Articles by donbrown

bomber command memorial green park

The Bomber Command Memorial, Green Park

04/05/2024 donbrown 0

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 […]

bali bombing memorial london

The Bali bombing memorial, Horseguards Avenue

04/05/2024 donbrown 0

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 […]

mi6 headquarters vauxhall

Spook Central – the MI6 Building at Vauxhall

23/04/2024 donbrown 0

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 […]

violet szabo bust london

“Carve their names with pride”: the SOE Memorial

29/02/2024 donbrown 0

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 […]

inside sir john soane's museum

Glorious Chaos: Sir John Soane’s Museum

17/02/2024 donbrown 0

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 […]

st paul's cathedral on the nla city model

The New London Model: Towering over the City

16/02/2024 donbrown 0

Should you want to feel godlike, the entire capital spread out beneath your glorious presence, then the place to go is The London Centre, in […]

Rabbit holes, hangings and John Rocque’s Map of London

13/02/2024 donbrown 0

As usual, it started with a bit of googling to research something completely different, but when an interesting rabbit hole appears it seems remiss not […]

hms belfast in the thames

The Last of the WW2 Big Ships – HMS Belfast

30/01/2024 donbrown 0

A visit to HMS Belfast on a chilly, late January Tuesday gave me the ship almost to myself, the first time I’d visited this floating […]

Days Out – Bletchley Park, Home of the WW2 Codebreakers

26/01/2024 donbrown 0

Less than 40 minutes on the fast service from Euston gets you to Bletchley (now part of Milton Keynes). It is a journey that would […]

The Nereid Monument in the British Museum

22/01/2024 donbrown 0

On one’s way to the Parthenon Gallery one walks through Room 17 of the British Museum and there, on the right, is what appears to […]