Join us at the University of Kent for a free event to launch the research findings from our recent Zeebrugge: The making of a legend project.
Book your place here.
In the summer of 2018 a team of volunteers helped to research the profile of the Zeebrugge raid in British popular perceptions of the First World War. Using a wide range of materials, the team discovered how significant it was to many British people in the 1920s and 1930s, and the many different ways in which the raid was interpreted from books all the way through to a piece of early television broadcasting. The findings were written up and presented in a booklet and pop-up exhibition, which we will launch on 14 May.
As part of the launch, we are delighted to welcome back a great friend of Kent and Gateways, Professor Sophie de Schaepdrijver who will give a talk on the German occupation of Bruges and Zeebrugge during the First World War.
We will also show the 1927 naval epic, The Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands. Made by British Instructional Films, the company which also produced Zeebrugge in 1924 (and shown by Gateways last year), The Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands was a lavish recreation of the two naval engagements of November and December 1914 re-enacted for the cameras by ships of the British Mediterranean Fleet based at Valetta, Malta. The film is fascinating not just for its faithful recreation of the battles, but also for presenting the Germans as honourable and worthy foes who fought gallantly for their country. Such was the impact the film made in Germany, that it was given a premiere at the first convention of European film exhibitors in Berlin in 1928. Digitally restored and remastered in 2014, the film is one of the highlights of British 1920s cinema.
Programme
Lecture Theatre 1, Keynes College, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NP
Part One
3pm: Registration
3.15: Screening of The Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands (1927)
Part Two
5pm: Launch of Zeebrugge booklet and refreshments
6pm: Professor Sophie de Schaepdrijver - Another Front: Bruges' Great War. Full details here.
7pm: Event finishes
You are welcome to attend all or part of the event. Please indicate when booking to give us an idea of numbers.
You may register for a parking permit when booking but we cannot guarantee that parking spaces will be available. Permits are required for parking on campus between 8am and 5pm. Directions and advice on getting to the campus can be found here.
