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BBC News
05-05-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
VE Day and using the weather to gain military advantage
As celebrations to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day ramp up, let us consider the impact of one of the most crucial weather forecasts in D-Day landings, which took place a year before liberation, marked a pivotal moment during World War was the largest seaborne invasion in history with over 150,000 troops alighting across five beaches. Its success was highly dependent on favourable to the intervention of a weather forecaster, D-Day narrowly avoided being one of the biggest disasters in military history. Why was the weather important? Low tides and quiet weather were vital to getting such a huge number of troops onto the beaches of a full moon giving good visibility and low tides expected on 5, 6 and 7 June, there was huge pressure to deliver a favourable weather now in a world of computer modelling, satellite and radar data and widespread observations, forecasting the weather 24 hours ahead of time can be a challenging in 1944 it was even more difficult - not least the job of trying to predict conditions several days ahead. A late weather observation The invasion date was initially set for 5 the army's Chief Meteorologist, Group Captain James Stagg spotted a potent area of low pressure set to move across the UK that day, bringing strong winds and extensive low cloud to the English Channel making the attempt too as the weather charts were being drawn up on 4 June, a late weather observation from a ship in the Atlantic identified a potential brief ridge of high pressure building after the low Stagg believed, would be enough to provide a "window of opportunity" and enough of a break in the weather for the invasion to take place on the 6 June instead. Did the risk pay off? The invasion went ahead on 6 June when the brief weather window opened up, but conditions were - if anything - slightly worse than expected and far from cloud sat over parts of the northern coast of France, limiting visibility of the ground to aircraft overhead. Winds were also stronger, making seas rougher and the tides higher. The Channel crossing became vomit-inducing and energy-sapping for many troops, making landing on the coast far more challenging than had been the risk of taking the decision to invade in such marginal conditions paid off. The Germans were taken by surprise and the course of the war Weather and the Shipping Forecast at 100Weather history: Frost fairs in the Little Ice AgeHow much do you think you know about other battles throughout history where the weather played a role? Try our BBC Weather quiz and find out.
BBC News
29-04-2025
- BBC News
Guernsey blue plaque to honour Occupation news agents
A blue plaque will be unveiled to remember people who "risked their lives" and distributed "uncensored news" during World War has been awarded to the Guernsey Active Secret Press by the Blue Plaque Panel commemorating agents who listened to broadcasts outside of the island and shared the news with islanders during the guide Amanda Johns said the unveiling of the plaque was fitting as it aligned with the 80th anniversary of Liberation plaque will be unveiled on 6 May at 10:30 BST at 34 St George's Esplanade. 'Not forgotten' Ms Johns, who has been working on the recognition for two years, said in 1942 radios were confiscated by the German occupying forces."Ludovic E. Bertrand, the editor of GASP, started to listen to radios and crystal sets and write down the news from the UK," she said. "It was so important to get uncensored news out to local people. It helped give them a feel that they were not forgotten."The States of Guernsey said GASP started as a one person operation before expanding to three, then 12 before the network widened across the Johns said all of the agents involved were "risking their lives", especially knowing what happened to Guernsey Underground News Service (GUNS), another resistance network also distributing said their names were given to the German forces and they were deported off the island and put in camps in Europe."The GASP agents knew it could easily happen to them at any point," she said. From June 1942 to May 1945, GASP was producing weekly and monthly newsletters. The States of Guernsey said the threat of arrest was real – many islanders were prosecuted for possessing radio used to write the news above what was known as the T. G. Moullin and Sons cycle shop, now China Red, said Ms Johns. "They would be typing up the newspapers upstairs, repairing bicycles downstairs making lots of noise so if a German soldier came into the shop, they wouldn't hear the typewriters upstairs."There was a number of trusted agents... everybody was putting their lives at risk." Ms Johns said the unveiling of the plaque would be "special"."It's such an untold story and we want people to understand exactly what went on."
BBC News
18-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
The Principality of Sealand and its American football team
As a former World War Two sea fort, it is used to crashing waves, bitter winds and passing you are less likely to associate with the Principality of Sealand, a self-declared state 12km (eight miles) off the Essex and Suffolk coast, is an American football Sealand Seahawks, every match is an away this "micronation" has a surface area of just 0.4 hectares (one acre), there is no room for a fact, its land is solely contained to a former anti-aircraft platform in the North Sea, lived on by up to 300 Royal Navy personnel at the height of World War laid abandoned until a former British Army major Roy Bates occupied it in 1966, proclaiming himself king and giving birth to the micronation of it is ruled by his son, Prince how does this solitary, blasted-looking structure even have a sports team?Those logistics were all figured out in a Belfast bar back in 2021."I was a few Guinnesses deep and I came up with this great idea," says Mike Ireland, the team's had come across Sealand when purchasing his dad a lordship online as a joke."I said 'Let's represent this micronation that my dad is a lord of', so I approached Sealand's royal family."I don't think they took me very seriously at first." Mr Ireland, 42, has played American football since 2005, representing Chester and the Police Service of Northern managed to "cobble together 50 lads" for Sealand's first game, getting the micronation's backing after initial doubts."No-one thought it was going to be a serious event, but if someone says I can't do something, I'm going to do it," explains the police officer, who lives in Cornwall but grew up in the north-west of team's one-off matches, which take place against domestic sides, raise money for charity and empower both women and older players to lace up their boots."We have lads in their 50s who are just happy to carry on playing; I want to make this accessible for everybody," says Mr Ireland. The Seahawks also have a "nationals" side, full of promising young players ready to make a name for lack of home ground is used by Mr Ireland as an excuse to travel, with the side's escapades including trips to grounds across the UK and overseas - as well as a Popworld nightclub."Our most recent game was in Leicester, but we also play regularly in Bristol and Milton Keynes," Mr Ireland says."In fact, in Milton Keynes we have a scary good relationship with the local Popworld, as we all love dancing to Abba and drinking cocktails." About 200 people have signed up so far, from "superstar quarterbacks" to players in their 50s wanting to "prat about".Players are only signed if they are recommended by those already involved, and there is just one rule: "Don't be an idiot."Mr Ireland explains: "If you recommend someone and they're an idiot, then they get kicked out and you get kicked out for recommending them. It keeps people honest, I find."To date, only a few people have been shown the the ruler of Sealand has got in on the antics."Prince Michael came out to Palma to watch the nationals," Mr Ireland recalls. "He got on the beers with the boys and he had a grand old time."The [Bates] family are fully on board now. At first they weren't sure what to make of it, but now they realise it's a bit of a laugh; a bit of a giggle." Mr Ireland admits his passion for the "teeny, tiny micronation" splits opinion."It falls into two sides. There's the people who go 'That's really nice; it's lovely' and then there's the people who say 'It's just a jolly on the beers'," he says."But I live and breathe it. I'm proud that I can do something to give back, as American football has been great to me."I can now do something nice for other people, giving them the chance to play overseas and introducing them to people they'd never have met otherwise."Yet despite his impressive patriotism, Mr Ireland has yet to set foot on the rusting country he proudly is a dream he hopes one day will be realised."Otherwise I'll just swim there, and maybe they'll chuck me a rope," he says. Follow East of England news on X, Instagram and Facebook: BBC Beds, Herts & Bucks, BBC Cambridgeshire, BBC Essex, BBC Norfolk, BBC Northamptonshire or BBC Suffolk.
BBC News
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
VE Day: War film The Next Morning 'will bring stories to life'
A short film looking at intergenerational perspectives of World War Two is being released on the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe National Theatre's film, The Next Morning, features award-winning actors Julian Glover and Sian Phillips and includes connected stories to present views of the end of World War will be screened on 8 May at the VE Day 80 concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London. To coincide with the short film, an interactive mobile exhibition of war stories will also tour across the UK, beginning in Coventry, the British city which suffered the most concentrated air attack during the war. The For Evermore Tour, which launches at Coventry Cathedral on 2 May, has been created by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) and will bring to life histories and stories from World War CGWC has collated the war experiences of members of the public with funding from the Post Office Remembrance the evening of 2 May, a concert will be held in Coventry Cathedral to commemorate VE Day 80 in aid of the charitable arm of the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation. A CWGC spokesperson said: "Set in the stunning historic Coventry Cathedral, this promises to be a magical evening of music, commemoration, and remembrance."And added the event would, "mark the incredible legacy of liberation left by the veterans of the Second World War and remember over 600,000 men and women of the Commonwealth who lost their lives in this world-changing conflict". Claire Horton, director general at the CWGC, said: "By collating these stories in what will become the definitive resource of the stories of those who died in the world wars, we have created an enduring tribute to the men and women from across the Commonwealth who gave their lives, and we ensure that they will never be forgotten."The CWG's Torch for Peace will also be present throughout the tour, which will travel to iconic locations and landmarks across the UK, acting as a baton to pass and share stories with future generations, the CWGC said. Ms Horton said stories of people whose lives were "cut short by conflict must be told and shared". On 8 May, The Next Morning film, which has been written by James Graham, who wrote Dear England - a play about ex-England football manager Gareth Southgate, will be will feature Julian Glover, 90, who starred in the James Bond, Indiana Jones and Star Wars films, as well as Sian Phillips, 91, who won a Bafta for her role in I, Claudius, and Joseph Mydell, from the Academy Award-winning film film airs at the VE Day 80 concert, which more than 12,500 people, including war veterans, are expected to attend, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said. The Royal British Legion, the British Evacuees Association and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission are among the organisations that are allocating VE Day 80 concert tickets to people across the than 2,500 young people, who include Duke of Edinburgh ambassadors and Commonwealth scholars, will also watch the show live on Horse Guards Secretary Lisa Nandy said: "Through the National Theatre, the VE Day 80 concert and our UK-wide exhibition, we will bring to life the stories of those no longer with us so that the next generation are able to honour their sacrifice and recognise the legacy of peace that they fought to secure."The concert will be broadcast live on BBC One at 20:00 BST. Additional reporting by PA Media Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
02-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Iron Duke pub in Great Yarmouth gets £2.4m lottery grant
A boarded-up seafront Art Deco pub has been granted £2.4m in lottery funding to help turn around its Grade II-listed Iron Duke in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, closed in 2007 and has attracted vandals while falling into disrepair. But the National Lottery Heritage Fund grant will now help restore the derelict site on North Drive into an all-year destination, with a pub, restaurant and two holiday Williamson, chairman of Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust (GYPT) which has been overseeing the project after buying the site in 2021, said it was "incredibly grateful". He added the money would enable it "to take this project forward and start to deliver the full restoration and economic reuse of this incredibly important listed building".The charity had already been handed £300,000 lottery money in a first round of funding and submitted building plans to Great Yarmouth Borough Council last American diner chain Zaks will operate a pub in one of The Iron Duke's two original bars and a restaurant in the other. Zaks co-owner Chris Carr said the company wanted the redevelopment to be a "real destination for both locals and visitors"."The Iron Duke is such an iconic building, and we look forward to working with GYPT to breathe life back into it," he said. "Being both local and already having a business in the town, we look forward to creating new jobs, working with the diverse community, and forming further partnerships with local businesses and suppliers."Two Art Deco-style holiday apartments will be created in the former pub manager's flat on the first floor. GYPT said both bars wpuld be returned to their 1930s Art Deco glory, following research through the archives and contact with conservation pub consultants, architectural historians and interior original plans have also been made use of, while former owners, managers and pub-goers have helped shape the new plans, according to is hoped the building will reopen in early summer site's surroundings will be landscaped, while people can also get involved in learning traditional building skills and a photographic records project, as well as food and cooking workshops aimed at making the most of low-cost and local to The Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain (SAHGB), the pub was granted a special licence so it could serve locally stationed troops during World War reopened in 1948, the society said. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
