Guns are an everyday feature of most military museums, but one weapon in particular has attracted a lot of attention. A WWI German Luger was recently handed in to the police in Wiltshire. Now the nearby Tank Museum is appealing for information about the pistol’s history.
WWI
German armoured cruiser SMS Scharnhorst located off Falkland Islands
It was one of the most famous armoured cruisers of the First World War, but it had remained lost for a century. Now the wreck of SMS Scharnhorst has been located off the Falkland Islands.
War on Film: 1917 reviewed
Just when you thought there was nothing else to say about the First World War after four years of commemorations, along comes 1917 – a hugely imaginative, totally immersive story set on the Western Front.
Back to the Drawing Board: Tsar Tank
One of the earliest attempts to design an AFV that could cope with First World War battlefields was the bizarre Tsar Tank.
REVIEW – The Fortress: the Great Siege of Przemysl
I had thought I knew a lot about the First World War. Until I read this book. Then I discovered a yawning gap in knowledge and understanding.
War Reporters: William Beach Thomas
Seema Syeda recalls the journalism of William Beach Thomas – who came to regret peddling WWI ‘fake news’.
BEHIND THE IMAGE: The Unknown Warrior, 1920
On 11 November 1920, the largest funeral ever held in London took place – and yet the deceased was a man unknown to the hundreds of thousands of mourners who turned out in his honour. Described as the greatest outpouring of grief the country had ever known, the event was the burial of the Unknown […]
REVIEW – A Supernatural War: Magic, Divination, and Faith During the First World War
The First World War created new experiences of pain and suffering, and had profound consequences for the shape of wars to come. But in one respect the Great War of 1914-1918 was curiously old-fashioned and traditional – and that was in the realms of spirituality, superstition, and religious faith.
BEHIND THE IMAGE: Spectators at the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, 28 June 1919
Perched on sofas and peering in from every angle, these Allied officers were obviously desperate to catch a glimpse of the momentous events unfolding next door. The Great War was finally coming to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in the dazzling surroundings of the Palace of Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors.
The Courageous Class ‘Large Light Cruisers’
David Porter takes a look at everything that went wrong with the Large Light Cruiser.
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