All articles in Military
24th March, 2020 in Military
VE Day: Celebrating Victory in Europe
We think of VE Day as a time of mass celebration; jubilant crowds laughing, dancing and partying. And party they did – but the images shown below also record many whose physical and mental condition or sense of grief and loss would scar them for years to come… Browse our galler…
18th February, 2020 in Military
The Battle of Iwo Jima: Securing the beachhead
By 19 February 1945 Iwo Jima had already endured the longest and most intensive aerial attack delivered in the Pacific during the Second World War. It had started with a carrier raid in June 1944 and Seventh Air Force’s B-24 Liberator bombers stationed on the Marianas Islands beg…
11th November, 2019 in Maritime, Military
The sinking of Hitler’s battleship Tirpitz
‘Last night’s raid successful. Tirpitz sunk.’ On 13 November 1944, this announcement at No 5 Bomber Group’s staff conference signalled the end of four and a half years of air effort by the RAF and Fleet Air Arm. The 52,000 tons armoured German battleship with 15in guns capable of…
28th October, 2019 in Military
The Battle of Clonmult: The IRA’s worst defeat
On Sunday 20 February 1921, during the Irish War of Independence, the flying column of the 4th Battalion, First Cork Brigade was wiped out after being surprised in their base camp by a British Army patrol. The resulting Battle of Clonmult was the IRA’s greatest loss of…
11th October, 2019 in Military
Britain’s forgotten soldiers: POWs of the First World War
We know The Great Escape, Colditz Castle, Bridge Over the River Kwai. Our images of Prisoners of War have been formed by World War II. In contrast, Great War POWs have never received much attention. Perhaps the lack of a major movie in English hasn’t helped – there’s no equivalen…
24th September, 2019 in Military
Flying a De Havilland 4 in World War I
Leave passed all too quickly, and when but ten of the precious fourteen days were gone, a telegram came recalling me to the squadron. The great German offensive on the British Front had begun, and I was almost glad to go. A taxi drive to Filton, which happened…
14th August, 2019 in Military, Society & Culture, Women in History
Black women of World War One
With only a few exceptions, such as the Crimean war ‘doctress’ Mary Seacole, black women have been ‘written out’ of British history. This is true of the many books published about Britain and the First World War and yet it is possible to uncover life stories from this ‘hidden his…
26th July, 2019 in Military, Women in History
Women of the home front in pictures
Towards the end of the 1930s, war in Europe seemed inevitable and Britain began to prepare. This time its population would be on the front line and mass mobilisation would be needed on an unprecedented scale. Women would have to take on new civilian roles and join the armed force…
5th June, 2019 in Military
D-Day: Before and after in images
A story of ingenuity and devastating loss of life, the moving history of D-Day – its impact and its cost – is captured here on film in vivid detail. Compiled from the Mirrorpix archives, this collection charts the detailed preparation, the brave action and the enduring after…
5th June, 2019 in Military
Codeword Overlord: Keeping D-Day top secret
On 6 June 1944, 168,000 Allied troops stormed ashore on the beaches of Normandy to begin the liberation of Nazi-occupied Europe, supported by 12,000 aircraft and nearly 7,000 ships. The invasion plan, initially codenamed Overlord and then designated Neptune and a dozen other subo…
29th May, 2019 in Biography & Memoir, Military
The Last Cambridge Spy: John Cairncross
Throughout the 1930s, Soviet ‘illegals’ – resident agents operating in Britain – carefully selected, recruited and nurtured emerging talent at Britain’s ancient universities of Cambridge and, to a lesser extent, Oxford. After their graduation these recruits forged highflying care…
15th May, 2019 in Local & Family History, Military
Bloody Easter 1916: The Liverpool Irish in Dublin and France
Just before Easter 1916, Percy Beazley, strode along Dale Street in Liverpool wearing a military uniform, he was a man on a mission. As he passed, British soldiers sprung to attention and whipped off smart salutes. This was not, however, just another wartime street scene in Liver…