T’s the end of an Era.
After 14 years of splendid leadership Marcus Fielding has tendered his resignation as President of what is now an august Military History organisation.
His resignation came simply via an email on the 24th of February to all Office Bearers and Committee Members advising that it was “due to the pressure of a new business venture” and requesting we appoint “an interim President” and further that he would carry out a handover to whomever, to ensure proper due governance.
After a ‘flurry’ of laudatory emails to Marcus and internal discussions with most of the committee, it was agreed to run with our next ‘normal’ meeting on the 1st of March to discuss this situation.
As Patron, Marcus personally discussed with me the rationale for his abrupt resignation, after which we agreed that he would be an apology for the meeting and I would speak on his behalf to same. It must be the military background of both of us ‘to have due order and process’!
The 1 March 2023 Committee Meeting was chaired by Vice President, Michael Buckridge, as agreed and followed our normal agenda pattern except for the Presidency Issue. Michael advised that he was not available, but would continue to chair meetings until a new President was appointed. It was agreed that we should ‘hasten slowly’ and after advertising the position, we should invite any outside potential personnel to become members and be appointed to the committee to evaluate their potential. We naturally acknowledged Marcus’s superb contribution in leading us to where we are today and further agreed to use our Newsletter to advise our members, subscribers and like-minded organisations of our situation. We then appointed a sub-committee to speak with or interview any interested parties, though any committee member can be approached.
This led to me as Patron to reflect on how we came to be inaugurated. The original instigator was Andrew Kilsby who contacted me to discuss his proposal and see if I would be its Patron. I recall in agreeing; only if it was properly structured, constituted with appropriate rules and that I was a party to selecting the President and other personnel. Again it was Andrew that introduced me to Marcus who had just transitioned out of the Australian Army. As they say ‘the rest is now just history’!
Please contact us if you are interested in joining our ‘merry band’ and or our committee.
James E Barry AM MBE
Patron
Contact Jim Barry about this article.
