My friend Bob Bushaway, who has died aged 60 after a heart attack, was an internationally recognised authority on the first world war. He played a leading part in the development of war studies at the University of Birmingham and inspired many through his summer schools, adult education classes and battlefield tours.
Bob was proud of his London working-class roots. Battersea born and bred, he was a lifelong socialist and Chelsea fan. He studied history at Southampton University, where I met him at a Fairport Convention concert in our first week. His intellect was obvious from the start, as was his ability to talk authoritatively whether he knew anything about the topic or not. He graduated with the first-class degree that we all expected, then did his PhD.
Bob's early research interests were in English folk traditions, culminating in his book By Rite: Custom, Ceremony and Community in England 1700-1880, published in 1982. Every year we would mark Oak Apple Day in Great Wishford, Wiltshire.
After Southampton, Bob moved to Birmingham, combining his academic interests with a meteoric career in university administration ending as director of research and enterprise. He was never confined by the walls of academia, sharing his enthusiasm for first world war studies through the Western Front Association. He was a historical adviser to the TV series Land Girls and spoke authoritatively on the Radio 4 Today programme about public mourning of soldiers at Wootton Bassett.
He was an enthusiastic walker and in recent years had, with me, discovered the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrim route across Spain. Together we walked the Camino twice. Its unique combination of walking, history, companionship and spirituality suited him perfectly.
In retirement, Bob was as busy as ever, in demand as a speaker and adviser on the war, taking pleasure in his grandson, and finding new love with his second wife, Pat. They married last year, and although their life together was all too short it brought Bob great happiness.
Bob was a big man in every sense, a man of huge intellect, erudition and appetite, but at heart a Battersea boy made good.
He is survived by Pat; his children, Laura, Alice and George, from his first marriage, to Angie, which ended in divorce; and his grandson, Oliver.