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Articles by Henry Elkins

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About Henry Elkins

A keen researcher of family ancestors, Henry will be reporting on the centenary of World War One. More Posts

The legacy continues

On the eve of Remembrance Sunday the thoughts of many of us turn to those who have served or still serve in the military – those who survived unharmed the experience of being ‘in action’, those who survived but were physically or mentally scarred by it and, of course, those who [...]

November 9, 2019 // 0 Comments

Rediscovering the past at home

I’m currently staying for the weekend at my father’s place on the south coast of England where over the past six months there have been a few changes, not least the departure of a long-serving part-time housekeeper and her replacement by another who is several notches more dynamic and diligent. [...]

October 26, 2019 // 0 Comments

Spitfire

I am a person of ritual and routine. I like to do the Telegraph crossword at 6 pm with a glass of malt whisky. At 8.00 pm before retiring I like to watch the TV for an hour, the problem is that none of the staple diet of bake-offs, ballroom dancing or celebrities doing whatever appeal. So I build [...]

October 18, 2019 // 0 Comments

Perspectives and things

Summoned this week to lunch with the Rust’s proprietor at one of the most prestigious and expensive restaurants in southern England I soon found myself bobbing and weaving on the ropes, fighting to keep my head above water, as he quizzed me  on my views about everything from the unhinged state [...]

August 31, 2019 // 0 Comments

Six Minutes in May/ Nicholas Shakespeare

This is an account of how Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in May 1940. It begins with a detailed account of the Norway Campaign. The assault on Narvik which produced iron ore for Germany was Churchill’s brainchild as First Sea Lord. It was a disastrous campaign comparable to Gallipoli and [...]

August 9, 2019 // 0 Comments

I must go down to B & Q’s

As an avid reader of the Rust I often smile when reading the campaign running by my sport colleagues and sometimes wonder why they haven’t been attacked on social media or even reported to those authorities concerned with imposing “equality” upon Britain in the 21st Century. Nevertheless, [...]

July 20, 2019 // 0 Comments

Appeasing Hitler

Tim Bouverie has written a measured, well researched account of the Appeasement years. He cites several reasons for the appeasement policy of Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain: 1) the country was ill-prepared for war; 2) there was a mood of pacifism in the country which may well have resulted [...]

June 19, 2019 // 0 Comments

Reflections upon the D-Day 75th anniversary celebrations

This time next month I shall be embarking a five-day pilgrimage to France as part of a small battlefield touring group scheduled to visit specific WW1 and WW2 sites. Last summer we made a similar expedition – given my background albeit varying knowledge in such matters, surprisingly my first – [...]

June 1, 2019 // 0 Comments

Vienna Spies/Alex Gerlis

I do not know how this espionage novel came to be on my Kindle. I can only assume it was a recommendation by Amazon based on previous books I have read set in Vienna. The more obscure theatres of conflict and cities in World War Two have always interested me: Italy after Mussolini surrendered in [...]

April 25, 2019 // 0 Comments

Fateful Choices:The Decisions that changed the World 1940-1/Ian Kershaw

Historian Ian Kershaw has analysed the critical decisions that shaped World War Two but whether they changed the world is perhaps another matter. Several are quite obvious: Hitler ‘s decision to launch Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union when Western Europe was under the Nazi jack boot [...]

April 12, 2019 // 0 Comments

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