Author Archives: ColinAuthor

Men in the Shed at Manchester Military History Society

February 27, 2013 – 2:41 pm

Each month the Manchester Military History Society has a speaker on a military related subject followed by a discussion around that subject or related topics. On Tuesday 9th April (if you can make it!), I’ll be delivering the lecture for the Society focusing on “the story so far…” In 2004, Colin Foster began an investigation […]

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Bomber Command & Arctic Convoy Veterans receive official recognition at last

February 26, 2013 – 10:12 am

And about b****y time, too!! Last year, the Bomber Command Memorial was unveiled by Her Majesty the Queen in London & now, on today’s news, it would appear that Veterans who served on Arctic convoys and in Bomber Command during World War II are to be recognised for their bravery and service with a new […]

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A “new” Spitfire from John Harder’s old squadron

February 25, 2013 – 4:20 pm

One of the people who’s added so much to the story of Flt Lt John Harder has been his “co-conspirator” & joint member of the wartime “John & Tony mutual appreciation society”: Flt Lt Tony Cooper. I’ve met Tony on 3 occasions, since being introduced to him by email, at his home in Lowestoft and […]

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Finding Fathers Documentary

February 18, 2013 – 10:18 am

One of my friends in France – Jean-Marc Lesueur – sent me (over the weekend) details of a documentary that he had been sent on Valentine’s Day… “I met France at the Normandy American cemetery some years ago…. She was student in NYc — she made this fantastic documentary after our meeting  .. I am […]

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Forgotten Footprints – Normandy Tours

February 14, 2013 – 12:13 pm

If you’re considering a visit to Normandy (and aren’t coming with me!), then I would heartily recommend using the team at Forgotten Footprints. David Mabbutt has a huge amount of knowledge of the Normandy fighting (especially in the Operation BLUECOAT area) and has been really useful to me in my researches into the “Men in […]

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Day 9/10: June 8/9th

September 8, 2012 – 6:23 pm

Back in the UK An early start from St Omer, following the slightly less busy main roads (rather than motorways) saw us arrive back at the Eurotunnel terminal actually in time for an almost leisurely look around… most unusual. Having done that & spent a few final Euros, we set off back to England & […]

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Day 8: 7th June

September 8, 2012 – 6:16 pm

3rd Battalion Scots Guards, Hill 226 & Operation BLUECOAT As mentioned earlier, investigating this unit’s contribution to the success of Operation BLUECOAT has been another interest of mine and earlier in the year, I delivered a talk to the South Manchester Tactical Society about it. Having visited the area on many occasions & taken lots of […]

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Day 7: 6th June

September 8, 2012 – 5:13 pm

Swapping history Before we could set off from Bayeux to meet Bill & Elizabeth Sullivan, we’d arranged to meet up with Stéphane Jacquet who is the curator of the museum at Tilly sur Seulles, just South of Bayeux. Stéphane and I had made contact through a Facebook group interested in the 6th Guards Tank Brigade […]

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Day 6: 5th June

September 8, 2012 – 3:46 pm

This was quite a busy day, covering Operation EPSOM, the “Scottish Corridor” and Hill 112 and then on the trail of Ray Elledge and Francis Gillespie with some “Calvados hunting” in between. Operation EPSOM, the “Scottish Corridor” and Hill 112 Last year, we had visited the “shoulder” of the Operation EPSOM battlefield when we took a look around Rauray & […]

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Day 5: 4th June

September 1, 2012 – 8:37 pm

Still in Honfleur So, what would today bring? Typical summer weather for 2012… drizzle! Very disappointing after yesterday’s glorious sunshine, however, undeterred (well, largely undeterred!) we set off to find the local supermarket to stock up on some food for our meals and the odd amount of liquid refreshment to avoid us dehydrating! Having stocked […]

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