A bit of a landmark day for me - attending the performance of my first play, Hear No Evil, a finalist in the Geelong Short Play Festival.

Unboxing!!! Thanks to From Reason to Revolution 1721-1815 for sending my author's copies of Volume 4 half way around the world, as work on Volume 5 (the final volume) continues apace. You can order your copy of Vol 4 at www.helion.co.uk/military-his... #napoleonic #history #britisharmy #helion

I'd like to extend thanks to Geelong Regional Libraries and Queenscliff Library for facilitating my talk on Writing Military History as part of the LocalWord25 festival last Friday morning. Such a nice venue! Such a good turnout! And such a long and interesting Q&A! #militaryhistory #Napoleonic

I'm just starting to prepare for my presentation on Writing Military History at Local Word 2025 - it's now only a couple of weeks away. Booking link: events.grlc.vic.gov.au/event/13943709 #localword25 Plus... some latest stuff I did for Redcoat History: www.youtube.com/watch?v=br6c...

Thanks to Owen Davis for a lovely review of King George’s Army Vol 2 (Foot Guards and 1-30 Foot). Vol 3 is out now, and Vol 4 not too far away. #napoleonic #history #helion www.napoleon-series.org/book-reviews...

Eerily reminiscent of a high school second XI match in Perth circa 1978 in which I had the misfortune to be on the receiving end - on a primary school oval with a cracked concrete pitch and 40 metre boundaries. Memories…

It was great to catch up with Christian Parkinson last night to finally record Part 2 of my British Regiments series - due out on Redcoat History in a few weeks. Keep an eye out on YouTube.

Getting a July 1914 kinda vibe from seeing this week’s gatherings…

Hear hear, for our Parliamentary and electoral system.

Some recent book purchases, three-quarters of which are appropriate on this #AnzacDay2025. I visited Pozieres and Fromelles in 2016, the centenary of the actions, as well as Ypres, Mons, Bullecourt and Dixmuide. The Menin Gate evening service was truly memorable.

Good Friday? Hot cross buns!

Prepping for another podcast with the excellent Chris Parkinson at Redcoat History - recording next Tuesday. Should be a good one - Part 2 of British Army ranks and structures during the Napoleonic Wars.

My wife is in hospital for some chemo. This is her dinner menu. It runs to eight pages. I’m thinking I should pretend to be ill so I can eat here.

Australian battalion losses in the attack at Fromelles, evening of 19/20 July 1916, from starting strengths of around 950. Fromelles was these unit’s first action under fire. Welcome to WW1.

TRUMP: Soon I will be getting calls from kings, queens and ambassadors looking for tariff exemptions. He plainly has no idea how constitutional monarchies work, in addition to everything else.

I’m normally a non-fiction / military history kinda guy, but occasionally, I like to practice my historical fiction chops. The freedom to create actions and dialogue I find quite exhilarating. So is setting in the action in places you know well. Coming to a bookshop near you. One day. Maybe.

Latest acquisitions. Normally an army guy, but it’s important to know what the senior service were up to.

If we were smart, we’d be shipping boatloads of Australian whisky, wine, rum and beer to Canada like yesterday.

stoptrump.org.uk/petition-can... As a dual citizen of the UK, adding my support.

I travel 3000km to the other side of the country, and gadzooks, whilst out browsing, come across something a bit familiar.

Secondhand bookshop find this morning. The owner has promised to keep an eye out for the missing instalments. #patrickobrianfans #aubreyandmaturin

Latest acquisition.

So the real victor of Waterloo was Rothschild, after all…

Last night: An insane amount of rain. This morning: Our neighbour, with his head over the fence, saying “erm… have you seen our umbrella, by any chance?” Me: “Now that you mention it….”

The other week I posted about British army officers who were commissioned literally from the cradle. Well, here is a list of officers under Wellington who served well into their geriatric years! BTW: Field Marshal was an appointment, not an automatic promotion. #NapoleonicHistory #britisharmy

Next talk for Friends of the Lines of Torres Vedras will be by historian Steve Brown on 21 Jan. Title: The command structure, dispositions and strengths of the Allied forces in the Lines. Register interest by emailing: [email protected]. NOTE. Talk starts 8pm UK time due to time differences.

Doing some final edits for my Friends of the Lines of Torres Vedras podcast on 21 January. Tech rehearsal tonight!

I get the impression that my last roundup of 18th century British army officer names gave folks inspiration for character names. So here are some more. Most still sound like brands of real ale / west country villages / secondary characters in Harry Potter. #NapoleonicHistory #writing #britisharmy

Every Wednesday, at about this time: Mrs B: It’s bin night. Me: I don’t care what it’s bin. I want to know what it is now!

The purchase system for officer commissions in the British army might seem unfair to us now; but it did allow a general upward mobility in the Army. But the RA used strict seniority - hence poor old Edward Whitmore, a brevet LtCol at age 68, and still doing duty aged nearly 80 . #NapoleonicHistory

Australia 3 India 1. Great to win but that scoreline does not do justice to India. It was tight most of the time. Boom boom Bumrah Boland Beau! #AUSvIND #CricketSky

I recently watched Who Do You Think You Are where the guest expressed surprise that an ancestor was in the RN at the age of 10 - something that was quite common. Before the Duke of York's reforms on officer ages in 1795, officers could be commissioned far younger... #NapoleonicHistory #britisharmy

Having pored over 18th/19th century Army Lists these last couple of years, I have kept a running list of some of the more interesting names of British army officers of that era. Here is just a selection. Yes, there was an actual Lt Johnny Rotten (47th Foot). #NapoleonicHistory #writing #britisharmy

Thanks to Helion for sending me my author’s copies of British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them Vol 3. It’s a chunky tome! Vol 4, which covers the 61st-104th Foot, is already well advanced. You can buy all these online from Helion. #NapoleonicHistory #writers #britisharmy #military #history #helion

A hot Boxing Day here in Geelong has been replaced by a cool change. Strong winds carry the smell of smoke from bushfires about 200km away. Quite a nasty Boxing Day experience for the folks in the Grampians, I hope they are evacuating in plenty of time.

Welly well well. Look what my dearest found for me as a Christmas present. Read by me on kindle when first published of course, but lovely to have physical copies.

The diet is going to have to take a break, at least until after Boxing Day! Just settling in to the standard Australian Christmas Eve ritual of oysters, prawns, and Carols By Candlelight on the teev. Washed down by a stellar bottle of Swan Valley chenin blanc.

Found in a local vintage market, going for a song. Looking forward to digesting this over the Christmas break.

The effects of attrition on campaign - part of the monthly return for Leeward Islands in Sept 1794. All of these units arrived in the islands 6 months earlier 450-550 strong. No doubt the 23 men left standing in the 43rd Foot received plenty of attention from their 15 officers and 14 serjeants!

Growing up, I don’t ever remember temperature maps going into purple. Now they regularly do so in summer. What colour is after purple? We’ve used up virtually the entire spectrum.

The introduction of 7 year terms of service in the British army in 1807 (as against life, or unlimited) were intended as an inducement to enlist. However the below results (for the period 1812-1814) indicate otherwise. Those higher bounties for life service remained a powerful incentive it seems.

Thanks to Chris Parkinson at Redcoat History - the first instalment of a great chat we had about the organisation of British army regiments between 1793 and 1815. More instalments will follow early in 2025. m.youtube.com/watch?v=1vJI...

I stumbled across a little research project I did a couple of years ago - identifying the first soldiers born in Australia after European settlement. Most were sons of soldiers, sailors and marines. Quite a few went with the 73rd to Ceylon. Lt White RE was at Waterloo, later retired home to Sydney.

And now the same 'demographic' study for other ranks in the cavalry regiments. Nominally Irish regiments such as the 6th Dragoons and 18th Hussars still had 20-30% of Englishmen. As regards the Hussar regiments being elitist and parochial... perish the thought!

Having completed King George's Army Vol 3 (up to the 60th Foot) I did a little study of the places of birth of the other ranks in all the units, to understand their 'national' composition. Some of the results were predictable, others less so. P.S. 3rd Guards and 1st Foot were only about 20% Scots.

And now the COs of the cavalry regiments 1793 to 1815 (exc. Household) - on the whole younger, longer serving in their ranks, and considerably more English (but less Scottish and American) than their infantry counterparts.

Having completed King George's Army (British Regiments and the men Who Led Them) Vol. 3 a few weeks back (and to be published soon through Helion) I finally found the time to do a bit of a demographic study of the combined CO's of the 1st to 60th Foot - age, nationality, tenure etc. And the results:

Not our cat. But his cousin, Spud. Too good a photo not to post.