Military Archives - Mechtraveller

Dynamo Museum Dunkirk, revisited

Alastair — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 16:11:57 +0000

Operation Dynamo was the name given to the hurried extraction of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), plus allies (mostly French), from the beach at Dunkirk (Dunkerque) in May/June 1940. The Musée Dunkerque 1940 is located in Bastion 32, the headquarters for the French and Allied forces during the Battle of Dunkirk and Operation Dynamo. This […]

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Falklands Tribute by Standing With Giants is coming to Nothe Fort, Weymouth

Alastair — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 12:11:26 +0000

The 255 silhouette Falklands Tribute remembrance art installation by Standing with Giants will be open to the public during November at Nothe Fort in Weymouth, Dorset. The charity artwork comprises 255 life-size figures representing Seafarers, Royal Marines, Army, and Airmen and 3 civilians who lost their lives during the 1982 war on The Falkland Islands with […]

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Laffly V15

Alastair — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 14:28:17 +0000

I love this quirky little French 6-wheeler from 1939. It’s a Laffly V15T with 4-wheel drive, plus an extra two wheels to get it over lumps & bumps! It had a top speed of 58 kph and was used primary by the French cavalry as an artillery tractor to tow their 25mm anti tank gun. […]

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Marmon Herrington Mk4 SARC

Alastair — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 13:03:24 +0000

The Marmon Herrington Mk4 SARC (South African Reconnaissance Car) was introduced to Allied forces in 1943 after wheeled vehicles had proved very useful in the first engagements with the Afrika Korps. The SARC was a speedy (85 km/h, 53 mph) reconnaissance vehicle, lightly armoured (12mm – 30mm) and armed with a 2-pounder (40mm) canon plus […]

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Fort des Dunes, Dunkirk

Alastair — Thu, 08 May 2025 13:13:07 +0000

Fort des Dunes is a 19th century fort built among the sand dunes at Leffrinckoucke in Northern France just behind the famous beach of Dunkirk. In fact it lies about eight kilometres from the border with Belgium and six kilometres from the centre of Dunkirk, so roughly halfway along that huge expanse of sand. Now […]

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Dutch National Military Museum is to display an original WW1 Fokker D.VII

Alastair — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 13:26:56 +0000

This is an interesting tale. A Fokker D.VII fighter aircraft is being returned to the Netherlands where it will go on display at the National Military Museum, Soesterberg. The biplane was designed during the First World War, and went into service with the Dutch Fleet Air Arm in the inter-war years. However it seems that […]

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Review: Military Museum of the Canaries, Tenerife

Alastair — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 15:57:39 +0000

The Military Museum of the Canaries in Santa Cruz de Tenerife covers the military history of the Canary Islands (Spain) from the 15th century to present day. It is housed in the Almeyda fortress, which was built to strengthen the capital’s defences after Admiral Nelson’s failed attack in 1797, and it contains some key artefacts […]

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How an Enigma Machine works

Alastair — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 18:24:01 +0000

Next time you go to Bletchley Park, you might want to take a look beforehand at this really clear and simple explanation of how the WW2 German Enigma machine worked. It’s the latest video in Jared Owen’s series of 3D animations explaining how things work, and it caught my eye because back in the late […]

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‘We Have Ways Fest’ success paves the way for next year

Alastair — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 15:36:38 +0000

The ‘We Have Ways to Make You Talk’ podcast has become hugely popular with WW2 history fans, experts and historians alike since it began in March 2019. Last weekend many of them gathered in some fields near Silverstone, Buckinghamshire, for the first 2-day ‘We Have Ways Fest’ (Fest-ival). Comedian & military history buff, Al Murray, […]

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Vimoutiers Tiger Tank

Alastair — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 13:38:38 +0000

The Tiger Tank parked by the side of the road down into Vimoutiers in the Orne dept of Normandy is a well known historic monument left over from WW2. “Wait! You dragged us 20 kilometres off our route to see THIS?” said my partner. “Yes, obvs!” She had a point. These days Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger […]

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