From Down Under, it's Megan Hamilton, newly arrived from King's College, London, now at the University of New South Wales! Megan is a brand new lecturer in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy. She earned her PhD in Military History from the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London. Her dissertation research explored the development of training methods in the British Army throughout the British Empire during the Second World War. She also holds an MA in History from the University of Waterloo and a BA in History from Wilfrid Laurier University.

Megan's research has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). She completed professional development programs at the Imperial War Museum and the Australian War Memorial. Her article titled “The Vernon Military Camp and the Imperial Training Archipelago 1939-1945” appeared in Canadian Military History in 2024. Finally, Megan is a regional director for the Second World War Research Group.

At the UCD/RMC conference in Dublin, Friend-of-the-Pod Gary Sheffield said "You've got to have Megan on your podcast!" Who are we to argue with Gary? We're glad we took the suggestion. She's come a long way from being on the Canadian National Rhythmic Gymnastics Team to being a newly minted PhD in military history now in Australia!

Join us for what was for Megan a very late night chat - we'll talk small-town British Columbia, not doing so well in an accountancy course, the importance of mentors, working in archives all over the world, poutine, and even curling! We enjoyed meeting Megan in Dublin and we were happy to get up early in the morning to chat with her for this fun episode. Enjoy!

Rec.: 10/15/2026