Isle of Man at War, 1939–45

Isle of Man at War, 1939–45 PDF Author: Matthew Richardson
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1526720744
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
This WWII history presents the remarkable story of the Manx people and their homeland in the Irish Sea throughout the epic conflict. Few people are now aware of the extraordinary role the Isle of Man played in assisting the allied war effort. Yet for six years, a place best known as a holiday playground became a heavily armed fortress. Hundreds of airmen, soldiers, and sailors were trained in readiness for combat. Thousands of enemy aliens were imprisoned behind the barbed wire of its camps, alongside those of British birth who were deemed to be a threat to security. Top secret radar was developed, and the Island’s merchant fleet played a vital role at Dunkirk and D-Day. On battlefields around the world, gallant Manxmen fought bravely, whilst at home there was a surprising tolerance for those with pacifist beliefs. Likewise, though there was increased government control in almost all areas of life, these were times of great advancement for Manx democracy. The story is told in the words of those who were there, some of whom speak for the first time about their experiences. Their accounts bring a freshness and immediacy to this remarkably vivid narrative.

Isle of Man at War, 1939–45

Isle of Man at War, 1939–45 PDF Author: Matthew Richardson
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1526720744
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
This WWII history presents the remarkable story of the Manx people and their homeland in the Irish Sea throughout the epic conflict. Few people are now aware of the extraordinary role the Isle of Man played in assisting the allied war effort. Yet for six years, a place best known as a holiday playground became a heavily armed fortress. Hundreds of airmen, soldiers, and sailors were trained in readiness for combat. Thousands of enemy aliens were imprisoned behind the barbed wire of its camps, alongside those of British birth who were deemed to be a threat to security. Top secret radar was developed, and the Island’s merchant fleet played a vital role at Dunkirk and D-Day. On battlefields around the world, gallant Manxmen fought bravely, whilst at home there was a surprising tolerance for those with pacifist beliefs. Likewise, though there was increased government control in almost all areas of life, these were times of great advancement for Manx democracy. The story is told in the words of those who were there, some of whom speak for the first time about their experiences. Their accounts bring a freshness and immediacy to this remarkably vivid narrative.

Cambridgeshire at War 1939–45

Cambridgeshire at War 1939–45 PDF Author: Glynis Cooper
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1473875854
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 145

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Book Description
Few could believe that within twenty years of the war to end all wars being won the world was once again at war. Veterans of the Great War feared going through the same thing again and, even worse, many knew that this time their children would also be involved in the fighting. What had all the sacrifice been about? Cambridgeshire, the city of Cambridge and the University of Cambridge were badly hit by the Great War with many lives lost, families ripped apart and a way of life that had changed forever. Building and economic recovery had been hindered by the Great Depression. The county was not ready to face another war nor for the problems of warfare in the air. Yet somehow the county, the city and the university all found the strength to unite against the enemy once more and ensure that Germany would never win the war. The book chronicles life on the Home Front during the Second World War, which itself reached into every home and affected every citizen, changing the life and the face of the county. It is also a timely reminder of the difficulties, hardships, restrictions and morale faced by the city as the war dragged on, and how the local community overcame the odds that were stacked against them.

The Second World War and the 'Other British Isles'

The Second World War and the 'Other British Isles' PDF Author: Daniel Travers
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350006955
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
What is often held to be Britain's 'finest hour' – the Second World War – was not experienced so uniformly across the British Isles. On the margins, the war was endured in profoundly different ways. While D-Day or Dunkirk is embedded in British collective memory, how many Britons can recall that Finns were interned on the Isle of Man, that enemy soldiers developed British infrastructure in Orkney, or that British subjects were sent to concentration camps from Guernsey? Such experiences, tangential to the dominant British war narrative, are commemorated elsewhere in the 'other British Isles'. In this remarkable contribution to British Island Studies, Daniel Travers pursues these histories and their commemoration across numerous local sites of memory: museums, heritage sites and public spaces. He examines the way these island identities assert their own distinctiveness over the British wartime story, and ultimately the way they fit into the ongoing discourse about how the memory of the Second World War has been constructed since 1945.

Britain at War 1939 to 1945

Britain at War 1939 to 1945 PDF Author: James Lingard
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1504942132
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 115

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Book Description
The book has excellent reviews from UCL People (University College London) and the Historical Association, a British charity for teachers. It gives a short insight into the horrors of the home front told from the perspective of someone who actually experienced them, a fascinating look at the harsh realities of life in Britain, life full of drama and the danger of impending death. How did a family with a small child caught up in such a war survive? There follows an overview of the major campaigns in World War II, giving an insight into the big picture, enlivened by personal experiences and quotations from Churchill. A Canadian reviewer has said, This book was a relatively quick read that would be of interest to those who might not have much background in the events of the war or those who know the broad details but want the day to day understanding of how lives were affected by things like bombing raids. James Lingard has meticulously researched and presented the timeline of events for the war, but where this book really shines as far as I am concerned is in the sharing of his own familys experiences as they were personally impacted. Though only a young boy when the war began, his life was affected in multiple ways and his family was at one point thought killed as their air raid shelter was destroyed. In actual fact they had gone out to the woods for an outing, which ultimately saved their lives! Another enjoyable part of the book was the quotes Lingard used at the beginning of each chapter. Many of these quotes were taken from speeches by Churchill or other prominent men of the time and they add to the general picture and emotions of the period.

The Island of Extraordinary Captives

The Island of Extraordinary Captives PDF Author: Simon Parkin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982178523
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
Barbed-Wire Matinee -- Five Shots -- Fire and Crystal -- The Rescuers -- Sunset Train -- The Basement and the Judge -- Spy Fever -- Nightmare Mill -- The Misted Isle -- The University of Barbed Wire -- The Vigil -- The Suicide Consultancy -- Into the Crucible -- The First Goodbyes -- Love and Paranoia -- The Heiress -- Art and Justice -- Home for Christmas? -- The Isle of Forgotten Men -- A Spy Cornered -- Return to the Mill -- The Final Trial.

Cumbria at War, 1939–45

Cumbria at War, 1939–45 PDF Author: Ruth Mansergh
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1473877121
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
“A comprehensive view of the important part Cumbria played in WWII, including a detailed look at the warships built in the Barrow Yard.” —Firetrench The outbreak of war marked a new era for the people of Cumbria. Many young men and women enlisted in the Forces, while older people joined the Home Guard or became Air Raid Precaution Wardens. Children from cities were sent to Kendal to escape the threat of bombing raids, members of the Women’s Land Army began to arrive on at the local farms, and Silloth airfield near Carlisle trained thousands of pilots from allied countries. The first sign of German interest in the important shipbuilding town of Barrow-in-Furness was in May 1936, when a rigid airship and passenger aircraft flew very low and slowly over the Furness rooftops. Vickers shipyard became a target for enemy bombing and eventually more than 10,000 houses were damaged or destroyed by the Luftwaffe during the Barrow Blitz that took place during April and May 1941. Extensively researched, the book takes a detailed look at the ships built in Barrow, memorials in the city of Carlisle and towns and villages across Cumbria, and remembers the brave dead of Second World War. Overall, this is a poignant testimony to the momentous efforts, bravery, self-sacrifice and determination of the people of Cumbria during the Second World War, who sought to find normality in a reality so far removed from anything they had ever known. “In this fascinatingly good read, Ruth has captured the spirit and uncertainty of all Cumbrians in those stressful years.” —Cumbria Family History Society

Internment during the Second World War

Internment during the Second World War PDF Author: Rachel Pistol
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350001430
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
The internment of 'enemy aliens' during the Second World War was arguably the greatest stain on the Allied record of human rights on the home front. Internment during the Second World War compares and contrasts the experiences of foreign nationals unfortunate enough to be born in the 'wrong' nation when Great Britain, and later the USA, went to war. While the actions and policy of the governments of the time have been critically examined, Rachel Pistol examines the individual stories behind this traumatic experience. The vast majority of those interned in Britain were refugees who had fled religious or political persecution; in America, the majority of those detained were children. Forcibly removed from family, friends, and property, internees lived behind barbed wire for months and years. Internment initially denied these people the right to fight in the war and caused unnecessary hardships to individuals and families already suffering displacement because of Nazism or inherent societal racism. In the first comparative history of internment in Britain and the USA, memoirs, letters, and oral testimony help to put a human face on the suffering incurred during the turbulent early years of the war and serve as a reminder of what can happen to vulnerable groups during times of conflict. Internment during the Second World War also considers how these 'tragedies of democracy' have been remembered over time, and how the need for the memorialisation of former sites of internment is essential if society is not to repeat the same injustices.

A New History of the Isle of Man: The modern period 1830-1999

A New History of the Isle of Man: The modern period 1830-1999 PDF Author: Richard Chiverrell
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
ISBN: 9780853237266
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 488

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Book Description
A New History of the Isle of Man will provide a new benchmark for the study of the island’s history. In five volumes, it will survey all aspects of the history of the Isle of Man, from the evolution of the natural landscape through prehistory to modern times. The Modern Period is the first volume to be published. Wide in coverage, embracing political, constitutional, economic, labor, social and cultural developments in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the volume is particularly concerned with issues of image, identity and representation. From a variety of angles and perspectives, contributors explore the ways in which a sense of Manxness was constructed, contested, continued and amended as the little Manx nation underwent unprecedented change from debtors’ retreat through holiday playground to offshore international financial center.

Gunners in Normandy

Gunners in Normandy PDF Author: Major Frank Baldwin
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750991798
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 624

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Book Description
The official account of the Royal Artillery's activities in the Normandy campaign, this volume breaks down the historic achievements of the Regiment, integrating newly published research with a detailed account of their activities, logistics and equipment in the offensive. Gunners in Normandy includes mention of every regiment that served, a Roll of Honour, and a list of the dead by unit. This book presents the definitive record of events, assembled from interviews with veterans, papers and documents from the Firepower Archives, terrain studies, personal memoirs, war diaries and other official documents. Serious students of the battle for Normandy should find this essential reading, with comprehensive coverage of the role of the Royal Artillery, and much material not published anywhere else, including orders of battle, the details of targets engaged by the guns and their effectiveness.

Island of Barbed Wire

Island of Barbed Wire PDF Author: Connery Chappell
Publisher: Crowood Press (UK)
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
"Many aspects of Britain's involvement in World War Two only slowly emerged from beneath of the barrage of official secrets and popular misconception. One of the most controversial issues, the internment of 'enemy aliens' (and also British subjects) on the Isle of Man, received its first thorough examination in this account by Connery Chappell of life in the Manx camps between 1940 and 1945." "At the outbreak of war there were approximately 75,000 people of Germanic origin living in Britain, and Whitehall decided to set up Enemy Alien Tribunals to screen these 'potential security risks'. The entry of Italy into the war almost doubled the workload. The first tribunal in February 1940 considered only 569 cases as high enough risks to warrant internment. The Isle of Man was chosen as the one place sufficiently removed from areas of military importance, but by the end of the year the number of enemy aliens on the island had reached 14,000." "Even now, there remains the persistent question never settled satisfactorily. Were the internments ever justified or even consistent?"--BOOK JACKET.