Battlefield Tour Guides & Historians
PETER KNOX Colonel Peter Knox OBE was commissioned from Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, into the Royal Welch Fusiliers and travelled widely during his thirty-year military career. He is a graduate of the Army Staff College and was appointed an Officer of the British Empire at the end of his tenure as a battalion commanding officer. A keen student of military history and a son of a Normandy veteran, he has researched and conducted battlefield tours throughout Europe including the Crimea. He aims to bring the battlefields alive, using personal accounts of those who fought there. He is a trustee of the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum, former Chairman of The Crimean War Research Society and a member of the British Commission for Military History.
BRUCE CHERRY Bruce Cherry has been leading and planning battlefield tours since the late 1980s. He counts among his most memorable tours taking Royal Winnipeg Rifles Juno Beach veterans on a 'Normandy to the Scheldt' commemorative tour and veterans of the 100th BN 442 Infantry Regiment (the USA's most decorated unit) back to the Vosges and Hill 104. Bruce has a PhD in Military History and has most recently published a study on Sex and Morale in the Great War.
ROB DEERE Originally commissioned into The Gordon Highlanders, Rob served for twenty years as an infantry officer in the British Army seeing active service in Northern Ireland, Iraq, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan. After the Army he worked as a humanitarian programme manager and director in Africa focussing on clearing Explosive Remnants of War from the battlefield and rehabilitating child soldiers. He has a lifelong interest in military history. Together with his military and humanitarian experience and a Master’s degree in Military Strategic Studies, he has a solid professional grounding in the theory, conduct and impact of war. He brings this experience to his battlefield tours, offering clients a soldier and humanitarian’s understanding of the battlefield.
BOB DARBY Bob has been guiding on the battlefields of the world for some 25 years. After military service with the Parachute Regiment he followed this with over 6 years spent in the service of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos of Oman. His military experience includes service during Op Corporate, the recovery of the Falkland Islands with 3 rd Bn The Parachute Regiment as well as service in Northern Ireland. After retiring from a successful Financial Services company in 2005 he has pursued a further career as a Battlefield Guide/Historian. He has worked with and toured at Higher Command level with the British Army as well as leading and writing Battle Studies and Tours for Junior Staff.
PIERS STORIE-PUGH
Piers Storie-Pugh’s career can be summarized as follows: The Army, Remembrance Worldwide and Service Charities. He was described by The Daily Telegraph as “a tireless ambassador for happiness”. He trained at Mons and Sandhurst Officer Cadet Schools and served in 1st Battalion The Queen’s Regiment (Lieutenant and Captain) in Germany, Canada, Denmark, West Belfast during The Troubles and The German Parachute School in Bavaria. He is qualified with both British and German parachute wings having also served with the 10th Parachute Battalion. After leaving the Regular Army he continued his military service with the Territorial Army. He commanded his own battalion for three years and was then appointed Deputy Commander 2nd Infantry Brigade in the rank of Full Colonel and concurrently Deputy President of the Territorial Commissioning Board at Westbury. He was appointed ADC (Aide de Camp) to Her Majesty the Queen and then the Reserve Forces representative on the Control Board of the Army Benevolent Fund the Soldiers Charity. Piers Storie-Pugh was awarded the MBE (Mil) for services to the Army and the OBE (Civ) for his work in the area of International Remembrance.
MARK MAGREEHANMark has served with the British Parachute Regiment for 24 years, conducting numerous Operational tours through his career. He has also instructed at PARA recruit training alongside training Infantry Platoon Commanders at the Infantry Training Centre. An expert in Airborne Operations covering WW2 onwards for all key nations. He has an extensive military collection and is a published author on Britain’s Airborne Forces in WW2. Regularly assists and educates the British Army, museums and collectors in terms of Airborne Forces.
MIKE BRADLEY
After serving over 40 years in the British Army, Colonel Mike Bradley OBE has been a Battlefield tour guide for over 20 years, and enjoys all kinds of tours involving British, American, and Commonwealth military history.
His main interest is World War Two, and he has taken many tours to far flung parts of the world including Myanmar (Burma), India, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Turkey, Italy and France, Germany and Holland.
His main expertise is Normandy and the D Day landings on 6th June 1944, and he spends most of his summers in this part of France with the complete spectrum of customers from veterans and their families, to people interested in the battles of Normandy, to families and friends from both sides of the Atlantic. He is particularly keen to take young people to ensure that the many stories of World War Two are passed on to the younger generation.
Photo credits:
Slideshow: Sainte-Mere-Eglise, Normandy;