About The WFA
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The Western Front Association was formed in 1980 to maintain interest in the period 1914-1918, to perpetuate the memory, courage and comradeship of those on all sides who served their countries in France and Flanders and their own countries during the Great War. It does not seek to glorify war and is non-political.
For a modest annual subscription, our members receive a wide range of benefits. In particular, belonging to The Western Front Association provides you with the opportunity of meeting like-minded people to learn, share, explore and exchange information and knowledge in a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. You will also receive our regular, high-quality publications in total six times a year.
Publications
The WFA's prestige journal Stand To! is posted to all members four times a year. Its editorial policy increases our knowledge and understanding of the Great War. Copies are also available online and are sent out as a PDF to our Digital Members. In addition, the entire Stand To! archive, and that of our growing First World War magazine collection can be searched and browsed on our Searchable Magazine Archive platform.
The WFA Searchable Archive currently covers every issue of Stand To! as well as archive collections such as The Great War, Firestep, Gun Fire, RND and First World War Fact Sheets.
Our member magazine Bulletin is published three times a year. It carries reports on the Association's activities and future events and gives details of meetings at national and local level as well as publishing a number of articles and features.
Pension Records
Pension Records are free to access on Ancestry's Fold3 via WFA Member Login.
The WFA has been instrumental in saving a number of important records. The Medal Index Cards were saved from destruction some years ago, but more recently approximately six million sets of pension records were saved. Had the WFA not stepped in, this valuable resource would have been lost forever. These records are available for WFA members to view as part of their membership package via the WFA web site.
Remembrance
The WFA successfully campaigned to re-inaugurate the Whitehall Cenotaph ceremony on Armistice Day nearly 30 years ago. Following the Second World War the focus of Britain's national commemoration shifted to Remembrance Sunday - the nearest Sunday to November 11th.
On the 11th November each year (excepting when it falls on a Sunday) we remember the courage and comradeship of those on all sides who served their countries during the Great War of 1914-18.
National Events
National events include the annual President's Conference, currently held in Birmingham, and the AGM, which is held at a different UK location each year. In 2024 we will be in Leeds.
An initiative born of the pandemic, we regularly host online webinars, typically on a Monday evening and featured under National Events on the homepage. These are watched via Zoom.
Branches
The Association supports a broad range of local WFA Branches in the United Kingdom, in other European countries, in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. Many of our Branches produce their local newsletters; many arrange tours to the battlefields at reasonable prices, and all welcome new members warmly. Please see the Events section of the website to find out more about what is happening at a Branch near you.
Regional Seminars
All Day Seminars are held around the country, often with internationally-renowned speakers.
Trench Maps
The Western Front Association, together with the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in London, took part in a joint project to produce a series of DVDs of trench maps and aerial photographs from the IWM archives. This project called 'Mapping the Front', created a set of themed DVDs of Great War maps and photographs covering significant and interesting aspects of The Great War. In 2022 these were digitised as part of the 'TrenchMapper' project.
TrenchMapper builds on the scanning work completed for the Mapping the Front project and now presents several thousand Great War maps georeferenced to modern maps, a task greatly helped by an array of volunteers trained by the core team. The maps can be faded out to see the modern places underneath on various map layers. In addition, the site links to Google Street View so an eye level appreciation of what is there now can be seen directly from points on old maps. This view extends underground where available, places such as Vimy Ridge and also
inside key buildings.
A tool is provided to convert trench map references to latitude & longitude enabling a user to take information from War Diaries or CWGC documents and locate the position accurately.
There is a comprehensive searchable list of trench and other names allowing a user to find points of interest by name. Other tools measure distance and bearing from a point in a similar manner required for artillery or provide detailed modern information about a point.
These maps are mainly British but French, German, Belgian and US drawn maps are available. Including maps of Gallipoli.
Users can download maps for use in their research.
Online
The WFA is alive to the value of the Internet, and it has an ever-expanding website, which offers numerous ways to research the Great War. We have a YouTube Channel which features a significant and ever growing collection of recorded talks, lectures and seminars. The podcast series 'Mentioned in Dispatches' features well over 300 discussions, typically with authors. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram and LinkedIn.
WFA Branded Goods
The WFA e-shop sells branded WFA goods, such as our annual WFA Calendar, ties, pins and bags, as well as tickets to a number of events. You will also find back issues and collected volumes of our publications.