Rod’s Military History Talks

On 19th March, I gave another talk to the Bexhill Hanoverian Study Group. Normally my talks to them are about the Napoleonic Wars, particularly aspects involving the King’s German Legion, which is their main interest, since the KGL Depot was based in Bexhill from 1803 to 1816. They do however sometimes have talks on other subjects, so this time I gave them my talk “The Story of a Medal”, covering my Dad’s service as a Merchant Navy Officer in World War II on Gibraltar Convoys, Atlantic Convoys, Russian Convoys and D-Day Landings.

The talk was very well received and I was given a donation to pass on to The Mission for Seafarers, which both my parents fundraised for.

On 20th February, I gave my talk on “The ‘45” again.

This time it was to the Probus Club of Royal Tunbridge Wells, which I belong to.

The talk went down well, but one of our members became ill and I had to stop a few minutes early. Fortunately my friend has now recovered.

I recently moved to a Retirement Village and, shortly after moving in, gave them my talk “The Story of a Medal”.

The talk went down well and the Retirement Village Management Company have agreed to give me a donation to be passed on to the Mission to Seafarers.

On 9th January 2025 I gave a talk to the Crowborough Probus Club. I am a member of that Club and have given them two talks previously. This time my talk was “The Story of a Medal”. which describes my Dad’s service as a Merchant Navy Officer in World War II on Gibraltar Convoys, Atlantic Convoys, Russian Convoys and D-Day Landings, concluding with how I researched that in order to claim his posthumous Arctic Star Medal, issued 68 Years after the last Russian Convoy took place. The talk went down very well.

On 23rd October I gave a talk to the Royal British Legion Mayfield. I am a member of that Branch and have given them three talks previously. This time my talk was “The Story of a Medal”. which describes my Dad’s service as a Merchant Navy Officer in World War II on Gibraltar Convoys, Atlantic Convoys, Russian Convoys and D-Day Landings, concluding with how I researched that in order to claim his posthumous Arctic Star Medal, issued 68 Years after the last Russian Convoy took place.

The talk went down very well and I raised some funds for the Mission to Seafarers, which both my parents fundraised for.

I am Speakers Secretary, and a former President, of the Probus (Professional and Business) Club of Royal Tunbridge Wells. I currently have a full programme of a mixture of external speakers and our own members speaking organised for our monthly meetings in 2024 and 2025. However one of our own members who was the speaker for our October meeting dropped out due to his wife’s illness. I therefore stepped in and covered this with my talk on the Battle of Fuengirola.

This was an unusual battle in 1810 with 150 Polish troops (who were allies of Napoleon) defending the castle at the end of the beach against an Anglo-Spanish force of 2,500 troops who landed from the sea. 90 of the Poles in the castle charged out to attack the end of the Anglo-Spanish line, capturing some of their artillery and turning it around to fire on the attackers. At the same time another 400 Polish and French troops arrived and, in the confused fighting, captured the British General, leading to an unlikely Polish victory against overwhelming odds. It is hardly mentioned in British histories of the Peninsula War, but the Poles are justifiably proud of their achievement.

The talk went down very well.

From the 2nd to 9th September I was on a mini-cruise in Scotland on the “Lord of the Glens”, starting at Inverness, visiting Culloden, then sailing down Loch Ness to Fort Augustus, on through Loch Lochy and the Caledonian Canal to Corpach, coach to Glenfinnan (where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard) and back by train over the curved viaduct used in the Harry Potter films. We then sailed to Oban, on to Craignure in Mull, then a one and a half hour coach drive on the single track road to Fionnport, ferry to Iona, back to the ship then sailing around to Tobermory, with all of its coloured houses. Sailing on from there to Eigg, one of the “Small Isles” then across to Inverie, to visit the remotest pub in UK (you can either visit it by sea or walk for three days to get there, there are no roads). Finally we sailed up to Skye, visiting the MacDonald Centre at Armadale Castle and Castle Eilean Donan, which appears on many shortbread tins.

We had 50 passengers on the cruise, all with Scottish connections and half were American. On the first night I gave my talk on “The ’45” which went down well. A few days later our planned evening entertainment of a group playing Scottish music could not make it, so I stepped in and gave a cut down version of my talk on “The MacArthurs in the ’45” concentrating on the structure of Clan Regiments, both raised for the Jacobites and the Government plus mentioning a number of clans with split loyalties The slides in that talk showing the structure of three Jacobite Regiments and one Government one had over 100 different names, so virtually everyone listening to the talk could see their own clan name mentioned. A full version of that latter talk is now on the Clan Arthur website:

https://clanarthur.org/history/the-macarthurs-in-the-45/

The “Lord of the Glens” gave me a donation for my talks, which I have passed on to Combat Stress, which supports Military Veterans with mental health problems.

I gave my talk on “The ’45” to the Bexhill Hanoverian Study Group on Tuesday 16th July. It went down well and they gave me a donation for Combat Stress.

I am giving this same talk later in the year on a cruise ship in Scotland, as we travel from Inverness, down the Great Glen (Caledonian Canal) through Fort Augustus and Fort William, on to Oban, then Mull, Iona Eigg and Skye, taking a week to complete this.

I gave two talks on the Battle of Waterloo in June 2024, which was the 209th Anniversary of the battle. Both talks were in East Grinstead to different groups, but organised by the same person who is on the committees of both clubs.

The first talk was to the East Grinstead U3A on 5th June 2024. This was attended by some 70 people in a large hall. The second talk was to the Oddfellows, attended by 29 people on 17th June. Both talks were well received and raised money for Combat Stress, the Military Charity which supports former members of the Armed Forces with mental health issues.