The Order of Excalibur – The Ring of Fate – Historical Background
The story, main characters, and some of the settings in The Order of Excalibur novels are fictional but are based on true events that took place during World War II.
Here you will find links to online sources of information about World War II and the early stages of the conflict, some of the war’s leading characters, locations that are mentioned in the text, life during the war, and details from the various military campaigns and other historical periods that are featured in the story.
Please note that all links were fully operational at the time of the book’s completion.
King Arthur
King Arthur was a legendary British king in the sixth century, after the Romans left Britain. It is not known if the stories about him are based on a real person.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Arthur
https://www.britannica.com/topic/King-Arthur
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/king-arthur-real-person-180980466/
Merlin
Merlin is a mythical figure that appears in the legend of King Arthur. He is best known as a magician, but also for several other important roles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlin
https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Merlin/543487
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is one of the most famous cultural landmarks in the United Kingdom. The prehistoric megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain was built in phases from 3100 BC until 1600 BC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/history-and-stories/history/
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Stonehenge
Blue John
Blue John is a semi-precious mineral, a rare form of fluorite with bands of a purple-blue or yellowish colour. In the UK it is only found at Blue John Cavern and Treak Cliff Cavern in Derbyshire.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_John_(mineral)
https://www.fellows.co.uk/blog/jewellery/gemstones/2024/08/05/blue-john-history/
https://www.bluejohn-cavern.co.uk/
World War II
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II
https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii
Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain was prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940. He is associated with the policy of appeasement involving negotiations with Hitler’s Germany in the years before World War II.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Chamberlain
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Neville-Chamberlain
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/chamberlain_arthur_neville.shtml
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during most of World War II, from 1940 to 1945. He led the country to victory, rallied the British people and shaped Allied strategy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill_in_the_Second_World_War
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Winston-Churchill
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-churchill-led-britain-to-victory-in-the-second-world-war
The war in the West and the Fall of France
In May 1940, Germany attacked the Low Countries and France. It took the Germans only six weeks to defeat the Allied defences.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_France
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/dover-castle/history-and-stories/fall-of-france/
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-battle-of-france
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain was a major air campaign fought mostly over southern England in the summer and fall of 1940.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain
https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Britain-European-history-1940
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/8-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-battle-of-britain
Dunkirk
The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the north of France, in late May and early June 1940. The operation started after large numbers of British, French, and Belgian troops were cut off and surrounded by German forces during the Battle of France.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-dunkirk-evacuations
Operation Sea Lion
This was the code name for Nazi Germany’s planned invasion of the United Kingdom. It was planned to take place in September 1940.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Sea_Lion
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Operation-Sea-Lion-European-history
Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign of World War II, running from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. The Allied powers needed to keep supplies and men flowing between North America and Europe, while the Germans wanted to cut off those supply lines.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Atlantic https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-the-Atlantic
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-battle-of-the-atlantic
The Blitz
The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom from September 1940 to May 1941 during World War II.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blitz
https://www.britannica.com/event/the-Blitz
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-blitz-around-britain
London Underground
During the Blitz, many people used the London Tube stations as air raid shelters.
https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/stories/war/deep-level-shelters
https://spartacus-educational.com/2WWunderground.htm
Anderson shelters
Anderson shelters were a type of air raid shelter used in the UK during World War II to protect people from bombing.
https://andersonshelters.org.uk/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_raid_shelter
Rationing
In January 1940, the British government introduced food rationing. This was designed to ensure fair shares for everyone at a time of national shortage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationing_in_the_United_Kingdom
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-about-rationing-in-the-second-world-war
https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Rationing-in-World-War-Two/
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany from 1933 until 1945, leading the country through World War II.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adolf-Hitler
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/adolf-hitler-1
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler was the head of Germany’s dreaded SS from 1929 until 1945. He was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany during World War II.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Himmler
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/heinrich-himmler
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Heinrich-Himmler
Reynard Heydrich
Reynard Heydrich was Himmler’s main deputy in the SS and played a major role in the Holocaust in the early years of World War II. He was assassinated by the Czech Resistance in Prague in 1942.
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/reinhard-heydrich-in-depth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhard_Heydrich
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Reinhard-Heydrich
War in Russia
Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting in June 1941, during World War II.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barbarossa
https://www.britannica.com/event/Operation-Barbarossa
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/operation-barbarossa-and-germanys-failure-in-the-soviet-union
Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by Japan on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. At the time, the United States was neutral in World War II, but the attack led to them entering the war on the side of the Allies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor
https://www.britannica.com/event/Pearl-Harbor-attack
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-happened-at-pearl-harbor
