This special one-day event on Saturday 8 February is for anyone connected to the military, whether serving, reservist, veteran, or spouse/partner/family member.
The aim of the day is to support those who have thought about writing a memoir, and those who have already started reflecting and writing about their interesting military life.
Whether someone has served and lived through politically significant times, at home or internationally, or picked up the domestic consequences and dealt with life at home, all these stories are worth recording and holding as memoir.
How was it living abroad during a time when communication home was limited to letters or blueys? How did the children manage long separations? How was leaving the military and adapting civilian life? Have stories been inherited that need to be captured before they are forgotten?
“I often wish I’d asked my father more about his military service during the Second World War. By the time I thought about it, it was too late. As I married a soldier, knowing how the experience was for him would have been really interesting.”
Alison Baverstock MBE, event chair.
Speakers are published authors and specialists in publishing and will talk about their own writing challenges and offer practical advice. They are:
· Professor Alison Baverstock, author and founder of Reading Force
· General Lord David Richards, former Chief of the Defence Staff and author of ‘Taking Command’ (Headline, 2014)
· Patrick Hennessey, author of ‘The Junior Officers’ Reading Club: Killing Time and Fighting Wars’ (Penguin, 2011)
· Bee Kenchington, author of ‘HMS Hood’ (Arcturus Press, 2004), a memoir about her brother using inherited letters from various parties (recorded contribution)
· Alison Hill, author of ‘Pauline Gower, Pioneering Leader of the Spitfire Women’ (The History Press, 2022)
· Tom Martin, author of ‘Falklands Gunner’ (Pen & Sword, 2017)
· Charles Hewitt, CEO of Pen & Sword Publishers
· Matilda Greig, National Army Museum: The History of Memoir Writing
· Hannah Tame, National Army Museum: Understanding the Role of the Archivist
· Dr Holly Greenland: Setting Your Writing Goals
Tickets can be booked here: www.nam.ac.uk/whats-on/writing-military-memoirs
Any queries about the day, please email: hattie@readingforce.org.uk
