17th November 2014 Ottawa, Canada
We will remember them…
In a quiet corner of Ottawa by the junction of Sussex Avenue and Stanley Drive, there stands a fine memorial to the Canadian Officers loaned to Great Britain during the Second World War…
1st September 2014 Paris, France
Guest blog: Sir Francis Bertie meets Sir John French and Lord Kitchener in Paris
Rummaging in my library, I found the following blog-post left by my predecessor, with remarkable prescience, to be posted exactly 100 years later! It recounts a dramatic meeting that really did take place in the Residence on 1 September 1914 directly related to the conduct of the War, and in which my predecessor took a […]
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21st March 2014 Havana, Cuba
When Winston Churchill went to war in Cuba
In a week when Russian aggression in Eastern Europe has brought back memories of the Cold War, it seems appropriate to write about Sir Winston Churchill, the great British statesman who coined the term ‘the iron curtain’. Churchill’s inspiring, determined, brilliant leadership during the Second World War is known to all. Less well-known are his […]
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5th March 2014 Sofia, Bulgaria
Being British Ambassador to Bulgaria in the 70s
by John Cloake John Cloake is a former British Ambassador to Bulgaria (1976-1980). When we invited him to contribute to the 100 Years UK in BG blog, he came back to us saying that he holds “many good memories of Bulgaria” and that has always thought that the British Ambassador’s Residence in Sofia was “the […]
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27th February 2014 London, UK
Turkey, hello again!
Let me introduce myself. I am Richard Moore and I am the new British Ambassador to Turkey. Let me explain why it is my dream job! I feel fantastically pleased and honoured to be here. Turkey has a very special place in my heart. I arrived here the first time in 1990 as a young […]
25th February 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Remembering the Holocaust
The usual approach of a blogger or commentator to a historical event is to look for modern-day comparisons; to use the event to support a link to a trend of interest or concern. But this approach cannot be adopted on the Holocaust. Because of its horrors, because of its sheer scale, there can be no […]
31st July 2013 USA
A thorny case for Sherlock Holmes
On the first day of August for the last 45 years, the British Consulate General in Chicago has received six red roses from an anonymous sender. The bouquet’s accompanying card always carries the same message – not one of unrequited love, but rather a moving tribute to the six British infantry regiments that helped defeat […]
4th June 2013 Ottawa, Canada
Cecil Spring-Rice: Singing the Unsung Hero
Most of us go through life trying to make a difference for the better, whether in a small way, or in a way that has a bigger, more lasting impact on the world around us. Very few people truly succeed in doing so. And of those that do, very few perhaps get the recognition they deserve…
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1st March 2013 Ottawa, Canada
St David’s Day: Welsh-Canadian connections
It’s well known that the Year of the Dragon is one of the luckiest years in the Chinese calendar; to the Welsh, every year is the year of the dragon, and the red dragon proudly adorns the Flag of Wales. But today is a particularly special day in the Welsh calendar – St David’s Day…
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31st January 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Homage to Cappadocia
A tear-drop forest of twisted rock-forms rears up, stretching into the distance. Each fantastic shape has been hollowed out over the millennia by unknown hands to form dwellings, monasteries or, between the 4th and 11th century, painted churches. Welcome to Cappadocia. We all know that Turkey teems with outstanding historic and tourist sites. Yet Cappadocia, […]