Machinery & Gear | War History

Wilhelm Frankl and Fritz Beckhardt: Top German Jewish Fighter Aces of WW1

Wilhelm Frankl Standoff Neuberg, home to the 74th Tactical Fighter Squadron, sits just south of the Danube River, nestled deep within a woodland. Since 1973, the base…

He Crashed his Plane to Save a Friend and Was Awarded the Medal Of Honor

Between November 27th, and December 13th, 1950, 30,000 United Nations troops fought a desperate defense while surrounded by 120,000 Chinese soldiers. The U.N. troops were part…

Retired Marine reunited with his M1 Garand after 56 years

Ian Harvey

Marine recruit Pat Farmer was assigned the weapon at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego in 1960.  He signed the receipt card for…

The Deadly Defiant, A Game-Changing British Warplane in WW2

The 1930s were an age of aeronautical experimentation. All around the world air forces were trying new and fascinating designs, searching for the perfect combination…

Totally Outgunned, This Revenue Cutter Took Down One Of The Largest French Privateers In The Carribean

There are few moments in Naval History which better demonstrate how tenacity and skill can outweigh size and strength than the story of the Pickering…

12 Key Moments in the History of Artillery

In creating gunpowder weapons, European engineers took a Chinese innovation and made a deadly weapon of war. From the start, this was as much about…

6 Wars That Proved the Devastating Power of Ground Attack Aircraft

Death plummets from the sky, shattering bodies and scattering formations of armed men. For a century, ground attacks by armed aircraft have added an extra…

U-Boat 96, and the film Das Boot

In 1981, a film was released which is still cited as one of Germany’s greatest cinematic triumphs. It followed the exploits of U-96, a German…

Mighty WW2 Warships – KMS Admiral Graf Spee in the Battle of the River Plate

On September 1, 1939, while German troops were rolling across the border into Poland, their Navy was sent to raid Allied shipping lanes, much as…

The Flaming Coffin, The German Heavy Dive Bomber The Luftwaffe Hated

The Heinkel He 177 Greif (Griffin) was an aircraft doomed from the start of its inception. Its design was intrinsically flawed, its engines frequently caught…

Images Of War – Two New Books From Michael Green – Review By Mark Barnes

We have in front of us two books by the American historian Michael Green in the Images of War series from Pen & Sword. If…

The E.A. Stevens: A Ship Ahead of its Time

The 19th century saw an incredible advance in ship designs, from full-rigged wooden ships to enormous iron and steam liners. Progress was achieved through experimentation,…