Search results for ""Author Anthony Richards""

Operation Overlord, the codename given to the Allied invasion of German-occupied Western Europe in 1944, was arguably the most challenging, complicated and risky military operation in history. It began on 6 June with Operation Neptune, the largest seaborne invasion ever seen, when 150,000 troops crossed the Channel and attempted to land on the beaches at Normandy. This assault would lay the foundation for the Allied victory on the Western Front, and is now commonly known as D-Day. This highly illustrated book, first published to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day in 2019, will reconstruct the historic landings and the resultant battle for Normandy using artefacts, documents, interviews, film, art and photographs from the archives at IWM. Importantly, it will feature first-hand accounts of the action from the vast documents and sound collection, allowing the reader to follow a personal narrative throughout and experience what it was like to live through what was one of the most significant campaigns of the Second World War.

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Christmas has been regularly celebrated during wartime. From the Christmas truce of 1914 out in no-mans land on the Western Front, to POWs cooking up their very unique Christmas dinners with whatever they could get their hands on in German prisoner of war camps in the 1940s, the privations and difficulties caused by conflict has never stopped people indulging in a little Christmas cheer. This highly illustrated gift book tells the stories of those who lived through these challenging times, when wrapping paper was banned, rationing was in force and children were separated from their families. Also included are tips and tricks to create recycled presents and greetings cards, and recipes to cook a delicious wartime Christmas meal. Wartime Christmas explores the dichotomy apparent in celebrating 'peace to all men' while continuing to fight a war of aggression.

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*Shortlisted for the 2019 Mountbatten Award* "We went up on deck and were looking around when the awful crash came. The ship listed so much that we all scrambled down the deck and for a moment everything was in confusion. When I came to myself again I glanced around but could find no trace of Mr Prichard. He seemed to have disappeared." - Grace French The sinking of the Lusitania is an event that has been predominantly discussed from a political or maritime perspective. For the first time, The Lusitania Sinking tells the story in the emotive framework of a family looking for information on their son's death. On 1 May 1915, the 29-year-old student Preston Prichard embarked as a Second Class passenger on the Lusitania, bound from New York for Liverpool. By 2pm on the afternoon of 7 May, the liner was approaching the coast of Ireland when she was sighted by the German submarine U-20\. A single torpedo caused a massive explosion in the Lusitania's hold, and the ship began sank rapidly. Within 20 minutes she disappeared and 1,198 men, women and children, including Preston, died. Uncertain of Preston's fate, his family leaped into action. His brother Mostyn, who lived in Ramsgate, travelled to Queenstown to search morgues but could find nothing. Preston's mother wrote hundreds of letters to survivors to find out more about what might have happened in his last moments. The Lusitania Sinking compiles the responses received. Perhaps sensing his fate, Prichard had put his papers in order before embarking and told a fellow student where to find his will if anything happened to him. During the voyage, he was often seen in the company of Grace French, quoted above. Alice Middleton, who had a crush on him but was too shy to speak to him throughout the entire voyage, remembered that he helped her in reaching the upper decks during the last moments of the sinking: "[The Lusitania] exploded and down came her funnels, so over I jumped. I had a terrible time in the water, 41/2 hours bashing about among the wreckage and dead bodies... It was 10.30 before they landed me at the hospital in an unconscious condition. In fact, they piled me with a boat full of dead and it was only when they were carrying the dead bodies to the Mortuary that they discovered there was still life in me."

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More than 170,000 British prisoners of war (POWs) were taken by German and Italian forces during the Second World War. Conditions were tough. Rations were meagre. The days dragged and there was a constant battle against boredom. The men, but not officers, had to work, often at heavy labour. Guests of the Third Reich will provide an overview of what daily life was like for prisoners, from staging theatre productions to keep morale up to working allotments and planning audacious escape attempts. Utilising IWM’s collections of letters, diaries, memoirs and sound interviews, this gripping, poignant narrative conveys the story of those in captivity in Germany during the Second World War in a personal and engaging way. Also featured are a selection of photographs from the IWM archive, giving a rare glimpse inside these infamous internment camps.

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During the Second World War, across the frontline as well as on the Home Front, millions of people recorded their thoughts of their experiences - whether in letters, their personal diaries or those prosecuting the war giving speeches. Much as Letters of Note celebrated the great letters written through history, so Words of War allows the Imperial War Museum to showcase its incredible array of first-hand material to shine a light on how people journeyed through the 1939-45 conflict.Ten chapters take the reader chronologically through the key moments of the war: from the retreat to Dunkirk to the battle of the Atlantic; the savage fighting in the jungles of the far East to the RAF Bomber Command's campaign in Europe; the discovery of the Nazi's concentration camp system to the war's ultimate conclusion at the Nuremburg trials. One hundred documents are researched and selected by the Imperial War Museum's expert archivists, with commentary from their head Antony Richards explaining the significance of each and placing it in context to the war's progression. Readers will be able to engage and empathise with the writers in a thought-provoking and immediate way.

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