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Hey Everyone, hope you are all well. Just uploaded some new documents to the Explore History Archives that you might want to check out. This batch includes a Victorian Indenture naming Sir Nathaniel Lindley a Lord Justice in 1881, a rare propaganda stamp issued by Sinn Fein in 1907, a WWII RAF Christmas card sent from India to England in 1944, and a political print titled "Opposition Telegraph" from 1798.
Hey everyone, been awhile so I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. I am currently working on a book on WWII which will be titled "Letters from an Empire at War" (got lots of time to write, right?) and was just typing up this letter from a young man (civilian) in Britain from September 12th 1939 - so just over a week after the outbreak of the war - and was struck by how much his situation mirrored ours today. he was in East London, writing to his mother in Eastbourne. In his letter he discusses the impact of the blackout conditions and the looming threat of war.
"Needless to say, although hostilities have been in progress some nine or ten days, I am still sound in mind and limb, although beginning to run short of patience due to the many inconveniences one is put to, though, I know, I come off comparatively lightly compared with most. The biggest inconvenience is the dark of the black-out, which although it hampers me comparatively little, hampers others sufficiently to wash out almost completely any evening activities. I am lucky in my country upbringing that I have almost cats-eyes, and can see fairly well where others are groping, and also, of course, being young and active, I can readily recover myself if I do trip over a pavement or sandbag. It is interesting to go out at night, and observe London under its new conditions. Londoners are observing the stars for the first time in their lives, the traffic is surprisingly well managed although it must be a dog’s game trying to drive in it, trains -practically unlit - loom up like icebergs in a fog; on Sunday, I travelled in a train at night in complete blackness so complete that you didn’t know if you were getting into a full or empty compartment. Many say the black-out is too complete, and is reacting adversely on people’s nerves; I think there is a real nervous reaction taking place, but the trouble is, to my mind, a reflection on the kind of life people normally lead; because there is no kind of amusement on, people have nothing to do and are bored, hence the nervous strain, a constant restlessness - wanting to do something, but having nothing to do. Fortunately I can get away from it, as I can always be busy, even now, but it catches out a good 90% of the younger people in London, and a large percentage of the older ones too."
Am I the only one that sees the similarities to our situation?
Cheers, and stay safe!
DR. SCOTT, Director
The Founding Director of Explore History is Dr. Scott McLean. Scott has a PhD in Modern British history and a Masters in British medieval history. He began his academic career at the University of Guelph, Canada, before moving to England in 1999 to work at Queen's University (Canada) Bader International Study Centre at Herstmonceux Castle. Teaching at the BISC offered the opportunity to not only meet some wonderful students and travel to historic sites, but teach a wide range of courses in British and European history (sometimes as many as 15 courses a year!) It also allowed him to dabble in archaeology.
This resulted in him establishing the schools first Field School in British Archaeology and through this make some amazing discoveries. It also allowed him to indulge one of his other great passions - collecting old documents and items of historical interest. This website is built upon this life-long interest in things historical, his passion for teaching - at all age levels - and exploring history.
