Military historian visits

Turing the pages of history

Rose Bay High School’s History department commenced the Centenary of Anzac in an exciting and stimulating manner when students were treated to an intriguing address provided by military historian Dr John Greenacre.

Dr Greenacre was in the army for 24 years. As a helicopter pilot he deployed on operations during the Gulf War, to the Balkans and Northern Ireland. He has also worked in Germany, Canada, the Falkland Islands and Kenya in areas from procurement to arms control. He achieved a Masters of Arts in Military Studies from Cranfield (the Royal Military College of Science) and he was awarded his PhD in History from the University of Leeds. He has been an occasional lecturer at University Campus Suffolk since 2010. In 2013 he was appointed the Suffolk Centenary Coordinator, responsible for coordinating outreach activity centered on the Centenary of the First World War.

Dr Greenacre is a military historian with a particular interest in the development of the ways and means of warfare, tactics and doctrine across the 20th and into the 21st Centuries and the place of military history alongside social and cultural history. His avid interest in military history is also apparent in his work as an author. He has published numerous papers and books including Churchill's Spearhead: The Development of Britain's Airborne Forces during the Second World War, Pen and Sword, 2010.

The captivating PowerPoint Presentation, entitled 'From Trench to Ward: The Wounding of Private Charles Ingleton', Dr Greenacre gave our students took them on a fascinating war time journey. He unfolded the expedition of Private Charles Ingleton, an Australian infantryman wounded at Fromelles on the Western Front in 1916. Ingleton’s evacuation took him from a trench in French Flanders to the point at which he died in an English hospital bed in the East Suffolk and Ipswich Hospital and ultimately, his burial in a cemetery close to John's local university. In his exposition, John examined the treatment of Charles Ingleton and the effectiveness of British Army medical services during the First World War. In researching his story, Dr Greenacre had assistance from the local history group in the town the private came from in Victoria.

Dr Greenacre frequently leads and guides tours of the battlefields of the 20th century, including those of the Western Front during the First World War. He has Tasmanian connections and is familiar to some of our past and present students, having been the tour guide for the Frank MacDonald MM Memorial Prize tours for the past five years. Dr Greenacre's deep knowledge and passionate interest has enhanced the students’ appreciation and understanding of the events and people associated with this theatre of war.

By Suzanne Pattinson
Rose Bay High School 
Tasmania