…ust it was involved in the attempts to capture Mouquet Farm, near Pozières. On 17 August 1916, Pte. Mulqueeney was looking out over the parapet when a shell landed in front of his trench, and he was hit in the head by a piece of shrapnel. He died instantly. He was 27 and, according to his sergeant, a ‘good chap’. His fellow soldiers buried him in a nearby shell-hole, marking it with a rough cross, though his remains are now in Courcelette British…
…t, they found Mulqueeney dead, shot through the head, death must have been instantaneous. This was during the big bombardment. They buried him just beyond the bay, and informed the Sergt. Informant took some letters which he is sending to the Mother with details and also has pay book which he will forward to the right quarter as soon as he can do so. That same month, Pte. Dickman wrote from Etaples: He was killed at Moquet [sic] Farm about the mid…
…thing going on here. A veritable Scareship Age, in fact, 1892-1918. Later instances could be adduced (the Scandinavian ghost flyer of 1932-4, the Battle of Los Angeles in 1942, the Scandinavian and Greek ghost rockets of 1946) but clearly, activity peaked during the years of flight’s infancy. Many of these episodes can be correlated with wars or war scares. For example, the South African sightings of 1899 took place after Boer officials were warn…
…suspicious patches. If Mustard Gas is present the Gas Detector Paper will instantly turn PINK. A charred roof tile from Hiroshima. Back in the Large Exhibits Hall. A Spitfire showing off its elliptical wings. A Be2c of the Royal Flying Corps. You can see the roundels on the top of the upper wings from underneath, which shows how thin the canvas is. The Spitfire’s rival in beauty, the P-51 Mustang. Drop tanks ftw. I didn’t catch what these were ab…
…t ‘normal railway services are to close down on Friday night’ (p. 10). And instances of ARP profiteering have emerged: in one case, a local official in Essex was placing a telephone order, turned away for a moment, and then when he returned to the call was told that the price for whatever it was that he was ordering had gone up by £3 per ton (Manchester Guardian, p. 3)! Speaking of which, here are some advertisements which use the crisis as their…
…to develop the bomb-sighting machinery which makes Uncle Sam’s flyers, for instance, so deadly in their accuracy. Contrast this with the American way: A country like the United States would approach the problem of directing bomb flight in an entirely different way. Some method of mechanical control of the bomb would be sought — in fact, the idea of controlling a bomb or gun shell by radio is already being worked on, as described in Modern Mechanix…
…ten in the two or three decades after 1945 — but I’ve found one surprising instance from the Second World War. It’s so surprising that it must be a case of wanting to forget, because there’s no way the author was not fully aware of British writing on airpower between the wars. I speak of Oliver Stewart, who was a fighter ace in the First World War, a test pilot after it, the aviation correspondent of (inter alia) the Morning Post from 1926 to 1937…
…ession that things lying losely [sic] about may be picked up by anyone, as instance the case the other day of a man who was sent to prison for looting some valuable furs from a wrecked house. It is this impression which must be checked firmly if, to the very great misfortunes suffered by bombed-out victims, is not to be added that of grievous injury by their own countrymen. A last note from the Guardian (7): It may now be stated that in recent air…
…on provided. Most of the people have lost everything, and clothing in many instances had also to be provided by the citizens of the burghs. Jean Kelvin, in the ‘Women’s Topics’ column (7) writes the most effective piece on the Clydeside blitz today. She is proud of the new meaning given to the shipbuilding term ‘Clydebuilt‘: ‘All that it implies in rugged strength and reliability in times of stress has been won by its people this past week’. This…
…owledge that ‘in any real crisis they could count on support that would be instantaneous and automatic’: the Dominions have known that if they ever had to face actual aggression the Navy and other Imperial Forces would come to their aid at once. Reid’s conclusion is that there is no need for any ‘supra-national Government controlling political, economic, and social affairs […] The share of sovereignty to be given up need only be military’. As the…
