DONALD FEATHERSTONE; 1918- 2013.
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I cannot write as a friend of the great man, and therefore can only write as a wargamer inspired by Donald Featherstone.
When I was just starting out in wargaming as a teenager, I would often envy the talk of the meetings in Southampton where some of the great figures of wargaming met to do battle.
Without Donald Featherstone, Charles Grant, Tony Bath, Peter Young, Charlie Wesencraft and a small band of enthusiasts wargaming would not have taken off the way it did.
I dont think one can give the total credit to Donald Featherstone, but without his drive, enthusiasm and knowledge I believe that it would have been harder for wargaming to take hold.
One of my regrets was that I discovered his magazine Wargames Newsletter just as it was going out of business, it has taken me years to collect some of the issues. I still read them and I still find them worthy of interest.
So 2013 is very significant for two reasons for wargamers', the anniversary of the release of Little wars and the passing of a giant of wargaming.
Personally I think it would be wonderful if all the wargaming publications could come together and create some sort of award to honour the work done by Donald Featherstone which could be awarded each year to an individual who has done a lot to further the hobby. Just an idea but it would be nice.
That is very sad news indeed.
ReplyDeleteI met Donald many years ago at the Southampton Wargames club and he was a very welcoming host - I even got a game !
I have a very large collection of Wargames Newsletters sadly gathering dust in a box.
I doubt the wargaming world would not have been the great enterprise without him.
Joe,
DeleteYou have been very lucky to be able to wargame with Donald Featherstone.I always thought of the Dover Coven and the Southampton club as being on the otherside of the world when I was first starting out.
I have been religiously collecting his books and magazines over the years and they still are a great read.
As for the magazine, I am still looking to complete my collection so if you ever decide to part with them, drop me a line and I will attempt to make to you a fair offer.
Thanks Robbie
I felt really lucky at the time to have met him, I was on holiday, staying with relatives in Portsmouth at the time.
DeleteI too have lots of his wargames books and though I doubt I have all of them, I have a fair chunk. I never did get to read or buy his historic novels though.
As for Wargamers Newsletters well...
I have only read one of his novels - Redcoats for the Raj. I believe there were 2 more, one he had only just completed called The Badgered Men. Of his other books, one I have read a number of times is called At them with the Bayonet all about the Sikh War. I also missed the Wargames Newsletter and only found out about it from I think Stuart Asquith's Observation Post column in Military Modelling. He reported that the newsletter was ending so I bought the bumper pack of old issues and I have about 50 odd.
ReplyDeleteI looked back over the books I have of his the other evening and found some I had completely forgotten - one on the AWI and a second on airborne operations. Quite when or why I bought the second is beyond me as I do not really have any interest in WWII. I presume I bought it solely because it was written by him which really is the best recommendation
Regards,
Guy