The Asian Front: The German Empire in the Pacific

Andy Stuart visited us last year with a talk on the war in North Russia and this time round he will be looking at an even more distant theatre, Far East Asia and the Pacific.

At the start of the war, Germany had a presence in and around the Pacific that included the Port of Tsingtao (which in a roundabout way, explains why Chinese restaurants so often offer a German-style lager to their customers) and scattered island possessions, with the Kaiserliche Marine's East Asia Squadron there to look after them. Andy will be taking a look at the early stages of the war, with Britain's first naval defeat in a hundred years, Japanese land forces in action, Indian Nationalist conspiracy and a Singapore mutiny, as the Allies gradually hoovered up the German possessions.

Andy has a very varied background that includes serving in the Royal Artillery with tours in Germany, Canada and Northern Ireland, followed by a career in investment banking that took him as far afield as New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo before co-founding a technology development business.

During 'lockdown' Andy began writing, drawn to the world described in his grandfather, Arthur Walton's stories of his service during the First World War and the Russian Civil War, researching the topic and in depth and using it as inspiration for three books.

Members and non-members of The Western Front Association are equally welcome. Any new visitors are guaranteed a friendly atmosphere and a warm welcome from a group of like-minded enthusiasts.

Main Image: German naval officers and ratings taken prisoner by the Japanese at Tsingtao (IWM Q 52827)