Wednesday 10 June 2015

Viney House (Army Reserve Centre), Oxford Road, Aylesbury, HP19 8RN

1830 for 1900 Hours

Tickets £15 each (to include refreshments) from: 

BMMT, c/o Ms G Richmond, 25 Market Square, Leighton Buzzard, Beds, LU7 1EU (Tel: 01296 712717)

We are delighted to announce that this year’s lecture will be delivered by eminent historian, biographer and broadcaster, Andrew Roberts. Andrew will speak on ‘Napoleon at Waterloo’.

It is appropriate in this bicentenary year to have the talk on the subject of Waterloo. Two regiments associated with Bucks were present on 18 June 1815. The 3/14th Foot, the Waterloo Colour of which is preserved at Claydon House, was raised in Bucks in 1813 and was rushed to Belgium when Napoleon returned from Elba to reclaim his throne. Tradition has it that new recruits hastily raised from the Royal Bucks King’s Own Militia were still wearing their militia uniforms on the battlefield. The 52nd Light Infantry, later 2nd Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, played a crucial role in the repulse of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard at the battle’s climax.

Andrew Roberts’s publications include Salisbury: Victorian Titan (1999), Masters and Commanders (2008), Napoleon and Wellington (2001), Waterloo: Napoleon’s Last Gamble (2004), and his most recent book, Napoleon the Great (2014), The latter was listed as one of the Books of the Year by The Spectator, The New Statesman, The Mail on Sunday and The London Evening News, and as one of the Biographies of the Year in The Daily Telegraph and The Observer. Napoleon the Great has just won the Los Angeles Times Biography Prize.

From 5 June 2015

This new exhibition opening on Friday 5 June 2015 tells the story of signals intelligence in the First World War, leading to the creation of the Government Code & Cypher School in 1919, which relocated to Bletchley Park in 1939. The first phase, from June, tells the story of MI1(b), set up by the Army, and the Admiralty’s Room 40, together with the technologies they used. A second phase, opening in 2017, will concentrate on the Zeppelin raids, naval warfare, and the interception of the Zimmermann telegram, which contributed to the American entry to the war in 1917.

The exhibition is part of the normal programme at Bletchley Park, and there is no additional charge. Summer opening hours 0930-1700, £16.75 for adults and £14.75 for senior citizens.

For further details, see www.bletchleypark.org.uk

12 September 2015

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Branch, Western Front Association and The Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe

Royal Grammar School, Amersham Road, High Wycomne, HP13 6QT

9.45 a.m. to 4.45 p.m.

Speakers: Andy Robertshaw on Transportation; Tim Bryan on Railways; Pete Starling on Casualty Movement; Roy Larkin on London Buses; Fire Heritage Network on Fire Engines.

Tickets £22.50 (including lunch and refreshments) from WFA Seminar, 32 Devonshire Green, Farnham Royal, Bucks, SL2 3DR. Cheques payable to Ox & Bucks WFA.

Stowe School, 12 May 2015 at 7.30 p.m. in the State Music Room (Tickets £8)

A talk by Michael St Maur Sheil, a well respected battlefield guide with an almost unrivalled knowledge of the battlescapes of the Great War. The evening will be a world tour from familiar battlefields on the Western Front to lesser known fronts such as Palestine and East Africa, captured in photographs described as ‘works of art in their own right’.

Together with the late Professor Richard Holmes. Michael conceived the open air photographic exhibition, ‘Fields of Battle, Lands of Peace’ that has been seen by over four million visitors since it opened in Paris in 2014 and transferred to St James’s Park.

Book at www.stowearts.co.uk or Tel: 0845 680 1926.

The Great War Remembered: An Evening of Music and Film: Friday 29 May 2015 (MK Gallery Events Space)

Organised by Living Archive and MK Gallery. Living Archive has been working with local songwriters, musicians and film-makers to inspire new works that retell the local story of the Great War. An evening of live performances and screenings.

Frontline Exhibition, Film Screening and Street Performance: Friday 19 June 2015 (MK Gallery and Margaret Powell Square)

A World War One inspired film screening followed by an outdoor performance of Festive Road’s new production, ‘The Best Company’: a physical theatre show with an amusing take on a very real struggle as four friends get a tank into battle.

Songs and Poetry Evening: Saturday 4 July 2015 (Copwer and Newton Museum, Olney)

Working with MK Poet Laureate, Mark Neil, Cowper and Newton Museum, Olney are developing a poignant event to commemorate the Great War with poetry and songs that came back from the front.

For the Fallen: Commemorative Dance Event: Sunday 5 July 2015 (Westbury Arts Centre, Campbell Park)

Working with talented textile artist, Vinny Stapley, schools and community groups have produced over 500 commemmorative banners, which will form part of a large-scale dance piece with over 100 dancers moving around Campbell Park.

For the Fallen: Banner Installation: Saturday 11 July 2015 (Westbury Arts Centre, Shenley Woods)

The commemorative banners will be installed in the grounds of Westbury Arts Centre, creating a moving temporary commemorative atmosphere in the historic grounds of Westybury.

Great War MK Showcase: Friday 6 November 2015 (The Venue, Walton High)

All the partners in the Greart War MK Project will come togther to present elements of their work.

Booking and Other Information from www.greatwarmk.wordpress.com/events

14 May 2015

Professor Ashley Jackson will talk on ‘Churchill: Command and Leadership’ as part of the National Museums at Night Programme.

SOFO, Woodstock .600 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tickets £7.50 from www.sofo.org.uk

18 June 2015

Nigel Sale will talk and sign copie sof his book, The Lie at the Heart of Waterloo, revealing how Wellington was saved by the 52nd Light Infantry.

SOFO, Woodstock. 2 p.m. FREE EVENT

Bravo 22 Company is The Royal British Legion’s Recovery through Theatre programme, which brought audiences the critically acclaimed The Two Worlds of Charlie F. Bravo 22 Company has now come to Buckinghamshire and, in partnership with the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre and Buckinghamshire Armed Forces Community Covenant and LAMDA, will

write and perform a new play based on the experiences of Buckinghamshire’s Armed Forces community.

As part of this fantastic project we are giving the local community the opportunity to take part in a free workshop with the writer of the play, Roz Wyllie. Learn how to write your own story based on experiences that are related to the Armed Forces.

We shall also be joined by Buckinghamshire based RAF veteran, author and award winning screenwriter, Dougie Brimson. His film, Green Street, starring Elijah Woods won various awards and he will talk about he made the transition from RAF veteran to award winning writer.

No experience is necessary.

There is an opportunity for short stories about the armed forces to be showcased on the Royal British Legion website.

26 – 28 March 2015

The Royal British Legion recovery through theatre project Bravo 22 Company will present four performances of their production ‘Contact’ at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre.

Over the past 4 months, the Armed Forces community in Buckinghamshire have worked together to write, cast and produce a play based on their stories. Representing the county’s diverse military population, the cast consists of nine veterans, three Service personnel, two military wives, two cadet instructors and a Reservist family member. Four cast members were born in Buckinghamshire, with military Service bringing the rest to the area.

With over 160 years of Service between them, the cast has completed tours in over 30 locations worldwide, with three having served in Afghanistan.

The play will explore themes of military interaction on the battlefield and at home and is based on the personal experiences of the Bravo 22 Company cast, which range from age 15-89.

When: Thursday 26, Friday 27 and Saturday 28 March at 7.30pm plus Saturday matinee at 2.30pm

Where: Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Exchange Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP20 1UG

Tickets: £10 (plus booking fee as applicable)

Box Office: 0844 871 7607

Groups Hotline: 0844 871 7614

Access Booking: 0844 871 7677

Bucks County Museum, Aylesbury: Saturday 21 February 2015: 10.00-16.00

As part of the ‘Bucks at War: World War One’ event at the Bucks County Museum, the Trust will be showcasing its HLF-supported Bucks Great War Virtual Trail.

War-related photographs taken in the county between 1914 and 1919 are contrasted with the current view of the same location, giving a sense of the immediacy of the past within the present whether it’s the Royal Bucks Hussars in the Market Square at Buckingham, the Bucks Battalion leaving Aylesbury, the 21^st Division encamped at Halton, Belgian refugee lace-makers at Olney, munitions workers at High Wycombe, King George V at Great Missenden, or the unveiling of the war memorial at Stewkley. 

Why not bring along your own treasured wartime photographs for identification by our experts? You can learn about your family’s part in the Great War, and help preserve the county’s heritage.

• Church Street, Aylesbury, HP20 2QP
• Saturday 21 February 2015
• 11am to 4pm

Bucks at War WW1 Event
Saturday 21 February, 11am – 4pm

Meet WW1 Recruitment Officers and sign up to serve in the King’s army, practice drill and try on army helmets. Taste trench food, play games from the era, listen to wartime songs and poetry and talk to experts and members of the Western Front Association.
Free event for all ages. Just drop in.
 
Supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Friends and Patrons of the County Museum

• Cost: FREE
• No booking required, just turn up on the day
• Suitable for: All ages
  • Hearing loop available
  • Wheelchair access
  • All children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult at all times
  • All children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult

For more information please call 01296 331441 or email: museum@buckscc.gov.uk