Ian Kikuchi (@curatorian) / X

Ian Kikuchi

22.7K posts

Ian Kikuchi

@curatorian

Historian & curator tweeting history of war, conflict and @I_W_M collections, with digressions into #judo and #videogames. 日本語を勉強している。Tweets are personal views.

London, England

Joined October 2013

Pinned
Ian Kikuchi
@curatorian
Mar 19, 2020
Looking for something else and came across the goofiest set of portraits I think I've ever seen in the @I_W_M collection. They were taken aboard the battleship HMS Rodney, in 1940. © IWM (A 837) - 'A bosun's mate and 6-in gun trainer, 22, frm Manchester iwm.org.uk/collections/it…
Ian Kikuchi
@curatorian
Jun 28, 2024
Deep friar.
Rebecca Ryder 💙
@rebecca_ryder21
Jun 27, 2024
Air Friar
153K
Ian Kikuchi
@curatorian
Jan 30, 2023
Today in 1965, the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill took place in London. His coffin, borne on a gun carriage drawn by sailors, was draped in a Union flag on which was laid his insignia of the Order of the Garter. 🇬🇧 #onthisday @I_W_M RAF-T 5119 / iwm.org.uk/collections/it…
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Ian Kikuchi
@curatorian
Jun 18, 2023
Today in 1944, in Italy, north of Rome, an abandoned German Tiger tank (which seems to be missing its left track) lies precariously by the roadside. An original wartime colour image from the @I_W_M collection.#OnThisDay #WW2 IWM TR 1920 / iwm.org.uk/collections/it…
59K
Ian Kikuchi
@curatorian
Aug 28, 2023
One of the most spectacular shots I've seen in the IWM film collection. On this day in August 1942, during Operation Gauntlet, an Allied raid on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, a British engineer dynamites a small building. @I_W_M AYY 149
00:00
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Ian Kikuchi
@curatorian
Jun 13, 2023
Today in 1944, the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Kelvin powers across the English Channel at 30 knots. Among Kelvin's passengers was British prime minister Winston Churchill, on his way to visit the Normandy beachhead.#OnThisDay #WW2 IWM A 24089 / iwm.org.uk/collections/it…
121K
Ian Kikuchi
@curatorian
Jun 15, 2023
Today in 1944, in Normandy, British troops of glider-borne regiment pose with a local girl, sitting on a captured motorbike. The soldier on the left has acquired a German MP40 submachine gun. Another's picked up a P38 pistol. #OnThisDay #WW2 IWM B 5585 / iwm.org.uk/collections/it…
58K
Ian Kikuchi
@curatorian
Jun 13, 2024
A week ago @I_W_M posted this film clip (IWM A70 33-1) of an unnamed Royal Engineers captain briefing troops before D-Day. I was curious to see if the officer could be identified. A thread... 🧵
00:00
378K
Ian Kikuchi
@curatorian
Jun 14, 2023
Today in 1944, in Normandy, Lieutenant Colonel Humphrey Woods, aged 28, commanding 9th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, is killed in action. His grave, photographed in July 1944. He's now buried at @CWGC's Bayeux War Cemetery. #OnThisDay #WW2 IWM B 7321 / iwm.org.uk/collections/it…
42K
Ian Kikuchi
@curatorian
Jun 17, 2023
Today in 1944, in Normandy, Sherman tanks pass a crashed Spitfire on their way to attack Tilly-sur-Seulles. This aircraft from No.412 Squadron 🇨🇦 was reportedly flown by F/O Herbert Garwood, and crashed after an engine failure.#OnThisDay #WW2 IWM B 5660 / iwm.org.uk/collections/it…
51K
Ian Kikuchi
@curatorian
May 19, 2023
Today in 1945, in Kiel in northern Germany, the German cruiser Admiral Hipper lies in drydock, heavily damaged by Allied bombing and draped in camouflage nets, in this original wartime colour photo. #OnThisDay #PostWW2 @I_W_M TR 2882 / iwm.org.uk/collections/it…
57K
Ian Kikuchi
@curatorian
May 17, 2023
Today in 1944, near Cassino in Italy, a Bren gun team from 2nd Battalion London Irish Rifles man a trench. Above their heads hangs the long barrel of a 17-pounder anti-tank gun, and a Sherman tank stands behind them. #OnThisDay #WW2 @I_W_M NA 15075 / iwm.org.uk/collections/it…
62K
Ian Kikuchi
@curatorian
Nov 23, 2022
The windscreen of an RAF Bristol Beaufighter, after returning from an engagement at sea with a Focke-Wulf 200 Kondor. The Beaufighter took a direct hit from a 13mm round. The pilot, Flying Officer Green, was temporarily blinded by glass dust, but was otherwise unharmed.
Ian Kikuchi
@curatorian
Dec 30, 2022
I've always found this painting incredibly disconcerting. Following an air raid on 29-30 December 1940, fireman-artist Leonard Rosoman fought fires in London's Shoe Lane, where he witnessed a house collapse on two firemen.#WW2 @I_W_M ART LD 1353 / iwm.org.uk/collections/it…
202K