Alumni and guests are invited to our next meeting, at the Langton Arms, Tarrant Monkton, which is a talk by our own member, Rodney Atwood, followed by a 3 course lunch.
Dr Rodney Atwood BA PhD has spoken to the Society before, and is well known as a speaker, writer and historian with special expertise and knowledge of the events and personalities of the Great War; he can be critical of the accepted opinion that often pervades the broadcast media.
Rodney was brought up in Canada where he attended McMaster University. After short service in the Royal Tank Regiment, he attended Churchill College, Cambridge. He was a schoolmaster and headmaster before retiring to Dorset in 2003. He is the author of five books on military history and a number of articles.
General Sir Henry Rawlinson (1864-1925) was a Dorset man on his mother's side. After a distinguished pre-1914 career, he commanded 4th Army of the BEF on the Western Front. In 1918 he led this army to a series of spectacular victories, which have been mostly forgotten. He is remembered, if at all, for the disasters of the Somme. Rodney Atwood hopes, in his talk, to set the record straight as well as describing Rawlinson's family, marriage and interest in art.
