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London Lunchtime talks programme, Autumn 2012

4 September 2012

 

 

 

The Battlefields Trust is delighted to announce the next series of lunchtime events hosted by the Fusilier Museum in the Tower of London.

 

Tickets are £25 per head (£20 for Battlefields Trust members) and include a sandwich lunch.

Booking is via the JustGiving website only. Please follow the links further down this page.

All profits go to fund the work of the Battlefields Trust in preserving, interpreting and developing Britain's battlefields both at home and abroad.

 

Monday 8th October 2012, 12.30-14.00

 

Dr Michael Jones. Total War: With the Red Army from Stalingrad to Berlin.

 

Dr Michael Jones developed his love of history at Bristol University, and his interests range from the Middle Ages to the Second World War. He is the author of Bosworth 1485 - Psychology of a Battle and a battlefield guide to Agincourt. Mike has taught history at Glasgow University and Winchester College and now works as a freelance writer and presenter. He has been guiding tours for over 20 years and his particular interest is in battlefield psychology - inspirational leadership, the nature of courage and what inspires men to fight against the odds. His recent books on World War Two’s eastern front: Stalingrad, Leningrad and The Retreat - the German retreat from Moscow - use much new testimony from German and Russian veterans, and have received critical praise and wide readership.

 

http://www.justgiving.com/Stalingrad-to-Berlin-8-October-2012

 

 

Wednesday 24th October 2012, 12.30-14.00

 

Robert Hardy CBE. Homildon Hill: a new interpretation.

 

The battle of Homildon Hill took place on 14th September 1402 after a large Scottish force under Archibald, Earl of Douglas which was returning home from a raid, laden with booty was blocked at Millfield by an English force under the Earl of Northumberland and his famous son Henry Percy, better known as Hotspur.   The English victory at the battle of Homildon Hill was a triumph for the English archer. According to the sources other troops took very little part in the action. The argument over the treatment of the Scottish nobles captured in the battle was one of the causes of the Percies’ revolt against Henry IV in the following year. 

 

Robert Hardy CBE is the President of the Battlefields Trust. He is also a distinguished actor. While playing the part of Henry V,  he developed an interest in medieval warfare, and  later wrote and presented an acclaimed television documentary on the subject of the Battle of Agincourt. He has also written two books on the subject of the longbow, Longbow: A Social and Military History and The Great War Bow with Matthew Strickland. He was one of the experts consulted by the archaeologist responsible for raising the Mary Rose. In 1996 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He has just retired from the English Heritage Battlefields Panel on which he served for twenty years.

 

His new analysis of the battlefield of Homildon Hill is based on a close study of the battlefield topography. This will be the first time that this interpretation will have been presented in public.

 

More information and booking instructions here:

 

http://www.justgiving.com/Homildon-Robert-Hardy-24-Oct-2012

 

 

 

Charles Messenger. Brief but Glorious: the 8th (Service) Battalion the Royal Fusiliers in the Great War

 

 Wednesday 28th November 2012, 12.30-14.00

 

Charles Messenger served for 20 years in the Royal Tank regiment. Since retiring from the Army he has become a prolific military historian and written over forty military history books. 

 

The 8th Service Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers existed for three and a half years, from its formation from volunteers to its disbandment in January 1918. Most of our lectures have been about battles. This will be about the Londoners who fought in some of the largest battles. It seems right that at least one of our lectures should focus on the stories of the men who served with the Royal Fusiliers, whose museum have hosted our talks. 

 

More information and booking instructions here: 

 

http://www.justgiving.com/charles-messenger-brief-but-glorious-8RF