Dr. Bernard Wilkin (born 1982) is a Belgian historian specialising in the history of modern warfare. He works at the State Archives of Belgium and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Dr. Wilkin is the author of twelve books and articles.[1] During his career, he has worked on the history of aerial propaganda during the First World War,[2] French morale during the Phoney War[3] and is a specialist of the Napoleonic wars. His research on the fate of the bodies of those killed during the battle of Waterloo was widely publicized around the world.[4]

Writing

Wilkin has written numerous books and articles on military history, propaganda and the history of crime. Along with his father, René Wilkin, he has released two books in English entitled Fighting for Napoléon[5] and Fighting the British.[6] Together, they have also published in French the previously unknown memoirs of French Hussard Jean Gheerbrant, a Flemish soldier of Napoleon who had written hundreds of pages of souvenirs,[7] and the letters of hundreds of Belgian soldiers serving in the French army between 1799 and 1814.[8]

He is also the author of several academic books and articles. His PhD thesis on aerial propaganda aimed at the occupied populations of the First World War was turned into a book for Routledge.[2] Together with Maude Williams, Wilkin investigated the French military prior to the German offensive of May 1940, especially morale on the frontline.[3] In 2021, he released a study on homicides in the province of Liège from 1796 to 1940.[9] He also penned the same year a chapter on the Polish community of Liège and the criminal court in the book La Pologne des Belges.[10] In December 2023, his article on the real fate of the Waterloo fallen was published by the Journal of Belgian History.[11] The same month, he also released with Professor Bob Moore a new book called Escaping Nazi Europe: Understanding the Experience of Belgian Soldiers and Civilians in World War II with Routledge.[12]

Media appearances

Wilkin features regularly in the media. In August 2022, his research, together with Tony Pollard and Robin Schäfer, on the bones of Waterloo was publicized in Belgium,[13] Britain, France,[14] Germany[4] and in the US.[15] In January 2023, Dr. Wilkin was interviewed on HistoryHit by Dan Snow in the show Bones in the Attic: The Forgotten Fallen of Waterloo.[16] The same month, his discovery of several skeletons of soldiers killed during the battle of Waterloo triggered a new wave of media coverage.[17][18][19]

In March 2023, the Belgian historian campaigned against the plan to convert a war memorial church in Liège into an upscale restaurant and climbing wall.[20] He spoke out on several occasions in the Polish media in support of the preservation of the memorial to Polish soldiers killed in action located within the building.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "Qui est qui ? - Archives de l'État en Belgique". www.arch.be. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  2. 1 2 "Aerial Propaganda and the Wartime Occupation of France, 1914–18". Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  3. 1 2 "French Soldiers' Morale in the Phoney War, 1939-1940". Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  4. 1 2 Römer, Jörg (2022-08-20). "(S+) Archäologie: Das Geheimnis der Knochen von Waterloo". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  5. ↑ Wilkin, Bernard; Wilkin, René (2022-04-26). Fighting For Napoleon. Pen & Sword Books Limited. ISBN 978-1-3990-1966-8.
  6. ↑ Wilkin, Bernard; Wilkin, René (2018-01-17). Fighting the British. Pen & Sword Books Limited. ISBN 978-1-4738-8081-8.
  7. ↑ MEMOIRES DES CAMPAGNES DE JEAN GHEERBRANT, MARECHAL DES LOGIS-CHEF AU XE REGIMENT DE HUSSARDS (1798-1808) (kcg) | René Wilkin, Bernard Wilkin & Christian Remy.
  8. ↑ "Lettres de Grognards. La Grande armée en campagne de - Les Editions du cerf". www.editionsducerf.fr. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  9. ↑ "Un historien et ancien policier Sérésien sort son encyclopédie des homicides en province de Liège de 1796 à 1940". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  10. ↑ "La Pologne des Belges : Evolution d'un regard : (XXe-XXIe siècles)". www.aml-cfwb.be. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  11. ↑ "The real fate of the Waterloo fallen. The exploitation of bones in 19th century Belgium". JBH - BTNG - RBHC (in French). 2023-12-14. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  12. ↑ "Escaping Nazi Europe: Understanding the Experiences of Belgian Soldiers and Civilians in World War II". Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  13. ↑ "Peu de cadavres retrouvés sur le site de la bataille de Waterloo: nos ancêtres étaient-ils cannibales?". Le Soir (in French). 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  14. ↑ Point.fr, Le (2022-08-20). "Waterloo : les os des morts utilisés pour fabriquer du sucre ?". Le Point (in French). Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  15. ↑ Kolirin, Lianne (2023-01-25). "Only two bodies from the Battle of Waterloo had ever been found -- until one man revealed what was in his attic". CNN. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  16. ↑ "Bones in the Attic: The Forgotten Fallen of Waterloo". History Hit. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  17. ↑ "'I have Prussians in my attic': Surprise revelation leads to rare Battle of Waterloo discovery". NBC News. 2023-01-26. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  18. ↑ "The two-century-old mystery of Waterloo's skeletal remains". France 24. 2023-02-03. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  19. ↑ "Waterloo : des squelettes de soldats dans le grenier !". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  20. ↑ Paris, Jack Blackburn, History Correspondent | Adam Sage (2023-07-13). "Climbing wall and cinema planned at war memorial". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2023-07-14.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ↑ "Kościół w Liege z polskim pomnikiem ma zostać centrum rekreacyjnym. Polska interweniuje". dziennik.pl (in Polish). 2023-05-18. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
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