History of Bomarsund Fortress

Constructed from 1832 to 1854, Bomarsund Fortress was built for Russian contingents on the island at a time when Aland was a Russian territory. As well as functioning as a defensive structure, the fortress was aimed to house thousands of soldiers. Indeed, a townlike settlement inhabited by both military and civilian populations known as ‘Skarpans’ grew up around the fortress.

Intended to have fourteen towers, only three of them were erected before Bomarsund Fortress faced its destruction at the hands of the allied English-Frenchmen. This occurred in the 1854 Battle of Bomarsund as part of the Crimean War and saw joint British and French forces take Bomarsund Fortress from the Russians after a week. This devastated the fortress as well as resulting in some 2000 men being brought to England and France as prisoners of war.

The whole of Aland was declared a demilitarised zone in 1856, a status which remains to this day.

Bomarsund Fortress Today

Today, Bomarsund is a historical monument which covers around 870 hectares. Visitors to Bomarsund Fortress can explore the scenic and historic site, which was never rebuilt and thus stands as a testament to the great expectations which were once held for the area prior to its destruction.

There’s also a modest museum nearby housed in the pilot’s cottage on Prasto, which describes the history of the fortress and the area as a whole. This site also features as one of our top Visitor Attractions in Finland.

Getting to Bomarsund Fortress

From the centre of the Aland islands, drive 25 minutes east via Route 2. It’s also a scenic hour and a half bike ride via the Godbyvägen and Sundsvägen/Route 2 roads.

Churchill’s Secret Bunker history

Far more fortified than it’s Whitehall equivalent, the Paddock Bunker was built in the late 1930s in Neasden, north-west London, and would have been able to survive a direct hit from the Luftwaffe. In reality the complex was never fully employed, as the RAF proved able to negate the worst of the threat from the German air force after victory in the Battle of Britain.

Existing in total secrecy, only two meetings of the War Cabinet were actually held there and it was abandoned in 1944. The site then passed to the care of a local housing group after they were granted the rights to develop the area above ground, and today it is partly covered by residential buildings.

Churchill’s Secret Bunker today

While closed to the public for much of the year, Churchill’s Secret Bunker is open twice a year for guided tours run by the Subterranea Britannica group. All that remains above ground is a small modern brick enclosure within which a concrete staircase runs down to the complex – indeed passers-by would never imagine what lays beneath their feet.

Meanwhile, the relatively unknown underground complex is still very much as it would have been at the end of the war. Located 40 ft below ground and comprising over forty rooms on two floors, the Paddock bunker is now in a semi-derelict state but still boasts abandoned and rusted original equipment once in operation. Inside can be found the original map room, kitchen, and Churchill’s War Cabinet room – where he held one of his Cabinet meetings on October 3, 1940.

Getting to Churchill’s Secret Bunker

Churchill’s Secret Bunker is located in Neasden, London off the A4088. The nearest Underground station is Neasden, a 20-minute walk to the site, while the 232 bus service stops at Brook Road Dudden Hill, a 4-minute walk to the site.

History of Housesteads Roman Fort

Lying midway along Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, England, Housesteads Roman Fort is the most complete example of a Roman fort in Britain, and one of the best-known from the entire Roman Empire.

The fort was built in stone in around 124 AD, around two years after the construction of the wall. It was built and rebuilt many times, with the northern defences appearing to have been particularly prone to collapse.

A significant civilian settlement existed to the south, with some of the stone foundations still visible, including those belonging to the so-called ‘Murder House’, in which two skeletons were found beneath an apparently newly-laid floor.

There are a number of features which mark the fort as unusual: unlike other early forts, the fort does not straddle the wall and therefore does not project into Barbarian territory. It was also unusual in that it didn’t have a running water supply, and was dependent upon rainwater for collection (evidenced by the number of large stone-lined tanks around the periphery of the defences.) It also features one of the best-preserved stone latrines in Roman Britain.

A now ruined 17th-century farm named Housesteads once incorporated the ruins of the fort into its design. The former occupants were well-known horse thieves and cattle rustlers, and used some of the remains of the fort as a space to store the stolen animals. Part of the ruins of the farm still remain built up against the southern gate of the fort.

Housesteads Roman Fort Today

Visitors to Housesteads Roman Fort can see the various stages of architecture of the Roman fortification, including the well-preserved remains of its four gates and curtain wall, a hospital, latrines and, of course, a section of Hadrian’s Wall.

Excavations have revealed and continue to reveal major buildings, defences, and a civilian settlement outside of its walls.

Managed by English Heritage, Housesteads Roman Fort also has an on-site museum with a model, demonstrating how this imposing site would have looked in its prime. Other finds can be seen in the museum at Chesters, and in the Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

For those with a particularly keen interest, a nearby restored Victorian farmhouse named Housesteads is owned by the National Trust and is available to stay.

Getting to Housesteads Roman Fort

From the centre of Newcastle, the fort is reachable in around 40 minutes by car, via the B6318 roads. There are also a number of connecting bus and train services which take around 2 hours from the centre of the city.

Imperial War Museum Duxford history

The Imperial War Museum originated in 1917 as the National War Museum committee, established by the British government to make records of the country’s war effort. It opened as a museum in 1920 as the Imperial War Museum at its headquarters in London, and following the Second World War and further conflicts was expanded to encompass these also.

In 1969, the Imperial War Museum received permission to begin storing its collection in parts of Duxford Airfield, and in 1976 the entire site was granted for use as a museum.

The airfield itself also holds an intriguing history. Originally operated by the RAF during the First World War, Duxford also played a vital role in the Battle of Britain during World War Two, before in 1968 becoming the film set of the aptly-named film Battle of Britain starring Laurence Olivier.

Imperial War Museum Duxford today

Most of the exhibits at the Duxford Imperial War Museum are contained in hangars, with each hangar exploring a different aspect of military history. For example, hangar 1 tells the story of British and Commonwealth aviation history, hangar 2 is a “flying museum” where operating aircraft are held and maintained, and hangar 3 holds a maritime collection.

There is also an American Air Museum, exhibiting various battle aircrafts from the US, while hangar 4 is dedicated to the Battle of Britain, one of the country’s most famous air battles during World War Two.

As Europe’s largest air museum, IWM Duxford is a fascinating site for those interested in aviation history and the history of the British military, and caters to a wide audience of visitors.

Getting to Imperial War Museum Duxton

Imperial War Museum Duxton is located south of Cambridge at Junction 10 of the M11, with free parking available at the site. The nearest train stations are Whittlesford Parkway, Royston, and Cambridge, while the 7A (Mon-Sat) and Myalls 132 (Sunday) bus services stop right outside.

A Royal Navy base for years after the war, in the 1960s the Lascaris War Rooms became a strategic communication centre for NATO. Since 2009 it has been under the management of the Malta Heritage Trust and is now a popular tourist site.

Lascaris War Rooms history

Located 150 feet under the Upper Barracca Gardens and Saluting Battery in Valletta, the Lascaris War Rooms housed Britain’s war headquarters in Malta during World War Two. Work began in 1940 during the siege of Malta, expanding a series of tunnels that had previously been used as slave quarters by the Hospitaller crusaders. The complex was completed in 1943 and saw around 1000 people working there.

The ultra secret complex housed an operations room for each of the fighting services, in particular, an RAF control room from which all sea and air operations were controlled. A Filter Room saw all radar traffic and a Combined Operations room provided a heavily guarded facility with encryption machines used to receive and send secret communications.

In July 1943 the rooms were used by General Eisenhower and his commanders Admiral Cunningham and Field Marshal Montgomery and Air Marshal Tedder, to plan the invasion of Sicily – also known as Operation Husky.

After the war’s end, the Lascaris War Rooms became the headquarters of the Mediterranean Fleet. Lascaris also also played a role during the Suez Crisis in 1956, and was on full alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, expecting a missile attack on Malta. The rooms were later taken over by NATO in 1967 to be used to intercept Soviet submarines in the Mediterranean during the Cold War.

After Malta Heritage Trust acquired the war rooms in 2009, they were restored and opened to the public.

Lascaris War Rooms today

Visitors can explore the Lascaris War Rooms with an hour long tour of the tunnels full of artefacts such as wall charts that transport you back to the 1940s. The whole complex was mechanically ventilated and still functions today, allowing the tunnels to be visited today.

In the war rooms you can also catch the Operation Husky exhibition that aims to explain both the role of Malta in the campaign, but also demonstrate the hardship of the Sicilian population due to indiscriminate bombing and atrocities committed by both Allied and Axis forces. Access is by ticket only, 13€ for a standard adult. The entrance is located in St James Ditch.

Getting to Lascaris War Rooms

Looking out onto the Grand Harbour, you can easily find the Lascaris War Rooms from the Upper Barrakka Gardens. The bus stop Lascaris along bus route 133 is only a minute walk away, and the rooms are only a short walk from other sites such as the Valletta City Gate or Grandmaster Palace.

History of Lepe beach

To support landing craft and amphibious operations against Europe, Lord Mountbatten ordered the construction of special ‘hards’ around Britain’s south coast to enable the loading of two types of assault vessels, Landing Craft Tank (LCT) and Landing Ship Tanks (LST). At Lepe, the ‘Q’ hard was built in front of Lepe House and the larger ‘Q2’ hard was built at Stanswood Bay, with space for 4 LCT’s.

Lepe and the surrounding area came under the control of the shore station HMS Mastodon, and many hundreds of troops with their equipment, vehicles and ammunition were hidden along the narrow roads and in numerous closed camps hidden in the wooded areas across the New Forest in the build-up to D-Day.

From 31 May 1944 onwards, soldiers made their way down to the coast to embark onto the ships and landing craft that would take them to Normandy – some on the Lepe shore, others at sites to the east or west, notably in Southampton. Vehicles were loaded earlier, but the soldiers themselves embarked only just before D-Day, followed by those who would be landing on subsequent days.

The Lepe shoreline was also a site were parts of the Mulberry Harbours (artificial harbours) were built (including 6 type B2 Phoenix caissons), along with nearby Langstone Harbour and Hayling Island. Once moved across to Normandy after D-Day, these huge concrete structures formed part of the breakwater for the Mulberry Harbours that proved vital to D-Day’s success – allowing vehicles and goods to be unloaded onto the Normandy beaches.

Lepe beach today

The Lepe shore area is now part of Lepe Country Park (an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’), and remains of the area’s wartime past are still visible, including concrete blocks on the beach (which aided vehicles loading onto landing craft), several ‘dolphins’ that formed part of the pier where landing craft were moored while troops boarded, and a stretch of platforms and slipways where the Mulberry Harbours caissons were built and launched. There is also a memorial to the 4th & 7th Dragoon Guards east of the park at Stanswood Bay.

Today the long stretch of shingle beach is also popular with kite surfers and wind surfers, and the meadows and woodlands in the Park are protected habitats for wildlife, and well worth visiting too.

Getting to Lepe beach

The Lepe shoreline is on the south coast of England, just north of the Isle of Wight. The nearest large town is Southampton, approximately 16 miles away. It’s easiest to reach Lepe by car – drive west down the A33 into the A35, then head south down the A326, until the turn-off along Beaulieu Road (B3054), then follow Exbury Road/Summer Lane to reach Lepe, where a car park is available.

Leuchars Station history

Aviation at Leuchars Station dates all the way back to the First World War when the airfield was established to be a training unit, taking aircrew from initial flying training through to fleet co-operation work. Building was still under way when the Armistice was signed in 1918.

Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, Leuchars became the number one Flying Training School and ranges for practice bombing were established in Tentsmuir Forest. Once the war clouds gathered however, the station’s maritime position on the west coast of Scotland meant that it soon undertook a far more important, wartime role of organising naval patrolling.

While Leuchars may not have secured the romantic image of a Battle of Britain station, maritime patrol played a crucial part in Britain’s ultimate victory over Axis powers.

Leuchars station became equally vital during the frostiest decades of the Cold War, providing interceptor aircraft following the development of long-range aircraft that allowed the Soviets regular incursion into British air space.

The base would remain an important RAF installation until 2015, when the station was transferred to the Army Core as part of defence spending cuts in the Strategic Defence and Security Review of 2010.

Leuchars Station today

In December 2018, there were approximately 750 members of the UK regular armed forces, 30 members of the full-time reserve service personnel and 100 civil servants based at Leuchars.

The installation is still home to several RAF units and visitors to St Andrews will undoubtedly hear and see aircraft flying sporadically overhead.

Getting to Leuchars Station

Leuchars Station is a 5-minute walk away from Leuchars Train Station, which itself is the closest railway station to the town of St Andrews.

The 99 bus route service can take you from the town to Leuchars in just 15 minutes.

History of Southwick House

The house was built in 1800 in the late Georgian style. During World War Two, in 1940 the estate owners allowed the Royal Navy to use the house to accommodate overnight pupils of the Royal Navy School of Navigation, HMS Dryad, based in Portsmouth Naval Dockyard. After heavy bombing of the dockyard in 1941, the house was requisitioned and became the new home of HMS Dryad.

The village of Southwick was later entirely taken over by Allied Command, and Southwick House itself was used as the advance command post (Sharpener Camp) for the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). In 1944, in the months leading up to D-Day, the house became the headquarters of the main allied commanders, with General Eisenhower, Admiral Ramsay and General Montgomery all based here.

Eisenhower made his decision to delay D-Day by 24 hours (due to poor weather) in the library of Southwick House, and indeed the whole D-Day operation was organised from here.

Southwick House today

Visitors can view a giant plywood map that was used to plot the positions of the ships during Operation Neptune – the naval side of the invasion – which has been put back to its original D-Day positions.

Southwick House is still owned by the military, and is now used as the headquarters of the Defence School of Policing and Guarding. The house is likely to be sold in 2031, so make sure you plan a visit while it’s still possible.

The village of Southwick also holds a celebration each year on the closest weekend to D-Day, ‘The Southwick Revival’, to mark its involvement, including exhibitions and visits to the map room in Southwick House.

Getting to Southwick House

Southwick House is free to visit, but need to be booked as an appointment by emailing DSPG-HQ-Information@mod.uk as the building itself is still actively used by the military.

Southwick House is 5 miles north of Portsmouth, and most easily reached by car from there via the M27, B2177 then turning right, up Priory Road. You’ll pass the small town of Southwick, where there is a handy tea room and pub.

History of The Pacific Aviation Museum

The museum is located on the historic Ford Island, a 441-acre island in the middle of Pearl Harbour. The museum thus focuses on the fateful day – 7 December 1941 – which effectively forced America to join World War II, when Japanese forces launched a surprise attack on the US military base. As well as the devastating level of human casualty, the base contained some of the largest ships of the US Pacific Fleet, as well as patrol and scout planes which filled the hangars and airfield.

The museum was founded as part of a non-profit in 1999 to develop an aviation museum in Hawaii, and as a wider vision to rebirth Ford Island. The first section of the museum, hangar 37, opened with the museum in 2006, and features a large proportion of the museum’s static exhibits. The hangars themselves also show damage from the attack.

The Pacific Aviation Museum Today

Visitors begin by viewing a film about the attack on Pearl Harbour, before seeing a series of exhibitions ranging from photographs and dioramas to aircrafts. The Pacific Aviation Museum houses numerous aircrafts including light civilian planes, a B-25B Mitchell, a P-40 fighter, and a SBD Dauntless dive bomber. There are even flight simulations, allowing visitors to ’experience’ being a World War II pilot.

The Pacific Aviation Museum also goes beyond World War II, looking at planes that served during the Korean War, such as an F-86 Sabre and a MiG-15.

The museum is heavily involved with community efforts ranging from the preservation of historical landmarks to educational tours throughout Hawaii.

Getting to The Pacific Aviation Museum

Visitors to the museum gain access via a tour bus from the Pearl Harbour Historic Sites on Halawa Landing. From the centre of Honolulu, the museum is reachable by car in 20 minutes via l-H 201 W. Equally, it is a scenic hour-long cycle via Dillingham Blvd.

History of The Walt Disney Family Museum

The museum is made up of three retrofitted and expanded historic buildings on the Presidio’s Main Post, which was an active Army base until 1994 and is now a national park. The museum was previously one of the iconic Montgomery Street barracks, dating from 1895, that was stripped long before the museum moved in. The main museum space is some 40,000 feet.

The Diane Disney Miller Exhibition Hall – named since 2014 in memory of Disney’s daughter, Diana – has housed all of the museum’s rotating, major exhibitions in the time since.

The Walt Disney Family Museum today

The main museum features historic materials and artefacts relating to Disney’s life, including some 248 awards that Disney won during his career, such as Academy Awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

There are ten permanent galleries in place, starting with Walt Disney’s ancestral history and ending with his death in December 1966. The museum is also educational, offering art and animation classes to students of all ages. It also presents screenings of classic Disney films.

Getting to The Walt Disney Family Museum

The Walt Disney Family Museum is located at 104 Montgomery Street in the Presidio of San Francisco, California. Be aware that there are two Montgomery Streets in San Francisco—the museum is located in the Presidio of San Francisco, not in the Financial District. If you are using a GPS  remember to enter the zip code 94129 when planning your route.

The FREE PresidiGo Shuttle system connects Presidio residents, employees, and visitors to various locations throughout the park as well as to locations in downtown San Francisco. There are currently two routes—Presidio Hills and Downtown—and both have different schedules and stops.