Author Archives: ColinAuthor

Normandy 2013 – Day#3 Monday 3rd June

June 4, 2013 – 10:25 pm

England to Rouen Normandy, here we come… In which our heroes set out from England, go under the sea & spot the Atlantic Wall on their way south to end with a well-earned beer or three! p bright & early – the restaurant was supposed to be open from 7, but sat outside waiting for […]

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Normandy 2013 – Day#2 Sunday 2nd June

June 4, 2013 – 10:00 pm

Heading South And they’re off! Normandy 2013 here we come… Up bright and early (well, one of us was!) and load up the car… Yes, there are only two of us going! Then on to the Motorway & heading south, with music from our past sounding clear over the CD player. A stop for lunch […]

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Normandy 2013 – Day#1 Saturday 1st June

June 4, 2013 – 9:54 pm

Black Country brewpubs Black Country brewpubs tour So, the great plan was to visit a number of Black Country Brewpubs to set ourelves up for the coming week and a bit in Normandy… Public transport when it works, works really well… unfortunately, it’s very rarely a nice direct route at the time’s you’d like! So, […]

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Normandy tour 2013

June 2, 2013 – 9:17 am

Normandy… And so it came to pass, in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Thirteen, that our heroes did decide that the time had come to once again embark on their quest to quaff ales and wines from far and near, to eat food that they were not sure of and to boldly go […]

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Phil Harder – RIP

April 21, 2013 – 9:05 pm

Just received the sad news that Phil Harder, brother of Flt Lt John Harder, passed away on 16th April. Phil’s Obituary is here: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/startribune/obituary.aspx?n=philip-m-harder&pid=164383627&fhid=4454 This photo of Phil in Coast Guard uniform was supplied by Bobbie Harder (one of John Harder’s daughters & Phil’s neices) I spoke to Phil a couple of years ago to […]

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Stuart Hadaway: The British Airman of the Second World War

April 9, 2013 – 11:21 am

The British Airman of the Second World War …is the title of a new book released by the Shire Library written by Stuart Hadaway formerly of the RAF Museum & now working for the Air Historical Branch of the RAF. I first met Stuart whilst he was at the museum & he was very helpful […]

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Manchester Military History Society

April 9, 2013 – 10:57 am

This evening (9th April 2013) I’ve been invited to deliver the monthly lecture to the Manchester Military History Society & so I’ll be sharing the “story so far” and my plans for the future. This is the third time I’ve had the opportunity and each time, I’ve been able to add more to the picture. As […]

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Battle of Gettysburg

March 19, 2013 – 1:52 pm

Preparations for the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg Congratulations to Tabb Firchau & the team at FreeFly Cinema for their success in the upcoming film remembering the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. This three-day battle changed the course of American history. In 1863 George Meade’s Union army defeated Robert E. Lee’s Confederate […]

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Updates to Gerald Willen’s pages

March 17, 2013 – 8:33 pm

I’ve spent a couple of days uploading some of the additional information that Scott Willen (Gerald’s son) sent me. In particular there are details from a large newspaper article published on the eve of D-Day’s 50th Anniversary together will a follow-up article from later in the month advising of his death. There’s also lots of […]

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Bill Sullivan in 2012 at Sainte Mère Église

March 15, 2013 – 2:36 pm

I have been sent this photograph of Bill Sullivan on 2nd June 2012 when he visited Sainte Mère Église as part of his annual trip to Normandy. In the photograph with him is Jean Paul Mandier who kindly provided the photograph – thanks JeanPaul Bill wasn’t one of “The Men in the Shed”, but he […]

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