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Ewan’s particular interests are Leadership, the Realities of War and Close Combat, through the ages, but particularly the ‘horse and musket’ era. On tour, he believes in balancing depth of research with enjoyment.

He is a direct successor to Wellington’s McGrigor as Director General Army Medical Services. He set up and led the British Army’s Air Assault Medical Regiment and then commanded all of the Army’s Field Hospitals operating in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He was awarded an MBE for Squadron leadership in the First Gulf War and CBE for his direction of the Army Medical Services (AMS), at a time when the AMS achieved its highest battle casualty survival rate in history (halving the death rate).

A graduate of the Army Staff College and member of the Royal College of Defence Studies, his MA was on whether it is possible to create a strategy which endures. A Fellow of one of the Medical Royal Colleges, he is also an Apothecary and Freeman of the City of London.

Gregarious rather than combative by nature, he was surprised to be elected as President of the Combined Services Martial Arts Society by its members, and even more pleasantly surprised to win the first Worldwide Open tournament for renaissance sword & buckler at Hanover in 2010.

John Cotterill is a self employed battlefield guide for military groups, veterans, civilian clubs, families, individuals and schools. He was a founder member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides in 2003, was badged in 2004 (Badge 10) and was a Guild validator for 15 years. John served as a regular officer in the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment and their successors the Mercian Regiment for 37 years. He saw active service in Ulster, the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan and inactive service on four continents. He lives in Nottingham and is an active member of the Western Front Association, the Soldiers,Sailors and Airmans Families Association (SSAFA) and his Regimental Association. John’s particular speciality is writing and delivering problem solving exercises that allow participants to “re-fight” battles of the past. He has guided groups on battlefields from Tanzania to Tunisia and from Stalingrad to Singapore

John Greenacre spent twenty four years in the British Army before as a logistician, helicopter pilot and staff officer. John is a graduate of the Advanced Command and Staff Course (ACSC) and retired from the Army in 2011. John received his PhD in history from the University of Leeds. His thesis on the development of British airborne forces during the Second World War was published in 2010 and he has subsequently written and lectured extensively on the subject.

John has been battlefield guiding since 2001. His unique experience across a diverse array of military disciplines and environments, coupled with his academic record allows him to comment with authority on battlefield subjects from logistics to air support. He works frequently with military groups from battalion and regiment level up to 3 Star headquarters across a wide range of campaigns and theatres. John received his Guiding Badge from the Patron of the Guild, Professor Richard Holmes, at Woolwich on Saturday 28th November 2009.

When not guiding John is employed as a lecturer in history at the University of Suffolk in Ipswich.