'Untold' Story of WW2 Stirs Muslin Youth
Pride
BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) - Taunted by racists
as a "Paki" and "terrorist," Haroon bin Khaled spent
his teenaged years feeling rejected by mainstream
Britain and increasingly drawn to al Qaeda
extremism.
But the
young Muslim of Pakistani descent found an
unexpected answer to his alienation the day he heard
the story of how Muslim soldiers, many from what is
now Pakistan, fought and died alongside Britons
against the Nazis in World War Two.
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Reuters...
Fallen Soldiers Remembered
A historian has been fighting for seven
World War II
soldiers who were killed as they tried to defuse a bomb in Coventry to be
formally remembered.
More From the BBC...
WWII Airman's Body found in Berlin
An RAF pilot is to be buried in Berlin,
more than 60 years after he was shot down and lost in action. Flight
Engineer Sergeant John Bremner was part of a crew of eight which set out on
a bombing mission to the German capital. But it ended in disaster when their
Halifax bomber was shot down. Steve Rosenberg reports on the story.
More From the BBC (Podcast)...
World War II Army Bag is found in Desert
A bag belonging to a World War II soldier from
Lancashire has been discovered in the Egyptian desert after lying there for
more than 60 years.
More from the BBC...
Approval for U-boat to
resurface
Plans for a former tourist attraction to be handed a permanent home on the banks
of the Mersey have been given the go-ahead. Wirral council has approved
Merseytravel's proposal to house a German World War II U-boat at the Woodside
Ferry Terminal.
More from the BBC...
Historic London Air Base Closes
(BBC website 03/7/07)
The
RAF base in north-west London which served as the command centre during the
Battle of Britain in World War II has ceased its operations. Two Spitfire
fighter planes flew past RAF Bentley Priory in Stanmore to mark the official
closing ceremony. The base was Fighter Command's headquarters when Britain
fought a four-month battle with the Luftwaffe to counter aerial attacks in 1940.
About 550 officers died in the battle which averted the invasion of Britain.
More from the BBC...
WWII Pilot Exhumation Called Off
BBC website 30/7/07
A bid to exhume the remains of a man who is thought to be the last recoverable
Battle of Britain pilot from a site in Kent has been abandoned. Flt Sgt Eric
Williams was 28 when he was shot down on a combat mission over the Thames
Estuary on 15 October 1940.
More from the BBC...
Tributes paid to top WWII pilot
(BBC website 5/3/07)
A historian has paid tribute to one of Britain's wartime pilots.
Alex Henshaw of Newmarket, Suffolk, died at the age of 94 earlier this week. He
was best known as a test pilot on Spitfires during World War II.
Defence chiefs prevented Henshaw from fighting in the war because he was
considered too valuable. Bill Bond, founder of the Battle of Britain Society,
said Mr Henshaw may have been the greatest pilot Britain had seen.
"He may not have been as well known as fighter pilots like Douglas Bader," said
Mr Bond.
"He was a test pilot but his contribution to the war was as great as anyone
and he may have been the greatest pilot there was. He was a wonderful man from a
wonderful generation and he should never be forgotten. I used to talk to him
three or four times a year - he was a lovely man and I shall miss him greatly."
Mr Henshaw was Chief Test Pilot at the Spitfire factory in Castle Bromwich
near Birmingham, and is thought to have flown more Spitfires than anyone else.
He is thought to be the only pilot to roll a Lancaster Bomber and was said to
have brought the centre of Birmingham to a standstill on one occasion by flying
a Spitfire upside down, feet above rooftops. As recently as March 2006 he flew a
Spitfire as part of the 70th anniversary of the aircraft's creation
More from the BBC...
Campaign for 'Forgotten Heroes'
(BBC website 23/2/07)
Survivors and victims' families say more should be done to recognise
those who died in one of Britain's biggest World War II disasters. A few
miles off the coast of France lays the wreck of HMT Lancastria, sunk 67 years
ago by German bombers. It is a reminder of the afternoon of 17 June 1940,
described as Britain's worst maritime disaster in history. On that day an
estimated 4,000 troops and refugees died when the 16,243-ton liner quickly went
down.
More form the BBC...
Blitz project to capture memories
The memories of blind and partially-sighted people who lived through
World War II in London are to be captured in an oral history project.
More from the BBC...
WW2 People's War
An archive of World War Two memories - written by the public,
gathered by the BBC
There are 47,000 stories in the BBC's WW2 People's War
archive. Browse through the categories below to find stories and photographs
concerning major aspects of World War Two, and the locations where key events
took place.
Visit the archive...
