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President's Report - August 2008

News › President's Report - August 2008

by John Drewienkiewicz

We have now held three meetings in the Civil Service Club, and we are getting used to them, and they to us. At our last meeting in June the bar was empty as we started to arrive, but it then quickly filled up with ex Guardsmen who had been watching the Trooping the Colour on nearby Horse Guards. The two groups appeared to be mutually exclusive. The ex Guardsmen appeared not to notice us, and carried on earnest discussions presumably about the chances of dropping one's rifle and the superior qualities of the No 4 Lee Enfield as a weapon to carry on drill over the SA80. I do not think we will be recruiting any of them, although they might conceivably have more in common with the re-enacting community.

The business of the June meeting was to hear Howard Fuller talk on a comparison of the Union Ironclads with the Royal Navy of the time. It was a talk which contained much that was new to the audience, and was able to offer insights into the possible outcome of a Union Navy vs Royal Navy clash. The point was well made that it would have been quite difficult for the Royal Navy to come to grips with the Ironclads, since the Ironclads were essentially optimised for inshore waters and the Royal Navy was a deep water fleet. The meeting was very well attended, with every seat taken.

The Parish Notices that preceded the meeting were used to take a (highly unrepresentative) straw poll of interest in the mini conference, and this indicated enough support to convince the Committee that it was worth proceeding with it. Incidentally, the dates have changed to the 27 and 28 September, since the Civil Service Club was better able to cater for us then. There is a note with more details inside, and I recommend that you register early, as space is likely to be limited. I hope to see 'Disgruntled of Shaftesbury' there.

The other event that will take place on 27 September is the AGM, where we will at last vote on the Constitution, the draft of which is included. We plan to have the talks first and the AGM second, so the AGM is likely to be at about 16:00.

As we go to press there are reports that the Battlefield Tour to Arnhem went well and was well attended. The purpose of the European Tour is obviously more to do with group bonding than Civil War scholarship. It remains for discussion if there is the demand for a Round Table Tour of the USA, perhaps based on the Gettysburg Campaign, from the move to Winchester through Gettysburg and back to Falling Waters, ideally led by 'Gruntled of Shaftesbury'. Perhaps we can discuss this at the AGM.

In the meantime I look forward to seeing you on 9th August for the Talk on 'The Representation of Battles'.

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