Tomorrow will see the 105th anniversary of the biggest explosion that London has ever seen and considering all of the industry, terrorism and world wars then that is saying something. However as is often the way with these things, to a great extent it was an entirely avoidable disaster albeit with the mitigating circumstances of… Continue reading London’s Biggest Explosion. Silvertown 1917
Category: WW1
Posts predominantly WW1 related.
My first Remembrance Service at Bushey Memorial
Due to Covid, Sunday was the first opportunity I have have had to attend the local Remembrance Sunday ceremony at 11am as it didn’t run last year so despite having moved almost 2 years ago, this was the first time I got to witness it in person. I’d been to the memorial last summer and… Continue reading My first Remembrance Service at Bushey Memorial
150 years of disasters at Liverpool Street Station
It is nearly 150 years old and the third busiest railway station in the U.K. and only behind London Waterloo and London Victoria Station with around 64 million passengers every year acting as a London gateway and exit to travellers from Cambridgeshire, Essex, Greater London, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. But over the last century it’s… Continue reading 150 years of disasters at Liverpool Street Station
A swan-song moment of glory for Tilbury Fortress
I thought I would finish my little run of Tilbury Fort related posts but recalling its last great moments and some might say greatest of all, the night it shot down a Zeppelin in WW1. The Zeppelin was invented by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. It was a rigid dirigible and he patented his idea in… Continue reading A swan-song moment of glory for Tilbury Fortress
My offering of Christmas goodies! Books and Video Tours
I must be the most useless blogger the world has ever seen at least when it comes to self-publicity. Here I am with a new book that came out at the end of August and I’ve never even mentioned it AND it is an official #1 best seller. If I ever had motivation or ambition… Continue reading My offering of Christmas goodies! Books and Video Tours
My WW1 history book ‘Lest We Forget’ is currently available free on Kindle by the Publishers
I know it’s quite a common thing for some writer to make their books available free or heavily discounted for a short period of time. It’s never something I’ve agreed with or indeed done. Whilst checking on some on something else I found out my WW1 history book Lest We Forget which was published by… Continue reading My WW1 history book ‘Lest We Forget’ is currently available free on Kindle by the Publishers
Visiting WW1 trenches in the heart of England
As someone with a keen interest in WW1 or The Great War, I’ve written before on my visits to the Western Front in France and Belgium. Not many people know that there are still trenches in England and conveniently only about 15 miles from where I live. I’ve wanted to visit them since the 1990’s… Continue reading Visiting WW1 trenches in the heart of England
A piss-poor history of urine
I’m going to try not to use the P word too much in this post, as tempting as it is as that would be taking the Pee but urine has actually had a long history of practical uses especially in medicine. None other than Pliny the Elder back in Rome recommended fresh urine for the… Continue reading A piss-poor history of urine
A 1915 piece of fake news… with good intentions
When German Naval Airship Zeppelin L9 appeared over Blyth on the evening of 14 April 1915, it was only the second time bombs had been dropped on England. Although nobody was killed, it marked the beginning of a series of raids on the North-East which would kill many dozens of people. The Zeppelin L9, on… Continue reading A 1915 piece of fake news… with good intentions
100 years ago Aviators Alcock and Brown made their pioneering trans-Atlantic flight
Today, millions of people cross the Atlantic every year thanks to commercial air travel, but it’s easy to forget that it had never been done less than a century ago. Glasgow born Arthur Brown was shot down over Germany during World War One, surviving only to be captured by the Germans and imprisoned. (Read about… Continue reading 100 years ago Aviators Alcock and Brown made their pioneering trans-Atlantic flight
Stephen Liddell 