Our evening of fundraising lectures, ‘WW1 Uncovered’ at Reading University on Friday 18 October 2013 was well attended with over 380 people joining us. Three lectures were given over the course of the evening.
Attendees enjoying pre-lecture drinks
The first, by La Boisselle Study Group members Peter Barton and Jeremy Banning concentrated on the unique value of the La Boisselle Project in promoting the commemoration, education, archaeology and memorialisation of the Great War. Next up was BBC Coast’s Tessa Dunlop who spoke about a subject unknown to many; the role of Queen Marie of Romania during the Great War.
Simon Jones, Jeremy Banning, Hugh Dennis, Tessa Dunlop, Peter Barton and the evening’s MC, Richard Anderson
After an interval break we were treated to Hugh Dennis (Mock the Week, Outnumbered, The Now Show) speaking about his wartime family experiences and what he had learnt from visiting the battlefields whilst appearing in the BBC’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’
The evening was successfully concluded with an auction of books written by La Boisselle Study Group members – the winning bid coming from our guest Hugh Dennis.
Our sincere thanks to Tessa and Hugh for joining us and the organising team of Richard Anderson, Rohit Tanna, Andrew Norton, Roy Murphy, Bill Gornall-King and Nicky Dane for their wonderful assistance. Similar thanks are extended to Reading University who provided a superb venue, our team of volunteers who marshalled the evening and, of course, those who joined us.
Peter Barton and Jeremy Banning speaking about their work at La Boisselle
Peter Barton talking about archaeology and the Great War
Tessa Dunlop speaking about Queen Marie of Romania
Hugh Dennis speaking about his grandfather’s service in the Great War
The audience enrapt in Hugh’s talk on his grandfather’s wartime service