Great Britain
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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…
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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…
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“Collar the lot,” is what Churchill said about the citizens of enemy nations living in the UK, it didn’t matter if they were friend or foe,. During the Second World War (1939 – 1945) a number of internment camps for civilians from enemy countries were established on the Isle of Man. These were based at…
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“Who do you think you are kidding Mr Hitler” is the first line of the theme of the British sitcom Dad’s Army. A truly hilarious show. I remember one episode where Capt Mainwaring is telling a story how he met an Australian soldier. He had asked him “Did you come here to die?” whereupon the…
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Gilbert Bradley was a British man who became known through his poignant love letters from World War II. Drafted into the army in 1939, he met and fell in love with Gordon Bowsher, a wealthy man who worked for his father’s shipping business. Their relationship flourished in secrecy, as homosexuality was illegal in Britain at…
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++++ Contains some nudity+++++ We watched the 2001 World War II drama “Enemy at the Gates” a few nights ago. There was one scene where the characters played by Rachel Weisz and Jude Law had sex whilst surrounded by other soldiers, in the sleeping quarters. This made me wonder how often something would happen for…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
History of Sorts 