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Mark Barnes

@markbarnesn16.bsky.social

890 followers 540 following 3.7K posts

Retired Fleet Street foot soldier (1975-2024). Ink in my veins. Can be found running on the Essex Riviera. Here for photography, military history, model making, Arsenal (COYG!), armour, aviation, cars and most engine powered things. Chitchat.

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Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 11m

Our world is getting more daft day by day. (Putting it mildly).

Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 4h

I think i know one or two at best from my circle of friends and family. I managed an O Level at second attempt a million years ago.

Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 15h

We do.

Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 16h

Nice!

Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 16h

Looks like the villain from the next Cars movie

Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 16h

It gets worse and worse

Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 17h

Happy days.

Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 17h

Very nice.

Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 17h

Too kind. I assumed it was an older kit.

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Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 18h

I'd prefer 2,000 words on Spike Milligan's "Puckoon".

Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 18h

I can't find one in the UK

Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 18h

I hadn't thought of one of these. Heaven. It even comes with Berliet signage. Brilliant.

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Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 18h

A sock puppet in a suit

Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 18h

The Essex Riviera - my pix of a sunrise and a sunset taken in recent years

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Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 18h

Thank you. I've been a little obsessed with the MkIII since I found prints and negs during my time working in The Times photo archive. There may well be a kit of the beast one day.

Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 19h

They're drowning but won't blow up their water wings.

Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 19h

My Sony Dream Machine has been around since 1985. It works like... a dream (sorry). I make use of it every day.

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Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 19h

Lovely work

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Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 19h

Before GCSEs there were A and O Levels and CSEs. I somehow managed to get two O Levels and four CSEs. I still have the certificates but only the Army wanted to see them in 1977. They've been in my "stuff" ever since.

Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 20h

Fantastic. All I need now is a kit in 1/35th scale.

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Reposted by Mark Barnes

Jamie McTrusty @jamiemctrusty.bsky.social · 21h

14th October 1943: Second Schweinfurt. On what became known as ‘Black Thursday’, the Eighth Air Force sent 291 bombers in a repeat attack on the town’s vital ball bearing plants. Once again, Luftwaffe aircraft waited until escort fighters had to turn back at the German border before attacking.
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B-17s of the 390th Bomb Group over Schweinfurt on 14th October. The image, taken from high altitude, shows two 4-engined bombers to the left over fields. On the right, smoke rises from an urban area with a river or canal running through it.
📷 American Air Museum FRE 8251

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Reposted by Mark Barnes

Jamie McTrusty @jamiemctrusty.bsky.social · 21h

BATTLE OF BRITAIN 85: 14th October 1940. Daylight operations by the Luftwaffe were on a much smaller scale than the previous day. There were a series of incursions by single aircraft over the south east, while a larger formation was plotted near Portsmouth in the late afternoon.
📷 NARA
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Perched on a rooftop, a smartly dressed civilian wearing a steel helmet and a gasmask case on his chest uses binoculars to scan the sky. Behind him is the city of London, with the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral prominent. He’s possibly a member of the Observer Corps.

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Reposted by Mark Barnes

Jamie McTrusty @jamiemctrusty.bsky.social · 22h

14th October 1939: Sinking of HMS Royal Oak. Shortly after midnight, U-47 under Kapitänleutnant Gunther Prien managed to enter the Royal Navy anchorage at Scapa Flow through Kirk Sound, which had not yet been secured by a blockship.
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Prewar photograph of U-47 - the identity number on the conning tower was removed at the outbreak of war. The image shows a German U-Boat running on the surface in choppy coastal waters. A number of the crew are in the conning tower or immediately aft of it on the casing.

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Reposted by Mark Barnes

Jamie McTrusty @jamiemctrusty.bsky.social · 22h

October 14th, 1938. First flight of the Curtiss-Wright XP-40, prototype of the P-40 Warhawk. Known in British/Dominion/Empire and Soviet service as the Tomahawk or Kittyhawk (depending on variant) the P-40 saw extensive service on all fronts, particularly in the early war years.
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The XP-40 on its first flight over Buffalo, New York. At this point, the aircraft’s only armament was two cowling-mounted 0.50 calibre machine guns, but this changed on production examples.
📷 thisdayinaviation.com

(Unpainted single-engined fighter in prewar American markings at altitude over scattered clouds)

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Mark Barnes @markbarnesn16.bsky.social · 22h

Lovely. I only found a handful of negs of the MkIII in my former place of work. None showing a view like these.

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