Military History Matters 154
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An unequal contest?
In the second part of our series, Graham Goodlad reviews the organisation, tactics, and weaponry of the two armies.
The Jacobite Wars
In the first part of our new series, Graham Goodlad explores the Jacobite movement’s early attempts to overthrow Britain’s ruling Protestant monarchy.
Lancaster: the forging of a very British legend
Penned by former RAF Navigator and Gulf War veteran John Nichol, Lancaster is one of the most enthralling aviation history books I have read. But its succinct title does not do it justice. Its pages narrate not only the history of the legendary bomber but also of those who flew her.
Allenby: making the modern Middle East
Edward Henry Hynman Allenby was born in 1861 in Brackenhurst, Nottinghamshire in comfortable circumstances – a Victorian squire perhaps destined to help govern the British Empire on behalf of the Queen-Empress.
The Glamour Boys: the secret story of the rebels who fought for Britain to defeat Hitler
To oppose the Munich Agreement of 1938 was once considered something close to treason. The prime minister of the day had met an intimidating opponent and had extracted from him a pact that would save the world from war. Who could possibly object to that?
Crucible of Hell: Okinawa: the last great battle of the Second World War
In this year of reflection on the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, too often our Western gaze falls solely on events in Europe. We rightly mourn those who died in the final, catastrophic battles in Nazi Germany and celebrate the final end of war in Europe on VE Day. But when the guns fell silent in Europe, the desperate fight between the Allies and the Japanese raged on. In Crucible of Hell, Saul David takes the reader on a journey to Okinawa, ‘the last great battle of the Second World War’.
War Athletes: Clem Lewis
At the turn of the 20th century, the first ‘Golden Era’ of Welsh rugby ushered in the national team’s rise to dominance and infused ‘rugger’ into the country’s lifeblood. Lewis, for his part, embraced the game body and soul.
Back to the Drawing Board: Vasa
The early 17th century marked a period of rapid growth in warships as the galleons of the previous century began to give way to the ship-of-the-line, which would dominate naval warfare for the next 250 years. One of the first such vessels was the English 55-gun Prince Royal, completed in 1611, which remained in service until her destruction in 1666 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
Medieval Irish Warriors
It was as aggressors that the Irish first made their impact on European history. The quasi-legendary Irish warlord Cormac mac Airt, from the 3rd century AD, not only subdued almost all of Ireland, he also launched destructive attacks on Roman Britain. Another who did so, the following century, was Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Wartime Christmas
Christmas at the front was about making do. Here, for instance, British soldiers have gathered in a shell hole around a makeshift table. Some are sitting on the ground, others on what appears to be rolled-up sheets of wire.
How the Franco-Prussian War changed Europe
The Franco-Prussian War overturned the balance of power in Europe
Fleming’s War
With the latest James Bond blockbuster out next year, MHM assistant editor Calum Henderson explores the life of the man who created him: Ian Fleming, whose wartime adventures rivalled those of 007 himself.
When was Britain’s finest hour?
Chris Bambery takes issue with Churchill’s claim that 1940 was ‘the finest hour’, arguing that the true moment of imperial greatness was 1815.
The Fighting Forces of Okinawa
Alexander Izza reviews the strategy, tactics, weapons, and morale of the opposing forces in the culminating land battle of the Pacific War.
Endgame in the Pacific: The Battle of Okinawa, 1 April – 22 June 1945
Marking the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in the Pacific, Alexander Izza analyses the ferocious last stand of the Japanese Empire.
Operation Hailstone, 17-18 February 1944: the Task Force 58 raid on the Japanese fortress of Truk
Diver Rod Macdonald describes the underwater remains of a Pacific War battle that resulted in the largest two-day loss of shipping of WWII.
Seelow Heights and Berlin
Marking the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe, David Porter analyses the last stand of Hitler’s Third Reich.
The Battle of Berlin: aircraft and infantry
David Porter analyses the balance of forces in the Third Reich’s final battle.
Scipio Africanus
Graham Goodlad examines the career of the general who finally overcame Rome’s most formidable foe.
