Author name: Brett Holman

Brett Holman is a historian who lives in Armidale, Australia.

Acquisitions, Books

Acquisitions

Ashley Ekins, ed. 1918 Year of Victory: The End of the Great War and the Shaping of History. Titirangi and Wollombi: Exisle Publishing, 2010. This is the product of a conference held at the Australian War Memorial in 2008, and features contributions from people like Jay Winter, Robin Prior, Gary Sheffield, Trevor Wilson and Stephen […]

1910s, Aircraft, Books, Pictures

Am I fake or not? — II

The aforementioned Mike Dash sent me the above photograph, presumably a fake, wondering if I’d seen it before and if I knew its provenance. I have not, but I agree it’s a fake. It can be found in a few places on the web, for example here and here. It purportedly shows two Italian airships

Australia, Contemporary

Oneupairmanship

No sooner does Bomber Command get approval for its own grand memorial — to be precise, a £3.5 million neoclassical pavilion in London’s Green Park commemorating its 55,000 dead — than Fighter Command trumps it with a proposal for an even grander memorial: a ‘Battle of Britain Beacon’ at the RAF Museum at Hendon, which

Acquisitions, Books

Acquisitions

The Earl of Avon. The Eden Memoirs: Facing the Dictators. London: Cassell, 1962. The most famous British politician to ever wear an Anthony Eden. Also Foreign Secretary 1935-8 and later did other stuff. Roy Jenkins. Mr Balfour’s Poodle: People v. Peers. London: Papermac, 1999 [1954]. The People’s Budget and the 1910 General Elections. An interesting

1910s, Books

Measuring apples and oranges

In England and the Aeroplane, David Edgerton made the following striking, and oft-cited, point about Britain’s aerial strength at the outbreak of the First World War: Overall, England had fewer aircraft than the other great powers. The total of 113 compares with 120 for France, 232 for Germany, 226 for Russia and 36 for Austro-Hungary.

Acquisitions, Books

Acquisitions

Patrick Bishop. Bomber Boys: Fighting Back 1940-1945. London: Harper Perennial, 2008. I liked his Fighter Boys and have been meaning to pick this up; Martin Francis in The Flyer (which is also v.g.) gave them both big props and so that was a sufficient reminder. H. G. Hartnett. Over the Top: A Digger’s Story of

1930s, Books, Ephemera, Pictures

The Londonderry Herr

In the later 1930s, the 7th Marquess of Londonderry acquired the somewhat unkind nickname of the ‘Londonderry Herr’, a pun on the Londonderry Air (the tune to which ‘Danny Boy’ is usually set). This came about because he was thought to be rather too enthusiastic about the prospect of Anglo-German reconciliation. My impression is that

1930s, 1940s, Australia, Pictures

Australia forgets

[Cross-posted at Cliopatria.] It’s Anzac Day once again. On Anzac Day, Australia remembers some things but forgets others. We remember the sacrifices of the original Anzacs at Gallipoli, but forget that it wasn’t only Australians who suffered. We remember the many thousands of young Australians who have fought in foreign wars since then, but forget

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