The WFA promotes an interest in the people, campaigns, events and aftermath on all fronts of the #WW1. Friendly and constructive discussion is encouraged.
International Organisation
- Tweets 15,038
- Following 869
- Followers 15,012
- Likes 17,151
The WFA Calendar 2027 is now available. It features twelve members’ photographs of First World War battlefields, on the Western Front and beyond, each with a commentary that sets the scene. Sales support the work of the WFA.
Order online: westernfrontassociation.com/…
1
5
479
A British trench map drawn in April 1917 has helped a French government service investigate ground movement at Beaumont, Pas-de-Calais. The map, found in the WFA’s TrenchMapper, records the ground before a century of rebuilding.
Pierre Rouvillois reports: westernfrontassociation.com/…
1
4
22
797
Who are the MOD’s ‘War Detectives’?
Rosie Barron of the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre explains how her small Gloucester team identifies First World War soldiers recovered from old battlefields and gives them a named grave at last.
youtu.be/5pzewQzATqE
@wardetectives
1
9
553
Call for papers: @TheWWImuseum 2027 ‘Paris at War’ digital summit, 2 February 2027. Early-career and postgraduate researchers especially encouraged – established academics and independents also welcome. Deadline 20 November 2026.
westernfrontassociation.com/…
2
497
Western Front Association retweeted
This will be our new home from the 4th December 2026. Please could all @TheWFA branches please share
6
7
377
The 2026 Colin Hardy Essay Award, open to students aged 16–18, has its winners: First Prize to Elodie Salter and James Kehoe, Second Prize to Samuel Crosby. Read their essays, and find out how to enter in 2027: westernfrontassociation.com/…
2
7
1,281
‘One wife, two brothers’: Private Percy Hadaway and Driver Edward Hadaway of Elham, Kent, both died in the First World War – and, it seems, married the same woman. Rob Kirk investigates: westernfrontassociation.com/…
3
8
675
The JCCC (otherwise known as ‘The War Detectives’) have announced the following First World War burials and re-dedications in September and October:
westernfrontassociation.com/…
ALT Image: MOD war detectives, facebook.com/wardetectives
2
7
44
1,428
Three weeks to go: Milton Keynes branch presents ‘A Great War Cornucopia’ at The Old Bathhouse, Wolverton.
Four talks, displays, living history, and books!
£30 per person incl. lunch. All welcome.
westernfrontassociation.com/…
1
3
556
Reminder for teachers: the WFA’s 2026 Autumn Competition is open. Students aged 12–14 write, draw or compose in response to the Battle of the Somme – just one lesson and one homework session. Books and certificates for winners. Closes 20 November.
westernfrontassociation.com/…
5
10
579
War memorials. Commonwealth graves. Local factories. Streets of missing men. The Malcolm Doolin Award asks school pupils to find the 1914–18 story on their doorstep. Open to primaries and secondaries. Registration closes 31 January 2027.
westernfrontassociation.com/…
2
4
525
Applications are now open for the WFA’s 2026 PhD Grant Scheme – up to £2,500 for doctoral researchers working on any First World War topic, at any UK or international institution. Deadline: Tuesday 1 December 2026. Details: westernfrontassociation.com/…
5
532
John Hodby was escorting limbless soldiers from Roehampton to a match at Stamford Bridge when he was thrown from the bus. Alan Hawkins traced him through a rare civilian pension card – one of the millions the WFA saved from destruction in 2012.
westernfrontassociation.com/…
3
20
836
Two German POWs escaped a Japanese camp in 1915, aiming to walk home via China, Afghanistan, Persia and Turkey. Almost 5,000 miles and a year on the run later, they ended up in a POW camp again… in Skipton, Yorkshire.
Prof Anne Buckley tells the story: westernfrontassociation.com/…
1
15
608
Andrew Russell’s New Zealand Division and John Monash’s 3rd Australian Division trained hard for Third Ypres. On 4 October 1917 they took Gravenstafel Spur. On 12 October, at Bellevue Spur, they failed. Chris Pugsley ONZM on why.
youtu.be/AdexYa-L7-g
3
23
887
Twenty-six headstones in Row D at Franvillers stand almost touching. All carry the same date: 1 June 1918. Two bombs from a single German aircraft caught ‘B’ Company, 28th Battalion AIF, as it marched out of the line. David Tattersfield names them all:
westernfrontassociation.com/…
2
6
30
1,263
Captain Francis Dodgson, a kinsman of Lewis Carroll, fell near Contalmaison on 10 July 1916. The memorial his family raised on the spot went missing in 2024. It has now been recovered, restored and rededicated, 110 years on. #FirstWorldWar #Somme
westernfrontassociation.com/…
3
31
1,979
Verdun 1916: the longest battle of the First World War. But did it matter, and could the German plan ever have worked? Christina Holstein, leading authority on Verdun, examines the offensive from first bombardment to final counter-attack. youtu.be/7NSX0OjFkBI
1
3
16
500
2026 marks the 110th anniversary of the Somme. The WFA’s Autumn Competition asks students aged 12–14 to write a diary entry, poem or sketch from the perspective of someone involved – soldier, nurse, war artist, or tunneller. Closing date: 20 November.
westernfrontassociation.com/…
1
2
8
471
The Malcolm Doolin Award opens for registration in September – and schools can start planning now. Local history research into the 1914–18 period, for primary and secondary pupils. Two £500 prizes, mentorship from WFA members, and publication.
westernfrontassociation.com/…
2
9
546