Heathrow. Calm before the storm. Coffee so strong, I can see WiFi.

October 7th. Which means that, in among the headlines today, it's this monster's 27th birthday. Half as old as I am, and twice the person, already. #kidshuh #proudmum #properjobandcanbuyherowncakenow

From too-many too-good-to miss talks to The Two Rommels, the tanks, the catch-ups with friends old and new … big thanks to the WHWF team this weekend… and to everyone who came along to hear me squeaking on about maps (again!)

Channeling Ole Gunnar Solskjær in the 99’ CL final… Last minute substitute for the indomitable PCA at WHWF5 this weekend, to chat about the Rhine crossing. Honoured to be on stage with Al and John Mc - chat ranged between Quinctilius Varus to post VE Day civil affairs

We’re stumped at NOTW HQ…. @andyaitch.bsky.social and @merrynwalters.uk can’t make out what type of tank this on the transporter, it’s in our new episode, out tomorrow….. Can you help? Taken in August 1941 in the western desert…. Let us know what you think.

WELL SAID. 😊

Getting the blitz maps together for WHWFest. So much myth busting it actually hurts. 😆

Jolly excited about this weeks episode, in a mid season break of 1941 we have our first guest editor for News Of The War! @prof-tregoning.bsky.social joins @andyaitch.bsky.social and @merrynwalters.uk to talk about infections, immunology, horse serum and much more. 🚨 Friday 5th September 🚨

If I had a penny for every time we've pulled back from a WW2 rabbit hole ... but it's what keeps us all fascinated, isn't it? The fact there's so much more to find out?

Please joins us this Friday for the latest episode of @newsofthewar.bsky.social We’re launching our new recurring feature: Monkey Air Raid News @merrynwalters.uk

@merrynwalters.uk and I talked a little bit about the war in Somaliland on the @newsofthewar.bsky.social pod this week. The Illustrated London News ran this amazing sketch a week later: A pony section of the Somali Camel Corps on a rocky lookout post near the HARGEISA BERBERA. ✏️ By “Snaffles”

When do you think the Battle of Britain started? The Sunday Express puts it firmly on the 18th of June? Agree? This Thursday on @newsofthewar.bsky.social @merrynwalters.uk and I make a valiant but ultimately futile effort to explain the Battle of Britain linktr.ee/NewsOfTheWar

I'm not saying maps and panoramic, illustrative diagrams are interchangeable, but I might be saying that if I won the lottery *THERE WOULD BE SIGNS*. These beach plans of Iwo Jima are yours for the bargain price of US $14,999.99, apparently. *swoon*

Colossus has spoken….. Coming to his week on @newsofthewar.bsky.social BLITZKRIEG! @merrynwalters.uk

If anyone needs a handy little guide on what ARP wardens do, I’ve got you covered. Surprisingly well trained and well prepared for the Blitz. Who knew? 🤷🏻‍♂️ @merrynwalters.uk @newsofthewar.bsky.social

Be honest, who’s heard of the Altmark Incident? @newsofthewar.bsky.social @merrynwalters.uk

One of the questions we ask in @newsofthewar.bsky.social today is how many lives were saved in the Blitz thanks to the amount of preparedness and training the country had done leading up to September 1940. High casualties when it hits, but could it have been higher? linktr.ee/NewsOfTheWar

Published by the U.S. Persian Gulf Command. 1944.

Mapwise, recently, I've been knee deep in repercussions from the Treaty of Versailles. Awful. Funny though, even the enigmatic PAM thought Britain wasn't worth the hassle, after the war was over. Can you imagine the response from the Flagmakers' Union to this scheme, radically restructuring Europe?

This lil' ol' podcast - honestly, it's one of the most fun things I do, making it that is. News of The War: so many stories, so much still to influence how we interpret what happened, when, and often why as well. 😊 linktr.ee/NewsOfTheWar

This is going to be so good - QR codes are ideal for extending images and, sadly, I think foldout maps are unlikely to make a comeback 🙂‍↕️

🔥EXTRA! EXTRA! We promised you the headlines for 27th December '39, and boy do we deliver. Bill, George, Al, they're all here - along with some killer monks and subtle smock action (IYKNK, right?! 😉). @andyaitch.bsky.social @merrynwalters.uk

Every so often ~ between chaos, confusion, and concerted efforts to sort out the LifeNormal - I remember Bluesky. Here, have a map. One for @historybowsh.bsky.social 😀

What does Good King Wenceslas, a stowaway wife and missing aircrew have in common? They all feature in newspapers from Wednesday 27th of December 1939. Hear these stories, and others on News of The War with @merrynwalters.uk @andyaitch.bsky.social linktr.ee/NewsOfTheWar

🚨Whooop! It's Episode 5 in this season of #NOTW and we've got everything from the Dogs of War to Dictator of the Week (as always). But also, a fascinating insight to the Illustrated London News ~ yes, this is the News of the War on November 18th 1939... (link below 😊)

I'm not just chuffed or delighted, I am **ABSOLUTELY FIZZING** about the 🔥BANGING🔥 lineup at WHWF25 this year. And if **BLITZ MAPS** are your thing, well, I'll be talking about them briefly on Saturday morning. 😊

In the spirit of zeitgeist an' all that, it was the team at Hillenden (Hughenden Manor) who produced target mapping for use in CHASTISE. Why magenta traces? Cockpit lighting. It's a colour that shows up (reasonably) well.

It me. 😊 Can’t wait for WHWFV - it’s just the best weekend, all year long. And I can neither confirm nor deny that 🔥BOOM🔥 yes, some bloomin’ awesome maps will be involved. 📍 A whole festival of free talks - get your tickets here! 😊 wehavewaysfest.co.uk

On the 80th anniversary of the German surrender to Monty, commemoration has made an impression - but I'm still blown away by everything we recced in Bremen this weekend. So here's a piece I wrote, asking the question: should Valentin be in, or out?! www.merrynwalters.uk/p/today-v-is...

What better way to remember the surrender than to visit Luneburg Heath. We’ll be visiting here on the tour in October @merrynwalters.uk walkingwiththejocks.co.uk

The plot thickens…

OTD 1945 4 KOSB started their part of the 52nd Lowland Divisions assault on Bremen. Passing through 157 Brigade, 4 KOSB captured the village of Uphusen. This October, join us following Peter Whites footsteps on this attack - concrete & crocodiles @merrynwalters.uk walkingwiththejocks.co.uk

OTD 15/04/45 I remember two of Peter Whites jocks, killed in an ambush near Rethem, Germany. Peters platoon entered a wood block as the sun was setting and ran into 6th Marine Regt at a range of 30yds. Join @merrynwalters.uk and I in October where we will take you to the site

One of the sites we’ll visit on the October Walking With the Jocks tour, with @merrynwalters.uk is the memorial gates at the site of Stalag 11B and 357. Peter White, his Jocks took over the control of the camp on the 17-18th of April 1945.

Before-and-after shots aren't a given (see crossroads, trucks, oops-nearly), but wherever we can, we follow in the footsteps of the men of the KOSB. In October, we'll be with John Oswald Jones. If ever there's a reminder of Peter's skill as an author, as well as an artist... 👇

Calm before the storm. Farmers boys in the Rifles’ garden.

Calm before the storm. Farmers boys in the Rifles’ garden.

Moral compass, anyone? Excited about meeting up with the Defence Surveyors' Association in the New Forest today, to give a talk on some pretty heinous Second World War maps and their makers.

Low flying. No prizes for guessing where I am today.

If you're watching Simon Schama this evening - which is utterly chilling, grim, and yet so sensitively put together - this is the dot map, showing how many Jews lived on each Amsterdam street. One dot for every ten people.

Solid review of @philippesands.bsky.social new book: "…verbatim dialogue and set speeches. We need not believe these were the very words spoken." No worms in that can for me. I'm 💯 x 💯 for crisp, informed narratives that convey what records cannot. Looking forward to this. @orionbooks.bsky.social 👍

May I just say, how the chuffing bejeezus anybody used these maps to aim at anyone, anywhere, is beyond me. Because reasons, I'm knee deep in the Gothic Line and losing the will to live.

If the Vatican was excluded from the US tariff debacle, but now takes advantage and starts manufacturing, like, everything … would that be Cardinal sin? 🤔

The Teutoburger Wald is not the place to pick a fight. But this **is** the same track, the same trees, and the same uphill struggle faced by Quinctilius Varus (give me back my legions, quote, unquote) in 9CE. Pretty much, Nazis and Jocks. More spears, fewer Spandaus.

Here all month, folks... because we're off to Germany in October (fest, anyone?!), following in the footsteps of Capt Peter White again, and his indomitable Jocks. For bigger versions of the maps @andyaitch.bsky.social posts, DM me. For more info about the tour, details below 😊

Late entry. Digging around in the archives today, I came across a small volume documenting Home Defences. There've always been rumours about WW2 invasion plans for the North Norfolk coast, but I'm not sure who played the baddies. Voila:

Quiet night in.

Tidying up. Found a book of Capa photographs.

For your Friday afternoon, this is an excellent photo-article from @thinkdefence.bsky.social. And if I may be so bold, here's the handy map of Cherbourg at 1:10,000; 1943, GSGS. www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2021/11/open...

Hard to believe it's true, but truth is stranger than fiction. The long weekend walk ended up on Roughton Heath, as did Albert Einstein in 1933. open.substack.com/pub/merrynwa...