The Bill Braham Memorial Essay Competition is run by the Pike and Shot Society in conjunction with Helion and Company. The competition is open to both members and non-members of the Society.
Helion and Company provide a first prize of £100 of Helion Publications (of the winner’s choice) and the P&SS give a one-year subscription to the Society. Second prize is a one-year subscription to the P&SS.
Competition Rules.
1. Essays must be on a military topic within the defined boundaries of the Society’s research period of 1400 to 1721. Essays with a core subject matter outside this period will be rejected.
2. The closing date for submission of an essay is 1st December 2026, entries received after this date will be entered into the next year’s competition.
3. Essays must be written and submitted in Microsoft Word.
4. Essays must be written in English.
5. Essays must be between 2,500 and 3,000 words excluding references, bibliography and footnotes. A word count should be provided with each entry. All pages should be numbered. Essays longer than 3,000 words will be rejected for the competition.
6. Where a quotation is used, or an author referenced, it should be referenced to either footnotes or end notes.
7. A bibliography of all referenced books or articles should be provided.
8. Any evidence of plagiarism will result in disqualification.
9. The decision of the judges will be final.
10. Competition Judges are not allowed to submit an entry.
11. On submission of an essay, the writer gives permission for the Pike and Shot Society to publish the essay in the Society’s magazine, and for the writer’s contact details to be passed to Helion and Company.
In judging the competition weight will be given to primary research and originality, but other judging criteria will include a structured approach, good grammar and syntax, as well as fluency and the ability to engage the reader.
Entries should be sent to:
michael.fredholm@hotmail.com
Please remember to include full contact details for the author and include the author’s name on the essay.
The result will be announced on 1st April 2027.