Despite walking round London over 300 days a year for 11 years, the amount of times I’ve been there just for fun like a local or tourist could be counted on one hand. I’ve not been in Buckingham Palace, until last year I’d not been to a West End Show for 16 years nor eaten… Continue reading Face to mask with a WW1 Gashood
Tag: World War 1
The Armistice – The end of The Great War, WW1.
The Great War ended much differently than the never-say- die desperation of the Nazis in WW2. In 1918, there was no likely imminent collapse of Germany though the deprivation and starvation of many in the country was startling. Even though there were mutinies in the ranks of the French, order was generally maintained and despite… Continue reading The Armistice – The end of The Great War, WW1.
Amiens and The Hundred Days Offensive
This week marks the centenary of one of the pivotal but less known battle of the Western Front in WW1, Amiens and the more broadly labelled 100 Days Offensive. The Western Front is often categorised as being a static war with little or no progress made by either side despite major attempts costing too many… Continue reading Amiens and The Hundred Days Offensive
Women and The Great War
When we think of The Great War, the role of women is an often forgotten element in comparison to the famous battlefields around the world. However as the German leadership quickly stated, WW1 was a total war that required the participation of each nation to win and that included women. Not only did WW1 change… Continue reading Women and The Great War
They Called It Passchendaele
For the last three years or so, I have been post occasional extracts from my WW1 concise history book Lest We Forget, published by Endeavour Press of London. July 31st marks the centennial of yet another of the landmark actions of the First World War, namely the dreadful Third Battle of Passchendaele. Passchendaele is another… Continue reading They Called It Passchendaele
The Last Post
It is one of the most evocative and moving pieces of music and as with every year, The Last Post will be played all over the world on Remembrance Day but its origins had nothing to do with mourning. The Last Post was first published in the 1790s, just one of the two dozen or… Continue reading The Last Post
The Battle of The Somme 100 Years On
Friday July 1st 2016 marks the centerniary of the commencement of The Battle Of The Somme. It is fair to say that July 1st 1916 might possibly the most horrific day in British history and most likely in the top two or three anywhere given the dreadful events of the day. The Battle of The… Continue reading The Battle of The Somme 100 Years On
The Battle of Jutland
Today marks the centenary anniversary of the single most important naval battle of WW1 and as I have been doing for the last few years, I thought I would write a dedicated post taken from extracts of my WW1 history book, Lest We Forget, published by Endeavour Press of London. For centuries, the Royal Navy… Continue reading The Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Verdun 100 years on.
France and its military have something of poor reputation amongst many. Centuries of rivalry with Britain where it increasingly came off second best, its requirement to be rescued in WW1 and quick capitulation in WW2 coupled with decisions to stay out of recent major wars mean that we all forget that there were many events… Continue reading The Battle of Verdun 100 years on.
The Lamps are going out all over Europe
It is now 100 years since this famous phrase was first uttered by Sir Edward Grey to describe the ominous feeling that Europe and perhaps the world was about to slip into a war more bloody than most could ever imagine. His remarks were made on the evening of the 3rd August whilst looking out… Continue reading The Lamps are going out all over Europe
Stephen Liddell 