On 8 September 1939, the Football Association declared that all football except that organised by the armed forces was suspended ‘until official notice to the contrary’. This was in contrast to 1914 when professional football had continued during the first year of the war. The threat of air attack and the introduction of conscription made…
Two civilian pressmen were among the photographers called up to witness the British Expeditionary Force in 1939 and 1940. When the Second World War broke out in September 1939, just one Army photographer, Geoffrey Keating, and one cameraman, Harry Rignold, accompanied the British Expeditionary Force to France. On 24 October 1941, the Army agreed to…
For Game of Thrones fans, Dunluce Castle is a highlight of any Northern Ireland location tour. Perching precariously on the basalt outcrops of the Antrim coast, its dramatic situation, plus a touch of CGI, turned Dunluce Castle into Castle Pike, Seat of the House Greyjoy, in fictional Westeros. For naval researchers, H.M.S. Dunluce Castle is a…
I often wondered why we went on holiday to Lowestoft. It was such a long way from Cumbria by car. Now it all made sense. Dad’s service number was JX272920 LT. J 272920 meant Communications Branch. The X, he was employed on a pay scale introduced in the 1930’s. The LT was for Lowestoft. The…
Over one million people (923,000 men and 86,000 women) served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Many volunteered after an urgent recruitment campaign to fill the demand in manpower required to meet the maritime threat of Nazi Germany. As in the 1914-18 war, the British Admiralty’s first challenge was to rebuild Britain’s naval…