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Fiats and Gladiators I
From the outset, and unlike the Greek Army, the Royal Hellenic Air Force was heavily outgunned and outclassed, and would become more so as the conflict progressed. At the outbreak of war the Regia...
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German Artillery 1914
Field Artillery The mission of the field artillery was to support the infantry. The objective was also to bring a superior number of guns into action at the decisive place and time. In German doctrine...
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Coldstream Guards 1940
When war was declared on 3 September 1939 the 1st Coldstream was training at Pirbright, while the 2nd Battalion was at Albuhera Barracks, Aldershot. The 3rd Battalion was in Egypt, serving in the Canal...
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Africa – The Ultimate Frontier II
Morocco and Songhai The new Sultan of Morocco reflected carefully on the lessons of the battle of Alcazarquivir. His councillors were still confident in the superiority of their traditional weapons and...
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Africa – The Ultimate Frontier I
Battle of Alcazarquivir (Alcácer Quibir) Europeans living in the Early Modern era were ignorant of Africa because they not only considered it peripheral to their interests, but because they were...
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Corpo di Spedizione Italiano and Units after 1943
Corpo di Spedizione Italiano (CSI – Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia) As Europe’s first fascist dictator, it was inevitable that Mussolini would commit troops to the “anti-Bolshevik crusade”....
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Ernest J. King
Ernest J. King was sixty-two years old when Stark yanked him off the General Board, an old-folks home for senior admirals. When he assigned King command of the Patrol Force, a small fleet guarding...
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Chemical Weapons before 1900
In 1456 an alchemist who prepared a poisonous mixture saved Christian Belgrade from the attacking Turks. Chemical weapons are not a new method of warfare, they have been in recorded use since about...
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HENRY LEE Part II
The Battle of Eutaw Springs was on September 8, 1781. The Patriot general was Greene and the British general was Stewart. The Patriots attacked and were successful, but the British counter attacked and...
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HENRY LEE Part I
Lee’s Legion Charles Lee’s description was typically hyperbolic, but it is nonetheless true that as a flamboyant boy-soldier, Henry Lee appeared every inch the beau sabreur. Dashing and gallant as he...
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HUNGARY: 1956
There were riots in East Berlin in June 1953 and in Poznán, Poland, in June 1956, both of which were put down by direct intervention by Soviet troops. These were, however, fairly localized affairs, but...
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The French Navy in Norway
Starboard broadside view of Le Triomphant manning the rails French destroyer Le Malin underway c1940 The French part in this campaign consisted in sending to Norway, via the British Isles, a total of...
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The Phoenix: V-22 Osprey in Service
A decade to the day after the disaster at Marana, tragedy revisited the Osprey for the first time since its Dark Ages. On a pitch-black night in southern Afghanistan, an Air Force Special Operations...
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Coldstream Guards 1700-1763
David Morier (1705?-70) Grenadiers, 1st and 3rd Regiments of Foot Guards and Coldstream Guards, 1751 c. 1751-60 Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards on Parade at Horse Guards, by John Chapman, c....
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Avro Lancaster – Coastal Command
Designed as a back up in case Merlin production was interrupted, the 300 Hercules-powered Lancaster Mk.IIs built were dropped by Bomber Command in the interests of commonality in autumn 1944. Because...
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Ottoman Naval Development
In the fourteenth century, the illustrious historiographer, Ibn Khaldin recorded a prediction: The inhabitants of the Maghreb have it on the authority of the books of predictions that the Muslims will...
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GEORGE H. THOMAS II
BATTLE OF STONES RIVER, DECEMBER 31, 1862–JANUARY 2, 1863 Having declined command of the Army of the Ohio when it had been offered him the first time, Thomas was angry at being passed over the second...
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GEORGE H. THOMAS I
In an era of glory seekers, George H. Thomas put steadfast devotion to duty, perseverance, methodical professionalism, courage, and loyalty above all else. His Virginia birth cost him the rapid...
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1st Army Tank Brigade in France in 1940
Matilda II This brigade was commanded by Brigadier Pratt and consisted of three Battalions: 4RTR, commanded by Lt-Col Fitzmaurice, 7RTR, Lt-Col Heyland and 8RTR which did not join the brigade due to...
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Colonial North America
After the Spanish destroyed the French pirate base at Fort Caroline (near St. Augustine in Florida) in 1565, subsequent French and English settlements in North America were made much farther to the...
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