I was out in the Forest earlier this week and stopped to get a drink out of my bag. When I turned around there were lots of little faces looking up at me curiously...

The dashed lines on this aerial photo from 1942, are anti-landing trenches, dug on the flat New Forest heathland in 1940, prior to this airfield being constructed. They were designed to prevent German aircraft landing on the open heathland during the invasion scare of 1940.

I'm giving this talk at Buckler's Hard on Friday. It's free, but donations to the Buckler's Hard Shipyard Trust are gratefully received. Talk tells the story of the village and how the Royal Navy requisitioned the Beaulieu River and Buckler's Hard during WW2.

Bit of a plot twist in a local Facebook Group I'm in.

82 years ago today, an aircraft carrying eight Czechoslovak RAF airmen crashed in the New Forest with the loss of all on board. A year ago, myself and a friend visited the crash site, and placed a wooden cross down for them. 🧵

Buckler's Hard is part of the UK Heritage Open Days initiative, with free entry to the museum and talks over several days in September. Myself and Mary Montagu-Scott will be giving the talks...

82 years ago this month, August 1943, was the bloodiest month in the history of RAF Beaulieu with 29 deaths in the space of 17 days. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn8i...

We had 90 people turn up last night to hear @ckolonko.bsky.social talk about WW2 pillboxes. If you want to come to our talks in the New Forest on wartime history, drop me email address in a message and will add you to the mailing list. Forthcoming talks in next tweet.

There are now just 10 seats left for the talk; “What We Can Learn from Pillboxes” - I've been informed by Chris @ckolonko.bsky.social that he will be including the Beaulieu Dairy House - Britain's best disguised WW2 pillbox. (Saturday 2nd August in Dibden Purlieu) - tickets in tweet 2.

Does anyone know much about ball and chains. E.g. how old this could be, does it look authentic? I was shown it on Sat morning. As you expect, it is very heavy, and if attached to your ankle, you're going nowhere fast. Discovered in the basement of local pub built in the 1880s.

The Battle of Britain commenced this week in 1940. It is still possible to find scars on the New Forest and Hampshire landscapes from the fierce air battle, including scattered debris still left on the surface.

Tickets now on sale for this talk. You might recognise the disguised pillbox... ticketsource.co.uk/nfhwa/t-zzvr...

Rockford Sandpit in the middle of the New Forest. No sea in sight - 11 miles from sea water. My son and his mate in the distance.

The New Forest, 81 years ago this morning. USAAF P-47 Thunderbolts of the 365th Fighter Group, aka the Hell Hawks, took off from Beaulieu in the New Forest for D-Day. 47 took off, 45 returned.

A few days from D-Day on June 6, and here's the view the Wrens would have had from the Lepe House signals tower as they used Aldis lamps and morse code to direct landing craft from the mouth of Beaulieu River and down the shore to Lepe Beach and into the Solent.

The view of what was the RAF Lymington N to S runway. P47 Thunderbolts of the USAAF would have sped down that field on Sommerfeld wire tracking, then formed up over the Isle of Wight in the distance. Photo taken by an estate agent, not me.

Long walk in the #NewForest this morning, so I will mostly be schnoozing for the rest of the day, with the odd break for barkerating. #Schnauzer #SchnauzerGang #DogsofBlueSky

Today is the anniversary of the Dambusters Raid, 17 May 1943. Here's footage of a Mosquito testing the Highball variation of the bouncing bomb on heathland at Ashley Walk, New Forest. One of the Dambuster Lancasters did actually crash at Ashley Walk during tests (no fatalities).

This escape button belonged to an airman who flew from RAF Beaulieu. The buttons were sewn onto tunics + a hidden compass inside to give a chance of escape if shot down over enemy territory. I reveal the compass in 3 tweets 🧵

On this day in 1910, John Armstrong Drexel and William McArdle (pictured) opened only the 2nd flying school in the UK. A few years later, the land at East Boldre, New Forest, would become a RFC training airfield for WW1 pilots.

I started writing a book in 2022 in my spare time - tonight I finally finished 😀 It's now being proof-read. Never going to be a best seller, as it's a local interest book on the Exbury Estate & HMS Mastodon in WW2. But hopefully the first of more local books, loved doing it.

October 1917, the post office in East Boldre. The woman who lived there later wrote: "Avro crashed through the roof of the house while George was home on leave from France, at 0655am. Some early bird!"

If local to Netley Marsh near Totton, I've been invited to talk about the WW2 airfield - RAF Needs Oar Point - tomorrow eve (Netley Marsh Parish History Group), Tues 22 April 7.30pm in the Netley Marsh Community Hall, SO40 7GE. I'm told non-members welcome, entrance charge is £4.

If you've read the book Requiem for a Wren, you'll be aware of character Janet Prentice shooting down a Junkers over the Beaulieu River... But did you know it was on this day in 1944 the actual real-life event occurred that aspects of Nevile Shute's book was based? 🧵

This week is the anniversary of the death of Nora Caveney (18) - the first ATS woman to be killed in action. She died during an air raid in 1942 while serving on an AA gun site on the shore of Southampton Water. 🧵

On this day in 1944, Stanley Fish, aged 20, died in an accident after leaving Beaulieu Airfield. He crashed in Wiltshire during training on April 7. Last year I took a piece of his aircraft back to the airfield so at least part of his P47 managed to return (pictured).

Current fire at Calshot Spit, the site of the former RAF Calshot. I saw lots of fire engines going that way two hours ago, so finger's crossed. (photo by FlyBy Creations on FB)

I'm definitely 24 hours late to this, but was at Hatchet Pond earlier, and some joker has done this. Absolute dedication to an April Fools prank.

Just put a line-up of talks together for the next few months for our WW2 history society. Few new faces, plus some popular speakers returning... here they are in absolutely no order.

Saw Brook Lampreys for the first time this week. Amazing little critters - they create pits in New Forest river bed by picking up small stones with their mouths then the male and female dump their sperm and eggs into the nest pit to make baby lampreys.

I've been asked to give a talk on the history of RAF Beaulieu at Boscombe Down Aviation Collection & Museum in May, for their VE Day 80 celebration. If you've not been, it's an amazing museum, with an incredible aircraft collection. It's at the historic Old Sarum Airfield north of Salisbury.

My son and his gang of mates are going out into the forest each weekend exploring. He took this photo last weekend on his phone, I thought it was really cool. Made me remember how awesome it was being a 12 year old and hanging out with your friends like this.

Today's the anniversary of the death of Rosamund Everard Steenkamp. She was an ATA pilot during WW2. She died on 19 March 1946, aged 32. She had picked a Spitfire up from Hamble Airfield, Hampshire, for a delivery flight, and crashed later near Maidenhead.

I love early evenings at this time of year. It's incredibly peaceful in the New Forest. You can get some lovely photos. This was at the former RAF Beaulieu this evening, now home to ponies, cattle, donkeys, and deer.

Just took this guy to the vets. She tried to give him ear drops for an infection but he went to to bite her when she touched his bad ear, so she made him wear this. I now call him Howlibal Lecter.

80 years ago today, something VERY BIG happened. The biggest ever bomb on UK soil was dropped. But not by the Luftwaffe. On 13 March 1945, the Grand Slam bomb test was released over the New Forest. Here we see her heading towards what became Sandy Balls holiday park... 🧵

Today's the anniversary of Samuel Kinkead's death, killed on 12 March 1928 when attempting to become the first man to travel at more than five miles a minute, and break the world's speed record in a Supermarine S5 just off Calshot. He's buried at All Saints' Church, Fawley.

International Women's Day: a small selection of women in service from the New Forest and Hampshire during WW2. Two of these women were executed by the enemy. Joy Lofthouse, ATA pilot at Hamble. 🧵

Ok. Makes sense.

Today is the 100th anniversary of the death of Dora Ball. I always think of on this day... she was killed at school, due to the recklessness of a foolish RAF pilot.

Was near Ashley Walk in the New Forest earlier today for work, near the old bombing range, parked up for my meeting, and see this rotund fellow. I’m no expert but thankfully it was hollow. Unfortunately I didn’t have a banana 😆

This is Antis the dog. He was a very good boy and received the Dickin Medal in 1949 from the PDSA for bravery. He was the mascot of the No. 311 Czechoslovak Squadron RAF who flew from Beaulieu in the New Forest in WW2.

Spent the morning with two friends in the New Forest trying to locate the spot where a Lancaster from 617 (Dambusters) Squadron came down.

On this day in 1945, SOE agent Violette Szabo was executed in Ravensbrück concentration camp. She had received training in Beaulieu. The picture in the wheelchair was taken in Bournemouth after she'd been injured in a parachute jump.

I saw this wonderful photo of Whirlwind pilots at RAF Manston in Kent, taken in 1943. I realised there were 5 pilots in the photo with connections to the New Forest airfields, Sadly most didn't make it. Here's who they are and what happened to them... 🧵

Photos from a visit to the remains of a possible collapsed Auxiliary Units hide / underground bunker, accompanied by a son of one of the patrolman. We measured the width and depth, and poked about in the bracken. It has the right dimensions....

Saw this pool today, I think where gravel was extracted to create pathways in the New Forest. Just liked the photo composition on my iPhone, nothing else special about it. Was a good day, I needed a walk.

T.B. James left a mark in this tree, 1944. This tree is in the site of what was an American army camp in the New Forest in WW2, so you could assume it was a US solder. It's very ornate. Looking at it today, I tried to think who they were, what they were thinking when carving.

According to GPS, this was meant to be a dual carriageway earlier today. 🌊🛟🛶

Air raid warden on St.Marys Road in Southampton.