Podcast: Life of Reginald Mitchell 1895-1937, Designer of the Supermarine Spitfire Fighter

Listen to the The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography's podcast biography of Reginald Mitchell, who designed 24 airplanes, most famously, the Spitfire.

Website for Reginald Mitchell


On the other hand, don't forget the Hawker Hurricane:
"Battle of Britain week: Was the Hurricane the plane that REALLY saved us from the Nazis?"

Eileen Nearne, WW2 Spy, Dead at 89

"Eileen Nearne, who has died aged 89, was a member of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) and recruited into the Special Operations Executive (SOE); parachuted into France, she was captured, then interrogated and tortured by the Gestapo. " From the Telegraph, September 17 2010
From the Guardian: Lonely Death of a Wartime Heroine and The spy who we loved: Eileen Nearne was cherished says niece

Trust the Daily Mail to take the most melodramatic angle.

From the Sunday Independent

Lieutenant-Commander Tony Bentley-Buckle Obituary

Lieutenant-Commander Tony Bentley-Buckle, who has died aged 88, spent the last 18 months of the Second World War as a prisoner-of-war in Germany, when he and his fellow inmates of Marlag-O, a PoW camp for naval officers in northern Germany, built a man-sized dummy called “Albert RN”.
--From the Telegraph, September 5 2010

This gentleman sounds like a character from a Nevil Shute novel!

Obituary Elizabeth Jenkins 1905-2010

"Elizabeth Jenkins, who died on Sunday aged 104, was a sensitive and perceptive novelist and biographer; having been introduced to the Bloomsbury Group in the 1920s, she soon turned her back on Virginia Woolf, whom she found “appalling”, to achieve success in her own right. " From the Telegraph, September 6 2010
Obituary from The Guardian
Obituary from the Independent

Find Elizabeth Jenkin's books

Body building, steroid abusing midgets ?!?!

"SWAT TEAM REQUESTED FOR VIOLENT MIDGETS" from the Reno Union "Police Blotter"
(My local fishwrapper's Police Blotter is never this good!)

More From Tabloid Prodigy: "A posse of midgets cooperated with “steroid-using” bodybuilders in an attempt to kill TWO people, according to a bizarre 911 call in Western Nevada County, Calif. on Tuesday...."

Hope Bourne, Fascinating Woman, Dead at 91

"Hope Bourne, who died on August 22 aged 91, was an author who celebrated life on Exmoor, where she lived for more than 60 years; her knowledge of this beautiful corner of England – of its flora and fauna and its traditional communities – was encyclopedic, and was gained by submission to a lifestyle which few in the 20th century would have dared even to contemplate." From the London Telegraph August 27 2010

Read her obituary here...         Find her books here...

Lou Lumenick on TCM October 20, 2010

Lou Lumenick will be an on air guest programmer on TCM in October 2010. Follow this link for details to a versatile lineup of films such as All Through the Night,  (have cheesecake on hand), The Last Flight, Ride Lonesome and Park Row.