Video for the book Teashop Walks in Kent

Watch the video HERE

HItler joins the army

Corporal Hitler

The Great War was a defining experience for Hitler. He later said this period was “the greatest and most unforgettable time of my earthly existence”. His experiences as a soldier shaped his political views, his abilities and ultimately propelled him into the political arena. His undoubted bravery and exemplary war record gave him the status of a war hero that was to be so useful when seeking votes.

The years in the trenches were Hitler’s only real experience of soldiering before he became commander of the armed forces of the Third Reich. As such, these experiences had a decisive impact on his later career as a military commander. Although fighting conditions changed greatly between 1918 and 1939, Hitler frequently justified the decisions he took in the Second World War by referring back to his experiences of fighting in the trenches. Nor was this mere bluster. Fritz Wiedemann was a junior officer in Hitler’s regiment during much of the first war and then served for four years on Hitler’s staff when he became Führer. “His memory of the war was excellent,” recorded Wiedemann later, “I never heard him lying or exaggerating when he told of his war experiences”. If anyone is to understand Hitler as a commander, they must look to Hitler as the commanded.

When war broke out in August 1914, Hitler was enthusiastic. He had recovered from some years of destitution in his native Austria and was earning a living as a freelance artist in Munich. He was already holding forth on political subjects at meetings, but had no burning interests beyond keeping up to date with current affairs. Hitler, at this time, had no intention of becoming a politician, though he was deeply interested in politics, rather he aimed to be an artist or architect.

The declaration of war overwhelmed Hitler. “I fell down on my knees and thanked Heaven from an overflowing heart for granting me the good fortune of being permitted to live at this time,” he wrote later. On 5 August Hitler sat down and wrote to the Bavarian King Ludwig III asking permission to serve in the regiment of his adopted city, Munich, rather than the forces of his own nation, Austria. This request was never actually answered, but Hitler was summoned to report to the Bavarian 16th Infantry Regiment on 16 August.

HITLER - MILITARY COMMANDER

This is an extract from Hitler - Military Commander by Rupert Matthews.

Pirates

Pirates!

Pirates are people who sail the seas searching for ships to capture and rob. Sometimes pirates also attack coastal towns or villages. There have been pirates in many different places and times, from ancient Greece to the modern day. But the most infamous pirates sailed the seas off North and South America between 1620 and 1740.

A band of pirates bears down on a merchant ship. Pirates preferred to attack unarmed ships whenever possible. They fought other warships only when forced to do so.


You Must Be Joking
Pirates in the Americas did not like being called pirates. They called themselves "the Bretheren of the Coast". They claimed they were better than mere robbers.  Sometimes they were.

Can You Believe It?
Pirates looted entire cities.
YES. Sometimes thousands of pirates would join together to attack a whole city and steal its treasures.


No Peace Beyond the Line.
In 1494 the Pope announced that all land and sea beyond a line in the Atlantic belonged to Spain. Many countries refused to accept this ruling, called the Treaty of Tordisillas. They sent ships to the Americas, but the Spanish said they were trespassers and attacked them. Many of the merchant attacked by Spain used their ships to launch raids on Spanish colonies.

Ancient Scientists

Heron of Alexandria (fl.1st century ad) was an Egyptian inventor who developed a series of machines for use in temples that used steam power, rising smoke and other principles. One invention was a slot machine that used the weight of a falling coin to dispense a measured amount of holy water to worshippers. Another used air expanding from a sealed metal ball inside a fire lit on a sacrificial altar “miraculously” to open temple doors up to 100 feet away. He also developed a metal ball linked to a kettle that could be made to rotate at extremely high speed when the water in the kettle boiled.


Polybius (fl.150bc) was a Greek soldier who invented a system of long distance communication for use by the military. The key to the device was a grid of letters arranged in numbered rows and columns. A soldier would wave a flag, by day, or a torch, by night. By waving to the left he would show the row and by waving to the right the column of the letter indicated. The limits of the naked eye meant that a signal could be sent only over a distance of a mile, but relays of signallers could send a message over a vast distance very quickly. This was why the Romans, who adopted the system, built small towers at one mile intervals along boundary fortifications such as Hadrian’s Wall.


The Chinese court scientist Chang Heng (fl.132) invented a seismograph, or earthquake sensor. This consisted of an inverted pendulum set inside a bronze jar and linked via a system of rods and levers to eight dragon heads, in the mouth of each of which was a small ball. When an earthquake struck, no matter how slight, the jar moved with the ground, but the pendulum stayed still. This caused the system of rods to move and push out a ball from the mouth of the dragon facing the direction from which the shock had come. A replica built in 1939 worked perfectly.





 
This is an extract from Heroes, Rascals and Rogues by Rupert Matthews

Reorganisation of the RAF Fighter Command to get ready for D-Day 1944

The spring and summer of 1944 would prove to be the busiest period of the war for Fighter Command in Sussex, outstripping the hectic days of the Battle of Britain. The reason was, of course, the D-Day invasions of Europe. Located directly north of the Normandy beaches, Sussex was the ideal launchpad for air missions and offered the closest airfields – always a consideration for short-range aircraft such as fighters.

First, however, a great deal of preliminary work was necessary. In November 1943 Fighter Command officially ceased to exist. In its place emerged two new organisations within the RAF. The first of these was named the Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB). as its name suggests this consisted of those units whose tasks were solely concerned with defending the air space over Britain itself. It embraced the searchlight, balloon and anti-aircraft batteries as well as the night fighter squadrons and those day squadrons detailed to protect Britain.

The second new command was the 2nd Tactical Air Force (2nd TAF). This was made up of those Fighter Command squadrons that had been chiefly engaged in Sweeps or Intruder missions over occupied Europe. To these squadrons were added a few light and medium bomber squadrons from Bomber Command. The role of 2nd TAF was initially to pound targets in occupied Europe, mostly in preparation for the invasion. Once the invasion had taken place they were to move over to airfields in Europe, following the armies on their planned advance to Germany and the heart of the Reich. Meanwhile, they were based in Sussex and nearby areas.



This is an extract from Heroes of RAF Fighter Command in Sussex by Rupert Matthews.

Website has been updated

Check out my revised and updated website by clicking HERE

RAF fighter tactics, summer 1940

As the smoke cleared from Dunkirk and the panzers were surging across France an American newspaper reporter was interviewing Air Vice Marshal Charles Blount who had been commanding the RAF squadrons sent to France. He was now back in London and was being used by the British Ministry of Information to give the British side of recent events.

As the interview closed the American asked “What’s going to happen when the French are beaten and the Germans can turn their whole air force on to this country?”

Blount thought for a moment then said “They’re going to get the shock of their lives”.

During the fighting over France the pilots of Fighter Command had been growing increasingly unhappy with their standard tactics, particularly when contrasted with those of the Luftwaffe. Although the British pilots had achieved much, there was no doubt that control of the air over France lay with the Germans. One feature all British pilots noticed was that the Germans would not press an attack home unless they had a clear advantage, preferring to break off if the British gained the upper hand. But there was more to it than this combat caution.

Fighter Command tactics had developed during the 1930s as modern variants of the World War I tactics, but updated for the new faster fighters and larger, better-armed bombers. The basis of all RAF fighter tactics was the squadron of 12 aircraft. This was divided into two flights of six aircraft, each able to operate independently. Each flight was further divided into two sections of three aircraft, though this was for tactical sake and the sections were not expected to operate independently. It was set down that the sections would be in the “Vic” formation with the aircraft in the centre ahead of the other two.

There were three basic types of attack authorised by Fighter Command. The No.1 Attack was for use by a flight or squadron against a lone enemy bomber. The fighters would form up in line astern behind and below the enemy. The squadron leader attacked first, closing to 400 yards, firing a short burst and then peeling away to allow the next fighter to attack in similar fashion. The first fighter would then turn away and return to the rear of the line astern.

The No.2 Attack was for use by a flight attacking a formation of bombers. The flight would approach the enemy from the rear and the two sections would separate when about 800 yards from the enemy. Each section would then swerve outward to approach the enemy from a rear flank. After closing to 400 ayrds and firing a burst, the sections would peel outward, then return to repeat the manoeuvre.

The No.3 Attack envisaged a flight approaching a large formation of bombers from the rear with the two sections in line abreast. Again the fighters were to close, fire and peel away.

The No.4 Attack envisaged that a squadron of turret fighters would fly alongside the enemy bomber formation and fire at them from the beam. This would break up the bomber formations, allowing the single-seat fighters to dart in and pick off the stragglers one at a time.

It should be noted that the optimum firing range was set at 400 yards since it was thought that this provided a sensible balance between the accuracy of the guns and the ability of a pilot to react at the combat speeds of a Hurricane fighter. Ten machine guns in the wings of all RAF fighters were angled so that the streams of bullets they fired would meet at a single point 400 yards in front of the aircraft.

The tactics worked well enough in peacetime practice combats, but they did rely on two very big assumptions. The first was that the enemy bombers would behave as the RAF trained its own bomber squadrons to behave. This was to fly straight and level in a tight formation so that the defensive guns of each aircraft could cover the next. The second assumption was that there would be no escorting fighters. Given the distance from Germany to England this latter was a reasonable premise, but as the fighting over Dunkirk showed, the German fighters were actually based at mobile airfields close to the front line and very few Luftwaffe bomber formations went into battle without a fighter escort.

This is an extract from Heroes of RAF Fighter Command in Kent by Rupert Matthews.