![[FGM] Bootie](https://i0.wp.com/thefewgoodmen.org/wp-content/uploads/wpforo/avatars/fgmbootie_193390399.jpg?resize=110%2C110 "[FGM] Bootie")
Pictures tell a story—please ensure yours includes a brief historical explanation.
Montgomery (left) everyone we know. But who's driving the Jeep?
He is John Burford, also known as Jack. Was a Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) and served as his driver from Oct 1942 until Germany's surrender in May 1945. Throughout this period, he accompanied him through the historic Alamein offensive in North Africa, the invasion of Sicily, and the Normandy landings.
The two became close friends. Monty wrote a dedication to him:
'To Driver Burford M.M. who has marched with me from Alamein, across Africa to Tunisia, over to Sicily, halfway up Italy, and from Normandy to the Baltic, and who never failed to do his duty.
'With my best wishes. Montgomery of Alamein Field. Marshal.'
Then aged 23-years-old, Jack was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry and devotion to duty under fire, after being involved in dangerous missions around Sicily's Mount Etna in Aug 1943.
John "Jack" Burford died aged 85 in 2006.
Cool story.
One of the most horrible features of war is that all the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.
- George Orwell, Homage To Catalonia
Riding atop a Cromwell tank, the crew and local Dutch children pose for a souvenir photo. Valkenswaard, Sept 18, 1944. In Sept 1944, Valkenswaard was liberated by British forces as part of Operation Market Garden, becoming one of the first villages to be liberated in the Netherlands.
HMS Rodney battleship hoisting a Supermarine Walrus seaplane aboard around 1939–1940.
Firing 2-inch HE from a dug-out near Nieuwstadt Netherlands, Dec 1944.
Crew of a Sherman tank named 'Akilla' of 1st Nottinghamshire Yeomanry, 8th Armoured Brigade, Normandy area of Rauray, June 1944.
Right his commander, the Sgt George Dring. Dring was finally wounded near Germany when out for a shufti, he spotted a Panther which he thought had been killed. The Panther fired its main gun, and Sgt Dring lost three fingers on one of his hands.
Shortly before his death on 12 Jan 2003 Dring attended a renaming ceremony at the Imperial War Museum Duxford. The owner of the Duxford Sherman had links to the Sherwood Rangers, and so renamed the tank to Akilla. G. Dring attended the ceremony, and deftly climbed into his tank again after many years.
Almost invisible from the air! Churchills of the 31st Tank Brigade lined up in Normandy on 13 July 1944, each one almost disappearing beneath heavy camouflage netting and thick layers of foliage.
Waiting the enemy. With Thompson submachine in a dugout constructed beneath a farm wagon near the River Senio in Italy, Jan 1945.
An interesting story…
https://youtube.com/shorts/Mo5eegbHPeo?si=skVfBDpv-c0K2hhn
Okay there is singing but the video says it all
Happily retired, I worked till I was 72, am now 88, this year 2026 I will be 89
you could say I have earnt my crust
HMS Rodney battleship hoisting a Supermarine Walrus seaplane aboard around 1939–1940.
I remember I built an Airfix of Matchbox model kit of that plane when I was a kid. 😎
One of the most horrible features of war is that all the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.
- George Orwell, Homage To Catalonia
June 1944, Normandy. An American medic from the 4th Infantry Division treats a wounded German soldier shortly after the landings.
Medics were expected to treat wounded men regardless of uniform, and moments like this happened more often than people imagine. The fighting in Normandy was brutal and personal — hedgerows, short engagement distances, and units constantly colliding — yet once the shooting stopped, many soldiers recognized the same fear and exhaustion in the man on the other side.
Photos like this are a reminder that while wars are fought by nations, they’re endured by individuals. The weaponry and tactics change, but the human side of war rarely does.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." — Vegetius
"Do not hurry to the sound of the guns without knowing why they are firing." — British maxim
"In war, the simplest things are difficult." — Clausewitz
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." — Moltke
"The side that can most quickly exploit success is the side that will win." — Guderian
Some days you’re the hammer, some days you’re the nail. 🪖🎲
Looking for a game? Challenge me here:
A British Rolls-Royce armored car next to the so-called "Wire Border" on July 26, 1940.
The Wire Border was a 271 km long barbed wire fence located along the border between Italian Libya and Egypt.
A pre-war pic: Dec 1938, the interior of one of the steel lined trenches on Clapham Common, London, one of the first built in the months preceding th war.
A Firefly at Namur ... during the Bulge.
This photo shows members of the British Home Guard, volunteer defenders formed in 1940 to help protect Britain from a possible German invasion. Often older or not eligible for regular service, these civilians trained to defend towns, airfields, and infrastructure during the early years of the war. 🪖🇬🇧
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." — Vegetius
"Do not hurry to the sound of the guns without knowing why they are firing." — British maxim
"In war, the simplest things are difficult." — Clausewitz
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." — Moltke
"The side that can most quickly exploit success is the side that will win." — Guderian
Some days you’re the hammer, some days you’re the nail. 🪖🎲
Looking for a game? Challenge me here:
The Queen and Princess Elizabeth talk to a camouflaged sniper during a tour of Airborne forces, 19 May 1944.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." — Vegetius
"Do not hurry to the sound of the guns without knowing why they are firing." — British maxim
"In war, the simplest things are difficult." — Clausewitz
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." — Moltke
"The side that can most quickly exploit success is the side that will win." — Guderian
Some days you’re the hammer, some days you’re the nail. 🪖🎲
Looking for a game? Challenge me here:
Troops of the British 1st Airborne Division engage German snipers in Arnhem, 14 April 1945, as the long fight for the city finally comes to a close.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum." — Vegetius
"Do not hurry to the sound of the guns without knowing why they are firing." — British maxim
"In war, the simplest things are difficult." — Clausewitz
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy." — Moltke
"The side that can most quickly exploit success is the side that will win." — Guderian
Some days you’re the hammer, some days you’re the nail. 🪖🎲
Looking for a game? Challenge me here: