The Battle of Okinawa started in April 1945. The capture of Okinawa was part of a three-point plan the Americans had for winning the war in the Far East. Okinawa was to prove a bloody battle even by the standards of the war in the Far East but it was to be one of the major battles of World War Two. Alongside, the territorial re-conquest of land in the Far East, the Americans wished to destroy what was left of Japan's merchant fleet and use airstrips in the region to launch bombing raids on Japan's industrial heartland.

Medieval names were about identifying you in Medieval England. What we now take for granted - our surnames - had a specific purpose in Medieval England. Before 1066, people in England only had a single Christian name. After 1066 and William's victory at the Battle of Hastings, the Norman's introduced a more precise system that included a surname and by the Twelfth Century, English society had what we might recognise as Christian names and surnames.

Spitfire Hurricane Lysander Boulton-Paul Defiant Mosquito Swordfish P51 Mustang Grumman F6F Hellcat Lancaster P-38 Lightning B17 Flying Fortress B29 Superfortress Messerschmitt 109 Messerschmitt 110 Messerschmitt 262 Heinkel III Junkers 87 Junkers 88 Dornier Do 17 Churchill tank Sherman DD Duplex Tiger tank T34 tank Machine Guns HMS Hood U-boats The Bismarck The Tirpitz USS Lexington V1 V2 Atomic Bomb Rocket development Hawker Typhoon Bristol Beaufighter Sea Hurricane

Operation Merkur was the name given to the German invasion of Crete in May 1941. Operation Merkur was the largest Garman airborne attack of World War Two and one that was to prove very costly to the Germans. Control of Operation Merkur was handed over the General Kurt Student, an officer who had been closely involved in the Blitzkrieg attack on Western Europe in the spring of 1940.

Heraldry had and has very specific rules as to how a coat of arms is made up. The most basic part of a coat of arms was the achievement. An achievement in terms of heraldry and a coat of arms was the complete display of arms, crests and accessories. An achievement was made up of eight parts and there were very specific rules as to what colours could be used in a heraldic device.

The Graf Spee had been forced into Montevideo after the British success at the Battle of the River Plate in December 1939 - the first major naval action of World War Two. The Graf Spee sailing into Montevideo The Graf Spee harboured in Montevideo - much to the surprise of the British naval attaché's office based there.