A British seaman’s war-time log has been discovered that discloses how 67 sailors survived 20 days and 1,200 miles adrift at sea after their ship was sunk by a German U-boat.

The men were stranded in four lifeboats and survived on water biscuits, raisins and the odd raw fish caught by hand.

They drank salty rain-water and tins of condensed milk they salvaged from the wreckage.

The newly discovered log tells of how the men were often drenched by heavy rain storms, leaving them cold and wet for days afterwards.

Three men died from hypothermia and exposure and had to be buried at sea during the ordeal in the middle of the Atlantic in February 1943.

Despite their plight, they managed to navigate their way using the stars and eventually found land at Antigua.

A journal written by a British soldier in the trenches during WWI mentions an odd moment where the fighting stopped so the two sides could make fun of each other.

It details how the opposing trenches were sometimes so close that the two sides would call a temporary truce to exchange friendly insults across No Man’s Land.

In one ‘rather curious’ incident, a British soldier stood above the parapet to shout: ‘Come on over, Fritz’ in a comedy German accent. One of the enemy then called back – in a perfect English accent – ‘No blooming fear’.

Both sides then put their heads above the trench for half an hour to ‘laugh and shout’ at each other before ‘heads went down and the war went on the same as usual’.

The only known colour photographs of the German surrender during WWII have gone on display for the first time in 64 years.

Ronald Playforth covertly captured one of the most historic events of the 20th century after sneaking into a clump of trees overlooking the scene of the surrender.

With his camera, he snapped Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery greeting the highest ranking officers of the remains of Hitler’s Third Reich outside his HQ tent.

Although defeated and just days after the Hitler’s suicide, the never seen before photos show the German officers looking immaculate yet menacing in their long overcoats and jackboots.

Recently released documents disclose that JRR Tolkien, of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fame, secretly trained as a British spy in the lead up to WWII!

According to previously unseen records, Tolkien trained with the top-secret Government Code and Cypher School (GCCS).

He spent three days at their London HQ in March 1939 – six months before the outbreak of the Second World War and just 18 months after the publication of his first book, The Hobbit.

But although he was ”keen”, Tolkien – a professor of English literature at Oxford University – declined a £500-a-year offer to become a full-time recruit. The reasons behind his decision are not known.

The linen bloomers and chemis designed for Queen Victoria in the 19th century have been given “natioanl designated status”.

The bloomers are stored at Kensington Palace in West London and form part of the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection which is composed of 12, 000 items that were all once worn by royalty and courtiers from the 17th century until the present day.

With a 50-inch waist and an impressive 66 inch bust, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch’s underwear are embroidered with a small crown and the initials VR, and also have a number to ensure they could be kept track of when sent to the laundry.