Gallipoli Association Annual Conference & Dinner 2023

Gallipoli Association Annual Conference & Dinner 2023

Event Details

  • 07 Oct 23 10:00 - 07 Oct 23 17:00
  • Conference
  • RAF Club, 128 Piccadilly, London W1J 7PY

The Gallipoli Association 2023 Annual Conference will again be taking place at the prestigious RAF Club, 128 Piccadilly, London, W1J 7PY.

Once again, there will be a cross-section of several keynote speakers and subjects. The conference will be followed by an optional post Conference Dinner.

This is a great opportunity to network with fellow members and other attendees.

Cost for the Conference will be £55 which includes a working lunch and teas and coffee during the breaks.

Registration will be from 9.15 in the Foyer. The Conference will run from 10.00 – 17.00.

The Post-Conference three course Dinner will be held at the RAF Club at 19.00 at a cost of £55 per head
excluding wine and drinks. There will be a cash bar from 17.30.

These two events are open to Non-Members and their Guests.

Conference Flyer 2023 With Form

Enquiries to Hester Huttenbach at [email protected]

Please check our Website, Monthly Newsletter and Social Media for an update on Speakers.

Speakers (in alphabetical order) and topics

Lieutenant General (Retired) Ben Hodges: “From Gallipoli to Ukraine: Timeless lessons in warfighting”

Following the largest amphibious operation in living history at that time, Gallipoli had quickly stalled into static warfare. The campaign provides lessons that still have relevance today. Inter alia, the talk will look at strategic and tactical aspects in the use of coalition forces, the vital importance of logistics, training for joint operations, the danger of underestimating one’s enemy, and the significance of tactical initiative. In his staff paper dated 1936, George Patton said that if Mustafa Kemal had been in command of Allied forces, they would have won!

A native of Quincy, Florida, General Ben Hodges graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1980. During his career he saw service at all levels of command, both stateside and overseas in Germany, Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea and Turkey (NATO); his last assignment before retiring in 2018 was Commanding General of US Army Europe.

Professor John Horne: “A Colonial Expedition? French Soldiers’ Experience at Gallipoli”

As many French soldiers as ANZACs fought at Gallipoli. Their preconceptions had more to do with colonial campaigning than with the dominant French experience of the Great War – mass mobilisation to defend the nation at home. Moreover, a significant proportion of the troops at the Dardanelles were colonial. Yet French soldiers at Gallipoli discovered a ‘front’ that was part of the mutual siege which ringed Europe and resembled the front in France. The talk will explore the experiences and memories of French soldiers facing this paradox.

John Horne is Emeritus Fellow and former Professor of Modern European History at Trinity College Dublin. A Member of the Royal Irish Academy and Vice-President of the Research Centre, Historial de la Grande Guerre. He is the author and editor of a number of books and over a hundred articles.

Arthur Meek: “Voices of Gallipoli: Spreading the Words”

Voices of Gallipoli is an international project to remember the lives of Kiwis at war by speaking their words out loud at Anzac and Gallipoli commemorations and events. In a sequel to his moving performance at last year’s GA conference, Arthur will give voice to another kiwi veteran’s experience of Gallipoli. words out loud.

Arthur Meek is a NZ-bred, Norfolk based playwright and screenwriter. His work for stage and screen is regularly presented around the world and taught in schools and universities. It spans a wide variety of forms and subjects and what ties it all together is Arthur’s curiosity about who, how, and what we choose to remember.

Dr Viv Newman: “Two Funeral Wreaths of Broken Song: Mothers’ Poetry of Gallipoli”

Over a 72-hour period, long-dreaded news from Gallipoli reached mothers Alexandra Grantham and Sarah Toye. Their social backgrounds were worlds apart but their mourning was identical. Overwhelmed by grief, they, like thousands of others, had to accept they would never even glimpse where their sons had fought and died. “Two Funeral Wreaths of Broken Song” provides an alternative view of the campaign through the writings of two amongst the multitude of parents who, in Alexandra’s words, “with old and trembling hands, / Groped in the darkness waiting / For sons who will never return.”

A member of the Royal Historical Society, Viv is a BBC ‘Expert Woman’ and speaks widely about women in the Great War on radio, television, at academic conferences and also for specialist and general interest audiences. She has written seven books on the social history of 1914-1918 – and also known for disturbing myths and challenging received wisdom about women and children in the War.

Dr Jochen Schrader & Thomas Iredale: “Supplying the Dardanelles U-boat scourge - the secret base in the Gulf of Saros”

The U-boat scourge was spearheaded SM U-21 and began after HMS Triumph and HMS Majestic were torpedoed in May 1915. Thomas will cover the successful history of SM U-21 since 1914 through to its daring feats in the Aegean. Then, Dr Schrader will outline the logistic support for the German U-boats provided at the secret base on the Gulf of Saros. His grandfather, Wolfgang, was part of the 7-man German Navy crew, who set up and manned this base and observation post. Diary insights include meeting Hersing, humorous challenges when food shopping, near detection by Allied ships, witnessing the Suvla landing, all intertwined in vivid detail with routine naval duties and everyday life.

Dr Jochen Schrader, a geophysicist and IT specialist, was already fascinated by his grandfather Wolfgang Schrader’s stories of a “Levantine” childhood in pre-1918 multicultural Istanbul (then Constantinople). Jochen inherited his grandfather’s collection of photos, documents and diaries, inspiring him to further research the secret submarine base. 

Thomas Iredale is the GA’s Overseas Liaison Officer and a Trustee and currently finalising the English translation and publication of the War Diary of the French Expeditionary Corps at Gallipoli. Following research into his grandfather’s service in the RND, developed particular interest in the German and French perspectives of the Gallipoli campaign.


Programme

Registration from 09.15

Tea & Coffee

(In the Churchill Bar, Ground Floor)

09.15-10.00

Conference starts promptly at 10.05 in the Sovereign’s Room (First Floor)

Opening address:

Stephen Chambers

(Trustee & Historian of the Gallipoli Association)

 

1. Stephen asks all to stand while Steve Moore recites “Not forgotten” as well as the words of Mustafa Kemal “Those heroes that shed their blood…”

2. Then welcome address and intro to H.E. Osman Koray Ertaș, the Turkish Ambassador

10.05 – 10.15

H.E. Turkish Ambassador

Short address

10.15 – 10.25

1st Speaker(s): Dr Jochen Schrader & Thomas Iredale

“Hersing and U-21: the scourge of Gallipoli & the secret submarine base in the Gulf of Saros”

10.30 - 11.20

2nd Speaker:

Dr Viv Newman

“Two Funeral Wreaths of Broken Song: Mothers’ Poetry of Gallipoli”

11.25 - 12.15

The Charter School North Dulwich Bursary trip report

15-year-old history students voice impressions of the GA funded visit to Gallipoli in July 2023

12.20 – 12.40

Working lunch

(In the Churchill Bar, Ground Floor)

12.45 - 13.45

Arthur Meek

Continuing “Voices of Gallipoli” - oral testimonies from New Zealand Gallipoli veterans

13.50 – 14.05

Mr Ismail Kaşdemir

Director ÇATAB

Address by Mr Kaşdemir & presentation by Mr Murat Turhal

“What’s new on the Historic Site?”

14.10 – 14.35

3rd Speaker:

Professor John Horne

“A Colonial Expedition?

French Soldiers’ Experience at Gallipoli”

14.40 – 15.30

Tea & Coffee Break

(In the Sovereign’s Room (Conference Room)

15.30 - 15.50

4th Speaker: Lt Gen Ben Hodges (US Army Ret’d)

“From Gallipoli to Ukraine:

Timeless lessons in warfighting”

15.55 – 16.45

Closing address: Ian Binnie

Book prize presentation “Duty Nobly Done” by Rodney Ashwood, summary and announcements

16.50 – 17.00

 

End of Conference 17.00

 

Pre-Dinner drinks (cash bar)

In the 601 Squadron Room on the 1st floor

17.30 -18.30

Gallipoli Association Dinner (for those who have registered)

In the President’s Room (adjoining room)

From 18.30