Slightly out of focus

Statue of Boudica and her daughters, Westminster Bridge, London (my photo).

Good morning.

Plaques presented for successful War Savings Campaigns - Wings for Victory in 1943 and Salute the Soldier in 1944, Newark Museum (my photos).

Evelyn Dunbar is best remembered for her WW2 commissions of the Women’s Land Army at work, such as 'Hospital Train,' (1942). She later became the only woman artist to receive successive and continuous salaried commissions throughout the war.

Lorries loaded with enthusiastic troops of the BEF drive through Brebières in northern France , 11 September 1939. Modern comparison.

IWM (O 92), Geoffrey Keating, WO Official Photographer
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...
Screenshot (c) Google Earth 2025

Men sprawl below decks on a ship.

Retreat from Dunkerque: on the Troopship, by Edward Bawden (1903-89), 1940.

IWM (Art.IWM ART LD 189)
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...

Silver penny coin showing the stylised head of a king, in Barnstaple Museum. My photo.

Silver penny, 11th century, produced by the Barnstaple mint during the reign of Cnut/Canute. Barnstaple Museum, North Devon.

Hard agree!

Rifleman Arjan Singh, Italy, 13 December 1943. https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205524435

Friday.

IWM (NA 9788), Sgt Menzies, AFPU

A man in uniform stands underneath the propellor of an aircraft.

Strong composition by Cecil Beaton in his portrait of an RAF corporal, dwarfed by the engine of a Vickers Wellington bomber, April 1942.

IWM (CBM 1264)
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...

'Demolition of the Blitzed House of Commons' (1945) by Frank Ernest Beresford

(Parliamentary Art Collection)

A man in flying gear sits ion a chair.

Portrait of an Air Gunner, by Charles Ernest Cundall (1890-1971).

IWM (Art.IWM ART LD 911)
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...

Harry Greenfield

Albert Greenfield

Percy Greenfield

Harry, Albert and Percy Greenfield, around 1914. Photos from www.surreyarchives.org.uk. 2/2

Memorial plaque commemorating three brothers killed in 1916.

Memorial to three brothers serving with the 7th Btn, Royal West Surrey regiment, all killed within a fortnight of each other during the Battle of the Somme in July 1916, two on the same day. St Nicolas Parish Church, Cranleigh, Surrey. (My photo). 1/2

'The First Zeppelin Seen from Piccadilly Circus, 8 September 1915' by Andrew Carrick Gow

(Imperial War Museum, London)

Men work on the engine and body of a Hawker Hurricane, which does not have its wings attached.

A Hurricane Aircraft on Test at Henlow, by Roland Vivian Pitchforth (1895-1982).

IWM (Art.IWM ART LD 2313)
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...

Three men and a dog lean against the tail section of a Hawker Hurricane aircraft.

Three flight commanders and an unimpressed dog of No 310 (Czechoslovak ) Squadron RAF, on a Hurricane at RAF Duxford, 1940.

IWM (CH 1289), RAF Official Photographer
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...

New gargoyle in progress in the grounds of York Minster. My photo.

Monday.

Graffiti separated by three centuries. Winchester Cathedral. My photo.

Lt. George Scaramanga (one of the MC recipients) was at Eton with Ian Fleming. This is where Fleming got the surname for his villain from.

🔗 www.christopherlong.co.uk/gen/scaraman...
🔗 www.geni.com/people/Georg...

Thank you, Thanos, I didn’t know that!

Bizerte Bravery A drowned camera and the Military Medal

My latest Substack post:
open.substack.com/pub/insharpf...

A man sits on straw with a typewriter.

An American war correspondent types up his story of the battle of Tabarka, Tunisia, 29 November 1942..

IWM (NA 195), Sgt Wackett, AFPU
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...

Men stand or sit in a hilly landscape, changing their clothes. Many are tired.

Troops Resting and Cleaning Up after Battle, by Edward Ardizzone (1900-79), 1943.

IWM (Art.IWM ART LD 2928)
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...

Six in flying kit stand by an aircraft.

Members of an Eagle Squadron of the RAF, made up of volunteer pilots from the US, stand by a Hurricane.

IWM (CH 2410), RAF Official Photographer
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...

Authors of History Podcast A podcast for history book lovers everywhere

On the latest episode of Authors of History #Podcast I talk to the wonderful Dr Elizabeth Norton about Tudor Queens, Writing about #History with her 12 books, teaching at RADA and advising on films. Please like and share. A wonderful chat.

play.acast.com/s/67c5cc6ab4...

Two men in naval uniform look at photographs n the walls of a room. In the centre, and above the men, is a flag.

A display of work by Naval photographers in the waiting room at the Admiralty, May 1944. In the centre is the battle ensign of HMS Starling, commanded by Capt F.J. Walker, the most successful anti-submarine warfare vessel of the Royal Navy.

IWM (A 23643), Lt McNeill
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...

A photograph taken at sunset from an aircraft showing three other aircraft lit by the sun from a low angle.

B-24 Liberators of the 491st Bomb Group fly in formation at sunset, the photograph having a painting-like quality..

IWM (FRE 6879), Edward Frewen Wilson III.
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...

A Boulton Paul Defiant aircraft flies at night above the coast, in strong moonlight.

Stalking the Night Raider, by Roy Nockolds (1911-79), 1941.

IWM (Art.IWM ART LD 1150)
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...

A British carrier drives past a German half-track.

A Universal Carrier carrier passes a destroyed German half-track near Troarn during Operation Goodwood, 19 July 1944. Ahead of the half-track, another carrier has turned off the road, perhaps abandoned. Further down the road, more carriers drive past a smoking wreck.

IWM B 7686, Sgt Christie, AFPU

Cromwell tanks drive across dry countryside.

Cromwells of 2nd (Armoured Reconnaissance) Battalion, Welsh Guards, near Escoville during Op Goodwood, 18 July 1944. The artist Rex Whistler, serving with this Battalion, was killed by a mortar the same day near Giberville.

IWM B7562, Sgt Christie, AFPU
www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...