Almost 5,000 German and Austrian war dead, 2,143 from the First World War and 2,797 from the Second, lie in peace in Cannock Chase, an area of outstanding natural beauty in rural Staffordshire. Some died trying to kill our parents or grandparents from the skies; others were washed ashore from ships; and some were prisoners […]
Deutsche Soldatenfriedhof, Cannock Chase Read More »
By the time the soldiers came, the villagers had gone. They had moved, under a blanket of secrecy, to new homes while they waited for the war to end and the troops to leave; while they waited patiently to return to whatever was left of their homes. But they never went back, not one of
They needed to break the deadlock. By the end of 1914, men had gone to ground in the wasteland of the Western Front. Perhaps, some thought, a breakthrough would come when the weather improved and cavalry could be used. But attacks through coils of barbed wire against well-defended dug-in positions, from which machine-gun and rapid
Britain’s role in the worst conflict the world has known, so far The Second World War was the most violent and globally shattering event in history. When it finally ended, at least 60 million people lay dead; some estimates are as high as 79 million. It is part of the tragedy that we’ll never know
Britain and the Second World War 1939-45 Read More »
The failure of appeasement This is a question often asked, but it’s academic – rather like saying, “If I’d left the house earlier, I wouldn’t have got caught in the rain.” Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party came to power in Germany in 1933 on a programme of public works, employment and restoring both national and personal
Could Britain have avoided war in 1939? Read More »
