John Sadler - Military Historian

Douglas John Sadler
BA(Hons), M.Phil., FRHistS FSA (Scotl.)

My main specialism is in military history, I am an accomplished, author, lecturer, battlefield tour guide, heritage professional and historical interpreter.

I have been a visiting lecturer at the University of Sunderland Centre For Lifelong Learning since 1998 and have delivered a range of courses, primarily on military history.

These have included:

• 'The Vikings'
  
• 'The Crusades'
  
• 'The Hundred Years War'
  
• 'The Wars of the Roses'
  
• 'The Border Reivers'
  
• 'The Jacobites'
  
• 'The American Civil War'
  
• 'World ar One - the Western Front'
  
• 'Swordplay - the Sword in History'
  
• 'Terrorism post 1945'
  
• 'Arab Israeli Wars 1948 - 2006'

I also supervise mature students at degree level.

Since April 2006 I have been working as Heritage Project Development officer for Durham County Council - this role involves the concept and development of the Durham Studies Centre, the major new museum and community heritage project for Durham. This will bring together the military collection of the DLI, the county's extensive archaeological collections, the entirety of the County Record Office, together with community and education space, community gallery and collections storage space.

For a considerable number of years I have given public lectures to local history groups, community associations, at the Durham Light Infantry Museum, The National Army Museum, The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, and to Rotary and Round Table clubs. I am available for public and after dinner speaking, the cost ranges from £100 - £500 depending on circumstances. Any talks to charitable or voluntary sector groups are delivered free of charge.

I am an experienced battlefield tour guide and have taken a range of school, adult, services and veterans groups on tours of the main Western Front Battlefields. I have also taken student groups around most of the major UK battle sites. I have full CRB clearance. I have worked, in this capacity extensively for Tyne and Wear Museums and English Heritage.

For some years, starting back in the 1970's, I have been engaged as a project manager/curator and fundraiser for heritage based projects, most recently the Heritage Centre, Bellingham, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Association and the Durham Light Infantry Museum.

From time to time I have been involved in film work, most recently late in 2005 for True North Productions filming of 'The Tale of the Long Pack' near Wark in North Tynedale.

I hope, in the course of this year, to be able to start working toward the award of a PhD under the aegis of the University of Sunderland, my topic 'The Wars of the Roses in the North-East of England 1461 - 1464'.

My approach to military history, in terms of writing, is based firstly, upon acquiring a thorough knowledge of the primary sources, supplemented by the insight gained from walking the ground. I am of the opinion that there can be no full understanding of events unless there we have knowledge of the ground. We are fortunate in Britain that, the pace of development notwithstanding, many of our battle sites, if not untouched, are still recognisable and this obtains particularly in the northern region and the borders. Equally and with only a few exceptions we do very little to commemorate many of our historic battles.

I am a member of the Sealed Knot Re-enactment Society, the Red Wyverns (Wars of the Roses) and the Northern Re-enactment Society (multi period). I am also a member of the Western Front Association.

Other T.V. Credits include BBC 'Countryfile', The History Channel, Channel 5 'The Buildings that Shaped Britain', Granada/Yorkshire 'Twisted Tales' and several broadcasts on BBC Radio Newcastle and Radio Cumbria.