Latest news with #WorldWarTwo
Sky News AU
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
US allies critical to combating the ‘enormous scale' of China's military
Former DFAT Australia-China Council scholar Andrew Phelan discusses calls from Donald Trump's key defence adviser, Elbridge Colby, to clarify whether AUKUS subs will aid the US if China attacks Taiwan. 'China has something that Britain had at the height of its empire, and then America had after World War Two – it's got scale. It's got enormous scale,' Mr Phelan told Sky News Australia. 'In a Taiwan contingency, it would be fighting close to home, and America would be fighting far from home … so allies become critical because when you add the allies in, it brings an allied effort to the scale, that gives China pause.'
.jpeg%3Fwidth%3D1200%26auto%3Dwebp%26quality%3D75%26trim%3D0%2C196%2C0%2C304%26crop%3D&w=3840&q=100)
Scotsman
a day ago
- General
- Scotsman
German consul 'moved and humbled' by visit to Cultybraggan Prisoner of War camp
Sign up to our History and Heritage newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The German Consul to Scotland said she was 'moved and humbled' by a visit to a prisoner of war camp in Perthshire that housed the most dangerous Nazis during the Second World War. General Consul Christiane Hullmann made the visit to Cultybraggan near Comrie, where more than 4,000 men were held. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Cultybraggan Prisoner of War Camp near Comrie in Perthshire. More than 4,000 men were held here during World War Two, including 2,700 Germans and hardline Nazis. | Contributed They included around 2,700 Germans, with Cultybraggan the only surviving 'black list' camp at the time of the German surrender given it housed members of the SS and those fully immersed in Nazi ideology. READ MORE: VE Day: Silence among Nazi hardliners at Scotland's high security POW camp Ms Hullmann was invited to Cultybraggan by the Comrie Development Trust, which runs the camp as a heritage site that features original Nissen huts slept in by POWs, a museum and also an orchard, business units, a cafe and holiday accommodation. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She said: "As a German, I found it very moving and humbling to receive such a warm welcome at Cultybraggan, a place which is such a stark reminder of the dark time when Germany brought such death and destruction across Britain and Europe. "I am personally very interested in history, but it is also an important part of our official policy to engage in keeping the memory of World War Two alive." A postcard of Cultybraggan near Comrie, dated 1955. The former POW Camp is now run by the community and is open as a heritage site. The 80th anniversary of VE Day will be marked there this weekend. PIC: Comrie Development Trust. | Comrie Development Trust Ms Hullmann added: "As a German, you know of the brutal and deadly conditions under which Soviet POWs were held by Nazi-Germany. They were essentially left to die. "It was therefore very moving to see that the German prisoners of war at Cultybraggan were very well treated and were getting the same rations of food as soldiers in the British army.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad READ MORE: The Scots fighters who paved the last roads to victory in Europe Cultybraggan was the scene of an infamous murder in 1944 when German officer Wolfgang Rosterg was beaten and kicked to death in Hut No 4. He was incorrectly believed to have been an informant of a planned escape of more than 7,000 German POWs from a barracks in Wiltshire. Six men were convicted of his murder and five were hanged at Pentonville Prison. Adolf Hitler's deputy Rudolph Hess also spent a night at the camp after parachuting into Scotland in 1941. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Although Cultybraggan was a camp of the highest security, many prisoners who were trusted by authorities were allowed to work in surrounding farms or deliver goods on behalf of local businesses. At the end of the war, some POWs remained in Scotland and helped rebuild infrastructure by laying roads, building houses or logging trees. In 2016, former German POW Heinrich Steinmeyer left £384,000 in his will to Comrie given the kindness he was shown there. German Consul General Christiane Hullman (left) with members of the Comrie Development Trust during her recent visit to Cultybraggan. | Contributed Ms Hullmann said: "There were die-hard Nazis held there, but also very young Germans who were not so deeply committed who were allowed to work on farms. They also had a cultural life, with a theatre group and a music band at the camp, for example. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "Some of the prisoners decided to stay in Scotland after the end of the war, which is the strongest testimony that they were well treated. Many prisoners came back after the war to visit, and one former POW left his inheritance to Cultybraggan. "The place really is a treasure trove of stories and I would very much like to bring over some young German volunteers to help to preserve the camp. That would be fantastic."
Scotsman
2 days ago
- General
- Scotsman
German consul 'moved and humbled' by visit to Cultybraggan Prisoner of War camp where hardline Nazis held
Sign up to our History and Heritage newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The German Consul to Scotland said she was 'moved and humbled' by a visit to a prisoner of war camp in Perthshire that housed the most dangerous Nazis during the Second World War. General Consul Christiane Hullmann made the visit to Cultybraggan near Comrie, where more than 4,000 men were held. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Cultybraggan Prisoner of War Camp near Comrie in Perthshire. More than 4,000 men were held here during World War Two, including 2,700 Germans and hardline Nazis. | Contributed They included around 2,700 Germans, with Cultybraggan the only surviving 'black list' camp at the time of the German surrender given it housed members of the SS and those fully immersed in Nazi ideology. READ MORE: VE Day: Silence among Nazi hardliners at Scotland's high security POW camp Ms Hullmann was invited to Cultybraggan by the Comrie Development Trust, which runs the camp as a heritage site that features original Nissen huts slept in by POWs, a museum and also an orchard, business units, a cafe and holiday accommodation. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She said: "As a German, I found it very moving and humbling to receive such a warm welcome at Cultybraggan, a place which is such a stark reminder of the dark time when Germany brought such death and destruction across Britain and Europe. "I am personally very interested in history, but it is also an important part of our official policy to engage in keeping the memory of World War Two alive." A postcard of Cultybraggan near Comrie, dated 1955. The former POW Camp is now run by the community and is open as a heritage site. The 80th anniversary of VE Day will be marked there this weekend. PIC: Comrie Development Trust. | Comrie Development Trust Ms Hullmann added: "As a German, you know of the brutal and deadly conditions under which Soviet POWs were held by Nazi-Germany. They were essentially left to die. "It was therefore very moving to see that the German prisoners of war at Cultybraggan were very well treated and were getting the same rations of food as soldiers in the British army.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad READ MORE: The Scots fighters who paved the last roads to victory in Europe Cultybraggan was the scene of an infamous murder in 1944 when German officer Wolfgang Rosterg was beaten and kicked to death in Hut No 4. He was incorrectly believed to have been an informant of a planned escape of more than 7,000 German POWs from a barracks in Wiltshire. Six men were convicted of his murder and five were hanged at Pentonville Prison. Adolf Hitler's deputy Rudolph Hess also spent a night at the camp after parachuting into Scotland in 1941. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Although Cultybraggan was a camp of the highest security, many prisoners who were trusted by authorities were allowed to work in surrounding farms or deliver goods on behalf of local businesses. At the end of the war, some POWs remained in Scotland and helped rebuild infrastructure by laying roads, building houses or logging trees. In 2016, former German POW Heinrich Steinmeyer left £384,000 in his will to Comrie given the kindness he was shown there. German Consul General Christiane Hullman (left) with members of the Comrie Development Trust during her recent visit to Cultybraggan. | Contributed Ms Hullmann said: "There were die-hard Nazis held there, but also very young Germans who were not so deeply committed who were allowed to work on farms. They also had a cultural life, with a theatre group and a music band at the camp, for example. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "Some of the prisoners decided to stay in Scotland after the end of the war, which is the strongest testimony that they were well treated. Many prisoners came back after the war to visit, and one former POW left his inheritance to Cultybraggan. "The place really is a treasure trove of stories and I would very much like to bring over some young German volunteers to help to preserve the camp. That would be fantastic."
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
WWII evacuee's memoirs discovered in attic
A chance discovery has unearthed the memoirs of a woman evacuated to Lincolnshire during World War Braunston lived in London during the Blitz but was sent to a pig farm in Brampton when the Germans launched their V weapons, which they hoped would win them the 2023, her son Miles Bingham was clearing his mother's attic when he found her memoirs. However, 88-year-old Valerie had Alzheimer's disease and did not recognise her own work. Mr Bingham, 58, said he made the discovery when his mother moved into a care home. From under the cobwebs and dust in the loft of her house in Ludlow, Shropshire, he pulled a manuscript which had lain unseen for told the story of Valerie's experiences in wartime north London, in a house in Bush Hill Park, and when she was evacuated to Lincolnshire in 1944, aged about 11."Whilst they'd survived the Blitz, they were struggling to deal with this new wave of German rockets," Mr Bingham said. He shared an extract from the memoir, which has been published as a book called London Can Take It. "The boom of each V1 hitting London meant I could hear the detonations. Sometimes I even felt the earth tremor. At each explosion I bit my lips until they started to split. My mother looked gaunt with worry." Valerie was bundled on to a train and sent away to safety in the countryside. She had no idea where she was described arriving at the farm."To my despair, where a normal family might have had a front garden, here was a foul-smelling piggery right beside the property. I would be living with a pig man and his wife."I was shown to a small room and I was told to go straight to bed. I just lay there in the dark with my eyes closed, hoping I might wake up tomorrow and this was all a big mistake."Mr Bingham recalled how his mother found an atlas of Britain at school and tried to look up where she was living."She'd gone from the biggest city in the northern hemisphere to a place not even marked on a map of the United Kingdom. It felt like she'd arrived at the end of the world." Mr Bingham said his mother initially wanted to go straight back to London. She slipped little notes into her letters home asking for her mother to come and collect she loved the beautiful Lincolnshire countryside, he said."I remember watching in astonishment, the golden sun dipping below the distant horizon. Previously, I'd only ever arched my neck to view the sun blocked off by tall buildings."Unfortunately, Valerie was unable to appreciate the discovery of her story."She was suffering from Alzheimer's, " Mr Bingham said. "And even when I started to read extracts from her own work, she didn't recognise it at all. "Of course, I just wish I could have discussed it with her, but she died within two weeks of going into a care home."What we have is something really rare and it illuminates a childhood of somebody living in London and experiencing the Blitz. It's also a fantastic story about an evacuee's experiences as well." Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
UK's oldest WW2 veteran Donald Rose dies, aged 110
Donald Rose, the UK's oldest surviving World War Two veteran, has died at the age of Borough Council, which presented Mr Rose with a freedom honour in May, confirmed the news on Rose, who served in the Queen's Royal Regiment as a sniper, survived a bullet to the leg during the D-Day leader James Dawson paid tribute to Mr Rose, who lived at a care home in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, saying: "Erewash was privileged to count him as a resident."
