World War Two was a time when huge advances were made in medicine and these medical advances were a direct response to new weaponry that had been developed between 1939 and 1945 and a natural advance in knowledge that would be expected as time progressed. “If any good can be said to come of war, then the Second War War must go on record as assisting and accelerating one of the greatest blessings that the 20th Century has conferred on Man - the huge advances in medical knowledge and surgical techniques.

The Dumbarton Oaks Conference was held between August and October 1944. The principal objective of Dumbarton Oaks was to discuss the possibilities of creating an international organisation that would maintain world peace after the end of World War Two. In fact, there was not one meeting at Dumbarton Oaks, but a series of meetings.

Many in England believed that the succession of Henry VIII would usher in a less austere era than the one Henry VII had ruled over. While Henry VII was seen as being a less than colourful character, Henry VIII was viewed as the opposite and many hoped that the whole royal court would become a more colourful environment.

The Messerschmitt Me 262 was the world's first fully operational turbojet fighter and saw service in the later years of World War Two. The Messerschmitt Me 262 had to potential to change the course of the air war in Europe but Hitler ordered that it be used in a capacity that undermined its whole value as a fighter plane.

David Stirling founded the Special Air Service in 1941. The work done by the Special Air Service (SAS) during World War Two was to revolutionise the way wars could be fought and many other special forces were to copy their tactics. David Stirling had got a taste for unconventional warfare when he volunteered for 8 Commando, which was more commonly known as 'Layforce' after its commander, Captain Robert Laycock.

Guy Burgess, who along with Donald Maclean, Anthony Blunt and Kim Philby formed the 'Cambridge Four', was a British-born Soviet spy who was active during World War Two and the Cold War. For years the treachery of Burgess went unnoticed but warned of his imminent arrest in 1951, he fled to the USSR. Guy Burgess was born in 1911 in Devonport, Devon.