Veronica Innes in ATA uniform, trousers, flying helmet, fur lined gloves and boots

Veronica Innes (later Volkersz) beauty queen turned #pilot. Flew for Air Transport Auxiliary #ATA in #WWII. Was 1st woman to fly operational jet fighter when she ferried a Meteor from the Gloster factory to RAF Moreton Valence in 1945 b #OTD 17 April 1917 bit.ly/30n9L4I

#OTD the Capture of Hill 60, 17th - 22nd April 1915.

At 10 second intervals mines were exploded under Hill 60, Ypres Salient. The explosion was accompanied by a heavy bombardment of the hill lasting about 15 minutes immediately after which the hill was stormed & captured by the Royal West Kents...

Butte de Montfaucon, from the top of Cote 304

@thegreatwargroup.bsky.social
#FWWhist #History #1GM #FWW #Grande-Guerre #WW1
It’s wonderful to see the fresh green leaves of Spring but the bare trees of Winter have their advantages. Butte de Montfaucon from top of Cote 304, highlighting the importance of the German observation post at the Butte

Here’s another breathtaking piece of Roman glass work in millefiori style. Bafflingly beautiful.

🕰️ C1st BC - C1st AD
🏛️📷 Smithsonian American Art Museum
🏺 #AncientBlueSky

Out on Castle Ring hillfort near Callow, Shropshire and following minor footpaths around here in very changeable weather conditions today. The hillfort looks like it has been heavily damaged by land improvement for grazing in the past with much reduced ramparts, interior and a flattened gateway.

ARTICLE: The Other D-day: Op Dragoon, 1944 Raoul Salan was born in Roquecourbe, in France’s Tarn region, in 1899.

Still full of all the bread and wine having just arrived back from Normandy, but here’s a piece on the OTHER D Day in 1944 achurchill.substack.com/p/article-th...

Photographer Ethan Schultz captures an otter just out here living his best life.

📽️ : ethan_schultz via IG

@thegreatwargroup.bsky.social
#FWWhist #History #1GM #FWW #Grande-Guerre #WW1

#FWWhist #History #1GM #FWW #Grande-Guerre #WW1

Today’s article is up and joy of joys, I’ve finally got Pétain to Verdun… achurchill.substack.com/p/full-featu...

#FWWhist #History #1GM #FWW #Grande-Guerre #WW1

A memorial plaque dedicated to the crew of the Yorkshire Belle is located in the memorial garden at Bridlington Cenotaph on Wellington Road, East Riding of Yorkshire The plaque commemorates the nine crew members of the Bridlington pleasure boat Yorkshire Belle, which was requisitioned by the Royal Navy during WWII and sank after striking a mine on 11 April 1941. The Yorkshire Belle and the Grimsby trawler Othello were both lost in the Humber estuary with all hands (21 crew lost in total), with only four bodies from the Yorkshire Belle recovered.

🧵Today marks the 85th anniversary of the loss of the Bridlington pleasure boat Yorkshire Belle and the Grimsby trawler Othello. The Yorkshire Belle had only arrived in Bridlington in 1938. Requisitioned by the Admiralty at the start of the Second World both vessels were serving

My photo shows a decorative gold brooch against a black background. The gold front plate is attached to a copper-alloy core by 8 silver rivets (not seen). The surface of the gold plate is ornately decorated with looped gold filigree, At the centre of the brooch is a circular blue glass cabochon set in a raised gold cell encircled by cloisonné garnets. Radiating out from the central blue glass cabochon are curved sections inlaid with cloisonné garnet like rays of the sun, forming a swirling pattern on the surface of the brooch. The 71 inlaid garnets come from Bohemia. Around the outer edge are four smaller round blue glass cabochons each set in a raised circular gold cell, alternating with four small square-shaped pieces of green glass set in raised square gold cells, at regular intervals. Overall, the piece is symmetrical, richly colored (gold, red, blue, and green), and highly ornate. This ornate brooch was found during the 2008-2009 excavations ahead of major renovation works at Grand Place in Quaregnon. The excavations uncovered a small Merovingian cemetery. The brooch comes from the tomb of a 7th-century female known as the ‘Lady of Quaregnon’. In addition to the brooch, her other items of jewellery included a necklace, bracelet, copper-alloy pins, and a pair of copper-alloy bow brooches.

Beautiful Merovingian brooch of the ‘Lady of Quaregnon’, AD 660-670.

Found during excavations ahead of construction works at the Grand Place, Quaregnon, Belgium, in 2008-2009. Gold, silver, copper-alloy, garnet, and glass. Diameter 5.6cm. 📷 by me

#FindsFriday
#Archaeology

a postcard depicting Beaumont Hamel in the 1920s. There are four wooden shacks, including one with a sign that says "cafe renaissance" and two women standing outside. The mairie is to the left and the quarries to the right, both of them labeled by the sender.

I've picked up many postcards showing the battlefields of the Somme in the 1920s, but this is definitely one of the most intriguing. It is a postcard of Beaumont-Hamel written by a civilian living in the ruins in the 1920s.

She has labeled the photo, including the Café Renaissance, where she lives.

It’s raining #WW2 books. Oops. 📚

I can highly recommend Jim’s book. Very well researched and written. Jim knows the ground very well and this helps understanding the actions at Arras. 10/10

An excellent informative read

A Taste of Success: The First Battle of the Scarpe April 9-14 1917 - The Opening Phase of the Battle of Arras, 9-14 April 1917 (Wolverhampton Military Studies) Buy A Taste of Success: The First Battle of the Scarpe April 9-14 1917 - The Opening Phase of the Battle of Arras, 9-14 April 1917 (Wolverhampton Military Studies) Illustrated by Smithson, Jim (ISBN: 9781911096405) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

109th Anniversary of the opening of the Battle of Arras, 9th April 1917. For an in depth look at this campaign see here! amzn.eu/d/07YJyMaF

Isaac Asimov, writing in 1957, was strangely prescient about the debates regarding the impact of AI on intellectual work.

there were 1,600 murders in New York City in 1975
there were 303 murders in New York City in 2025

New York City's population increased by about 30% over that time period

De pluralité a movie

The Magnificent One

This is a well preserved combat helmet for a Roman cavalryman of the C1st AD. Iron inners for the crown of the helmet and the neck guard (now missing) would have provided additional protection to the wearer. It was found in a gravel pit in Cambridgeshire.

🏛️📷 BM
#AncientBlueSky #Archaeology

Portrait photograph of a young girl. She is wearing a short-sleeved dress with a collar with horizontal patterns. Around her neck is a pendant. Her long hair is styled in a ponytail. She is smiling slightly.

5 April 1933 | A Belgian Jewish girl, Genevieve Annette Flora Levy, was born in Saint Gilles.

She was deported to #Auschwitz and murdered in a gas chamber.
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▶ A short video about gas chambers and crematoria of the Auschwitz camp: https://youtu.be/-A05i25j9Ck

A mugshot registration photograph from Auschwitz. A man with a shaved head wearing a striped uniform photographed in three positions (profile and front with bare head and a photo with a slightly turned head with a hat on). The prisoner number is visible on a marking board on the left.

5 April 1922 | A Pole, Stanisław Lipiński, was born in Piotrków Trybunalski.

In #Auschwitz from 24 October 1941.
No. 22036
He was shot in the camp on 11 November 1941.
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▶ Watch a short video about Block 11 and its yard where shooting executions were held: https://t.co/VBgDxkWLMa

This clay pithos (storage jar) may be a little primitive, but it presents a powerful scene. Perseus, in a broad-brimmed hat & winged boots, kills Medusa. He looks away so he won’t be turned to stone under Medusa’s glare. Medusa is - strangely - shown as a centaur.

🕰️c660BC
🏛️Louvre
📷Marie-Lan Nguyen

This beautiful Anglo-Saxon gold and garnet pendent was found in the delightfully-named Trumpington Meadows, just outside Cambridge by a metal dectorist a few years ago. It’s now in the collection of the University.

🕰️C7th AD
📷 Cambridge University
#AncientBlueSky #Art #Archaeology #Medieval

Black and white photo of the great actor Spencer Tracy. Grayish suit with a dark polka dotted tie. Serious look into the camera. He enlisted as soon as he reached his 18th birthday. But never saw action as the war ended before he finished training.

This Easter Sunday spare a thought for Private George Henry Milner, Lancashire Fusiliers.
George died 5th April 1918. He was 19.
He has no known grave and is commemorated at the Arras Memorial. George is remembered on his parents’ headstone in Wardsend.
wardsendcemetery.wordpress.com/milner-georg...