Images

A photograph showing British troops moving inland off Sword Beach after the D-Day Normandy Landings of 6 June 1944. The town is La Brèche d'Hermanville. (Imperial War Museums)

A photograph of an abandoned British flail tank on Sword Beach during the D-Day Normandy Landings of 6 June 1944. (Imperial War Museums)

A photograph of Pegasus Bridge on the Caen Canal after its capture on D-Day 6 June 1944 by British paratroopers. Control of the bridge was vital to the eastern flank of the Allied Normandy Landings, preventing German panzer divisions from...

A photograph showing the crater damage inflicted by RAF Lancaster bombers on the German Merville battery on the Orne estuary. The four guns of Merville (believed bigger than they actually were by the Allies) threatened Sword Beach of the...

A photograph showing British commandos of the 1st Special Service Brigade attacking Sword Beach on D-Day 6 June 1944. The brigade was led by Lord Lovat (seen in the photo on the right of the column wading in the sea). (Imperial War Museums)

Rank badge with qilin, silk and metallic thread embroidery on plain-weave silk patterned in gauze, by an unknown artist, China, late 17th century China. This embroidered rank badge is from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and was used to indicate...

Rank badge with qilin, silk embroidery on silk gauze, unknown artist, 16th to early 17th century. This embroidered rank badge is from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and was used to indicate military rank. Badges with a qilin, a Chinese mythological...

Giraffe with Two Keepers, ink and colour painting on silk, by an unknown artist, from China, 17th century or later. This image depicts a giraffe brought to China and is from the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Giraffes were considered an auspicious...

Kirin (Qilin), bronze statue at the Summer Palace in Beijing, China. Here, the qilin has a dragon-like head with two horns, cloven hooves, and fire emanating from its chunky, scaled body. Throughout history, the qilin can be found in Chinese...

Charger with a qilin from China, c. 1350. This porcelain dish is painted with a cobalt glaze to depict a qilin, a mythical creature, in the style of the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.