Series of talks planned for 2024 in aid of Warwick's Fusiliers Museum

A series of talks have been organised for the year to help raise money in support of a museum in Warwick.

The talks have been organised by the Friends of the Fusiliers Museum group and will be held in the Brandwood Room at the museum in Jury Street and on Zoom.

For those wanting a Zoom invite, email: friends.fusiliermuseumwarwick@gmail two weeks before the event.

All talks begin at 2pm and last around an hour and are free for Friends members. Other attendees are asked to consider making a donation, which the Friends say is usually £6.

Donations can be made at: https://fusiliermuseumwarwick.com/

Here is the current schedule:

• January 27: The 350th Anniversary Talk: William of Orange and the founding of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1674 – “the sooner you can come here the better’’ by David Baynham: the talk will include a chance to see the original letters written by William of Orange to Sir Walter Vane.
• February 24: ‘Hannah Snell-an 18th century female icon’ by Chris Kirby – hear the story of Hannah who disguised herself as a man to join the Sixth of Foot (later Royal Warwicks) and ended up a celebrity on the West End Stage.
• March 30: ‘Women and Children First’ by David Seeney: the story of how this code of conduct was born when the Birkenhead was wrecked in 1852 with the 6th Foot (later Royal Warwicks) and other Regiments on board; on show will be artefacts from the wreck and a medal awarded to a man who survived.
• April 27: ‘Drones and Digital Mapping-Recreating the Royal Warwicks’ progress in Normandy 1944’ by Jonathan Davy: as it approaches the 80th anniversary of this iconic campaign, follow the story of the two Royal Warwicks battalions involved in the fighting and learn about the final journey of four men commemorated on the Warwick War Memorial.
• May 25: ‘Monty in Italy’ by Zita Fletcher: an examination of F.M. Bernard Montgomery’s battles in Italy, the hard fighting, the struggles with military administration and leadership experiences.
• June 29: ‘Gallantry at Sea 1917’ by David Seeney: learn how men of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment were awarded the rare Sea Gallantry medal.
• July 27: ‘Napoleon and the World’s Best Medal’ by Mick Atkinson – when in exile, Napoleon befriended Captain Poppleton who was sent to guard him; learn why Napoleon presented Poppleton with his very own and unique Légion d’ Honneur, what happened to the medal and how Mick managed to acquire it.
• September 28: ‘From Trenches to Beaches-Brigadiers of the British Army in France and Norway 1940’ by Phil McCarty: a popular misconception believes that after two strategic failures in Norway and France in 1940, there was a clear out of the officer corps; using the Army’s upper middle management (Brigadiers), this talk will show that some officers thrived after 1940.
• October 26: ‘Two Continents and Four Wars: the 6th Foot in America and Europe from 1775 to 1815’ by Ian Binnie - an outline of the little known story of the 6th Foot (Royal Warwicks) in America and Spain between 1775 and 1815.
• November 30: ‘Remembrance after the Great War’ by Andrew Hamilton – he will talk about following six years of research into how communities and families commemorated their dead.