Welcome to the International Guild of Battlefield Guides

One of the series of Guild webinars, given by Tim Stoneman, will take place on Monday 16 March, commencing at 1930 (UK time).

The Guild’s Accreditation Manual states “Battles take place on land, on the sea or in the air, or a combination of them. Thus “ground” can be taken literally or to mean “the environment in which the battle took place”.”  Tim will expand upon this statement from a maritime point of view, and explore a range of options for delivering an effective tour encompassing naval battles and campaigns – without (necessarily) getting the audience’s feet wet.

Members are invited to a Guild recce, at Faulds, close to Lichfield in Staffordshire, to look at the site of the 1944 RAF Faulds bomb dump explosion that killed 70 and remains Britain’s largest terrestrial explosion.  We’ll look at the supply chain for the RAF, why the explosion happened and we have exclusive access to the land around the massive crater that remains to this day.

A chance for a convivial get together, exploratory recce and social lunch in a Tutbury pub afterwards,

To register or further details contact Chris John at cejb75@gmail.com

This will include Battlefield of Blenheim , the German Great War Museum at Ingolstadt and Dachau Concentration Camp. 

Note that April 1 is a place marker in the calendar rather than the actual start date which is to be advised

For more information contact the organiser John Cotterill via the Guild Secretary, or via the Member contact details

In France in 1916, plans were being drawn up to relieve the pressure on Verdun; in Dublin plans were being finalised for an insurrection.  The Easter Rising would see ordinary men and women become national heroes who would shape Ireland’s destiny.
Join me in Dublin on May 1st to 3rd 2026 as we look at various locations and learn about the people involved.

One of the series of Guild webinars, given by Bob Shaw, will take place in May - date to be confirmed.

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was created at Churchill's orders in 1940 to 'set Europe ablaze'.  Partly information warfare from the BBC and D Branch of MI6 (SIS), it trained male and female operators to insert into occupied Europe, the Middle East and the Far East.  The operators created resistance circuits, carried our covert reconnaissance and direct-action tasks, which tied down hundreds of thousands of German troops which could have been deployed elsewhere to more effect.  Of the thirteen thousand personnel, three thousand two hundred were female (or identifying as such) with an average life expectancy in the field of six weeks.  Disbanded in 1946, elements of the aptitude tests and training of those operators still carries on today in the Ranger and Special Reconnaissance Regiment.  So ,who were they?  How were they trained, what did they do and how successful were they?

One of the series of Guild webinars, given by Frank Baldwin, will take place in July 2027 - date to be confirmed.

As Napoleon once said, "It is with Artillery that war is made".  Ever since the invention of gunpowder, artillery systems have changed the nature of war.  This talk concerns artillery through the ages that has made a decisive impact on warfare, identifying key technological developments, the battles where they made a difference from medieval times to the 20th Century, and what remains on the battlefields.

One of the series of Guild webinars, given by Frank Baldwin, will take place in July 2027 - date to be confirmed.

This talk covers the development of indirect fire and forward observation during the 20th Century.   From the Boer War onwards, the nature of battle changed fundamentally.  Warfare was no longer a matter of ranks of soldiers facing each other along a line of contact, but of a battle in depth with artillery sites behind the lines engaging targets many miles in the enemy's rear.   This talk covers how targets were identified and fire controlled. We will look at some of the problems and solutions of covering indirect fire on tour.

THIS RECCE IS BEING PUT BACK TO 2026 SO AS NOT TO CLASH WITH OTHER EVENTS. THE DATES ARE MERELY A PLACE SAVER AND ARE TO BE CONFIRMED.

Operation Frankton was the famous WW2 raid on German blockade running shipping in Bordeaux, France.  The raid was carried out by the Royal Marines Boom Patrol Detachment (RMBPD), which was part of Combined Operations.  Inserted by the submarine HMS Tuna, five folding kayaks, (Cockleshells) paddled up the Gironde and attacked the cargo ships with limpet mines.  The recce is a detailed study of the intelligence, planning, execution and outcomes of a strategic mission that ended with only two of the ten men surviving the mission, including “Blondie” Haslar and Bill Sparks, (who used an MI9 escape line), with six being executed by the Germans and two dying from hypothermia.

The St Nazaire raid (Operation Chariot) was an attack by Combined Operations to destroy the dry dock in the port of St Nazaire to prevent it being used by the German battleship Tirpitz and force her to return to Northern Germany for maintenance.

Have you ever been asked tricky questions about radar and wished you'd known a bit more about the basics?  Do you want to learn more about a technology that's been a critical part of warfare for over 8o years?  Jon Davy has operated in the radar environment for four decades and is going to spill the beans in October's IGBG webinar.  As he's a pilot, he'll have to keep it simple, so expect plenty of nice graphics and not too many equations.  Find out how your microwave oven is related to the Lancaster bomber and why I had 14 senior members of the Guild dressed off in size order on a freezing French hill!

One of the series of Guild webinars, given by Joris Nieuwint, will take place in November 2026, date to be confirmed.

AI isn’t just for tech experts, it’s becoming an essential tool for historical professionals.  In this session, we’ll look at how guides can use AI to streamline research, build richer narratives, and deliver more impactful tours.  Discover how to save time on preparation while deepening the human connection that makes great guiding unforgettable.