A Sailor's Life Aboard HMS Shropshire & the First Arctic Convoy IN MY RECENT post, “Wet, Cold and Always Tired,” I explored the harsh realities faced by ratings who served aboard Britain’s corvettes during the Second World War. Now, I turn to a very different warship — the Royal Navy’s County-class heavy cruiser, HMS Shropshire. …
Life Aboard a WW2 Corvette THEY WERE NEVER meant to be heroes. Small, hastily designed, and built in civilian shipyards more accustomed to whalers than warships, the Royal Navy’s Flower-class corvettes were born out of urgency. In 1939, Britain faced a familiar nightmare: the slow strangulation of its lifelines by German U-boats. What was needed …
Why There Can Be No Peace WORLD PEACE is repeatedly put forth as desirable ― and yet, wars perpetuate. In reality, peace is no more than a lauded end-state whose true function is to remain unattainable. Decade after decade, conflicts roll on around the globe. The flags may differ, but the outcomes remain the same: …
THE NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE landscape is quiet now—the fields of Stallingborough stretch calmly toward the Humber, as its lanes wind sedately through the village. It is hard to imagine that this peaceful parish once gave rise to a woman whose unflinching courage challenged the very foundations of Tudor power. Anne Askew, born not far from these …
IN MY PREVIOUS post, 'History's Long Shadow on the Land,' I revealed my passion for historical fiction — especially that which covers the period from 1485 to 1714. Of all the chapters in England’s past, none grip my imagination quite like the Tudor and Stuart centuries. It was a time when England was reborn through …
A Window on the Past I HAVE REVEALED in previous posts my love of historical fiction―especially that set in the Tudor and Stewart period (1485-1714). When written with authority and grounded in solid research, historical fiction can act as a richly textured window onto the past by animating facts with lived experience. While it does …
Discovering Küehne + Nagel’s Dark WWII Past WHEN I worked for the shipping and transport giant Küehne + Nagel, I was pleased to be a small part of the global logistics heavyweight. It was a company built on precision, reliability, and efficiency. Containers, tilt trailers, freight rates and manifests: this was the language of our …
Introduction A FEW DAYS ago I joined a dozen or so like-minded souls for a country ramble and litter pick, facilitated by Canoe River Cleaner, Jim Elliott, in partnership with Grimsby Community Organisation, Centre 4. The walk, which started out from Centre 4's hub on Wootton Road took us out onto open fields to the …
WRITING ABOUT Master & Commander recently stirred memories of a visit I once made to HMS Victory, lying in her permanent berth at Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard. If ever a ship embodies the spirit of Nelson’s navy, it is this one. HMS Victory at her berth in Portsmouth I remember stepping onto her decks and immediately …
Introduction IF YOU'VE READ my posts 'Fallen Eagle' and 'Lost Souls' you will know that my son Josh was, for several years, a member of one of the UKs premier World War Two re-enactment groups. (Right) Josh portraying a Gefreiter [Lance Corporal] of the German 21st Infanterie Rest time at the field kitchen (Left) Manning …
RAVEN MOON 