Parents at War and the Battle of the River Plate, David Bickerton

Details

David will give two talks on this evening, 'Parents at War' and 'The Battle of the River Plate'.

Parents at War

David has learned about his parents’ WW2 experiences from many letters between them. His father was crew on HMS Dorsetshire, involved in the pursuit and sinking of the Bismark, and he later commanded a minesweeper. His mother tracked enemy aircraft in the war.

David was drawn on a journey of discovery after finding nearly 150 letters that his parents had exchanged between 1942 and 1945 before they were married.

With the help of the letters and extensive research he was able to piece together a detailed picture of their wartime experiences through his book, Parents at War.

He discovered how his father was in the crew of HMS Dorsetshire when she took part in the pursuit and sinking of the Bismarck. His mother was a radar operator in the WAAF and served at 5 RAF radar stations and found herself tracking enemy aircraft on their bombing missions.

The young lovers met by chance in a Haverfordwest hotel in 1942 and had only a short relationship before his father was sent to the hostile waters of the Mediterranean where he commanded a minesweeper and was involved in 6 invasions.

The Battle of the River Plate

The Battle of the River Plate was the first major naval battle of WW2, fought between the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee and 3 smaller British cruisers. It lasted 80 terrifying minutes and left over 100 men dead, with many more wounded. Graf Spee sought refuge in the Port of Montevideo.

In the talk, David will outline the 3-month hunt for Graf Spee which sank 9 British merchant ships, describe the battle, the persuit, and the subsequent political manoevres resulting in the Germans being fooled into believing that superior forces lay in wait, and drove them to scuttle Graf Spee.

Talks are run by GXSA on Wednesday evenings from October to December and January to March at Colston Hall. See details of getting there and parking here.

Prior to the talks, members may want to have an evening meal, for which there are various options:

• The Apple Tree (Gastropub: fairly close to Colston Hall, entering from the south (M25) or the West from the M40 Beaconsfield junction is the Apple Tree (Gastropub) on the A40 at the junction with East Common Road.
• The Ethorpe Hotel and Restaurant: entering from the North from the Amersham direction along the B416 towards the town centre.
• The Journeyman pub & restaurant within walking distance of Colston Hall
• Wildwood restaurant within walking distance of Colston Hall.