British ‘Helmet, Steel, Mark 1’ from 1917 with later liner, rough sand finish to cut down on reflection and brazed-on Machine Gun Corps cap badge

British ‘Helmet, Steel, Mark 1’ which replaced the ‘War Office Pattern’ helmet later in 1916. This with its original liner designed to provide sufficient gap between the head and the crown of the helmet. This one has insignia of the 14th Sherwood Foresters.

Early British ‘War Office Pattern’ steel helmet (known as a Brodie after its patentee), c.1916, with replacement liner and chin strap. These helmets had a raw edge to the helmet rim. This one has a remnant of the original bright green paint.

Early British ‘War Office Pattern’ steel helmet (known as a Brodie after its patentee), c.1916, with early liner and buckled chin strap. Introduction of this helmet reputedly increased the number of head wounds - as previously these casualties would be marked as killed, not wounded in action

An old cart shed at the Thames Chase Forest Centre in Essex. Constructed from reclaimed beams, some 500 years old, this building stood through the Great War as its farm supplied food for the Home Front. In 1915, a year of military reverses, a worker daubed the fateful date on the timber. Why?

Interesting take. How about ‘Gallipoli chic’?

Thank you apple tree. Planted in the garden of a 1930s inter-war ‘housing boom’ house, you must have experienced war and peace, and gave sustenance to generations. Thank you for being there, and for shading me as I reflect on your life.

I see you were there too. It was an incredible evening.

Honestly, has it really come to this?

Having first seen DEVO decades ago, I saw them again, days ago. And what I’ve learned over this period is that their message is even more relevant today, as it was then.

Princess Mary’s Christmas gift for ‘Every Sailor Afloat, Every Soldier at the Front’ to a sailor of HMS Queen Mary, sunk with almost all hands at Jutland, 110 years ago. This frame could either be a poignant memory of a lost sailor, or survivor’s memory of his once proud vessel.

Interesting insights from David Olusoga at this evening’s lecture in London’s Cadogan Hall

Regimental badges on silks are sought after, as they are decorative and interesting, connecting the sender with their unit, instilling pride. This one is all the more interesting through its connection to the Royal Naval Division (RND) - sailors in khaki who served in the trenches

A silk postcard sent home by a soldier from the Great War, but perhaps with a difference. Its central maple leaf and crown motif indicative of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), its French script suggesting it was aimed at French Canadians

Silk postcards are avidly collected, though examples like this one, faded and grubby, are likely to be overlooked. But there is something about its message, ‘a kiss from the trenches’, that draws the eye and sponsors reflection: a simple message of love from a frontline soldier of the Great War

Your Britain: Fight For it Now - 1943/2026. Abram Games’ hard-hitting poster depicted modern health care (Finsbury Health Centre, with want and degradation lurking in the rear; a future worth fighting for in 1943- and today

Reminders of the ‘first blitz’

Here’s Rifleman Strudwick’s grave in 1985, and the adjacent Essex Farm dressing station from the same period

Erm…. ‘Stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you happiness’ - these guys, naturally

The Salient. The physical remains of a war that still reminds us of how easy it is to slip into conflict, and how difficult it is to escape entrenched positions

HNY!

Merry Christmas to all

It was a few years ago, but we had an incredible exhibition last year at @greatwarhuts.bsky.social the catalogue can be accessed through my website. My book in Queen Victoria’s tin is in progress…

It’s become a ‘thing’ for me to re-read this classic at this time of year…

Festive frivolity (+ historical commentary)

I was almost tempted… (as seen in Copenhagen this week)

Details of Tyson Smith’s bas relief panels from Liverpool Cenotaph. On one side the armed men from Liverpool in angular, tight ranks, stern faced; on the other the drawn faces and stooped figures of the families

I try and visit every time I’m ’back home’, but I had another target this time - a little older

Hoylake & West Kirby War Memorial with sculptures by Charles Sergeant Jagger, a frontline soldier wounded in action. The sculptures are dark, intense: a brooding soldier and a mourning figure with a crown of thorns. Away from the busy street, this monument, rich in detail, depicts a deep wound

Here’s an example of the Great War bronze memorial plaque, each one specially cast (not engraved) for the man or woman it commemorates. A huge undertaking to mark a nation’s loss