All articles in Military
15th December, 2015 in Military
D-Day: The first 72 hours
In the early hours of 6 June 1944, 20,000 British and American airborne soldiers descended by parachute and glider in the areas of Ranville and St Mère & Église in Normandy. Employing 1,200 transport aircraft and 188 gliders, this was the largest airborne landing executed to…
15th December, 2015 in Maritime, Military
The sinking of the RMS Lusitania
‘MURDER BY SAVAGES DRUNK WITH BLOOD’ – A British newspaper headline ‘WITH JOYFUL PRIDE WE CONTEMPLATE THIS LATEST DEED OF OUR NAVY’ – A German Newspaper after the sinking Saturday, 1 May 1915. Scheduled to sail at 10 a.m., Lusitania’s departure from New York was delayed beca…
15th December, 2015 in Military
A British soldier’s kit in the First World War
The British Expeditionary Force that went to war in 1914 was arguably the best equipped and trained force in Europe. The khaki serge uniforms adopted in 1902 and worn by officers and men were the first real example of camouflaged combat clothing. Men wore a soft peaked cap with t…
15th December, 2015 in Biography & Memoir, Military
A love that survived the Holocaust
In the summer of 1942 the SS has its first death camps up and running. It’s time to empty the German ghettos in Poland of every Jew who cannot be used as a work slave. In the Schiff family, William has his job, Dorothy is a licensed pharmacist, and Bronek is a healthy young male…
15th December, 2015 in Military
The first trenches of the First World War
The first trenches of the Western Front were dug along the Chemin des Dames and from there they would eventually stretch across Europe from the Swiss border to the North Sea. The Battle of the Aisne was fought in September 1914. 13,541 British soldiers lost their lives in futile…
15th December, 2015 in Biography & Memoir, Military, Women in History
A timeline of Anne Frank’s life
Anne Frank’s diary is famous around the world as an eyewitness account which gives an insight into the horrors of persecution faced by Jewish people under the Nazi regime and is now a classic of war literature. Here we present a timeline of the German girl’s life: 12 June 1929 — …
15th December, 2015 in Military, Society & Culture
Christmas 1914
There are two facts about Christmas 1914 that are known by all and will probably be so another 100 years from now. One is that everybody believed the Great War would be over by then and festive peace would be celebrated around the home fires, and the other is that extraordinary t…
15th December, 2015 in Local & Family History, Military, Society & Culture
The ‘Dead End Kids’ of the London Blitz
In 1939 when the evacuation of London was in full flow, nobody stopped to consider that the children being sent away would quickly pine for the big city they knew and loved. Within weeks a handful returned to the capital. The handful quickly turned into a trickle that soon b…
15th December, 2015 in History, Military, Society & Culture
Memories of VE Day
It is a cherished legend in my family, at least cherished by me, that on the night of VE Day my mother was brought home from the pub in a wheelbarrow. I was only six at the time (well, six and three-quarters), so took no part in the celebrations, but I was thrilled beyond belief…
15th December, 2015 in Local & Family History, Military
Guernsey’s evacuees
It is a well-known fact that, during the Second World War, thousands of children were evacuated from industrial areas of Britain to the safety of the countryside. What is less well known is that in June 1940, just days before the Nazis occupied their island, 17,000 Guernsey resid…
15th December, 2015 in Biography & Memoir, Military, Women in History
Elaine Madden: Unsung heroine of the SOE
Why, after more than 70 years, are we still so fascinated by the wartime women agents of the Special Operations Executive (SOE)? Probably because they were so exceptional. By convention women were never used in combat roles. Even the doughty ATS women working on anti-aircraft gun…
15th December, 2015 in Archaeology, History, Military
Britain’s secret homes: Orchard Court
Melanie Backe-Hansen, Britain’s leading house historian, has uncovered the hidden stories and secrets of houses across the country, including Orchard Court, which was used by the ‘F’ section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in World War Two. In late 2012 I was appro…