The Schlieffen Plan was a German military strategy for attacking France and Russia in World War I. The plan was developed by Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen and put into action in 1914 by his successor, Helmuth von Moltke. Following Ross’ excellent talk – attached is his additional reading list.

In this talk, Rachel Pistol will share insights from her book, Internment During the Second World War: A Comparative Study of Great Britain and the USA. She will explore how wartime fears led to the internment of civilians, many of them refugees in Britain and people of Japanese ancestry in the United States.

The Battles of Narvik unfolded between 9 April and 8 June 1940 during World War Two’s Norwegian Campaign. Germany swiftly captured Narvik using ten destroyers and mountain troops to secure its valuable ice-free iron-ore port. The Allies struck back with two naval engagements: on 10 April, five British destroyers launched a surprise dawn attack, sinking German destroyers but suffering losses themselves and claiming the first Victoria Cross of the war. Three days later, a larger British force including the battleship HMS Warspite destroyed the remaining German ships. A multinational Allied land force then recaptured Narvik by 28 May, marking Hitler’s first strategic defeat, though the campaign ended with Allied evacuation in early June.

Richard’s talk will focus on just a few of them: some failures, some successes — though not for Germany. How Britain’s MI5 ran all Germany’s WW2 spying operations in Britain for Britain’s benefit.

Arnhem and the Cambridge Spies reveals the hidden role of the Cambridge Spies in the Allied defeat during World War II. Robert’s talk tells the story of Operation Market Garden, a bold Allied operation that ultimately failed due to betrayal by spies working for the Russians. The traitors, one a supposed hero of the resistance and the other an English gentleman, caused the catastrophic defeat that led to the deaths of thousands of soldiers. Drawing from newly released archives, the book sheds light on the spies responsible for the failure of the operation and how their actions changed the course of the war and set the stage for the Cold War.

The Schlieffen Plan was a German military strategy for attacking France and Russia in World War I. The plan was developed by Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen and put into action in 1914 by his successor, Helmuth von Moltke.

On May 5, 1980, the Special Air Service (SAS) made their public debut under the direct command of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Their mission was to rescue hostages held captive within the Iranian Embassy at Princes Gate, London, by six armed terrorists.

After a brief summary of the disastrous Malayan Campaign and the fall of Fortress Singapore, the talk covers the urgent need for the railway by the Japanese, its construction, operation, and the partial post-war revival of train services.

Actual events are then contrasted with the fiction of the 1957 acclaimed film ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’, a production both award-winning but also controversial in several respects.

Richard’s talk will provide a detailed look at the Berlin Airlift, the disastrous superpower summits, the Berlin crises and the role of Berlin in the Cold War itself.

Following on from Taylor’s excellent Zoom talk on The Army That Never Was he has Kindly agreed to give another Zoom talk to BMMS next year on 1983 The World At The Brink.
Taylor’s talk is a chilling reminder of how close the world came to nuclear destruction during the tense days of the Cold War. The events of 1983 serve as a stark warning of the dangers of miscalculation, miscommunication, and brinkmanship in international relations. The story of Able Archer 83 serves as a cautionary tale of the potential consequences of escalating tensions and the importance of diplomacy and communication in preventing catastrophic conflict.