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77 years ago today the King George V class Battleship HMS Prince of Wales was sunk in the South China sea along side the Battlecruiser HMS Repulse. HMS Prince of Wales had only a short service from being completed in march 1941 to being sunk on the 10th of December 1941, however undertook many Different roles: Pursuit of the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen, North Sea, May 1941 Transport for churchill, Atlantic, August 1941 Convoy escort, Mediterranean, September 1941 Interception of Japanese forces near malaya, South China Sea, December 1941 HMS Repulse Had been in service since August 1916 and had taken part in: Second battle of Heligoland Bight, North sea, November 1917 Special service squadrons round the world cruise, International, 1923-24 Shipping escort during spanish civil war, International, 1936-39 Norwegian campaign, North/norwegian sea, April-June 1940 Troop convoy escort, Atlantic ocean, August-October 1941 On the morning of December 10th the Repulse and Prince of wales were looking for Japanese forces related to the landings at Kuantan. 05:15 -They spotted objects on the horizon, thinking these to be japanese troop ships moved towards them, these later turned out to be trawlers. 10:00 -Another british ship the Tenedos reported being under attack from Japanese aircraft. 11:13-HMS Repulse was attacked by bombers suffering only one minor hit. 11:40 -17 enemy bombers attacked both ships, 8 torpedos were launched at the PoW evasive action was taken and all but one avoided. It hit the the point where the propeller shaft exited the ship. The turbine was got turning again but as the ship gained speed the water tight gasket failed flooding the rear port side of the ship and causing her to list 11°. 12:20-26 more torpedo bombers attacked the two ships hitting the PoW another 3 times and the Repulse who had dodged 19 torpedos up until this point 4 times in quick succession. Her crew began to abandon ship 12:33-HMS Repulse capsized and sank with the loss of 508 of 967 crew. 12:41-The PoW was still under attack with one bomb going through the deck and hitting the makeshift hospital below. HMS Express pulled alongside the sinking ship and began to take the crew. 327 men were lost. 13:30-Both ships had sunk. The survivors were rescued by HMS Express and HMAS Vampire Here is a quote from Henry Leach, son of Captain Leach of the PoW. It shows how both Captain Leach and Captain Tennant understood the dangers of the mission they were undertaking: https://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/princecrew/leach.html Here is the story of the sinking of the Prince of Wales told by R V Ward a survivor of the events that day: https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/79/a4217979.shtml

A small selection of representative items of the Reichsarbeitsdienst (R.A.D.) or Labour Corps - A broach for women W.R.A.D., Weiblicher Reichsarbeitsdienst, who have completed their voluntary or compulsory service - Erinnerungsbrosche maker: AN.G. Cast-stamped zinc - Headdress insignia, alumium badge for the "Robin Hood" hat and Bevo badge for either sidecap or later M.43 cap, this unissued, unsewn, "cut from the roll" - Belt buckle with leather tab showing Lüdenscheid maker and dated 1937, alumium one piece stamping - Arm insignia for unit 165/10, in Arbeitsgau 16 (Westfalen-Nord), Bevo woven Collar patches for an RAD Vormann. Machine-woven, probably mid to late war produced, on stiffened card backing, traces of original stitching and slight edge damage when removed from uniform. RAD Weibliche Jugend, Brosche für Kriegshilfsdienst, Zink

After some research I believe this to be from Anstie cigarette packets from 1915, there were 85 different ‘cards’ in the set of which I have 29. Thanks for the help and suggestions, Jack

It would be nice to see those, I have only seen ones of countryside and city scenes before. They possibly would of been even more useful than the other types due to the lack of home grown deserts to practice in and the lack of prominent features that could be used as indicators.

Here's a WW2 MK11 Helmet I spotted on an American website being sold as a Canadian made Brodie, it is a British made helmet with a scarce stamp mark for AMC = Austin Motor Co Ltd of Cowley 1941. The liner has been replaced with a 1949 dated liner and has been painted black on the surface with white F.A letters = First Aid, the inside still shows it's original light brown colour.

I'm sure I have a couple of these somewhere in the basement of my shop, however the ones I have are of desert scenes, I had no idea what they were, must try to dig them out sometime.

104 years ago today two German armoured cruisers and two light cruisers were sunk of the coast off the Falklands with two transport ships being captured and later scuttled. After being victorious in the battle of Coronel, Admiral Spee and his squadron - 2 heavy (Scharnhorst and Gneisenau), 3 light cruisers (Nurnberg, Dresden and Leipzig) with 3 auxiliaries attacked port Stanley where they were met by the British squadron - 2 battle cruisers (Invincible and Inflexable), 3 armoured cruisers (Carnarvon, Cornwall and Kent), 2 light cruisers (Bristol and Glasgow) and 1 armed merchant cruiser (Macedonia) who had arrived one day prior as well as HMS Canopus who had been grounded to act as defence for the port. 08:30- Action was sounded as ships were spotted in the distance Macedonia ordered to port as it was not fit for battle. Kent sent out to sea 09:00- Canopus opens fire as Carnarvon heads out to sea. The German ships move out of Canopus’s range but towards Kent causing her to move back towards the port. The Germans now seeing black smoke rising from the harbour and the distinctive tripod masts off British ships make off for the open sea 09:45- All ships apart from Bristol had steamed up 10:00-The British force leaves port ‘General chase’ order given, each captain may do whatever deemed fit to catch the German ships, Recinded after more precise orders on speed were given 11:30- British ordered to eat as there was some time before the Germans would be in range 13:00- The British open fire after catching the Germans 13:20- To give the light cruisers a chance at escape Spee turns his two armoured cruisers to fight Invincible was hit early on but suffered little damage Invinsible and Inflexable engage Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, the reminder of the British forces goes after the rest of the German squadron 16:04- Scharnhorst took extensive damage and sunk 18:02- Gneisenau is sunk after running out of ammunition at around 17:15 17:30- The Nurnberg turns for battle with Kent 18:30- Nurnberg suffers two boiler explosions 19:27- Nurnberg is sunk Leipzig being pursued by Cornwall and Glasgow had run out of ammunition but was still flying a battle ensign so it was not until it fired two flares that the british ceased fire 21:23- Leipzig sinks The German ships Dresden and Seydlitz escaped 1,871 German sailors and 10 British lost their lives with 19 British wounded 215 German sailors were rescued Many criticised Spee's decision to attack the port however it was later discoverd that they had in fact been lead by a fake signal created by British cryptographers who had broken the German naval code. More detail about the battle can be found here: https://www.britishbattles.com/first-world-war/battle-of-the-falkland-islands/ Regards, Jack

Here's a very good documentary about the run up to the first world war Falklands battle.

This is the music group ElbRock (Hamburg). It started around 2002 when some colleagues and old friends got together and started this group. They travelled frequently but also appeared in various localities in Hamburg. Earnings were not great considering it was only a part time thing, but usually covered the expenses. Among the colleagues is Nicole as lead singer, the granddaughter of Walter Neusüß, she is second from the left. This photo was taken in the port some time ago. Nicole is no longer with the group and has taken on new challenges. https://www.popularmusik-nordkirche.de/musikgruppen/gruppen/elbrock/ Here a short article about the group. http://www.elbrock-hamburg.de/cms/wordpress/ This is the homepage of the group, which still plays, Nicole's picture is still on the page. and this is the present repertoire, this may have changed somewhat since Nicole left: Baby Please Don’t Go Big Joe Williams Bad Moon Rising Creedence Clearwater Revival Blink Paul Weller Blue Suede Shoes Elvis Blues Hand Me Down Vintage Trouble Bobby Brown Frank Zappa Cats in the Cradle Johnny Cash C’mon Everybody Eddy Cochran Cocaine J.J. Cale/Eric Clapton Creep Stone Temple Pilots Darts Of Pleasure Franz Ferdinand Heartbreak Hotel Elvis Honky Tonk Woman Rolling Stones Hound Dog Elvis Jailhouse Rock Elvis Jaqueline Franz Ferdinand Johnny Be Goode Chuck Berry La Grange ZZ Top Like A Rolling Stone Bob Dylan Little Wing Jimi Hendrix Losing My Religion REM Loveshaker John Watts Man On The Moon REM Meds Placebo Money For Nothing Dire Straits Plush Stone Temple Pilots Proud Mary Creedence Clearwater Revival Radio Nowhere Bruce Springsteen Riders on the Storm The Doors Roll Over Beethoven Chuck Berry Rosie ACDC Should I stay or should I Go The Clash Since I’ve been loving you Led Zeppelin Sissy Strut The Meters Small Paradise John Mellenkamp Sweet Home Chicago Blues Brothers Sultans Of Swing Dire Straits Sunflower Paul Weller The Passenger Iggy Pop The One I Love REM The Wind Cries Mary Jimi Hendrix Thunder On The Mountain Bob Dylan Under The Bridge Red Hot Chilly Peppers Who Did You Think I Was John Mayer Wish You Were Here Pink Floyd Wonderwall Noel Gallagher You Wreck Me Tom Petty "Bullitreffen" at Autohaus Raffay, 20.05.2006 Consortium, Hamburg-Harburg, 14.08.2009 Musik Club Live, Hamburg, 17.10.2008 Auerhahn, Wandsbek, 26.10.2007. "Auerhahn" has since been demolished, and the site has been built over.

Several more Seventies hits and nostalgic pictures added further back between beginning and end of article. Alstervergnügen in Hamburg, annual event late August The Alstervergnügen was an annual event at the end of August, originally conceived and organised by Carlheinz Hollmann and his wife, Gerti Daub, who was Miss Germany in 1957. C.H. Hollmann died in early 2004. A couple of years ago, the event was called off, and has not restarted since. The Stuttgarter Weinfest in Hamburg, which had also been taking place in July and August for well over 30 years has also been abolished for similar reasons - security.

Berlin, Autumn 1944, victims of an air raid are gathered and laid out in the Sportpalast, as there is no other suitable place. There are not enough coffins for all. Most of them ended in mass graves.

Some more old pictures from the 1970s added, see page 1 of topic, and another couple of ABBA oldies

Another one posted with Katja Ebstein (see there), Der Stern von Mykonos (1983) As for the "hairy armpits" of Nena, I think this is generally out now. That was in the times when "Frau" preferred to be "Natur" rather than "Frau rasiert", no make-up, little cosmetic, just normal hygiene, but mostly cleaner than the present generation. And here's an entirely different one with Vicky Leandos, married as Freifrau von Ruffin (and since divorced but still enjoying her title and privleges) and living at Gut Basthorst not far from Hamburg: Die Bouzouki klang durch die Sommernacht (1973) with the spirit of Greece and a melodious air.