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By Jayantha Somasundaram “British Prime Minister Winston Churchill considered the most dangerous moment of the Second World War, and the one which caused him the greatest alarm, was when news was received that the Japanese Fleet was heading for Ceylon.” –The Most Dangerous Moment by Michael Tomlinson (1976) William Kimber, London. It is 80 years […]
You should never dance to the enemy’s tune! That applies even to the Taliban, who hate music and don’t have any tunes. After five minutes of glorious soccer, during which Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw scored the fastest ever goal in a Euros final, England went on to the defensive. That was absurd. The Eyeties got deeper and deeper into our half and then, disaster of all disasters, equalised in the second half! Three England players, the Tory-bashing Marcus Rashford, who wasn’t even fit, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, missed their penalty kicks, giving Italy the trophy.
Published:
On 27 May 1941, HMS
Dorsetshire sent the following signal to the commander-in-chief of the Home Fleet: “Torpedoed
Bismarck both sides before she sank. She had ceased ring, but her colours were still flying.”
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So ended the German battleship
Bismarck’s only operational sortie, which had begun from the Polish coastal city of Gotenhafen (modern-day Gdynia) just over a week before. The dramatic story has been told and retold in books, documentaries, a feature film – and even a country and western song. But the truth remains, perhaps, the most compelling account of all.
Bismarck was launched in February 1939. Weighing in at over 50,000 tons when fully loaded, she displaced more than any other European battleship in service; she was fast, well-protected and heavily armed. When Burkard von Müllenheim-Rechberg joined Bismarck in June 1940 as fourth gunnery officer and personal adjutant officer to the ship’s captain, Ernest Lindemann, he w