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Raise a glass this evening to what would have been the 108th birthday of the "Godfather" of modern wargaming; Donald Featherstone. Donald Featherstone was born on 20 March 1918 in London. and during the Second World War, he joined the Royal Armoured Corps. An account of his war experiences with the 51st (Leeds Rifles) Royal Tank Regiment can be found in his book Lost Tales. Professionally, he was a physiotherapist living in Southampton, who worked for both Southampton Football Club and Hampshire County Cricket Club. Featherstone was first introduced to wargaming by reading H. G. Wells' Little Wars and his first opponent was his brother. His second opponent was Tony Bath many years later in 1955. His wife saw a description of a solo wargame being played in Southampton by Tony Bath and Featherstone then got in touch. In 1960, the two of them began editing the UK version of the War Game Digest, a seminal wargaming newsletter started by Jack Scruby in the United States. Featherstone expressed disapproval of a trend towards articles "attempting to spread an aura of pseudo-science over what is a pastime". In 1962, he started his own periodical, Wargamer's Newsletter. He produced this each month without a gap, with 214 editions until January 1980. In 1961, he organised the first UK wargames convention at his home in Southampton. Two years later, he organized the first National Wargames Championships Convention at a local hotel, which was attended by about a hundred wargamers from all over the country. In 1977, he was one of the founder members of the British Commission for Military History. In 1978, Featherstone appeared on the BBC to promote the hobby. I'm sure we all have read, if not own still, a number of his books on the hobby. A legend of miniature wargaming. |
We owe much of our pleasure to him.
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