Revd Nicholas Pye

Are you free last week of June? Why not join me as I lead a Reflections of Peace Pilgrimage in Flanders. Walk battlefields of Ypres, stand at Tyne Cot, & experience the moving Last Post at Menin Gate. £50 a person discount for my followers! Find out more: tinyurl.com/vhujdahk

25 May 1915, pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Triumph, torpedoed & sunk off Gaba Tepe by German U-21 under Lt Otto Hersing (1885-1960). 78 of her 803 crew died. Engaged in search for German E. Asia Squadron of von Spee early in #WW1. After refit, took part in Dardanelles Campaign.

25 May 1917, in Operation Turk's Cross, 12 Gotha G.IV aircraft set off to bomb London. Two had to turn back. Cloud forced other ten to divert to port of Folkestone (where some 72 killed, 91 wounded) & nearby Shorncliffe Army Camp (where some 17 Canadians killed, 93 wounded). #WW1

24 May 1941, in Battle of Atlantic, German Battleship Bismarck sunk HMS Hood, killing all but 3 of her 1,418 crew. Launched in 1918, she was named after 1st Viscount Hood (1724-1816), First Sea Lord. In inter-war years, ship was iconic figure for Royal Navy, UK & the Empire. #WW2

24 May 1887, Major Edward "Mick" Mannock VC, DSO & Two Bars, MC & Bar, #WW1, born. Father abandoned family, tough childhood. Start #WW1, interned Turkey. Pilot at front 31 March 1917. Pioneer of fighter tactics. Died July 1918. Had 61 victories, 5th highest scoring pilot of war.

24 May 1950, Field Marshal Sir Archibald Wavell, died, aged 67. #WW1, wounded 2nd Battle of Ypres, lost left eye. #WW2, victories against Italians in N Africa offset by inability to defeat Afrika Korps & failure to stop Japanese in Malaya & Burma. Disliked by Churchill. Christian

24 May 1941, Revd Robert (known as Patrick) Stewart, Chaplain HMS Hood, died, aged 31, as ship sunk by the Bismarck. Studied Epsom College, @TrinCollCam & @RidleyHall (photo). Ordained 1933, curate St Mary’s @PortseaParish. From 1936, RN chaplain. Dad was Surgeon Rear Adm. #WW

23 May 1848, General Helmuth von Moltke (b.1916), known as Moltke the Younger, born. From 1906 to 1914, he was Chief of the German General Staff. He modified the Schlieffen Plan. He was succeeded by Falkenhayn after the German offensive on the Marne was halted. #WWI

23 May 1918, Royal Navy troopship HMS Moldavia torpedoed & sunk off Beachy Head by submarine UB-57, resulting in deaths of 54 U.S. soldiers on board & 1 further at Military Hospital 2 days later. Pre-war, was a passenger steamship between UK & Australia via Suez Canal. #WW1

22 May 1925, Field-Marshal Sir John French, 1st Earl of Ypres, died aged 72. Successful cavalry leader during Boer War. Aug 1914 to Dec 1915, C-in-C British army on Western Front. In 1899, saved from bankruptcy by Douglas Haig, who succeeded him. 1916-18, C-in-C Home Forces. #WW1

22 May 1915, Liverpool-bound troop-train carrying half 7th Bn Royal Scots collided with train at Quintinshill & overturned onto north-bound track. Glasgow-bound train ploughed into wreckage causing it to burst into flame. 200+ troops died. Britain’s worst railway disaster. #WW1

21 May 1917, the Imperial War Graves Commission was established through royal charter to mark, record & maintain graves & places of commemoration of the British Empire's military forces. Founded by Sir Fabian Ware, it became @cwgc in 1960. #WW1 #WW2 #lestweforget

21 May 1916, British Summer Time first introduced as clocks went forward 1 hour. With need to save coal & boost production, a bill under Defence of Realm Act had been passed in Britain four days earlier. Idea came from William Willett (b.1856), who died of flu in 1915, aged 58.

20 May 1895, Reginald Joseph Mitchell, aircraft designer, born in Staffordshire. He is famous for designing racing seaplanes & the Supermarine Spitfire, the advanced monoplane aircraft which was one of the best-known fighters of #WW2. He died of cancer in June 1937, aged 42.

20 May 1910, Edward VII's funeral took place in St George’s Chapel, Windsor. Largest gathering of European royals ever, with representatives from 70 nations & last before many lost their thrones in #WW1 & thereafter. Photo of 9 sovereigns @ Windsor with George V seated in centre.

19 May 1940, Churchill's first broadcast to British people as Prime Minister, saying it would be "foolish ... to disguise the gravity of the hour" & that aim was “to wage war until victory is won & never to surrender … to servitude & shame, whatever the cost & the agony may be."

19 May 1915, Pte John Kirkpatrick (enlisted as John Simpson), Australian Field Ambulance stretcher bearer, killed, aged 22, at Gallipoli. Known today as 'the man with the donkey', used donkeys to carry wounded soldiers. Born South Shields. One of the AIF's most well-known figures

18 May 1944, after four months of fighting including four assaults, Monte Cassino, an historic hilltop abbey founded in AD 529 by Benedict of Nursia, captured by Allied forces with Polish II Corps playing key role. Battle cost 55,000 Allied casualties, 20,000 German ones. #WW2

18 May 1915, Scottish-born Maj Gen Sir William Bridges KCB, CMG (b.1861) died of gangrene 3 days after hit in leg by sniper’s bullet. First Australian Chief of General Staff. Commanded 1st Australian Division Gallipoli. Only Australian killed in #WW1 to have remains returned home

17 May 1749, Edward Jenner, vicar’s son, born. In 1796, performed first smallpox vaccination. Responsible for start of immunology. ‘I’m not surprised that men are not thankful to me; but I wonder that they are not grateful to God for the good which he has made me the instrument’.

17 May 1917, Clara Ayres (b.1880 Ohio) & Helen Wood (b.1888 Scotland), US army nurses en route to France, killed by projectile when their ship, USS Mongolia, conducted target practice. First women to be killed while serving in US military. Resulted in congressional inquiry. #WW1