In the previous post, I discussed how a *cough* closer examination of available primary and secondary sources about the Hull exoduses revealed that they took place in 1916 as well as 1915. I also suggested that this made me rethink my narrative of what they meant. So what was that narrative? Firstly, these treks (as
In Paris, or the Future of War (1925), Basil Liddell Hart asked: Who that saw it will ever forget the nightly sight of the population of a great industrial and shipping town, such as Hull, streaming out into the fields on the first sound of the alarm signals? Women, children, babies in arms, spending night
In neither of my recent posts on the 1918 Bishopsgate Goods Yard disaster did I mention the 1943 Bethnal Green Tube disaster, despite it being an obvious comparison (as well as showing up as a related post). The death toll was tragically high both times: 14 at Bishopsgate, a staggering 173 at Bethnal Green (in
Another reason for the disappearance from memory of the Bishopsgate Goods Yard disaster may be the disturbingly anti-Semitic content of the contemporary press accounts. These almost uniformly identified ‘aliens’ – generally understood to mean Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe – as the cause, as well as the victims, of the stampede, as is bluntly stated in
One of the worst incidents of the German air raids on Britain in the First World War was a stampede at the Bishopsgate Goods Yard, Shoreditch, on 28 January 1918, in which fourteen people were killed. This has been almost entirely forgotten by the internet: while there are a number of detailed historical discussions available
It’s the last day of AHA 2026, though the only things on the program for today are historical tours and as I decided (for reasons) to attend online this time, that means the conference is over for me. Though it felt rushed and a bit garbled, I think my talk on London’s air raid shelters
Recently, while editing the prewar chapter of Home Fires Burning, I made the decision to cut a few hundred words dealing with H.G. Wells’ ideas about aerial bombardment. And I feel good about it! Why is that? I’m not a Wells scholar by any means, but in the past I have had to engage with
A few years ago I took part in a very enjoyable Tales from Rat City podcast episode, hosted by David Waldron and centred around the 1918 Australian mystery aeroplane panic from the perspective of Ballarat in the Victorian goldfields region. That had actors reading out primary source quotations, which was a great way to highlight
I’m not obsessed with ‘England is no longer an island‘, you are! OK, so maybe I am, a little, but mainly because ‘England is no longer an island’ (EINLAI) is one of those phrases that nearly every historian writing about early aviation in Britain cannot fail to quote, usually attributed to Lord Northcliffe, often in
My abstract for the Australian Historical Association’s 2026 conference, being held at Macquarie University from 29 June–3 July, has been accepted. My talk is entitled ‘The Underworld: Living and Dying in London’s Air Raid Shelters, 1917-1918’ and this is the abstract: London’s first significant experience of air raid shelters came not in the Blitz of
