2014
January
Mike Kushner – A journey to Station X • Room 40 (two talks)
February
Jerry Murland – The Aisne 1914
March
Geoff Spring – The Artillery of the BEF: 1918 ground based air defence
April
AlanWakefield – Crisis at Kut Dec 1915 – April 1916
August
Summer break
September
SEMINAR Speakers will cover various actions of 1914
November
John Stanyard – Three VCs in two armies
December
CHRISTMAS SOCIAL
2013
Christmas
Social Evening
November
Branch event‘Remembering’
October
5th Regional Seminar
The Lead up to 1914
September
Vera Brittain
Michelle Young
2012
December
Christmas Social
October
Vera Brittain’s War
Michelle Young
September
The Dorothy Mann Memorial Lecture:
Dressed to Heal: the Work of the RAMC at the front
Peter Hobbs and Guy Aston
July
The Horse in War and Art
Presented by the WFAMK and The City Discovery Centre, in partnership with local heritage initiatives for WFA members, families and friends, schools and the public. The film’s Military Advisor Andy Robertshaw will give his informative talk entitled: The Making of War Horse Film.
July
Fromelles
Paul Cobb
June
The Bedfordshires
Steve Fuller
May
Great Uncle Fred and the 60th Battalion CEF
John Stanyard
April
V Beach
Peter Hart
March
HM Cordite Factory, Gretna – a brief history’
Nigel Crompton
2011
January
British Army Officer Selection and Training 1914-1918
Charles Messenger
February
The Unknown Western front – the French Battlefields of Champagne, Argonne, Verdun, St. Mihiel and the Vosges
Michael St. Maur Sheil
See http://www.westernfrontphotography.com for Mike’s photos.
March
The Battle of Dublin, April 1916
Andy Rawson
April
Branch AGM, and
RFC/RAF Family Connections
Tony Stubbs
May
The Battle of Nonne Boschen, 11 November 1914
John Tanner
June
General Snow
Andy Lonergan
July
Twisting the dragon’s tail: the Zeebrugge raid, 22-23 April 1918
Alan Wakefield of the Imperial War Museum
September
DOROTHY MANN MEMORIAL LECTURE
The Basra CWGC Cemetery & Memorial to the Missing: WW1 to today
Vern Littley
October
Regional Seminar: Echoes of the Great War
The MK with Herts and Beds Branch Regional Seminar will take place at The Chrysalis Theatre, Milton Keynes. Click here for the latest details.
November
16th Irish Division
Andy Tonge
2010
January (at The Chrysalis, Milton Keynes)
Doctors in the Trenches 1914-18
A talk by Professor Richard Holmes
February
Meet the Trustees – part 1
by Martyn Hale, a WFA Education Trustee.
March
The German Offensive of March 1918
by Joanna Legg
April
Branch AGM
TALKS:
Operation Paraquat – the Taking of South Georgia
by Joseph Cresswell.
May
The Home Front
by David Evans
June
The Royal Naval Division
by Tony Froom
July
Members’ Evening:
St Vitus’ Day 1914
by Eric Webb
The Handbook for the British Legion Pilgrimage 1928
by Jeremy Cooper
September
The Fourth Dorothy Mann Memorial Lecture and
Our Branch’s Ninth Anniversary
Poetry of the First World War
by Michael Copp.
October
A Sapper’s Story
by David Craigen
November
Remembrance: Personalities and Peculiarities of the Great War
by Dale Hjort
December
The Cockney Army: London and the Great War, by John Lee.
Plus our Christmas Social
2009
January
Nobody’s Heroes: the 8th East Lancs Regiment
Stephen Barker
February
A Battalion on the Somme – 1/1st Bucks
John Tanner
March
The Royal Naval Division at Gallipoli
Len Sellers
April
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Plus short talk:
Today’s News in 1919
Jeremy Cooper
May
Private to C.O. in two years – the war letters of Charles Fair DSO (1/19th London Regt.)
Reggie Fair
June
Members’ Evening
where we will have a chance to chat at leisure with like-minded friends.
July
Lost in France – the story of Leigh Richmond Roose
Spencer Vignes
September
The Third Dorothy Mann Memorial Lecture
Women at War John Chester
October
Mapping the Front
By Howard Anderson – WFA Map Project Co-ordinator
November
Remembrance
Presented by the MK Committee.
December
Christmas Social
Talk: Tracing a soldier in the RAMC
John T. Smith
2008
January
A Magic Lantern Show: it was in the papers – illustration sfrom the Front
Kevin Varty
DISPLAY: 22nd and 23rd January: 9am to 4pm both days
WFA-MK display in Middleton Hall, Central Milton Keynes as part of MK Heritage event
February
The History of The Imperial War Museum
Foster Summerson
March
Der Tag – the 21st March 1918
Clive Harris
April
MK Branch Annual General Meeting
… followed short talks by Branch Members:
Paul Hooley on “The Monarch and the Dustman”,
Jeremy Cooper on “The Daily Graphic, 24th April 2008”
May
Malta in the Great War
Bill Fulton
June
The Origins of World War One
Dr. Simon Peaple
July
There were no butterflies: a personal history of my father’s experiences in the Kaiser’s Army
Brigitte Mitchell
September
The Second Dorothy Mann Memorial Lecture
1914-1918 A Horse at War
Dr. Graham Winton
October
REGIONAL SEMINAR:
1918 – Victory and Remembrance
November
Remembrance and Memorials
Tony Stubbs
December
Christmas Social and Rob Pearson will speak about the development of Trench Warfare.
2007
January
Patient Killers – Snipers in the Great War
Julian Whippy
February
The Bedfordshire Regiment
Steve Fuller
March
The Vimy Pilgrimage
John Chester
April
Annual General Meeting
followed by refreshments, a quiz sheet to work on, a raffle, and a recital by The Living Archive Band.
May
Making the Most of the Soldiers Died CDrom
Geoff Bridger.
June
Members’ Evening
Jeremy Cooper
Paul Hooley
Dr. Eric Webb
July
Lawrence the Polymath
Elizabeth Higgins
August – no meeting
Saturday 8th September – 12.30pm to 4pm
Heritage Open Days weekend: exhibition and a series of short talks at Milton Keynes Central Library.
September
First Dorothy Mann Memorial Lecture:
The Artists’ Rifles
Michael Orr
October
The Last Voyage of the Emden
Ian Cull
November
A talk on the theme of Remembrance
by Tony Stubbs
Unfortunately Tony had to cancel at the last minute: so it turned into an evening of conversation and a brief act of remembrance. Displays were provided by several members including artworks prepared by children in Cranfield for a British Legion remembrance competition. Some of these are now on this website – click here.
December
The Battle of Arras
Jon Nicholls