Nick Hewitt
@nickhewitt4.bsky.social
3.4K followers 1.7K following 2.6K posts
#naval #historian #Orkney Culture Team Lead @OrkneyCouncil. Author: Firing on Fortress Europe, Coastal Convoys, Kaiser’s Pirates. New book #Normandy: The Sailors’ Story with Yale Books. On TV a bit. Views all mine. 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 🇹🇼
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So here’s a quick intro for all the folk who have probably found me on a starter pack & know NOTHING about me. Nice to meet you all! I am a 20th Century naval historian currently based in beautiful #Orkney where I look after the museums for the Islands Council and get excited about wartime concrete.
Nice to see @tessadunlop.bsky.social ‘s fab new book War and Peace in Exeter Waterstones today. If you’re interested in how war memorials can tell us about our national story this one’s for you, great job Tess ❤️
Loved making this pod, hope you like it too!
📅 #onthisday 6 June 1944: D-Day hits the beaches.

Author @nickhewitt4.bsky.social rages against the myth that the Navy were just a taxi service — they bombarded, protected, and fought battles of their own day and night.

🎧 Listen: #otd.fo/e/28df1a" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">pod.fo/e/28df1a
#otd <a href="/hashtag/onthisdate" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link">#onthisdate #history #podcast ⚓️💥🪖
Very proud to be in this excellent company, thanks!
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Ok. FWIW my D-Day book recommendations. Each one is in my view a stand out in the genre. From @nickhewitt4.bsky.social @seaspitfires.com, Giles Milton, and Peter Caddick-Adams. I’m very lucky the books are all signed. #histbookchat
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"By any measure D-Day was a triumph."

Second Front: Anglo-American Rivalry and the Hidden Story of the Normandy Campaign by Marc Milner
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"The success of the early landings did not mean that the Allies were out of danger. The Germans were rushing reserves to Normandy."

Conquer We Must: A Military History of Britain, 1914-1945 by @rpriory.bsky.social
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"Ahead of D-Day, Mavis Batey and Margaret Rock played a leading role in cracking the complex Enigma code of the Abwehr."

Women in Intelligence: The Hidden History of Two World Wars by Helen Fry
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"The enduring memory of D-Day is one of extraordinary human courage, ambition and sacrifice."

Bletchley Park and D-Day by David Kenyon
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"In the run-up to D-Day, the indomitable Pearl Witherington and her Maquis undertook work of great value to the Allies, blowing up 800 stretches of railway lines and supply routes."

Mission France: The True History of the Women of SOE by @drkatevigurs.bsky.social
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"Almost every day, before, during and after D-Day, Allied sailors put their lives on the line and ships were lost or damaged"

Normandy: The Sailor's Story by @nickhewitt4.bsky.social
So I’ve enjoyed #RogueHeroes well enough but it’s always seemed a bit…cartoonish…somehow, until the Termoli episodes. Those two hours have blown my socks off. Brilliant stuff.
a man wearing a beret with a leaf on it looks at another man
ALT: a man wearing a beret with a leaf on it looks at another man
media.tenor.com
Ahh that’s so lovely!
Oh my goodness…would that have been my actual in-laws???
So here’s a crazy thing. This cigarette bin at the entrance to the Vierville Draw, Dog Green Beach, #Omaha Assault Area is actually…the muzzle brake from the 50mm gun which once occupied the nearby bunker. Our fabulous local guide pointed this out to me.
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If you are in #Orkney any time soon you must, must visit the new #IronAge #Pictish #Viking exhibition at the Orkney Museum, it is wonderful. Congratulations to
@nickhewitt4.bsky.social and the museum staff, it blew me away 🥰
Ahh yeah that’s a really good call, thanks for the link
So here’s a thing, #naval historians! I photographed these odd shelters on the Amalfi coast at Massa Lubrense last year. They looked wartime to me but I have clue what they are. Any thoughts, hive mind?
Sadly got to hit the road back to #Orkney this morning so no time for a longer visit to @scotmaritimemuseum.bsky.social but here’s a few outdoor highlights: Clyde Puffer “Spartan”, steam yacht “Carola” and an amazing survivor, Air Sea Rescue Craft 10. Thanks again for hosting me! #NormandySailors