Born in East Lancashire in 1971, David comes from a lineage that has seen military service in most conflicts from the Crimea to (the wrong side of!) a "certain war in central Europe". His interest in the Great War , but especially in the Western Front, began at a very early age and it, therefore, has become a lifelong study for him.
In 2007, he finally achieved part of an ambition and became self-employed as a full-time professional military researcher (he had conducted research on a part-time basis whilst employed in several jobs that he hated for a number of years prior to this), forming his own company - Croonaert Research Services - which conducts research on a wide (unlimited?) range of military subjects between the years of 1853 and 1945 (but especially for 1914-18) for a range of clients from private individuals, through museums and authors, to larger corporations and the media.
He is the author of Identifying the Dead ...a privately published book on the history of Identification Tags between 1869 and 1945, and he is three years into writing a book on the battles around Ypres at the end of May 1940 which is scheduled for publication in May 2010 - with further projects (including an "alternative battlefield guide") in the pipeline.
Originally a member of the WFA since 1982 (though, unfortunately, not with an "unbroken run"!), David became the founder member and first chairman of the East Lancs Branch of the WFA in 2008.
David is the WFA Website's partner researcher for our "Remembering Today" feature which he kindly provides through his research business, Croonaert Research Services.
