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Sword Beach, the first detailed study of the British landings at Ouistreham on D-Day, is now available in a range of formats.
Stephen Fisher
26.7K posts
Stephen Fisher
@SeaSpitfires
Historian, author, @NatGeo & @LindbladExp guide & speaker, @NauticalHistory trustee. Soft spot for D-Day, landing craft & MTBs. Servant to Flynn. Hates AI.
- This is not an attempt to justify what happened at Stonehenge today, or even to change anyone’s mind about it. I’d simply like to add some context that I feel has been missing from some reports, statements and tweets.
- Replying to @SeaSpitfiresI’m not interested in the politics of the incident, but I’m faintly amused by the outcry as if this sort of protest-vandalism has never happened at Stonehenge before. It has, more often than you might think.
- Replying to @realMattToomerNo, it's a comment on the archaeological impact on the stones. It's not trying to justify anything.
- Replying to @SeaSpitfires3 stones have been impacted, from L to R in the above image they are numbers 23, 22 & 21. They are sarsen stones, a type of sandstone and whilst they are porous, the substance thrown at them was apparently cornflour. The stones are not in any danger, nor are any carvings on them.Readers added context they thought people might want to knowReaders added contextIf rain had come into contact with the powder, damage could have been significant. The stones are covered in more than fifty different lichens, some of them rare. This meant brushing or washing the paint off was not possible. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…
- Replying to @JasperWaaleNo, it's a comment on the archaeological impact on the stones. It's not trying to justify anything.
- Replying to @SeaSpitfires… accessible. As a result few lichens survive below head height because people were touching the stones. Indeed the lichens will suffer far more damage tomorrow night as thousands of festival goers press themselves into the circle.
- Wartime photos can tell us so much about how the average infantryman was equipped on D-Day. For instance, knowing the dimensions of a Bergen rucksack, we can work out how big this bulge is. So we can tell that this commandos was equipped with an iPhone 9.
- Replying to @SeaSpitfiresTo do this, the stones were wrapped in metal frames and steel hawsers. A far more abrasive material than cornflour. What about the lichens? As you can see most of the cornflour has fallen on bare stone. This is because until the early 80s, the stone circle was totally…
- Replying to @SeaSpitfiresThe stones have also suffered far worse. 23 and 22 were both re-erected in the 1960s, 23 after it mysteriously fell over a few years after it was whacked by 22 when it was itself being hoisted up by a crane. The lintel above 22 and 21 was similarly replaced by a crane.
- RIP His Royal Highness Prince Philip. Prince Philip's war service is usually summarised as getting a Mention in Despatches at the Battle of Cape Matapan and saving HMS Wallace at Sicily. But I feel this overlooks so much more, and occasionally errors creep in, so here we go.
- Replying to @guektiengielineI'm sure they will, but that's not the point of my thread.
- You've got it.
- I've recently seen some very questionable archaeology. I don't like politics and happily respect that different people have different views, but on this occasion it has to be said that there is a rise in far-right attacks on the profession, so I want to highlight some examples.
