Not the Western Front Conference

Alan Wakefield – “The British Way in Warfare – Salonika 1915-1918“

.This talk examines the way in which the British Salonika Force (BSF) under Lieutenant General Sir George Milne conducted its military operations in Greece and Serbia during the First World War. The focus is on the way in which local factors such as terrain, climate and the threat of disease combined with the BSF’s internal weaknesses to produce very different military experiences for men serving with XII Corps around Doiran as opposed to those with XVI Corps in the Struma Valley.

Tom Isitt- “The Vertical War”

Tom Isitt will be talking about the challenges encountered on the Italian Front, while fighting the FWW in the mountains. Waging war at 10,000ft above sea level is an experience unlike any other during that war, where the principal enemy was often the weather rather than the men on the other side of the valley. Avalanches, frostbite, and hypothermia claimed tens of thousands of victims, men fought on ledges above 3,000ft drops, and millions of tonnes of rock were blasted off the tops of mountains with huge mines. This is the FWW like you’ve never seen it before.

NIgel Atter – ‘Tigers on the Tigris‘

This talk will detail the actions of 2nd Battalion Leicestershire Regiment from their arrival in December 1915 including the attempted relief of Kut al Amara, the capture of Baghdad and their final assault at Daur.

Peter Hart – The French at Gallipoli

Who does history forget in the Gallipoli story? The French! Pete attempts to set this right, with a discussion about the significant French achievements during the Gallipoli campaign.