The society was formed following a chance meeting of brothers Andy and Jerry Cockeram with Nigel and Linda Parker in late 2018 at a history talk in Sonning. Of like mind with a deep interest in military history, BMMHS was formed and a schedule of talks was created with speakers being writers, historians and former military personnel. The span of our talk topics is the last 200 years with a strong emphasis on the events of the 20th century.
The first talk in May 2019 was by historian Bill King on The Real Dad’s Army; British Auxiliary units in WW2 and the defences in place had the Germans invaded in 1940. About 25 people were crammed into Nigel and Linda’s living room and from the point the society was born and has flourished.
Quickly moving to the excellent facilities at Woodcote village hall with the capacity of up to 100 people, the monthly talks attracted full houses with interesting talks, a raffle and free beer, wine and snacks included within the entry price. From each talk a donation is made to a military charity of the speaker’s choice.
The arrival of COVID put a hold on the live talks, but presented other opportunities, and monthly talks by Zoom were soon started allowing both a wider audience and a greater choice of speakers. In addition, Operation Bookworm was launched, with our members and others requested to send in their own memories or family members of wartime experiences. The first volume of Glimpses of War was born and published on Amazon April 2021. The charity Blind Veterans UK (formerly St Dunstan’s) was selected as the charity to benefit from book sales. The response for articles and memories was overwhelming and volume 2 of Glimpses of War was published a few months later.
And perhaps being gluttons for punishment a third book in the series was published 6 months later in June 2022, Glimpses of the Falklands War to mark the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War. All three books have been very well received and considerable funds have been raised from book sales for Blind Veterans UK. Another highlight for BMMHS has been that Glimpses of the Falklands War is available for sale at the Falkland Islands Museum in Stanley.
Today, with things largely back to normal post COVID, BMMHS has recommenced its monthly live talks in Woodcote and on top has continued its monthly Zoom talks too.
BMMHS is a not-for-profit society and does not require a joining or membership fee. All talks are open to everyone to attend or join. All we ask is a small contribution to help us cover our costs and to enable us to keep making our charitable contributions.
We also run two active and interesting Facebook pages – British Modern Military History Society and Glimpses of the Falklands War – each with well over 1000 members, so do have a look.
In 5 years, the society, from a standing start, has organised over 75 live and Zoom talks, published 3 books, raised thousands of pound for military charities and entertained and informed audiences across the globe with high quality history talks in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere.
An exciting and varied programme of talks for 2024 is now in place, ranging from the Peninsular Wars, the Eastern Front in WW2, the Battle of Britain, the Dieppe raid, D Day, the Falklands War and the first Gulf War. The first half a dozen talks for 2025 have also already been booked.
For more details of our talks and what we do visit our website on www.bmmhs.org and to join our talks email us on [email protected]
A big thank you to everyone who has supported us in the last five years and we look forward to seeing you all again and many new faces in 2024 and beyond.
