Book Spotlight: Last Train to Freedom by Deborah Swift

 

'Taut, compelling and beautifully written – I loved it!’ ~ DAISY WOOD

'Tense and thought-provoking' ~ CATHERINE LAW

 1940. As Soviet forces storm Lithuania, Zofia and her brother Jacek must flee to survive.

 A lifeline appears when Japanese consul Sugihara offers them visas on one condition: they must deliver a parcel to Tokyo. Inside lies intelligence on Nazi atrocities, evidence so explosive that Nazi and Soviet agents will stop at nothing to possess it.

Pursued across Siberia on the Trans-Siberian Express, Zofia faces danger at every turn, racing to expose the truth as Japan edges closer to allying with the Nazis. With the fate of countless lives hanging in the balance, can she complete her mission before time runs out?

‘Such an interesting and original book…. Informative, full of suspense and thrills.’

~ Netgalley Review

 Buy Link:

 Universal Buy Link: http://mybook.to/TransSiberian

 

 

Deborah Swift is the English author of twenty historical novels, including Millennium Award winner Past Encounters, and The Poison Keeper the novel based around the life of the legendary poisoner Giulia Tofana. The Poison Keeper won the Wishing Shelf Readers Award for Book of the Decade. Recently she has completed a secret agent series set in WW2, the first in the series being The Silk Code.

Deborah used to work as a set and costume designer for theatre and TV and enjoys the research aspect of creating historical fiction, something she loved doing as a scenographer. She likes to write about extraordinary characters set against a background of real historical events. Deborah lives in England on the edge of the Lake District, an area made famous by the Romantic Poets such as Wordsworth and Coleridge.

 Author Links:

 Website: www.deborahswift.com

Twitter https://twitter.com/swiftstory

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authordeborahswift/

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.co.uk/deborahswift1/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/deborahswift.bsky.social

Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/deborah-swift

Amazon Author Page: http://author.to/DeborahSwift

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/deborahswiftauthor/

 

 

 

Roman Coins Discovered at Japanese Castle Raise Questions of Ancient Connections

Ancient Origins

Four Roman copper coins have been unearthed at Katsuren Castle on Okinawa Island, Japan. They are the first of their kind to be discovered in the country and have been dated to 300-400 AD. How the coins came to be at the castle is still a mystery.

According to Seeker, it was first believed that the coins were simply pennies dropped by U.S. soldiers, but washing them showed images of the Roman Emperor Constantine I. Archaeologist Hiroki Miyagi said that the discovery came as a shock and the Independent claims that the coins “were originally thought to be a hoax.”

Two artifacts found at Katsuren Castle: A Roman coin (Uruma Board of Education) and an Ottoman coin. (Uruma Board of Education)

Japan Times reports that the coins measure 1.6-2 cm (0.6-0.8 inches) in diameter. The designs on the coins are hard to see due to abrasion, however by using x-ray analysis, the researchers found depictions of a soldier holding a spear and the emperor Constantine I. The coins will be on display at Uruma City Yonagusuku Historical Museum in central Okinawa until Nov. 25.
Apart from the Roman coins, the researchers also found a coin from the 17th century Ottoman Empire. Five other possible coins have also been discovered at the castle since excavations began there in 2013.

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Excavations at the site. (Urama Board of Education)

Katsuren Castle was built sometime in the late 13th - early 14th century, and it was abandoned about 200 years later. The castle ruins received UNESCO recognition in 2000. Japan-guide.com tells one of the most famous legends of the castle. It is associated with Lord Amawari, who was the 10th lord of the castle. They write “Amawari was a sickly child that got abandoned in the mountains to die. However, the child survived and grew into a powerful leader who defeated an oppressive lord and took over Katsuren Castle.”
Jcastle provides more of Amawari’s tale and says that:

“He is famous for fostering prosperous international trade and many shards of Chinese pottery and tiles were found on the site of Katsuren Castle. He was also a cunning and deceiving lord. It is said that he pushed the 9th lord Mochizuki Aji off the top of the walls when he tricked Mochizuki to come up there one night and thus assumed lordship of the castle. Mochizuki was considered to be a tyrant so Amawari was a savior to the people of Katsuren. As his strength grew, Lord Gosamaru was moved to Nakagusuku Castle to keep Awamari in check. Awamari deceived the king in Shuri that Gosamaru was the bigger threat and got his support to defeat Gosamaru. Later, he also planned to seize control of the whole kingdom and overtake the king at Shuri, but this time the king was warned in time and Amawari was defeated. Some stories say it was Amawari's wife (the king's daughter) who found out about the plot and warned her father in time. After Amawari, no powerful lords rose from Katsuren Castle.”

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The dress of Oji and Aji in Ryukyu Kingdom. (Public Domain)

Although the feudal lord was linked with international trade, no evidence of connections with Europe have been found before the present discovery of the coins. Miyagi offers one possible explanation for where the coins may have been before they arrived at the castle: "East Asian merchants in the 14 and 15th centuries mainly used Chinese currency, a round coin with a square hole in the middle, so it is unlikely that the Western coins were used as a means of currency. I believe they probably got the coins in Southeast Asia or China."
Could this suggest Romans had connections or even direct influence on ancient Japan? MessageToEagle.com believes so, and writes “Ancient Romans obviously visited the Katsuren Castle in Japan.” They point to previous evidence of three Roman glass beads found in a 5th century Kyoto burial, as more proof of possible connections. Speaking on the beads, researcher Tomomi Tamura said “They are one of the oldest multilayered glass products found in Japan, and very rare accessories that were believed to be made in the Roman Empire and sent to Japan.”

A glass bead that was made by Roman craftsmen - found in an ancient tomb at Nagaokakyo near Kyoto. (Nara National Research Institute)

The board of education in the city of Uruma echoes Tomomi Tamura by saying that the recent discovery of the Roman coins is “precious historical material suggesting a link between Okinawa and the Western world.” How close that link may have been is still debated.
Top Image: Katsuren Castle, Uruma, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. (kanegen/CC BY 2.0) Insert: A 4th-century copper coin from ancient Rome found at the castle. (Uruma Board of Education)
By Alicia McDermott

Japan's WW2 'Musashi battleship wreck found'

 

BBC News

The Musashi came under sustained attack by waves of US aircraft in October 1944

American billionaire Paul Allen has announced the discovery of the famous World War Two Japanese battleship, the Musashi, more than 70 years after it was sunk by US forces.

Mr Allen said the vessel was found by his private exploration team.

It was at a depth of more than 1km (3,280ft) on the floor of the Sibuyan Sea off the Philippines.

The Musashi and its sister vessel, the Yamato, were two of the largest battleships ever built.

US warplanes sank the Musashi on 24 October 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, believed to be the biggest naval encounter of World War Two in which American and Australian forces defeated the Japanese.

Photos of parts of the Musashi have been released on Mr Allen's Twitter account, including this image of a valve

This photo is said by Mr Allen to show part of the bow of the Musashi

Mr Allen announced the discovery on his Twitter page, which also showed photos of the submerged vessel.

He began his search for the Musashi eight years ago, "because since my youth I have been fascinated with Second World War history," he was quoted by CNBC as saying.

The Musashi was found in the middle of the Philippine archipelago using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) after Mr Allen's team had carried out a thorough survey of the seabed.
Attacking aircraft
The Musashi was a "mighty battleship" with "mammoth 18-inch guns", the US Navy's website says.

Its twin ship, the Yamato, was damaged in the fighting, according to the US Navy, and American warships finally sank it a year later as it tried to get to Okinawa.

Remembering Pearl Harbor - 73rd anniversary of the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941

Pearl Harbor Raid, 7 December 1941
Overview and Special Image Selection

Navy History
The 7 December 1941 Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor was one of the great defining moments in history. A single carefully-planned and well-executed stroke removed the United States Navy's battleship force as a possible threat to the Japanese Empire's southward expansion. America, unprepared and now considerably weakened, was abruptly brought into the Second World War as a full combatant.
Eighteen months earlier, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had transferred the United States Fleet to Pearl Harbor as a presumed deterrent to Japanese agression. The Japanese military, deeply engaged in the seemingly endless war it had started against China in mid-1937, badly needed oil and other raw materials. Commercial access to these was gradually curtailed as the conquests continued. In July 1941 the Western powers effectively halted trade with Japan. From then on, as the desperate Japanese schemed to seize the oil and mineral-rich East Indies and Southeast Asia, a Pacific war was virtually inevitable.
By late November 1941, with peace negotiations clearly approaching an end, informed U.S. officials (and they were well-informed, they believed, through an ability to read Japan's diplomatic codes) fully expected a Japanese attack into the Indies, Malaya and probably the Philippines. Completely unanticipated was the prospect that Japan would attack east, as well.
The U.S. Fleet's Pearl Harbor base was reachable by an aircraft carrier force, and the Japanese Navy secretly sent one across the Pacific with greater aerial striking power than had ever been seen on the World's oceans. Its planes hit just before 8AM on 7 December. Within a short time five of eight battleships at Pearl Harbor were sunk or sinking, with the rest damaged. Several other ships and most Hawaii-based combat planes were also knocked out and over 2400 Americans were dead. Soon after, Japanese planes eliminated much of the American air force in the Philippines, and a Japanese Army was ashore in Malaya.
These great Japanese successes, achieved without prior diplomatic formalities, shocked and enraged the previously divided American people into a level of purposeful unity hardly seen before or since. For the next five months, until the Battle of the Coral Sea in early May, Japan's far-reaching offensives proceeded untroubled by fruitful opposition. American and Allied morale suffered accordingly. Under normal political circumstances, an accomodation might have been considered.
However, the memory of the "sneak attack" on Pearl Harbor fueled a determination to fight on. Once the Battle of Midway in early June 1942 had eliminated much of Japan's striking power, that same memory stoked a relentless war to reverse her conquests and remove her, and her German and Italian allies, as future threats to World peace.
This page features a historical overview and special image selection on the Pearl Harbor raid, chosen from the more comprehensive coverage featured in the following pages, and those linked from them:

• Pearl Harbor in 1940-1941
• Japanese Forces in the Pearl Harbor Attack
• Overall Views of the Pearl Harbor Attack


• "Battleship Row" during the Pearl Harbor Attack
• Attacks off the West Side of Ford Island
• Attacks in the Navy Yard Area
• Attacks on Airfields and Aerial Combat


• Other Raid-related Events
• Damaged Ships after the Attack


• Raid Aftermath
• Post-Attack Ship Salvage
• Remembrance of the "Day which will live in Infamy"

For additional information and related resources on the Pearl Harbor attack, see
The Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 and WWII Pacific Battles


Click photograph for larger image.

Photo #: NH 50603 Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 A Japanese Navy Type 97 Carrier Attack Plane ("Kate") takes off from a carrier as the second wave attack is launched. Ship's crewmen are cheering "Banzai" This ship is either Zuikaku or Shokaku. Note light tripod mast at the rear of the carrier's island, with Japanese naval ensign. NHHC Photograph Online Image: 57KB; 740 x 540
Photo #: NH 50931 Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 Torpedo planes attack "Battleship Row" at about 0800 on 7 December, seen from a Japanese aircraft. Ships are, from lower left to right: Nevada (BB-36) with flag raised at stern; Arizona (BB-39) with Vestal (AR-4) outboard; Tennessee (BB-43) with West Virginia (BB-48) outboard; Maryland (BB-46) with Oklahoma (BB-37) outboard; Neosho (AO-23) and California (BB-44). West Virginia, Oklahoma and California have been torpedoed, as marked by ripples and spreading oil, and the first two are listing to port. Torpedo drop splashes and running tracks are visible at left and center. White smoke in the distance is from Hickam Field. Grey smoke in the center middle distance is from the torpedoed USS Helena (CL-50), at the Navy Yard's 1010 dock. Japanese writing in lower right states that the image was reproduced by authorization of the Navy Ministry. NHHC Photograph Online Image: 144KB; 740 x 545
Photo #: 80-G-266626 USS Utah (AG-16) Capsizing off Ford Island, during the attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941, after being torpedoed by Japanese aircraft . Photographed from USS Tangier (AV-8), which was moored astern of Utah. Note colors half-raised over fantail, boats nearby, and sheds covering Utah's after guns. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives collection Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 605 Reproductions may also be available at National Archives.
Photo #: 80-G-K-13513 (Color) Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 The forward magazines of USS Arizona (BB-39) explode after she was hit by a Japanese bomb, 7 December 1941. Frame clipped from a color motion picture taken from on board USS Solace (AH-5). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives collection Online Image: 55KB; 740 x 610 Reproductions may also be available at National Archives. Note: The motion picture from which this image is taken is shown backwards, with the fireball oriented to the left. The image is correctly oriented as shown here.
Photo #: 80-G-19942 Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 USS Arizona (BB-39) sunk and burning furiously, 7 December 1941. Her forward magazines had exploded when she was hit by a Japanese bomb. At left, men on the stern of USS Tennessee (BB-43) are playing fire hoses on the water to force burning oil away from their ship Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives collection Online Image: 115KB; 740 x 610 Reproductions may also be available at National Archives.
Photo #: 80-G-19930 Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 Sailors in a motor launch rescue a survivor from the water alongside the sunken USS West Virginia (BB-48) during or shortly after the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor. USS Tennessee (BB-43) is inboard of the sunken battleship. Note extensive distortion of West Virginia's lower midships superstructure, caused by torpedoes that exploded below that location. Also note 5"/25 gun, still partially covered with canvas, boat crane swung outboard and empty boat cradles near the smokestacks, and base of radar antenna atop West Virginia's foremast. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives collection Online Image: 119KB; 740 x 620 Reproductions may also be available at National Archives.
Photo #: 80-G-19949 Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 USS Maryland (BB-46) alongside the capsized USS Oklahoma (BB-37). USS West Virginia (BB-48) is burning in the background. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives collection. Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 605 Reproductions may also be available at National Archives.
Photo #: NH 86118 Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 The forward magazine of USS Shaw (DD-373) explodes during the second Japanese attack wave. To the left of the explosion, Shaw's stern is visible, at the end of floating drydock YFD-2. At right is the bow of USS Nevada (BB-36), with a tug alongside fighting fires. Photographed from Ford Island, with a dredging line in the foreground. NHHC Photograph Online Image: 99KB; 740 x 605
Photo #: 80-G-19943 Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 The wrecked destroyers USS Downes (DD-375) and USS Cassin (DD-372) in Drydock One at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, soon after the end of the Japanese air attack. Cassin has capsized against Downes. USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) is astern, occupying the rest of the drydock. The torpedo-damaged cruiser USS Helena (CL-50) is in the right distance, beyond the crane. Visible in the center distance is the capsized USS Oklahoma (BB-37), with USS Maryland (BB-46) alongside. Smoke is from the sunken and burning USS Arizona (BB-39), out of view behind Pennsylvania. USS California (BB-44) is partially visible at the extreme left. This image has been attributed to Navy Photographer's Mate Harold Fawcett. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives collection Online Image: 158KB; 610 x 765 Reproductions may also be available at National Archives.
Photo #: 80-G-32836 Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 PBY patrol bomber burning at Naval Air Station Kaneohe, Oahu, during the Japanese attack. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives collection Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 605 Reproductions may also be available at National Archives.
Photo #: NH 72273-KN (Color) "Remember Dec. 7th!" Poster designed by Allen Sandburg, issued by the Office of War Information, Washington, D.C., in 1942, in remembrance of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. The poster also features a quotation from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: "... we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain ...". Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Art Center. Donation of Dr. Robert L. Scheina, 1970. NHHC Photograph Online Image: 83KB; 525 x 765