Churchill’s Nazi ‘kill lists’ for covert army In 1940, after the Dunkirk evacuation, when Britain faced the threat of invasion by Hitler’s army, Winston Churchill gave his famous “We Shall Fight” speech. It contained clues to a covert resistance organisation with “kill lists” of local Nazi collaborators and betrayal suspects to be actioned if German […]

Biblical boat boosts lifespan of a Parkinson’s sailor It was the biblical boat from which Saint Peter fished and later preached with Jesus Christ, as depicted in the renowned painting by Herman Saftleven. Then the Saxons revived the design for fishing in the Thames Estuary and for river transport to carry pilgrims in London. They named […]

RAF hero who struck at Nazi pride and arrogance By Terry Walker | 10 minute read On 12 June 1942, a solitary RAF hero flying a Beaufighter fighter-bomber struck a blow against Nazi pride and arrogance and gave hope to the oppressed people of occupied France. Dubbed “Operation Squabble”, this is the audacious story of […]

Farm rioters banished, flogged and treadmilled By Terry Walker | read time 4 minutes In 1831, riots, hayrick burning and vandalism erupted in the English countryside. Impoverished law-breakers, like farm labourer William Acres, age 22, were hunted down, dragged from their families and transported by convict ships 12,000 miles to penal colonies in Australia and […]

The wartime journey began on the day Britain declared war against Hitler. From the Hebrides to the Cotswolds involved rowing a mile to the Isle of Mull, driving to the mailboat port and a three-hour sea crossing to Oban. Here, teenager Deborah Mitford and her travelling companions, a nanny goat, a Whippet and a Labrador, […]

It was just another question posed at the English village community centre quiz night: “How many presidents of the United States have been assassinated?” Then, as fingers around the team tables counted up the most likely answer, the quizmaster revealed a long-held family secret that shocked the quizzers. One of his ancestors had assassinated a […]