Pointe du Hoc is the famous cliff promontory at the western edge of Omaha beach, that was heroically scaled and overrun by US Rangers on the morning of D-Day, June 6th 1944. Now it is a battlefield and memorial site. The History D-Day planners were particularly worried...
This month, FCA Italy, the Turin-based subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, finished converting a former 15,000 m2 workspace at their Mirafiori manufacturing plant into a home for 250 historic Fiat, Lancia and Abarth cars. Some of the cars have been arranged into specific themes. Each theme displays...
The Mary Rose is one of Britain’s most important historic artefacts and should be on everyone’s ‘Must See’ list. When she sank into the silt of the Solent almost five centuries ago (474 yrs), she became a Tudor time capsule containing the personal effects, weapons, tools, clothing,...
This summer, The Steam Dreams Rail Co. is launching The Royal Windsor Steam Express, the first regular steam train service in recent history from London Waterloo to Windsor. The service will leave Waterloo at 08.02, 11.10 and 14.10 every Tuesday, June 4th – September 3rd. There will...
The Overlord Museum is one of the primary museums on the Normandy coast and popular with visitors because it sits next door to the American Cemetery, which is pretty much a ‘must-see’ for most visitors to the area. It is not a large museum but it packs...
The National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam (Het Scheepvaartmuseum) will open two brand new semi-permanent displays of its collection in May: Republic at Sea and Maps & Marvels. The museum’s Main Gallery will host Republic at Sea, which will display paintings, ship models, instruments, and weapons illustrating how...
Gatwick will be the first UK airport to trial robots that valet park passengers’ cars. The airport signed a framework contract with Stanley Robotics on Tuesday, to set up a trial later this year. The trial will run from the second half of 2019 to early 2020...
The Army Flying Museum in Hampshire will be re-opening its doors on the 1st April after a four month, £2.59 million makeover. The museum’s collection, which features fixed & rotary wing Army aircraft from WW1 to the present, is now supplemented with new exhibits, better lighting, a...
The operational history of HMS Warrior 1860¹, the world’s first iron-hulled, armoured warship was both dull and brief, and that’s what makes her so interesting, because when launched she was, without question, the most powerful warship afloat. So how come she never distinguished herself in action? Well,...
A famous concept car from the 1950s, the Golden Sahara II, has been restored and unveiled at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show. Now owned by Klairmont Kollections, the car was originally built by Jim Street and legendary custom car designer George Barris, to be a platform...
By the time the Carro Armato M15/42 ¹ came into service in 1943, the scenario it had been designed for – fast moving desert warfare in North Africa – was over, and by October that year Italy had switched sides in the war. Just as well really....
HMS M33 is the smallest of the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN)’s museum ships and you’ll find her in her dry dock next to HMS Victory. She is significant because she is the last remaining ship from the Gallipoli campaign in WW1. History HMS M33...
Set back behind the Tudor bulk of Southsea Castle, just east of Portsmouth harbour, the D-Day Story Museum does what it says on the label – showcases the events leading up to the Allied invasion of France on June 6 1944, codenamed Operation Overlord. There’s been a...
The ZSU-23-4 Shilka is a Soviet self-propelled anti-aircraft system. I thought the Shilka was an old piece of Cold War kit, but it turns out that, while it may be old, many countries have developed upgrade packs and are still using it. The ZSU-23-4 (Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka...
This is a niche blog about technically-minded travel. It reflects my own interests in the mechanical, technical, historical, engineering, transport and military world.
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