Aug 19th, 2010 at 11:30AM:
I'm in Ft. William on the west coast of Scotland, the starting point for many popular long-distance hikes, including Scotland's newest trail--the East Highland Way. Over the next six days I'll be walking 76 miles past lochs, mountains, historic sites, and remote countryside. The hike is so new there isn't even a guidebook yet, but Kevin Langan, who established the route and is writing a ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
worldwarii posts
The East Highland Way: hiking Scotland's newest trail
Aug 19th, 2010 at 11:30AM:
I'm in Ft. William on the west coast of Scotland, the starting point for many popular long-distance hikes, including Scotland's newest trail--the East Highland Way. Over the next six days I'll be walking 76 miles past lochs, mountains, historic sites, and remote countryside. The hike is so new there isn't even a guidebook yet, but Kevin Langan, who established the route and is writing a ...The animals that helped win World War Two
Jul 20th, 2010 at 12:30PM:
Animals have always been used in war, but historians tend to dismiss them as living equipment and say little about their experiences. A new exhibition at The National World War II Museum in New Orleans seeks to right that imbalance by focusing on the war effort of animals on both sides of the conflict.
Loyal Forces: Animals in WWII features life-sized mannequins of horses and mules with ...WWII submarine struggles to survive
Jul 12th, 2010 at 9:00AM: England's last submarine built during World War Two needs £1.5 million ($2.7 million) to avoid ending up on the scrapheap of history.
The HMS Alliance was launched just weeks before the end of the war and never saw action. It is the last surviving Amphion class submarine specially designed for long-range Pacific warfare. While it missed the big show, it saw active service until 1973. Now ...London museum airbrushes out Churchill's cigar
Jun 18th, 2010 at 1:00PM: While there have been a lot of angry comments here on Gadling about Egypt's smoking ban and the even stricter smoking ban in Finland, neither country has tried to pretend people didn't smoke in the past. Now someone at the Winston Churchill's Britain at War Experience, a London museum, seems to have decided dead people could get lung cancer and airbrushed out a cigar from a photo of Winston ...Schindler's List factory becomes museum
Jun 12th, 2010 at 3:00PM: During World War Two, German industrialist Oskar Schindler saved some 1,200 of his Jewish workers from extermination. His enamelware and munitions factories were considered vital for the German war effort and he claimed his workers all had special skills vital for the operation of his factories, whether they had or not. Many of his "skilled mechanics" were in fact children or handicapped people.
...The swastika: symbol of peace and harmony
May 8th, 2010 at 1:30PM: Sixty-five years ago today German President Karl Dönitz declared an unconditional surrender to the Allied forces, ending the war in Europe. Berlin had fallen to the Soviets, Hitler had killed himself a week before, and the Third Reich was dead.
The scars from that terrible conflict are slow to heal, and symbols used by the Nazis still cause controversy. When the Hamburg Radisson Hotel ...Celebrating the Battle of Britain
May 7th, 2010 at 10:30AM: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, an epic struggle for the skies between the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe.
The Imperial War Museum at Duxford is celebrating this key victory of World War Two with a host of activities. A photographic exhibition runs to the end of the year and shows what life was like at the RAF Duxford base. There's a series of flight ...The bureaucracy of genocide
May 7th, 2010 at 9:00AM: The typical image of a Nazi is a jackbooted thug gunning down innocent people. While there were all too many killers like that in the Third Reich, the majority of Nazis were civilians. It takes a lot of people to run a government and an army, and many Nazis never personally killed anyone. They were educated, middle-class bureaucrats who loved their children, were kind to their neighbors, and spent ...Macy's Thanksgiving Parade balloons: Where to see them inflate and balloon history facts
Nov 25th, 2009 at 4:30PM: Starting this afternoon and on into tonight the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade character balloons will be inflated at Central Park West and Columbus Avenue on 77th and 81st Streets. The public is able to watch the process between 3:00 and 10:00 p.m. From what I've read, arrive closer to the end to get the balloons' full effects.
The balloons, that take trained volunteers to safely maneuver them ...Undiscovered New York: Sunset Park
Aug 26th, 2009 at 10:00AM: You don't just stumble upon Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood by casually walking around New York City. It takes effort. And you're also not going to find any world famous buildings or iconic parks while you're there - those are elsewhere. But for all the things Sunset Park lacks (like tourists), it still manages to have plenty to offer. This little neighborhood-that-could has been surprising ...Cambridge, England honors fallen American soldiers
Jul 1st, 2009 at 8:00AM:
Arlington National Cemetery has no parallel, yet for some families, it's not enough. If yours is not resting in Arlington, then the national treasure takes a back seat to the bit of earth that matters more to you. As many people as Arlington serves, there are large U.S. cemeteries elsewhere that are profound in the numbers they protect. This becomes clear when the enormity of the Cambridge ...Museum Junkie: Manchester exhibit on life as a POW
May 27th, 2009 at 4:00PM: A fascinating exhibit on life as a POW has opened at The Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, England.
The exhibition, called "Captured: The Extraordinary Life of Prisoners of War", combines pictures, artifacts, and real-life anecdotes to give a glimpse into the experiences of prisoners of war from all armies during the Second World War (1939-45). It also features the only known film of German ...St. Petersburg photos offer glimpse of a "hidden" past
Feb 5th, 2009 at 10:00AM: Any visitor to Saint Petersburg will quickly understand the city's reputation as the "crown jewel" of Russia. Built by Russian monarch Peter the Great to compete with the great capitals of Europe, Saint Petersburg's architecture is characterized by ornate European-style buildings and colorful onion dome cathedrals set along a series of grand canals. Yet the startling beauty of this former Russian ...Where on Earth? Week 24: The Bridge on the River Kwai, Thailand!
Sep 21st, 2007 at 8:00AM: Congrats go out to Stacy (and then Beanie) for correctly identifying the above bridge as the legendary one which stretches over the River Kwai in Thailand. The 1957 World War II film, Bridge on the River Kwai was one of my favorites growing up. It told the (nearly) true story of a group of British POWs forced by the Japanese to build an important railway bridge in western Thailand. I had the ...Sculpture Projects Munster: An Every 10 Year Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit
May 28th, 2007 at 12:46PM: Munster, Germany was almost totally destroyed during World War II. If there is any indication that "Art Saves Lives," as I used to see on art pins sold in the Mariposa Gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Sculpture Project Munster, is it. Every ten years this outdoor sculpture exhibit pulls in artists' work from different countries to infuse vibrancy into the human experience. There are 37 ...Lost Hand Grenade Found in Potatoes
Mar 22nd, 2007 at 8:42AM: Just when you think it's safe to buy fresh groceries, what with the recent spinach scare, and Adkins craze, and all...
A 74-year-old Italian woman brought home a sack of potatoes from the market recently, and was surprised to find a not-so-tasty surprise lurking there: a WWII-era hand grenade. The woman found the grenade while she was washing her purchase, alerted authorities, the bomb squad was ...
