New Zoom Talk Booked – Boer War Scorched Earth

Exciting new BMMHS talk - put the date in your calendar

The Boer War was a bloody and prolonged conflict. Although the British Army had occupied Transvaal and the Orange Free State by August 1900, Boer forces refused to surrender. Frustrated by their inability to defeat the Boer guerrillas, the British authorities introduced ruthless methods to isolate them from civilian support. This included the widespread destruction of Boer farms, summary execution of prisoners and rebels and, most notoriously, the construction of concentration camps intended to separate Boer civilians from guerrilla fighters. These policies aroused global controversy and were described by opposition and Liberal Party leader Henry Campbell-Bannerman as ‘methods of barbarism’.

The Zoom talk explores this notorious period of the conflict, the British response to guerrilla warfare, and the nature of the concentration camp system.

About the Speaker – Spencer Jones

Dr. Spencer Jones is an award-winning historian and author. He is Senior Lecturer in Armed Forces and War Studies at the University of Wolverhampton and serves as the Regimental Historian for the Royal Regiment of Artillery. You can learn more about his work at http://www.drspencerjones.co.uk

New Event Booked – Churchill Cold War Warrior

Exciting new BMMHS talk - put the date in your calendar

BMMHS - Supporting Military Charities

New Event Booked – Death on the Rock

Operation Flavius (also referred to as the Gibraltar killings) was a military operation in which three members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) were shot dead by the British Special Air Service(SAS) in Gibraltar on 6 March 1988. The trio were believed to be planning a car bomb attack on British military personnel in Gibraltar.

BMMHS - Supporting Military Charities

New Event Booked

Exciting new BMMHS talk - put the date in your calendar

VE Day 1945:

Poland under the Russians

We are delighted that Alina has kindly agreed to give another Zoom talk to BMMHS in July 2025.

Last time Alina gave us a very informative, graphic & emotional Zoom talk on The Warsaw Uprising.

New Event Booked

Exciting new BMMHS talk - put the date in your calendar

Hitler’s Gunner Generals

This is the story of the death of the German General Staff. The Prusso-German General staff was unique in Europe because it combined military planning, mobilization, deployment, and operations in a single agency free of political and administrative interference. The military – as opposed to the industrial – reasons that Germany lost the War are because they abandoned three guiding principles of Moltke: the unity of the Great German General Staff; Auftragstaktik – telling commanders what to do but not how to do it; and the duty of a chief of staff to stress-test his commander’s plans. The instrument forged to a war-winning capability by Moltke finally died in 1945, and it died because Gunner Generals let it die. It sometimes surprises just how many German gunners rose to the very top under the third Reich. By the end of the War 40% of German generals had begun their military careers in the artillery and the artillery provided 6 of the 19 Field Marshals. The lecture focusses on the operation of the highest headquarters in the German direction of the war and the part that the gunner generals took in it.

New Events Booked

Exciting new BMMHS talks - put the dates in your calendar

We are delighted to welcome back Ian Jones for a talk on the History of the Booby Trap. Some of you may recall Ian’s fascinating talk on Bomb Disposal back in May 2022.