Places of interest to visit in Britain with a military theme, including museums managed by one of the armed services.
6 June 2024 is the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the ‘Day of Days’. Was it really that long ago? Growing up in the ‘60s and ‘70s, with parents who lived through the Second World War, reminders were ubiquitous and it never seemed that far away. It wasn’t, when you think about it – it is […]
In 2015, a rust-weathered steel spire was erected on the skyline above the City of Lincoln. It is 102 feet, more than 31 metres, high – by no coincidence equivalent to the wingspan of a Second World War Lancaster bomber. The spire is the dramatic centrepiece of The International Bomber Command Centre, which commemorates the
IBCC – Recognition, Remembrance, Reconciliation Read More »
This is HMS M.33, a relic of another time – yet a time of not so very long ago – and of almost-forgotten battles. M.33 was a monitor, essentially a floating gun platform. Designed to operate in shallow waters, close to shore, she was one of almost 40 monitors ordered to be built at the
It was the only time I ever saw our dour, ill-tempered, Polish foreman remotely happy. As a student one hot summer long ago, I had a labouring job on a new section of motorway. It stretched into the distance, an elegantly excavated scar across the land, punctuated with bridges and bright yellow vehicles. One day,
Paying homage to the BBMF Read More »
Say “Dunkirk”* to anyone with a modest knowledge of Britain’s recent history and probably the least they will do is to nod sagely; Dunkirk, ‘the miracle of Dunkirk’ or the ‘Dunkirk spirit’, is part of modern British mythology. If you knew anyone who served at Dunkirk, you are likely to have regarded them, understandably, with
Dunkirk – the miracle in context Read More »
South West England has two main draw-backs: it is popular and, as it’s on the west, it can suffer from wetness – particularly at its extremities. Other than that, it has pretty much everything, including mystery, prehistory, history, cuteness, grand vistas, impressive buildings and plenty of things to do. For an introduction, see A Bit
Ten of the best in the west Read More »
Part 2 – Lorenz and legacy Enigma was only part of the Bletchley Park story. As early as 1940, listening stations began to pick up enciphered teleprinter messages. These worked in a completely different way to messages enciphered on an Enigma and utilised two main types of even more sophisticated enciphering machines, the Geheimschreiber (secret
Bletchley Park beyond Enigma Read More »
Part 1 – Enigma and Ultra This is Bletchley Park. To all intents and purposes, it’s a nondescript, somewhat ugly, large Victorian mansion and estate just north of London. But what went on at Bletchley Park was extraordinary: it changed the course of the Second World War, and the world. From 1939-46, this was the
Having been weaned on tales of Douglas Bader, Stamford Tuck and Guy Gibson, I get quite excited visiting places like Duxford. IWM Duxford is home to most of the Imperial War Museum’s collection of rather large exhibits – mainly aircraft. And, when I say ‘places like Duxford’, to be fair I’m not sure there is
Boys toys? A visit to Duxford Read More »
The Needles, enormous 100-feet (30-metre) high chalk and flint stacks off the most westerly point of the Isle of Wight, are part of the Island’s iconography, and one of Britain’s most recognisable coastal features. They are an exposed eroded section of a folded east-west band of chalk running through the Island, the remains of which
The Needles – a tale of shipwrecks, Victorian forts and Cold War Read More »
Something like 3 million US citizens passed through the United Kingdom during the Second World War. The Cambridge American Cemetery commemorates almost 9,000 Americans who died while based here, or en route, in those years of conflict. They died at sea on convoys transporting essential supplies, troops and military equipment, across the Atlantic; they died
The Cambridge American Cemetery Read More »
For four years, the armies had slugged it out. Millions had died and most people had forgotten what started it all in the first place, or what they were actually fighting for. It took much, much longer to conclude the peace than it did to begin the war; maybe, t’was ever thus. The United States
15 September is Battle of Britain Day. It commemorates the legendary air battle that took place in Britain’s skies, mainly – though not exclusively – over southern England, during the long hot summer and early autumn of 1940. The conflict has achieved near mythical status in British history. With the fall of France in June,
Battle of Britain Day Read More »
Captain James Bigglesworth, known as Biggles, absent-mindedly tapped a fresh cigarette on the back of his hand and anxiously eyed the grey eastern sky. Algy – the Honourable Algernon Montgomery Lacey – was long overdue from patrol over the lines and his fuel would be getting low. Just then, the melodic hum of a Bentley
RAF100 – calling Biggles Read More »
