350 years to this day, the Dutch finally withdrew from their daring raid on the Royal Navy’s fleet at Chatham. Also known as the Battle of Medway, the raid resulted in one of the most humiliating defeats the British have ever suffered in domestic waters. The Dutch suffered only minimal losses, capturing and towing away HMS […]
Museums
Shifting Sands: Lawrence of Arabia and the Great Arab Revolt
Shifting Sands is an exhibition about T E Lawrence, probably known to most of us as ‘Lawrence of Arabia’. The title inevitably conjures up pictures of desert sands whipped up into fierce sandstorms by violent winds. There is, however, a subtler subtext, linked to Lawrence’s mindset, to the shifting sands of his personality. Both of […]
MUSEUM REVIEW: National WWI Museum and Memorial, Kansas City, USA
The name of this stunning museum is a bit of a misnomer for, if anything, it is not national but international in its scope – a fact that is certainly appropriate for the subject matter. Located on a beautiful slope in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, this amazing structure, with its 217 -tall memorial […]
Talk: ‘Roald Dahl’s War’ by Graham Laurie
The RAF Museum Cosford will host a talk about Roald Dahl, presented by historian and former RAF pilot Graham Laurie on Saturday 10 September 2016. ‘Roald Dahl’s War’ will cover the writer’s life in the RAF and his subsequent rise to literary stardom. Graham will examine Roald Dahl’s career as he went from employee of the oil company Shell, […]
Tank Museum goes out with a bang
The Normandy Tank Museum is shutting down and will sell its entire collection of tanks, armoured vehicles, and Second World War memorabilia at auction next month. The museum is closing its doors due to poor visitor numbers. It is situated on a Second World War airfield used by the Allies during the Battle of […]
REVIEW: Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Visitor Centre
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight has conducted thousands of flypasts at events up and down the country, taking part in over 100 airshows per year. The Flight was formed in 1957 to commemorate the RAF’s defence of Britain against the Lu ftwa ffe in 1940. It subsequently became a memorial to those who lost their lives […]
Fort de la Pompelle Museum
Continuing his exploration of French military museums, this month Keith Robinson heads north to Reims. Set high above the road from Reims to Châlons-en- Champagne, the Fort de la Pompelle forms part of the ring of fortifications built to defend Reims after France’s disastrous defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. The Fort de la Pompelle, […]
MUSEUM REVIEW – The Suffolk Regiment Museum
Driving into Bury St Edmunds along the Newmarket Road, one encounters a rather forbidding red-brick Victorian building. This is The Keep of Gibraltar Barracks, now home to the Regimental HQ of the Royal Anglian Regiment, the local Army Recruiting Office, and the Suffolk Regiment Museum. As part of far reaching military reforms in the 1870s, […]
MUSEUM REVIEW – The French Foreign Legion Museum
The French Foreign Legion Museum In 1888 the French Foreign Legion was authorised to create a ‘Hall of Honour’ – a place where trophies and souvenirs of past campaigns could be presented. A building was erected in the Legion’s original home of Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria. After Algerian independence, in 1962, the French Foreign Legion […]
MUSEUM – The Martyrs’ Memorial and Museum, Jordan
John Winterburn finds a censored version of Jordan’s military history at the country’s national army museum. Sarh al-Shaheed, The Martyrs Memorial, sits like an acropolis on the hill overlooking the capital city, Amman. From the outside it is austere, presenting an […]