Great Britain

  • Vidal Sassoon is a name synonymous with revolutionary hairstyling, but his lesser-known past as an anti-fascist activist with the 43 Group reveals another dimension of his life. Born in 1928 in Hammersmith, London, to Jewish parents of Greek and Ukrainian descent, Sassoon grew up in the impoverished East End. His early life was marked by

    Read more →

  • Among the many operations planned by Nazi Germany, one of the most ambitious was Operation Sealion (Unternehmen Seelöwe), Adolf Hitler’s intended invasion of Great Britain in 1940. While it never materialized, the operation remains one of the most intriguing what-if scenarios of the war. Had it succeeded, the course of history might have taken a

    Read more →

  • Louisa Gould was a remarkable woman whose bravery and selflessness during World War II exemplify the resilience of the human spirit. As a resident of Jersey in the Channel Islands, she lived through the German occupation from 1940 to 1945. Despite the dangers she faced, Gould risked her life to protect others, ultimately paying the

    Read more →

  • Most people associate the German bombing of Britain with the 1940-41 Blitz campaign during World War II. However, during the First World War, Germany also sought to bomb the UK into submission, using Zeppelin airships to carry out air raids. The first of these raids occurred on January 19, 1915. The January 19, 1915 Air

    Read more →

  • The Nazi occupation of the Channel Islands, beginning in 1940, marked a dark chapter in British history, as these small territories—Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark—became the only British lands occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II. Though the Channel Islands’ geographical proximity to mainland Europe made their defense difficult, the way local British authorities

    Read more →

  • The invasion of British Somaliland on August 3, 1940, marks a significant episode in the broader context of World War II, particularly in the East African Campaign. This military operation, undertaken by Italian forces, demonstrated the strategic importance of the Horn of Africa and highlighted the complex interplay of colonial powers in the region. The

    Read more →

  • The Long Peaceful War

    The ‘Three Hundred and Thirty-Five Years’ War lasted from 30 March 1651 to 17 April 1986. The “war” between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly is one of those curious historical footnotes that often draw a few chuckles. This conflict, if it can even be called that, occurred in 1651 during the First Anglo-Dutch

    Read more →

  • Magna Carta

    Today marks the 807th anniversary of the Magna Carta. The full name is Magna Carta Libertatum, which translates into “The great charter of Freedoms”, but in common use it is known as the Magna Carta. It was agreed by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. The document is basically

    Read more →

  • Rwanda

    The British government have passed a law which will send refugees coming into Britain, to Rwanda. Boris Johnson’s government announced in April that it would send some asylum seekers to Rwanda for an initial payment of 120 million pounds. Lets just have a quick look back at Rwanda’s recent history. In just 100 days in

    Read more →

  • Chocolate Bar Bomb

    I just don’t know how the war would have gone if the Germans had succeeded with these bombs. It gives a new meaning to the dessert name “death by chocolate,” The German bomb makers created explosive devices by coating a thin layer of rich dark chocolate and then packaging it in expensive-looking black and gold

    Read more →