20th Century
The Desert War – November 1941
We reach November 80 years ago. In the 16 or so months since the start of the campaign in June 1940 we have seen us nibble at the Italians in Libya, the Italians attack us [more…]
WW II
20th Century
Remembrance Sunday
Illustrating the Apocalypse: Goodbye Old Man Address to Legion lunch 5th June 1994 at the Jameson Hotel Just an Ordinary Jack Tar? The Place where Trust died The Merchant Navy Boy A Medic with 130 [more…]
20th Century
The .303 Pattern 1914 – the Best Battle Rifle the British Army Never Had?
Introduction The humiliations suffered by the British Army at the hands of untrained Boer irregulars during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 caused a great deal of concern at the War Office where questions were soon [more…]
20th Century
The Desert War – October 1941
We reach October 80 years ago and it is still fairly quiet on the ground in North Africa but the Royal Navy is still busy. The big news this month is that there is a [more…]
20th Century
Mystery Album, Part Seven
In part four of Mystery Album, I speculated that the above photograph (taken by our mystery family aboard the wherry Palace) was of a Norfolk Broads maltings. Judging by the order of the photos, it [more…]
20th Century
Mystery Album, Part Six
Last week we took an interest in the Merriment, a Norfolk Broads tourist wherry. The year was 1919, the month August. Its passengers were the young grandparents of a Mr Rob Bruce into whose possession [more…]
20th Century
Book Review: “We Defended Normandy” by Lt Gen Hans Speidel, 1951
Could War In Europe Have Ended in 1944? Was Montgomery right ? Americans said “No”, now Speidel says “Yes” “We Defended Normandy” by Lt-Gen Hans Speidel (Herbert Jenkins, 12. 6d.), 1951 Book review by [more…]
20th Century
The Road Back to Normandy, Part Three
In May 1954 my uncle John Alldridge returned to Normandy. This is his third and final report for the Manchester Evening News. The lines at the end are inspired, I think, by the St. Crispin’s Day speech [more…]
20th Century
The Road Back to Normandy, Part Two
In May 1954 my uncle John Alldridge returned to Normandy. This is his second report for the Manchester Evening News. From Arromanches to Bayeux is only about seven miles. By car you can be there and [more…]