17 replies to this topic

[Tim Wright]

The newly formed Somme branch of the WFA, are delighted to announce that their first meeting will be held on Tuesday 21st February 2012.
The meeting will be held at the Old Blighty tea room in La Boisselle, starting at 7.30pm.
We are delighted that Martin Pegler has accepted an invitation to be the branches inaugural speaker.
Martin was the Curator of Firearms at the Royal Armouries for 20 years, author of over a dozen books on firearms and military history and is now one of the resident militaria specialists for the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow.
Martins talk will be about the Maxim machine gun.
Everyone is welcome, the branch is hoping to welcome locals and battlefield tourists alike on this very exciting occasion.
We are very keen to become a destination for all WW1 enthusiasts who visit the Somme and surrounding area, we aim to prepare a calendar of events that gives the maximum amount of people the chance to get together, learn, help one another and share their knowledge and experience.
We look forward to seeing you.

[Tim Wright]

Just bumping this back up as there are less than 2 weeks to go.

[Ken Lees]

I am planning to be there.

Good luck with the new branch.

Ken

[Neil Mackenzie]

Tim

Best wishes for the success of the new branch and I hope the first meeting goes well. I am hoping to attend the April meeting.

Neil

[Tim Wright]

Ken & Neil.
Many thanks for your good wishes.
Looking forward to seeing you both in the near future.
The April meeting will be on the 10th of April, our speaker will be Clive Harris, Clives talk will be based on his book "the greater game" sporting icons that fell in the Great War.
As this falls over Easter we will have a change of venue to accommodate the numbers, it will either be the Théâtre du Jeu de Paume, Place Emile Leturcq, 80300 Albert (same location as the arms fair, next to the hotel de ville), or the museum in Albert.

Tim.

[Tom Tulloch-Marshall]

Tim – congratulations to all concerned with the organisation of Tuesday’s well attended and entertaining first meeting of the new Somme branch. Will updates etc be posted on the WFA site or (and) will you be producing a dedicated website ?

Look forward to future developments.

Tom

[Ken Lees]

Tom, were you there, too?  

I agree that it was a very entertaining evening and a great start for a new branch.

Well done Tim and team. I look forward to future meetings.

Ken

[Tom Tulloch-Marshall]

Ken Lees, on 23 February 2012 - 10:41 PM, said:

Tom, were you there, too?  

Ken – yes I was, and it was a good night (and the chocolate cake was nice) – though I had some difficulty keeping sight of the tv screen as the bloke sitting directly infront of me was quite tall and his head kept moving. Sometime later I was told that this was Mr K Lees, who by then had left for the vicinity of the 41st Div Memorial  

Tom

[Ken Lees]

Ah, you must have been sitting in the comfortable seats then!. I do apologise. My lower back wasn't too happy with the seat I was on.  

[hesmond]

It was  a excellent first meeting ,drove over from 7 Valleys for the meeting , morning exploring , few beers and then a very good talk ,even rejoined WFA after 15 years ! great excuse once a month to explore a bit more of the area .

[old-ted]

It was a very good start for the branch & I'm hoping to attend as many meetings as possible this year. It was encouraging to see that several people had travelled quite a way to attend & the athmosphere was really friendly. Well done to the organisers.

Will Tom the flasher be at the next meeting?


Regards
John

[Tom Tulloch-Marshall]

old-ted, on 24 February 2012 - 05:01 PM, said:

.. Will Tom the flasher be at the next meeting?
Regards
John

John - I hope to get to a meeting at le Musée Somme 1916 sometime soon. Whether some more pre-meeting "flashing" will be nececarry remains to be seen, but before the inaugural meeting me and my MAG-LITE had been on an important chicken saving mission (as you are well aware   ) If it wasnt for my flashing the Somme may have been a few eggs short of an omelette come last wednesday ! ... Of course rather than sitting behind Mr Lees I should have sat behind you  

See you soon.

Tom

[old-ted]

Tom Tulloch-Marshall, on 24 February 2012 - 11:57 PM, said:

Of course rather than sitting behind Mr Lees I should have sat behind you  

See you soon.

Tom

Perhaps we should propose a short front tall rear order at the next meeting!
Regards

John

[Ken Lees]

old-ted, on 25 February 2012 - 06:25 AM, said:

Perhaps we should propose a short front tall rear order at the next meeting!
Regards

John

OK John, but don't blame me if you end up sitting next to Mrs Lees!  

[Tim Wright]

Many thanks to everyone for their support of our inaugural meeting.
Tom, John, Ken & Gary, many thanks for your very kind comments, they are greatly appreciated by the Somme branch team.
It was a great night and gives us a perfect base to build on.
We will have regular updates on the WFA website and are hopeful that we will have our own up and running over the coming weeks.
One of our objectives was to attract enthusiasts from as wide an area as possible, On Tuesday we had visitors from the UK, Lille, Paris, Hesdin and both French & British locals.
Our next meetings will be -
Quiz and social night - 13th of March - venue TBA
Clive Harris "The greater game" sporting icons that fell in the great war - 10th April - le Musée Somme 1916, Albert
Peter Barton has very kindly accepted out invitation to speak in May - Date TBA - le Musée Somme 1916, Albert
I will confirm all details over the next few days on the meetings page of the WFA website and on the forum.

Tim.

[old-ted]

Ken Lees, on 25 February 2012 - 12:44 PM, said:

OK John, but don't blame me if you end up sitting next to Mrs Lees!  

Hi Ken.
Your good lady is a tiny bit taller than me (I think) so does not qualify for seats at the front. They will be reserved for Bantams only. On another matter, I hope that Sven will have had a visit from you during which you will have slipped him a fat envelope containing a wad of papers bearing Her Majesty's image, this being the means of providing celebration refreshments for members of the mess on the occasion of your release from toil. Should this have slipped your memory please do make the appropriate arrangements as the days are counting down with great speed. If I may, I would like to pre-order several bottles of Newcastle Brown & a Taxi to Longueval.

Regards

John

[Ken Lees]

How about one Newcastle Brown and I'll lend you my bike?

3 days and counting!  

[old-ted]

Cheapskate. You know very well that my legs are not long enough to reach the pedals on YOUR bike, AND, unlike you I would never wear lycra in the mess!

The least you could do would be to offer me a bacca on your velosopede !  

X to Mrs Ken but not to you!

Reluctant Regards

John