Operation Dynamo 70 years on

It is 70 years since Operation Dynamo, the "miracle" when thousands of allied troops were evacuated from France at Dunkirk (and other ports) back to Britain as the Germans pressed irresistibly into France. The BBC website has created a nice selection of maps and infographics to try and explain exactly did go on at Dunkirk.

The Telegraph have a video report. The Daily Mail looks at some of the soldiers who didn't manage to be evacuated and their terrible fate.

The Guardian has meanwhile gone back into it's archives to 1936 to find a report complaining about the state of the British Army and how so many recruits were rejected as they were unfit. The more things change the more things stay the same.

The dig dividing Jerusalem

"The search for the City of David may offer tourists a reminder of Jerusalem's ancient past. But for the Palestinians whose homes are threatened by the excavations, archaeology is merely the latest weapon being used against them..."

Retro Tucanos

The RAF have repainted two of it's Tucano T1 trainers in a "retro" WW2 camouflage style (the red in the roundels looks too small to me though) as part of it's effort to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. They flew in formation with one of the RAF's heritage flight's Spitfires a few days ago. I'd love to see a Typhoon repainted like this too.

Photo © Geoffrey Lee/Planefocus

Polari, a vibrant language born out of prejudice

"British gay men (though according to Wikipedia it was a slang used by performers and criminals that was later adopted by homosexuals) developed the eclectic, secretive slang at a time when society stigmatised them. Luckily it is no longer needed.

Polari (also spelt Palarie, Parlary, Palare and various other ways) is a form of language that is most commonly associated with gay men (and to a lesser extent lesbians), used in the first two-thirds of the 20th century in British cities that had large and mainly underground gay subcultures.

The language was particularly well known in London and was associated with chorus boys who danced and sang in West End productions, and male prostitutes who drank endless cups of tea in seedy cafes hanging out around Piccadilly ("the dilly") looking for "steamers" (clients)..."

A nice font?

I've taken advantage of Google's new web font directory to add a new font for the headings of this blog. The headings and dates are now in IM Fell English which gives the blog a suitably late mediaeval or early modern feel (and you can read about the historical roots of the font here). I did try using the font for all of the body text but it did look a bit over kill. Anyway if you can't see any differences with the font or have any other comments let me know!

Pompeii's X-rated art will titillate a new generation

"Pompeii's saucy heyday might be a little behind it but the ancient city's power to intrigue, delight and even titillate remains intact – as proved by the hundreds of visitors queuing this weekend for an adults-only viewing of its most-erotic artwork.

The famous wall paintings in its ancient suburban baths will be spotlighted in a special night-time "sound-and-light" show, which say the organisers, will give visitors "their best view yet" of the pictures, which leave very little to the imagination..."

Bomber Command: veterans celebrate after memorial approval

"Veterans of Bomber Command have celebrated after they were given the go ahead to build a memorial to 55,573 of their comrades killed in the Second World War.

Planners at Westminster City Council approved on Thursday the proposed £3.5 million memorial, which will now be built in Green Park, central London..."

How Britannia came to rule the waves

"Hero worship at the expense of historical accuracy? Surely not. It has been portrayed as the story of the lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his day despite the hindering efforts of those ranged against him, saving thousands of lives.

On the one side was John Harrison, the self-taught clockmaker from a humble Yorkshire background. On the other, the 18th Century’s wealthy elite charged with the task of presiding over the problem of longitude – the knotty task of working out how far west or east a ship has sailed.

Harrison’s story has been the subject of a best-selling book and an award-winning film but science historians believe that the true account of how the problem of longitude was solved has yet to be told..."