“The Hardest Day” saw the Luftwaffe lose more than 60 aircraft, while the RAF lost around 30 fighters together with experienced pilots whose replacement was increasingly difficult.
What began as a local military incident near the Marco Polo Bridge on the outskirts of Beijing developed into the Second Sino-Japanese War, which later became part of the wider Second World War in Asia.
By the end of 1940 Hitler had authorised the invasion of the USSR, with the intention of securing agricultural land and raw materials, alongside the eradication of communism.
Hess landed twelve miles away from his intended destination of Dungavel House, the home of the Duke of Hamilton, with whom he hoped to open peace negotiations.
The US invasion of Iwo Jima, known as ‘Operation Detachment’, led to five weeks of fierce fighting between around 21,000 Japanese troops and 110,000 Americans.
Approximately 300 B-52 bombers dropped thousands of tons of incendiaries over the eastern districts of Tokyo, causing firestorms that overwhelmed firefighting efforts and killed around 100,000 people, with many more injured.
Roosevelt identified freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear that, together, provided a moral framework for US engagement in the war.
The Japanese used approximately 60,000 POWs, mainly British, Dutch, Australian, and American, to construct the railway alongside an estimated 180,000 to 250,000 Asian civilians. It is estimated that around 12,000 Allied prisoners and up to 90,000 civilians died during construction.
Subtitled “A Fairy Story,” the Animal Farm used a farmyard allegory to critique totalitarianism, particularly the rise and betrayal of the ideals of the Russian Revolution, which caused several publishers to initially reject the book, with concerns that it would harm wartime relations with the USSR.
No. 303 Squadron, which was composed primarily of Polish airmen who had escaped to Britain after the defeat of Poland, claimed the largest number of aircraft shot down of any RAF squadron during the Battle of Britain.
28th June 2015
11th November 2025
11th November 2025
1st September 2018
9th November 2019
