News
Colonel Charles Mercer, one of the last of the Chindits who fought the Japanese in Burma
Posted on 10th Mar 2025 by Mark Seymour
Colonel Charles Mercer, who has died aged 105, took part in Operation Thursday, the codename of the second Chindit deep-penetration expedition into enemy-occupied Burma. In 1943 Mercer, then a second lieutenant, was posted to Nigeria. He joined 7th …
BSMF Director's VJ Day 80th anniversary message
Posted on 5th Mar 2025 by Mark Seymour
BSMF Director Mark Cann has written an open letter reminding people not to allow this year's 80th anniversary of VJ Day to be overshadowed - or even forgotten - by events commemorating VE Day. "As we approach the 80th anniversary of the end of the S …
BSMF Director in Lord Hardthrasher's 'Comfortable Chair'
Posted on 6th Jan 2025 by Mark Seymour
Burma Star Memorial Fund Director, Mark Cann, has taken part in an interview with cult online historian Lord Hardthrasher. He talks about remembrance, memorial, outreach and education – and somehow avoids mentioning he once trapped Margaret That …
Putting Faces to Remembrance
Posted on 4th Nov 2024 by Mark Seymour
A poignant and striking new way to honour lives lost in military combat has been endorsed by the Burma Star Memorial Fund. Custom remembrance armbands offer a heartfelt way to pay tribute to those young men and women who served their country and o …
King Charles III 'delighted' to continue as Patron of BSMF
Posted on 9th May 2024 by Mark Seymour
King Charles III is 'delighted' to continue as Patron of the Burma Star Memorial Fund. This wonderful news from Buckingham Palace was revealed to mark the first anniversary of Their Majesties' Coronation. The announcement followed a review of the P …
BSMF Ambassador and Mobile Museum Curator Tom Donovan
Posted on 28th Mar 2024 by Mark Seymour
The Burma Star Memorial Fund has welcomed Tom Donovan both as an Ambassador for the Charity and as Curator of its Mobile Museum. Finding the study of law uncongenial Tom has spent his working life immersed in military history as a publisher, writer, …
Burma Star Memorial Fund Schools Project Lead
Posted on 27th Mar 2024 by Mark Seymour
Melissa Jakes is the Burma Star Memorial Fund Schools Project Lead and a Teacher of History at Barclay Academy in Hertfordshire. Melissa graduated from Somerville College, University of Oxford in 2021 with a BA in History. After completing her …
Kohima 80th Anniversary Commemoration Service
Posted on 25th Mar 2024 by Mark Seymour
The Kohima 80th Anniversary Commemoration Service will be held at York Minster on Thursday 4th July from 11am. The Venerable Dr (Air Vice-Marshal) Giles Legood, Chaplain-in-Chief and Archdeacon for the RAF, who will give the Address. For further de …
Levison Wood becomes a BSMF Ambassador
Posted on 4th Jan 2024 by Mark Seymour
Author and explorer Levison Wood has become an Ambassador for the Burma Star Memorial Fund. Levison is a professional explorer, writer and photographer who has published 11 best-selling books and produced many critically acclaimed TV documentaries …
BSMF CEO Remembrance piece in the Express
Posted on 12th Nov 2023 by Mark Seymour
Burma Star Memorial Fund CEO Mark Cann has written a Remembrance piece in the Express this weekend. He writes: "The time for Remembrance comes round again: shoes are shined, suits sent to the dry cleaners, banners dusted off, bands play, ancestry we …