/

Military History Events, Lectures, and Exhibitions – November 2021

The best Military History events, lectures, and exhibitions running from November to April 2022.

Fighting Talk: one man’s journey from abandonment to Trafalgar

Until 27 February 2022
The Foundling Museum, 40 Brunswick Square,
London, WC1N 1AZ
https://foundlingmuseum.org.uk/events/fighting-talk-one-boys-journey-from-abandonment-to-trafalgar
+44 (0) 20 7841 3600
£10.50

Born in 1787, George King was child number 18,053 at the Foundling Hospital, the UK’s first children’s charity, where he was taught to read and write – a rare skill for working-class people in the 18th century. King’s education allowed him to create an astonishing account of a life lived through some of history’s most momentous events: the revolution in America, the Cadiz blockade, and the Battle of Trafalgar (pictured). His personal account of Nelson’s great naval victory in October 1805 will be revealed to the public for the first time in this exhibition, along with a variety of other artefacts from King’s momentous life.

Image: The Foundling Museum.

Snapshots

Until 3 April 2022
National WWI Museum and Memorial,
2 Memorial Drive, Kansas City, MO 64108
www.theworldwar.org/explore/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/snapshots
+1 816 888 8100
$18

By the time of the First World War, conflict photography was no longer solely the domain of professionals. Technological advances and cheapening prices allowed amateurs – be it service personnel or private citizens – to carry their own cameras, through which they captured the devastation of the war. As the results were often banned by many governments, this new collection includes hundreds of albums and many thousands of photos never seen in public before, recording people and their experiences of conflict.

Image: National WWI Museum and Memorial.

Legacies of Empire

Until 30 January 2022
National War Museum, Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, EH1 2NG
www.nms.ac.uk/exhibitions-events/exhibitions/national-war-museum/legacies-of-empire
+44 (0) 300 123 6789
Prices vary

Represented most famously by the Elgin Marbles, the practice of appropriating foreign objects has been a common theme in military history for centuries. This exhibition, based on an Arts and Humanities Research Council Project on military collections in the British Empire, examines the varied motivations and circumstances around the acquisition of objects through colonial conflict. It includes relics, mementos, and memorials from campaigns from across the world, such as a powder horn belonging to Private James Cameron, with a strap manufactured by indigenous Americans, carried in North America in 1758.

Image: National War Museum.

Worth checking out

EXHIBITION

In Air and Fire: war artists, the Battle of Britain and the Blitz
Until 27 February 2022
RAF Museum London, Grahame Park Way, London, NW9 5LL
www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/whats-going-on/events/in-air-and-fire-war-artists-the-battle-of-britai/.

Free War artists were prolific in 1940s Britain, producing more than 5,500 pieces of art for the specially convened War Artists’ Advisory Committee. This exhibition brings together 60 of the best unseen works, exploring artists’ responses to the Battle of Britain and the Blitz.

SYMPOSIUM

Band of Brothers 20th Anniversary
8 January 2022
US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130
www.nationalww2museum.org/events-programs/events/128621-band-brothers-20th-anniversary-symposium.

See website for prices Band of Brothers scooped multiple awards after its release in 2001. This symposium brings together cast and crew members to reflect on the 20th anniversary of the pioneering series. The event will be live-streamed, allowing audiences to watch virtually.

Liberation!
Canada and the Netherlands, 1944-1945
Until 5 September 2022
Canadian War Museum, 1 Vimy Place, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0M8
www.warmuseum.ca/event/liberation-canada-and-the-netherlands-1944-1945
$17.

The Canadian army played an important role in ridding France and the Low Countries of Nazi occupation. In this gallery, the focus is on the Netherlands in particular, the liberation of which established a lasting friendship between the Canadians and Dutch that continues to this day.