 |
Contents Listing - Articles & Features in this issue
FEATURES BEYOND GLORY The dash through the English Channel by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen in broad daylight was one of the most audacious operations undertaken by the German navy in the Second World War. But, as John Grehan explains, instead of being celebrated as a great German success it is remembered as one of the Royal Navy's finest moments - thanks to the astonishing courage of just eighteen men. THE MAN WHO SAVED LONDON In a world-wide conflict involving tens of millions of people, there were a few occasions where the efforts of just one person had a profound effect upon the course of the war. We uncover the story of one such remarkable man. GUNNERS AT SEA Who fired Second British Army's first shots of Operation Overlord, at 06.44 hours on 6 June 1944? The answer can be given with certainty: those first rounds came from the M7 Priests of 9 (Irish) Battery 7th Field Regiment Royal Artillery. But, discovers Richard Doherty, those 105mm rounds were fired not from the beaches but from tank landing craft (LCTs) as they were approaching Queen Sector of Sword Beach. IT'S ALL IN A NAME For Mrs. Tiny Hammond, the flurry of media coverage and commemorations which always marks the anniversary of the opening day of the Battle of the Somme have always held a special poignancy for she has carried the name 'Somme' with her - quite literally - all her life. Indeed, the Battle of the Somme has become part of her very identity - and she has the birth certificate to prove it. Historian Jon Cooksey explains why. REGULARS DATAFILE In this month's Datafile, Mark Khan examines the Browning Mk.1 and Mk.2 machine-guns, this being the older-style British and Commonwealth designations for the .303 calibre Browning machine-guns used on the vast majority of British aircraft during the Second World War. CAMERA AT WAR The Bailey Bridge was adopted by the British army as the standard prefabricated military bridge in early 1941. As this series of images from Geoff Hodgson illustrates, the design was used extensively throughout Europe during, and after, the Second World War. SURVIVORS: THE HANDLEY PAGE HAMPDEN At the start of the Second World War, the RAF had three twin-engine bombers in service. Two of these had resulted from the same set of specifications, B.9/32. One, the Vickers 271, would become as famous as the Wellington. The other, the Handley Page H.P.52, would be known as the Hampden. In this month's 'Survivors' we look at the two complete examples of the latter! Ten Things You Probably Didn't Know About ... AIR CHIEF MARSHAL LORD DOWDING. As Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command, Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding was responsible for its preparation for, and conduct during, the Battle of Britain. As the inscription on his memorial in The Strand notes: "To him, the people of Britain and of the Free World owe largely the way of life and the liberties they enjoy today".
Article Snippets
Can you provide something to add to this area?
This part of the page works like a Wikipedia entry - we welcome contributions from anyone to improve the usefulness of this page
Click the '?' above for more information.
Adverts and Links based on this content
Advertisement