Events & talks

FRIDAY 18 OCTOBER 2024 (EAST BOLDRE)

LCT 7074: Saving D-Day’s Last Landing Craft Tank

SOLD OUT

Between 2014 and 2020, the National Museum of the Royal Navy raised and restored LCT 7074, the last Royal Navy LCT to serve at Normandy in June 1944. Stephen Fisher, the heritage advisor during the restoration, explains how the vessel was recorded and restored to its D-Day appearance, and how its story in the Second World War was unlocked.

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SATURDAY 2 nOVEMBER 2024 (DIBDEN PURLIEU)

Southampton’s Darkest Hour: The Blitz

SOLD OUT

Andy Skinner, Learning and Engagement Officer at Southampton City Council explains how Southampton was one of the most bombed towns anywhere in the country. The worst raids occurred in the Autumn and Winter of 1940. This talk with explore the build up to the conflict and will look at the terrible blitz of 1940 – ‘Southampton’s darkest hour’.

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FRIDAY 15 nOVEMBER 2024 (EAST BOLDRE)

A Tale of Two Extraordinary British Agents

Tickets will go on sale to our email subscribers the month before.

Peter Power returns to tell the story of two extraordinary British agents during WW2. Agent Zig Zag to the British, Agent Fritz to the Germans. A lover, dashing hero, part time conman, debonair safecracker, spy, patriot, and crook, but most especially a truly remarkable triple agent. The only British subject to be awarded the Iron Cross by Hitler.

Agent Jack was in many ways the opposite of Agent Zig Zag. A behind the scenes bank clerk, MI5 spy and exceptionally brave master of espionage who uncovered a truly worrying situation on the British home front that had to be kept quiet.

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SATURDAY 7 DECEMBER 2024 (DIBDEN PURLIEU)

Forgotten Armour: Tank Warfare in the Burma Campaign

Tickets will go on sale to our email subscribers the month before.

Think the Burma Campaign was fought by soldiers on foot in monsoon and jungle? Think again! Historian and Author Jack Bowsher discusses the significant role that tanks played in the war against Japan despite the odds.

From training to cooperate with infantry and the logistics involved in getting 30 ton tanks to the front in one of the most geographically unforgiving theatres of the Second World War, to the battles where they made a decisive contribution: the 1942 retreat, Arakan, the Battle of the Admin Box, Imphal, Kohima, Mandalay and the finest example of all-arms manoeuvre warfare at Meiktila. It is time to remember the Forgotten Army’s Forgotten Armour.

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SATURDAY 4 JANUARY 2025 (DIBDEN PURLIEU)

Wings Over the Forest: The New Forest’s Aviation Pioneers

Tickets will go on sale to our email subscribers the month before.

The New Forest has a rich aviation history; from the early dreamers and inventors, to the pioneers of Great War aircraft. This presentation explores the innovative spirit of those magnificent men and their flying machines. Marc Heighway presents tales of adventure, bravery, sacrifice, plus many strange inventions that didn’t quite take flight.

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FRIDAY 17 JANUARY 2025 (EAST BOLDRE)

Winkle: The Extraordinary Life of Britain’s Greatest Pilot

Tickets will go on sale to our email subscribers the month before.

Author and historian Paul Beaver tells the daring life story and astonishing adventures of Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown – Britain’s greatest-ever pilot. From shooting down Luftwaffe bombers from the deck of a carrier in the Battle of the Atlantic and narrowly escaping death when his ship was torpedoed, to accumulating a never-to-be repeated litany of world records and firsts as a test pilot, his unparalleled flying career saw him take the controls of over four hundred different kinds of aircraft – more than any other pilot in history. A rival to Chuck Yeager and hero to Neil Armstrong, by the time of his appearance on Desert Island Discs’ 1000th episode Winkle had become a legend in his own lifetime, and by his death, a national treasure.

But despite his enormous fame, there have always been mysteries at the heart of Winkle’s story. Drawing on previously unseen documents and unfettered access to Winkle’s own personal archive, Paul Beaver has uncovered the complex and enigmatic man behind the legend – the real story of Britain’s greatest pilot.

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SATURDAY 1 FEBRUARY 2025 (DIBDEN PURLIEU)

Violette Szabo GC: Carve Her Name With Pride

Tickets will go on sale to our email subscribers the month before.

Jeremy Prescott tells the story of SOE agent Violette Szabo. It’s an inspirational story of bravery, her motivation to be selected by the SOE, the training involved including her time at Beaulieu, missions into France, capture by the Germans, her imprisonment and eventual execution in Ravensbruck concentration camp.

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FRIDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2025 (EAST BOLDRE)

Wings Over the Forest: The New Forest’s Aviation Pioneers

Tickets will go on sale to our email subscribers the month before.

The New Forest has a rich aviation history; from the early dreamers and inventors, to the pioneers of Great War aircraft. This presentation explores the innovative spirit of those magnificent men and their flying machines. Marc Heighway presents tales of adventure, bravery, sacrifice, plus many strange inventions that didn’t quite take flight.