AGM Minutes
Secretary writes:
The minutes of the November AGM are attached to this Update.
They will appear on the website in due course.
Validation Opportunity on
the Western Front
Mike Peters writes:
Dear fellow members, you will be aware from my last
Chairman’s despatch that your Council is investigating ways to offer validation
opportunities to those members located outside the UK and further afield,
outside Europe. As you know, the Validation Team has been tasked to look at the
feasibility of validating in Australia with the aid of video-link technology.
We await the outcome of that trial with interest.
As well as our Australian initiative, we are also
considering the possibility of facilitating a validation session in the Somme
region. It is proposed that validations will be conducted under the same
conditions as those in UK i.e. not on the ground. I have been in contact with
John Anderson, and he has accepted the task of sounding out members on the
Somme and northern France. The idea is simple - the Validation Team will, if invited,
send a small team of validators out to the Somme area by car. At central point,
they will conduct validations for Assignments 1,5 & 6. It is intended that
this will allow members who have found it difficult to maintain momentum, to
kick-start their validation. It will also be an on the doorstep opportunity for
members on the Somme, or even from Ypres and Arras, to begin the validation
process.
John will be asking members located on the WF for a
statement of interest in a validation session on the Somme that will take place
this Autumn. If you are interested, please let him know. John’s email address
is: tedrepairs@hotmail.com
If enough members are willing to commit to the session, we
will identify a suitable venue and a date.
Validation in Holland
March 2014
Secretary writes:
It has been agreed that live validations will take place in
Holland in March and Chris Scott will be attending as Verifier. If any member
is interested in attempting one of the live assignments please could they get
in touch with Alison Hine for more details - alisonhine@btinternet.com
Next Guild Council Meeting
Secretary writes:
The Guild Council will next meet in London on the 12th
March. If any member has anything that they wish the Council to discuss at the
meeting please would they let me have details.
‘Fields of Battle, Lands
of Peace’
Secretary writes:
Members will be pleased to hear that Mike Shiel has received
confirmation that his exhibition ‘Fields of Battle, Lands of Peace’ has
received the approval of the Royal Park for him to hold the Exhibition in St
James's Park from Monday 4th Aug to Mon 15th Sept with an option of exercising
an extension to the period of hire to Nov 2014. The exhibition will also open
in Paris on the 8th April.
Deepcut Event - Prelude to
War
Alison Hine writes:
Administrative instructions for the Deepcut event are now on
the Guild website. The first Guild event for 2014 has proved very popular
and is now fully booked with a waiting list. Details of those attending
are:
Stuart Baxter
Steve Bird
Bob Brunsdon
Richard Burgess
Steve Chambers
Alain Chissell
Graeme Cooper
Jeff Cormack
Tim Courtenay
Tony Coutts-Britton
John Cotterill
Bob Darby
Nora de Bievre
Laurie Evanson-Goddard
Peter Fensome
John Greenacre
Simon Gregor
Charmian Griffiths
John Hamill
Joe Hamon
David Harvey
Jo Hook
Frank Hooley
Simon Hopkin
Ian Howard
Rob Hudd
Michael Jackson
Chris John
Andy Johnson
Bruce Littley
Roger Lye
Peter McLelland
Terry Marker
Ian Mitchell
Chris Nation
Paul Oldfield
Mike Peters
John Richardson
John Ross
Tony Scott
Mike Sheil
Andrew Spooner
Ian Taylor
Rhydian Vaughan
Terry Webb
Ray Wilkinson
Adam Williams
Hugh Williams
David Winn
Allan Wood
Plus 4 colleagues of Andy Robertshaw.
Waiting List: Tony Wade plus guest, Ian Hodgkinson, Brett
Hayward, Andy Thompson, Stuart Barltrop.
If anyone on either list finds that they need to withdraw
before the event, please would they let Alison Hine know as early as possible
so that someone else may be given a place.
Gallipoli Guides and Visas
Mike Peters writes:
Gallipoli Guides should be aware that from 10 April 2014,
visas for Turkey will no longer be available upon arrival at the airport in
Turkey. Guests should obtain a visa online, prior to travel to Turkey through
the Turkish government website: https://www.evisa.gov.tr/en/
D Day Commemorations
John Greene writes:
Members may be interested to read of plans for two of Biggin
Hill Heritage Hangar’s Spitfire Mk.IXs to overfly the Normandy beaches to
commemorate this most important of anniversaries see - http://globalaviationresource.com/v2/2014/01/16/aviation-news-biggin-hill-heritage-hangars-d-day-commemoration-plans/
Bargain Hunt
Mark Smith writes:
Members may be interested to note that one of the Bargain
Hunt programmes filmed at The Royal Artillery Museum will be shown on BBC1 at
12:15pm on Friday 24th January i.e. today. Obviously this Update will arrive
too late for members to see it 'live' but it can be watched on iPlayer for the
next seven days. (Piece at about 25 minutes in and discusses some Napoleonic
relics)
Operation War Diary
John Greene writes:
Members may be interested to read of the IWM's initiative to
publish the War Diaries from the First War and the requirement for volunteers
to tag information - see http://www.operationwardiary.org/?utm_campaign=IWM%20Friends%20email%20newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=IWM+eNews
Website Compatibility
Issues
Secretary writes:
It has been brought to our attention that Microsoft have
performed some updates to Internet Explorer that may affect usability of the
current Guild website (It is not only us, they are affecting a number of
sites!)
If you are having any problems while we are solving this,
you can work around it by viewing the site in ‘compatibility view’ (this may
also work if you are having issues with any other websites you use on a regular
basis) by following the instructions here on how to do so:
Taking your Gun to
Flanders?
Brian Fawcett writes:
Guides or re-enactors taking deactivated firearms to
Flanders may be interested in the following article - http://www.flanderstoday.eu/current-affairs/first-world-war-re-enactors-worried-about-firearms-law
West Country News
Andy Gale writes:
I thought members might be interested in the following local
snippets from the West country;
BBC News
·
Lions and donkeys: 10 big myths about World War
One debunked - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25776836
·
Ministry DNA sample search from WW1 soldier's
relatives - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25779830
·
Collapsed WW1 graves at Llanion cemetery may be
exhumed - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-25842212
·
New Forest: Buried WW2 bombing target examined -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-25865799
·
Regimental colours are laid to rest 'but never
dead' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25829433
BBC World War 1 site - http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww1
- lots of interesting stuff in bite sized chunks
Best Regards
Tony Smith
Guild Secretary
Posts
