Will Iredale

Really excited to share the news that @penguinrandom will be publishing my next book —  entitled "Churchill's Pirates" — about the incredible bravery and sacrifice of the thousands of small boats and their crews throughout the Second World War. 1/5

@MotoClark I remember that gig well. Their lead singer fractured his vertebrate after his swan dive from the main pole in the Mean Fiddler tent went wrong.

12 Angry Men turns 69 today During the “It’s the same knife!” moment, Henry Fonda briefly looks straight into the lens. People read this in many ways: a quiet plea for understanding, a question about what we’d do, or an invitation to stand with him, making us the 13th juror

"Ramble On" is 56 years old and Robert Plant just walked onto The Late Show and made it sound like he wrote it this morning.

My name is Liz. My handle is Chinook Crew Chick. I flew on Chinooks for 17 years. I wrote a book about Chinooks. I still run to the window when I see a Chinook. I still video when a Chinook flies over me. I’m 43 years old…and I LOVE Chinooks. Thanks for the flyby @RAF_Odiham 🫶❤️

1970: Black Tot Day (End of the Royal Navy Rum Ration)

Marco Rubio exits, with commentary from One Man and his Dog.

You can't pay for product placement like this

Bravo my old friend Colin Bell — third week in @timesculture top ten bestsellers list. A remarkable achievement for any author, but even more so given he recently turned 105!

@BenDowell My all time favourite batsman.

So elegant, even in retirement

How is AI going to affect conventional book publishing?

A moment of sheer FUN... with Ruby Keeler and Lee Dixon tapping their hearts out on the fabulous giant typewriter set from "Ready, Willing, and Able" (1937)

This book by @pete_apps is excellent, not merely for describing the nature of the threats facing the U.K., but by showing how they can be countered. Instead of throwing up our hands in horror at the state of the world, we should be doing what we (in the West generally, and the U.K. specifically) aren’t currently doing; namely, preparing for war. Preparing to fight, as Peter explains, will enable us to deter, and make war (which he assesses at 30-35% probability in the next decade) less likely. I’m 100% supportive of Peter’s assumptions and predictions. My own work, I hope, demonstrates the importance of conventional forces, allied with decisive political, in preventing war through deterrence. In a dangerous decade, the truth is that we (and our allies) have never been more vulnerable to devastating attack; sadly, we’ve never been less prepared. The UK’s unilateral conventional disarmament has made us more vulnerable to military failure than at any time in our recent history. This book is a wake up call for action, explaining just what we need to do not merely to fight the next war, but to stop it. This requires a range of physical warfighting capabilities we simply don’t have, as well as political willpower and determination to use them. The latter are equally absent. Until we get both, we remain in a dangerous, unprecedented state of weakness and vulnerability. This need not be a depressing book, if we do something about it.

@tony_tonyboyle Sure. The National Archives, in Kew. ADM 239/416

@WIredale Could I possibly enquire where your minefield chart came from? I’ve been looking for maps showing WW2 minefields at sea for some time with little success.

With the news that Iran has mined the Straits of Hormuz with magnetic and contact mines, 85 years ago shipping around the coast of Britain faced a similar threat. I tell the story of how the German mining threat was beaten in my new book, Churchill's Pirates — out on August 6.

@SeaSpitfires @almurray @WeHaveWaysPod @ww2headquarters but from what I've read some of the misfits came in quite handy too.

@SeaSpitfires @almurray @WeHaveWaysPod @ww2headquarters "These men had lived for fishing before the war, and they asked nothing better than to resume their normal lives under naval auspices. In time a few misfits were sorted out, but right from the start they were a first-class crew."

Reading about escape lines. Any recommendations? Beyond MRD Foot etc. @WeHaveWaysPod @ww2headquarters

@SeaSpitfires @almurray @WeHaveWaysPod @ww2headquarters The Brook Richards and Spicer books are great, as are Richards' (and Steven Mackenzie's) papers in the IWM archives. Quite a few Royal Naval Patrol Service men were nabbed for these ops, which I've included a bit about in my new book.

@almurray @WeHaveWaysPod @ww2headquarters A slight variation on the theme Al, the little ships at the end of the lines. Most famous of these was 15th MGB Flotilla, who none other than director Guy Hamilton (Bond, Battle of Britain) served with.

Love this Punch cartoon from Nov 1940 at the height of the German mining campaign.“Driven from the gun to the torpedo and from the torpedo to the mine, U-boats have now reached the acme of villainy,”said Churchill. It will feature in my new book,Churchill's Pirates, out August 6.

@BeaverWestminst What fun!

@WIredale Of yes it’s magical

Two seater "fighter jet" returns to Britain’s skies to mark its 90th birthday Who knew? One for @BeaverWestminst telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03/2…