We are very sorry to announce the passing of Martin Windrow, a distinguished and long serving member of the BCMH. Martin was well known in military history circles for his work as series editor of Osprey Publishing’s Men-at-Arms and Elite series. He had been involved with Osprey since it began publishing in the 1960s and wrote over 20 books for the company. He also wrote the critically acclaimed The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2004), Our Friends Beneath the Sands: The Foreign Legion in France’s Colonial Conquests 1870–1935 (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2010) and The Owl Who Liked Sitting on Caesar (Bantam Press, 2014). He was an Associate of the Royal Historical Society and the Foreign Legion Association GB.
Martin was a great raconteur and wit, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of military history that he was always willing to share. His knowledge of the French Foreign Legion was unparalleled and you can see him here explaining the Legion song La Boudin to the 2017 BCMH Battlefield Tour – https://www.bcmh.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/BCMH-La-Boudin-Windrow.mp4
He will be sadly missed by all of us who had the privilege of knowing him.
His funeral will be for family and close friends but there will be a memorial service, to be held later this year. We will post details of this service when they become available.