I am pleased to report that a very successful Annual Conference was held at Newcastle from 4-7 September and David Clarke, Roger Thomas, Alan Williamson and George Dawes are to be congratulated on a most interesting and varied programme and well organised conference, details of which are to be found in this issue.

I must now take this opportunity to express publicly my gratitude and, I am sure, the gratitude of all members, to Tom Bell who stood down as Treasurer at the AGM at Newcastle. Tom had been Treasurer since 2003 and gave a vast amount of his time and effort to effectively manage the FSG's financial affairs over the last six years. Treasurer is a difficult post to fill in most small societies and we are all particularly grateful to Tom that he was prepared to come forward and offer his services when Reg Erskine gave up the post.

Our new Treasurer is Alan Fyson who has handed over the post of Membership Secretary to Michael Clark. Gil Dowdall-Brown has been elected to the Executive Committee and Sam Watson, who subsequently volunteered his services as there was only one candidate for the two vacant posts on the committee, has been co-opted onto the committee.

The Executive Committee has the important role of assisting the officers of the society by representing the membership and serving on some of the sub-committees that are now being established to deal with certain specialised aspects of running the society. Members of the Executive Committee serve for three years and the commitment is to attend the two committee meetings each year with additional consultation and discussion carried out by email. It is important that the committee should reflect all aspects of our membership and not just the old (and increasingly older) faithful and 'old guard'. So when the AGM Notice and Agenda appears in the May issue of Casemate do seriously consider whether you would be prepared to offer your services and stand as a candidate for the Executive Committee - we always need new blood!

Finally, you will all be delighted to know that FORT 31 is on its way to you, if you have not already received it! This issue is one of the missing issues which is why it is dated 2003 (2009). The issue commemorates two of the FSG's 'founding fathers', Jock Hamilton-Baillie and Quentin Hughes and I think you will all agree that it is a suitable memorial to two members who were so instrumental in the development of the FSG as a leading organisation in the study of international fortifications.

Bill Clements