Donald F. Featherstone (20 March 1918 – 3 September 2013) was a British author of more than forty books on
wargaming
A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...
and military history.
Life
Donald Featherstone was born on 20 March 1918 in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.Newsletter, hmgs.org and during the Second World War, he joined the
Royal Armoured Corps
The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the A ...
. An account of his war experiences can be found in his book ''Lost Tales''. Professionally a physiotherapist living in Southampton, who worked for both Southampton Football Club and Hampshire County Cricket Club. Featherstone was first introduced to wargaming by reading
Little Wars
''Little Wars'' is a set of rules for playing with toy soldiers, written by English novelist H. G. Wells in 1913. The book, which had a full title of ''Little Wars: a game for boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for t ...
'' and his first opponent was his brother. His second opponent was
Tony Bath
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...
many years later in 1955. His wife saw a description of a solo wargame being played in Southampton by Tony Bath and Featherstone then got in touch.
In 1960 the two of them began editing the UK version of the ''War Game Digest'', a seminal wargaming newsletter started by
Jack Scruby
John Edwin Scruby (1916 – September 1988) was a manufacturer of military miniatures whose efforts led to a rebirth of the miniature wargaming hobby in the late 1950s.
Scruby and wargaming
To meet the needs of wargamers for inexpensive but histo ...
in the United States. Featherstone expressed disapproval of a trend towards articles "attempting to spread an aura of pseudo-science over what is a pastime". In 1962, he started his own periodical, ''Wargamer's Newsletter''. He produced this each month without a gap, with 214 editions until January 1980.
In 1961, he organised the first UK wargames convention at his home in Southampton. Two years later he organized the first National Wargames Championships Convention at a local hotel which was attended by about a hundred wargamers from all over the country.
In 1977 he was one of the founder members of the British Commission for Military History. In 1978, Featherstone appeared on the BBC to promote the hobby.
After a discussion with
Paddy Griffith
Paddy Griffith (4 February 1947, Liverpool, England – 25 June 2010) was a British military theorist and historian, who authored numerous books in the field of War Studies. He was also a wargame designer for the UK Ministry of Defence, and a le ...
, Featherstone realised that wargaming as a hobby could aid considerably in understanding military history.
Death
Donald Featherstone died on 3 September 2013, aged 95, from complications following a fall at home.
Bibliography
* War Games ' (1962), A revised edition has been printed as part of the
History of Wargaming Project
The History of Wargaming Project aims to archive and publish wargaming books, rules and documents about wargaming. It has been widely referenced in the wargaming literature.
History
The project was inspired by the late Paddy Griffith, a professio ...
(se here ,
*''Tackle Model Soldiers This Way'', Stanley Paul, London, (1963),
* ',
Stanley Paul
Stanley Paul are a firm of publishers founded in London in 1906.
The original firm published mainly "cheap editions of thrillers and romances, and some light non-fiction" and traded until 1927 when it went in liquidation. In 1928 the imprint was r ...
, London, (1965), , Updated edition 2009''Naval War Games'', History of Wargaming Project /ref>
* ', (1966),
*''Bowmen of England'', (1967),
*''At Them with the Bayonet! The First Sikh War'' New English Library, (1968),
* ', Stanley Paul, London, (1965), , reprinted 2008
* ', Stanley Paul (1963), Sport Shelf reprinted (1970)
* {{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707053709/http://www.wargaming.co/books/featherstonecampaign/homepage.htm , date=July 7, 2011), Sport Shelf; First Edition (1 Jan. 1970), {{ISBN, 978-0091024901
*''Handbook For Model Soldier Collectors'', (1969), {{ISBN, 0392000040
*''Battles with Model Soldiers'', (1970), {{ISBN, 0715349252
*''Military Modelling'', (1970), {{ISBN, 0498078329
* ', Seeley, (1971), {{ISBN, 0450020991
*''Conflict In Hampshire'', Publisher: HAMPSHIRE THE COUNTY MAGAZINE, (1 Jan. 1972)
*''Poitiers 1356: Knight's Battles for Wargamers'', Hippocrene Books, (1 Jun. 1972), {{ISBN, 0882542125
*''War Games through the Ages: Vol. 1'' 3000BC-1500AD, Stanley Paul, (1972), {{ISBN, 0-09-110240-5
*''All for a Shilling a Day,'' New English Library, (1973), {{ISBN, 978-1846771965. Reprinted 2007
* ', Kaye & Ward, London, (1973), {{ISBN, 0 7182 0921 4. Reprinted 2009
* {dead link, date=December 2016 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes '', P. Stephens, (1973), {{ISBN, 9780850592757
* ', David & Charles, 1973; {{ISBN, 0-7153-6310-7 Revised 2011
*''Captain Carey's Blunder'' (1973) {{ISBN, 0850520606
*''War Games through the Ages: Vol. 2 1420-1783'', Stanley Paul, 1974; {{ISBN, 0-09-118760-5
*''War Games through the Ages: Vol. 3 1792-1879'', Stanley Paul, 1975; {{ISBN, 0-09-121250-2
* ', Patrick Stephens Limited, (1975), {{ISBN, 0-85059-197-X; new edition 2009
*''Wargaming: Ancient and Medieval Periods''. David & Charles, UK, (1975), {{ISBN, 0-7153-6939-3. Hippocrene Books, USA, (1975), {{ISBN, 0-88254-353-9.
*''War Games through the Ages: Vol. 4'' 1861-1945 Stanley Paul, (1976) {{ISBN, 0091265207
* ', Kaye & Ward, (1975), {{ISBN, 0-7182-1172-3, reprinted 2009
* ', (1977), Revised 2010
*''Better Military Modelling'' Kaye & Ward,(1977), {{ISBN, 9780718214470
* ', Patrick Stephens Limited, (1977), {{ISBN, 0-85059-275-5
*''Weapons and Equipment of the Victorian Soldier'' Littlehampton Book Svs Ltd, (1978), {{ISBN, 978-0713708479
*''Battles With Model Tanks'' TBS The Book Service Ltd, (19 April 1979), {{ISBN, 978-0354012287
* ', David & Charles, (1989); {{ISBN, 0-7153-9262-X
*''Victoria's Enemies: An A-Z of British Colonial Warfare'' Blandford, (1989), {{ISBN, 978-0713720815
*''The Peninsular War'', Argus Books, (1991), {{ISBN, 1 85486 028 3
*''Victorian Colonial Warfare: Africa, from the Campaigns Against the Kaffirs to the South African War'', (1992), {{ISBN, 0-304-341746
*''Victorian Colonial Warfare: India: From the Conquest of Sind to the Indian Mutiny'', (1992), {{ISBN, 0-304-34172-X
*''Khartoum 1885: General Gordon's last stand'', Osprey, (1993), {{ISBN, 978-1855323018
*''Tel El-Kebir 1882 : Wolseley's Conquest of Egypt'' Osprey, (1993), {{ISBN, 978-1855323018
*''The History of the English Longbow'', Dorset Press, (1995), {{ISBN, 978-1566196772
*''Omdurman 1898 : Kitchener's victory in the Sudan", Osprey, (1994), {{ISBN, 978-1855323681
* ', Valda Publishing, UK, (1996), {{ISBN, 0-9526861-0-4
*''Warriors and Warfare in Ancient and Medieval Times'' (1997), {{ISBN, 978-0094768505
*''Khaki & Red: Soldiers of the Queen in India and Africa'' Arms & Armour Press, (1997), {{ISBN, 978-1854094254
*''Bowmen of England'' Pen & Sword Books,(2003), {{ISBN, 978-0850529463
*''The Battlefield Walker's Handbook'' Airlife Publishing Ltd, (2005), {{ISBN, 978-1853108815
* ', (2009), {{ISBN, 978-1-4092-9431-3
* A novel describing the life of the Victorian cavalry man at the time of the First Sikh War 1845-1846'' (2011) {{ISBN, 978-1470944018
* ': (2013) {{ISBN, 978-1291398915