Nick Jenkins
@nickjhistorian.bsky.social
Journalist and historian, specialising in the First World War and its aftermath. Especially its aftermath.
Always good when the Western Front Association journal Stand To! drops through my letterbox, but this one looks right up my street.
January 3, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Always good when the Western Front Association journal Stand To! drops through my letterbox, but this one looks right up my street.
Samplers were demonstrations of embroidery carried out by little girls. My father used to collect them.
This was the one he always wanted but never got: a sampler by his great-grandmother (my great-great-grandmother), aged 11 in 1853. Now I have it - alongside a photograph of Mary-Ann as a woman.
This was the one he always wanted but never got: a sampler by his great-grandmother (my great-great-grandmother), aged 11 in 1853. Now I have it - alongside a photograph of Mary-Ann as a woman.
December 30, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Samplers were demonstrations of embroidery carried out by little girls. My father used to collect them.
This was the one he always wanted but never got: a sampler by his great-grandmother (my great-great-grandmother), aged 11 in 1853. Now I have it - alongside a photograph of Mary-Ann as a woman.
This was the one he always wanted but never got: a sampler by his great-grandmother (my great-great-grandmother), aged 11 in 1853. Now I have it - alongside a photograph of Mary-Ann as a woman.
"The boys are in high spirits for we have done with the trenches for a short time & we are hoping to have a good time Xmas Day"... posted from the Western Front in December 1916, shortly after the end of the Battle of the Somme.
December 25, 2025 at 4:10 PM
"The boys are in high spirits for we have done with the trenches for a short time & we are hoping to have a good time Xmas Day"... posted from the Western Front in December 1916, shortly after the end of the Battle of the Somme.
Still on the Great War postcard theme... this one was posted from northern France in December 1915 and look how bright the colours still are, 110 years on.
The silk embroidery formed an envelope containing a tiny "Gloire aux Alliés" (glory to the Allies) card.
The silk embroidery formed an envelope containing a tiny "Gloire aux Alliés" (glory to the Allies) card.
December 24, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Still on the Great War postcard theme... this one was posted from northern France in December 1915 and look how bright the colours still are, 110 years on.
The silk embroidery formed an envelope containing a tiny "Gloire aux Alliés" (glory to the Allies) card.
The silk embroidery formed an envelope containing a tiny "Gloire aux Alliés" (glory to the Allies) card.
I don't know if it was a nod to the music hall tradition of cross-dressing, but there was a fashion during the First World War for young women to pose in their menfolk's uniforms.
Here's my teenage great-aunt Alice wearing the uniform of her father, who was a boatman.
Here's my teenage great-aunt Alice wearing the uniform of her father, who was a boatman.
December 22, 2025 at 12:32 PM
I don't know if it was a nod to the music hall tradition of cross-dressing, but there was a fashion during the First World War for young women to pose in their menfolk's uniforms.
Here's my teenage great-aunt Alice wearing the uniform of her father, who was a boatman.
Here's my teenage great-aunt Alice wearing the uniform of her father, who was a boatman.
Postcards were the mobile phones of the early 20th century, used for rapid communication.
During the First World War, 12 million cards and letters, and a million parcels, were delivered weekly to the front, reminding soldiers of home.
Look out here for more postcards!
During the First World War, 12 million cards and letters, and a million parcels, were delivered weekly to the front, reminding soldiers of home.
Look out here for more postcards!
December 20, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Postcards were the mobile phones of the early 20th century, used for rapid communication.
During the First World War, 12 million cards and letters, and a million parcels, were delivered weekly to the front, reminding soldiers of home.
Look out here for more postcards!
During the First World War, 12 million cards and letters, and a million parcels, were delivered weekly to the front, reminding soldiers of home.
Look out here for more postcards!
Found in my late dad's attic... preserved since he was demobbed in 1947.
I already had the tunic that was tailored for him by Austin Reed in Barmouth, where he trained to be an officer, as I used to wear it as a teenager. Can't get into it now, obviously...
I already had the tunic that was tailored for him by Austin Reed in Barmouth, where he trained to be an officer, as I used to wear it as a teenager. Can't get into it now, obviously...
December 19, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Found in my late dad's attic... preserved since he was demobbed in 1947.
I already had the tunic that was tailored for him by Austin Reed in Barmouth, where he trained to be an officer, as I used to wear it as a teenager. Can't get into it now, obviously...
I already had the tunic that was tailored for him by Austin Reed in Barmouth, where he trained to be an officer, as I used to wear it as a teenager. Can't get into it now, obviously...
Imagine what it must have been like for an 18-year-old to arrive in a land of plenty in 1945 after the privations of war.
Well, you don't have to imagine as my journalist father wrote about stopping off in Cape Town in November 1945 on a troop ship to India. A bottle of sherry!
Well, you don't have to imagine as my journalist father wrote about stopping off in Cape Town in November 1945 on a troop ship to India. A bottle of sherry!
December 16, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Imagine what it must have been like for an 18-year-old to arrive in a land of plenty in 1945 after the privations of war.
Well, you don't have to imagine as my journalist father wrote about stopping off in Cape Town in November 1945 on a troop ship to India. A bottle of sherry!
Well, you don't have to imagine as my journalist father wrote about stopping off in Cape Town in November 1945 on a troop ship to India. A bottle of sherry!
Love this silk postcard sent from the Western Front "on active service" on 31 January 1916.
Nurse Cavell was executed by German firing squad on 12 October 1915 for helping Allied soldiers to escape from Belgium.
Nurse Cavell was executed by German firing squad on 12 October 1915 for helping Allied soldiers to escape from Belgium.
December 15, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Love this silk postcard sent from the Western Front "on active service" on 31 January 1916.
Nurse Cavell was executed by German firing squad on 12 October 1915 for helping Allied soldiers to escape from Belgium.
Nurse Cavell was executed by German firing squad on 12 October 1915 for helping Allied soldiers to escape from Belgium.
My grandfather joined the RAF in 1918. Like most 18-year-olds, probably, he applied to be a pilot but was accepted for training as an observer. The war ended before he could go to France.
My question about him was answered in this episode of the excellent @OldFrontLinePod. /1
My question about him was answered in this episode of the excellent @OldFrontLinePod. /1
December 13, 2025 at 3:17 PM
My grandfather joined the RAF in 1918. Like most 18-year-olds, probably, he applied to be a pilot but was accepted for training as an observer. The war ended before he could go to France.
My question about him was answered in this episode of the excellent @OldFrontLinePod. /1
My question about him was answered in this episode of the excellent @OldFrontLinePod. /1
Is it OK to have a "favourite" war cemetery?
I love St Symphorien at Mons, which is beautifully landscaped.
The first and last British soldiers to die in WW1 are buried a few feet apart - and there are German and Commonwealth graves because it began as a German cemetery.
I love St Symphorien at Mons, which is beautifully landscaped.
The first and last British soldiers to die in WW1 are buried a few feet apart - and there are German and Commonwealth graves because it began as a German cemetery.
December 12, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Is it OK to have a "favourite" war cemetery?
I love St Symphorien at Mons, which is beautifully landscaped.
The first and last British soldiers to die in WW1 are buried a few feet apart - and there are German and Commonwealth graves because it began as a German cemetery.
I love St Symphorien at Mons, which is beautifully landscaped.
The first and last British soldiers to die in WW1 are buried a few feet apart - and there are German and Commonwealth graves because it began as a German cemetery.
RAF sergeant Freddie Habgood was hanged at Natzweiler after his Lancaster crashed and he was betrayed. His silver name bracelet surfaced at the camp in 2018.
Other prisoners were forced to watch hangings, while Nazi officers smoked cigars and enjoyed the spectacle. /4
Other prisoners were forced to watch hangings, while Nazi officers smoked cigars and enjoyed the spectacle. /4
December 11, 2025 at 5:15 PM
RAF sergeant Freddie Habgood was hanged at Natzweiler after his Lancaster crashed and he was betrayed. His silver name bracelet surfaced at the camp in 2018.
Other prisoners were forced to watch hangings, while Nazi officers smoked cigars and enjoyed the spectacle. /4
Other prisoners were forced to watch hangings, while Nazi officers smoked cigars and enjoyed the spectacle. /4
Four women from the British Special Operations Executive were executed at Natzweiler-Struthof, and two RAF men who had taken part in the Great Escape were executed by the Gestapo and cremated here. /3
December 11, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Four women from the British Special Operations Executive were executed at Natzweiler-Struthof, and two RAF men who had taken part in the Great Escape were executed by the Gestapo and cremated here. /3
Josef Kramer, who went on to command Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen, was kommandant and personally supervised experimental killings in this improvised gas chamber, carried out by Strasbourg university scientists. /2
December 11, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Josef Kramer, who went on to command Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen, was kommandant and personally supervised experimental killings in this improvised gas chamber, carried out by Strasbourg university scientists. /2
Did you know that the remains of a Nazi concentration camp can be seen on French soil?
Natzweiler-Struthof, in annexed Alsace, was a work camp, not a death camp, but 22,000 prisoners died there. Many "disappeared" under the Nazi Nacht und Nebel (Night and Fog) directive. /1
Natzweiler-Struthof, in annexed Alsace, was a work camp, not a death camp, but 22,000 prisoners died there. Many "disappeared" under the Nazi Nacht und Nebel (Night and Fog) directive. /1
December 11, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Did you know that the remains of a Nazi concentration camp can be seen on French soil?
Natzweiler-Struthof, in annexed Alsace, was a work camp, not a death camp, but 22,000 prisoners died there. Many "disappeared" under the Nazi Nacht und Nebel (Night and Fog) directive. /1
Natzweiler-Struthof, in annexed Alsace, was a work camp, not a death camp, but 22,000 prisoners died there. Many "disappeared" under the Nazi Nacht und Nebel (Night and Fog) directive. /1
Many prisoners died at Breendonk - either on the gallows or tied to posts and shot by firing squads. Jewish survivors of the prison were sent to Auschwitz and others were evacuated to Buchenwald in 1944. /3
December 10, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Many prisoners died at Breendonk - either on the gallows or tied to posts and shot by firing squads. Jewish survivors of the prison were sent to Auschwitz and others were evacuated to Buchenwald in 1944. /3
Since the Second World War it has been preserved as a museum, complete with the chamber where male and female political prisoners were tortured. It is grim - but it is as important as ever now that we remember. /2
December 10, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Since the Second World War it has been preserved as a museum, complete with the chamber where male and female political prisoners were tortured. It is grim - but it is as important as ever now that we remember. /2
Not many people in Britain, it seems, have heard of Fort Breendonk in Belgium - a pre-WW1 army fort that was turned into a WW2 prison by the occupying Germans.
There are many stories of the cruelties carried out here by the SS, some involving the commandant's dog. /1
There are many stories of the cruelties carried out here by the SS, some involving the commandant's dog. /1
December 10, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Not many people in Britain, it seems, have heard of Fort Breendonk in Belgium - a pre-WW1 army fort that was turned into a WW2 prison by the occupying Germans.
There are many stories of the cruelties carried out here by the SS, some involving the commandant's dog. /1
There are many stories of the cruelties carried out here by the SS, some involving the commandant's dog. /1
Love this poster in our kitchen (from the IWM) and we try to abide by it.
Reminds me of an Alexei Sayle joke in a documentary from the 80s about the restrictive licensing laws that were still in place then: "Pubs have to close in the afternoon in case we lose the First World War."
Reminds me of an Alexei Sayle joke in a documentary from the 80s about the restrictive licensing laws that were still in place then: "Pubs have to close in the afternoon in case we lose the First World War."
December 9, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Love this poster in our kitchen (from the IWM) and we try to abide by it.
Reminds me of an Alexei Sayle joke in a documentary from the 80s about the restrictive licensing laws that were still in place then: "Pubs have to close in the afternoon in case we lose the First World War."
Reminds me of an Alexei Sayle joke in a documentary from the 80s about the restrictive licensing laws that were still in place then: "Pubs have to close in the afternoon in case we lose the First World War."
Everyone loves a Then and Now shot (well, I do, anyway!) and the 1944 Battle of Normandy lends itself perfectly to the genre.
These are some pictures I took in Courseulles-sur-Mer this year.
These are some pictures I took in Courseulles-sur-Mer this year.
December 8, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Everyone loves a Then and Now shot (well, I do, anyway!) and the 1944 Battle of Normandy lends itself perfectly to the genre.
These are some pictures I took in Courseulles-sur-Mer this year.
These are some pictures I took in Courseulles-sur-Mer this year.
Chapels were HUGE in industrial towns and the Great War memorial at Birchcliffe chapel, Hebden Bridge, is bigger than the main one in town.
Hundreds turned out for its 1922 unveiling, as seen in this picture from the Pennine Heritage archive (now housed in the old chapel).
Hundreds turned out for its 1922 unveiling, as seen in this picture from the Pennine Heritage archive (now housed in the old chapel).
December 8, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Chapels were HUGE in industrial towns and the Great War memorial at Birchcliffe chapel, Hebden Bridge, is bigger than the main one in town.
Hundreds turned out for its 1922 unveiling, as seen in this picture from the Pennine Heritage archive (now housed in the old chapel).
Hundreds turned out for its 1922 unveiling, as seen in this picture from the Pennine Heritage archive (now housed in the old chapel).