CHARTWELL BRANCH TCC(UK) PRESIDENT: Mr RANDOLPH CHURCHILL [email protected] THE NEWS May 2011 A lot was happening 100 years ago. 1911 was something of a watershed for the governance of the Country, and the ‘Great Man’ was, predictably, right in the centre of it. Images on page 3 (not quite what you expect from page 3!) A very local centenary at Reigate Priory: a secret meeting between WSC and Sir John Fisher took place, 28-30 October, from which came the establishment of the naval war staff and the new ‘Queen Elizabeth’ class of battleship with 15” guns and oil propulsion. In addition the warning signs of a future clash with Germany were beginning to appear with the so called, ‘Agadir’ crisis. This arose because of the despatch of a German gunboat to the port of Agadir to support their claim of ‘vested interests’. As this was in French influenced Morocco there was the fear of a clash of arms between them. This prompted Lloyd George, until then considered something of a ‘pacifist’, to make a strong speech indicating that GB would not stand idly by. This in turn prompted a bolstering of the mutual support agreement between Britain and France (the rest they say is history). Issue No: 8 A REGULAR NEWSLETTER GIVING INFORMATION AND UPDATES TO THOSE INTERESTED IN ALL THINGS ‘CHURCHILL’ (PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DISTRIBUTE THIS TO ANYONE YOU THINK MAY BE INTERESTED.) 2011 A Centenary Year COMMENT As you will know by now at the AGM it was agreed that we would introduce an annual membership fee of £10 to be effective from 1st September 2011. The subscription to be paid by 30th September annually. It is to be hoped that members will pay by standing order in an effort to keep costs to a minimum. Following a discussion at our last committee meeting I proposed that anyone joining between January and May should pay only £5 until their full subscription becomes due, anyone joining between June and August would pay only their first annual subscription from 1st September. In addition under 25’s pay only £5 per annum with a pro-rata adjustment as above. This was agreed. One of our aims this year is to encourage participation from a younger generation and hopefully the above fee structure will help, but we need to get the message out there. Any ideas you may have or any contacts at sixth form colleges would be most welcome.