Alexandra Churchill (Commander in Chief)

After a boring former life working in marketing for bars and nightclubs, Alex is a full-time author and television historian specialising in WW1, military, royal and maritime history. When she is not writing about war, she takes the occasional small group to places like Jordan to follow in the footsteps of TE Lawrence.

Away from work, Alex loves to travel, her most surprising favourite destinations so far include Uganda and Wyoming. She is on a mission to visit all 50 states in the US and is now at 27. Her favourites are currently South Carolina and Texas.

Alex is also in charge of Salient Points, the GWG magazine, Salient Points.

Giles Mcnamee

An avid, amateur historian who has stumbled across more than a few battlefields from Loos to Little Round Top, Giles has spent a career in finance, working primarily with software companies. Two of Gile’s interests, music and history, collided some years ago with his purchase of the legendary Troubador Club in London. He has two sons and two stepsons and currently resides in his bunker in Boston, Massachusetts, watching his beloved Yankees on TV. Giles is a wonderfully pedantic proof-reader and part of the editorial team for Salient Points.

Jim Smithson (Quartermaster General)

Originating from Sheffield and after a career which moved from outdoor pursuits to teaching, Jim retired as a Secondary Deputy Head to take up his passion which is to travel around and write about 20th Century battlefields. His time is now split between researching and writing books and taking a variety of battlefield tours, from bespoke family visits to 4by4 romps around the fields of France and Belgium. Married with 2 daughters and 2 step-sons he can either be found walking the Cotswold countryside or the Artois area from his house near Arras. Jim also takes care of design work for our children’s magazine, Over the Top.

Peter Bull

Born and raised in Crewe, Peter qualified as an accountant before moving to the Midlands where he has lived since the mid 80s. He describes himself as an “amateur enthusiast, every trip to France and Belgium is a learning experience.” He has been visiting the battlefields for the last 15 years or so and Ypres now feels like a second home. As he winds down his work commitments over the next few years he hopes to find the time to do some Great War related research. If you need him he’ll either be wandering around a cemetery or wrapped around a craft beer.

Andrew Lock (Provost Marshal)

Andy has worked as a historian and guide in London, Germany, and on the battlefields for eight years. He is now working on his PhD at the University of Suffolk and UEA, looking at the British Army on the Western Front in early 1917. He hopes to draw closer links between the battle of the Somme in 1916 and the advance to the Hindenburg Line in 1917 and to improve our understanding of both periods. Aside from history, Andy is a keen rugby player, has played at Blackheath for 12 years and is now a Vice President at the club

Nicolai Eberholst

Nicolai has an MA in History from Copenhagen University and works as an archivist at the Copenhagen City Archives. His main interest of study is the First World War, in particular: Austria-Hungary, Denmark & Danes, and the experience of war. He occasionally host battlefield tours, and an avid collector and shooter of WWI-era firearms. Away from the war, he likes listening to and playing 80s heavy metal, riding motorcycles and spending time with his young family. Nicolai also acts as Deputy Editor of Salient Points.

Judith Jones

Judith is a keen amateur War Bore with a particular interest in the Mesopotamian campaign. She’s a retired teacher (little ones) and museum volunteer. Judith is our ADC admin bod. She takes care of herding cats and all manner of silly questions, and on her first day finally figured out how to send a voice note.

(Captain) Henry Spilberg - Course Admin (Director of Training)

Steve Smith - Graphic Design

“This whole thing started when I sent a drawing to History Hack, Alex in a Chelsea football kit, Alina in WWII uniform – It was very much like pulling the pin and throwing a hand grenade. Fingers in my ears, my tin hat on I ducked underneath the stairs, nervously awaiting the fallout! I was delighted and relieved it was favourable! After a drawing of AN and AC leaping the barbed wire Great Escape stylee on a motor bike I was part of the band (the roadie maybe! I’m a little bit of a Johnny come lately gate crasher!)” Steve worked for many years in the design studio of the British Shoe Corporation designing posters and advertising for shoe and fashion retailers. He then set up in business and started a design agency. Called catchily Smith Design, he works for Premier League football clubs, Formula One teams, national radio, in retail for John Lewis, House of Fraser, NLB ,The Marlins, insurance brokers, and pharmacy corporations. He has even done a drawing for Vinnie Jones and Gazza, Hawksbee and Jacobs on Talksport and not to forget Baron Daniel Finkelstein. Away from work and history, Steve is a life-long Leicester City supporter and would like to remind everyone that in addition to winning the Premier League in 2015/16, they have also won the league cup three times are one of the biggest clubs in the whole of the East Midlands. He is a big fan of eating in all its forms and loves art galleries, museums, sastles, Stately homes, traveling, and has recently rediscovered Airfix models.

Bart Parish - Web/Video Content

Bart is taking a lead in putting together video content for us. He is also a volunteer at the National WW1 Museum in Kansas City. He is committed to making as many battlefield visits that his lovely wife Sue will let him get away with.

Heather Klem - USA Member Liaison

Heather has a lifelong passion for history but is relatively new to the First World War. Right now she is just enjoying soaking it all in. She likes the idea of studying Lawrence of Arabia, but not going to Arabia, because it sounds hot. She is a huge hockey fan (go Bruins) and loves British chocolate.

Bart Debeer - Development (Belgium)

Bart is an English and History teacher with absolutely no will power when it comes to buying war books. When he is not reading, or trying to instil his WW1 passion into his pupils, he is following his beloved Club Bruge.

(Regimental Sergeant Major) Chris Brown

A loyal volunteer, Chris assumes his official role because his big booming voice can be heard a county away and projects much more gravitas than either Alex or Beth can muster.

Doug - GWG Regimental Mascot

Doug is our GWG mascot. One day, he was inadvertently minding his own business at a wrong war event when he was press ganged into joining us. Now, whenever we plan something, Doug is always the first to book. #BeLikeDoug

Andrew Powell-Thomas - Editor (Over the Top)

Somerset based author and historian Andrew Powell-Thomas writes local heritage and military history books. A former teacher of fourteen years, he also writes children’s fiction and regularly visits schools, libraries and events giving workshops and presentations on his work

(Captain) Trevor Torkington - Editorial Team/Regular Contributor (ADC to the CiC)

A history enthusiast for as long as he can remember, Trevor has no specific interest. Point him to a rabbit hole and he’ll jump right in. However if you were to press him he is particularly interested in Prisoners of War.

Warren Smith - Editorial Team

Warren’s particular interests include Gallipoli and the Warwickshire Yeomanry. He spends a lot of his time running away from Peter Hart.

Simon Verdegem - Regular Contributor

Simon Verdegem is a dedicated battlefield archaeologist, specializing in the First World War and passionately committed to recovering missing soldiers. As a co-founder of Skylarcs vzw and a key figure in the DigHill80 project, he has played an instrumental role in bringing their captivating narratives to audiences worldwide.

Andrew Holmes - Regular Contributor

Andrew Holmes has been visiting and photographing First World War battlefields for the last 15 years. As well as organising tours, he has researched a large number of soldiers that served in the Great War over the years and has helped schools and community groups with their Great War projects. He also contributed to Alexandra Churchill’s books on Chelsea FC in the Great War, the Somme and Passchendale. He writes a regular column for Salient Points about visiting cemeteries and who is buried in them.

James Gordon-Cumming - Regular Contributor

James has collected Great War trench art for 25 years, with more than 1,500 items in his collection, lending to museum exhibitions regularly, particularly the In Flanders Fields Museum.  He writes a regular feature for Salient Points about items in his collection.

Roy Larkin - Regular Contributor

Roy’s interest in the Great war began with its influence on the British road haulage industry in the 1920s. Volunteering at the RLC provided opportunity for more in-depth exploration of road transport on the Western Front and that has spread to anything in the back area and the home front, the quirkier the better. His book,  Destination Western Front is in its second edition. Roy writes a regular column for Salient Points about lesser known aspects of the war.

Stephen Cullen - Regular Contributor

Dr. Stephen M. Cullen was educated at the universities of Edinburgh and Oxford. He taught economics and politics at Eton, and was for many years a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Warwick. He is the author of In Search of the Real Dad’s Army: The Home Guard and the Defence of the UK, 1940-1944, andAmateur Armies: Militias and Volunteers in War and Peace, 1797-1961. His latest book, Fay Taylour, ‘The World’s Wonder Girl’: A Life at Speed, will be published by Pen & Sword in November 2023. Stephen writes a regular literary piece for Salient Points that explores how combatants wrote about their experiences post-1918.

Neil Pudney - Book Reviews

By profession a Head Groundsman, Neil found himself accidentally co-opted on to a St. John’s School, Leatherhead battlefield trip in 1999 and the rest, as they say, is (military) history. A researcher, battlefield visitor and occasional guide, he also co-wrote a history of St John’s during the Great War and is a mildly obsessive book collector. Usually answering to Pudders, he works with Ross on our general book reviews.

Simon Worrall - Book Reviews

Simon joined the Royal Navy as an Artificer (Technician) Apprentice after 6th Form College, went into the Submarine Service and left 16 years later as a Chief Petty Office, his last role was teaching in a flight simulator. Since then he has worked in corporate IT. He graduated from Birmingham University in 2013 with a Masters Degree in Great War studies. He lives in West Sussex and does some battlefield guiding on the Western Front, where his favourite areas are Verdun, the Aubers area and the battlefields of the final 100 Days campaign. He is an Ordinary Member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides. He reviews books on our chosen theme in each issue of Salient Points.

Sarah Nathaniel - Regular Contributor (Over the Top)

Sarah works for the CWGC as the Public Engagement Coordinator for the South East of England. This allows her to share her passion for all things First World War with children and adults of all ages.

Sarah is particularly interested in women’s involvement in the war and writes a regular article on this for Over the Top magazine, as well as a regular feature about the work of the CWGC.