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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 16/09/2026

I confess I'm not a huge Pressure fan. Admittedly it's my area of expertise so anything not right will stand out more, but Pressure goes beyond condensing history into a film – instead it's complete fiction that damages real history. Here's my review.

seaspitfires.com

Pressure: A very fictional retelling of a crucial D-Day decision

In 2000, an unusual motion was passed in the House of Commons. It noted the inaccuracies in the new Hollywood movie U-571, recognised the true history of the capture of an Enigma machine by HMS Bul…

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 28/08/2026

WAR BORES! Want to watch the new Pressure film the traditional way? By boring your date with extra detail & muttering when it gets stuff wrong? Then watch @thehistoryguy.bsky.social & I discuss the actual events in this new History Hit episode & go to the cinema prepared! youtu.be/2tZUtNJBuZ0?...

youtu.be

D-Day: The Final 72 Hours | As It Happened

YouTube video by History Hit

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 28/07/2026

Respective historical sites and memorials inscribed as parts of the new Normandy Beaches World Heritage Site at Omaha and Sword beaches.

A plethora of heritage sites at Omaha Beach, including memorials, bunkers, the US cemetery and Pointe du Hoc.

The heritage sites at Sword Beach. Sand. Just sand.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 30/06/2026

Something I can easily relate to as I'm sure many of my followers are aware. The subject matter and people involved may be different, the situation is not.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 30/06/2026

My researcher is hard at work today.

Flynn, a Shetland sheepdog, reclines gracefully on a cushion while reviewing a number of publications (in various languages) on the subject of the Battle of Walcheren.

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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Every academic who writes in short snatches of time, in cafes, on trains, and at the breakfast table, imagines that every other academic retreats every evening to an elegant desk in a book-lined study and spends hours deep in concentration filling page after page with original scholarly reflection.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 25/06/2026

Regular viewers will be pleased to know I'm still ranting at duff history...

A screenshot of a Facebook post. It says that:
"The fighting on D-Day was so intense that up to 4% of the sand on Normandy beaches is now made up of shrapnel, broken down into sand-sized pieces over the decades."

My Farcebook post about the previous post. It says (abbreviated):
This troublesome example comes from an oft-repeated but rarely analysed 2011 paper, which documents the analysis of a tiny sample of sand collected from next to the Omaha beach memorial (presumably the Signal Monument) in 1988. It was found to contain 78% detrital quartz, 9% feldspar, 4% limestone clast and modern bioclast, 3% heavy minerals, and 2% chert, other rock fragments and beads of metal and glass. There was also 4% 'shrapnel'. The paper does not explain how this identification of microscopic metal grains was made, but the number of potential sources of metal traces on the beach is huge. Pre or post-war beach infrastructure will have corroded over time and left depositions all along the beaches of Normandy. Pollution and waste is another source. Given the sample was taken from next to a memorial (itself made of stone but with significant metal foundations all around it) this or other post-war memorials must also be considered. Of course it is also possibly the remains of wartime features – but the remains of German beach defences, Mulberry Harbour, shipwrecks or American vehicles is certainly more likely than ordnance.
Apparently a sample taken at Utah (exactly where isn't stated) yielded no shrapnel, and the paper puts this down to Utah being much less contested. Unsurprisingly no samples were taken from the British beaches. This is such a flawed sampling process it isn't even worthy of discussion, and it's noticeable in the paper that the history of Omaha wasn't seriously assessed to contextualise the metal traces. The narrative is 'Omaha was hell – this metal sample must be the result'.
So on the basis of questionable paper, a 4% sample of microscopic metal remains on Omaha Beach connects itself to D-Day, becomes part of the legend and evidence for its (exaggerated) ferocity, and is parroted all over social media as '4% of Omaha beach is shrapnel'.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 24/06/2026

Rommel in Westkapelle on 4 January 1944. The mill behind him is the dijkmill or Prins Hendrik mill, a landmark that sat on top of the dyke overlooking Westkapelle. After the dyke was bombed by the British on 3 Oct, it looked very different to the commandos when they landed on 1 Nov.

A group of German officers inspecting German anti-landing obstacles. Behind them is a tall windmill on top of a dyke

Commandos disembark from a landing craft. In the background the dyke has been breached by bombing and the windmill lies in a pile of rubble on the shore.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 18/06/2026

An interesting day today. I was flattered to be invited to the Royal Marines Commando Training Centre at Lympstone Devon, to talk about the successes and lessons we can learn from Sword Beach. There are a lot! And I’m very jealous of their library!!

A statue of two WW2 era Royal Marines commandos outside the Royal Marine Commando Training Centre Learning Centre and Library.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 01/06/2026

Then and now in the Churchill War Rooms with @natgeotraveluk.bsky.social expeditions, where we get to go behind the glass and into the rooms that have been left largely untouched since 1945.

The map room in the Cabinet War Rooms during the war. A black and white photo of military men sat at a busy desk.

A colour photo of the same desk, taken by me, just now. The officers have been replaced by pretty dam good mannequins

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 30/05/2026

In my defence I bought this on a whim so I can attend a social occasion next week, and it was a bargain being sold as spares/repair (but being an ex mechanic who sold these 25 years ago it took me less than 2 hours to make like new). But let’s face it, my journey into middle age is complete.

A Brompton bicycle, the world’s only decent folding bicycle, seen here unfolded and in bike mode

And seen here in folded mode. It packs small enough that it is legally classed as luggage in the UK and cannot be refused on trains, and even counts as hand luggage with some airlines.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 29/05/2026

The Town Hall of Breville in Normandy are reporting that the 51st Highland Division memorial on Breville Ridge has been stolen. 📷 Mairie de Bréville-les-Monts

The plinth of the memorial. The statue is gone.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 29/05/2026

The bombing mission to breach the dyke at Westkapelle in the Netherlands on 3 October 1944 was huge. Nearly 250 bombers dropped a combined weight of more than 1,200 of bombs on the dyke, breaching it in just two hours.

An arial view of the dyke at Westkapelle. It has been breached causing widespread flooding of the land behind it.

A table of bombing missions to attack the dyke. In total 250 bombers from 23 squadrons attacxked.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 29/05/2026

What's the best way to make a fairly mundane video interesting? Royalty free rock music! An interesting demo of a potential future landing craft. It deals with a problem most people don't consider - getting the landing craft off the beach after the troops have disembarked. youtu.be/GRztGkPz-PU?...

youtu.be

SES landing craft demonstration, with Sea Puffin 1

YouTube video by ESNA

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 29/05/2026

With D-Day set, a meeting at Southwick at 10am #OTD turned to that most British thing: weather. It was agreed that from D-3 (2 June) weather updates would be given to senior commanders' meetings twice daily. As senior meterologist, these updates would be given by Group Captain (sort of) James Stagg.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 28/05/2026

Sort of about now on this day in 1944, Admiral Ramsey set the schedule for the Normandy landings. D-Day would be 5 June with a basic H-Hour at 0645 and specific H-Hours for each beach as attached. With a formalised date the schedule of embarkation was now set to begin on 31 May.

H-Hour timings for D-Day as follows:
Sword and Gold: 0645
Juno West: 0655
Juno East: 0705
Omaha: 0610
Utah: 0600

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 27/05/2026

Omaha Beach was "one of the most heavily defended beaches of the Second World War." Not exactly a new claim I guess, but I guess I should be glad the American who claimed it used the British English version of the name of the war. But oh lord it sooo boring to keep hearing this drivel.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 24/05/2026

Zeilmarkt street in Vlissingen (Flushing) in November 1944 and now. A Buffalo LVT (8.5 ft high) gives a sense of the scale of the anti tank wall built to cut off the eastern end of the city. On the right is the Arsenaal Theatre. 📷 ZeeuwsArchief 7413 & Google Maps

A WW2 era amphibious vehicle is parked on a street in front of a tall concrete wall. A group of civilian spectators is gathered nearby. Behind the wall are traditional Dutch townhouses.

The modern view of the previous photo. The amphibious vehicle has gone, as has the concrete wall. Most of the background houses are the same, but two have been replaced with less attractive modern buildings.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 20/05/2026

The Sherman Crab mine flail was so much more than a mine clearer. The spinning drum was equally at home wrecking barbed wire and, on Sword Beach on D-Day, Sgt Walter Smyth used it to destroy a German 75mm AT gun. 🎥 IWM A70 5-2, A70 85-3, A70 5-1 & A70 14-8

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 18/05/2026

The excellent Airborne Museum in Sainte-Mère-Église, where you walk down the fuselage of a Dakota as it flies over Normandy

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 17/05/2026

Men of 45 Commando come ashore on Sword Queen Red Beach at approx 09:10 on 6 June 1944. On the right is the burning Sherman Crab tank of Lieutenant John Allen, knocked out by the anti-tank gun in the bunker just visible in the very top left corner of the image. 📷 IWM A70 31-2

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 15/05/2026

Artillery peeps, any idea what this piece is in a German bunker on Walcheren? Described as a 75mm in a report, it has some similarities to a Ehrhardt 7.5 cm Model 1901, but I can't find a definite match. The men are 2 Troop, 4 Commando who captured and used the gun during Operation Infatuate I.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 15/05/2026

I'm going with this – a name for the defenders of Uncle Beach in Flushing on 1 November. It's hard to see how there could be another army commander in the same sector and in the same circumstances.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 14/05/2026

Some workings out for the first phase of the 1944 Battle of Flushing – 4 Commando's landing and advance through the city. 1 Troop (assault troop) in red, 2 Troop in yellow, 3 Troop in blue, 4 (Support) Troop in purple, 5 (French) Troop in green and 6 (French) Troop in orange.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 13/05/2026

On 1 Nov '44 the Allies deployed the Land Mattress operationally for the first time, bombarding a German Flak battery at Zwanenburg during the assault on Flushing. German PoWs reported it "provoked an immediate tendency to assume the horizontal position". 🎥 IWM A70 237-2 & 3

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 13/05/2026

Another AI Millin had landed on Farceook...

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 01/03/2026

I think the organisers may have got the names in the wrong order, but if you'd like to hear about the fate of the Kaiser's Navy after the First World War, come along! There's a late bar after all...

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 19/02/2026

What’s the nicest seal? Depends what you mean by nicest! In 1935 the British Graham Land Expedition decided to find out. See the whole story at youtu.be/zsTu1ARxGgI?...

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 14/02/2026

Following the SAS deeper into Antarctica at Stonington Island. John Tonkin – no stranger to narrow escapes – faces another in the ice, while Mike Sadler receives another honour shortly before he passed away. See the full film at: youtu.be/-siOoUDzqGI?...

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 04/01/2026

I did a thing! In my quest to become the next greatest influencer since whoever had the same ambition this morning, I have made a short video about the military history of Deception Island. You can find the 6 minute movie here: youtu.be/ZapHyrZY7bY

youtu.be

Deception Island

YouTube video by Stephen Fisher

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Reposted by Stephen Fisher

Alex Bowers @bowerswrites.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

In my latest Legion Magazine article - the first of two parts - I interview British historian and author Stephen Fisher (@seaspitfires.com) about the forgotten Canadians who fought not at Juno, but Sword Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. legionmagazine.com/the-canadian... 📸 Bantam Books.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 10/10/2025

Sort of around now in 1944, and today. Vlissingen on Walcheren flooded by the RAF raids that breached the dykes around the island. In the middle foreground is Our Lady's Church on Brouwenaarstraat. 📷 IWM CL 1506 & Google Maps.

The same view as the previous photo from Google maps. The town is no longer flooded and has expanded considerably.

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 18/09/2025

Finally back home after a long summer season that has taken me to four new countries, from the cold Arctic ice of Greenland’s ice cap to the sun baked hills of Gallipoli. Time for some rest and writing before I go back to Antarctica!

Me standing on polar bear watch with a gun in a mountainous setting with a glacier behind me

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 18/09/2025

Have just got back from Normandy and I was delighted to discover that History Hit have uploaded this documentary I did with @thehistoryguy.bsky.social to YouTube. You can learn all about D-Day remains on England’s south coast here:

youtu.be

Military Historian Battles To Save Wrecks of WW2

YouTube video by History Hit

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 09/09/2025

Finally back in NW Europe after 11 weeks almost constantly on the road/seas. Just two more battlefield tours to do and then, in 12 days, I can have a lie-in. Except, a handy reminder from the plane that I have a book on #Walcheren44 to write!

A view off the Dutch island of Walcheren from the air

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Alex Churchill @alexchurchill.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

After a well deserved rest, we spent the rest of the day exploring the French sector, where I got to bang on about France for a bit 🇫🇷 🇹🇷 @seaspitfires.com @istoriatravel.bsky.social @danielmcandrew.bsky.social @peterhart.bsky.social

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Alex Churchill @alexchurchill.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Years ago, a #Gallipoli veteran taught @peterhart.bsky.social a song that he used to sing with his chums as they marched through here. Today he recreated it - badly… 🇹🇷 @istoriatravel.bsky.social @seaspitfires.com @peterhart.bsky.social @danielmcandrew.bsky.social

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Alex Churchill @alexchurchill.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

After Gully Beach it was a long trek up Gully Ravine to mirror the march to the front lines in this sector. The second image is the British front line #Gallipoli 🇹🇷 @peterhart.bsky.social @istoriatravel.bsky.social @seaspitfires.com @danielmcandrew.bsky.social

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Alex Churchill @alexchurchill.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Here’s Gully Beach - not a landing spot but pivotal. The wreck is the lighter that Gen. Maude was supposed to escape the peninsula on. After it sank he did a mad dash towards W Beach to avoid getting stranded. (That’s a long way) 🇹🇷 @istoriatravel.bsky.social @seaspitfires.com @peterhart.bsky.social

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Alex Churchill @alexchurchill.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Now it’s on to X Beach - which was defended by 12 Turks. Because who in their right mind would try and land troops on this tiny little strip of land… #Gallipoli 🇹🇷 #WW1 @nationalwwimuseum.bsky.social @istoriatravel.bsky.social @danielmcandrew.bsky.social @peterhart.bsky.social @seaspitfires.com

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Alex Churchill @alexchurchill.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Day 3 proper and we’re back at Helles , specifically Pink Farm Cemetery to see a chap researched by @neilpuds.bsky.social #Gallipoli 🇹🇷 @istoriatravel.bsky.social @seaspitfires.com @peterhart.bsky.social @danielmcandrew.bsky.social

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 04/09/2025

Today on the @istoriatravel.bsky.social Gallipoli tour was all about terrain. Deep gulleys, imposing cliffs & plenty of inescapable high ground made moving across the peninsula punishing. It could never have been as easy as the plan demanded. With @alexchurchill.bsky.social & @peterhart.bsky.social

Gully Ravine behind X beach with steep cliffs on either side

Deep valleys crisscrossing the peninsular

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Alex Churchill @alexchurchill.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

One thing that never changes about sharing #Gallipoli is watching the sheer folly and arrogance of the entire campaign dawning on people as they walk the ground, see the terrain and hear the “plan.”

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Stephen Fisher @seaspitfires.com · 04/07/2025

None of them. 3 of them were areas, but none of them were beaches.

areas.one

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