America
Isolating Iran
The Donald’s latest excursion in the Middle East has been met with the usual carping and disdain from the legacy media. I will be the first to concede he has been over the top with [more…]
War
20th Century
Desert Mystery: Cartoons on a wall
Recently, I acquired a set of wartime photographs sourced from a militaria dealer in Munich. The photographs are of cartoons hand-drawn across the whitewashed walls of a room. The style is typical of that seen [more…]
20th Century
In the Graveyard of St Nicholas, Moreton
During a visit to the Tank Museum at Bovington Camp, Dorset, with my daughter, we decided first to go to the graveyard of the Church of St Nicholas in the village of Moreton in the [more…]
20th Century
Book Review: Soldaten, ‘On fighting, killing and dying’
This book, originally published in 2012, is based on the discovery of transcripts of covert surveillance of German prisoners of war in WW2, found initially in archives in Great Britain and latterly in archives in [more…]
20th Century
Lands At Stake
A conversation that stuck An old conversation sticks in my mind. A decade or so later, through the synergy of passing time and the illumination provided by events, one plus one becomes three. On the [more…]
Politics
The Falklands War – 40 years on
It’s difficult for me to believe the Falklands War took place over forty years ago In April 1981 I was a 30 year old captain in Specialist Forces reserve, at the training school in Grantham [more…]
20th Century
Desert Mystery: “Letters from a Feldgrau”, Part Three
In Part 2, I recounted how Hans Coutandin, in his letters to his girlfriend Eva Möller, wrote that he had been to Verdun in France for training, before travelling to Insterburg in East Prussia and [more…]
America
Mr Zelenskyy goes to Washington
On October 17, 1939, Frank Capra’s film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington premiered, becoming a landmark in American cinema. Starring James Stewart as the sincere and unassuming Jefferson Smith, this political drama explores the conflict between [more…]
20th Century
Desert Mystery: “Letters from a Feldgrau” Part Two
In Part 1, I recounted what Hans Coutandin had written to his girlfriend Eva Möller in his letters of early 1941 as he transitioned from being an “Arbeitsmann” in the “RAD-Abteilung 3/250” to be in [more…]