Alll my Christmases have just come at once ... John Clark - the son of the photographer aboard HMS Illustrious when it was bombed on in 1941 - has just been in touch with me. His father's photo album has high-quality prints of the action - including many of those missing from the archives! Wow.
Among them is a particularly clean and high resolution print of the deck of HMS Illustrious shortly after the first bombing wave.
Given the rare clarity of this early print from the original plate/negative, the detail is much greater. I feel this strengthens the idea the wreckage on HMS Illustrious' aft deck is the Stuka wing referred to by a couple of accounts...
Meanwhile, I know I have not done any major content updates in a considerable time. This is due to growing family and demanding work commitments.
However, I have constantly been tinkering by adding and updating images, video and 3d models etc to enhance existing pages. So they may be worth a fresh look.
And I’ve finally managed to get my hands on sufficient detail about the design history and conceptual work behind the USS Midway class of armoured carriers. I’m just reading through it all now - taking notes - and hope to write that up sometime in the new year.
Thanks to you all.