RICHARD PURSEHOUSE, whose degree dissertation was on the Waffen S.S., has had a life-long interest in military history. A member of the Western Front Association, he has visited the battlefields of Belgium and France many times, with a focus on the fighting around Ypres and Messines. Richard has given talks on the Messines terrain model built by New Zealand soldiers on Cannock Chase during the First World War that he and Lee Dent, a fellow member of The Chase Project military research group, re-discovered in 2008. Having written for magazines such as Britain at War, Staffordshire Life, the Western Front Association’s Bulletin, and the New Zealand WFA newsletter, he also contributes to local and national newspapers. Richard has lived near Cannock Chase most of his life, and frequently drags his ‘long-suffering Messines widow’ wife Chrissie and their dog on long treks across the Chase.