I have re-vamped my e-newsletter recently to follow the look and feel of the new website. The new e-newsletter will be regular (but not that regular) updates of stuff that is going on… book launches, book reviews, various charity projects and my general thoughts and ideas on a load of different topics. There will also […]
Many people dream of having a book published. For thousands of people, finally seeing their own thoughts and words reproduced in a nice shiny book is a dream. A large number manage it, but an even larger number don’t for a number or reasons. This week (the 15th to be precise), I have not one, […]
It gives me enormous pleasure to bring to your attention a very special WW1 Centenary project that has just been officially launched: The Big Picture.
The actual ‘centenary’ of the First World War is still some months off, but to many it seems like the nation’s press (both written and broadcast) has gone into overdrive already. It often feels like you cannot flick on the remote or turn the page of a newspaper (or click an online news page) without another […]
Today I have added the donations from the October and November sales of my ‘Heroes of The Line’ e-book. As a reminder, the target for the book is to raise £1500 by the end of 2018 (during the WW1 centenary years), if I can get up to £50 per month from sales then that will […]
I am delighted to announce that my latest book ‘The First World War Fact Book’ is now available not just in Kindle format, but also as a paperback. The fact book holds 1,568 facts on the war and is split into many different sections such as the war in the air, the war at sea, […]
As I write this we are currently six days into the centenary year of 2014. Six days into what will be four years of (hopefully) respectful, considered and thoughtful remembrance of, and teaching about, the First World War. Yet someone has forgotten to tell our politicians what the Centenary years should be used for. Just two […]
To celebrate the launch of my brand new Kindle e-book ‘The First World War Fact Book’ I thought it might be fun to offer you all a sneak preview of some of the stats and facts hiding in the book. The book itself offers up 1,568 facts, (if you want to know what I chose […]
Earlier this week I was lucky enough to travel to France and spend a couple of days with the team of the La Boisselle Study Group. If you don’t know of the group, please check out their website here. They are currently excavating and studying a small but hugely significant portion of the old Somme […]
John Rimmer was born in Blackburn in 1895, and as a child attended both the Norfolk Street Day School and St Francis’ Church Sunday school. There is little detail available of his early life, but what is clear is that after leaving school John took an apprenticeship as a weaver at the Gordon Street mill […]
It gives me great pleasure to announce that today I have placed the first donation from the book sales of my ‘Heroes of The Line’ e-book. The target for the book is to raise £1500 by the end of 2018 (during the WW1 centenary years), if I can get up to £50 per month from […]
I have recently had a small run of my latest kindle book, Heroes of The Line printed in paperback version primarily to help get some reviews of the book by websites, newspapers, magazines, bloggers etc. In 2009 I cycled the Western Front (550miles) in order to raise cash for the Royal British Legion. I rode with […]
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive in the post a fascinating book produced by Historic Newspapers which contained the front pages of 144 days of news from September 2nd 1939 until September 2nd 1945. The book is beautifully presented in large hardback form. Personalised on the front cover and again inside with […]
Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending an event, put on by The History Press, which in effect launched their First World War Centenary publications. The event was very well organised and the venue (The Army and Navy Club on Pall Mall) was a perfect setting for their launch. I didn’t count them, but I […]
It has been a while since an update to The Great War 100 app has been issued, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy working on numerous fab infograpics on The First World War. During the past weeks graphics on bravery awards such as the Pour le Merit, the Medal of Honor, the Iron Cross […]
I am delighted to announce today that my latest e-book ‘Heroes of The Line’ has now been launched on Amazon Kindle. Priced at £2.49 it tells the story of my Cycling the Line tour of the Western Front as well as uncovering some of the soldiers that are buried or commemorated in the many cemeteries and […]
A recent YouGov survey of 1,955 British adults seems to indicate that there is a general lack of knowledge and understanding in Britain about even the basic facts of the First World War. Some of the headline results of this survey, taken on the eve of the centenary of the conflict, are certainly a little […]
After the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand there began a period of political bicep flexing and a flurry of pacts, friendly handshakes and aggressive finger pointing as the major (and some of the not so major) powers of Europe shuffled themselves into two distinct sides ready for what would be an August face-off. On […]
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, a battle generally considered as the first phase of the Third Battle of Ypres, or Passchendaele. In recognition of this fact, my WW1 e-book ‘World War One: A Layman’s Guide’ will be available from Amazon completely free! The book has sold brilliantly well (way beyond […]
I have added a few of the infographics from my on-going ‘Great War 100′ project to SlideShare. This project attempts to tell various aspects of The First World War using infographics. Currently over 210 graphics have been produced from weapons to casualties to medals to the various soldiers and what they went through. Many of […]
Today, 7th June marks the anniversary of the Battle of Messines Ridge… The Messines Ridge, situated a few thousand yards to the south of the town of Ypres, had been taken by the Germans in 1914 and they had fought tenaciously to keep it ever since. Strategically this ridge was hugely important; although at 260 […]
Today I stumbled across a group called Gaia3D - they are a UK-based team of artists, developers and animators that are on a bit of a mission to shake up education by using gaming technology to provide interactive and immersive educational 3D experiences. One project of theirs which has captured my imagination is a WW1 virtual trench. The WW1 […]
I am currently working on a new Kindle publication called ‘Heroes of The Line’. It is a memoir of my 2009 cycle ride across the entire WW1 Western Front trench lines, intermingled with a number of pieces of research on some of the soldiers we came across that were buried in war cemeteries or mentioned […]
Today we have added 8 big new infographics to our popular ‘The Great War 100′ app. This latest update covers 7 new ‘battle’ graphics covering the decisive battles at Mons, the Marne, Cambrai, Amiens, Neuve Chappelle, Loos, First Ypres, and the Brusilov Offensive. Another graphic covering the Battle of Tannenberg is not quite finished and […]
Yesterday, 8 new infographics were added to the ever-growing ‘The Great War 100′ app. This latest update covers the Distinguished Flying Cross gallantry award. These new graphics cover a general overview of the award including award criteria, size, material, as well as some facts and figures as to how many were awarded, what they were […]
A new online database covering British War Memorials has been launched on thegenealogist.co.uk. Currently the database comprises over 100,000 records, providing valuable details about civilians and soldiers killed during conflicts ranging from the Boer War to the more recent clashes in Northern Ireland. Each record includes details of the memorial with overview images of the […]
Earlier today I was invited on to the Mike Read radio show on BBC Radio Berkshire to talk about the First World War, tattoos, history books, charity cycle rides, Motorhead and Elvis Presley! As part of Mike’s ‘my favourite things’ session we discussed how my tattoo of soldiers going ‘over the top’ has inspired me […]
Continuing with a medal theme to The Great War 100 app we have just released 17 new graphics covering the Distinguished Service Order and Military Cross gallantry awards. These new graphics cover a general overview of the medals including award criteria, size, material, as well as some facts and figures as to how many were […]
In early 1915 the Western Front resembled a tag-team wrestling match. No sooner had the French had jumped out of the ring after the disaster at Champagne, they slapped the hand of the British who took up the baton for the Allies and launched their own offensive at Neuve Chapelle. The objective handed to the […]
Earlier this week I read a great story in the Daily Mail about a recently found old suitcase that held a plethora of items relating to the life of a WW1 nurse. Margaret Maule was a nurse for 52 years, until she retired in 1969 aged 82. During that time, she cared for wounded WW1 […]
Over the coming weeks and months I will be building various medal guides for both the Second and First World Wars and uploading them to Slideshare.net Here is the first one – A guide to British and Commonwealth Campaign Medals of WW2. I hope you like it and find it of interest!! WW2 British […]
On the back of my latest Kindle e-book (World War One: A Layman’s Guide) I thought it might be interesting to put together a short online questionnaire to test the nation’s knowledge of The First World War! So, get your clever face on and help us get a better understanding about the nation’s general knowledge […]
The updates to the app are coming thick and fast now – today we announce another new category – medals – and there is really only once place to start and that is with the highest British and Commonwealth award for bravery – The Victoria Cross. This update comprises of 17 infographics and covers some […]
Following on from the huge success of the recent The Great War 100 Slideshare presentation which has had over 60,000 views in a week, I have put together another Slideshare deck, this time giving a sneak preview of some of the chapters that are in my Kindle book, World War One: A Layman’s Guide. The […]
We have put together a slideshare presentation which explains our thinking behind our ‘The Great War 100′ project. As well as explaining what prompted us to do it, it also has some nice example infographics included to give you a taster as to what is included within the app, and what will be printed in […]
Today we have issued a another small update to our popular “The Great War 100″ app consisting of 8 new infographics covering some of the various trench weapons used by the infantrymen whilst serving in the front line. In the close confines of a front line trench, the rifle was often too big and cumbersome […]
I have spent much of my spare time this Christmas period working on the next wave of infographics for ‘The Great War 100′ project I am working on. In particular I have been working on a number of Victoria Cross infographics, some of which will appear as an app update in a few weeks time… […]
Today we have issued a small update to our popular “The Great War 100″ app consisting of 7 new infographics covering the rifles used by the infantrymen of the main protagonists of the First World War; (Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the USA). Each graphic includes a nice image along with the vital […]
I know what you are thinking: Not another book on the First World War!! To a certain extent, I do sympathise with you. If you type in ‘WW1′ in the books section of Amazon.co.uk you will be confronted with a list of 11,186 books to choose from. That is quite a bookcase. So, do we […]
Researching WW2 family members can be awkward at the best of times. There are things that can be done – my blog post ‘Researching Your WW2 Ancestors‘ covers the most common research avenues, however, for service records and medal information you have to be a direct family descendant, and you need to know some basic […]
Here at Research Towers, we are delighted to announce a new update to our popular The Great War 100 app. This new update sees 27 infographics added covering two different subjects: Tanks and (fittingly) The Armistice. Those of you who have already downloaded the app onto your phone or tablet will find the new images […]
I write this particular blog post from a hotel room somewhere in central Stockholm. It has been a long but memorable day… I have been hosting a number of business partners at the Imperial War Museum. To be honest the whole event was a bit of an indulgence to my own taste, it could have […]
I read today with utter disgust the sad tale of the 91 year old WW2 sailor who has had his medals stolen from his family home. Great Granddad John Robson found on Monday that his medals were stolen, just a matter of weeks before the nation (or at least most of the nation) stops to […]
I went to look at a prospective new house at the weekend. It was a lovely cottage that is older than America, in a pretty village called Codford, nestled in the Wylye valley. The place we looked at was lovely, a bit too near to the main road, but that is by-the-by. I was with […]
According to a recent article in The Sun, Britain will hold three special days of remembrance to mark the centenary of World War One, The days that have been pencilled in are: 4th August, 2014 (centenary of the beginning of the war), 1st July, 2016 (centenary of the 1st day of the battle of the […]
If you are a history teacher in a secondary school then we may have something that interests you… Following on from the success of our WW1 infographics app we have printed a short run of full size posters of our overview infographic that would look great in any history department! The posters are sized to […]
Our ‘The Great War 100′ app for iPad/iPhone/Android is proving very popular and today we have added 27 new infographics, covering ‘The War at Sea’ and ‘U-Boats’.
The joint first Victoria Cross awarded in World War One has recently gone up for auction and fetched a cool £276,000. The VC was awarded to Private Sidney Godley, the son of a painter and decorator, who served in the 4th Btn. The Royal Fusiliers.
In an effort to remember the sacrifices made during the Battle of the Somme, and in particular the first day of the battle that saw so many casualties for the British Army, here is an infographic overview of the battle. This infographic is taken from a project called ‘The Great War 100′ that I am […]
Today I have been playing around with a word cloud for this blog…here it is!
We have a new Facebook page – www.facebook.com/militaryresearchUK – and we would love it if you join us. On our page you will find pictures, photos and stories from our military history, plus tips and tricks on how to track down your military ancestors. We have over 800 ‘likes’ already and lots of interaction going […]
We are delighted to announce that The Great War 100 app is now available on both Android and iOS platforms for just £1.49 The idea of the app is to try and tell the story of the First World War using infographics. In the first version of this app there are over 65 separate graphics […]
The Android version of our App – The Great War 100 is now live and available for download at the bargain price of £1.29. This application is the forerunner to the book of the same name, which is due to be published by The History Press in early 2014 for the centenary of the war. […]
Earlier this week saw the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Royal Flying Corps, so as a tip of the hat to the pioneers of British military aviation, I thought I would write a few words on how to uncover your aviation heroes. But first a history of the RFC in about 3 paragraphs: […]
There is a small brick wall that separates my driveway from that of my next door neighbours, it is only a foot or two high and when I am washing my car it comes in handy as a place to store the debris from inside my car whilst I attack the carpets with the Dyson. […]
The situation Germany found herself in at the end of 1917 was somewhat mixed. Yes, the defeat of Russia in the East had released a huge number of troops and supplies that could be switched to the Western Front, but the window of opportunity for effective action in the West was rapidly diminishing as the […]
The National Army Museum are planning a brand new exhibition exploring the true story behind the epic stage production and novel called ‘War Horse’. The touching real life stories of the horses, and the men who depended on them will be illustrated throughout the collection, encouraging visitors to think about the ‘patient heroes’ who supported the British Army in […]
It has taken him the best part of 2 years, but finally Steve, my buddy with whom I cycled the WW1 Western Front back in 2009 has uploaded some video snippets from our trip onto YouTube. They are small, taken with an iPhone, completely random and contain some tasty language, but they bring back some […]
Just a matter of weeks after declaring war on Germany, 80,000 members of the BEF, along with 30,000 horses and 315 guns of assorted size were in France and unwittingly marching straight towards an enemy who had already passed through Luxembourg and was now putting Belgium to the sword. The Schlieffen plan was working beautifully. […]
At 19:00 CET today, a ceremony will be held at the Commission’s newest cemetery at Fromelles in northern France, to dedicate the newly erected headstones of 14 Australian soldiers who died 95 years ago, during the Battle of Fromelles. This public event forms the latest chapter in the Fromelles story, which has seen the discovery […]
Exploring, through forensic archaeology, the human story of the Battle of Messines The Plugstreet Project is a non profit project lead by No Man’s Land Archaeology Group, a multinational team of volunteers specialising in the study of the First World War though archaeological excavations, historical research, map work and aerial photography. Working with academic departments, local and […]
After the Boer War, Richard Haldane, the War Minister, spearheaded a reform of the British Army. Hindered by a nation obsessed with its Navy, and a political system opposed to conscription, the opportunity to grow the army was limited, so instead Haldane concentrated on modernisation and training, with the aim of building an elite force […]
The Somme offensive was the main Allied attack along the Western Front in 1916. Launched on July 1st along a 19 mile front line north of the River Somme between Amiens and Péronne, it eventually ended on 18th November due to bad weather. Originally intended to be an offensive dominated by French forces, with the […]
As I was taking part in the annual event that is clearing out my garage yesterday, I came across one box of my book – For Conspicuous Gallantry…Winners of the Military Cross During The Great War (Volume 1: 2 Bars and 3 Bars). As well as possibly having the longest book title in the world, […]
To celebrate and remember the Allied landings on the Normandy beaches, here are a few interesting facts about this most historic and heroic day. The codename given by the Allies for the overall invasion was ‘Operation Overlord’. The invasion took place over 61miles of beaches. The beaches were split into 5 sectors and given the […]
Here is another ‘hero of the line’. This is a series of researched officers and men who were killed during the First World War and whose gravestone we photographed during our ‘cycling the line‘ trip in 2009. Today’s hero is Lt. Col. Randle Barnett Barker, DSO & Bar. Royal Fusiliers. Record of Service: Born London, […]
The blog post I did a while back: 9 Little Known Facts of WW1 has been very popular, so I thought I would add a few more bite sized nuggets…so here we go: Little Known WW1 facts, Chapter 2… When the British mines laid under the Messines Ridge near Ypres were exploded on 7th June […]
With the sad but inevitable news that Claude Choules, the last surviving veteran from WW1 passed away earlier this week, I guess the press will be full of articles about their lives, television programmes dedicated to their memory and a renewed interest, for a while, in the “Great War”. That we remember those who fought […]
Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae (November 30, 1872 – January 28, 1918) was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres. He is best known for writing the famous war memorial poem “In Flanders Fields”. Born in Guelph, Ontario, on November 30, […]
A project to trace hundreds of children who were displaced by the Holocaust has been launched by am American museum. The campaign, run by the U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum is calling for information about more than 1100 children, depicted in a series of photographs which can be seen online. The photos were taken at refuge […]
I read a lot. Mostly history (which is a yawn for most people, I know), and mostly WW1 related. However, after reading my last book ‘In Flanders Fields – The 1917 Campaign’ my WW1 bookcase is dry… So here is a heart-felt plea to the 1500 or so people who read this blog every month […]
Today, April 1st, sees the anniversary of the birth of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The RAF came about from the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service and announced in the London Gazette on April 2nd 1918. “All Officers serving with the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Flying […]
Major Edward Alexander Chisholm, MC and 2 Bars, RFA Record of Service: Born in Canada 26/7/1892 Previous to the outbreak of war had served with the 18th Battery, Canadian Garrison Artillery, rising to the rank of Captain. Volunteered for service as part of the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force on 27/11/1914 Transferred to the 161st Brigade, Royal […]
The name Tommy or Tommy Atkins has long been used as a generic nickname for the British Soldier for hundreds of years. There are many opinions as to where/how/why this name came about, my favourite is the one that suggests it was chosen by the Duke of Wellington… The Duke was standing on a path […]
As I was driving home this evening, I heard on the radio that a man who was found guilt of burning poppies and singing ‘British Soldiers burn in hell’ on Armistice Day has been fined £50 (fifty pounds). Now, I don’t know about you, but I find this disgusting. £50 is a desultory amount for […]
Here are a selection of quotes (both well known and slightly more obscure), from people who lived and fought through the First World War. These are just a few of my favourites, I hope I have quoted them correctly (I am sure I will get told if I haven’t!) If you have a favourite quote […]
Major Henry Wyndham Francis Blackburne Farrer Military Cross and 2 Bars, RFA Record of Service: Born Salisbury 10/8/1894 Volunteered for service on 12/8/1914 and joined as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 39th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery Left for France on 17/10/1914 from Southampton on SS Winifriedan. The 39th Brigade was part of the 1st Division. One of the […]
I was on the phone today with a good friend of mine and the discussion got round (inevitably) to military stuff, specifically this time, the investment potential of militaria and medals. I have been collecting medals and militaria on and off (more off than on recently, to be honest) for the last 20 years. And […]
You may remember several months ago I re-visted some places in and around the Ypres Salient, specifically to the north around Passchendaele, as we hadn’t had much time to properly visit some of these areas during our Cycling the Line trip in November 2009. Well, today I was able to get back to the Salient […]
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day, on this day in 1945 Russian soldiers finally liberated the Nazi extermination camp of Auschwitz. To mark this anniversary here are a few interesting facts about Auschwitz and the Holocaust. Auschwitz II – Birkenau, was built in October 1941. It held more than 100,000 prisoners and housed gas chambers capable […]
Details of thousands of Boer War soldiers have been digitised and compiled into a single on-line collection, making it much easier for family historians to search for their family heroes. The records are at www.findmypast.co.uk and list more than 260,000 soldiers, nurses and civilians who served with the British Imperial Forces between 1899 and 1902. […]
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health: The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever. Crunchy numbers A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 7,900 times in 2010. That’s about 19 full […]
The lyrics below are from a wonderful song from John McCutcheon. It describes the Christmas Truce of 1914 where British and German soldiers put aside their hostilities for one day as a spontaneous truce was recognised up and down the Front Line. You can see a you tube video of John singing his song here […]
Each year, I am amazed at the amount of money people waste on Christmas cards. Most people wander into Clintons, or if they are trying to look posh, M&S, buy a gazillion cards and send them to all and sundry. They send them to the person they sit next to at the office, they send […]
I received an email this evening from one of my military research customers. The content of the email was a poem and a message from the soldier who penned it. Both are transcribed below… This poem was written by a Peacekeeping soldier stationed overseas. The following is his request. I think it is reasonable. Would […]
Earlier this month (Remembrance Day to be exact) the Commonwealth War Graves Commission signed an agreement with the Flemish government which will mean closer working ties between the two parties in the run up to the centenary of the Great War (2014-2018). The result of which will be brand new visitor centre in or near the […]
Today is Remembrance Sunday, the day where we should all take a few moments to say our silent thank you’s to those family members, friends and comrades who have fought, and in many cases, died for Britain and for freedom. For me, there are a few people who I ‘remember’. My Grandad, who passed away […]
First of all, you will have to all excuse my language in this post – because reading this story from the Daily Mail has really pissed me off. So, some trumped up, self important shop keeper has told 18 year old Harriet Phipps that she cannot wear a RBL Poppy to work as it is […]
What a great idea – the British Legion has released an iTunes track to raise money for this years Poppy Appeal, and many music experts think it could reach number one in the charts — despite being two minutes of silence. The track “2 minute silence” is being released by The Royal British Legion on […]
A couple of years ago I wrote, on this blog, about the famous ‘Football Attack’ on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, and how some of the war diaries for these football battalions were now available online to view. The Footballers’ Battalions were formed partly in response to criticism that the 1914-15 […]
This time last year I was in the final preparations for my cycle ride along the entire WW1 Western Front trench lines. Steve and I raised about £3500 for the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal, of which we are both very proud. This year, unfortunately I have not been able to repeat such a feat, however […]
If your ancestors served in the Militia it may seem that trying to trace their careers is significantly more difficult than those men that served in the regular army. But there are some great websites that can help you in your search. What is the Militia? The Militia was a part-time voluntary civilian force organised […]
Now, I don’t normally read too many newspapers, firstly because I don’t get a great deal of time to do so, but mainly because I am not that interested in which footballer is bedding which whore, or if Paris Hilton is partying in Vegas without any knickers… But today is different, because as I was […]
The are literally ‘some’ splendid websites out there where you can find details of the final resting place of your family hero who made the supreme sacrifice so we can eat cheeseburgers in peace…here are a few of my faves. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (www.cwgc.org) In my opinion, this is the daddy of them […]
Today, at 15.52BST to be precise, marks the 70th Anniversary of the famous ‘So Few’ speech from Sir Winston Churchill as he paid tribute to the RAF as they threw everything they had against the mighty Luftwaffe in The Battle of Britain. To commemorate this anniversary, the speech will be replayed outside Churchill’s war-time bunker in Whitehall, at 1552 BST […]
Perhaps the only disappointing thing from ‘Cycling the Line’ was the fact that we couldn’t really spend much time looking around the places we were travelling through. This was especially true when we hit Ypres at the very end of the trip. My bike was in such a bad state I dared not do a […]
Took the kids the other day to the tank museum at Bovington - Had a wicked time, I hadn’t been there for many years. The museum has under gone a very nice new facelift, including new exhibitions and facilities, and is a wonderful day out. From the very first tank ever (Little Willy – which has now got a […]
The dedication of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery, Fromelles, northern France, will take place on Monday 19 July 2010. During the dedication, an un-named soldier will be buried. He is the last of the 250 Australian and British soldiers found at the Pheasant Wood site to be laid to […]
Today is the anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Widely regarded as the blackest day in British military history, approximately 60,000 British soldiers were killed, wounded or missing as Kitchener’s New Army was blooded – quite literally – on the battlefields of France. That’s sixty thousand men…twenty thousand of them […]
Almost all of us have a family member who fought for King and Country during the First World War. With digitisation of army and pension records, as well as medal cards, ancestry.co.uk is a great resource for anyone wanting to find out more about their family heroes from WW1. There are a vast number of service […]
I always think back on this day – the anniversary of the allied beach landings on the Normandy coast - about a trip that I did with a good buddy of mine, Andy Wootten, a few years back. (I want to say 2004, but my memory is shocking and that could be wrong). Andy’s Dad took part in […]
I have been a regular ‘tweeter’ for a while now and have a growing ‘army’ of followers that has just hit 750 people! I tweet about all things military history including news and tips on how to uncover your family heroes. http://twitter.com/military_search
Surrendered to Britain by Germany at the end of the First World War, the UB-88 was given to the U.S. for study and a victory lap from New York, around the Panama Canal and back up to the coastal waters off California. The agreement called for the German submarine to be sunk within two years. […]
I had the pleasure of hosting my European marketing colleagues at work this week, along with some senior members of our corporate marketing management team. During the meetings I put together a ‘cliché tax’ system where a small fine (20p or 20c depending on where you came from!) was paid every time someone said one of a set of […]
While cycling home today I had an idea for a new fundraising idea for the Royal British Legion, which I would like your feedback on. Some of you may remember my Cycling the Line trek last November which I did with my good buddy Steve, well, while I want to do some more fundraising for the […]
When my wife texted me yesterday saying she had bought me a surprise present I thought that I had finally worn her down enough to give in and buy me a Mustang. When I finally got home and didn’t see it all shiny and new on the driveway I thought to myself ‘Aah, she has […]
Now this has made me angry. Private Dave Tatlock is a soldier in the British Army, a couple of years ago he was blown up on active duty and told by his doctors he would never walk again. I suppose it was a good thing he took out special insurance with a company called Abacus […]
Over a quarter of a million army pension records have now been made available online at www.findmypast.co.uk For soldiers that served in the British army before WW1, by far the best way to find any information on service and personal details is via the chelsea pensioner discharge papers. (National Archives WO97). This series holds over […]
“I was standing on the parapet of an old German trench near the guns having a few words with a pal of mine. A shell burst practically under my feet lifting me some feet of the ground. My pal was quite 12ft from me at the time and after picking myself up feeling bruised all […]
I know, I know. It has take absolutely ages. But after approx 4 months, the photos from cycling the line are finally on-line. You can see some of the photos we took on my flickr page. I havent got round to putting a title on them all yet (that will take another 4 months probably) but hopefully […]
So here is something that I hope will get a little ‘crowd participation’. Here are a few little know or slightly strange facts about WW1, please feel free to add your own facts or sound bites to this little collection..overtime I may add to it so it becomes a little glossary of amazing little Great […]
65 years ago today, Russian troops liberated what was left of the Auschwitz death camp. Unfortunately less than 3,000 inmates were left, the rest had either been executed or put on a forced death march away from the camp. The camp itself was in tatters as the SS had tried to destroy as much evidence of […]
The Great War of 1914-18 was fought on a scale never before witnessed and caused casualties and damage beyond any battle or war previous to it. In military, social and eonimic terms it was simply immense, touching practically every single Britsh family with millions of people, military and civilian, men and women involved from Britain […]
Just before Christmas I posted about the CWGC website as one of half a dozen WW1 bias websites that I believe are invaluable for researchers and family historians interested in this conflict. Next up is The Long, Long trail (www.1914-1918.net). This site is a huge website jam packed with great detail about the British Army […]
Roger Day proudly wore ‘his’ medals at last years remembrance parade in Bedworth, Warwickshire. He is an unassuming gentlemen, however his medal bar was anything but! Seventeen medals (count them!), including what looks like from the photos (and I may be mistaken so pls forgive me) a Distinguished Service Order and Bar, a Military Cross, […]
There are hundreds and hundreds of online resources to help you learn more about the First World War and the soldiers that fought in it, indeed, if you want an (almost) exhaustive list of all military research websites, then check out my interactive pdf which lists, links to, and describes thousands of very useful websites… […]
Adolf Hitler’s war record is to be published at the ancestry.co.uk archive. The website is to publish thousands of WWI documents detailing the full military careers of troops that were based in the south east of Germany. They include details of the then 25-year-old volunteer Lance Corporal Adolf Hitler, who was described as a Catholic […]
The double Victoria Cross awarded to Captain Noel Chavasse during WW1 has been sold privately to Lord Ashcroft for a reported £1.5million. The VC and Bar was sold by St. Peter’s College, Oxford which was founded in 1929 by Captain Chavasse’s father, the Reverend Francis Chavasse, and had been gifted the medals decades before by […]
Yesterday I visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp, about 50km west of Krakow, Poland. It is a place I have always wante to visit, indeed it is a place, that personally, I have told myself I must visit, owing to the significant historical and humanitaria (or lack of it) story that the site has to tell. […]
Another early start on the 10th as we tried to get out of Lens and head north (and across the border) to Ypres. Getting out of Lens wasn’t particularly easy or pleasant…but we got there in the end and headed out into the country, which, thankfully was largely flat. We passed through some sites of […]
Sorry for the delay in blogging, I have had trouble trying to connect with hotel wi-fi systems… We set off from Albert early doors and headed north across the old killing grounds of 1916. The mist was heavy on the ground and gave an eery atmosphere as we crossed the open fields and pock-marked ground […]
Although the trip so far has been great, it is now, as we approach the Somme region and the areas of British involvement in the war that things start getting really interesting (for me at least). So, I was excited at the prospect of cycling upto Albert today. Albert is practically in the centre of […]
With crossed fingers we set out at 9am from Reims with St. Quentin, and the British sector of the line, in our sights. We set out at a steady pace and I kept a close eye on the bike to make sure it was in good shape…however, today it wasn’t my bike that began to […]
Bonfire night…and today the entire trip almost went bang on us. Verdun to Reims was the planned trip today. 70 miles of open but mainly flat countryside should have been ok as long as the weather held up..We set off early and by 8.30am we were out of Verdun and out on the open road. […]
Day 4 of the cycle ride and our destination was the fortress city of Verdun. I was looking forward to getting to Verdun for two reasons, firstly it has huge significance for the First World War, and secondly, it meant we would finally get a rest day! We set off from our Hotel Paradiso at […]
Day 3 of cycling saw us leave St. Die early doors and head north..we had no hotel booked, and planned to travel as far as we could during the day, as day 4′s trip up to Verdun would be a long one.. We thought we had seen the back of the Vosges, but the little […]
I will be honest with you..I was worried about today, I expected a really tough tough day through the Vosges Mountains…and I wasn’t disappointed. Today has been the hardest day of my life, from a physical point of view, yet apart from the birth of my 2 children, probably the most rewarding and amazing day […]
Day 1 of the cycle happened to be my birthday (31st October). We eventually left Basel in a taxi big enough to take our bikes and kit (we had waited over an hour for him to turn up, in the meantime 2 cabbies had turned up for us in mercs, even though we explicitly said […]
Well here we are in Basel, day 2 of our cycling the line journey across the WW1 trenches. We both had an eventful day yesterday…even before we left the UK. I had an early start, leaving the house at 6.30am, bike fully loaded, paniers on back pack on..lets go! The cycle ride to the train […]
Today I was at the ‘Find Your Roots’ family history fair in Exeter. The show was bustling with people itching to discover more about their family history, for me it was a particularly busy day as a large number of the visitors seemed to make a bee-line for my stand to discuss their military ancestors. […]
The countdown is well and truly on for our bike ride for the Legion. Here is a quick rundown of the schedule for those that are interested… Day 1 – We start on the Franco Swiss border at Pfetterhouse and cycle north(ish) through Seppois, Largitzen, Hirtzbach, Carspach, Altkirch, Aspach, St. Bernard, Balschwiller, Aspacht before arriving […]
It has been 4 months in the planning, but ‘Cycling the Line’ – my attempt to raise 10 grand for our soldiers by cycling the WW1 western front trench system – is fast approaching. This time next month, myself and Steve Habbishaw will be on the Euro Star hurtling towards Basel for the start of […]
As we remember the 70th anniversary of the start of the Second World War, it is a good time to remember the 349,000 british soldiers, sailors and airmen who fought and perished during this conflict. Ancestry.co.uk have just released the WW2 Roll of Honour which records all these heroe’s names, along with specialist information, manually […]
The folks at the National Army Museum have had a busy summer delving into their extensive photograph archives, the results of which are now being shown via their online exhibition entitled First Shots: Early War Photography 1848-60. The online exhibition features the work of many celebrated war photographers including Bengal Army Surgeon John McCosh who, […]
I have just read an article on the Royal British Legion’s blog that says recent research suggests that British school children are severely lacking in British historical knowledge. Not surprising given the wide spectrum of curriculum modern schools are supposed to cram into term time, and the never ending surge of political correctness that means […]
For the first time in half a century, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission have began work on a brand new military cemetery. The Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery is being built to rebury the bodies of hundred of British and Australian soldiers who were killed in the Battle of Fromelles and have recently been found in a […]
I get a large number of enquiries from people asking me to help them research their ancestors who fought in WW2. Unfortunately there is only a limited amount of help any researcher can do with this campaign, due to the fact that the MoD still hold the service records of all soldiers of this era. […]
Thousands upon thousands of British soldiers have given their lives to defeat Germany in both World Wars, so at first it does seem a little odd that German representatives could be invited to a future national memorial celebration of WW1. But, take a minute to think of the wider picture. Think of your family ancestors who […]
I know this is predominantly a WW1 blog, but I posted this question on a Linkedin Forum earlier this week and it sparked huge debate, so I thought it would be good to get the views of people who were not necessarily on LinkedIn. A former German infantry commander has been jailed for life for […]
In an effort to reduce running costs by 10% by next year, the National Archives has announced a number of significant changes. From 2010 the plans are to reduce opening times by closing on Mondays, limit access to original documents that are available online and make a number of members of staff redundent (around 35% […]
95 years ago today, the Imperial German army marched into Belgium. They were, ultimately, on route to Paris and beyond, to encircle the French army (not necessarily to capture the captial) and force France to surrender before the might of the Russian war machine mobilised and headed towards Prussia. Britain, lept to the defense of […]
The BBC has asked the poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, to write a poem to commemorate the passing of two of the last WW1 veterans, Henry Allingham (who’s funeral, with full military honours is today), and Harry Patch, who’s funeral is scheduled for next week. The poem is vivid, powerful and moving, I have transcribed […]
I suppose it was bound to happen at some time as they couldn’t physically live on forever, but nonetheless it is very sad that Henry Allingham and Harry Patch both passed away this week, leaving the UK with just one physical link to horror and carnage of the ‘War to end all Wars’. Henry Allingham […]
I have just been reading on the Royal British Legion website about a town in Poland who is divided over what to do with a tree planted by Adolf Hitler as a birthday celebration. According to the Legion, the oak, which stands in the Polish town of Jaslo, is one of several hundred that were […]
In November, myself and a good buddy of mine will be going on a ‘bit of a bike ride’. Starting on the Franco/Swiss border we will cycle north following as closely as we can the Western Front Trench System from WW1 until we arrive at the Beglian coastal town of Nieuport, (hopefully on Rememberence Day) […]
I am feeling generous in May, so I have decided to offer both my book on the Military Cross and my 2009 Directory of websites to help discover your military heroes both for half price, right up until May 31st! That means you can get a signed copy of my hardback book on the Winners of […]
The Imperial War Museum in London has a remarkable sound archive which is open to the public (by appointment). The archive holds over 56,000 hours of recordings of personal accounts from the Boer War, the Great War, WW2 and more recent conflicts such as Korea, Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan. As well as oral accounts of […]
Five burial pits, thought to contain the bodies of between 250-400 British and Australian soldiers have been found in Northern France, seemingly buried behind enemy lines after the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916. A stark reminder that, even 90 plus years on, we can not and should not forget the sacrifice, heroism, and folly […]
I know this blog is supposed to be about WW1 and the heroes that fought in it, but last Sunday I visited the Illinois Holocaust Museum just north of Chicago, and as my passion for military history spans both world wars and beyond I thought it would be reticent of me if i didn’t comment […]
A unique system of trenches, which lay undiscovered for almost a century, has been revealed by a team of archaeologists and historians in Folkestone. See video.
Now, it is often thought that Pte John Parr of the 4th Btn. Middlesex Regiment was the first British battle casualty of the War. Not true. Although he is obviously an early casualty (killed on the 21st August 1914) he was not the first British casualty. In the early morning of August 6th 1914, with […]
After the assassination of the Archduke there began a period of political bicep flexing and a flurry of pacts, friendly handshakes and aggressive finger pointing as the major (and some of the not so major) powers of Europe shuffled themselves into two distinct sides ready for an August face-off. On the 6th July, Germany put […]
28th June 1914. Archduke Franz Ferdinand had an appointment in Bosnia to oversee some army manoeuvres. He didn’t expect to be welcomed with open arms on this trip, the Archduke was the heir to the throne of the ruling Austro-Hungarian Empire, and a large percentage of the Bosnian population were unhappy at Austrian dominance, instead […]
Our physical link with the Great War grew a little thinner this week with the news that William Stone, the last surviving serviceman to fight in both world wars, has died aged 108. Mr Stone joined the Royal Navy on his 18th birthday in September 1918 and served on HMS Tiger. HMS Tiger served throughout […]
Now this is cool. For me, the best part of researching the Great War is the individual stories, the personal suffering and heroism, the privatethoughts of the normal man-in-the-street-turned-soldier. So, i was very pleased to see that the Royal Surrey Regimental Museum have digitised and posted diaries from some of their soldiers/officers. One of the […]
Five miles from Ypres, in a quiet courtyard in the village of Poperinge, stands a pole of the sort used to support the twining vines of hops, a common local crop. It is about the height of a man. Just behind it is a steel plaque engraved with a verse from Kipling’s ‘Coward’: “I could […]
108-year-old, Ned Hughes, from Accrington has emerged as a possible fourth surviving British veteran of the First World War. He was conscripted into the 51st Battalion of the Manchester Regiment and training as an infantryman less than six months before the war ended. His personal files have been destroyed which is hampering authorities proving beyond […]
More than any other conflict, the Great War inspired writers of all generations and classes, most notably among combatants. Wilfred Edward Salter Owen (1893-1918) was an English poet and soldier, regarded by many as one of the leading poets of the First World War. His shocking, realistic war poetry on the horrors of trench warfare […]
It is amazing to think that today, November 11 2008 represents the 90th anniversary of the end of ‘the war to end all wars’. Britain lost almost a million men during this war. A million sons. Think about that for a second when you are having a bad day because the fax machine is jammed. […]
Date of Institution: 1917 Campaign: France & Belgium 1914 Branch of Service: British Forces Metal: Bronze Size: Height 50mm; max width 45mm Description: A crowned four-pointed star with crossed swords and a wreath of oak leaves, having the royal cypher at the foot and a central scroll inscribed AUG NOV 1914. Uniface, the naming being […]
Now, I don’t often read The Sun newspaper, but on the train back from London yesterday I happened to spy a copy on the seat next to me and as i flicked through it i came across a remarkable story about Rifleman Donald McNair, a conscientious objector who was tricked into going to the front […]
There is something about a 7 minute long war epic that makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. Cut through the surface, ignore the pounding guitars and wailing vocals, delve deeper than the crash ending and you can feel the energy, sadness and torment of a world long gone. I often […]