A Force For Good, Clyde Offices, 48 W. George Street, Glasgow (2026)

08/06/2026

GALAHAD and TRISTRAM ATTACKED
On this day, 8 June 1982, saw the bombing attacks on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships, RFA Sir Galahad and RFA Sir Tristram during the Falklands War.

The ships were going to disembark troops and equipment in readiness for the final assault on the capital, Port Stanley. They were anchored in Fitzroy Sound.

They were hit by McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawks.

48 soldiers and crew were killed aboard the Sir Galahad, including 32 Welsh Guards. Welsh Guardsman Simon Weston was among the survivors from Sir Galahad. Two Chinese crewmen were killed aboard the Sir Tristram.

After the war, RFA Sir Galahad was towed out to sea and sunk. RFA Sir Tristram was carried back on a heavy lift ship (pictured), and repaired – going on to see service in the Gulf War, the Balkans, Sierra Leone and the invasion of Iraq.

She was decommissioned in 2005, but is still afloat at Portland Harbour, where she is used for Special Boat Services training.
---
Sign Up to Stay in Touch at aforceforgood.uk/sign-up

08/06/2026

MALLORY AND IRVINE, VERY POSSIBLY CONQUERED EVEREST!
On this day, 8 June 1924, the last sighting of British climbers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine around 800 feet from the summit of Mount Everest on the northeast ridge, during the third British expedition to reach the summit and become the first men to conquer the world's highest mountain.

It was Mallory's third expedition and Irvine's first.

Mallory's body was found on 1 May 1999 by the "Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition" and his well-preserved body was left where it lay. Irvine's body has never been found.

There is a belief that the pair may have reached the summit.

Mallory's daughter said that he carried a picture of his wife which he was going to leave on the summit. No such picture was found on him, despite the well-preserved condition of the artefacts on him - which seems fairly conclusive evidence of having reached the top!

Furthermore, his snow goggles were in his pocket, suggesting that he died in the evening, perhaps after making a descent from the peak.

Irvine carried a pocket camera, and it is believed that if his body is ever found then it might still be possible to process the film.

George Mallory was born in Mobberley, Cheshire on 18 June 1886. Andrew Irvine was born on 8 April 1902 in Birkenhead.

Irvine was only 22 when he died, and one of his friends, wrote: "Irvine did not live long, but he lived well. Into his short life he crowded an overflowing measure of activity which found its climax in his last wonderful year, a year during which he rowed in the winning Oxford boat, explored Spitsbergen, fell in love with skiing, and – perhaps – conquered Everest."

We like to think they did conquer Everest, 29 years before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit on 29 May 1953.

Graphic shows Mallory (left) and Irvine, from
https://as.com/masdeporte/2021/01/27/reportajes/1611707944_571110.html
---
Sign Up to Stay in Touch at aforceforgood.uk/sign-up

Learn about our "One Big Country" at amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CQ6TBJY3

07/06/2026

WW1 RECRUITING POSTER, CARDS - GREAT TALKING POINT!
To commemorate the 110th Anniversary of the 1914-1918 World War, A Force For Good has produced this unique remembrance item. This educational piece is a copy of a 1915 recruiting poster which details all the local army regiments which were found throughout the British Isles at the time.

A pack of 6 stunning WW1 recruiting poster greetings cards by AFFG are only £8 with free p&p. Find them at 👉 aforceforgood.uk/product-page/ww1-cards

Entire Shop at aforceforgood.uk/shop-1

07/06/2026

Comparing USA slave numbers to European: 4m vs 10s of millions

07/06/2026

NEWFOUNDLAND MEMORIAL, FRANCE
On this day, 7 June 1925, the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial, in France, was unveiled by Field Marshal Earl Haig.

During WWI, Newfoundland was a Dominion of the British Empire, and not yet part of Canada. At the outbreak of the war, the Newfoundland government raised a Regiment of 1,000 men.

The memorial commemorates the men who fought and died in the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, and those who perished in the battle on the first day of the Somme, 1 July 1916, when almost the entire Regiment was wiped out at the fighting around Beaumont-Hamel.

Newfoundland was to come into confederation with Canada in 1949. The memorial is one of only two National Historic Sites of Canada located outside Canada; the other is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.

The Caribou on the rock looks out over fields which remain visibly scarred from the conflict.

Pic: A ceremony of remembrance in 2016, from keranews.org/2016-07-01/a-century-after-the-battle-of-the-somme-europe-gathers-to-honor-the-fallen
---
Sign Up to Stay in Touch at aforceforgood.uk/sign-up

Learn about our "One Big Country" at amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CQ6TBJY3

07/06/2026

THE LAST HURRAH OF THE REDCOATS
On this day, 7 June 1896, the Battle of Ferkeh (or Firket), in Sudan. It is the last reported appearance of British soldiers wearing Redcoats during combat.

The Sudanese war had begun in 1881 when Mohammed Ahmad (the Mahdi) rebelled against Egyptian rule. The British were "protectorate governors" of Egypt and were immediately involved.

By Jan 1885, the Mahdists had famously captured Khartoum from General Gordon.

Redcoats had been worn throughout the Sudan campaign, and at the Battle of Ginnis, 30 Dec 1885, the majority of the British infantry fought in Redcoats.

Ferkeh was a small fortified village on the banks of the Nile.

Major General Herbert Kitchener's British and Egyptian force were advancing to take Dongola, in Northern Sudan.

During the battle, a detachment of Connaught Rangers manning a Maxim gun battery wore their Redcoats, and it is said to be the last time Redcoats were seen in action.

Kitchener's troops would successfully move on to take Dongola – and there are several streets in the UK named after this event, including one in Ayr.

The Mahdists would be completely defeated, 18 years after the conflict began, at the Battle of Omdurman on 2 Sept 1898. Sudan would remain under joint British and Egyptian authority until 1956.

Pic: the "Redcoats" magazine (from which we discovered this info).
---
Sign Up to Stay in Touch at aforceforgood.uk/sign-up

Learn about our "One Big Country" at amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CQ6TBJY3

06/06/2026

THE D-DAY STORY, MUSEUM OPENED
On this day, 6 June 1984, The D-Day Story Museum (formerly the D-Day Museum), was opened by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

Located in Southsea, Portsmouth, it tells the story of Operation Overlord – the name given to the D-Day operation.

Today it also houses the 272-foot long "Overlord Embroidery", as well as displaying the 65-yard long "LCT 7074" [Landing Craft Tanks] pictured – the last surviving example of more than 800 tank-carrying landing craft employed that day!

It carried 10 tanks to Normandy on the day, as well as ferrying supplies, and was rescued from Birkenhead Dock in 2014.

She had been a floating nightclub in the 1960s to 1980s, which explains why she was not broken up years ago, according to this article which has lots of pics of her renovation and transportation: dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8657691/Last-surviving-D-Day-tank-landing-craft-arrives-Southsea.html

Pic from the museum's website at
theddaystory.com/d-day-in-80-objects/
---
Sign Up to Stay in Touch at aforceforgood.uk/sign-up

Learn about our "One Big Country" at amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CQ6TBJY3

Please keep us going by becoming a monthly Union Supporter from as little as 0.69p a week (£3 a month) at aforceforgood.uk/support

06/06/2026

D-DAY, REMEMBERED
On this day, we remember, 6 June 1944!

Allied troops, consisting primarily of British, Canadian and American troops stormed five beaches in Normandy: Gold, Sword, Juno, Utah and Omaha.

The British landed on Gold and Sword, the Canadians on Juno, and the Americans on Utah and Omaha.

Allied forces also included Australian, Belgian, Czech, Dutch, French, Greek, New Zealand, Norwegian, South African, Rhodesian and Polish naval, air or ground support.

The heaviest casualties were sustained at Omaha.

THE BRITISH NORMANDY MEMORIAL
Also on this day, 6 June 2021, the British Ambassador to France – on behalf of the-then Prince of Wales - opened the British Normandy Memorial, at Ver-sur-Mer, on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

It overlooks "Gold Beach" in north-west France. It is located within almost 50 acres of parkland, and includes the Memorial Court with pathways resembling the crosses on the Union Jack, 160 stone columns, and the D-Day Sculpture by David Williams-Ellis (pictured).

Engraved on the columns are the names of the 22,442 soldiers "under British command, who lost their lives in the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944 and in the subsequent Battle of Normandy, which culminated in the crossing of the River Seine and the liberation of Paris in the closing days of August 1944" (as it says in the central wall of the memorial).

Pic from https://normandygiteholidays.com/new-british-normandy-memorial/
---
Sign Up to Stay in Touch at aforceforgood.uk/sign-up

Learn about our "One Big Country" at amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CQ6TBJY3

05/06/2026

A GREAT BRITISH MEAL! 🐟🍟🇬🇧
Today is "National Fish and Chips Day". We were reminded of this excellent mural on the side of the Golden Chippy at 62 Greenwich High Road in Greenwich. The council wanted it removed back in March 2024, but google maps shows it was still there in October 2024. Does anyone know if it still remains?

By the way, google AI tells us that the average price of a Fish Supper in Scotland is between £9 and £12 depending on portion size, and around £11 in the UK as a whole. If you're not having a Fish Supper tonight, why not celebrate by making a one-off donation of equivalent value to another Great British Institution at aforceforgood.uk/support 😉

Pic from dailymail.com/news/article-13214441/Artist-Union-Jack-chip-shop-mural-colour-quality-life.html

05/06/2026

HMS HAMPSHIRE HIT - KITCHENER DROWNED - HUGE LOSS OF LIFE
On this day, 5 June 1916, HMS Hampshire, bound for Russia on a diplomatic mission, hit a mine off Orkney and 737 men lost their lives, including the British general, and Secretary of State for War, Field Marshal Lord Kitchener (he of the "Britons: Kitchener Wants You" and "Your Country Needs You" posters).

There were only 12 survivors.

Jeremy Paxman wrote:

"The last picture we have of the man the British public believed would lead them to victory comes from one of the handful of sailors to survive the disaster, who described Kitchener watching the calamity from the starboard side of the quarterdeck, talking to two of his officers. Soon afterwards the bows of the ship were under water and the vessel listing at a terrifying angle. Then the Hampshire's propellers were out of the water - still turning, according to one witness - and men were leaping into the sea or sliding down the vessel's sides. Suddenly the great ship turned turtle. Within fifteen minutes of striking the mine, she had sunk." (p176)

"In the space of a few weeks there had been an attempted revolution at home, the Royal Navy had been found wanting and now the country's most famous army commander and face of the war effort had been drowned. There is no appropriate modern comparison (who can even name a single serving general today?)...Coming on top of the failure of the Gallipoli campaign, the navy's failure in the North Sea left many wondering where on earth salvation was to come from." (pp178-9)
(Jeremy Paxman, "Great Britain's Great War", (Penguin 2014).

New research has identified all the men lost, and in 2016 a plaque unveiling their names was added to the Kitchener Memorial Tower on Orkney.

Pic from lookandlearn.com/history-images/XD124851/Lord-Kitchener
---
Sign Up to Stay in Touch at aforceforgood.uk/sign-up

Learn about our "One Big Country" at amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CQ6TBJY3

A Force For Good

08/06/2026

08/06/2026

07/06/2026

07/06/2026

07/06/2026

07/06/2026

06/06/2026

06/06/2026

05/06/2026

05/06/2026

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Organisation

Shortcuts

Share

Category