ShermanM51🇬🇧

I'm an old school Gentleman, motorcycle adventurer, socialite and historian. I've served my country, love animals, people and beauty. We are all stories waiting to be told. Shalom....

[usafphantom8]

Hawker Tempest Mk V’s of No. 501 Sqn RAF in Oct 1944. significantly improved derivative of Typhoon, improved in performance at high alt by replacing wing with thinner laminar flow design. Since it had diverged considerably from the Typhoon, it was renamed Tempest.

@CcibChris via X

[captain-price-returns]

A King's Royal Hussars Challenger deployed with IFOR in Bosnia, 1996

[shermanm51]

Memories of growing up on the Solent : the smell of jet exhaust mixed wirh salt air....noise, the SRN6 was fearfully noisy compared to the modern replacement! Southsea to Ryde, still the only commercial hovercraft ferry service anywhere in the world. Long may it continue. 🇬🇧

[shermanm51]

Hiking the coastline in the Faroe Islands.....redefining the word dramatic!

[breathtakingdestinations]

 Charles Bridge - Prague - Czech Republic (by Ronel Reyes) 

[cimmerian-war-shrine]

[fantastictyphoonpeanut]

Classic 80s: Big bother!

Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 T-800 Endoskeleton from James Cameron's iconic 1984 sci-fi film, 'The Terminator'. (FTP)

[shermanm51]

Soon to be on a street near you!

[doctor-uchron99]

Look at life differently (FFL poster)

[shermanm51]

Few things in the world more exciting than an overland motorcycle trip. In the end all we have are memories anyway, so why not create some?

[shermanm51]

I had a huge poster of this on my wall as a kid....

1970s Red Arrows doing what they do best!🇬🇧

[shermanm51]

The best. 🇬🇧

[usafphantom-3]

Another fun fact about the Fairey Swordfish: Bismarck's AA guns used explosive rounds, but any that hit ripped harmlessly through the canvas because it was too soft to detonate them.

@ron_eisele via X

[shermanm51]

Interceptor! Game over, as 2 English Electric Lightnings of the RAF successfully catch a high flying US U2 over the Arctic. The U2, considered virtually immune from interception, could be caught by the Lightning's astonishing performance and climb rate to over 60,000ft. 🇬🇧

[themrswallace]

Bombs away, lad!

[ginandoldlace]

Coronation Celebrations — Chipping Norton, England, 1911

A vibrant street scene from Chipping Norton, captured during the nationwide celebrations of the Coronation of George V and Mary.

The façade of G.O.E. Herbert’s Tea & Dining Rooms is richly adorned with Union Jack flags and royal banners, proudly displaying the message “God Save the King.”

Such decorations were a common sight across Britain as towns and communities came together to mark the coronation.

Outside the shop, locals gather—shopkeepers, women in period dress, and children with bicycles—offering a vivid glimpse into everyday life during this historic moment.

The scene beautifully captures both the festive national pride and the quiet charm of early 20th-century England.

[cosmonautroger]

Nico Froehlich, London

[shermanm51]

Can't beat a pukka chippy! 🇬🇧🙏

[gphobby]

The original photo is a blurred, low resolution scrap. I think that in memoriam of this brave Belgian pilot it is worth to get acquainted with is story.

Here a synopsis of the Belgian pilot's story, from FB The Historian's Den:

Jean de Selys Longchamps was a Belgian aristocrat who fled to Britain after the Nazi occupation and joined the Royal Air Force as a fighter pilot. Though technically too old and inexperienced for combat roles, he pushed his way into active service, driven by a fierce sense of duty and a personal hatred of the regime that had overrun his country. His flying skills quickly earned him respect, but he remained restless, carrying the weight of what was happening back home.

In 1943, he learned that his father had been arrested, tortured, and killed by the Gestapo. The news shattered him, and hardened his resolve. Without authorization, de Selys Longchamps took off in his Hawker Typhoon, flew across the Channel, and descended low over Brussels. In a daring solo attack, he strafed the Gestapo headquarters on Avenue Louise, killing several officers and sending shockwaves through the occupation forces. As he escaped, he dropped the Belgian flag over the city as a final act of defiance.

When he returned to base, he was immediately demoted for insubordination; the RAF could not officially condone a personal revenge mission. Yet privately, his superiors recognized the extraordinary courage and precision of the operation. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism soon after. Jean de Selys Longchamps was killed in action later that year, but in Belgium he remains a symbol of audacity, resistance, and the complicated human cost of war.