British Modern Military History Society

THE second of our talks this month will take place at Woodcote village hall on Wednesday, March 9 at 7.30pm.

John Cotterill will be speaking on “From Wellington’s army to Kitchener’s army — the Crimean War and its consequences”.

The Crimean War of 1854-56 affected the British Army but John will also cover some of the little- known effects on Italy, Russia and America.

It was Britain’s first war in the era of rifled small arms, rifled artillery, telegraphs, war correspondents and
railways. All these caused a huge re-evaluation of the way in we organised our armed forces and fought our wars.

The dead hand of the Iron Duke lay heavy on the British military establishment from 1815 until his death in 1852.

This had meant that Britain’s tactics, command system and logistics had not kept pace with purely technological change.

Two years later, the Crimean War was to be a massive and timely “wake-up call” to the army.

John is a self-employed battlefield guide for military groups, veterans, civilian clubs, families, individuals and schools.

He was a founder member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides in 2003 and was badged in 2004. He was a guild validator for 15 years.

To register for talks, email us on info@bmmhs.org Entry costs £10, which includes refreshments and raffle tickets. We ask for payment in advance but there will be a facility to pay by card on the door.

As we will have a limited number of places available, we will require you to book your place.

We will reply to your email to confirm your reservation if seats are available.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us and made donations to help keep us going.

Due to covid please note that we are likely to have a reduced number of places and also that the meeting may change to a Zoom talk at short notice. We strongly advise checking our website for the latest information, www.bmmhs.org

Please note we will not be recording or streaming any of our live meetings or Zoom talks.

Pauline Garrett