The Western Front Association: furthering interest in the Great War 1914-18 | explore | learn | share

The latest list of speakers contains 117 speakers and was sent to all Branches in September. Many new speakers are included, reflecting a new generation of speakers prepared to share their knowledge about a very wide range of Great War topics in addition to the "tried and trusted" speakers. Over 10 additional speakers have sent details since the list was published; anyone who wishes to be included on the list should contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The WFA has established a tradition over recent years of having two interesting and unusual talks on the day of our AGM. For next year's AGM on 27 April 2013 at the Tally Ho Club, Birmingham, UK we will have the pleasure of listening to:

• Peter Barton who will talk on the excavations at La Boiselle; and
• Liza Sentance who will talk about the Canadian First Nation in the Great War.

The WFA has organised two national conferences in 2012. The "Real War Horses" conference, run in collaboration with the National Army Museum, was a great success; and the forthcoming President's conference on 3 November 2012 has a particularly strong line up and has sold over 150 tickets (tickets are still available).This will be the first of a series of President's conferences.

A WFA conference sub-committee, comprising Peter Simkins, Viv Whelpton (Suffolk Branch) and me, has been set up to oversee WFA conferences over the Centenary period. Peter is rightly concerned that there may be "conference anarchy" in the Centenary period and we will endeavour to work with other organisations/universities to avoid clashes and to work in collaboration on shared events where possible. Work has already started on this and the WFA will be supporting a proposed residential conference on "Film and the Great War" being organised by the Universities on Kent/Greenwich/Southampton in 2014. Several other collaborations are in the pipeline. A Centenary events calendar will be set up on the WFA website so that those wishing to organise events can check to avoid obvious clashes of interest.

The Centenary will be an exciting time for those of us interested in the Great War and the WFA intends to be at the forefront in remembering the men and women who served in that momentous era.

Colin Wagstaff

WFA Speakers and Conferences