The April meeting of the Nesquehoning Historical Society will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesdayat the borough hall.

The special speaker will be William Gaddes, who is a retired naval systems engineer, historian and shipwright. He will be showcasing three of his hand-built models of vessels from the Man-O-War period of 1600 through 1850.His lecture will detail the construction of the ships and the armaments and equipment which they carried; as well as information on the officers, crew and the marine guards. Details of the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) will also be presented.Gaddes was born in Nesquehoning but moved to Mauch Chunk after his father's passing when he was 2-years old.He lived there until he was in the fourth grade. At that point, his mother remarried and the family moved to Coaldale.He graduated from Coaldale High School.At age 19, he left for the Korean War. He was a tail-gunner in a B-29 and flew 64 missions over North Korea.After the Korean War, he worked for IBM for 30 years.During the end of his time with IBM, he began to work in sales of foreign military equipment. Some of his customers included the Navies of Japan, England, Spain, Israel, Germany and South Korea.Following his time at IBM, he worked for another 10 years as a part-time consultant for Lockheed-Martin.He is currently retired and lives with his wife Mildred in Nesquehoning.The ship models, which he will be displayingare the HMS Victory (English), the Santisima Trinidad (Spanish) and the Wasa (Swedish). Both the Victory and the Santisima Trinidad took part in the Battle of Trafalgar.Everyone is invited to attend the free meeting.Light refreshments will also be served.All members of the society are urged to be present to vote on business matters as well.