Robert St. John Smith
@chance1234.bsky.social
PhD Candidate @University of Exeter researching the image of Tommy Atkins 1896-1926, MA in Britain and the First World War, University of Wolverhampton.
https://robertstjohnsmith.com/
Leeds, UK
https://robertstjohnsmith.com/
Leeds, UK
A new addition to my collection, from 1900: Thankful Tommy. While Pictures of Little Englanders and ABC for Patriots are reasonably known, this is from the same publisher.If it were satire, it would be brilliant-ish, but alas, it was intended to be serious. #HistBookChat #BoerWar #CartoonHistory
October 14, 2025 at 6:59 AM
A new addition to my collection, from 1900: Thankful Tommy. While Pictures of Little Englanders and ABC for Patriots are reasonably known, this is from the same publisher.If it were satire, it would be brilliant-ish, but alas, it was intended to be serious. #HistBookChat #BoerWar #CartoonHistory
Adding further to my claim that 1900 is a vintage year for Political cartoons, this gem from Midland Reporter and Westmeath Nationalist (8 March 1900, p. 5) #PoliticalCartoons #CartoonHistory #SouthAfricanWar #BoerWar #BNA
October 8, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Adding further to my claim that 1900 is a vintage year for Political cartoons, this gem from Midland Reporter and Westmeath Nationalist (8 March 1900, p. 5) #PoliticalCartoons #CartoonHistory #SouthAfricanWar #BoerWar #BNA
Reposted by Robert St. John Smith
We've updated our three BlueSky starter packs for historians.
Our principal list now includes details of 130+ societies and networks, based in the UK and Ireland, that advance the study, research and promotion of history go.bsky.app/AZaYQDd
Please let us know if there are gaps.
#Skystorians 1/2
Our principal list now includes details of 130+ societies and networks, based in the UK and Ireland, that advance the study, research and promotion of history go.bsky.app/AZaYQDd
Please let us know if there are gaps.
#Skystorians 1/2
October 3, 2025 at 8:37 AM
We've updated our three BlueSky starter packs for historians.
Our principal list now includes details of 130+ societies and networks, based in the UK and Ireland, that advance the study, research and promotion of history go.bsky.app/AZaYQDd
Please let us know if there are gaps.
#Skystorians 1/2
Our principal list now includes details of 130+ societies and networks, based in the UK and Ireland, that advance the study, research and promotion of history go.bsky.app/AZaYQDd
Please let us know if there are gaps.
#Skystorians 1/2
Just come across this absolutely cracking illustration – one of those you can hear – of the 'Brixton's Patriotic Carnival' by G. Glover in the South London Press (17 March 1900, p.5 via British Newspaper Archives). #Illustration #Victorians #BoerWar
October 3, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Just come across this absolutely cracking illustration – one of those you can hear – of the 'Brixton's Patriotic Carnival' by G. Glover in the South London Press (17 March 1900, p.5 via British Newspaper Archives). #Illustration #Victorians #BoerWar
New to my collection are some #FWW sketches by a German soldier, part of a Licht-Messtrupp unit. Light measuring AKA flash spotting artillery. A fairly competent degree of skill in the drawings, a bit at a loss on how to start researching the chap behind them.
September 24, 2025 at 2:09 PM
New to my collection are some #FWW sketches by a German soldier, part of a Licht-Messtrupp unit. Light measuring AKA flash spotting artillery. A fairly competent degree of skill in the drawings, a bit at a loss on how to start researching the chap behind them.
While #Ypres and its ramparts have become synonymous with the #WipersTimes, the 6th DCLI were there a year earlier with their publication Red Feather.
This is an introduction to their story, but one crucial piece of the puzzle is missing. robertstjohnsmith.com/post/2025-09... #FWW #WW1
This is an introduction to their story, but one crucial piece of the puzzle is missing. robertstjohnsmith.com/post/2025-09... #FWW #WW1
Trench Journals: The Red Feather, Journal of the 6th (Service) Battalion, Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry. An Introduction
An introduction to the Red Feather Journal
robertstjohnsmith.com
September 21, 2025 at 10:46 AM
While #Ypres and its ramparts have become synonymous with the #WipersTimes, the 6th DCLI were there a year earlier with their publication Red Feather.
This is an introduction to their story, but one crucial piece of the puzzle is missing. robertstjohnsmith.com/post/2025-09... #FWW #WW1
This is an introduction to their story, but one crucial piece of the puzzle is missing. robertstjohnsmith.com/post/2025-09... #FWW #WW1
I have been after a copy of this for some time. Written in 1917, it offers a unique satirical take on the Poilu. Time to find out if all those hours on Duolingo have paid off. #histBookChat #PhotoFriday #poilu #fww
September 19, 2025 at 9:47 AM
I have been after a copy of this for some time. Written in 1917, it offers a unique satirical take on the Poilu. Time to find out if all those hours on Duolingo have paid off. #histBookChat #PhotoFriday #poilu #fww
September 14, 2025 at 3:55 PM
September 13, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Seventeen-year-old Émilienne Moreau. The deadly teenage heroine who earned military honours from two nations: robertstjohnsmith.com/post/2025-09...
#FirstWorldWar #Loos #FWW #ww1 #Heroine
#FirstWorldWar #Loos #FWW #ww1 #Heroine
TTKAS: The Heroine of Loos
Émilienne Moreau-Evrad. The Heroine of Loos
robertstjohnsmith.com
September 8, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Seventeen-year-old Émilienne Moreau. The deadly teenage heroine who earned military honours from two nations: robertstjohnsmith.com/post/2025-09...
#FirstWorldWar #Loos #FWW #ww1 #Heroine
#FirstWorldWar #Loos #FWW #ww1 #Heroine
Exploring the North Coast with the dog. There are some dramatic skies in this neck of the woods
September 4, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Exploring the North Coast with the dog. There are some dramatic skies in this neck of the woods
Reposted by Robert St. John Smith
Reform UK, which has a grand total of four MPs, was just given an uninterrupted platform for an hour and a half on the BBC and Sky News channels, in order to talk about its plans for mass deportations
When was the last time the Greens (with four MPs) or the Lib Dems (with 72) were given the same?
When was the last time the Greens (with four MPs) or the Lib Dems (with 72) were given the same?
August 26, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Reform UK, which has a grand total of four MPs, was just given an uninterrupted platform for an hour and a half on the BBC and Sky News channels, in order to talk about its plans for mass deportations
When was the last time the Greens (with four MPs) or the Lib Dems (with 72) were given the same?
When was the last time the Greens (with four MPs) or the Lib Dems (with 72) were given the same?
Rather than continue to spam you all with my Operation Hush game development—especially now that I’m getting into the nuts and bolts—I’ll be posting updates over on my gamedev account, @doginatank.bsky.social , if you fancy following along. Especially if you’re a fan of spreadsheets and constants
August 20, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Rather than continue to spam you all with my Operation Hush game development—especially now that I’m getting into the nuts and bolts—I’ll be posting updates over on my gamedev account, @doginatank.bsky.social , if you fancy following along. Especially if you’re a fan of spreadsheets and constants
Continuing with my Operation Hush game, I've reached the point in development where one needs to crack open the spreadsheet.
August 19, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Continuing with my Operation Hush game, I've reached the point in development where one needs to crack open the spreadsheet.
Getting to the micromanagement stage of my Operation Hush game. Can switching the assignment of the 17th Cyclist Battalion swing the operation's success? Watch this space
August 18, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Getting to the micromanagement stage of my Operation Hush game. Can switching the assignment of the 17th Cyclist Battalion swing the operation's success? Watch this space
A bit of a tidy up on the UI (well, work in progress) for my Operation Hush game
August 17, 2025 at 4:53 PM
A bit of a tidy up on the UI (well, work in progress) for my Operation Hush game
I need a palate cleanser, so I am throwing together a quick alternative history game based on Operation Hush in 1917. As you can see, I am going for accuracy here.
August 15, 2025 at 10:36 AM
I need a palate cleanser, so I am throwing together a quick alternative history game based on Operation Hush in 1917. As you can see, I am going for accuracy here.
Why is it that papers writing about how wonderful Digital Humanities will be tend to have half a dozen authors attributed? It’s certainly not making my footnoting any easier. ;-) #PhdLife
August 13, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Why is it that papers writing about how wonderful Digital Humanities will be tend to have half a dozen authors attributed? It’s certainly not making my footnoting any easier. ;-) #PhdLife
Much has been written on tanks and trench warfare, but I am still waiting to read the paper: Doctrine and Dogpower: A Reappraisal of Tactical Dog-Cart Deployments in the Evolution of Combined Operations within the British Expeditionary Force, 1914–1918. (source: Western Mail, 16 October 1914, p.17)
August 4, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Much has been written on tanks and trench warfare, but I am still waiting to read the paper: Doctrine and Dogpower: A Reappraisal of Tactical Dog-Cart Deployments in the Evolution of Combined Operations within the British Expeditionary Force, 1914–1918. (source: Western Mail, 16 October 1914, p.17)
This may well be the first example of a Soldier's Alphabet — a blend of satire, nationalism, and wit — dating to 1804, well before their common appearance in #FWW trench journals. Anyone got an earlier example?
#MilitaryHistory #SoldierSongs #BlueskyStorians
robertstjohnsmith.com/post/2025-08...
#MilitaryHistory #SoldierSongs #BlueskyStorians
robertstjohnsmith.com/post/2025-08...
TTKAS: Soldiers’ Alphabets – is this the earliest example?
Is this the very first example of a Soldier's Alphabet.
robertstjohnsmith.com
August 3, 2025 at 10:38 AM
This may well be the first example of a Soldier's Alphabet — a blend of satire, nationalism, and wit — dating to 1804, well before their common appearance in #FWW trench journals. Anyone got an earlier example?
#MilitaryHistory #SoldierSongs #BlueskyStorians
robertstjohnsmith.com/post/2025-08...
#MilitaryHistory #SoldierSongs #BlueskyStorians
robertstjohnsmith.com/post/2025-08...
Successfully passed my MPhil viva voce and now have a seven-hour train journey back to Leeds. No academic reading needs to be done, so I’m finally enjoying the chance—which I’ve been looking forward to—to get stuck into James Clavell’s Shōgun. #PhDlife
July 22, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Successfully passed my MPhil viva voce and now have a seven-hour train journey back to Leeds. No academic reading needs to be done, so I’m finally enjoying the chance—which I’ve been looking forward to—to get stuck into James Clavell’s Shōgun. #PhDlife
What with the PhD and all. It's been a while since I updated my website. I'm hoping to fix that with a series of short articles celebrating the trivial in history. Here's the first. #FWW #TRENCHCULTURE #TRENCHJOURNALS
robertstjohnsmith.com/post/2025-07...
robertstjohnsmith.com/post/2025-07...
Things They Knew and Saw: An Introduction
An introduction to Things They Knew and Saw. A celebration of trival history.
robertstjohnsmith.com
July 14, 2025 at 10:42 AM
What with the PhD and all. It's been a while since I updated my website. I'm hoping to fix that with a series of short articles celebrating the trivial in history. Here's the first. #FWW #TRENCHCULTURE #TRENCHJOURNALS
robertstjohnsmith.com/post/2025-07...
robertstjohnsmith.com/post/2025-07...
An updated take (well, for 1899) on James Gillray's famous The Plumb-pudding in Danger cartoon—featuring Uncle Sam, John Bull, and Wilhelm. Source: Dundee Courier, 21 December 1899. #CartoonHistory #Gilray #PoliticalCartoons #JohnBull #UncleSam #Wilhelm
July 9, 2025 at 8:34 AM
An updated take (well, for 1899) on James Gillray's famous The Plumb-pudding in Danger cartoon—featuring Uncle Sam, John Bull, and Wilhelm. Source: Dundee Courier, 21 December 1899. #CartoonHistory #Gilray #PoliticalCartoons #JohnBull #UncleSam #Wilhelm
Part 1/3
Here’s something I haven’t seen before while browsing the British Newspaper Archive: a colouring-in competition from the Dundee Evening Post, dated 21st April 1904.
What’s unusual about that, you ask? Well…
Here’s something I haven’t seen before while browsing the British Newspaper Archive: a colouring-in competition from the Dundee Evening Post, dated 21st April 1904.
What’s unusual about that, you ask? Well…
July 5, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Part 1/3
Here’s something I haven’t seen before while browsing the British Newspaper Archive: a colouring-in competition from the Dundee Evening Post, dated 21st April 1904.
What’s unusual about that, you ask? Well…
Here’s something I haven’t seen before while browsing the British Newspaper Archive: a colouring-in competition from the Dundee Evening Post, dated 21st April 1904.
What’s unusual about that, you ask? Well…