The Churchill “Bobbin” was a specialized variant of the Churchill tank developed under General Hobart as part of his “Funnies” for the Normandy landings. It carried a large spool of reinforced matting that could be unrolled in front of the tank to create a stable path over soft sand, mud, or other difficult terrain. This allowed following vehicles to cross ground that would otherwise bog them down, particularly on the beaches of D-Day. Simple in concept but highly effective, the Bobbin helped solve one of the key problems of amphibious assault — getting off the beach and moving inland. 🪖
"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:
Recently liberated POWs sitting on the steps of an ambulance having a cuppa and reading the news in Singapore following their release from captivity in Sumatra. The man holding the newspaper is Sgt. Jack King RM, formerly of HMS Prince of Wales, while standing next to him (with the distinctive chest tattoo) is Private Tom Wardrobe of 2nd Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
"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:
Men of the 2nd battalion, Middlesex regiment, training with a Vickers machine gun near Lille, France.
A man sleeps in a stone sarcophagus in an East London church during the Blitz/November 1940
"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:
An M4 Sherman tank of the British 13th/18th Royal Hussars in action against German troops while passing a crashed Horsa glider near Ranville, France, 10 Jun 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:
British workers preparing Spitfire Vb fighters destined for the Soviet Union, Abadan Airport, Iran, early 1943
"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 3rd Infantry Division on Queen Red beach, Sword area, circa 0845 hrs, 6 June 1944. In the foreground are sappers of 84 Field Company Royal Engineers, part of No.5 Beach Group, identified by the white bands around their helmets. Behind them, medical orderlies of 8 Field Ambulance, RAMC, can be seen assisting wounded men. In the background commandos of 1st Special Service Brigade can be seen disembarking from their LCI(S) landing craft.
"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:
During a Halifax bomber construction, a woman greases the main undercarriage arch of a bomber in 1944.
In 1939, just months before the outbreak of the war, King George VI visits an air raid shelter in London. At this early stage, few could imagine the full scale of the Blitz that would soon devastate some cities on UK.
A welder at the Walker Naval Yard on the River Tyne.
Source: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205193607
"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:
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Source: www.ww2online.org
"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:
In London with the Blitz and regular bombing where I lived you would see these Prefabricated homes going up all over London, properly in industrial city all over the UK
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
An aircraft spotter scanning the skies above London, c. 1940.
"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:
Good balance. I'd be teetering back and forth like the old Weeble Wobble toy.
Especially while looking through those binocs.
British sappers learning to defuse mines by touch alone, Italy, 1943.
Possibly the least forgiving ‘hands-on training’ course in military history.
"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:
Piles of shells being produced at the Ministry of Supply factory in Northern Ireland. April1940
How innocent they all were. 😔
"If brute force doesn't work you aren't using enough brute force." - mTk
War does not determine who is right, but it does determine who is left. - B.Russell
"Turn based games don't need a pause key". - mTk
"Overkill is underrated." - Col John "Hannibal" Smith
Senatus Populusque Romanus- SPQR - The Senate and People of Rome (circa 60 BC)