Our next event will be a seminar on 20 September. Unless someone has a specific topic they would like to share the focus will be on finding and accessing archives which hold material on Africa in the First World War. Please consider joining to share your experiences, positive and negative.
Going through some old emails I came across the 2014 correspondence authorising the British Library to archive the Great War in Africa site. I thought it worth sharing and putting on record – the significance of this is that gweaa.com is seen as a valuable resource and that if anything were to happen to it, aspects will still be accessible (once the British Library has managed to restore all its services post the October 2023 cyber attack). https://www.webarchive.org.uk/
As a result of the conference and seminars, a discussion forum has been started on the GWAA site. Its aim is not to replace other fora such as the Great War Forum but to allow members to share information – an example can be found here. The Forum is located under Resources.
The British Overseas Railway Trust has updated some of its pages – in particular Zimbabwe and military railways.
Thanks to everyone who managed to attend the conference in July – although a small group we managed to share a great deal of knowledge. If you were unable to attend and would like to do so, please email me with the time of year which would best suit you. We’re trying to find the most accessible time of the year. So far indications are late May and all of June, out of holiday season.
It’s also looking like we will have to find a new venue as The Africa Centre had to close – they say temporarily – from 28 July. Suggestions of alternative venues is also welcomed.