Guy Yeomans
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guyyeomans.bsky.social
Guy Yeomans
@guyyeomans.bsky.social
1.1K followers 1.8K following 630 posts
Professional: Foresight & Horizon Scanning | Research: Resilience (CNI / Societal) & Comprehensive Security, Total Defence, National Preparedness | Emerging Risks & CM / EM | Military mobility | High North, GIUK-NGap & Arctic Futures | Personal: #OnXII
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guyyeomans.bsky.social
And, if you can get to visit in person, you can chill-out post-purchase at Bar Sotima! (given my travel schedule I was there mid-afternoon but it got busier later...) #helsinki #varusteleka
Photo showing the interior of Bar Sotima within the Varusteleka shop in Helsinki, Finland.
January 24, 2026 at 5:40 AM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
One for you @warmatters.bsky.social...
December 11, 2025 at 2:41 PM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
London: The Lookout, EC2N 4BQ. View from the 50th floor viewing gallery on a rainy Monday evening while attending an Institute of Strategic Risk Management (ISRM) event...
Photo taken from the 50th floor viewing gallery at The Lookout, London, EC2N 4BQ. The photo is looking south-east, showing Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast. Taken at night so internal reflections are overlaid on the image. Photo taken from the 50th floor viewing gallery at The Lookout, London, EC2N 4BQ. The photo is looking east, showing St. Paul's Cathedral and the Square Mile. Taken at night so internal reflections are overlaid on the image.
December 2, 2025 at 1:21 PM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
Western Approaches HQ museum is located just a quarter of a mile from Liverpool's Pier Head. Here, a variety of later memorials are sited paying tribute to both British & International Merchant Marine sailors lost in the 'Battle of the Atlantic'. And, to a central figure: Captain F. J. Walker... 5/n
November 30, 2025 at 12:18 PM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
I also had the chance to hear a great talk on 'WRNS & WATU' from in-house specialist Lauren. The contribution of the Women's Royal Naval Service (the Wrens) was instrumental to the success of the mission of the Western Approaches Command. It's a key part of this episode of maritime history... 4/n
Photo of Western Approaches HQ in-house specialist Lauren giving a talk on 'WRNS & WATU'. The contribution of the Women's Royal Naval Service (the Wrens) was instrumental to the Command's success. Photo of Western Approaches HQ in-house specialist Lauren giving a talk on 'WRNS & WATU'. The photo shows a presentation screen which lists the names of the individual WREN's confirmed to have served in Western Approaches HQ / Western Approaches Tactical Unit during the war.
November 30, 2025 at 12:18 PM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
In a side room, the #arcticconvoys were planned (78 over 4 years). I'm obliged to sound a (historic) #GIUK-NGap klaxon. The map shows the plot of convoy ONS.5 (Outbound to North America, Slow - April 1943). This action is regarded as a turning point in defeating U-Boat Wolfpack tactics... 3/n
A photo of the wall map in the Western Approaches HQ museum, Liverpool, L2 8SZ. The close up shows the plot of convoy ONS.5 (Outbound to North America, Slow - April 1943), which traversed Icelandic & Greenlandic waters.
November 30, 2025 at 12:18 PM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
While post-war demolition meant several additional parts of the building, including the floor in which the #WATU exercises & training took place, are now gone, the main Operations Room remains poignant. In this space, the convoy routes were monitored & actions co-ordinated... 2/n
Photo of the Operations Room at the Western Approaches HQ museum in Liverpool, L2 8SZ. The image shows the large, floor-to-ceiling map of the Atlantic Ocean, with the monitoring desks in front.
November 30, 2025 at 12:18 PM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
Images from journey: Liverpool, L2 8SZ. Such an interesting day yesterday visiting the Western Approaches HQ museum, described as 'the nerve centre of the Battle of the Atlantic' & the place of origin of the anti-submarine wargaming devised by #WATU (Western Approaches Tactical Unit)... 1/n
Black and white logo of the Western Approaches HQ museum in Liverpool One of the street entrances to Derby House, the main location of Western Approaches HQ, Liverpool, L2 8SZ. To the left (out of shot) is a larger entrance that was used during the war
November 30, 2025 at 12:18 PM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
When the Wolves beat the Ramsgates: greetings from the collected E1 festive!
November 28, 2025 at 4:43 PM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
Why is ice-slippery? Well, dipole-dipole interactions & the ice-shoe interface. And I recognise that pavement (see banner image...). Three Smiths Square & Kolmen sepän patsas... #helsinki
Dawn photo of Three Smiths Square in Helsinki, showing the Kolmen sepän patsas statue, with the Stockmann department store behind it. Taken at the end of November 2024.
November 22, 2025 at 6:39 PM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
Finland: Finnish friends, can I please check on an English translation for this? Machine translation gives me "Our crisis resilience will be further strengthened", but would you say that's right or captures any nuance in the statement? Kiitos
A graphic with the Finnish phrase "Kriisinsietokykyämme tullaan entisestään vahvistamaan"
November 15, 2025 at 9:34 AM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
IYKYK...
October 2, 2025 at 5:28 PM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
#GIUKGap: a slightly tongue-in-check klaxon on my part, but I wonder what recent events may have contributed to such a late August surge in interest?
Screenshot of a Google Trends results page for the search term "GIUK Gap"
August 30, 2025 at 9:54 AM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
I'll also be trying to map the civil defence sections next time!
Screenshot of the Helsinki Service Map online tool, showing the city's civil defence sections.
August 16, 2025 at 11:36 AM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
And keeping the discipline going from previous years! Now to re-set the target again... 4/4 #solviturambulando #OnXII
Screenshot of two linked Twitter posts, with each displaying a confirmation message of achieving a walking target of 1000 miles in a year. These represent 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.
August 16, 2025 at 7:53 AM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
And then an extended loop around Djurgården & back into the centre of #Stockholm for evening beers with @warmatters.bsky.social & some ’shelter spotting’ ... 3/4 #solviturambulando #OnXII
Screenshot of an OpenSreetMap record of a walk I made in Stockholm which covered Djurgården and the city centre. The distance was 13.83 miles. Photo taken in Stockholm of the entrance to an office building displaying the international civil defence symbol, denoting a shelter or location of a civil defence related organisation. The symbol is a dark blue triangle set within an orange square.
August 16, 2025 at 7:53 AM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
In early December, doing the southern half of the Innerstadens strandstråk / Inner city waterfront trail in #Helsinki. With a stop at Löyly. Looking forward to returning to complete the loop... 2/4 #solviturambulando #OnXII
Screenshot of an OpenSreetMap record of a walk I made in Helsinki which covered the southern half of the Innerstadens strandstråk / Inner city waterfront trail. The distance was 11.57 miles. Photo taken inside Löyly in Helsinki. Taken from the bar, it shows the indoor seating area, the floor-to-ceiling windows and then the outside seating with a view on to the Baltic Sea.
August 16, 2025 at 7:53 AM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
Target achieved: walk 1000 miles between August Bank Holiday 2024 to same weekend in 2025. Some favourites from this year’s journey... 1/4 #solviturambulando #OnXII
Photo of holding a mobile phone and looking at the display which shows a confirmation message that achieving a total of walking 1000 miles in a year has been met successfully.
August 16, 2025 at 7:53 AM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
UK: highlighting the relationship between hybrid warfare, #civilprotection & #societalresilience...
Screenshot of a comment made in an article titled "Striking back through the fog: A more muscular approach to sub-threshold threats" published by the Council on Geostrategy on 6th August 2025. The extract reads "The 2025 Resilience Action Plan goes some way to addressing these faults, but more should be done. Significant investment should be placed in shoring up the UK’s resilience, perhaps most especially the public understanding of the risk and information sharing on how to act in, and react to, crises."
August 12, 2025 at 6:06 PM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
Recent summer reading: I appear, inadvertently & interspersed with #civilprotection forays, to have built an escalation ladder...
Photo of five books stacked on top of each other on a table. The books, in top to bottom order, are 1) Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen 2) Come What May by Lucy Easthope 3) War in the Smartphone Age by Matthew Ford 4) How to Survive a Crisis by David Omand and 5) Norway's War by Robert Ferguson
August 9, 2025 at 8:40 AM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
Azov model: adaptation logic. It was the networked structures comment that caught my eye @warmatters.bsky.social... #WISPA
Screenshot from an article titled "World War III is on our doorstep – Ukraine is already inside" published by Ukrainska Pravda on 14th July 2025. The extract reads "The Azov model is an asymmetric institution that operates within the framework of the regular army while retaining the flexibility unique to network-based structures. This is where its strategic value lies. When it comes to the armies of the future, environments like this will form their core. Not corps built according to the NATO handbook, but units capable of responding rapidly, of adapting, of acting autonomously and without interruption even when completely cut off from the main forces. This is where the example of Azov becomes critically important. Amid the chaos, Azov did not merely survive – it built its own adaptive architecture of warfare."
July 26, 2025 at 7:32 PM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
Australia: Whilst noting a recent narrative shift towards 'resilience', this is an interesting alternative 'national safety' framing from @aspi-org.bsky.social, counterposed to national security... #societalresilience www.aspistrategist.org.au/home-affairs...
Screenshot taken from an article titled "Home Affairs is central to Australia’s security, safety and economic prosperity" published by The Australian Strategic Policy Institute on 18th July 2025. The extract text is "National security and national safety are not the same. Security is about shielding sovereignty, institutions and strategic interests from hostile threats. Safety is about keeping people, communities and critical infrastructure functioning and protected, regardless of whether the threat is natural, accidental or deliberate. If national security is about stopping the bomb, national safety is about ensuring the fallout doesn’t cripple our ability to recover."
July 23, 2025 at 7:55 AM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
UK: new Defence Committee report published, with Chapter 4 concentrating on 'Building homeland resilience', which looks to deepen the initial high-level thinking in Chapter 6 of the SDR (Home Defence and Resilience: A Whole-of-Society Approach)... #nationalpreparedness #civilprotection
Screenshot taken from a UK House of Commons Defence Committee report titled "Defence in the Grey Zone" and published on 9th July 2025. The extract, taken from page 24 reads "Conclusion: As the recent SDR sets out, homeland resilience will become a significant activity for the MOD in the coming years and will require more cross-Government planning and coordination. The MOD is unlikely to lead many of these work streams. However, even with limited resources, it can proactively make an immediate impact by engaging with wider Government, society and industry; by sharing its expertise on grey zone threats; and by applying its planning and leadership skills to help build greater consensus on the challenges and enhance long-term resilience. Further, a dedicated Homeland Security Minister would be more likely to drive through the urgent changes required to improve the UK’s current levels of preparedness and resilience."
July 9, 2025 at 5:31 AM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
UK: now awaiting the release of the new Security Strategy, the communiqués from the NATO Summit & the evolution of the domestic 'defence adjacency' ± resilience policy narrative... #nationalpreparedness #civilprotection
Screenshot of an extract from a Financial Times article titled "UK defence funding will hit 5% of GDP by 2035, Starmer to tell Nato summit" published on 23rd June 2025. The extract reads "The 1.5 per cent of non-core spending has been billed by the government as “homeland security” and “resilience” investment and is expected to cover things such as civil preparedness, cyber threats, border and energy security and other areas with defence-adjacent purposes, with the details to be agreed at the Nato summit."
June 24, 2025 at 3:17 AM
guyyeomans.bsky.social
Pre-deployed Covert Payloads: effective prospective counter-measures will require #CivMil coordination... #nationalpreparedness #civilprotection cc @selyst2023.bsky.social
Screenshot of an extract from an article published by the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (Brussels) titled "Enemy in the Crates: The Risks of Pre-deployed Covert Payloads for European Defence". The text highlighted in the extract reads "Here, an additional emphasis is needed on civil-security-military protocols and standards, as any lapse in civilian procedures can enable the deployment of Pre-deployed Covert Payloads." The article was published on June 18th 2025.
June 19, 2025 at 6:23 AM