Salisbury (Sarum) Probus Club



Sarum Probus Club is an organisation for retired men living in the Salisbury Area.

 

Previous Meetings 2026

 

Far Eastern Travels

Andrew Negus gave a fascinating talk to Sarum Probus Club on 13th February 2026. As a young man Andrew had ventured as far as New Zealand backpacking. Therefore, in 1991, after the death of his wife, to find some peace after a time of grief, he set out to make a second journey there and meet up with old friends. This time he would go by train.

His talk told us the first part of his venture, the journey to China. He took his backpack and a small pouch of money strapped carefully to his chest. He decided to use the Trans-Siberian Railway stopping en route to see many historic cities. He was travelling alone but soon found travel companions from a variety of countries.

Warsaw was one place he stopped and he was surprised at how anti-Russian the people were in those early years following independence from the Soviet Union. Travelling on to Moscow he was impressed by how colourful the city was. Living on a very low budget Andrew was pleased too, that food, although not of great quality, was relatively cheap. The Russian travellers on the train were very hospitable.

In Mongolia passengers had to alight while wheels were changed to fit a different gauge and then, when leaving the country alight again while the wheels were changed back.

Finally Andrew reached China. In 1991 there were almost no cars in the country, people mostly used bicycles or buses. He was also thrown because all signs were in Chinese and Andrew knew very little. There was no European food and foreigners were only allowed to stay in designated hotels.

At first it all seemed rather drab and disappointing. Andrew decided to stay as planned and he began to see China through new eyes. He visited the Great Wall and the Emperor’s Palace, both great feats of engineering.

This was only the first part of Andrew’s Venture and members look forward to hearing more some time in the future.

Lt Col James Porter spoke to us on 8th May about the first sea battle where iron clad ships clashed. It took place during the American Civil War in 1862. The Southern Confederacy had as its capital Richmond and its access to the sea was via James River and Chesapeake Bay. The Unionists were blocking the river with a force of wooden hull ships which their industrial superiority had enabled them to build.

The Naval Commander at Norfolk, adjacent to Chesapeake Bay had skuttled the Virginian fleet when Virginia opted to join the South. The ships had been burnt but Confederacy salvage teams had rescued the hull of the Merrimack and decided to relaunch it with iron cladding. They renamed it the “Virginia” and it duly set forth in March 1862 to attack the Union’s ships blockading the river at Hudsons Roads.

 It managed to inflict considerable damage on several of the ships using guns and also, in one case, a metal ramming beak. Meanwhile an Iron clad ship which had been built in New York was being towed down to join in the battle. It was called the “Monitor” and, due to the speed with which it had been built and the urgent need, arrived untested. It was particularly unable to cope with rough seas and it was a miracle it reached the Hudson Roads in tikme to engage. But the ship had one new feature which was to  become a mark of the future. It had a gun turret which enabled guns to be swiveled for attack rather than the fixed guns of previous ships. The battle ensued. After several skirmishes neither ship was able to penetrate the armour of the other and eventually the “Monitor“ had to retire to upload more ammunition. The captain of the “Virginia” took the opportunity to withdraw claiming victory. The clash was in fact a stalemate. James Porter’s account was very detailed and gave almost a blow by blow account of the incident which one can’t include in a brief summary. It was very fascinating especially to those of us who hadn’t realized iron was used to clad ships as early as the middle of the 19th century.

Operation Torch North Africa 1942

Operation Torch     August 14th 2026

David Bickerton spoke to us about one of the crucial, but lesser known operations of the Second World War.

With the occupation of France by Germany in 1940 most of the country fell under direct German rule. Marshal Petain, the 84 year old hero of the First World War negotiated with Hitler for an armistice and was allowed to establish a Government in Vichy which administered the south of France and French territories in North Africa.

The British were concerned that the French fleet might fall into German hands and demanded that the Vichy Government send it to neutral ports. This demand was refused and although the French Admiral promised the Fleet would not go to Germany, Churchill was not prepared to take the risk and an air and sea attack was launched on the French Navy in its North African ports. Much of the French Navy was sunk or severely damaged .

America did not want to get involved in a European War and even tried to establish diplomatic relations with Vichy France. However, after Pearl Harbour in December 1941 and Japan’s entry into the War against the USA, Hitler, as an ally of Japan was forced in turn to declare War on America. Churchill now worked to persuade the American President, first that since Germany was a more dangerous enemy than Japan, priority should be given to the defeat of Germany. He succeeded and secondly he persuaded him that, for the moment, any direct invasion of Europe would be suicidal. A better plan would be for American troops to take part in an invasion of North Africa to prepare for an operation against Nazi Europe from the South. American troops were at this time largely new recruits lacking battle experience and it was thought this operation, code named “Torch,” would help prepare them for amphibious landings and provide useful combat experience initially against French troops who were not expected to put up much resistance. The hope was that many of the French would quickly surrender and join the Allies.

The attack was set for early November 1942. Inevitably there were problems. There was little Naval support as most ships were needed elsewhere. There were disagreements among commanders, rehearsals which caused consternation in both America and Britain and the weather interfered with planned landings. But, perhaps more by luck than anything else most of the landings were a success and French troops largely surrendered. The occupation of North Africa did in the end provide a base for the subsequent invasion of Italy and the long hard campaign for the liberation of Europe. The Italian campaign forced Hitler to send troops south and that eventually gave the opportunity for a direct assault on Europe in 1944.

David’s talk was very detailed and it is impossible to do it justice in a simple summary. It was very much appreciated.

 

 

 

For more previous meetings  2019-21    2021 2021-2     2022   2023  2024 2025

 

 For more recent talks click here