This is a rather fascinating piece of history. An interview in a number of parts with WW2 Stuka pilot Dr Heinz Migeod.
A Spanish Civil War veteran once told me that he and his comrades feared the Stuka more than any other enemy aircraft.
WW2
Dramatic footage of “the greatest invasion of all time”
Incredible D-Day footage.
I’m still overwhelmed when I meet veterans of that most amazing day.
“Spy books at their best – Five Stars”
Fantastic new 5* review of ‘Farewell Leicester Square’ on Amazon:
“Spy books at their best: a really enjoyable and authentic thriller.”
Thanks Mr Thornton – and, yes, I promise I’ll be writing some more thrillers!
Lord Lovat
This is the statue of Lord Lovat at Sword Beach, Normandy.
Lovat was seriously wounded at the Battle of Breville (see previous post) on June 12, 1944.
He recovered and has gone down in legend as leader of D-Day’s 1st Special Service Brigade.
Normandy: Fighting among the graves at Breville
The village of Breville stands on a hill looking towards Ranville, where the 6th Airborne Division had made its HQ in the days after dropping into Normandy on D-Day.
I took these photographs on June 7 this year. The village remains a place of pilgrimage for many.
The village was taken during fierce fighting on the night June 12, 1944, and into the early hours of the 13th.
These memorials stand in the village today near the church yard, which was the scene of ferocious combat.
Now among the old graves lie some of the 162 British troops who died taking this small village.
Captain HW Ward, of the 53rd (Worcestershire Yeomanry), Airlanding Light Regiment, Royal Artillery.
Private CJB Masters, 12th Battalion (Yorkshire), The Parachute Regiment.
Bayeux: D-Day & the Battle of Normandy
As we approach the 70th anniversary of D-Day, here’s a little feature on a place of great focus to veterans on June 6.
Every year a special service of remembrance is held at Bayeux War Cemetery. It is a very moving event.
These photographs were taken two years ago, on June 6, 2012.
The event was attended by many veterans and their families.
The cemetery contains 4,144 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 338 of them unidentified. There are also over 500 war graves of other nationalities, the majority German.
“Love WW2 books & this was the best I’ve read for a long while.”
Lovely new 5 star review on Kindle:
“An excellent well written story. Could not put it down. Love World War Two books and this was the best I’ve read for a long while.”
Thanks!
Bombed out? Put the kettle on.
This amazing photo from the 1941 blitz on Cardiff shows a man taking liquid refreshment in the bombed-out shell of his home.
It looks like he’s got a flask full of tea. But I suppose it could be something stronger.
And who would blame him!
The three nights Blitz, February 1941
In February 1941, Swansea became the first place outside London to suffer three consecutive nights of bombing.
During the dark nights of February 19, 20 and 21 the bombers came back almost constantly, killing 230 people and injuring more than 400 more.
Ports like Swansea had become priority targets for the Luftwaffe.
On duty in the city that February 1941 was Elaine Kidwell, a 17-year-old who had lied about her age to become one of the youngest air raid wardens in Britain.
During one of the raids she almost lost her life when a parachute mine exploded.
“Everybody was blown, and I was blown right across the road, crashed into a wall, and I didn’t have any breath in me,” she told me a few years ago. “Anyway I was coming around and I went into my pocket, and I wish I hadn’t it, because I’ve had my leg pulled about it ever since, I took my lipstick out and I put it on.
“I got my breath back, and he said to me – one of the wardens did – ‘That’s your armour, isn’t it?’. ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘As long as I’ve got my lipstick on I can face anything!’
“A story I didn’t want to end”
Lovely new five star review for ‘Farewell Leicester Square’ on Amazon:
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“This book starts with an intrigue and in the present time but quickly moves back to WWII and a different perspective, that of the Channel Islands, the only part of the UK to be occupied by the Nazis during WWII.
“It quickly pulled me in and was full of pathos, well told and a story that flowed well with some twists and turns that took me off track but I pulled myself back quickly.
“It was a story I didn’t want to end and I enjoyed the book and would like a sequel!”
jon kilkade 