“Saul has slain his thousands” | The Machine Gun Corps Memorial
Saul has slain his thousands, but David his tens of thousands The inscription above, which is on the memorial to the Machine Gun Corps at […]
Articles by donbrown
Book Review | Vic Keegan’s Lost London 2
A coffee in the Onion Garden with the inestimable Vic Keegan – journalist, oenologist, poet and historian of London. His ‘Lost London’ column ran weekly […]
The Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum
One of the lesser-visited galleries in the IWM is on Level 5 (the top floor), the Lord Ashcroft collection of Victoria Crosses and George Crosses […]
The Charing Cross: Victorian Medievalism
According to etymologists, the word ‘charing’ seems to come from the old English – “cerring”- meaning a bend, hence ‘charing’ appearing on many old maps, […]
Feeling Sorry for Marble Arch
If it’s possible to feel sorry for a pile of stones, the Marble Arch is probably deserving of sympathy. Like a Hollywood megastar now scratching […]
The Bomber Command Memorial, Green Park
Over 55,000 Bomber Command crew lost their lives during the second world war – a death rate of over 44% from those who served. Thousands […]
The Bali bombing memorial, Horseguards Avenue
On 12 October 2002, Islamist suicide bombers detonated a large car bomb and a device in a backpack in nightclubs in the popular tourist location […]
Spook Central – the MI6 Building at Vauxhall
Trains from Clapham Junction to Waterloo generally stop at Vauxhall, and whenever on the service I look at the passengers getting on or off at […]
“Carve their names with pride”: the SOE Memorial
Many of the stories of those who served in WW2 are capable of inducing in those of us who have never had to face such […]
Glorious Chaos: Sir John Soane’s Museum
Sir John Soane (1753-1837), most famously the architect of the Bank of England and Dulwich Picture Gallery, was the son of a bricklayer who rose […]