National Space Centre
Some Britons I’ve spoken to claim to be unaware that their country has a National Space Centre. Well, it does and it’s in Leicester. I know this because Chris Williams took me there.
Pictures, Travel 2009
Blogging, tweeting and podcasting, Pictures, Words
1000 tweets later
Last August I took up Twitter. I’ve just reached a thousand tweets (or will have, when this post is auto-tweeted), so it seems like an appropriate time to reflect on how useful the whole thing is. I was initially sceptical, but I find that Twitter does complement blogging very well. It’s a good place to
1940s, Plots and tables, Videos
The wind vs. the whirlwind
It must be time for some plots. The data here is taken from Richard Overy, The Air War 1939-1945 (Washington: Potomac Books, 2005 [1980]), 120, and represents the bomb tonnage delivered between 1940 and 1945 by Germany on Britain (including V-weapons) in blue, and by Britain and the United States on Europe as a whole
Blogging, tweeting and podcasting, Ephemera, Pictures
The trumpet calls
[Cross-posted at Cliopatria.] Airminded is hosting the next edition of the Military History Carnival on 15 February. Please send me suggestions for the best military history blogging since 17 January, either by email (bholman at airminded dot org), by web (here or here) or by twitter (@Airminded or tagged #mhc21). Thanks! Image source: Wikipedia.
1930s, 1940s, Air defence, Books
A Japanese death ray?
If anyone came close to creating a death ray weapon by the end of the Second World War, it was the Japanese army. It wouldn’t have helped them much, however, as they weren’t at war with rabbits. According to Richard Overy in The Air War 1939-1945 (Washington: Potomac Books, 2005 [1980]), 195: The lack of
1930s, 1940s, Words
The rise of ‘Luftwaffe’
Because I’m too lazy to write a proper post, here are some of my recent tweets: The 1st use of the word “Luftwaffe” in The Times was on 24 May 1939, as the owner of 2 yachts entered in a race to Germany. The 1st use of the word “Luftwaffe” in the Manchester Guardian was
1920s, 1930s, After 1950, Air control, Blogging, tweeting and podcasting, Contemporary
It’s alive!
After a long hiatus, a new Military History Carnival has appeared, at The Edge of the American West and H-War. (Thanks, David Silbey!) A post on combat drones at Legal History Blog caught my eye. It suggests that drones are part of a process in America, post-Vietnam, whereby the need for public support for military
Pictures, Travel 2009
Conwy and Llandudno
This is Conwy from the vantage point of its town walls, on a drizzly morning in early autumn. It has a population of 14000, which doesn’t really qualify it as small, but the area inside the walls is quite compact, so it feels much smaller than it should.
After 1950, Aircraft, Art, Blogging, tweeting and podcasting, Cold War, Ephemera, Pictures
Dreams of a colder war
It is officially too darn hot today: 43° C. So naturally my thoughts turn to a colder time: the 1950s. The above image (which I found as part of x-ray delta one’s wonderful Flickr stream; he also has a suitably breathless blog, ATOMIC-ANNIHILATION) would seem to be part of a public relations exercise from Convair,