Who are the Merseyside Branch?
The Merseyside Branch of the Western Front Association (WFA) was formed more than twenty years ago. Over the years the branch has had its ups and downs and has held its meetings in a variety of places throughout the county from Garston in south Liverpool, to the Merseyside Police social club and the Royal Engineers TA barracks in Birkenhead.
Since 2006 the branch has met at the Williamson Art Gallery in Slatey Road, Birkenhead, on the first Friday of the month. One of its first chairmen was the author of the Liverpool Pals, Graham Maddocks, who is sadly no longer with us. The current chair is Peter Threlfall, who took over in 2004 with the aim of achieving three goals; • Getting the branch out visiting places of interest • Arranging battlefield tours • Increasing the membership All three of these goals have been achieved and continue to flourish with current monthly attendances of around 30. The branch undertakes a battlefield tour every 2 years, the last being in 2022. Doing this tour we visited sites around the Somme and Ypres, with the branch laying a wreath at the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate. The next tour takes place in April 2024. While recent branch visits have included the Staffordshire Regiment Museum, The Royal Welch Fusiliers museum in Caernarfon Castle and RAF Cosford. Another successful branch endeavour was the yearly exhibition, which was first started in 2013. Since then and during the Great War centenary commemorations, the branch held it exhibitions in the Birkenhead Park Visitor Centre. The last exhibition we held which was our seventh, in November 2019, where we remembered 1919 and events relevant to Merseyside. The branch also produces a bi-monthly newsletter, Cheerio, containing articles of interest submitted by members relating to all things connected to the Great War. |