael Morpurgo.

15 Nov Sun Inn, Hitchin, Herts

21 Nov Reeth Memorial Hall, North Yorks.

26 Nov The Boathouse, The Parade, Parkgate CH64 6RN

07+08 Nov Jane Austen Society of Denmark, Copenhagen Weekend.

City tours and Regency Dinner at Schaeffergarden Palace at Gentofte 

£150        copenhagen1815.simdif.com 

  

07 Nov Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh, a Jubilee Opera premiere. 'The Drummer Boy of Waterloo' by Megg Nichol and David Stoll. megg@meggnicol.demon.co.uk        enquiries@aldeburgh.co.uk http://www.aldeburgh.co.uk/contact 

  

11 Nov Royal Highland Fusilier Museum,Sauchihall St, Glasgow G2 3LW Mick Crumplin and Carol Divall speak. www.rhf.org.uk 0141 332 0961 for times.

  

14 Nov 0930-1700 Tower Theatre, North Road, Folkestone CT20 3HL 

The Shorncliffe Lectures Day                   £18/£15 

01303 223 925 secretary@shorncliffe-trust.org.uk

free entry to a book festival. 

  

14 Nov Windsor Castle Waterloo Conference £55/£49.50 www.royalcollection.org.uk 

  

19 Nov Royal Logistic Corps Museum, Newfoundland Rd, Deepcut Mick Crumplin speaks on Waterloo. 

01252 833371   1900     £5 for non-members.

19 Nov 1830-2000 Black Watch Museum, Balhousie Castle, Perth Major General James Cowan lecture 'The Battle of Waterloo'

01738 638152      £9/£7

24 Nov  free lunchtime concert at The Guards Chapel, Birdcage Walk.

http://www.guardschapelfriends.co.uk/        0207 414 3229

26 Nov 1930 Stapleford Granary, Bury Rd, Cambridge CB22 5BP Col Nick Lipscomb talk 'Waterloo : Wellingtons greatest victory, or

  Napoleons biggest blunder?'    £6     01223 849004

ace@acefoundation.org.uk           www.staplefordgranary.co.uk

01 Dec  1500-1530  Weston Rooms, Burlington House, Royal Academy.

Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD      A curators talk on

THE WATERLOO CARTOON  the preparatory drawing for The Meeting between Blucher and Wellington  by Daniel Maclise.

THE EXHIBITION RUNS UNTIL 03 JANUARY 2016.

1000-1800 Sat-Thurs    1000-2200 Fridays.

ranews@royalacademy.org.uk

02 Dec  1830-2030    Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich  SE10 9NN

in the King William Undercroft.           info@ornc.org

The Battle of Waterloo in an authentic recreation of a classic 19th century hippodrama on an outsize recreation of a Regency Toy Theatre.

book on  ornc.org      020 8269 2131       £10

08 Dec  York Army Museum, Tower St, York YO1 9SB

Mick Crumplin lecture on Waterloo.   01904 461014

09 March 2016  Friends of the British Cemetery  Elvas provisional date for the Spring Reception to be at The Cavalry and Guards Club  Piccadilly  London.

full details to follow as soon as possible.

 

German Halftracks pulled from Polish River

Vern Littley writes:

Members may be interested in the following - https://m.warhistoryonline.com/military-vehicle-news/two-german-wwii-halftracks-pulled-from-river-in-poland.html

Best Regards

Tony Smith

Guild Secretary

Guild Update 16th October 2015

New Members

Jo Hook writes:

We welcome the following new members into the Guild:

·         Paul Marsh from Tidworth joins. His interests are WW1 Ypres and Flanders WW2 Normandy

·         Bill Hounsome from Sevenoaks Kent joins. His interests are WW1

GBG Weekend Arnhem

Wybo Boersma writes:

We held a very good weekend in Arnhem. There were sisxteen participants in total. From the UK/Belgium we meet Duncan Cook, John Greene, Francois Wicart and Margret Pearson, Hugh and Elk Jenner. There were also a number of Dutch members and some Friends of the Airborne Museum.

We visited the German Bunker at Schaarsbergen and the Museum Airfield Deelen where a tour was led by Willem Kleijn. We also went to the National Military Museum, House Doorn, the bridge at Arnhem and the Airborne Museum Hartenstein where I led a tour. We were also able to vivit the Glider Museum and a private museum at Wolfheze. On Saturday we had a battlefield tour led by Luuk Buist which looked at the Gliders and Glider Pilot Regiment. Finally on Sunday morning we held an assignment 1 in the Airborne Museum.

November Validation Event

Chris Finn writes: 

Due to very few definite expressions of interest I regret that I have cancelled the UK Validation Event planned for 14 or 15 November.  There is still a Validation Event planned for Normandy/Dieppe on 28/29 November but with only four potential candidates the decision is with Council as to whether or not to go ahead with the Event, particularly in view of the cost.   More candidates would contribute to making it viable so if anyone is interested in attending please let Tim Saunders know ASAP on dval@gbg-international.com

Guild AGM

The Guild AGM weekend will be held at Highgate House Northampton between the 29th and 31st January 2016. All members and associate members are invited. An application form to book your accommodation requirements is attached.

The Guild AGM will be held on the afternoon of Saturday 30th and formal notification of this will follow.

The final details of the programme for the weekend are in the process of being prepared and will be put up on the website in due course. However one element will be a Naseby battlefield walk which will be held on the afternoon of Friday 29th. It would be useful if members interested in participating in this would indicate that on the application form at this stage.

Payment for the weekend can be made by cheque (made payable to the Guild of Battlefield Guides) or bank transfer (if using this method please let me know when you have paid and reference the payment so that I can identify it). Payment must be made before 31st December 2015.   

Theft from Talana Museum at Dundee (Northern KwaZulu-Natal)

Tony Scott writes:

I have received the following from the Talana Museum:

As many of you will no doubt be aware by now, thieves broke into the Talana Museum at Dundee (Northern KwaZulu-Natal) over the weekend and stole several irreplaceable items, including the medals listed below.

Please ask your contacts to be on the lookout for these should they be offered for sale. They will be blacklisted but it will be really wonderful if they can be retrieved and returned to the Museum, whose contact details are shown at the end of this message.

The list of medals can be seen at http://www.talana.co.za/index.php/stolen-medals

Pictures at http://www.talana.co.za/images/Picsmedals.pdf

VLM Airlines

Mike Peters writes:

I have received the following which may be of interest to members:

I thought I should contact you in order to get information out to your members.

VLM Airlines are operating flights from both Birmingham and Southampton to Antwerp which makes it easy for any of your members to meet groups going to the WW1 battlefields, we can also offer group rates to any of your members who wish to arrange bespoke  small groups.

Please let me know if there is anything I can help you with. I shall be attending WTM so please feel free to call onto our stand VisitFlanders 1400

Colin Oakley

Business Consultant

VLM-Airlines

UK & Ireland

International Airport Antwerp

Airport Building, PO Box 50

B-2100 Antwerp

Belgium

Tel.ANR:         +32 (0) 3 285 6868

Mobile UK:     +44 (0) 7525 126333

Email : colin.oakley@vlmairlines.com

Website : www.flyvlm.com

Thefts from Vehicles

Secretary writes:

We have had a report from a member whose car was recently broken into whilst travelling with friends in the Aisne region.  The break-in took place at Old Craonne Arboretum, on the Chemin des Dames.  On reporting the matter to the police, it became clear that thieves are targeting cars in this relatively remote area, as this was not the first such incident to be reported.  Obviously not leaving valuables on display in the car is sound advice; but on the basis that the thieves appear to be somewhat opportunistic, it may also be advisable not to leave vehicles unattended, especially in some of the more isolated parking spots.

Edith Cavell

Dave Platt writes:

Just thought it would be nice for our members to be aware of the 100 years anniversary on Monday that Edith Cavell was executed.

To find out more about the Edith Cavell Trust see https://www.cavellnursestrust.org/edith-cavell

Best Regards

Tony Smith

Guild Secretary

Guild Update 9th October 2015

New Guild Vice President

Mike Peters writes:

Fellow members Council is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Guild Vice President (Military). 

Air Vice Marshal Steven Abbott CBE MPhil BA FCMI RAF (Retd) has accepted the honorary role and will act as the Guild’s ambassador with a particular interest in the military sphere of Battlefield Study, Staff Rides and general touring.  He is the current Course Director at the Royal College of Defence Studies in London, he is passionate about military history and is a great believer in the value of battlefield tours as an educational tool for the military. We hope to see our new Vice President at the christmas Lunch and at the AGM weekend in January. His military CV is attached to this bulletin for interest. Council continues to consider additional candidates from other areas for Vice President.

Australian Somme Ceremonies 2016

Mike Peters writes:

We have received the following note regarding the Australian commemorations on the Somme in 2016:

The Australian Government will be holding three important commemorative services in 2016 to commemorate the sacrifice of Australian soldiers on the Western Front during the First World War. These ceremonies will take place on  25 April on Anzac Day, on 19 July 2016 in Fromelles (59) and 23 July in Pozieres (80).

It is expected that these commemorative services will be attended by a high number of visitors and access to the sites will be restricted. An online ticketing system will be put in place for the July services.

In order to provide you with information on the planning for these ceremonies, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs is holding two briefing sessions; in Amiens and in Lille on 19 October and 20 October at 5.30pm.

Briefing sessions will be conducted in French and we would be delighted to welcome you or one of your local representatives to these sessions. We can also provide a briefing in English with all the relevant information or speak to you separately.

Please find attached the invitation to the briefing.

RSVPs are expected by 15 October COB to estelle.jury@dfat.gov.au

Dyle Weekend 16th - 18th September 2016

Chris Finn writes: 

The Guild Overseas Weekend for 2016 will take place between 16 and 18 September and look at the experiences of the BEF and the Air Component over the period 10 to 28 May 1940.  It will be led by John Cotterill and myself and give those who attend it the opportunity to examine the vital, yet rarely toured, first half of the Battle of France and its impact on the subsequent evacuation from Dunkirk.  So far Alison Hine, Jean-Michel Verannenman, Francois & Margaret Wicart, John Greene, Derek  Armitage and Tony Scott have expressed an interest in attending. Further details are attached to this Update.

Richard Holmes Memorial Lecture

Frank Baldwin writes:

Professor Anne Curry

"Agincourt 1415”

A lecture and sandwich lunch 12.30-2.00pm 14th October 2015

Hosted by The Fusiliers Museum London in the Officer's Mess of The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers HM Tower of London

Professor Anne Curry will talk about the Battle of Agincourt which took place 21 October 1415. This is the 2015 Richard Holmes Lecture which members of the British Commission for Military History and Guild of Battlefield Guides are welcome to attend on an equal basis with Battlefields Trust members.

Our hosts will be the Fusiliers Museum and the event includes a sandwich lunch a glass of wine and the opportunity to network in the exclusive surroundings of the Fusiliers mess in HM Tower of London. If you would like to attend this lunchtime talk, please make a donation of £25 for each attendee (£20 for members of the Battlefields Trust) and email your name, contact number and any special requirements (dietary/mobility) to helen@battlefieldstrust.org On receipt, email confirmation will be sent together with directions to the venue. If you have any questions, please ring 0207 387 6620. We look forward to welcoming you.

In order for you to be receive a pass allowing you access to the RRF Building inside the Tower of London and be included in the catering you must book at least 48 hours before the event.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Agincourt 600

Paula Kitching writes:

The anniversary of Agincourt is nearly upon us. As part of the commemorations there will be a service at Westminster Abbey on the 29th October. Tickets are limited but a few are still available at http://www.agincourt600.com/form349/

Guild Christmas Lunch Friday December 4th Union Jack Club

Andy Thompson writes:

Second call for the annual Christmas lunch at the UJC. 12:00 for 12:30

£35 to include a four course meal AND port!

To secure your place please contact Andy Thompson info@eyewitnesstours.com

WW1 Changing Faces of Heroism

Secretary writes:

The University of Leeds has partnered with the BBC to deliver a free online course, 'WW1: changing faces of heroism'. The course begins Monday 9 March and is for anyone with an interest in WW1 history and how it has shaped culture and society.

About the course

Using content from BBC presenter and academic Professor Mary Beard and archive material, this short 3 week course looks at how the war moved us away from traditional views of heroism and created new kinds of heroes and heroines and the legacy this has left us with today.

Sign up now

Our free course met or exceeded expectations for 95% of learners. To discover a new perspective on WW1 heroism, visit the FutureLearn website and sign up to the course.

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/ww1-heroism

There are 20 places still available.

Mini Bus Hire

Nicky Bird writes:

I am taking some elderly chaps (like myself) from Leander Club in Henley to Ypres/Somme and need a 9-seater mini-van (a 12-seater needs a special licence) – a stretched job to carry luggage and people comfortably. Like the Ford Tourneo L2. My usual van hire people have nothing and others won’t permit a van to be driven abroad. Does anyone know of a reliable company in the home counties, preferably near Henley, that might help? Or does anyone have one to rent for four days?

Contact Nicky on nick@nickybirddesign.com

Best Regards

Tony Smith

Guild Secretary

International Guild of Battlefield Guides