Amazing Twitter Account ‘Live Tweets’ WWII Events, Broadcasts

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Broadcasts from the front lines of World War II haven’t been breaking news for over 70 years now, but that doesn’t diminish the thrilling reports from the Twitter account @RealTimeWWII. Created by British historian and Oxford grad Alwyn Collinson, the account has gained nearly 350,000 followers and international respect.

Collinson started the account in August 2011, marking the anniversary of the German Invasion of Poland in September 1939. He has “live tweeted” the events of the war, publishing missives as they happened the same day and time, 72 years earlier.

“I’m using eyewitness accounts, photographs, and video to give the feel these tweets are coming straight from 1939,” Colllinson told the BBC. “People say it can help connect them to history by seeing it through the eyes and the words of people who were there.”

A group of volunteers have translated @RealTimeWWII into Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, and Turkish. French, Dutch, and German feeds are in development, too.

“The amount of interest has amazed me,” Collinson told the New York Times. “I don’t have any pretensions to grand historical scholarship. I just want to get people interested.”

10000+ Allied paratroopers, dropped before landings, capture key bridges leading to beaches & sow chaos for Germans.
10000+ Allied paratroopers, dropped before landings, capture key bridges leading to beaches & sow chaos for Germans.

While internet research and history books were Collinson’s initial mode of research, after the Twitter account took off readers began sending him publications from the war. One @RealTimeWWII subscriber even sent Collinson a Polish newspaper article from 1939, which described an assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler. Collinson found images and followed Georg Elser as he planted a bomb in a Munich beer hall where Hitler was giving a speech, reported the bomb exploding, and showed the aftermath of the attempt.

Canadian soldiers of 9th Brigade landing on Juno beach, carrying bicycles to speed their advance inland.
Canadian soldiers of 9th Brigade landing on Juno beach, carrying bicycles to speed their advance inland.

The @RealTimeWWII feed publishes around 40 posts an hour, letting us see, in vivid detail, the consequences of that war. For the modern military, the consequences of war can sometimes leave veterans suffering and out on the streets. By helping GreaterGood house homeless vets, you can give them the peace they deserve. Follow this link to learn about how you can donate to ready and available housing systems.

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