In 1939 Britain & her allies were completely unprepared for total war. In the spring of 1940, after months of inactivity, the powerful highly trained German Army smashed it's way through neutral Holland & Belgium & into northern France. The Allies had no choice but to retreat to the costal areas, where the ' Miracle of Dunkirk' took place. Half a million men were finally evacuated to Engl&. Hitler, anxious to invade Britain, ordered the Luftwaffe to destroy the Royal Air Force. The Battle of Britain started. A climax was reached on September 15th when, following a great raid over London, the RAF shot down 175 raiders. Hitler relentlessly bombed Britain hoping to break the British people. Many were killed or wounded & countless home where destroyed but the British spirit never broke. The British people defied the enemy until May 1941 when much of the Luftwaffe were moving away to fight on the Russian front. ...

The first British major success of World War two was when Royal Navy forced the preying pocket Battle ship the Graf Spee, to scuttle at sea Hitler had ordered a blockade of the British Isles & for some months German U-boats & warships caused havoc among allied merchant shipping carrying vital supplies. In 1941 the one sided battle of the Atlantic became more even, when the Royal Navy started moving ships in convoy with escorts using radar, & information from British scientists who had cracked the Kreigsmarine version of the Enigma Code captured by the Royal Navy. The perils of the Atlantic were only equalled by the Convoys on the run to northern Russia. Sub-zero temperatures, pack ice & appalling weather conditions plus the menacing Luftwaffe & the German Navy based in Norway, made it one of the most hazardous actions of the entire war. Meanwhile, in the air, bomber planes of the RAF & US air force were incessantly bombarding German Industries & cities. Casualties on the ground were devastating & the life expectancy of the aircrew was alarmingly short. The destruction of communications & armament factories was the main contribution from the bombing campaign. ...

The first British major success of World War two was when Royal Navy forced the preying pocket Battle ship the Graf Spee, to scuttle at sea Hitler had ordered a blockade of the British Isles & for some months German U-boats & warships caused havoc among allied merchant shipping carrying vital supplies. In 1941 the one sided battle of the Atlantic became more even, when the Royal Navy started moving ships in convoy with escorts using radar, & information from British scientists who had cracked the Kreigsmarine version of the Enigma Code captured by the Royal Navy. The perils of the Atlantic were only equalled by the Convoys on the run to northern Russia. Sub-zero temperatures, pack ice & appalling weather conditions plus the menacing Luftwaffe & the German Navy based in Norway, made it one of the most hazardous actions of the entire war. Meanwhile, in the air, bomber planes of the RAF & US air force were incessantly bombarding German Industries & cities. Casualties on the ground were devastating & the life expectancy of the aircrew was alarmingly short. The destruction of communications & armament factories was the main contribution from the bombing campaign. ...

' The Gestapo kept me three days in this interrogation house. They especially wanted to know what I did after my escape, & precise things on the organisation of the SOE. & just for fun I suspect, because I had really not much to tell them, they pulled one of my toenails out...'
- Robert Sheppard, SOE agent

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British organisation created early in the Second World War to encourage resistance & carry out sabotage behind enemy lines: in Winston Churchill


...

' The Gestapo kept me three days in this interrogation house. They especially wanted to know what I did after my escape, & precise things on the organisation of the SOE. & just for fun I suspect, because I had really not much to tell them, they pulled one of my toenails out...'
- Robert Sheppard, SOE agent

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British organisation created early in the Second World War to encourage resistance & carry out sabotage behind enemy lines: in Winston Churchill


...

1916. The Somme. With over a million casualties, it was the most brutal battle of the First World War.

It is a clash that

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1916. The Somme. With over a million casualties, it was the most brutal battle of the First World War.

It is a clash that

...

1916. The Somme. With over a million casualties, it was the most brutal battle of the First World War.

It is a clash that

...