Mike Bechthold 🇨🇦🇺🇦
@mike-bechthold.bsky.social
PhD Historian | Royal Historical Society Fellow
RCAF | RAF | RNAS | RFC | Canadian Army
First World War | Second World War
Cartographer | Graphic Designer
https://mikebechthold.com/
RCAF | RAF | RNAS | RFC | Canadian Army
First World War | Second World War
Cartographer | Graphic Designer
https://mikebechthold.com/
Pinned
Very pleased that my book, Flying to Victory: Raymond Collishaw and the Western Desert Campaign, 1940-1941, was selected for the RAF's Chief of the Air Staff Reading List.
www.raf.mod.uk/what-we-do/c...
www.raf.mod.uk/what-we-do/c...
Reposted by Mike Bechthold 🇨🇦🇺🇦
The @usni.org Press is running a sale right now, and if you use the code HOLIDAY at checkout, you will get 50% off!
What better time than now to get your mitts on Airpower and the Normandy Campaign, edited by @mike-bechthold.bsky.social. The other contributors are ace.
www.usni.org/press/books/...
What better time than now to get your mitts on Airpower and the Normandy Campaign, edited by @mike-bechthold.bsky.social. The other contributors are ace.
www.usni.org/press/books/...
Airpower and the Normandy Campaign
The U.S. Naval Institute provides an independent forum for those who seek to advance and strengthen the naval profession.
www.usni.org
November 15, 2025 at 12:12 PM
The @usni.org Press is running a sale right now, and if you use the code HOLIDAY at checkout, you will get 50% off!
What better time than now to get your mitts on Airpower and the Normandy Campaign, edited by @mike-bechthold.bsky.social. The other contributors are ace.
www.usni.org/press/books/...
What better time than now to get your mitts on Airpower and the Normandy Campaign, edited by @mike-bechthold.bsky.social. The other contributors are ace.
www.usni.org/press/books/...
This Saturday, the Guelph Museums is hosting a Liberation and Remembrance Symposium to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the War and the liberation of Europe.
I'm speaking on the RCAF and other speakers include Roger Sarty, Geoff Hayes, and Alex Souchen.
guelphmuseums.ca/event/libera...
I'm speaking on the RCAF and other speakers include Roger Sarty, Geoff Hayes, and Alex Souchen.
guelphmuseums.ca/event/libera...
Liberation and Remembrance Symposium - Guelph Museums
This year marks 80 years since the end of the Second World War and the liberation of Europe. Eight decades later we reflect on Canada’s contributions to the war effort,…
guelphmuseums.ca
November 10, 2025 at 4:39 PM
This Saturday, the Guelph Museums is hosting a Liberation and Remembrance Symposium to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the War and the liberation of Europe.
I'm speaking on the RCAF and other speakers include Roger Sarty, Geoff Hayes, and Alex Souchen.
guelphmuseums.ca/event/libera...
I'm speaking on the RCAF and other speakers include Roger Sarty, Geoff Hayes, and Alex Souchen.
guelphmuseums.ca/event/libera...
Very touching tribute to Tim Cook by Pamela Wallin in the Senate of Canada.
youtu.be/17wNnUfCdx0?...
youtu.be/17wNnUfCdx0?...
Senator Pamela Wallin's Tribute to Canadian War Museum Historian Dr. Tim Cook in the Senate
YouTube video by No Nonsense with Pamela Wallin
youtu.be
November 9, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Very touching tribute to Tim Cook by Pamela Wallin in the Senate of Canada.
youtu.be/17wNnUfCdx0?...
youtu.be/17wNnUfCdx0?...
What a petty snowflake
October 25, 2025 at 9:13 PM
What a petty snowflake
WORLD SERIES BOUND!!!
October 21, 2025 at 3:03 AM
WORLD SERIES BOUND!!!
Excellent article on the current air war in Ukraine, Russia, and Western Europe by Peter Caddick-Adams.
Provides essential context linking the Ukranainian drones strikes on Russia to the Transportation and Oil Plans of the Second World War.
thecritic.co.uk/nato-must-st...
Provides essential context linking the Ukranainian drones strikes on Russia to the Transportation and Oil Plans of the Second World War.
thecritic.co.uk/nato-must-st...
NATO must stand firm against Russian provocation | Peter Caddick-Adams | The Critic Magazine
Today an aerial war is being fought across Europe. It is reliant on cutting edge technology, the full potential of which has yet to be realised. This undeclared war is most obviously witnessed in…
thecritic.co.uk
October 16, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Excellent article on the current air war in Ukraine, Russia, and Western Europe by Peter Caddick-Adams.
Provides essential context linking the Ukranainian drones strikes on Russia to the Transportation and Oil Plans of the Second World War.
thecritic.co.uk/nato-must-st...
Provides essential context linking the Ukranainian drones strikes on Russia to the Transportation and Oil Plans of the Second World War.
thecritic.co.uk/nato-must-st...
Target for Tonight - Toronto!
October 8, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Target for Tonight - Toronto!
Great to see the book arriving in the UK!
Join me for a terribly filmed video of me unboxing the first proper book I've written for, Airpower and the Normandy Campaign!
Many thanks to @mike-bechthold.bsky.social for including me in the team! The book is out now in the US and on the 30th in the UK. @usni.org
📖 www.usni.org/press/books/...
Many thanks to @mike-bechthold.bsky.social for including me in the team! The book is out now in the US and on the 30th in the UK. @usni.org
📖 www.usni.org/press/books/...
October 1, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Great to see the book arriving in the UK!
Great to see! Welcome @jamesmscott.bsky.social!
🚨 For #WW2 nerds: @jamesmscott.bsky.social is bringing his epic Pacific coverage and more to the fun app. Also his newly minted fear of celery. Probably.
a man in a helmet is carrying another man on his shoulders
ALT: a man in a helmet is carrying another man on his shoulders
media.tenor.com
September 14, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Great to see! Welcome @jamesmscott.bsky.social!
RIP Ken Dryden 💔
One of my favourite players of all time.
One of my favourite players of all time.
September 6, 2025 at 5:09 AM
RIP Ken Dryden 💔
One of my favourite players of all time.
One of my favourite players of all time.
This looks fantastic!
youtu.be/3FQcms0O4iM?...
Serious nerd alert for fans of Space 1999 and the Apollo space programme.
@jim09ea63.bsky.social I think you’d love this.
@gerryanderson.bsky.social
Serious nerd alert for fans of Space 1999 and the Apollo space programme.
@jim09ea63.bsky.social I think you’d love this.
@gerryanderson.bsky.social
The Eagle Obsession – Trailer (4K)
YouTube video by FutureDude Entertainment
youtu.be
June 19, 2025 at 7:52 PM
This looks fantastic!
This Saturday I'm speaking at the Military Heritage Day at the Chatham Kent Municipal Airport about Canada and the Liberation of the Netherlands. Also lots of warbirds, military vehicles, and other displays. Hope to see you there!
June 19, 2025 at 2:44 PM
This Saturday I'm speaking at the Military Heritage Day at the Chatham Kent Municipal Airport about Canada and the Liberation of the Netherlands. Also lots of warbirds, military vehicles, and other displays. Hope to see you there!
Reposted by Mike Bechthold 🇨🇦🇺🇦
I refuse to give the NYT my eyeballs, so I can't speak to the specifics of this article. But any historians attempting to use AI for either writing or research should be run out of the field. AI is inherently unable to do anything we need it to do to understand and communicate history.
Lots of commentary on this piece already, all of which I agree with.
For historians, research is a fundamental part of writing.
To farm it out to AI changes the nature of this intellectual process in fundamental ways.
And as Stacy Schiff points out, it also takes all the fun out of it.
For historians, research is a fundamental part of writing.
To farm it out to AI changes the nature of this intellectual process in fundamental ways.
And as Stacy Schiff points out, it also takes all the fun out of it.
A.I. Is Poised to Rewrite History. Literally.
www.nytimes.com
June 16, 2025 at 2:25 PM
I refuse to give the NYT my eyeballs, so I can't speak to the specifics of this article. But any historians attempting to use AI for either writing or research should be run out of the field. AI is inherently unable to do anything we need it to do to understand and communicate history.
Reposted by Mike Bechthold 🇨🇦🇺🇦
I've blogged about how the Israeli air force has reshaped the Middle East and what others might learn from them markurban.substack.com/p/israels-sl...
Israel's Sledgehammer
How their air force re-shapes the Middle East
markurban.substack.com
June 16, 2025 at 2:30 PM
I've blogged about how the Israeli air force has reshaped the Middle East and what others might learn from them markurban.substack.com/p/israels-sl...
Reposted by Mike Bechthold 🇨🇦🇺🇦
Chair of history department at U.S. Naval Academy resigns after order to remove paper from symposium “for reasons having nothing to do with scholarship.” [James Matheson, Baltimore Sun]
Naval Academy history chair resigns over ordered removal of symposium paper
Tom McCarthy cited the removal of a paper on grounds beyond its academic standard.
www.baltimoresun.com
June 12, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Chair of history department at U.S. Naval Academy resigns after order to remove paper from symposium “for reasons having nothing to do with scholarship.” [James Matheson, Baltimore Sun]
Reposted by Mike Bechthold 🇨🇦🇺🇦
Reposted by Mike Bechthold 🇨🇦🇺🇦
Trump on WW1: "Recently other countries celebrated the victory of World War I, France was celebrating, really. The only one that doesn't celebrate is the USA. And we're the ones that won the war. Without us, you'd all be speaking German right now. Maybe a little Japanese thrown in."
Ignorant c*nt.
Ignorant c*nt.
June 11, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Trump on WW1: "Recently other countries celebrated the victory of World War I, France was celebrating, really. The only one that doesn't celebrate is the USA. And we're the ones that won the war. Without us, you'd all be speaking German right now. Maybe a little Japanese thrown in."
Ignorant c*nt.
Ignorant c*nt.
Reposted by Mike Bechthold 🇨🇦🇺🇦
June 11, 2025 at 2:55 PM
June 11, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Reposted by Mike Bechthold 🇨🇦🇺🇦
Canada will achieve NATO’s 2% target this year — half a decade ahead of schedule.
In an increasingly dangerous world, we will be ready to protect our people, our sovereignty, and our Allies.
In an increasingly dangerous world, we will be ready to protect our people, our sovereignty, and our Allies.
June 9, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Canada will achieve NATO’s 2% target this year — half a decade ahead of schedule.
In an increasingly dangerous world, we will be ready to protect our people, our sovereignty, and our Allies.
In an increasingly dangerous world, we will be ready to protect our people, our sovereignty, and our Allies.
The most remarkable film shot on one of the most remarkable days in history.
It captures the North Shore Regiment on JUNO Beach near St. Aubin-sur-Mer on D-Day. For me, the most touching moment comes at the end of the clip when a soldier pats his comrade on the shoulder to say, "it will be ok."
🧵1/4
It captures the North Shore Regiment on JUNO Beach near St. Aubin-sur-Mer on D-Day. For me, the most touching moment comes at the end of the clip when a soldier pats his comrade on the shoulder to say, "it will be ok."
🧵1/4
June 6, 2025 at 2:11 PM
The most remarkable film shot on one of the most remarkable days in history.
It captures the North Shore Regiment on JUNO Beach near St. Aubin-sur-Mer on D-Day. For me, the most touching moment comes at the end of the clip when a soldier pats his comrade on the shoulder to say, "it will be ok."
🧵1/4
It captures the North Shore Regiment on JUNO Beach near St. Aubin-sur-Mer on D-Day. For me, the most touching moment comes at the end of the clip when a soldier pats his comrade on the shoulder to say, "it will be ok."
🧵1/4