15 January 2026 19:30
James Carter - "Royal Naval Air Service Operations 1918 -1945"
The Talk: The adoption of aircraft by the Royal Navy and the development of the carrier strike capability from World War 1 through to the end of World War 2. The talk looks at the amalgamation of the RNAS into the RAF in 1918 with its impact on both aircraft and carrier design before re-armament and the formation of the Fleet Air Arm in 1939. The FAA entered the Second War with aircraft that were already obsolete, whilst the carriers being launched were state of the art, armoured designs of the Illustrious-class. In Part 2 we look at how these carriers were further developed, some of their operations and the modernisation of the aircraft that operated with them.
About the Speaker: Up until 2018 James was a Company Director within his family’s business, WebWayOne Ltd. He initially specialised in Production before moving into Customer Services, building our Technical & Engineering Support infrastructure and supporting the Sales Team. The business focused on quality data communications for the Fire and Security Sector utilising fixed line Broadband and mobile data services.
Prior to his career in Industry he was a professional flat race Jockey for 7 years, having success in the U.K., New Zealand and France.
In 2023 he published ‘Hearts of Steel’ that describes the Royal Naval career of his Great Grandfather between 1918 and 1945. In promoting the book he made spoken contributions to WorldWar2TV (two parts), BBC Radio Berkshire & Solent, Talk Radio Europe, Sturminster Newton Literary Festival and the Chalke History Festival.
Podcast contributions have been as follows; History with Jackson, Explaining History, A Few Minutes of History and WW2 Podcast.
Tickets: Entry is free but we rely totally on donations to cover our costs! - Hall, speaker, drink etc. We suggest £5 per person - or whatever you can afford. You do not need to book to attend, but it would help us if you did (i.e. hall preparation and refreshments etc.).
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