Andy Saunders
@1940andy.bsky.social
History is just one effing thing after another.
A bit late with the re-post, but why not give a listen?
Tomorrow on the Old Front Line #podcast we are joined for our 250th Episode by @1940andy.bsky.social in our continuing Air War Series to discuss the life, death and burial of #WW1 Air Ace Mick Mannock VC. #OFL250
August 15, 2025 at 7:09 AM
A bit late with the re-post, but why not give a listen?
Home front privations, 1942:
March 8, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Home front privations, 1942:
Very sad to learn that the IWM will be removing the Ashcroft VC/GC Gallery at Lambeth.
February 25, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Very sad to learn that the IWM will be removing the Ashcroft VC/GC Gallery at Lambeth.
Controversial view? Most of the ‘big’ historians who have written on the Battle of Britain have got the big picture about right - but nearly ALL of them fail miserably on the detail/minutiae of the battle. It really irks me. Maybe I need to get out more? 🤔🤷♂️
February 13, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Controversial view? Most of the ‘big’ historians who have written on the Battle of Britain have got the big picture about right - but nearly ALL of them fail miserably on the detail/minutiae of the battle. It really irks me. Maybe I need to get out more? 🤔🤷♂️
A regular Yuletide ‘tradition’ is to visit this lonely grave at Battle, East Sussex, and leave flowers. At 16, she was the youngest female casualty of WW2 commemorated by CWGC.
January 2, 2025 at 12:12 PM
A regular Yuletide ‘tradition’ is to visit this lonely grave at Battle, East Sussex, and leave flowers. At 16, she was the youngest female casualty of WW2 commemorated by CWGC.
No Northern Lights in the rain sodden SE tonight. Anyway…
January 1, 2025 at 7:48 PM
No Northern Lights in the rain sodden SE tonight. Anyway…
Well, ‘tis the season for ghost stories…
December 20, 2024 at 4:59 PM
Well, ‘tis the season for ghost stories…
When one realises that it is necessary to get out more. This is Queen Vic on St Leonards seafront with her usual Xmas finery - but with a German bullet hole in her skirts. Why do I need to get out more? I have a shortlist of Luftwaffe pilots who probably did it.
December 18, 2024 at 2:46 PM
When one realises that it is necessary to get out more. This is Queen Vic on St Leonards seafront with her usual Xmas finery - but with a German bullet hole in her skirts. Why do I need to get out more? I have a shortlist of Luftwaffe pilots who probably did it.
When Hastings Post Office closed few years back and moved to W H Smith I campaigned to have these memorials moved to the store. It didn’t ‘fit the corporate image’ of @WHSmith and so they are now hidden away and rarely seen by the public at the sorting office.
December 18, 2024 at 7:33 AM
When Hastings Post Office closed few years back and moved to W H Smith I campaigned to have these memorials moved to the store. It didn’t ‘fit the corporate image’ of @WHSmith and so they are now hidden away and rarely seen by the public at the sorting office.
No 1 son (with London Fire & Rescue) was selected to receive his Coronation Medal at Buckingham Palace yesterday. Elderly relative: “How wonderful that they took him there in that carriage.”
December 17, 2024 at 11:05 AM
No 1 son (with London Fire & Rescue) was selected to receive his Coronation Medal at Buckingham Palace yesterday. Elderly relative: “How wonderful that they took him there in that carriage.”
This truly is an absolutely bloody brilliant read!
One full week of Christmas shopping left, so, before the last minute panic sets in, can I suggest "The Buried Spitfires of Burma- a fake history" might be perfect for the archaeologist/aviation geek/conspiracy theorist in your life.
And if you can, please buy real books from a real bookshop.
And if you can, please buy real books from a real bookshop.
The Buried Spitfires of Burma: A ‘Fake’ History a book by Andy Brockman and Tracy Spaight.
Rumours of buried Spitfires from the Second World War have spread around the world for seventy-five years. In April 2012, the press reported that the UK had negotiated an agreement with Myanmar for th...
uk.bookshop.org
December 15, 2024 at 4:53 PM
This truly is an absolutely bloody brilliant read!
Out with a bang! My last issue of ‘Iron Cross’ magazine under my editorship has landed from the printers. Handing over the editorial desk from this issue forward. On to other things for 2025!
December 14, 2024 at 3:40 PM
Out with a bang! My last issue of ‘Iron Cross’ magazine under my editorship has landed from the printers. Handing over the editorial desk from this issue forward. On to other things for 2025!
Reposted by Andy Saunders
I wrote some blogs a few years ago on misunderstood aspects of the Battle of Messines. This one is about how many of the mine charges laid beneath the German lines were not used, the reasons, and where they remain to this day.
simonjoneshistorian.com/2017/05/01/l...
simonjoneshistorian.com/2017/05/01/l...
Myths of Messines: The ‘Lost Mines’
How was it that in 1955 a massive mine charge blew up in a Belgian field? When nineteen mines were detonated along a six mile front at the opening of the Battle of Messines on 7 June 1917, six more…
simonjoneshistorian.com
December 12, 2024 at 7:07 AM
I wrote some blogs a few years ago on misunderstood aspects of the Battle of Messines. This one is about how many of the mine charges laid beneath the German lines were not used, the reasons, and where they remain to this day.
simonjoneshistorian.com/2017/05/01/l...
simonjoneshistorian.com/2017/05/01/l...
Another of the Osprey titles that left my desk in 2024. Maybe you didn’t know all that you thought there was to know about the Bf 109 in the Battle of Britain? 😉
December 13, 2024 at 8:21 AM
Another of the Osprey titles that left my desk in 2024. Maybe you didn’t know all that you thought there was to know about the Bf 109 in the Battle of Britain? 😉
Reposted by Andy Saunders
We have really enjoyed writing our tours and it's nice to know we're in such good company. For me, it's been like having a digital version of my dotty map. Something I have been working on for more than a decade now!
December 11, 2024 at 9:48 PM
We have really enjoyed writing our tours and it's nice to know we're in such good company. For me, it's been like having a digital version of my dotty map. Something I have been working on for more than a decade now!
This new book in the Osprey Books ‘Duel’ series is now out. A few more will leave my desk in 2025 - all being well!
December 12, 2024 at 9:35 AM
This new book in the Osprey Books ‘Duel’ series is now out. A few more will leave my desk in 2025 - all being well!
Interesting stuff: phys.org/news/2024-12...
phys.org
December 5, 2024 at 9:46 AM
Interesting stuff: phys.org/news/2024-12...
Lucy raises interesting points that are close to my heart. One ‘restored’ Hurricane is V7497 which purports to be built from aircraft I recovered in 1986. It isn’t. Neither was it ‘recovered from a bog’ and nor did I sell or part with the wreck to current owner. This is a murky old world, sometimes.
SO, lately I’ve been thinking about aircraft ‘identity’ in respect of vintage aircraft restoration. Since there is no official definition of ‘restoration’ (from the CAA or otherwise), one could stick a data plate on a brick and call it a Battle of Britain Spitfire. The so called provenance of 1/n
December 5, 2024 at 8:20 AM
Lucy raises interesting points that are close to my heart. One ‘restored’ Hurricane is V7497 which purports to be built from aircraft I recovered in 1986. It isn’t. Neither was it ‘recovered from a bog’ and nor did I sell or part with the wreck to current owner. This is a murky old world, sometimes.
Having just signed off my very last issue of ‘Iron Cross’ magazine it is on to new projects once the desk is cleared. Major project next year is editing a re-worked and updated ‘Battle of Britain Then & Now’
December 4, 2024 at 5:08 PM
Having just signed off my very last issue of ‘Iron Cross’ magazine it is on to new projects once the desk is cleared. Major project next year is editing a re-worked and updated ‘Battle of Britain Then & Now’
Well, here I am. Over from the other place. Although I’m still also hanging out there!
December 4, 2024 at 4:20 PM
Well, here I am. Over from the other place. Although I’m still also hanging out there!
My first post here. Let’s see how it goes?
November 12, 2024 at 8:30 AM
My first post here. Let’s see how it goes?