Tag: war
-
Wikipedia @ 25: Milices Patriotiques
My random Wikipedia article of the day was Milices Patriotiques, who were a 22,000-strong communist group and part of the Belgian resistance in the Second World War. Which sounded really interesting, but their article was tragically short so that's pretty much all I have to say about them!
-
Wikipedia @ 25: Wesley Merritt
Wikipedia is celebrating its 25th birthday, and somehow as a result I ended up reading about Wesley Merritt, who was the shortest-lived Governor-General of the Philippines!
-
Seventy years ago, residents of this part of London would take shelter from V1 and V2 bombs in a tunnel beneath my feet. And today, I'm going down there to take a look!
Alt
Dan, a white man wearing a Goo Goo Dolls t-shirt, stands in front of a sign describing the history of The Drum in South Clapham.
-
The eldest is really getting into her WW2 studies at school, so I arranged a trip for her and a trip to the ever-excellent Bletchley Park for a glimpse at the code war that went on behind the scenes. They're clearly looking forward to the opportunity to look like complete swots on Monday.
Alt
Dan sits on a padded bench in a cinema-style room, pointing his thumb at the two children sitting on a row in front of him.
Bonus: I got to teach them some stories about some of my favourite cryptanalysts. (Max props to the undersung Mavis Batey!)
-
How the Knights Hospitaller 'accidentally' became a major European air power
Let's talk about the point after WW2 where the Knights Hospitaller, of medieval crusading fame, 'accidentally' became a major European air power.
-
Nazi spies awarded fake medals after war by their MI5 controller
Two fascist spies were awarded fake Nazi medals after the end of the second world war by an MI5 officer who penetrated their secret network, a newly published book on wartime espionage has revealed.
Copies of German bronze honours for non-combat gallantry were commissioned from the Royal Mint and presented at a covert ceremony in January … -
What Cyber-War Will Look Like
When prompted to think about the way hackers will shape the future of great power war, we are wont to imagine grand catastrophes: F-35s grounded by onboard computer failures, Aegis BMD systems failing to launch seconds before Chinese missiles arrive, looks of shock at Space Command as American surveillance satellites start careening towards the Earth--stuff …
-
The Pig War of 1859
The Pig War of 1859 (Historic UK) Undeniably one of the most obscure and unusual 'wars' in history, this is the story of how the killing of an escaped pig almost caused a war between the United States and Britain. 'The Pig War' is perhaps one of the most obscure and unusual wars in history. …
-
Slaughterbots
Stop Autonomous Weapons -
The First Time I Met Americans
HANOI, Vietnam — I first visited the United States in the summer of 1998, when I was invited to attend a literary conference in Montana with four other Vietnamese writers. We flew from Hanoi to Taiwan to Los Angeles. As we crossed the Pacific Ocean, passing through many time zones, I buried myself in … -
TIL that early in the second world war, Churchill (anticipating trench warfare stalemates as in the first world war) commissioned the invention of a "mole" machine that could dig new trenches to take itself and a convoy of tanks deep into the enemy lines.
-
Going to a memorial service today? Help update the national record of your war memorial.
Since 1989, the War Memorials Archive has been trying to keep an up-to-date database for everybody to read, showing the location of every war memorial in the UK as well of details of the dead commemorated there. But their records are incomplete, and sadly many memorials (especially rural ones) are degrading: someday the information … -
Jersey
JTA, Dan, Ruth, and her mother take a long-weekend holiday to the island of Jersey, and nobody kills anybody.
-
TIL that 'Hellburners', 16th century fire-ships filled with decks of gunpowder sandwiched between bricks and tombstones, are considered to be an early WMD.
Hellburners (Dutch: hellebranders) were specialised fireships used in the Siege of Antwerp (1584-1585) during the Eighty Years' War between the Dutch rebels and the Habsburgs. They were floating bombs, also called "Antwerp Fire", and did immense damage to the Spanish besiegers. Hellburners have been described as an early form of weapons of mass destruction.
Wikipedia -
Memorial to Quakers' wartime service
A memorial recognising the wartime work done by Quakers has been unveiled at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
Quaker beliefs, among them pacifism, meant that many were unable to serve in the armed forces during wartime.
Many volunteered to serve in warzones in the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU).
Leslie Steed, 94, from Birmingham, who served …