THE HARTING Society’s November talk will be held in Harting Community Hall on November 7 at 7.30pm.

Dave Allport’s presentation ‘Snowballs in June’ will be an illustrated account of his naval tours of duty in the Falkland Islands.

It will cover the 1982 conflict plus anecdotes of life on the islands as he found them when he returned in 1997 to take charge of Royal Navy communications.

Before the Panama Canal opened in 1914, the Falklands offered valued shelter for ships and a place for their crews to rest and revictual before or after rounding Cape Horn.

The islands are twinned with Whitby for historical whaling reasons.

Harting Society chairman John Stevens said: “The talk promises to give some fascinating insights into life in this British outpost some 8,000 miles from our shores.”

The society will hold an additional talk in Harting Village Hall on November 15, when recently retired First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones will speak about ‘The Navy and the Nation’.

Mr Stevens said: “We expect that it will take the form of a fireside chat, with lots of time for discussion.”

There will be the chance to enjoy a glass of wine from 7pm, with the talk starting at 7.30pm.

Non-members are welcome but will be invited to make a £3 contribution to the society’s costs.

The October talk on ‘The Women’s Land Army in the Second World War’ was given by Dr Gill Clarke.

She described how these ‘Land Girls’ made a major contribution to increasing food production to partly compensate for the absence of farmers who joined the armed forces.

Dr Clarke said she regretted that “all too often” their vital work had been overlooked.

Her talk was extensively illustrated with paintings, posters and photographs to outline the revival of the First World War Women’s Land Army through to its disbandment in 1950.

Mr Stevens said: “Dr Clarke gave us a very clear account and memorable images of the Land Girls who battled in the fields, together with those of the artists and illustrators who recorded their heroic work.

“Their memorial, in sculpted cast iron, is at Clochan in Scotland.”