This morning I took part in a school assembly explaining ANZAC Day. Alongside Dr Earl and me, two pupils of New Zealand descent told the stories of three @OldBloxhamist ANZACs who perished in the Great War; they will be remembered in the school chapel on Thursday. @Gallipoli100
Last month @footsteps_pod and I launched our new book for @Helionbooks, and we were delighted to be joined for the occasion by friends, colleagues and Great War historians in the chapel of @BloxhamSchool, which was the perfect location as it provided us with the book's title. 1/2
Above all, we were privileged to be joined by relatives of some of the young men whose stories we told in the book, including @ElaineCottrell. Great to see @1815fletcher, @giwilliams1978, @boiry62128 and @NeilPudney there too. 2/2
Today I talked to the school about Hugh Kayamba, one of two pupils from Zanzibar at @BloxhamSchool in the 1880s. His son Martin Kayamba contributed to the early days of what became the movement led by Julius Nyerere for the Independence of Tanganyika, achieved in 1961.
Simon Batten retweeted
Delighted to see the new book out in print - the culmination of a long and involved research project for @footsteps_pod and me. Thanks to @ThirdYpres1917 and the team at @Helionbooks for a great job. The front cover by @BattlefieldGD is just what we wanted.
#NewRelease
We are pleased to announce Remember Him at the Altar is now available!
✨ Save 20% off RRP until Monday 8th August– no code needed ✨
Buy it here: helion.co.uk/military-histor…
A hard fought 41-15 victory for @Bloxhamsport 1st XV against @DeanCloseSport this afternoon. @NextGenXV
Great to see former @Bloxhamsport 1st XV captain Dan Eckersley (middle) make his debut for @WaspsRugby against @FalconsRugby on Saturday. Though now playing hooker, Dan played in the back row for the second half. @NextGenXV
Now back in Britain after two hectic days on the Western Front, ending on the Somme with a walk to Mametz Wood, the stunning 38th (Welsh) Division Memorial and Flatiron Copse Cemetery and a visit to the impressive South African Memorial at Delville Wood.
This morning @footsteps_pod and I visited the graves on the Somme of @OldBloxhamist quartet Lieutenant Thomas Thomas and Second Lieutenants Oswald Nixon, Laurence Barrow and Kingsley Fradd. Their stories will form part of the forthcoming book we have been working on together.
Yesterday afternoon's highlight with @footsteps_pod was our walk taking in the Cinder Track + Rue de Bois near Richebourg, scene of not 1 but 3 battles, Aubers + Festubert (May 1915) + the Boar's Head (June 1916). Once again, revelatory to relate what happened to the terrain.
Four different approaches to remembrance on today's tour of 1915 battlefields: Richebourg's Portuguese National Cemetery, the sombre German cemetery at Laventie, the magnificent Indian Memorial at Neuve Chapelle and the Royal Irish Rifles Graveyard, Laventie.
After a foggy start, the sun shone for a brilliant walk this morning on the battlefield of Neuve Chapelle with @footsteps_pod which taught us a lot about the challenges facing the B.E.F. in March 1915, not least the pancake-flat terrain.
