Conference: Manpower and the Armies of the British Empire in Two World Wars (8-9 November 2018)

The program for the Royal Military College’s history symposium, Manpower and the Armies of the British Empire in Two World Wars (8-9 November 2018) is set and we have a great schedule lined up this year! See below for details.

You can register at http://rmcclub.ca. Fees (Canadian dollars): Regular $185, Students $125. Includes registration, lunch and coffee breaks for both days, and dinner at the Fort Frontenac Officer’s Mess on 8 November. Recommended Hotel, Holiday Inn Kingston Waterfront, 2 Princess Street, Kingston, ON K7L. Preferred rate of $124 for a single occupancy room, breakfast included, available until 1 October.

RMC History Symposium 2018: Manpower and the Armies of the British Empire in Two World Wars

Thursday 8 November 2018

0815-0820: Welcome

0830-0930 Gary Sheffield, “The Recruiting, Training and Battlefield Performance of British Army Officers in the Two World Wars.”
0930-1015 Richard Grayson, “Irish Identities in the Armies of the British Empire during the First World War.”

1015-1045 Coffee Break

1045-1200 Panels 1 & 2: Mobilization I: Australia and New Zealand

David Littlewood, “‘Its Necessity Need Not Be Laboured’: New Zealand’s Introduction of Conscription in 1940.”
Ross Mackie, “The Rationalisations for and Shortcomings of Compulsory Military Training in New Zealand 1909–14”
Paul Bartrop, “Mobilizing Diversity: The Formation of Australia’s 8th Employment Company as a Response to the Japanese Threat in 1942.”

Mobilization II: Canada in the First World War

Roger Sarty, “The Canadian Garrison Artillery Goes to War, 1914-1918.”
Ian Hope, “Feeding Mars: The Overseas Ministry and the Sustainment of the Canadian Corps 1916-1918.”
Howard Coombs, “Defining Canadian Participation in the First World War: The Case of No. 5/No. 7 (Queen’s University) Military Hospital.”

1200-1300 Lunch

1300-1345 Kent Fedorowich, “‘Returning Home to Fight’: Bristolians in the Dominion Armies, 1914-1918.”
1345-1430 Jean Bou, “Rolling with the Punches: Australia’s Military Effort, 1914-18.”

1430-1500 Coffee Break

1500-16:15 Panels 3 & 4: British Approaches to Developing and Sustaining Soldiers

Emma Newlands, “‘Rebelling against it one minute then taking pride in it the next’: Becoming a soldier in Britain during the Second World War.”
James Campbell, “‘Make Them Tigers’—British Military Physical Culture in the First World War.”
Linda Parker, “‘This wonderful fellowship’: The work of Talbot House and the Toc H Movement with the British and Imperial Armies in Two World Wars.”

RAF Innovations

Sebastian Cox, “An Unexpected Agent of Change: Race, Class And Social Mobility in the Royal Air Force.”
Lynsey Cobden, “A fear of flying: Psychological disorders and Royal Air Force Flying Training Command, 1939-1945.”
Sean Summerfield, “Creation and Operation of the RAF’s Casualty Branch during the Second World War.”

1615-1700 Kaushik Roy, “Manpower, Mobilization and the Indian Army during Two World Wars.”

1830 for 1900 Start RMC History Symposium Conference Banquet Fort Frontenac Officer’s Mess

Friday 9 November 2018

0830-0915 Jessica Meyer [via Skype], “Conserving Military Manpower: The work of the Royal Army Medical Corps in the First World War.”
0915-1000 Jonathan Fennell, “A Question of Legitimacy: Mobilizing the British and Commonwealth Armies in the Second World War.”

1000-1030 Coffee Break

1030-1145 Panels 5 & 6: Sustaining Manpower in the Canadian Army during the Second World War

Geoffrey Hayes, ““Tommy” Burns, Arthur Beament and the Manpower Crisis in First Canadian Army, 1944.”
Russell Hart, “For Want of Men: The ‘Infantry Crisis’ Amid Anglo-Canadian Forces in Normandy, Summer 1944 and its Impact on Twenty-First Army Group Operations and Effectiveness.”
Arthur Gullachsen, “Rebuilding the Royal Winnipeg Rifles June-July 1944.”

Demobilization

Allan Allport, “Demobilization of the British Armed Services after the Two World Wars”
Carol Fort, “Australia’s 1944 Manpower Release Schemes: Fairness Lessons Learned from Early Demobilization Programs.”
Victoria Sotvedt, “The End of the War?: Repatriation Efficiency and Discipline in the Canadian Army After the Second World War.”

1145-1245 Lunch

1245-1330 Daniel Byers, “Punching Above Its Weight: Canada and the Mobilization of Manpower During the Second World War.”
1330-1415 Ian van der Waag, “South African Manpower and the Second World War.”

1415-1430 Coffee Break

1430-1515 Ian McGibbon, “Stretching the Limits: Sustaining New Zealand’s War Effort 1939-1945.”