If you are a speaker arranger for any organisation, group or club and you would like to book a WWI themed talk, please use the contact link on this web site to get in touch.
Talks that are currently available are:
- Why did Great Britain go to war in 1914? – A look at the geo-political issues of Europe in the run up to 1914.
2. Over 100 years later, why are Britons still fascinated by the Great War? – Kitchener’s New Army of volunteers and the introduction of conscription in 1916 ensured that virtually every family was affected by the Great War.
The 7th Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters, the Robin Hood Rifles, was Nottingham City’s Territorial Force battalion. There are three talks about this battalion.
- The Robin Hoods, who were they? – A detailed look at the social composition of this Territorial battalion in the run up to 1914, and how it changed during the war.
2. The Robin Hoods at Gommecourt on the Somme, 1st July 1916, and the Court of Enquiry. – The opening day of the Somme offensive saw the British Army sustain some 57,000 casualties, but only one division, the 46th, faced a Court of Enquiry into the events of this disastrous day. Why?
3. The 2nd/7th Robin Hoods. Were the Second Line Territorials second rate soldiers? – As the British Army expanded during the Great War, so called second line Territorial Force battalions were raised, but were they up to the job?
There are two talks with a Lincolnshire flavour.
- The 6th Lincolns in Gallipoli and the Post-War controversy. – The 6th battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment was the first Kitchener New Army volunteer battalion raised by the county regiment. They found themselves in Gallipoli facing the Ottomans in the summer and autumn of 1915. What happened to them and why was there a controversy at the war’s end?
2. The story of post-war memorialisation in the town of Sleaford. – Memorialisation after the war is often thought of being an inclusive and healing process for many communities but this was not the case in many town and villages across the country, including Sleaford.
New for 2026 is:
- General Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien – his two defining battles, Isandlwhana 1879 and Le Cateau 1914. What may have been the fate of the British Expeditionary Force at Le Cateau in August 1914, if Smith-Dorrien had been killed at Isandlwana in 1879?
NEW TALKS FOR later in 2026
I am currently working on three new talks which will be premiered in July and October 2026. “The Tank and its Development in Lincoln 1915-18.” and “The Personalities at the Battle of Cambrai November 1917.” Booked for December 2026 and available going into 2027 is “The Ottoman Empire in the Great War.”.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you want to book a talk.