The City of Long Beach in California, issued an update last Friday on the current status of the aging Queen Mary, permanently moored in Long Beach Harbor. Access to the ship for the public has been closed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and there was a lot of behind-the-scenes drama as it was taken back into full ownership and control by the city of Lond … [Read more...] about City of Long Beach Issues Update on the Queen Mary Restoration
World War II History
Operation Mincemeat is the ultimate dad movie for spring 2022 (other than Top Gun: Maverick)
It appears that spring/summer of 2022 will be the season of the Dad film, and that’s all right (I’m a dad after all). While Top Gun: Maverick will be sucking the oxygen out of the film world later this month, this month we also got a perfectly lovable World War II film in the guise of Operation Mincemeat. And it’s very much worth watching if a little long and slow. For those … [Read more...] about Operation Mincemeat is the ultimate dad movie for spring 2022 (other than Top Gun: Maverick)
New stamps pay tribute to women’s contributions during Second World War
A new set of stamps is being issued in tribute to women’s vital contributions during the Second World War. The main set of 10 stamps illustrates the huge range of work women undertook during the war years. Included is a rare photograph showing female codebreakers working at Bletchley, where they operated the complex cryptographic machinery. A further four stamps, … [Read more...] about New stamps pay tribute to women’s contributions during Second World War
Stars pay tribute to Dame Vera Lynn during Westminster thanksgiving service
Katherine Jenkins, Alan Titchmarsh, and Jonathan Dimbleby were among those who paid tribute to Dame Vera Lynn at a thanksgiving service in London to celebrate the life and work of the wartime singer. The service was held at Westminster Abbey on Monday with members of her family, friends from the world of music, representatives from charities she supported, and members of the … [Read more...] about Stars pay tribute to Dame Vera Lynn during Westminster thanksgiving service
RAF aerial photographs show Second World War camp in parkland – Belhus Park in Thurrock
A Second World War military camp where troops prepared for the D-Day invasion is shown in RAF aerial photographs, as historians share their research into an Essex heritage site. Historic England has analyzed more than 300 photographs of the changing landscape at the Grade II-registered Belhus Park in Thurrock from 1929 to the present day and has now published some of … [Read more...] about RAF aerial photographs show Second World War camp in parkland – Belhus Park in Thurrock
Seven holocaust survivors feature in paintings commissioned by Prince Charles
The Prince of Wales has hailed seven portraits of some of the nation’s last remaining Holocaust survivors as a “powerful testament” to their lived experience. Charles commissioned the paintings of the elderly men and women to stand as a lasting reminder of the horrors of the Nazi regime, and was left moved after meeting one sitter who showed the prince her concentration camp … [Read more...] about Seven holocaust survivors feature in paintings commissioned by Prince Charles
Collection of Spitfires to go on display at former base RAF Duxford
A dozen Spitfires are to go on display at the place where the first operational squadron of the planes flew from. The Spitfire, with its elliptical wings and powerful Rolls Royce engine, is famous for its role in the Battle of Britain in 1940. The 12 aircraft, of varying marks, will go on show at IWM Duxford in Cambridgeshire as part of the museum’s exhibition – Spitfire: … [Read more...] about Collection of Spitfires to go on display at former base RAF Duxford
Operation Pied Piper – A story with music about British Evacuees
Greetings everyone, and apologies for the silence. Let's just say moving house has been the least tumultuous thing of the last few months! I hope everyone is well (or as well as can be, given the circumstances). As a little gift for you this festive season, I want to tell you about a lovely 3-part podcast by a good (virtual) friend, Ron Gletherow. Ron and I met through the … [Read more...] about Operation Pied Piper – A story with music about British Evacuees
Bells from sunk warships go on display in Portsmouth 80 years after tragedy
Bells retrieved from two Royal Navy warships sunk during the Second World War have gone on display to mark the 80th anniversary of the death of the 842 sailors on board. HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse were both attacked and sunk by aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy on December 10, 1941, just days after Pearl Harbour. The sinking of the two ships is considered one of … [Read more...] about Bells from sunk warships go on display in Portsmouth 80 years after tragedy
Bletchley Park codebreaker awarded France’s highest honour
One of the last surviving Bletchley Park Second World War Wren codebreakers has been presented with France’s highest honor. Lorna Cockayne was given the Legion d’honneur by the highest ranking female officer in the Royal Navy, Commodore Judith “Jude” Terry, at a presentation ceremony held in Ferndown, Dorset. The 96-year-old from Mudeford, Christchurch, was trained to use the … [Read more...] about Bletchley Park codebreaker awarded France’s highest honour
Stoke-on-Trent’s historic Spitfire unveiled in £5.4m gallery after three-year restoration
A Spitfire donated to Stoke-on-Trent by the RAF in 1972 is set to go back on public display in a new glass-fronted £5.4 million gallery as an “anything’s possible” symbol of hope. The aircraft’s official unveiling in a 3,800 sq ft extension to the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery on Wednesday, being attended by the great-nephew of the Spitfire’s designer Reginald Mitchell, … [Read more...] about Stoke-on-Trent’s historic Spitfire unveiled in £5.4m gallery after three-year restoration
Pair of ‘Spitfires of the seas’ arrive to be centerpiece of new exhibition at Royal Navy’s Museum in Gosport
A pair of historic naval boats nicknamed “Spitfires of the seas” have been painstakingly moved into position for a new exhibition. The boats, coastal motor boat CMB331 and motor torpedo boat MTB71, arrived at the National Museum of the Royal Navy’s (NMRN) Explosion Museum in Gosport, Hampshire, after being brought 100 miles by road from Yeovilton, Somerset, where they have … [Read more...] about Pair of ‘Spitfires of the seas’ arrive to be centerpiece of new exhibition at Royal Navy’s Museum in Gosport
Site of 1944 bomber crash being dug up in effort to bring US air crew home
A team of American veterans are digging up a field in Sussex where a bomber plane crashed during the Second World War in an effort to finally bring their fallen compatriots home. In June 1944 – two weeks after Allied troops landed in France on D-Day – a B-24 Liberator was in a group conducting a bombing raid near Paris when it took severe damage from anti-aircraft … [Read more...] about Site of 1944 bomber crash being dug up in effort to bring US air crew home
Royal Mint: New Alan Turing £50 banknote enters circulation – Celebrates father of modern computing
The Alan Turing £50 banknote has started to enter circulation, coinciding with the Bletchley Park codebreaker’s birthday. The new polymer Bank of England note will become available in bank branches and at ATMs in the coming days and weeks. Celebrating Mr. Turing’s life, the Bank of England was also flying the Progress Pride flag above its building in London’s Threadneedle … [Read more...] about Royal Mint: New Alan Turing £50 banknote enters circulation – Celebrates father of modern computing
Brit History: Ten Most Important Events of the 1940s
WAR IN BRITAIN! Typically, when people think about United Kingdom history in the 1940s, the war is inevitably at the forefront of their minds. However, WWII only lasted for half the decade, and some of British society’s most important modern changes took place during the rest of the period. From defiant resistance to advancements for the working classes, Britain had quite a … [Read more...] about Brit History: Ten Most Important Events of the 1940s
Brit History: Most Important Events in British History of the 1930s
The 1930s were an important decade of change for the United Kingdom. This period kicked off with the country in the midst of the Great Depression and ended with it caught in its second world war. In-between, there was a rise of fascism within Britain, a constitutional crisis, a willing abdication, and a mining disaster that would be unparalleled for decades. … [Read more...] about Brit History: Most Important Events in British History of the 1930s
The Brit History Fiver – Five of the Royal Air Force’s Most Famous Aircraft
For over 100 years, the Royal Air Force has kept the skies of the United Kingdom safe. First seeing action in World War I, they were an integral part of the nation’s defense when the Luftwaffe attacked in the Battle of Britain. Ever since the RAF has earned an exceptional reputation in the world’s air forces, but that reputation would not be possible without the amazing … [Read more...] about The Brit History Fiver – Five of the Royal Air Force’s Most Famous Aircraft
Brit History: The Nazi Occupation of the Channel Islands
Operation Sea Lion had been Hitler’s grand hope to invade the United Kingdom. Nazi Germany had wanted to ensure it had both sea and air superiority prior to its ground invasion. However, the RAF victory in the Battle of Britain quashed this plan, and the invasion never happened. The farthest the Nazis ever got in their plan was the occupation of the Channel Islands. From … [Read more...] about Brit History: The Nazi Occupation of the Channel Islands
Great Events in British History: Operation Chastise – The Dambusters Raid
Few airborne missions in the history of the Second World War have taken on such an iconic status as that of Operation Chastise, otherwise known as the Dambusters Raid. On the night of 16 May 1943, Royal Air Force Squadron 617 launched a surprise attack on a number of strategic German sites, featuring the pioneering use of new ‘bouncing bombs’, codenamed ‘Upkeeps’. This surprise … [Read more...] about Great Events in British History: Operation Chastise – The Dambusters Raid
Great British Icons: The Hawker Hurricane
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in Issue 14 of the Anglotopia Print Magazine in 2019. When a teenage Sydney Camm was building gliders near his home in Windsor, he had no idea that his career as an airplane designer would be instrumental in winning World War II. He designed the Hawker Hurricane, a prop-driven monoplane fighter, that would be the ‘workhorse’ of … [Read more...] about Great British Icons: The Hawker Hurricane
The Fiver – Five Beautiful British World War II Aircraft
While World War I introduced aircraft to combat, World War II demonstrated how important air superiority could be. The alleged superiority of the German Luftwaffe rained bombs down upon London and other cities while their fighter planes sought to further fan the flames of terror. The Royal Air Force answered this viciousness with their own aerial firepower, introducing … [Read more...] about The Fiver – Five Beautiful British World War II Aircraft
RIP Dame Vera Lynn, 1917-2020
Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn? Remember how she said that We would meet again Some sunny day? Yes, we do. I can even remember how an album of new orchestrations and duets of her old recordings debuted #3 on the charts on the eve of her hundredth birthday, and I just learned that this would be the third time she had set the record for the oldest artist to hit the Top … [Read more...] about RIP Dame Vera Lynn, 1917-2020
VE Day: The Queen Pays Tribute to her Father in 75th VE Day Anniversary Speech
Queen Elizabeth II has delivered a speech on the 75th anniversary of VE Day from Windsor Castle, her third address to the nation during the coronavirus lockdown. This is only the 6th time she had made a non-Christmas speech to the nation like this. She pays tribute to her father, who was King during World War II. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnxQxHEeiQ4 … [Read more...] about VE Day: The Queen Pays Tribute to her Father in 75th VE Day Anniversary Speech
One Anglophile’s Take on The Bonkers Nazi Titanic film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX1HVonpEPw Yes, you read that correctly. No, this wasn't some kind of belated April Fool's Day thing (and Jonathan isn't a fan of April Fool's Day on the Internet, anyway.) The Nazis made a film about the sinking of the RMS Titanic. And, yes, it was meant as propaganda, although, fortunately, Anti-Semitism does not feature in the film. And, … [Read more...] about One Anglophile’s Take on The Bonkers Nazi Titanic film
Ten of the Most Important British World War II Events
From 1939 to 1945, the world was thrown into a conflict begun by fascist regimes that wanted to impose their will on other nations. At the forefront of the fight against the Axis Powers was the United Kingdom, which entered the war shortly after Nazi Germany invaded Poland. As one of the major Allied Powers throughout the war, Britain had its share of important moments. The … [Read more...] about Ten of the Most Important British World War II Events
Anglotopia was founded by Jonathan and Jackie Thomas in 2007 in a closet in Chicago. Anglotopia is for people who love Britain - whether it's British TV, Culture, History or Travel - we cover it all. Join us as we explore Britain and everything it has to offer!
