Phil Curme 🥾🪖

Beautifully illustrated version of my #Clevedon Military History Trail by @ECMillustration available as a free downloadable PDF from @DiscovClevedon courtesy of #ClevedonBID. Dig below the surface and every town and village has a fascinating story to tell. discoverclevedon.co.uk/wp-content/upl…

King Harold sailed, not marched, to the Battle of Hastings. thetimes.com/article/a4b978…

Diaba Park, one of six gun batteries built on reclaimed land overlooking #TokyoBay in the mid 19th Cent. No. 3 Battery is now a park and one other has been given over to wildlife. The other four no longer exist. The idea of keeping out Western invaders has long since dissipated!

I’ve concluded that had my Tokyo hotel room in Odaiba existed on 2 Sept 1945 (which is obviously ridiculous), then I would not have been able to see the ‘Mighty Mo’ #USSMissouri anchored in #TokyoBay near Yokosuka ready to receive the #JapaneseSurrender marking the end of #WW2

@UofGWarstudies @YaleBooks @PhillipsPOBrien @UofGHistory @UofGArtsHums @SWWresearch @SWWStudiesEdin @AC_NavalHistory @MartinWGibson @UofGAmStudies @ProfTonyPollard Just finished this book and would recommend it. I learnt a lot about U.S. and Japanese naval operations in the Pacific during the 1944 campaigns.

Supremacy at Sea: Task Force 58 & the Central Pacific Victory (@YaleBooks 2024). Join us for the launch of Prof Evan Mawdsley's insightful new book on pivotal #WW2 naval history, introduced by Prof @PhillipsPOBrien. Friday, 25 October, 10 Uni Gdns, Rm 203. yalebooks.co.uk/book/978030025…

A few images from the Yukoshan Military Museum in #Tokyo

Interesting visit to the Special Ops airfield at Chiran, Japan. In April 1945 during the Okinawa campaign, Chiran was one of the airfields used to launch #kamikaze missions against Okinawa. In total 1,036 Kamikaze pilots took off from there. Many of them are commemorated on site.

Some very good news. Well done @NAM_London 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻

During WWII, The Bristol Grand Hotel on Broad St was home to a network of British spies. Staff at the hotel would be sent coded messages which they would discreetly hand to the spies staying there - these messages would direct the spies to perform covert operations across Europe.

@EchoesofWarYT Choosing the wrong side.

What was Robert E. Lee's biggest mistake during the Civil War?

The King this morning received Flight Lieutenant Colin Bell for an audience at Buckingham Palace. Now 105 years old, Flt Lt Bell was a RAF Mosquito pilot during World War II. He gave a book about his experiences to His Majesty today. During the audience, The King presented Flt Lt Bell with the citation to his Distinguished Flying Cross, which was originally awarded to him by King George VI in 1945.

11:02 on 9 Aug 1945, when many of the clocks in #Nagasaki stopped. The Peace Park area is peppered with monuments marking the huge human cost of the dropping of a second #AtomicBomb

@philmcraig @cjayres11 The hedgehog, as developed by the ‘Wheezers and Dodgers’ at HMS Birnbeck @BirnbeckTrust

Given its key role in the battle against the U-boats I think Churchill would be delighted with the new banknotes.

@RW_Museum Looking forward to this, two tickets secured.

Don’t miss out on our fantastic Zulu event this month! Come along to Brecon Barracks on 28th March, 10am-4pm, to enjoy African music and dance, food, crafts, and living history - check out the website for details: royalwelshmuseum.wales/kings-legacy-e…

Japan surrendered Taiwan to the Republic of China (ROC) on the 25th October 1945. The ceremony took place in Zhongshan Hall, then the Taipei Public Hall. The hall is now a concert venue and there is a memorial wall nearby.

The extremely impressive Chiang Kai-shek Memorial in #Taipei #Taiwan.

Memorial to Co. Sgt Major John Robert Osborn of the Winnipeg Grenadiers in the Central District, Hong Kong. Also marks the contribution of others during the 1941 defence of Hong Kong. Osborn won his #VictoriaCross for throwing himself onto an enemy grenade to contain the blast.

The lonely grave of 22 year old Private Ron Maxwell (Service No. 3176) of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps in St John’s Cathedral grounds, Hong Kong. Died on 23 December 1941. Maybe the smallest @CWGC military cemetery? Though I’m not sure of the definition / designation.

Memorial to Captain Thornton Bate @RoyalNavy at St John’s Cathedral, Hong Kong, killed in the first year of the 1856-60 Anglo-Chinese #ArrowWar. He was using a sexton to measure the height of a wall to be scaled in Canton when he was fatally shot by a sharp shooter.

The Vietcong (NLF) Special Forces Museum in #Saigon is housed in a two room apartment that served as a ‘safe house’ during the #VietnamWar. It is tricky to find - access is through a simple domestic doorway and up in an elevator that probably dates from French Colonial days.

Interesting few hours in #HoChiMinCity #Saigon today, tracking down the old CIA building the rooftop of which acted as a helipad in the final days of the #VietnamWar 1975. Greased the palm of a security guard to get my wife and I up to the top of what is now an office building.