The Crusader Project

@crusaderproject.bsky.social

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“Breaking Rommel” is now available for purchase. “That's an impressive array of sources, but what are your credentials?" Long-running research project on the desert war 1940-43, with a specific focus on Operation CRUSADER. www.rommelsriposte.com

Book covers to Ian Mitchell’s ‘The Peaks’, Sam Wallace’s ‘Lightijg thrbTorch’ and Saul David’s ‘Tunisgrad’.
Box art for the Board Game Junta.
Artist No 1 Army Film & Photographic Unit, Vanderson (Lieut) Description English: The British Army in North Africa 1942 An abandoned German PzKpfw I tank immobilized on flooded ground in the Western Desert, 1942. Date between 1939 and 1945 Source/Photographer http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib//46/media-46680/large.jpg Image of the exterior main entrance to the Imperial War Museum in London. This photograph E 9601 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums. Flag of the United Kingdom. Permission (Reusing this file) This image was created and released by the Imperial War Museum on the IWM Non Commercial Licence. Photographs taken, or artworks created, by a member of the forces during their active service duties are covered by Crown Copyright provisions. Faithful reproductions may be reused under that licence, which is considered expired 50 years after their creation. Part of War Office Second World War Official Collection Subject(s) Associated events Western Desert 1940-1943, North Africa, Second World War Associated themes British Army 1939-1945, North Africa 1939-1945, Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles 1939-1945 Category photographs Image sorted yes
Frank Norton, HMAS Sydney engaging RN Bartolomeo Colleoni, painted 1942. Cape Spada on the right. Colleoni can be seen to the right of Sydney, emitting smoke and having lost her bows but still firing. A destroyer to the left engages Colleoni with gunfire. Despite the title of the painting, this is likely to show the final phase of the battle, with HMAS Sydney pursuing the fleeing cruiser Giovanni delle Bande Nere while the destroyers finished off Bartolomeo Colleoni and rescued her survivors. Courtesy AWM and I am grateful to Karl James of the AWM for providing a high-quality file of this impressive painting.
Description Object description The crew of a Matilda tank take a break during the fighting near Tobruk, 28 November 1941. Object Details Category Photographs Related period Second World War (production), Second World War (content) Creator Keating, Geoffrey John No. 1 Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit Production date 1941-11-28 Materials whole: Nitrate Catalogue number E 6804 Part of WAR OFFICE SECOND WORLD WAR OFFICIAL COLLECTION
Description Object description SAS volunteers emplaning into an RAF Bristol Bombay transport aircraft prior to a practice jump while undergoing parachute training at Kabrit, Egypt. Object Details Category Photographs Related period Second World War (production), Second World War (content) Creator Smith, Albert Norman Mitchell Clements, Harold John K.P. No. 1 Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit Production date 1941-11-07 Materials whole: Nitrate Catalogue number E 6404 Part of WAR OFFICE SECOND WORLD WAR OFFICIAL COLLECTION
Description Object description Crusader tanks moving to forward positions in the Western Desert, 26 November 1941. Label Crusader tanks moving to forward positions in the Western Desert, 26 November 1941. Object Details Category Photographs Related period Second World War (production), Second World War (content) Creator Clements, Harold John K.P. No. 1 Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit Production date 1941-11-26 Materials whole: Nitrate Catalogue number E 6724 Part of WAR OFFICE SECOND WORLD WAR OFFICIAL COLLECTION
Crew members of two Marmon Herrington South African Reconnaissance Cars studying a map for the forthcoming attack on Bardia in the final days of 1941. They almost certainly belong to 7 South African Recce Regiment. The four men are wearing winder gear. One is a corporal. They also wear helmets, indicating they are in a combat zone. The picture is taken through a breach in a stone wall, cleverly used as framing for the men and their vehicles by the photographer. Description Object description Original wartime caption: Armoured car crews receiving instructions of a coming attack. Physical description Photographic negative Object Details Category Photographs Related period Second World War (production), Second World War (content) Creator No. 1 Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit (Photographer) Clements, Harold John K.P. (Undefined) Production date 1942-01-02 Materials whole: Nitrate Catalogue number E 7464 Part of WAR OFFICE SECOND WORLD WAR OFFICIAL COLLECTION
I live in the constituency! This is the letter he is sending out although I personally have not had one yet. The following was on a local website fact checking said letter. If anyone has received their ‘Nigel Letter’ here is AI fact checked ! Interesting as always ! several claims are either false or purely rhetorical dressed up as fact: ∙ “They even tried to cancel the Essex County Council elections… until we fought back” — this reverses what happened. The postponement was requested by the Conservative-run council itself, as part of a devolution/reorganisation process agreed with government back in 2025. Reform’s own county councillor actually voted against the proposed delay at the time. It wasn’t a Labour or “establishment” plot targeting Reform specifically. ∙ “They are changing the donation rules to stop Reform” — no evidence of any donation rule change specifically targeting Reform. Unsupported claim. ∙ “They cannot defeat us fairly at the ballot box” — this is opinion, not fact, and it’s aging badly: recent Ipsos polling shows Reform’s lead over Labour narrowing sharply (down to just 2 points in one recent survey, from 26% to Labour’s 24%), and Andy Burnham is now preferred as PM over Farage by a wide margin in multiple polls. ∙ “This Labour government… have done everything they can to destroy me” — the actual investigation into his undeclared £5m gift is being run by the independent Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, not the government. Framing an independent parliamentary process as a partisan Labour attack isn’t accurate. ∙ The “350 polls” figure Reform has claimed similar tallies — 175, then 300 — at earlier points this year) but is being used to imply invincibility at exactly the moment his actual polling lead is shrinking. ∙ “My home has been attacked, my family targeted” — no independent verification found; complete or insurance records presented as fact with no specifics to check Make of this what you will !
Provincial small-holder farm in Cambodia, two chicken and two ducks around a feeder.
Letter to the Spectator by Lord Shenkman. Unjust William Sir: It is a bad idea for schools to be recommending their pupils listen to William Dalrymple's podcast Empire ('Striking back' ', 4 July), without also suggesting they listen to, for example, Niall Ferguson on the same subject. Dalrymple does not prize the British Empire, but many of us who have studied it in detail admire the many benefits it conferred on its subjects. Balance is essential in educating children and from Dalrymple they will get an unduly pejorative view. Hearing his analysis, one might wonder how such an inefficient and corrupt entity succeeded in governing about a third of the world for a long period. There were two main failures. The first was the empire's inability after the second world war to afford the cost of its African colonies long enough to ensure the development of a significant local middle class before independence. The second was the withdrawal from India in 1947, which was both too early and not properly thought through, resulting in partition and shocking intercommunal violence. What was needed in both cases was more empire, not less. All governmental systems have their weaknesses, but, by and large, the British Empire was a force for good. Gregory Shenkman London SW7
Bundesmarine Schulschiff Gorch Fock looking pretty
Five sisters trophy for a very special regatta, happened only twice, both times won by Gorch Fock.8
Four tall ships of German construction during the five sisters race.
To say that the threats of democracy are so great that the media is going to abandon its central role as a source of impartial information to help people vote — that’s essentially saying that the news media should become a propaganda arm for a single candidate, because we prefer that candidate’s agenda.
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A misbegotten and historically illiterate attempt by Alastair Campbell in his diary in The Bew World to draw a historical comparison in his diary. “Douglas Haig’s willingness to trade thousands of lives for a few miles of ground has proved sadly durable ✏️ Alastair Campbell” Alastair Campbell’s diary: The WWI ‘butcher’ who inspired Putin’s meat-grinder warfare
The only options are a Moldovan Pinot Grigio or a Portuguese Vinho Verde. I return with a bottle of the latter on the grounds that a taste of southern Europe is more fitting for a latter-day Homeric feast
40. If Parliament is dissolved or the Member otherwise ceases to be a Member while an investigation is in progress, the Commissioner will suspend their investigation until the Member is re-elected. If the Member is not returned to Parliament, the Commissioner will decide if it is appropriate and proportionate to resume their investigation.
Facebook ad by the How To Academy, invitation to a live conversation on the end of WW2 with Max Hastings.
IWM caption - Original Colour Photo - German forces move into Dunkirk hours after the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force was completed. A beached French coastal patrol craft at low tide at Dunkirk. The ship is armed with a 75mm canon on its foredeck and probably dates from the First World War. A British Universal Carrier and a bicycle lie abandoned half buried in the sand.
A small warship beached outside Sunkirk in 1940.
Picture of a fridge magnet showing Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, in position since 1994, standi by in a field of wheat, with his left hand open and turned upwards, as if trying to raise the grain further, and his right in a fist. It has the caption ‘President Tajikistan’ underneath.
About this report Using air conditioners and electric fans to stay cool accounts for nearly 20% of the total electricity used in buildings around the world today. Rising demand for space cooling is also putting enormous strain on electricity systems in many countries, as well as driving up emissions. Absent firm policy interventions, there is no doubt that global demand for space cooling and the energy needed to provide it will continue to grow for decades to come. However, there is an enormous opportunity to quickly influence the growth of cooling-related energy demand through policies to improve equipment efficiency. This special IEA report aims to raise awareness globally about one of the most critical energy issues of our time, outlining a sustainable path to the future of cooling that will allow people to reap the benefits of cooling without straining the energy system or the environment.
Military Medal card for Corporal Dring, Notts Yeomanry, in Tunisia 1943. This is a skilfully written citation and led to the award of the Military Medal, as suggested.
Number of days with air temperature maximum over 30 degrees Celsius in Germany, by decade 1953 to 2022. Shows that this increased from 31 days 1953-62 to 121 days 2013-22 with over 1/4 of the increase during since 2013.
Collection of images of RTp Canopo's wreck in Tripoli harbour. From https://www.trentoincina.it/torpediniere-in-guerra-canopo-e-perseo/
Soviet era map of western Tajikistan
View through the scissors binocular, a battle going on in the rear, with large smoke clouds billowing up into the sky and a fire visible.
A wooden bunker somewhere in northern Russia. A looted sofa is outside. Three German soldiers stand at the entrance, my grandfather is in the centre. He was in charge of the post, which served for counter-battery flash spotting.