Discovering dad’s secret war story

Family history has always been an interest of mine, mainly because of my rare surname Zwalf. Until I was in my late teens, I had never met anyone with the same name. My father Joseph Zwalf was born in

The British merchant service was renamed the Merchant Navy after World War 1 to mark the vital role its sailors played in wartime. That role continued in World War 2 as merchant ships carried troops a

To mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, John Eskdale and other survivors share their harrowing memories of war and stories of hope

Beryl Nevell thought her service during the Second World War had been a case of ‘doing her duty’. Then someone special stepped in and showed her what she was truly owed…

When I was aged 10, the farmers used to come round the schools to pick volunteers to work on the farms during the summer holidays, mainly to help bring in the harvest. The country was still building u

On a quiet street in Walton, Liverpool, nestled among rows of terraced houses, a child was born who would one day witness one of the most infamous moments in maritime history. The date was 15 October