September 2023 - Newsletter

Our branch September newsletter update:

Hello,

Well, Summer's over and it's time to get back to our regular meetings.

September Meeting

Paul Cobb will be speaking to us tomorrow (the 14th) on 'Indigenous Peoples of the Dominions 1914-1918' in which he will examine attitudes to the indigenous peoples of Canada, New Zealand and Australia as the British Empire became established and how this affected the employment of these peoples in military service during the Great War. 

Paul first visited the battlefields in 1969 and has been back many times undertaking research on various aspects of the war and leading tours. He is a former Membership Secretary and Vice Chair of the WFA and is currently Chairman of the Wiltshire Branch. He has been on the speakers' circuit for many years; his main interest is the Australian Imperial Force, speaking at WFA branches in the UK and abroad, and contributing to radio and television programmes. He is perhaps best known to WFA members for his book 'Fromelles 1916'.

Meetings will as usual take place at 7pm in the upstairs Library at The Star Tavern, Belgravia.

October Meeting

Our 12th October talk will be 'From Finsbury Park to the front line - A story from The Great War' by Doug Kirby whose great uncle enlisted into the 12th London Battalion (AKA The Rangers) in WW1. He went to France in June 1916 and was at Gommecourt on the 1st July 1916.

Request for Information

Paul Foster has been in touch about his forthcoming project on a book on the boys soldiers commemorated on Thiepval Memorial. He has already undertaken considerable research and has a good database of names. He has researched all those recorded as 17 or under recorded by the CWGC and checked if the ages given are correct. A good number were inaccurate (due to scanning errors) and so far he has found nearly 100 additional names. If any members know of additional unknown boy soldiers he would be pleased to learn of them.  He can be contacted on: foster030458@gmail.com.

Paul has also recently completed his trilogy of books on cemeteries in the Essex farm sector.

Visit to St Anne's Church, Limehouse

A small group of us had a really interesting visit to St Anne's Church for our August social followed by a convivial lunch.  Many thanks go to William Franklin and Nick Lucas for their work in organising it.  Unfortunately Nick was unable to make it on the day and was greatly missed.

And finally...

Our best wishes go to Nick Lucas and Cheryl Othen who both have surgery this month so will be absent from meetings in the foreseeable.

Best wishes,

Kathy

Kathy Stevenson

WFA London Branch Chairman