What qualities does it take to walk up to an unexploded bomb or mine, completely alone while everyone else has taken cover? The rise of terrorism in the 21st Century and the evolution of car bombs and other improvised explosive devices mean that bomb disposal officers are in high demand. This book looks at bomb disposal officer; a day in the life; training; types of device; the history of bomb disposal from WW1 to the present day in Iraq, Israel, and Afghanistan.
Autumn 1940: The front line is Britain itself. Cities are blitzed night after night. Even after the bombers have turned home, a deadly menace remains: thousands of UXBs. Buried underground, clocks ticking. Unexploded bombs blocked supply routes, emptied hospitals and turned families into refugees. Dealing with this threat soon became Churchill's priority.It was a battle of wits, German ingenuity against British resourcefulness. This desperate struggle against the ticking clock is told through the experiences of four key figures; Robert Davies, who saved St Paul's Cathedral; Stuart Archer, protector of the vital Welsh oil refineries; the extraordinary Earl of Suffolk, who inspired The English Patient and made possible the atom bomb; and John Hudson, the modest horticulturalist who mastered the V-1.
Built as part of the massive expansion of Great Britain's railway network during the nineteenth century, London's thirteen mainline railway stations are proud symbols of the nation's industrial and architectural heritage. Produced in association with The National Archives, and profusely illustrated with period photographs and diagrams, London Railway Stations tells the story of these iconic stations and of the people who created them and used them. Though built in an age of steam, smoke, gas lamps and horses, most retain features of their original design. This book will bring new light to these old buildings, and help you to see London's mainline stations through new eyes. Lavishly illustrated with black & white and some colour photographs.
This WWII history examines how the Royal Navy defended the English Channel from the first Dover Patrols to the liberation of the Channel Islands. The English Channel has always provided Great Britain with a natural defensive barrier, but it was never more vital than in the early days of World War Two. This book relates how the Royal Navy maintained control of that vital seaway throughout the war. Military historian Peter Smith takes readers from the early days of the Dover Patrols, through the traumas of the Dunkirk evacuation and the battles of the Channel convoys; the war against the E-boats and U-boats; the tragic raids at Dieppe and St Nazaire; the escape of the German battle-fleet; coastal convoys; the Normandy landings and the final liberation of the Channel Islands. Many wartime photographs, charts and tables add to this superb account of this bitterly contested narrow sea.
Imagine yourself parachuting from a plane straight into a raging forest fire, or racing against the clock to disarm a ticking bomb while enemy forces lurk around you. For some people, this is just a typical day at work. They have some of the world's deadliest jobs...and you're about to join them! Explore these high-risk careers and see if you have the guts to do what they do!
Commander ‘Buster’ Crabb, a British naval frogman, disappeared whilst undertaking an underwater ‘spying mission’ involving the Soviet cruiser Ordzhonikidze in 1956. Just over a year after he disappeared, a body washed up headless and handless near Portsmouth. The establishment took charge of the body and, at an inquest, declared it to be Crabb. However, vital evidence was omitted and key witnesses not called.It’s now known that it was not Crabb who was buried in Portsmouth. The problem for the establishment was that Crabb worked for the then head of the Royal Navy, Lord Mountbatten. At the time, US government security agencies had alleged that Mountbatten was doing ‘unofficial’ business with the Soviet Union. This, UK officials believed, was a valid reason for Crabb’s story to be held secret until 2056 – an unprecedented 100 years.The FBI and CIA state that it is in the interests of US National Security not to make available any documentation or information, and applications to the KGB by the authors remain unanswered. However, for thirty years Admiral Gennadiy Zakharov trained Spetsnaz troops in Naval sabotage and states that Crabb was in the Eastern Bloc at that time. Sir Percy Silitoe, former head of MI5 also states that the department had a file that proved Crabb was in the Soviet Union.The story also involves the British ruling class and Royalty. It is a tale of illegal activities, art and currency smuggling, Nazi looted gold and treasure, homosexual blackmail, threats and mysterious deaths. The authors and witnesses have been subjected to government surveillance, mail interception and telephone tapping both by the UK authorities and INTERPOL. Following publication of the authors’ previous book Frogman Spy, attempts were made to kill both a researcher and a vital witness. This is the murky world of what the establishment does not want you to know.
