Marlborough’s March To The Danube And Battle Of Blenheim
The Duke of Marlborough is widely regarded as one of the greatest military commanders in British history. Though he is famed for his battlefield successes,…
The Heinkel He 177 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…
The Ancient Roman Army’s Siege Technique Was Methodical And Terrifyingly Efficient
When the Roman army laid siege to a city, there were no half measures. Great effort went into preparing such an operation, the construction skills…
SMS Bodrog – The Once-Mighty Warship Which Fired The First Shots Of WWI
Stuck into a muddy river bank, somewhere in Serbia, lies an old, derelict gravel barge. Rusted, useless, and over 100 years old it has limited…
The Little Known Battles of Attu And Kiska: Retaking The Only US Soil Lost During WWII
In the cold, desolate Arctic near Alaska in 1942, Japanese troops quietly invaded and took over two of the Aleutian Islands, considered to be North…
“WW2: War Pictures by British Artists” – Review by Mark Barnes
I get bombarded with books these days and had to re-organise my office to accommodate my “in-tray”; two large bookcases from a well-known Swedish distributor.…
Who Dares Wins – When Overly Timid Generals Brought Disaster To Their Troops
Recklessness can be a bad thing in a commander, getting the people beneath them killed by an excess of innovation and risk taking. But so…
From WW2 To The Iraq War – Longest Sniper Kills In Military History
A sniper is a skilled marksman whose job is to shoot someone from afar without hitting anyone (or anything) else. But it’s not just about…
The Day of the Rangers – The True Story That Inspired The Movie Black Hawk Down
When Ridley Scott’s “Black Hawk Down” came out in 2001 it had all the features that make a great movie. As well as drama, tension…
Underestimating the Enemy – The French Military Disaster At Dien Bien Phu
Arrogance. Ignorance. Poor planning. These were the weapons with which French commanders fought the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, and with which they ensured their…
How One Sailor With A Burning Flare Nearly Cost The USA an Aircraft Carrier
On the morning of the 26th of October, 1966 the USS Oriskany was stationed 50 miles off the north coast of Vietnam. A group of Skyhawk…
The Japanese Tried A Second Raid On Pearl Harbor – It Was Not A Success
Everyone knows about the first bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Less well known, however, was the second attack. And there was almost a third……