WW1 Related Events in the United Kingdom

Daily Act of Remembrance: Last Post & Reveille

Daily (except Christmas Day) at 11.00 hours

Millenium Chapel, National Memorial Arboretum, Croxall Road, Alrewas, Staffordshire DE13 7AR

Admission Free

(There is a parking charge at the National Memorial Arboretum for cars maximum £3.00 per day - all parking fees go directly to the NMA charity.)

The Millenium Chapel of Peace and Forgiveness is the only place where a daily Act of Remembrance takes place in England. The National Memorial Arboretum is located in the centre of England at Alrewas, near Lichfield, Staffordshire and is the place “Where our Nation Remembers”.

For further details see the National Memorial Arboretum website at:

Website: www.thenma.org Chapel

Annual National Act of Remembrance: Remembrance Sunday

Sunday 9 November 2014, 11.00 hours

The Cenotaph, Parliament Street, Whitehall, London SW1

Free

Public event with restricted access to the central area of the ceremony.

On the closest Sunday to 11^th November an official annual Service of Remembrance takes place at the Cenotaph in central London. Wreaths are laid by Her Majesty The Queen, members of the Royal Family, senior military leaders, politicians and representatives of the Commonwealth. Following the formal ceremony and wreath-laying The Royal British Legion co-ordinates a march past The Cenotaph which includes members of ex-Service organizations and civilian organizations which have played their part on the Home Front in wartime.

Services of Remembrance also take place at 11am on Remembrance Sunday around the United Kingdom at churches, war memorials and at The National Memorial Arboretum.

Flanders Fields 1914-2014 Memorial Garden: Opening Ceremony

Sunday 9 November 2014

Guards Museum, Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk, London SW1E 6HQ

A ceremony will be held at the Memorial Garden to mark the opening of this specially commissioned garden.

For more information about the Memorial Garden see the website:

Website: www.memorial2014.duo.be Memorial Garden

Annual Act of Remembrance: 11^th November

Tuesday 11 November 2014, 11.00 hours

Cenotaph, Parliament Street, Whitehall, London SW1

Organiser: The Western Front Association (WFA)

Free, public event.

The Western Front Association (WFA) holds an annual Ceremony of Remembrance at the Cenotaph, Whitehall on 11^th November. Members of the public are warmly welcomed to view the ceremony.

Members of The Western Front Association may apply for tickets also to attend a Service of Remembrance and a lunch after the ceremony.

To see details for the 11^th November 2013 Ceremony see The Western Front Association website:

Website: www.westernfrontassociation.com

WFA logo by kind permission of the WFA

Candlelit Remembrance Supper at Durham School

Monday 4 August 2014 at 19.30 for 20.00 hours

Durham School, Quarryheads Lane, Durham DH1 4SZ

Tickets £35.00. All proceeds to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

The Durham Framwellgate Moor Branch of the Royal British Legion is arranging a candlelit supper to be held at Durham School. Guest Speaker to be announced. The evening will end with a short Service of Remembrance and extinguishing of candles at 11pm.

For further details telephone 07885 814 672

The Land Force Commemorative Journey: British Expeditionary Force Wreaths to France

Sunday 10 August 2014, 10.00 (London), 17.30 hours (Dover)

Central London to Dover, Kent

Free

The start of the Official Centenary National Commemoration Events by The Western Front Association will be on Sunday 10 August 2014. A horse-drawn original WW1 General Service Wagon will carry 85 Poppy Wreaths made by the Poppy Factory in Richmond, Surrey. The Poppy Wreaths will represent the regiments and corps of the British Army which deployed to France from 9th August 1914 as the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.).

The 85 B.E.F. Poppy Wreaths will be transported from Hyde Park Barracks to Wellington Barracks on a WW1 wagon. They will be transferred to an original Aircraft Recovery Trailer towed by a First World War Crossley Light Tender vehicles and will depart for Dover. On arrival at Dover the 85 B.E.F. Poppy Wreaths will be joined by a formal handover of Royal Navy and Merchant Navy Poppy Wreaths. The Poppy Wreaths will be in secure overnight “Billets”.

The following day they will continue their journey across the English Channel to France courtesy of P&O Ferries.

The Air Force Commemorative Journey: R.F.C. Squadrons to Dover

Tuesday 12 August 2014

Netheravon Airfield, Wiltshire - Bulford Church Cemetery, Wiltshire - Send Churchyard, Send, Surrey - RFC Memorial Plaque on Upper Road, Dover, Kent

The Commemorative Journey on 12 August remembers the first two Royal Flying Corps (R.F.C.) fatalities following the outbreak of war. They were killed on 12 August 1914 as No. 3 Squadron R.F.C. took off from Netheravon Airfield in Wiltshire to fly to the Royal Flying Corps assembly point at Swingate, Dover. Over 30 Members of Surrey Chapter UK on 28 Harley Davidson motorcycles will participate in the Ride. The riders will commemorate the Royal Engineers' Despatch Riders of 1914-1918. The Riders will carry a Royal Engineers B.E.F. Wreath from Netheravon to Dover and on to Arras, France, where it will be laid at a Service of Remembrance on 13 August.

The authors of this website are involved with the planning and organizing of these significant events. The Commemorative Journeys continue in France on 13 August 2014. See these pages for more:

The Western Front Association Memorial Flight, Amiens-Glisy

The Western Front Association Service of Remembrance, Arras

For more information see The Western Front Association website at:

Website: www.westernfrontassociation.com

War Horse

Performances extended to 25 October 2014

New London Theatre, Drury Lane, London

Website warhorseonstage.com

Tickets from £15.00

The award-winning smash hit War Horse is now playing at the New London Theatre. Based on a story by Michael Morpurgo.

The First World War is the backdrop for this tale of bravery, loyalty, and the extraordinary bond between a young recruit and his horse. Actors, working with astonishing life-sized puppets by the internationally renowned Handspring Puppet Company, take audiences on an unforgettable journey through history.

At the outbreak of World War One, Joey, young Albert's beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France.

He's soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary odyssey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man's land.

But Albert cannot forget Joey and, still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a treacherous mission to the trenches to find him and bring him home.

The book on which the play is based came about after Michael Morpurgo had a chance conversation in his local pub nearly 30 years ago with an old soldier who had been to the First World War as a 17 year old ‘with ‘orses’ as he said. He discovered that over a million horses died in that dreadful war – and that was just on the British side – and that most of them that survived were sold off after the war was over, to butchers in France.

For ticket prices, availability, information about the show and shop go to the website at:

Website: warhorseonstage.com

Photographer: Simon Annand

World War 1 Commemoration Concert

Saturday 2 August 2014 at 7.30pm

Coleshill Town Hall, High Street, Coleshill, Warwickshire, B46 3BG

Coleshill Town Band are presenting a charity concert in aid of the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine Patient Welfare Fund. The concert will feature music of the period and readings of contemporary press reports, letters home and stories of the Coleshill locals who were affected by the Great War.

Contact: Simon Toon, Band Sergeant, Coleshill Town Band, email: sfwtoon@gmail.com

“Far, Far from Ypres” The Stage Show

Sunday 17 August 2014 at 8.00pm, Queen's Hall, Edinburgh

Saturday 30 August 2014 at 7.30pm, Perth Concert Hall

The songs, poetry and music of WW1 from a Scottish perspective, following ”“any village, town or city in Scotland”.

After selling out The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall at Celtic Connections, 2014, and receiving two standing ovations in the emotionally charged main auditorium, this moving show is being presented twice in August in the year of ‘Homecoming Scotland 2014’. It will also be in commemoration of this, the 100th Anniversary of the beginning of the so-called Great War of 1914-18. The show had previously been staged at Celtic Connections and the Edinburgh Fringe in 2012 to capacity audiences. (See websites below for more information.)

The ‘cast’ comprises Barbara Dickson, Phil Cunningham, Dick Gaughan, Siobhan Miller, Ian Bruce, Stephen Quigg, Gary West (pipes), Stevie Palmer, Mairi MacInnes, (Gaelic song), John Blackwood, Fiona Forbes, Anne Murray, George Archibald, Charlie Milne, Jim Weatherston, May Weatherston, Peter McCulloch, Kenny MacDonald, Gordon Stewart, Norman Gore (snare drum), Donald Hay (snare drum), Brian Miller (guitar), Tom Ward (concertina), Dennis Wilson, Carol Prior and Allan Prior. The narrator is BBC Radio Scotland’s Iain Anderson, Peter Heywood takes care of graphic projection and Sandy Forbes is sound advisor. Ian McCalman, who instigated the production and wrote the script, directs "Ypres" and Ian Green will take care of promotion.

An album ‘Far Far from Ypres’ CDTRAX1418, from which the stage show arose, is available from Greentrax. Ian Green – Promotions, c/o Cockenzie Business Centre, Edinburgh Road, Cockenzie, EH32 0XL Tel. 01875 815888/Fax 01875 813545 Emails: Ian Green) ian@greentrax.com (Ian McCalman) ian@kingarth.demon.co.uk

Websites: www.greentrax.com and www.the-mccalmans.com

Concert to Mark the Outbreak of the Great War

Sunday 14 September, 2014 at 2.30pm

St. Peter's Church, Budleigh Salterton, Devon

Tickets: £12.00

Friends of St. Peters present a special concert by A.J's Big Band, the finest 17 piece big band in Devon and the South West. Enjoy the sounds of timeless classics from 1914-1918, The Glenn Miller Era and the Last Night of the Proms. Supporting The Royal British Legion and Forces Veterans for Veterans.

Tickets are available from:

• Budleigh Salterton T.I.C. 01395-445275
• Card Shop Too, 3 High Street 01395-446767
• Lesleys, 49 Fore Street 01395-443959

Website: www.ajsbigband.com

First World War in Retrospect

28 July - 1 August 2014

Weetwood Hall Conference Centre & Hotel, Otley Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS16 5PS

Speakers:

Professor Gary Sheffield MA PhD FRHistS FRSA; Dr John Bourne; Professor Edward M. Spiers; Professor Dominic Tweddle; Dr Spencer Jones; Professor Peter Simkins MBE; Major Roger Chapman MBE, MA; Professor Mark Derez; Matthew Richardson; Alan Sixsmith; Chris Baker; Clive Harris; Lieutenant Colonel John Whitchurch; Philip Magrath; Major Paul Skelton-Stroud BVSc PhD MVSc MPhil FSB FRCVS; Nick Forder; Prof Alison Fell; Dr Catriona Pennell FRHistS; Captain Julian Spilsbury.

The conference has been planned by Conference Director Dr Peter Liddle and Military Consultant Colonel Alan Roberts.

For details of the conference programme, biographies of the speakers and organizers, booking information, accommodation, packages and any other queries see the website:

Email: For details contact peter.chubb@weetwood.co.uk

Website: www.weetwood.co.uk First World War

Telephone: Peter Chubb on 0113 388 5707

British Poetry of the First World War: English Association Conference 2014

Friday 5 - Sunday 7 September 2014

Wadham College, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PN

One of the English Association’s major contributions to the centenary of the First World War will be an international conference at Oxford, open to everyone with an interest in the poetry and poets of the Great War.

The conference programme is designed for academic, specialist, and general interest delegates.

The conference Patron is Professor Jon Stallworthy, the greatest living authority on Wilfred Owen. Himself a Poet, biographer and critic, he is the editor of The Oxford Book of War Poetry. The plenary speakers, too are leading international figures in the study of war poetry and the cultural history of the Great War. Professor Edna Longley of Queen’s University, Belfast is one of the most influential critics writing today on modern Irish and British Poetry, renowned especially for her work on the poetry and prose of Edward Thomas.

For information about the conference, programme, venue and booking see the website:

Website: englishassociation.ac.uk/conference/

Reflections on the Great War of 1914-1918

Wednesday 12 November 2014, 13.00 - 17.00 hours

Northern College, Wentworth Castle, Stainborough, Barnsley S75 3ET

Admission: £10 per ticket, includes light refreshments

A conference to commemorate one hundred years since the start of the First World War by Northern College in partnership with The Western Front Association. Speakers will be:

• Ritchie Wood: Miners Underground on the Western Front (with a focus on Welsh and Yorkshire miners)
• Liza Sentance: Canadian First Nation in World War One (focus on the native Indians)
• Rob Thomson: Logistics on the Western Front (how the army was organised)

Contact Janet Drury for tickets and information on telephone number 01226 776000.

Website: www.northern.ac.uk Conferences: General Information

Email (conferences): business@northern.ac.uk

to November 2014 (see weekend courses below for dates)

University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge, Madingley Hall, Madingley, Cambridge CB23 8AQ

The University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) offers short and part-time courses to adult learners of all ages. To mark the centenary of the First World War, ICE is offering a number of weekend courses looking at different aspects of the conflict in 2014. All courses take place at Madingley Hall, a 16th century country house three miles west of Cambridge, and accommodation is available in the Hall’s en suite accommodation.

• Theirs not to reason why: horsing the British Army through two wars, 1875–1925 – 14–16 November. We will look at British Army 'horse service' during the Anglo-Boer and 1914–18 wars. The course will focus particularly on military procurement in relation to the domestic horse breeding industry, foreign supply in times of war, debate about mechanisation versus the horse, and development of an integrated military transport system. We will explore some of the myths and reality surrounding this subject and address questions like: where did horses come from, what types, in what numbers, and how were they cared for? Visit: www.ice.cam.ac.uk/warhorses
• War in the shadows: a comparative study of T E Lawrence and Michael Collins – 21–23 November. This course offers a comparative analysis of guerrilla warfare in Ireland and the Middle East during the First World War. It examines the intelligence and military careers of two very different historical figures that, for very different reasons, would become household names in Great Britain. Visit: www.ice.cam.ac.uk/shadows

Courses are taught by Cambridge University academics and meals are included in the fee. For more information about any of the following courses either follow the link to the course page or contact:

Email: enquiries@ice.cam.ac.uk

Telephone: 01223 746262

WW1 Edwardian Fete & Picnic

Sunday 3 August 2014, 10.00 - 17.00 hours

The Staffordshire Regiment Museum, Whittington Barracks, Whittington, Lichfield, Staffordshire WS14 9PY

Admission: See www.staffordshireregimentmuseum.com for details.

The Museum is pulling out all of the stops to create an Edwardian extravaganza to commemorate the outbreak of WW1. Come along to our Edwardian Tea tent where you will be served authentic cakes and lunches by ladies dressed in period costume. Read one of our original newspapers and listen to the musicians who will fill the tea tent with evocative music. There will be lots of opportunity to shop with an impressive and extensive collection of stalls selling vintage items, fashions, crafts, gifts, jewellery, books, toys, cakes, homewares, bric-a-brac and much more. Fancy a pasty and a pint? Our period beer tent is the place to be, and with live music and drama, period fairground rides and stalls, lots of WWI themed entertainment and re-enactions and our brilliant museum collections and WW1 trench system, this is truly the place to be. Stay all day and you’ll still not have seen everything! We’ll all be in period uniform and costume, and we’d be delighted if you’d join in too! Fancy an Edwardian makeover? Let our talented stylists give you that ‘Belle Epoch’ look.

Telephone: 01543 434 394

Email: curator@staffordshireregimentmuseum.com

Website: staffordshireregimentmuseum.com

WW1 Weekend

Saturday 20 & Sunday 21 September 2014, 10.00 - 16.00 hours

The Staffordshire Regiment Museum, Whittington Barracks, Whittington, Lichfield, Staffordshire WS14 9PY

Admission: See www.staffordshireregimentmuseum.com for details.

Commemorating the role of the South and North Staffordshire Regiment Battalions during the 1st Battle of Ypres. Uniformed re-enactors will re-create the experience of trench life in our fantastic WW1 trench system, and describe what life was like for soldiers during the Great War. This 500ft trench system contains ‘scrape’ holes, dugout, gun positions and even a tunnel, used during the period to undermine the enemy trenches that were often just a short way away. Ammunition boxes are strewn around, sandbags line the walls, original signage points the way as the visitor is immersed in a professionally created soundscape that takes you straight to the trenches of WWI France. We also re-create ‘back areas’ or the activities that were going on behind the trenches including dressing stations and mess tents, and you’ll get the chance to chat to British and German soldiers alike, try on uniforms and handle weapons and equipment. A fascinating insight into the Great War.

Telephone: 01543 434 394

Email: curator@staffordshireregimentmuseum.com

Website: staffordshireregimentmuseum.com

Night in the Trenches

Saturday 8 November 2014. Tours start from 16.30 hours.

The Staffordshire Regiment Museum, Whittington Barracks, Whittington, Lichfield, Staffordshire WS14 9PY

Admission: Pre-booking essential. See www.staffordshireregimentmuseum.com for details.

One of the most popular events in the Museum’s calendar is ‘Night in the Trenches’ which will be taking place this year in the remarkable new trench system. This is an opportunity to experience a soldier’s life in the trenches in WWI. Uniformed re-enactors take you back to evoke the life lived and conditions experienced by our troops during the Great War. Guided tours take place from 16.30 – 19.45 hours and pre booking is essential. Good wheelchair access. Please ring 24 hours in advance for event confirmation.

Please see the website for further details.

Telephone: 01543 434 394

Email: curator@staffordshireregimentmuseum.com

Website: staffordshireregimentmuseum.com

Carols in the Trenches

Saturday 13 December 2014. 19.30 - 20.30 hours.

The Staffordshire Regiment Museum, Whittington Barracks, Whittington, Lichfield, Staffordshire WS14 9PY

Admission: Pre-booking essential. See www.staffordshireregimentmuseum.com for details.

Carols in the Trenches is an evocative re-enactment of the 1914 Christmas Truce. Come along to the Staffordshire Regiment Museum for an evening of Carols set in the Museum’s WWI trench system, concluded by a re-enactment of the Christmas Truce where British soldiers emerged from the trench to shake hands with their German counterparts who were dug in just yards away. A thoughtful, festive and uplifting evening.

Please see the website for further details.

Telephone: 01543 434 394

Email: curator@staffordshireregimentmuseum.com

Website: staffordshireregimentmuseum.com

WW1 Discovery Days

4, 11 18 & 25 August, 27 October 2014. Tours start at 11.00, 12.00 & 13.00 hours.

The Staffordshire Regiment Museum, Whittington Barracks, Whittington, Lichfield, Staffordshire WS14 9PY

Admission: See www.staffordshireregimentmuseum.com for details.

The Staffordshire Regiment Museum is organizing a series of exciting tours at the museum during 2014 for parents and children on Mondays in the school half term and summer holidays and Bank Holiday Mondays.

Uniformed guides will take you on a detailed tour of the Museum’s fantastic WW1 trench system, and describe what life was like for soldiers during the Great War. A 500ft trench system contains ‘scrape’ holes, dugout, gun positions and even a tunnel, used during the period to undermine the enemy trenches that were often just a short way away.

Ammunition boxes are strewn around, sandbags line the walls, original signage points the way as the visitor is immersed in a professionally created soundscape that takes you straight to the trenches of WWI France.

Parents and children will also get the chance to try on uniforms, as well as handle weapons and equipment from the time, plus explore the museum and its fascinating collections.

Telephone: 01543 434 394

Email: curator@staffordshireregimentmuseum.com

Website: staffordshireregimentmuseum.com

Tracks to the Trenches

12, 13 & 14 September 2014

Apedale Valley Light Railway, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire

A major event organized by the Moseley Railway Trust to commemorate the centenary of the start of the First World War and the major role played by the railway in the logistics and transportation of men, animals and machines in the war.

For full details about the forthcoming event, visiting locomotives and how to find the Apedale Light Railway visit the website for “Tracks to the Trenches”:

Website: www.ww1-event.org

The National Archives, Kew, Surrey

Free and paid lectures, events and tours to see behind the scenes at the archives and find out more on how to research family history using the archive collections. For more information and a calendar of events go to the National Archives' website at

Website: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk Events

The National Army Museum, London

The museum offers a programme of lunchtime lectures, conferences and study days. Led by experts, the programme aims to increase an understanding of history, the arts, science, and the world we live in today - through the exploration of military history. The programme is aimed at ages 16 and above. Some events are related to school and college programmes of study. Booking is advised. For more information go to the National Army Museum's website at:

Website: www.nam.ac.uk What's On

The Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset

The Tank Museum provides lectures as part of its events programme. For further information go to The Tank Museum Diary of Events at:

Website: www.tankmuseum.org Events Diary

University of Birmingham Centre for First World War Studies

The Centre for First World War Studies is part of the School of History and Cultures at Birmingham University. The Centre holds regular events including seminars, lectures and conferences. For information on the events programme visit the Centre for First World War Studies' website at:

Website: www.warstudies.bham.ac.uk Events

University College London

Lectures held during June 2014 by the University College London can be watched online at at YouTube channel www.youtube.com/UCLLHL

• Sex and the Somme, Dr Clare Makepeace, UCL History. Tommies queued in their hundreds to visit brothels in the First World War. Dr Clare Makepeace explores this little-discussed aspect of the war. She uncovers soldiers' reasons for visiting brothels, their reactions to them and the prostitutes, and how they dealt with the potential consequences: venereal disease. The findings give us fresh insight into what it meant to be a British man at war. Watch on YouTube
• Investigative conservation and the archaeology of the Western Front, Renata Peters, UCL Institute of Archaeology. Staff and students at the UCL Institute of Archaeology have been involved in the investigative conservation of objects excavated from Western Front trenches. Some of these objects were associated with unidentified human remains thought to be of soldiers killed in battles between 1914 and 1918, and provided important information for their identification. Others provided more questions than answers, but also shed light on the reality of life and death in the trenches. Watch on YouTube
• Reconstructing Broken Bodies: From Industrial Warfare to Industrial Engineered Tissues Prof Robert Brown, UCL Surgical Science & Mr Colin Hopper, UCL Eastman Dental Institute. Trench warfare protected combatants from many injuries, but left the head exposed, producing a massive demand for experimental facial reconstructive surgery. WW1 is acknowledged as the first ‘industrial scale’ war, but it has taken a century to stumble upon the concept of industrial scale tissue production. This very 21st century idea can be traced back to WW1 and the clinical pressures produced by industrial scale, non-lethal trauma. Watch on YouTube
• Science and the First World War, Prof Jon Agar, UCL Science and Technology Studies. This year is the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. By examining the lives of figures such as Henry Gwyn Jeffreys Moseley and Fritz Haber, this talk will show how scientists on all sides were swept up in the tide of patriotism, militarism and nationalism, making contributions, some tragically brief, some devastatingly effective, to the waging of war. And what of the long-lasting effects? While some saw the Great War as an irreparable crisis of modern civilisation, with science as a symbol of inhumanity, others saw science as an internationalist project capable of healing wounds. Watch on YouTube

The Western Front Association (W.F.A.)

Lectures, seminars and conferences are held at regular monthly Branch meetings and at a national level around the United Kingdom and internationally. Speakers include well-known military historians and WFA members with expertise in a wide variety of topics related to the First World War. For further information and a calendar of forthcoming events visit the WFA website at:

Website: www.westernfrontassociation.com National Events & Conferences

BBC: World War One

Explore the WW1 section of the BBC website to find a wide range of things to do, BBC radio and BBC TV programmes, and much more.

Website: www.bbc.co.uk/ww1

Centenary Events Co-ordination

The Imperial War Museum has set up a website to co-ordinate a listing of the international events and resources which will be marking 100 years since the outbreak of The Great War. The website includes podcasts, latest news and projects.

Website: www.1914.org

Culture24

An excellent website full of cultural news, listings and events for a wide range of subjects. A section of the website is dedicated to the First World War and includes lots of up to date information about all sorts of events and exhibitions for the 2014 -2018 centenary of the First World War.

See the website for more information:

Website: www.culture24.org.uk First World War