BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:ODP CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:19700329T010000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=-1SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:19701025T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=-1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Military History UID:military_history2026-05-20 SEQUENCE:0 STATUS:CONFIRMED TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260520T110000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260520T123000 DTSTAMP:20260512T114840 CATEGORIES:Military History LOCATION:City URC, Upper Room, Windsor Place, CF10 3BZ DESCRIPTION:

The Manhattan Project.

Manhattan Project – Synopsi s – U3A May 2026  The talk will look at the period fr om just before Pearl Harbour in December 1941 to the droppin g of two atoms bombs in August 1945, one on Hiroshima and on e on Nagasaki. It will detail the vast resources America emp loyed and the key people who brought the project to fruition in such a short space of time. It will also highlight how t he main priority secretly changed from creating a deterrent to the supposed German atomic bomb to a focus on targets in Japan. Finally, the talk will focus on the ultra-secret cont ribution made in Wales, without which the Hiroshima bomb wou ld not have been ready before the end of the war with Japan.  (Physics ‘A’ Level not required!) END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Military History UID:military_history2026-06-17 SEQUENCE:0 STATUS:CONFIRMED TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260617T110000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260617T123000 DTSTAMP:20260512T114840 CATEGORIES:Military History LOCATION:City URC, Upper Room, Windsor Place, CF10 3BZ DESCRIPTION:

Annual Debate Subject TBC

Following last year's successful debate, the MHG is delighted to report its inten tion to repeat the exercise. Actual subject not yet selected , but options include Operation Market/Garden or Custer at t he Little Bighorn. Watch this space for decision for final d ecision. END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Military History UID:military_history2026-07-15 SEQUENCE:0 STATUS:CONFIRMED TRANSP:TRANSPARENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260715T110000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260715T123000 DTSTAMP:20260512T114840 CATEGORIES:Military History LOCATION:City URC, Upper Room, Windsor Place, CF10 3BZ DESCRIPTION:

Dirk Bogarde, his service in WW2

Ian Doyle, establis hed battlefield guide and known presenter to the History Gro up as well as the Military History Group will deliver a talk on one of Britain's greatest film stars.      Dirk Bogarde was a well known actor prominent in the post-War British film industry, most active in the late 1940 s, 50s and 60s when he appeared in 60 of his 72 credited fil m and TV performances.    Prior to his first cred ited role in the TV movie "Rope" released in 1947, he served in the British Army for 5 years during World War 2 until he was demobilised in 1946.    Off stag e, Dirk Bogarde was a very private individual. He rarely sp oke in detail about his military career and indeed, he burne d most of his personal private records; his diaries and his journals following the death of his much loved partner in Fr ance in the 1990s. He himself passed away in 1999. Within the terms of his will where he left his not insignificant we alth to his niece and nephew; was a "gagging clause&quo t;. They would be disinherited should they ever reveal what they knew of their uncle after his death.    Hi s publicity machine states that he began his military career in 1943 with a commission into the Queen's Royal (West Surrey) Regiment serving in both the European and Pacific t heatres as an intelligence officer. In Europe he was engage d in interrogating captured German soldiers and gathering in formation useful for the advancing British forces. In this role, he was one of the first British officers present durin g the liberation of the Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp whi ch left him with a deep-seated hostility towards Germany and the German people.    Extrapolating from the ver y few documents on public record, combined with the novels h e wrote whilst living in retirement in France in the 1980s w hich are clearly based on his personal experience, I hope to present a more detailed biography of Captain Derek Van Den Bogaerde and the very difficult circumstances in which he fo und himself whilst serving with AFNEI (Allied Forces Netherl ands East Indies).    “He served ... in the Pa cific theatre!” END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR