It was tough coming of age in West Belfast during the early 70s, that’s for sure. I’m not making excuses for myself but – like many in my generation – I was caught between a rock and a hard place. I grew up in a working-class Catholic family and like …
War is Hell. It’s an old adage but an accurate one. The death, loss and suffering which comes from violent conflict touches everyone involved – civilians and soldiers alike, and on all sides of the dispute. No-one walks away unscathed. Some wars are necessary of course. Nations have the right …
I’ve witnessed Hell’s invasion of the Earth. It can be stopped. Read More »
The Traveller Series I’ve travelled to parallel universes. The worlds I’ve seen are terrifying I’ve travelled to parallel universes. The worlds I’ve seen are terrifying – Part 2 I’ve travelled to parallel universes. The worlds I’ve seen are terrifying – Part 3 I was transported to a hellish alternate universe. …
I colonised an alternate version of Earth. There were no other survivors. Read More »
Piotr Kowalczyk lived by a simple mantra, “Sweep and live.” He was an old man, nearly sixty-five, in July 1943 when the Nazis had rounded up all two hundred and thirty-five people in his small village of Michniów and executed all but the two dozen or so who were sent …
When the Ukrainian-Russian war began, NATO responded by stationing troops to the boarder to deter Russia of further attacks into Europe. My unit was one of hundreds, if not thousands of units selected to perform this tasking. I was stationed in the one of the Baltic States, though for the …
The sandy-haired millennial, sitting opposite my desk, wagged his finger. “I never said I was a ghost, Doctor. I just told you I died. Do ghosts eat, breath, go to ballgames? Because I do. But I’m also 101-years-old. Don’t look it, do I?” I already knew the gist of his …
1940, it was the era of World War 2. I was a pilot and had been in action in squadron 78 in the RAF for about 3 years. I flew mostly Spitfires and I fought in Dunkirk. But something went wrong with my plane on an evening in France in …
November 11, 1918 9:00 am The war was coming to an end and Heinrich knew it. The Yankees had gotten involved and the once great German Empire was surrounded on all sides; prime for invasion. The Russians had been defeated, but German forces couldn’t continue without food or supplies that …
I’m not going to tell you much about myself. I won’t recount my life story here, if only because it isn’t relevant. Suffice to say, I’m an ordinary guy with a well-paid but uninteresting job, a job that allows me to pursue my two passions in life – travelling and …
The seeping toxins of weaponized plague, flowing mercilessly into lungs begging for their salvation. The sea of gas blistering its way across the field of battle- it’s unprejudiced touch providing an agent of death in compatriotism with pain. A drowning of one’s soul as the gas puppeteers your body into …
Wind blew across the dunes as the Sun bore down on the desert sands. Three men staggered across the parched earth, mildly delirious from dehydration and hunger. Sergeant McKay squinted his eyes toward an object far off in the distance. “Corporal Langley, do you see something up ahead, or are …
I’ll start this account by admitting I was a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army during the early 1970’s. I joined as a volunteer in the South Down Brigade in late 1971 and was active along the border up until my arrest and conviction in 1975. I make no …
Something happened in an Irish border town that was kept out of the history books Read More »
The following transcript is taken from a Gardai Missing Person’s Report dated 5th December 2020. The subject’s name is Paul O’Shea, aged 32 years. Mr O’Shea is (or was) a mature PhD student at the School of Irish History in Waterford Institute. A Waterford native, Mr O’Shea had been travelling …
A lost paramilitary tape from the 1990’s has been rediscovered. Do not watch it. Read More »
My mother died suddenly and unexpectantly sometime in the early hours of Sunday morning. The coroner said she suffered a massive stroke and her death would have been instantaneous. This brought me some small comfort, knowing that she hadn’t suffered in the end. I was the one who found her. …
From a young age I always knew I would become a soldier. I was born into an upper-class family with a proud military tradition. My grandfather was wounded at the Somme, and my father served under Montgomery in North Africa. It was always expected that I would follow in their …
My name is Sean. Actually, that’s not my real name, but it will have to do. I live in a small tight knit community – the type where everyone knows everybody else. So, if I published my story under my real identity, I’d become a local laughingstock. Either that, or …
Every night I’m stopped at a roadblock that shouldn’t exist Read More »
When I was a kid, I never really knew my grandfather Karl. Not only was he an ocean away, living in his home country while I grew up American, he had died a few years before I was born, nixing any chance of a meet up. Grandma kept his house …
My grandpa served in both World Wars. He died dozens of times. Read More »
“Deputies have confirmed that accused spree killer Jason Urban was transferred to the Akron Detention Center in the dead of night two days ago and has been held there in segregation in a highly secure wing of the prison since then. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a representative of the …
My friends and I used to wander into the dark woods at night, wielding little more than our flashlights and overactive imaginations. It was the surge of adrenaline we needed, gained from harmless, nonexistent horror. Lucky for us, there was a forest bordering our neighborhood. It was full of ancient …
When I was a child there was nothing to eat. I was the eldest of five, so it was my job to make sure that I always let my brothers and sisters eat before me. War was inching inward from the coast, and as it marched closer, our food grew …
My grandfather is 95 years old and doesn’t have long left in this world. There’s nothing but a mess of tubes and wires to tether him here with us. It’s difficult for him to speak, but each rasping whisper carries a severe weight that cannot be interrupted. My …
Avraham looked about his new laboratory with both pride and trepidation. In the dim light, he could make out the shapes of tables, crates, and the special piece of equipment that he had requested – all draped under sheets to keep the dust off. He was excited to begin the …
On Davidson Avenue, one mile east of Highway 164 and East Main Street Intersection, sits the entrance to Hillcrest Park, home of the now defunct Nike Missile Base, known to the Waukesha, Wisconsin locals as The Old Hillcrest Doom Tower. From 1956 to 1964 the active site was home to …
One of my least favorite parts about being a middle school history teacher is the bullshit “Living History” assignments we give at the end of every school year. Kids are supposed to sit with their grandparents and video tape, voice record, or transcribe their oldest memories for posterity (and for …
