Category: HISTORY

Nominate: Hottest, coolest WWII Gadgets

Christmas build-up this year is getting far too frenzied for my liking, rabid, venal. I have seen a set of adverts during a programme which show you all the amazing, mega-fatty food you can buy at Christmas and inserted between them is an advert showing you how you can avoid indigestion! Will companies stop at nothing to flog us their wares for Christmas? Oh well, at least it’s still magical for kids.

For us oldies, let’s take a break from it. I know War is not to be glorified and I don’t, but it’s still interesting to remember some of the ingenious devices invented during the conflict, some of which we are still benefiting from now, in peacetime. Also, I have a new book, December Radio out in the New Year so I wanted to get the theme of WWII up and running before the Christmas Turkey gobbles up all other thoughts. And while we are voting, let’s remember that in December 1944, most allied soldiers still hoped the war would be over before Christmas. Let’s remember how they suffered in freezing conditions to give us the freedom to celebrate Christmas as we pleased (but not by spending more than we could afford and getting stressed about it!). Continue reading “Nominate: Hottest, coolest WWII Gadgets” →

Is this Project Aurora technology?

What can we find out about Project Aurora Technology?

This might be Project Aurora or SR-91 — Is this Aurora (or Astra)?

I have been reading The Hunt for Zero Point by Nick Cook and I am more convinced than ever that The Skunk Works have used technology from the Nazi secret project Die Glocke (The Bell) during WWII to power the new project Project Aurora spy plane (codenamed SR-91), developed at the Skunk Works or Area 51. Continue reading “Is this Project Aurora technology?” →

Vampires fight to save Atlantis!

After the Ordo Lupus and the Blood Moon Prophecy Series (Book 3 YouTube trailer) ...

Vampire Holy Grail in The Devil's Own Dice

… comes The Hole Inside the Earth – by Lazlo Ferran

“Water making you forget, even from drinking water. Scary right?” – Susana on BookBub

Only the Vampire Priests understand the Blood Moon Prophecy: “A drop of His blood fills the cup and brings the Blood Moon Dawn.”

“Lots of cool action and drew me well in.” – AHF Magazine

Both men, distracted, stepped back. She knew they would be unbalanced, so she executed the estoc, her sword strike entering one man’s exposed right armpit. He fell.

Continue reading “Vampires fight to save Atlantis!” →

Boddington Fort: Inspiration for Tolkien?

Boddington Fort - looking North-east — Boddington Fort – looking North-east

The Ridgeway, England’s oldest road at 7000 years, runs along the Chiltern Hills, as it heads South to Avebury in Dorset.

My stepmother passed away in the last week and my father passed away almost exactly a year ago. I wasn’t close to either in the final decades, but it made me think about the Autumn of life. I suppose post Covid, many of us have lost family, so it seems appropriate to post something personal, because I last did this during lockdown.

(Right-click the image to see the high-resolution version)

Last week, knowing she hadn’t long, I decided to walk part of the Ridgeway, the oldest road in Britain at 7000 years. I walked the first part, going south from Pitstone Hill to Tring Station (~10.5 miles), in the sweltering heat of the 2022 Summer. I thought this section, from Tring Station to Wendover Station (~10.5 miles) would be a doddle. I was wrong!

I believe Boddington Fort is a serious candidate for Tolkien’s inspiration for the hilltop clearing in the Old Forest from The Fellowship of the Ring. Here’s why.

Continue reading “Boddington Fort: Inspiration for Tolkien?” →

E thriller militar: O Sol Brilhante Demais

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O Sol Brilhante Demais

Um homem determinado busca vingança pela morte de um amigo, em batalha!

Em busca de vingança pela morte de um amigo há dez anos, Major Jake Nanden tem combatido seus demônios pessoais, com um fervor quase religioso, tanto em sua vida pessoal como em batalha.

Ele é um soldado tão altamente condecorado por bravura que sua fama o precede mesmo além da desolada lua em Júpiter, Io, onde seu batalhão está posicionado. No entanto, suas vitórias nas guerras Jupiterianas lhe parecem vazias, pois ele é um homem que teme sua própria alma.

Sua vida parece ser uma armadilha da qual não consegue escapar. Sendo de um pelotão replicante, que assim como clones, são odiados por todos. Continue reading “E thriller militar: O Sol Brilhante Demais” →

Cover Reveal for Release: Screaming Angels

Cover Reveal for Screaming Angels

I’m very pleased and proud to announce that my latest book, Screaming Angels, will be published by A-Argus some time in the summer. This story is a historical account of one the strangest deals the British ever did with Soviet Russia, with a romantic twist. If you love romance, this will be right up your street. And if you love aviation tales, especially about Cold War jets, you will also love it.

On a personal note, this book has caused my quite a lot of strife! I already knew about the Rolls Royce Nene engine fiasco, and then I had a strange dream. This became the inspiration for a new book, but the first draft didn’t electrify me, or my beta readers. It seemed to lack emotion, and the plot needed a twist. I sought inspiration in classic romances like Wuthering Heights and Lady Chatterley’s Lover and, six rewrites later, it has a lot of feeling and a great twist! I think I finally got it right. Read on if you want to sample some excerpts!

Continue reading “Cover Reveal for Release: Screaming Angels” →

Explore the world of Atalan T’ea

The Hole Inside the Earth – epic quest from the far past to the far future!

Only the Vampire Priests understand the Blood Moon Prophecy: “A drop of His blood fills the cup and brings the Blood Moon Dawn.”

“Lots of cool action and drew me well in.” – AHF Magazine.

Both men, distracted, stepped back. She knew they would be unbalanced, so she executed the estoc, her sword strike entering one man’s exposed right armpit. He fell.

I, Zosimyache, mercenary of ancient Greece, wrote this.
I once asked Omacron what time seemed like for one who had survived for so long in a tumultuous world.
“Time is meaningless,” he said.
“Then, what does have meaning?” I asked.
“Memory.”
This, then, is the story, as recalled by me and those Rememberers, few in number, who survived the last war on Earth. I wasn’t there at the beginning, but I am here now in the tale that continues.
– from The Garden, final chapter of Volume 15: The Sea of Lost Intentions

Take a sneak preview of a map of Atalan T’ea Llantu here

Introduction

A cup wrought at Earth’s birth, the Holy Grail is brought to Atlantis but lost.

Continue reading “Explore the world of Atalan T’ea” →

Film Review: The Blue Max (George Peppard)

The Blue Max - 1966 — The Blue Max – 1966

The 1966 movie, The Blue Max, stands out in my mind as the only movie I can think of without a hero.

I watched The Blue Max last week (okay I admit it, I have it on DVD). I am a huge fan of aviation films and this one is all about a German Air Force pilot in World War I. Skip the bits about aircraft if that is not your thing but that’s not really the primary point of this film.

Briefly, Bruno Stachel is an infantry corporal in the trenches. From a working-class background, he nevertheless longs for the noble arena of death in the skies and enlists in the German Air Force. He proves a talented pilot but his new squadron of officers, enlisted from the ruling classes, do not accept his ambitious ruthlessness. They have a strict code of conduct, which he breaks in many ways, including bedding the top-scoring Willi’s aunt and lover, the Countess Kaeti. Willi’s nobility, until now, has extended to taking Stachel under his wing but now the gloves are off and the two duel for supremacy in the skies and in bed. Continue reading “Film Review: The Blue Max (George Peppard)” →

Should a hero be a Brando or a Martin Freeman?

Superhero or Everyman?

I woke up this morning wondering what to blog about and I decided the best post would be about the subject of my pondering at the moment; what makes a good hero?

Everyone (well, in the West anyway) will know who Marlon Brando is, possibly the greatest and certainly one of the greatest actors of all time. Martin Freeman plays Bilbo Baggins in the recent Hobbit films.

I am as big a fan of Bilbo as anybody, and nobody can deny Bilbo is the hero of The Hobbit. What is more, he is an ‘everyman.’ What that means is that everyone can identify with his situation because he is just a normal guy. Brando, on the other hand, rarely plays normal guys; from The Wild One to Superman and Apocalypse Now, nearly all his characters are superhuman or out-and-out rebels; men on the edge of society. Continue reading “Should a hero be a Brando or a Martin Freeman?” →

East Sussex Lay Subsidy Rolls: 1550 – Rotherfield, Cuckfield, Horsham, Lewes and others.

There is a permanent page for this post here . Update: I recently attempted an analysis of what the cow hides actually list, which you can view at your own risk on the permanent page.

In 2009 I paid for the National Archives to copy these Lay Subsidy Rolls (tax payments collected on cow hides), because nobody has previously requested this be done, so they were not available. These rolls (rots) may also be relevant to other genealogists, so I am sharing high resolution images of them here. I still have a record of the receipts.

Key
Amounts are usually given in Pounds, Shillings and Pennies
The ‘j’ indicates the last penny of each amount

Note
It would take me far too long to order these rolls (rots) according to their Borough, village or district and I could easily make a mistake, because they are so hard to read. Thus I will simply list them with their Roll file index name and leave it to others to dig further! Continue reading “East Sussex Lay Subsidy Rolls: 1550 – Rotherfield, Cuckfield, Horsham, Lewes and others.” →