The History Squad

An amazing YouTube find ......

Hey guys, Julie's just wrapping up editing our video for Friday about the medieval crossbow, well she just stumbled on this behind the scenes clip I mention in the film about the documentary I shot with Dan Snow years back at Dover Castle.
I know people go on about the skill of the longbow, but believe me the crossbow ain't easy either. It's complicated and faffy so I actually have quite a bit of respect for the crossbowmen, especially those Genoese. 😉

Exclusive Patreon Giveaway Alert!

Hi Patrons!

Ahead of a competition we're going to run with the Youtube community at large we’ve got a couple of History Squad T-shirts to give away, and we’d love for YOU, our amazing supporters, to have them!

To claim one, all you need to do is drop us a quick message or comment below telling us:
What’s your favorite video or topic we’ve covered on @thehistorysquad, and why?

The most enthusiastic or creative responses will ...

Big News!  🇨🇦

Dear Patrons,

We’re thrilled to share some incredible news with you. Yesterday, after years of calling Canada our home, we officially became Canadian citizens! 🎉

This journey has been quite an adventure, much like the historical stories we love to share with all of you. Rest assured, while we may have a new passport, our passion for history remains as strong as ever!

Thank you for your ongoing support—it means the world to us.

Kevin and Julie 😊

The Mo...

WE'RE GOING LIVE IN 5 !!!

If you're free join in our Google Meet drop in now, I'll be online for about an hour

Just click on the link below, and wait to be let in.

You don't have to join in if you don't want to, lurkers are welcome 😉, you can set your camera to off and just listen if you prefer.
https://meet.google.com/mkp-dbvw-tam

We’re starting 2025 off with the first of our Google Hangouts ......

where we'll have a chance to meet up for a chat, so join me for a coffee (or a tipple depending on where you are).

It's a really informal get together. No pressure. So for those of you who are shy or busy, you can choose to use video or not, we're happy if you just want to lurk and listen in the background.

Let me know in the comments if you think you can make it.

The link for the meet up is here, just click on this next Saturday at the right time and follow the instructio...

Happy New Year!

As we step into 2025, Julie and I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you for your incredible support. Your contributions make it possible for us to bring history to life with videos, models, and stories that inspire curiosity and wonder.

We’ve got some exciting projects lined up this year, from epic battles to fascinating untold stories—and we can’t wait to share them with you!

Wishing you and your loved ones a year full of joy, health, and discovery.

Behind the Scenes: Crafting My Latest Model

Yes folks, I'm creating again, this time a little scene for a Christmas video we're hoping to get out to you over the weekend. I've been having great fun making this, I hope you enjoy the finished set when you see it.

Just for you...

History isn’t just about serious faces and epic tales—it’s also about the laughs we have along the way! From forgotten lines to fails with props, here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the bloopers that didn’t make it into the final cut. Because even when we’re making history, we’re only human!

We're live!!

If you're free join in our Google Meet drop in, I'll be here for about an hour

Just click on the link, you can just listen in if you want to.

https://meet.google.com/igz-arog-cmu

Google Meet - Link

Hey guys, just reminding you that we're going online this afternoon at 4pm Saskatoon time.
There's been quite a bit of interest this time so we might be busier than normal, we'd therefore ask you to keep your microphones muted at your end so any background noise doesn't interfere with the session. If you want to interject or ask a question, stick your hand up, wave or put a note in the comments and Julie will be on hand to read them out. It's going to be great to see some new faces.

It's time we hung out for a chat.....

It'll be 4pm in Saskatoon, 10pm Friday in London and 8am on Saturday in Sydney, Australia, so wherever you are in the world, if you're free, awake and want to hang out, stay tuned.

Let me know if you can make it and I'll post a link for all paid tier members to join in next week.

A Sneak Preview of our upcoming video

Don't get too excited, it's just a reel but I wanted to reassure you that your October Patreon voted video is ready and will be released tomorrow. Although you won't find a model in this one, there are some demos, and lots of the props on the set have been made by my own fair hand. I really like this one, and hope you will too.

2 minutes of beautiful (and cool) archery shots

Ahead of the upcoming release of the first in a short series of longbow videos, Julie's just put this little compilation together for you. Enjoy, and let me know in the comments what your favourite shot is 🎯
The first video is due out this Friday on YouTube.

Poor Henry, he had a bad day

We've got some great footage from our couple of days out in the sandpit this week where I've been able to shoot. Not everything went smoothly, but Julie's got lots to go through so we'll release these slowly over the next few months.
We've tried to address as many of your questions as possible, but any we've missed, let me know at our next GoogleMeet - it should be coming up soon. All the best!

New Merchandise Design

I'm delighted to announce at last that we’ve just launched a brand-new merchandise line… by viewer demand!  🏰💥

Whether you’re a history enthusiast, a model-making fanatic, or a dedicated follower of @thehistorysquad, this collection is for YOU! Inspired by the passion behind our projects and created by our very talented friend & Patreon member Daryl, this design celebrates the art of bringing history to life—one model at a time.

👉 Check it o...

Just another Sunday afternoon

Looking for suggestions

Hey, everyone! I'm heading out next week for a video shoot with my longbow, and I’d love to hear your suggestions! What would you like to see or hear about archery? Whether it’s technique, historical facts, or specific longbow stories, let me know! Looking forward to your ideas & will do my best to accommodate them.

Feeling humble!

Julie and I have had a fabulous morning and I sincerely want to thank everyone who could make it to the livestream. The comments and questions were flying like crazy.

It was great to connect with so many YouTube subscribers who, aren't Patreon members, but don't worry —we'll still be doing our more personal GoogleMeets exclusively for you.

Your ongoing support means the world to us! 🎯

Here's a link to watch the livestream if you missed it: 2024-09-15 22:39:19 +0000 UTC View Post

October's Patreon Poll Video - Voting is closed

EDIT: Voting has finished now and it looks as though we're going to have some fun with a surgeon from the Mary Rose. Stay tuned....

Anyway, I'm well ahead now with my research on Eleanor of Aquitaine, we're hoping to shoot later this week for release before the end of September. In the meantime, it's time to vote for a video for October and as everyone seems to love the medieval & medical history, I have some great choices for you. What will you choose?

We're going LIVE on YouTube on Sunday!

Hey guys, I almost forgot to tell you, but we're diving in for a special Livestream on YouTube this Sunday, 15th September at 11am (CST) to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the channel. 🎉 I'll be chatting about all things archery 🏹 and how I got started in my journey through history.

I know it won't be as cosy as the LIVE GoogleMeets we do, as we'll only be able to see the comments, but it'll be a way to say Hi personally to all the wonderful subscribers we have, who aren't mem...

We're just about to go LIVE on GoogleMeet

Join me for a chat if you're free

Join me on Sunday for a chat

Hi guys, I'll be hanging out on GoogleMeet this Sunday 8th September at 11am, my time (CST) Saskatoon. Amongst other things I'll be talking about some of my preparations for the Wars of the Roses so drop in if you can.

The link to the meeting is below, and we'll post a reminder here on Sunday just before we go live. We had some technical difficulties letting people in last time, due to an ancient and knackered keyboard so we've purchased a new laptop and hope to let you all in without...

Join in our first picture poll.......just for fun 😜

My favourite feature are the towers & keep, it's the heart of the castle.

We're about to go live!!

If you've got time, drop in and have a chat, I'd love to see you.

Cheers,
Kevin

Here's the link .....https://meet.google.com/igz-arog-cmu

Join me if you can this Friday on GoogleMeet

Hi guys, I'll be hanging out on GoogleMeet this Friday 2nd, at 6.30pm my time (CST) Saskatoon. If you're free and just want to chat about history & stuff, drop by.

I'm going to post the link below to save Julie time later this week, and we'll post a reminder here on Friday when we go live.

For those of you who are new to Google Meet, it's so easy, just click on the link and wait for instructions.

Link: 2024-07-31 22:11:20 +0000 UTC View Post

I'm making a model!

Not for a video, or at least not any time soon, but this is for the Saskatoon Museum of Military Artifacts where I volunteer. You may have heard about the EPIC D-Day model our students are building, well it proved a bit tricky to get a model of Canada House, so I'm building one for them from scratch. There's still a way to go, but I'll post again when it's done. 👍🏻
PS: A big thanks to everyone who's kindly donated to the Go-Fund Me Campaign, it's very much appreciated by everyone at ...

We have a winner!!

After a week of voting, it was a very close run thing. The Patreon platform is a bit clunky, so we had to add the votes manually and only took first choices into consideration, but here they are in order:

No 4 = 18 (My favourite)
No 5 = 16
No 1 = 15 (Julie's favourite)
No 3 = 11
No 2 = 1

A BIG thank you to all those who took the time to vote and comment - stay tuned as we turn this fabulous design into some fun merchandise.

Can you help us choose a t-shirt design?

We’ve had several YouTube comments for an “I Made A Model” t-shirt, so we enlisted the help of Daryl, a very creative Patreon member, who’s kindly drawn up some designs for us.  I already have a favourite but I’m not going to tell you what it is, but I would appreciate your help as it’s a tough choice, they’re all great. 
Let me know in the comments which is your favourite. 👍🏻

Patreon Poll for July Video

I've chosen some humdingers for you this month, what will you choose?

We're live on GoogleMeet right now

If you're free, click on the link and join in 👍🏻

https://meet.google.com/ssd-rjmz-gqm