The History Man

War Memorial Monday - Great Houghton

2026-10-26T08:10:15.276-07:00

The Great Houghton War Memorial is a Grade II listed building located in Great Houghton, England. It was unveiled on 3 October 1920 by General Lord Horne KCB and stands in a small garden across the road from the Grade II* listed Church of St Mary the Virgin. The memorial is situated at the west end of The Cross, an open space in the village that affords views of the memorial from all bar the northern side. The raised location, accessed from the road by six steps, is said to mark the position of a tree around which the commemorated First World War servicemen had played as young children. The memorial is made of sandstone and features a cross with a foliate wheel-head, set on a square-sectioned shaft, rising from a square plinth that stands on a three-stage octagonal base. The inscriptions on the plinth are carved but have become heavily eroded in places. The memorial's inscription reads: "IN MEMORY OF THE MEN/ OF GREAT HOUGHTON WHO/ GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR/ THEIR COUNTRY IN THE/ GREAT WAR 1914 –1919./ WORLD WAR 1939 – 1945."

The condition is pretty good overall. However: The gravel surrounding the war memorial has loads of weeds but all quite small [possibly they are cleared once per year]; The stone steps up to the memorial are worn and in a few places the pointing is crumbling; the names are engraved into the stone and although legible are getting covered in lichen and moss.

The war memorial is accessed via a flight of stone steps that lead directly off the main village street – which was quite busy when I was there. It is opposite the church and on a bend. I would imagine that the street is closed on Remembrance Sunday otherwise people would be hit by cars speeding round the corner. There is plenty of space at the top of the steps where there is a gravel area surrounded by grass around the memorial. I guess up to 40 people could stand there easily. We might need to post somebody on the bend to flag down cars if a lot of people attend our visit.

The White Hart pub is only 50 yards from the war memorial. Their website says that they are open every day 12 noon to 3pm and 6pm to 11pm, so if you are going to visit time your trip accordingly. There is only a small car park at the pub, but there are no on-street parking restrictions and – at least when I was there – loads of places to park. There is another pub further away but still in the village. There is also a village shop and a hairdressers in the village. .

Leicester Sikh Troops War Memorial

2026-10-20T07:44:30.948-07:00

The Leicester Sikh Troops War Memorial is a bronze statue unveiled in Victoria Park, Leicester, on 30 October 2022, honouring Sikh soldiers who served in the British Indian Army and fought in multiple campaigns from the 19th century through the two World Wars

The memorial stands in Victoria Park, near the University of Leicester and opposite De Montfort Hall, forming part of the park’s Centenary Walk that leads to the Arch of Remembrance and other war memorials. It is clearly visible to visitors and complements the existing memorials in the park.

The statue commemorates Sikh soldiers who served in the British Indian Army and fought in numerous campaigns, including the Anglo-Sikh Wars (1845–1849), World War I (1914–1918), and World War II (1939–1945).
At the outbreak of WWI, Sikhs made up about 22% of the Indian Army’s 161,000 troops, despite being less than 2% of India’s population. Many earned the Victoria Cross and Indian Order of Merit for their service.

The memorial is a bronze statue of a Sikh soldier on a granite plinth, created by artist Taranjit Singh (Taran3d). It was commissioned by the Sikh Troops War Memorial Committee, funded through donations from Sikh congregations, the public, and Leicester City Council.

The unveiling on 30 October 2022, which I was proud to attend, featured speeches from Leicester’s Mayor, Deputy Mayor, military officials, and community leaders, followed by a ceremonial parade led by the Panj Pyare (Five Beloveds) Sikhs, motorbikers, a bagpiper, schoolchildren, and other groups. The event was attended by local councillors, MPs, and members of the Sikh community from across the UK.

War Memorials - Grafton Underwood

2026-09-20T23:51:49.566-07:00

The village of Grafton Underwood is charming, quiet and small – it has less than 150 inhabitants. But it was not always like this. Back in 1944 Grafton Underwood was the home of a massive American military base. Thousands of servicemen lived here, belonging to the 384^th Bombardment Wing of the 8^th Air Force of the United States Army Air Force. I had been told that there was a fine memorial to the Americans, and knowing from experience that the American military tend to do things in style, I drove into Grafton Underwood with high hopes. They were not to be disappointed.

A signpost in the village pointed towards the American monument. When I pulled up, I found it was a great stone obelisk standing beside the road. A helpful parking layby had been provided. The obelisk records the fact that the first and last bombs dropped during the Second World War were dropped by aircraft flying from Grafton Underwood. Squadron names and badges emblazon the obelisk and the stone pillars nearby, as do pictures of B17 bombers. Impressive as this is, it is only a tiny part of the memorial. The monument is backed by trees. There are hundreds of them, lining the route of the old runway. Each tree was planted to commemorate one of the men who died flying from this base. It is humbling to see them stretching off into the distance.

Having paid my respects there, I returned to the village church to find the stained glass window that also shows one of the B17 bombers. These were the famous “Flying Fortresses”, or “Forts” that equipped most of the American bomber squadrons flying out of England to bomb the German Reich. Far too many of them failed to return. Grafton Underwood is a fitting tribute to those brave men.

Brockenhurst War Memorial

2026-09-14T00:20:25.008-07:00

Nestled in the New Forest, Brockenhurst as a touching war memorial. The village first erected a temporary shrine for their war dead. When the campaign to build stone war memorials gathered pace, this was replaced by an obelisk in 1921.

Meanwhile, a large house in the area had been commandeered for use as a war hospital for the Indian troops of the Lahore and Meerut Divisions. In 1916 it was moved to care for New Zealand troops.

Writing a few years after the First World War in 1923, Lt-Col Myers of the New Zealand Medical Corps described “the delight [patients] exhibited when they found that they were in a hospital which bore the name of their own country, was officered and run by New Zealanders, and above all else, had a New Zealed “atmosphere” permeating its wards and surroundings… The delight of our lads in meeting their old friends in New Zealand hospitals was always evident”.

The hospital consisted of a main tented and hutted section, known as “Tin Town”, together minor medical sections at Balmer Lawn and Forest Park and several auxiliary hospitals in and around Brockenhurst.

Over 21,000 (predominantly) New Zealand casualties were treated at No.1 New Zealand General Hospital between 1916 and its closure at the end of January 1919.

Sadly all too many of the Indians and Kiwis succumbed to their wounds and were buried in the churchyard, so many thousands of miles from home. There are now 93 New Zealand graves and 6 Indian. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains the gravestones and has erected a large stone cross to mark the site.

The Defence Dog Memorial at Melton Mowbray

2026-07-20T01:48:45.540-07:00

Commissioned in 2014 from the artist Loyd LeBlanc, the Defence Dogs Memorial stands outside the offices of the Melton Borough Council in Burton Street, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. The memorial consists of a German shepherd dog, a springer spaniel and a Labrador retriever. The memorial recognizes the courage and partnership of military dogs and their handlers, trained at at the nearby Defence Animal Centre since 1946. Two of the dogs trained here have been awarded the PDSA Dicken Medal for gallantry and devotion to duty while serving. It is considered to be the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross.

The project was made possible through contributions of Melton Council, Leicestershire County Council and fundraising of the Defence Animal Centre personnel.

Learn more about the Defence Animal Centre here: https://www.army.mod.uk/news/behind-the-scenes-at-the-defence-animal-training-regiment/

Thurnby Lodge War Memorial

2026-07-13T00:17:15.828-07:00

In November 2021 a new war memorial was unveiled on the green at Thurnby Lodge. The monument was revealed in Willowbrook Park after local city councillors & residents worked together to bring the idea to fruition.

Cllr Aldred and local resident Chris Hopewell fundraised thousands of pounds towards the memorial. The unveiling was attended by around 300 people including the Lord Mayor of Leicester, Councillor Deepak Bajaj, Lady Cadets, local clergyman the Reverend Paul Savage and bagpiper Tommy Lierd. Benches and other features were added later.

Weymouth War Memorial

2026-07-06T11:39:01.110-07:00

Unveiled on 06th November 1921 in front of a huge crowd led by local clergy and civic dignitaries, Weymouth war memorial s located at the northern end of The Esplanade at the junction with Brunswick Terrace., The Esplanade (B3155), Weymouth, Weymouth And Portland, Dorset, DT4 7NG. It was designed by local sculptor Francis W Doyle Jones from Portland stone with bronze plaques. Plaques to remember the fallen of the Second World War were added on 8th May 1949.

It is now in the care of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, which recently replaced some of the more corroded plaques.

War Memorial - Great Ponton, Lincs

2026-06-29T07:19:22.063-07:00

Unveiled on 10 June 1920 Great Ponton war memorial consists of a square obelisk of Cornish granite on a plinth of the same material. Engraving of a laurel wreath on the lower part of the obelisk above the years of the First World War. All lettering is leaded and on the front face of the monument. The main dedication and WW1 names are on the plinth while WW2 names on the front face of the base. It stands on concrete foundations.

Great Ponton is an English village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, 3 miles (5 km) south of Grantham on the A1 trunk road, which bisects the village. The tower of the parish church is a roadside landmark. The 2001 census recorded a population of 333, of whom all were of white ethnic origin and 87 per cent described themselves as Christian. The average age was 40. The population of the civil parish had risen to 379 at the 2011 census. It was estimated at 369 in 2019.

Among the graves here are

PRIVATE FRED GIBSON MUSSON

Service Number: 40831

Regiment & Unit/Ship

Manchester Regiment

4th Bn.

Date of Death

Died 18 November 1918

Age 21 years old

Son of Mrs Musson of Great Ponton

And of

SERJEANT RICHARD LAMB

Service Number: 4802687

Regiment & Unit/Ship

King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry

Date of Death

Died 28 November 1942

Age 36 years old

He was the son of Joseph and Sarah Lamb. He left a widow, Mary Mabel Short Lamb, of Eyemouth, Berwickshire. He died at Grantham, Lincs

Long Clawson War Memorial, Leicestershire

2026-06-21T23:59:22.120-07:00

The war memorial at Long Clawson in Leicestershire – best know these days for the dairy producing Stilton Cheese, can be found at Back lane LE14 4PA. It commemorates those from the village who were killed in not just the First and Second World Wars, but also the conflict in Aden [1963-67]. The memorial is unusual in that it was erected in 2016. Prior to that date the village had remembered its war dead with a Roll of Honour mounted on a wall inside St Remigius Church on Church Lane. The Roll of Honour is still there, listing the 157 who served in the First World War.

War Memorial - Black Watch Corner

2026-06-15T06:11:18.975-07:00

War Memorial - Black Watch Corner

Near Zonnebeke in Belgium

In 2014, a statue of a Black Watch [officially the 42^nd Royal Highland Regiment of Foot] soldier was unveiled in Belgium to mark the centenary of the battle that took place here in November 1914. The bronze statue, designed by Edinburgh sculptor Alan Herriot, was installed in front of 300 regimental veterans at Black Watch Corner.

The official regimental history recorded:

Between 6.30 am and 9 am on 11 November, the heaviest bombardment so far experienced by the British forces broke out; as it lifted, a Division of the Prussian Guard, ordered by the Kaiser to break the British line at all costs, attacked the front. Under cover of the bombardment, a strong enemy force drove back D Company and the two platoons of A Company entrenched at the south west corner of Polygon Wood. C Company under the command of Lieutenant Anderson and in a strong point (point d’appui) 380 yards from the south and west corner of Polygon Wood held out firmly. This split the attack into small parties of 20–30 Prussians, many of whom were soon lost in the woods behind. As they emerged from the back of the woods the guns of 41 Brigade Royal Field Artillery, sited one thousands yards west of Nonne Bosschen Wood, opened direct fire on the enemy at a range of 300–400 yards.

The effect was devastating and the German attack faltered. At 3 pm a counter attack by the 2nd Battalion The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, supported by the Royal Field Artillery, destroyed the remnants of the Prussian Guard and the line between the Menin Road and Polygon Wood was re-established. At 3.30 pm three Companies of the 1st Battalion The Northamptonshire Regiment, supported by parties of The Black Watch and Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, advanced from Nonne Bosschen Wood to retake the south west corner of Polygon Wood. This corner was known on all later maps as Black Watch Corner. Originally, however, it was the C Company “strong point” south west of Polygon Wood which was given that name.

On 12 November 1914, the day after the battle, the strength of the 1st Battalion The Black Watch had been reduced to 2 officers and 109 soldiers; the 1st Battalion Scots Guards to 1 officer and 69 soldiers and the 1st Battalion The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders to 2 officers and 140 soldiers.

Arras War Memorial, France

2026-06-01T01:23:31.133-07:00

On 31 August 1914 a patrol of Gemran uhlans [light cavalry armed with lances] arrived in Arras, almost directly north of Noyon. They stayed only a few hours before trotting off. Six days later they were followed into the city by an entire German division, which occupied Arras. The French attacked in October and drove the Germans out. The Germans retreated only a short distance and throughout the rest of the war the city lay within artillery range. Almost the entire city was destroyed by 1918, including the famous cathedral.

I drove into Arras on a warm day with the sun shining down. I had been told that the war memorial featuring an angel stood just outside the railway station in Place Foch. As it turned out the square was a short distance from the station, and it took me a bit of time to work out where the angel was to be found.

She is a strikingly modern angel, accompanied by a soldier. Between the two are engraved the words:

"Arras a ses enfants morts pour la défense du droit. La Paix, les ailes largement déployées, debout sur le promontoire. Le soldat français, hier soldat de Dieu, Aujourd’Hui Soldat de l’humanité. Sera toujours le soldat du droit".

My rather poor command of French makes that to mean:

"Arras has his dead children for the defense of the right. Peace, wings widely spread, standing on the promontory. The French soldier, yesterday a soldier of God, today a soldier of humanity, will always be a soldier of what is right."

This is a complex monument for the dominating figures are not the only ones here. There are reliefs on either side of the angel and the soldier. Those on one side celebrate peace, while those on the other show war. The peace reliefs start with a tractor in the fields with four farm hands, accompanied by cows, horses, beehives and sacks of flour. Next come three miners digging coal. Then there are women at work in the linen industry, a woman holding a baby and sheaves of corn. The scenes fo war include a soldier in the trenches, a donkey carrying a pack and five marching soldiers. Then there are a sailor, an infantryman and an aviator holding hands. Then there is a nurse carrying a tray of medicines and a figure representing “Notre Dame de Lorette” that most important war memorial and cemetery. At the top is a bundle of rifles flanked by two croix de guerres and above them a row of torpedoes.

This is all the work of Félix-Alexandre Desruelles (1865–1943) who was born in nearby Valenciennes. It was inaugurated in 1933 by the then famous and much admired Marshal Philippe Petain, who before the Great War had been the colonel of the 33^rd Infantry Regiment which was the main garrison force in Arras. It has been Petain who had taken command at Verdun and brought an end to the German offensive there at the end of 1916. He won ever greater plaudits from his contemporaries in 1940 when, as Prime Minister, he negotiated what appeared to be a remarkably generous peace from Hitler following the surrender of the French armies. As the war progressed, it became clear that Petain had arranged little more than an abject capitulation. By 1945 he was vilified and was thrown into prison having been convicted of treason.

This grand monument was damaged by German bombs on 19 May 1940. The town council made the rather quixotic decision not to repair the memorial. They thought the scars of 1940 merely added to the message of the horrors of war, so left them there. You can still see them today.

TALK - Plagues, Pandemics and Covid 19

2021-02-19T01:09:00.002-08:00

Yesterday I have my talk on "Plagues, Pandemics and Covid-19" to a History Club in Sussex via Zoom.

This is - inevitably - a fairly grim talk but fascinating nonetheless. And in the end it has a message of hope to us all. Humanity has survived far worse diseases than Covid-19. Have a look at this map of the spread of the Black Death across Europe. Up to half the people in Europe were wiped out, and the population did not recover for 400 years. Compared to that, Covid-19 is barely a ripple on the story of humanity - tragic as the disease is for those who suffer from it.

The talk also looks at how sciene and medicine has struck back on disease. We cover the micro-organisms that cause disease, how they affect a human body and how they spread. That allows the talk to look at pre-modern efforts to combat disease - be it prayer, quarantine or witchcraft - before looking at the first vaccinations against smallpox - as caricatured here by a contemporary print.

The talk also looks at the first outbreaks of what are now familiar diseases, such as when measles [below] first came to Europe. As a new disease hitting a population with no immunity, measles caused millions of death and untold misery. I also explain who such a devastating deadly disease could settle down to become a relatively mild childhood disease.

But this talk is really a historical overview of the impact disease has had on humanity. The mass deaths of the Black Death and recurrant outbreaks of plague [below] radically altered society, government, religion and the economy of Europe. It changed the direction of history, and we are still living with the consequences. Similarly the cocktail of diseases that European explorers brought to the Americas caused a massive death toll among the Native Americans - up to 95% - and opened the way for European settlement of the New World far more than did guns, technology or numbers.

The group I spoke to yesterday were particularly interested in the way that disease organisms are subject to the same evolutionary pressures as other plants and animals. Generally this works in the direction of making diseases milder in their impact on the human body, but more infectious. That has been the story of nearly all diseases to afflict humanity - with the noticeable exception of Spanish Flu which became more deadly as time passed because of the way human doctors treated it. A warning for the future.

Offer a range of over 20 talks, mostly on history subjects. Find out more on my website.

BOOK REVIEW - The Reckoning by John Grisham

2021-02-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

Well, that was a pile of misery!

I can't say that I enjoyed this book. Pretty much every character ended up bankrupt, homeless, dead - or all three. Being Grisham, this is a very well-plotted book with gripping court room scenes and some interesting legal twists and turns to the plot.

I'll try not to give too much away, but the central section is a flashback to the Second World War when one of the characters fought heroically against the Japanese. I can't say that this bit worked very well. The action scenes came across as a bit pedestrian. You can tell Grisham is a writer of legal novels, not an action writer.

Overall, one of his weaker novels though not without some interest. But as I said at the start - a complete pile of misery from start to finish.

Who was the Real St Valentine?

2021-02-12T07:53:00.003-08:00

St Valentine's Day is on the horizon, so today I gave my talk on St Valentine for the first time this year, and for the first time on Zoom. The group of 40 odd folks were a lively audience. I've spoken to this group before, but again this was the first time on Zoom.

This is a wide ranging talk that covers the various other saints named Valentine - not just our 14th February chap - before going back to the years of the Roman Empire when the early Christians were persecuted for their faith by the pagan Roman Emperors.

The patron saint of love was, in reality, anything but romantic. This talk looks at the real Valentine, who was martyred on the orders of the Emperor Claudius Gothicus on 14 February 269. It then traces his career after his death as his holy reputation became mixed with spring fertility customs to produce the romantic patron saint of love that we know today. In passing we cover great medieval writers such as Geoffrey Chaucer and Jacob Voragine. And the talk looks at where is relics are eto be found today - including some rather unexpected places for his feet and hands!

Among the lesser known characters the talk covers is Joseph Ritson. If you look Ritson up in an encyclopedia it will tell you that he was the founder of vegetarianism. But so far as St Valentine's Day is concerned he more importantly wrote a card to his beloved that included the rhyme:

"Roses are red, Violets are blue,
the Honey is sweet, so are you."

Shakespeare eat your heart out.

The audience today seemed less interested in the historic St Valentine than in how his day had become associated with romantic love, how poets had taken up the chalenge and the way the custom of celebrating your love and lover on 14 February spread around the world.

I have a range of talks for specific times of the year, including:

The Real St Patrick [March] [Zoom Friendly]
The Real St George [April] [Zoom Friendly]
Who was Guy Fawkes? [November] [Zoom Friendly]
A History of Christmas Foods [December]
The Biography of Father Christmas [December] [Zoom Friendly]

If you would like to learn more about my talks, or enquire about a booking, see my WEBSITE.

Talk - Hengist the First English King

2021-02-10T07:26:00.002-08:00

Today I gave my talk on "Hengist the First English King" to a WI group.

Under the Roman Empire, Britain was a Christian country where the people spoke Latin or Celtic languages. Just a few generations later paganism had triumphed and most people spoke English. Alone among the former Roman provinces, Britain fell to the pagan barbarians so completely that their religion and language triumphed. The key figure in this massive change was Hengist, a German mercenary from what is now Frisia, who came to what is now Kent. Displaying guile, violence and astonishing ruthlessness, Hengist carved out a kingdom for himself – a lead followed by other warriors who together created England. Although he was such a pivotal figure in the founding of England, the facts about his life are remarkably scanty and much disputed. This talk looks at the fall of Roman Britain and explains how England came into being.

The talk includes a screen presentation and was given over Zoom - though it works just as well in "real life" as it were.

The audience was very engaged and asked some great questions at the end. One query concerned the Roman Army, which we were all taught at school was invincible, and why it was that the government of post-Roman Britain needed to hire a gang of tough Germanic mercenaries such as those led by Hengist and Horsa. I explained that by the 5th Century the Roman economy was in decline due to a cooling climate, corrupt government and plagues so that the Empire could no longer afford a large standing army. Instead local government bodies were hiring mercenaries or recruiting local, semi-trained militia - a process well under way in Britain by the time Hengist arrived in about 440.

I always enjoy giving this talk. For a start the career of Hengist is a great story that includes outstanding examples of honour, treachery, sex, lust, violence and adventure. It also includes some wonderful characters such as Vortigern, St Germanus and Ambrosius. It also allows me to explain about the difficulties of trying to work out what was going on in Britain during the 5th century. But also how it is possible to work out the general trends happening and some of what was taking place.

It is also a great showcase for how power operates within government structures at a time of stress and collapse.

And finally it explains the origin of the symbol of Kent - a white horse on a red field. An origin steeped in violence and bloodshed.

FILM REVIEW - Carry On Henry (1971)

2021-02-05T02:32:00.005-08:00

Nobody ever watched a Carry On film expecting accurate history. Which is just as well because you don't get much of it in this offering.

To be fair to the producers, they don't even pretend. The prologue annonces that the story is based on a manuscript by William Cobbler and so it is a load of old Cobbler's. Having thus set the tone, the film launches into the ribald adventures of the lascivious and greedy Henry VIII [Sid James], the sanctimonious, hypocritical and corrupt Cardinal Wolsey [Terry Scott] and the deviously crooked Thomas Cromwell [Kenneth Williams].

In fact the storyline is very loosely - very loosely - woven around some incidents in Henry's life. We kick off with the execution of an unnamed queen [Pasty Rolands] and then lurch into marriage with Anne of Cleves - although here the character of an unwanted wife is not Anne from Germany but Marie from France [Joan Sims]. Her habit of chewing raw garlic puts off the fastidious Henry who tries to avoid consumating the marriage - although the interference of Marie's cousin, King Francis of France complicates the issue. Henry meanwhile is chasing any available busty young lady, with assorted comic slapstick results.

Next Marie of France transforms into the character of Catherine of Aragon with Henry becoming bored with her just as a new, young lady appears at court - Bettina of Bristol [obviously], played by Barbara Windsor [equally obviously]. Young Bettina displays her assets to get Henry's attention but refuses his advances until they get married - involving Henry in increasingly surreal efforts to divorce Marie.

But I am being far too serious in looking for historical parallels. This is a bawdy, slapstick farce of the first order. In my view, this is one of the better Carry On movies.

It is sumptuosly staged - the costumes were left over from the far more serious and high-minded Richard Burton moive "Anne of a Thousand Days". And the exteriors were shot at Windsor and Knebworth. The film has a huge cast - most of them mainstays of British comedy such as Peter Butterworth, Bill Maynard and Margaret Nolan. Though, oddly, most of them get only one or two lines of dialogue.

A great laugh. Watch it HERE

Note that I have also reviewed the 1933 classic The Private Life of Henry VIII staring Charles Laughton.

FILM REVIEW - The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)

2021-02-03T11:34:00.001-08:00

This is a great movie!

Before I watched it yesterday evening I knew only two things about it:

1 - It starred Charles Laughton.

2 - Charles Laughton was the first non-American to win an Oscar, for his starring role in this film.

Having now watched it, I can confirm that Laughton absolutely deserved his Oscar for his performance in this movie.

The plot follows reasonably faithfully the life of Henry from 1536 to 1547. It opens on the day that Anne Boleyn [Merle Oberon] is to be executed. We see Anne preparing herself for a noble death, while Henry is boisterously enjoying himself at Court and preparing to marry Jane Seymour [Wendy Barrie]. We follow Henry through that short marriage to see his childish delight at the birth of a baby son and his short-lived grief when Jane dies.

Determined not to remarry, Henry gives in to Thomas Cromwell's [Franklin Dyall] pleas for a political marriage to plain Anne of Cleves [Laughton's real life wife Elsa Lanchester]. Anne escapes her unwanted marriage with a ruse, after which Henry falls head over heels in love with beautiful Catherine Howard [Binnie Barnes]. Unknown to Henry, Catherine is already in love with his life-long friend Thomas Culpepper [Robert Donat, who comes close to stealing the show in his scenes]. When Henry finds out about their adultery, he collapses.

I would bet that it is here that Laughton won his Oscar. The crushing of a proud man and his utter desolation in grief is almost painful to watch. What an actor!

But Laughton also does well with the comedy scenes. I especially like the bit where he sneaks out his bedroom in the middle of the night to creep off to the bedchamber of a pretty young lady. He tiptoes past everyone, but then his personal bodyguard spot he has gone and run after him to crash to attention with stamping boots and cries of "Make way for the King", while Laughton is desperately trying to get them to shut up. Comedy gold.

Eventually Anne of Cleves persuades Henry to marry the matronly Catherine Parr [Everly Gregg] who mothers him as old age sneaks up on the aging monarch.

Laughton dominates the film as Henry dominated England, but there are some great performances from other actors too. I've already said Donat is good, but so is Laurance Hanray as Archbishop Cranmer and Lady Tree as Henry's superstitious nurse.

And there are some marvellous little cameo roles. I loved the redoubtable Wally Patch as the cynical cook, Hay Petrie as the hapless barber who gets everything wrong to comic effect and the merchant couple who attend every execution and bicker over how to get a seat with a good view.

The costumes are magnificently sumptuous. The casting superb. The sets believable and the exteriors were shot at a variety of stately homes.

Given that this movie is knocking on for being a century old, it has stood up very well to the passing of time. I give credit to a cracking script and to fine acting - especially by Laughton.

You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAlabDCkawY&t=938s

Note that I have also reviewed the very different British take on the same story - Carry On Henry.

FILM REVIEW - Santa Fe Trail (1940)

2021-02-01T04:08:00.003-08:00

Well, this is a cracking action adventure movie - though what it's got to do with the Santa Fe Trail is quite beyond me. They talk about it a couple of timees, but nobody ever actually goes to Santa Fe.

This movie is really about the abolitionist John Brown, Bloody Kansas and the Raid on Harper's Ferry. The heroes of the film are a group of young officers, fresh out of West Point Military Academy who are posted to Kansas to try to keep the peace. They get engaged in a variety of escapades, fights and romances. Playing these heroic, dashing soldiers are Errol Flynn, Ronald Raegan and David Bruce. Clearly the producers wanted to spice up the audience appeal so as well as including Jeb Stuart [Errol Flynn] and Phil Sheridan [David Bruce] (who really were there) they include George Custer [Ronald Reagan] who wasn't. They also manager to shoehorn into the story Robert E. Lee [Moroni Olsen] and Jefferson Davis [Erville Alderson]. No doubt it all helped to pack in the audiences.

The villain of the piece is John Brown, magnificently played as a wide-eyed religious zealot by Raymond Massey. Van Heflin plays a suitably sneaky traitor very well indeed. Olivia de Havilland is her wonderful best as Flynn's romantic interest - though it must be said that she is rather unconvincing in her early appearances as a tomboy. The comedy subplot is wonderfully done by Ginn Williams and Alan Hale as a pair of wagon drivers with aspirations to join the army, though lacking any suitable abilities. The film shows its age in the way it treats the slave characters. Ostensibly the entire plot is driven by Brown's abolitionist beliefs and the way that the helps slaves escape north to free states. We see several of these slaves, but they don't say much and are little better than stock characters - a film these days would make much more of them.

The story gallops along a a fast pace with lots of action and twists to the storyline. I'm not a great expert on Brown and his exploits, but I'm told that the film has a lot of inaccuracies in it. Never mind, it is a cracking adventure film. Enjoy.

You can watch it HERE.

FILM REVIEW - Zulu (1964)

2021-01-31T08:24:00.002-08:00

Wow!

Made in 1964 to depict the Battle of Rorke's Drift, fought in 1879 as part of the Zulu Wars in southern Africa, this is one of the greatest war films ever made. I was introduced to it by my dad. We watched it on TV whenever it was on, and once he got it as a video tape it became a staple of Christmas. I have lost count of the number of times that I have watched it.

If you haven't seen it. Watch it now!

So, the plot is fairly straightforward. It opens at the battlefield of Isandhlwana where a British army was wiped out by the Zulu army. The film does not explain why the war was fought - it is about the soldiers and warriors, not the politics. The scene then moves to the main kraal of Zulu ruler Cetewayo [played by the then chief of the Zulu people Mangosuthu Buthelezi] where several dozen young women are marrying an equal number of retiring warriors in a mass wedding ceremony. Also present are the missionary Otto Witt [Jack Hawkins] and his daughter [Ulla Jacobson]. News arrives of Isandhlwana. Witt decides to leave to warn the handful of British soldiers at his mission station at Rorke's Drift that they are about to be attacked.

Back at Rorke's Drift there is friction between the middle class engineer officer John Chard [Stanley Baker] and the aristocratic infantry officer Gonville Bromhead [Michael Caine in his first starring role]. Chard is using Bromhead's men as manual labour to build a bridge over the river. Chard & Bromhead are given details of the disaster at Isandhlwana by Witt and by fleeing Boer horsemen. After futher bickering over who has seniority and therefore assumes command [it is Chard] they decide to fortify the mission station with walls built of biscuit tins and sacks of grain. This work is still in progress when the Zulu hordes appear over the crest of a hill. The 150 British soldiers [many wounded or sick in hospital] are faced by 4,000 Zulu.

Among the garrison are well-known British actors as James Booth, Glynn Edwards, Paul Daneman, Patrick Macgee Joe Powell, David Kernan, Gary Bond, Ivor Emmanual and many others.

The rest of the film tells the story of the defence. The battle rages for a day and a night before the Zulus finally retreat - but not before singing a song of tribue to the gallantry of the defenders.

At the time the film was made it was notable for its realistic portrayal of late 19th century colonial warfare. The producer [Baker] and director Cy Endfield went out of their way to show the Zulu as a great nation and as the highly disciplined fighting force capable of tactics and strategy - as indeed they were. Compared to other movies of the time that portrayed Africans in stereotypical ways this was a great change. Indeed, tribal historians were consulted to get the Zulu side of the battle as the script was being written. The uniforms, equipment and tactics of the British and Boers were also painstakingly recreated.

There are some great lines in the movie that I quote ad nauseam.

Of course, the film does take some poetic licence with reality to give the film some more emotional depth. Private Hook is portrayed as a troublemaker who makes good, when in fact his service record was exemplary. Similarly Witt's daughter who in the movie is an attractive young woman who excites the lust of the soldiers was actually aged 5 years old.

But these details are mere quibbles. This is a great movie. You can watch it HERE.

FILM REVIEW - North West Frontier [1959]

2021-01-30T06:06:00.002-08:00

I remember watching this film with my dad many years ago. As I recall it, the film was set on a train on which the heroes were racing to escape the villains. I suppose that way back then the subtleties of the plot and certainly I would have missed the religious undertones and post-imperial angst.

Anyway, the film starts in a fictional princely state on the North West Frontier of the Indian Raj in 1905. The Maharajah and most of his subjects are Hindus living in a generally peaceful agricultural state. The hill tribes are, however, wild marauding pillagers who have been stirred up to a peak of religious fervour by a Moslem fanatic preaching holy war. A somewhat stereotypical background for a film set in the Raj, but let's just take that as read.

In what serves as a prelude to the main action, Kenneth More's Captain Scott and his men escort the maharajah's little son and heir and his American governess Catherine Wyatt [Lauren Bacall] away from the strife-stricken princely state to a British military base nearby. Soon after they leave the jihadis fight their way in to the palace and kill the maharajah. Now all that stands between the locals and religious civil war is the little boy.

The Moslem fanatics follow the boy and lay siege to the military base. Convinced that his base will fall, the commander [Jack Gwillam] decides that Scott and Wyatt must take the prince to safety at the city of Kalapur where there is a much larger British garrison. The last train has already gone, but Scott finds a tatty old shunting engine and an equally derelict passenger carriage. The two are patched up and off they go.

On the train are Scott, Wyatt, the prince, two soldiers plus: a Dtuch journalist [Herbert Lom], a retired British merchant [Wilfred Hyde Wight], Lady Windham [Ursula Jeans] and an arms dealer [Eugene Deckers]. The train driver Gupta is played by Inderjeet Johar, who does a wonderful comic turn as an uneducated engineer utterly devoted to his engine. This is a top class cast, and each of them plays their role to perfection.

It becomes clear that somebody on the train is in cahoots with the rebels and is intent of killing the boy prince.

As the journey goes on, the train is ambushed, chases, faced by a sabotaged rail and faces all sorts of hazards. It is a dashing and exciting adventure story which in between times does touch upon the role of the British Raj in India, the role of princely states and the play off of religious and ethnic groups. No doubt a modern film [if one were ever made set in the Raj with a Britis hero] would do a better job of explaining these difficult issues, but for 1959 this film makes a pretty good fist of it.

A great adventure movie. And you can watch it HERE.

No.43 Squadron, RAF, become world famous

2021-01-28T10:13:00.002-08:00

On 21 July the squadron performed a feat that made them world famous, though war time censorship meant that at the time the identity of the squadron concerned was not printed in the newspapers. A convoy of merchant ships was heading up the English Channel for London and had reached Bognor Regis when radar picked up a formation of German aircraft on an intercept course. At Tangmere, Squadron Leader Badger was at readiness along with five other pilots. They were ordered into the air and as their Hurricanes swept out to sea, climbing for height, were given a course to steer that would lead them to the German aircraft. Badger organised his six Hurricanes into two flights of three. He was leading one himself, with Flt Lt Thomas Morgan heading the second. They had not yet reached Bognor and the convoy when Badger spotted the Germans. There was a bombing formation of 40 Dornier Do17 bombers, with a close escort of about 20 Messerschmitt Bf110 twin engined fighters. High overhead was an upper escort of Messerschmitt Bf109 fighters, which Badger thought numbered about two dozen aircraft. The bombers were about 2,000 feet above the Hurricanes, which were now climbing fast.

“Huns ahead, chaps”, called Badger over the radio. “It’s like looking up at Piccadilly Circus escalator. Line ahead, chaps. Let’s upset them a bit.” He sent Morgan and his flight to tackle the Bf110s, while he led his wingmen to attack the bombers. Badger opened fire first, at the rather long range of 250 yards, but his aim was good and pieces flew off the Dornier at which he was aiming. Badger then veered to get a second bomber in his sights and fired again, this time knocking out an engine.

Up above, Morgan and his comrades had got in among the Bf110s. Morgan had caused one German to go down with a clearly damaged wing, while another Hurricane pumped bullets into a second German with the result that one of the enemy’s engines caught fire. There was no time to celebrate, for now the Bf109 single engined fighters dived down to join the fray.

Morgan spotted a Bf109 on his tail and flipped his aircraft up to try to evade the stream of bullets coming his way. Instantly the entire cockpit cover of Morgan’s Hurricane was covered in oil. Assuming his engine oil lines had been severed by the German, Morgan pushed his fighter’s nose down and steered north toward land. Unable to see anything through the oil, Morgan flung back the canopy hood and half stood in the cockpit so that his head poked up out of the canopy and he could see where he was going. Finding that the engine still seemed to be running, Morgan headed for Tangmere. When he landed he found that his fighter was totally undamaged, the oil had come from some other aircraft.

Back in the fight, Badger was also hit. A cannon shell hit his port wing and tore off the aileron. He too put his nose down and headed for Tangmere. The other pilots continued the fray, and eight more Germans were seen to be damaged by their gunfire. As each No.43 pilot ran out of ammunition or was damaged he dropped out of the fight and headed for home. Their mission had been successful for the German bombing attack so badly disrupted that the bombs were scattered over a wide range of sea and none of the ships in the convoy were damaged.

What Badger and his men did not know, however, was that soon after they had taken off an RAF staff officer from London had arrived at Tangmere with a journalist from the USA in tow. The journalist had been promised a day at a fighter base, and Tangmere had been chosen almost at random. Escorted by the staff officer, the journalist was shown about the base. He was being led to the control room when Morgan’s Hurricane came in to land covered in oil. Soon after that, Badger’s fighter came in with a chunk missing from its port wing. The American asked if he could talk to the pilots. The staff officer agreed, but said it could only be a quick chat at that point since the pilots had to attend debriefing after which they might be free. The journalist scampered across the grass and hailed Badger.

“How many did you meet?” the American asked.

“Oh,” replied Badger tugging off his flying helmet. “About 40 Dorniers, I should say. Plus about the same number of Messerschmitts. Yes, must have been about eighty in all.”

“And how many squadrons did you have?’ queried the journalist.

Badger laughed. “Not even one. I had six of our boys from No.43. That was enough.” At which point the journalist was hustled away and told he had to wait until the pilots were ready to talk to him at length. Some time later the American was allowed to talk to Badger and Morgan to get the full story, scribbling down details of the battle over Bognor. The story of how six RAF pilots had climbed to attack 80 Luftwaffe aircraft was subsequently splashed across newspapers the length and breadth of the USA, and later was repeated in neutral countries across the world.

The incident proved to be a turning point, for it was the first time that many people in neutral countries realised that Britain really was prepared to fight on alone. In the previous months Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland and even the mighty France had all fallen to the German military machine. Some fighting had been intense, but often the panzers had simply stormed through defences as if they barely existed and then rounded up vast numbers of dispirited prisoners too shattered even to fight. Many had expected Britain to go the same way, or to negotiate a hurried peace treaty. Nobody outside Britain had really taken the new Prime Minister Winston Churchill seriously when he had stated the determination of the British to fight it out. Now people began to believe him.

Soon afterwards Morgan was awarded a DFC, the citation stating that “His behaviour in action has been an inspiration to the pilots in his flight.”

A Word about Niall of the Nine Hostages

2021-01-28T10:07:00.001-08:00

The mighty warrior king Niall Noígíallach dominates the twilight world between history and legend. He was one of the greatest of the High Kings of Ireland in prehistoric days, but one of the least known to modern historians. He gave rise to the powerful and widespread O'Neil (Ui Neill) dynasty of rulers, but even the century in which he lived is obscure. He was a pagan, but his reign prepared the way for Christianity.

That Niall of the Nine Hostages did live and did rule at least part of Ireland nobody doubts, but how powerful he really was and how he got his famous sobriquet "of the Nine Hostages" remain utterly obscure.

According to legend, Niall was the stepson of a goddess, kissed the Spirit of Ireland and had eight sons - each of whom became a king. On the last point at least the facts seem to confirm the legend. Geneticists have found that no less than 21% of men in the northern parts of Ireland share a common male ancestor who lived about 1,600 years ago. Niall of the Nine Hostages is the prime candidate for this role as progenitor of a people.

But how much of the rest of the legend of Niall of the Nine Hostages can be born out by the facts? Historians have traditionally scorned the tales of his invasion of Britain, attacks on France and assault on Scotland. But in this book I hope to show that Niall was every bit the warrior hero that the legends make him out to be, though perhaps not in quite the same way.

And the facts are there to support this.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the Wycombe Railway

2021-01-28T10:04:00.006-08:00

What is now the branch line from Maidenhead to Marlow, by way of Cookham, has had a chequered and patchy history. It is now enjoying something of an upswing even though the original purpose of the line was long since made redundant by the closure of part of the line.

It was on 27 July 1846 that Parliament approved the Wycombe Railway Act, which envisaged a route running from Oxford to Maidenhead by way of Thame and High Wycombe with a branch line out to Aylesbury. Almost at once the company announced that it had failed to raise the necessary money to build the line. Nothing much happened for another six years, when the Wycombe Railway Company announced that it had hired as chief engineer none other than Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the greatest engineer of his age and mastermind of the Great Western Railway. Brunel had agreed to work for the Wycombe Railway Company only on condition that he was allowed a completely free hand in the design of the railway and its works. The directors were only too pleased to agree so long as their relatively minor project got the name of Brunel associated with it.

As hoped, the arrival of the new engineer led to a change in fortunes. Construction work began, although there was only enough money to get the line from Maidenhead as far as High Wycombe. Brunel insisted on a number of special features for the new railway. The first was that it should be built to his preferred broad gauge of 7ft 1/4in, rather than the standard gauge of 4ft 81⁄2in. The broad gauge was that used on the GWR, though other railways had preferred the standard gauge.

A second stipulation was that, apart from the main station at Wycombe, all the stations had to be constructed to an identical design. These were to have a booking office at one end with an open porch or waiting area at the other. Stations that had a level crossing beside them were provided with a small house in which the crossing keeper could live. The buildings were all to be of brick and knapped flint. Brunel believed this design incorporated everything a smaller station would need, while the standardisation would help to keep costs down.

It was the third engineering decision that was to cause trouble. Brunel always had a liking for innovative design and for the tracks he chose the new and impressive, but untried barlow rails. These had been invented by William Henry Barlow, chief engineer to the Midland Railway and were being used on all the lines running out of St Pancras.

The exciting feature of the barlow rails was that they did not need sleepers. Instead of being tied to timbers at frequent intervals to keep them in position, the barlow rails relied on inertia. They took the form of an upside down V, the hollow centre being packed with sand and gravel before the rail was buried half deep in the ballast of the road bed. The technique speeded up construction and made it easier to lay out complex patterns of crossovers and points. Experience was to show that the rails were not as stable in the long term as Barlow and Brunel had hoped, but that was for the future.

In the 1850s, all seemed well for the new Wycombe Railway. Construction was completed quickly and efficiently under Brunel’s watchful eye.

On 1 August 1854 the line was opened from Maidenhead to High Wycombe. There then followed a pause to raise more capital before the line was pushed on to reach Thame in August 1862, Aylesbury in October 1863 and finally Oxford in October 1864.

The Berkshire section of the Wycombe Railway was only ever a small part of its total length. From a junction with the GWR at Maidenhead, the line curved sharply north, then ran gently downhill to the station at Cookham. The lines then ran on downhill to reach the damp, boggy watermeadows of Cock Marsh. These were crossed by a low viaduct, later replaced by an embankment. The line then crossed the Thames by way of a wooden viaduct, later replaced by an iron girder bridge. The line then entered Bourne End Station before running on through Woodburn Green to Loudwater and so to High Wycombe.

Having overseen the successful construction of the line, the Wycombe Railway Company decided to take a backseat when it came actually to running the trains. The line was leased out to the GWR, which ran it profitably until 1867 when the GWR bought out the Wycombe Railway Company.

How to Make Bosworth Jumbles

2021-01-28T10:00:00.002-08:00

Preparation time: 12 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

According to the version of the story I was told, these tasty little cakes gained their name from the Battle of Bosworth, fought on 22 August 1485. This was the last major battle of the War of the Roses which saw Yorkist King Richard III defeated by the Lancastrian Henry, who went on to found the Tudor dynasty as King Henry VII. Richard had gathered his army in Leicester, heading west as soon as his scouts brought in definite news of the enemy’s position. Richard camped on Albion Hill on the night of 21 August. Next morning his cook baked Richard these tasty little cakes to carry with him in a pouch so that he could whip them out for a quick snack in a break from the fighting. In the event, Richard rode out to battle before they were ready and was killed in the battle. The cakes were, therefore, scoffed up by the victorious Henry Tudor that evening. Personally I think that the original cakes must have been round, not S shaped. A thin, curly shape is not a robust one to carry around in a pouch all day. In any case, the S was a symbol of the Lancastrian cause - Henry himself wore a gold necklace of interlinked S-shaped links. I suspect the shaping of the cakes into S came after the battle as a tribute to the winner. Whatever the truth of their origin, they are very tasty little snacks - which is all that really matters.

6oz butter

6oz caster sugar

1 egg

Grated rind of 1 lemon

8oz flour

Preheat the oven to 180C Gas Mk 4.

Beat together the butter and sugar until it is white and fluffy.

Beat the egg well, then gradually add to the butter-sugar mix.

Add the grated lemon rid and stir well.

Add the flour a little at a time to form a stiff mixture.

Divide the mixture into small pieces and form into an S shape.

Place on a greased baking tray

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Wars of the Roses billmen

2021-01-28T09:58:00.000-08:00

Most armoured infantry during the Wars of the Roses were armed something like this figure. He wears an iron helmet and full upper harness composed of breastplate with groin plates over a mail shirt. His lower arms and hands are protected by plate armour gauntlets. His legs are quite unprotected. His main weapon is a bill, a weapon on a shaft over six feet long that combined a thrusting point with a chopping blade and sometimes, as here, a back hook to pull enemies to the ground. The bill was based on a farmer’s hedging tool and was a distinctively English weapon. He has a sword to use in case his bill breaks or for close infighting.