Megan Hamilton (King’s College London), The Imperial Armies and Training Liaison in the Middle East in the Second World War

This paper will examine Imperial training liaison in the Middle East during the Second World War. The British Army’s Middle East Command began the war with modest training capacities, but as conflict escalated in North Africa, the need for centralized training schools in the region grew. Many schools were established in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine throughout 1941, and were eventually consolidated at the Middle East Training School in 1942 under the General Headquarters Middle East Training Directorate. These establishments continued until the end of the war, although much reduced in scope as the training facilities eventually followed the fighting troops to Italy. Efforts to centralise training close to the battlefield were critical to synchronising doctrine and quickly absorbing the lessons that had been learned in combat. Techniques and doctrinal developments learnt in North Africa and the Middle East were distributed to Allied forces around the globe, making this a central component in the transnational conversation on army training in the Second World War. However, it was not just the British Army training in the Middle East. Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and India all had divisions fighting and training in the region. They made use of the British training schools, as well as setting up some of their own. This system worked due to the common doctrine used by all Imperial forces and allowed lessons to be shared quickly amongst the armies. By using in-depth research from archives across Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK, this paper will explore how Imperial ties allowed for integration of training in the Middle East. It will use army training to explore how effectively these armies cooperated, with a focus on British leadership and Dominion independence. This paper will contribute to an Imperial perspective of the Second World War by highlighting the importance of transnational coordination and liaison.

James Hua (University of Oxford), Comparing Population Expulsions in ancient Greece and today: dynamics, quantities, and resilience

What was particular about refugee crises in the ancient Greek world? How do they compare to the dynamic today, and what can their study add to our understanding of the modern phenomenon? This talk seeks to address the similarities and differences between mass city expulsions in the Archaic and Classical Greek world with those today, comparing especially the dynamics of mass expulsion and drawing out the often significant systematic differences but also surprising similarities. In particular, the presentation will address the spread and reach of this phenomenon in both periods, the experiences that refugees underwent, the strategies and motives of expelling powers, and perhaps most importantly cases of resistance and formation of a common identity by refugees to counter expelling powers and forge new ties in a world of displacements.