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11 August 1918 : Lieut. Alfred Edward Gaby VC

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The seventh child of parents Alfred and Alicia Gaby. Alfred went to school in Scottsdale and after school worked on the family farm. He then spent some time in southern Tasmania. While working on his father's farm he had joined the militia and served for three years with the 12th Infantry Battalion (Launceston Regiment). Two elder brothers had...

CANCELLED 8 April : 'Amateur Soldiering Tradition in Britain and the Empire 1899 to 1945' with Professor Gary Sheffield

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Gary Sheffield, Honorary President of The Western Front Association will be speaking at this event on the amateur soldier in the British Arm over five decades: through the South African War, First and Second World Wars. The organisers say that places will be strictly limited with an entry cost of £8 payable on the door. Please email the organis...

28 February 1915 : Pte Robert Robertson

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Parents Robert Robertson (tobacco spinner) and Annie (née Patton). At the 1891 Census living with his family on Buckingham Street, Newcastle-on-Tyne. Sisters Margaret and Ann (21 & 18) were working as a tobacco spinner and cigar maker. Older Brother David (15) was working as a marble polisher. Robert (8) and older sister Jessie (11) were at...

7 January 1915 : A/Sgt William Hoggard

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William was born in September 1882, Beverley, East Yorkshire. His parents were William (a farm labourer) and Susannah (née Newlove) and they lived at 172 Ryecroft Street, Crowthorn, Ashton under Lyne, Lancashire. William was the last of the Hoggard children. His older siblings were Henry, Jane and Fanny. Their mother died in 1892 when William w...

Everard Wyrall (1878-1932): Military Historian

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Last April [2021] I was asked to supervise a Wolverhampton University MA dissertation on 1/7th Northumberland Fusiliers. The battalion was in 50th (Northumbrian) Division TF, so before doing anything else I consulted my copy of the divisional history by Everard Wyrall. And then something happened that might have happened at any point in the past...