Cover Story
Churchill’s American arsenal: the special relationship that won World War II In a new book, Larrie D Ferreiro explains how a special relationship between British and US combat scientists and engineers produced the innovations that won the Second World War. Features
The end: Vietnam, 1973 Fifty years ago this spring, the last American troops left Vietnam. Taylor Downing looks back on a conflict that ended in humiliation for the US. 
Museum Review: Muckleburgh Military Collection Open 10am-5pm daily (1 April to 30 October)Weybourne, Norfolk, NR25 7ERwww.muckleburgh.co.uk+ 44 (0)1263 588 210 The Muckleburgh Military Collection is the largest privately owned military museum in the United Kingdom.… 
The Peloponnesian War In the first part of our special, Paul Rahe examines the background to the struggle between Athens and Sparta for control of the ancient Greek world. 
The Peloponnesian War: the Battle of Mantineia In the second part of our special feature, Paul Rahe reveals how Sparta won the largest land battle fought within Greece during the Peloponnesian War. 
The Battle of Baugé, 1421: when the Scots saved France One of the bloodiest encounters between Scottish and English armies took place not on British soil – but in northern France, as part of the Hundred Years War. William E… 
Imperial firefighters: Roberts, Kitchener, and the Anglo-Boer War Graham Goodlad reveals how two late-Victorian commanders forged a winning partnership in South Africa – but left controversy in their wake. News
Scars of possible early Civil War battle uncovered on ruins in Warwickshire manor Archaeologists excavating the site at Coleshill Manor, east of Birmingham, found evidence that a newly discovered fortified gatehouse there had at one point come under intense fire. 
Wreck of lost US submarine from WWII identified off the coast of Japan The discovery was made by the underwater archaeology team of Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC). 
Library unveils detailed paper tapestry depicting 17th-century naval battles The document was unfurled as part of research into a collection of more than 3,000 books, pamphlets, and periodicals donated to Leeds Central Library in the 1960s. 
Lost British warship set to be investigated 150 years after sinking A powerful iron-clad battleship, HMS Captain sank off Cape Finisterre in Spain in 1870. 
German mass grave found in WWI tunnel to be consecrated as a war memorial On 4 May 1917, the entrance to the tunnel on the Chemin des Dames collapsed following French shelling. Views
Museum Review: Muckleburgh Military Collection Feature, Museum, What's on Open 10am-5pm daily (1 April to 30 October)Weybourne, Norfolk, NR25 7ERwww.muckleburgh.co.uk+ 44 (0)1263 588 210 The Muckleburgh Military Collection is the largest privately owned military museum in the United Kingdom.… 
Military history exhibitions, events, and festivals – March listings Museum, What's on Festivals IWM Duxford flying season: 50th anniversary April-October 2023IWM Duxford, Cambridgeshire, CB22 4QR, UKwww.iwm.org.uk/duxford-air-shows-50+44 (0)20 7416 5000 In the summer of 1973, ‘Duxford Air Day’ was first staged at the… 
Military History Matters Letters 133 – March Letters Your thoughts on issues raised by the magazine. 
Military History Matters Crossword 133 Competitions Across 5 Soviet general instrumental in the defeat of Finland in 1940 (10) 7 Battle of WWI fought in August 1914 (4) 9 Battle fought in Castile in April 1367… 
Win a copy of Angus Konstam’s ‘100 Greatest Battles’! Competitions Put your military history knowledge to the test with our competition, and win a copy of '100 Greatest Battles'! 
Film Review: Lebanon Comment, TV & Film Lebanon is a powerful vision of men at war, made real and intense by the fact that we never once move outside the tank, and only see the outside world… 
Austria-Hungary’s Viribus Unitis-class battleships Ideas Although the Austrian navy had won a remarkable victory against the Italians at the Battle of Lissa in the Adriatic on 20 July 1866, economic problems following the creation of… 
History’s first draft: the art of the van de Veldes What's on The exhibition 'The Van de Veldes: Greenwich, art and the sea' continues at the Queen’s House in Greenwich, London SE10 9NF, until 14 January 2024. 
War Classics – The Guns of August Comment Tuchman aims to explore how a series of political and military decisions, often based on personal factors, faulty intelligence, or naïve assumptions, gradually escalated tensions to the outbreak of war.’ 
War of words – ‘Panzer’ Ideas Panzer IV, c.1941. Image: Wikimedia Commons Panzer is a German word meaning ‘mail’ or ‘coat of mail’, with mail being body armour composed of interlocking metal rings. In the early… Reviews
Museum Review: Muckleburgh Military Collection Open 10am-5pm daily (1 April to 30 October)Weybourne, Norfolk, NR25 7ERwww.muckleburgh.co.uk+ 44 (0)1263 588 210 The Muckleburgh Military Collection is the largest privately owned military museum in the United Kingdom.… Military history exhibitions, events, and festivals – March listings Festivals IWM Duxford flying season: 50th anniversary April-October 2023IWM Duxford, Cambridgeshire, CB22 4QR, UKwww.iwm.org.uk/duxford-air-shows-50+44 (0)20 7416 5000 In the summer of 1973, ‘Duxford Air Day’ was first staged at the… 
Tally-Ho: RAF tactical leadership in the Battle of Britain, July 1940 REVIEW by COLIN POMEROY A renowned writer on air combat in World War II, Professor Patrick Eriksson is well known for his detailed research, something he fully demonstrates in this… 
At First Light: a true World War II story of a hero, his bravery, and an amazing horse REVIEW by MARC DeSANTIS Popular memory of the Second World War is inconsistent. Certain events, such as the Battle of Britain, El Alamein, the Atlantic Campaign, D-Day, and Operation Market… Film Review: Lebanon Lebanon is a powerful vision of men at war, made real and intense by the fact that we never once move outside the tank, and only see the outside world… 
The Path of Peace: walking the Western Front Way REVIEW by TOBY CLARK During the First World War, a young soldier called Douglas Gillespie used a letter home from the trenches to expound on an idea for remembering the… History’s first draft: the art of the van de Veldes The exhibition 'The Van de Veldes: Greenwich, art and the sea' continues at the Queen’s House in Greenwich, London SE10 9NF, until 14 January 2024. 
Dictionary of Fortifications REVIEW by DAVID FLINTHAM Until relatively recently, there were more terms relating to fortifications than to probably any other area of military history. Confusion is easy, especially since many of… 
Demetrius: sacker of cities REVIEW by MARC DeSANTIS The death of Alexander the Great in Babylon in 323 BC left the empire he had conquered without blood heirs ready to take up the heavy… 
Mercy: humanity in war REVIEW: CALUM HENDERSON The new German-language adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, which arrived on Netflix last autumn, pulls no punches in its depiction of… 
From the editor
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the detonation of devastating new weapons above the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945 brought an end to World War II.
What may be less well remembered, however, is that the ground-breaking technology behind the atomic bomb – along with that of a host of other Allied wartime innovations, from airborne radar to the codebreaking ‘bombe’ – was actually the product of an extraordinary and long-running collaboration, between British scientific inventiveness and American industrial might.
In our cover story, Larrie D Ferreiro explains how this ‘special relationship’ between British and American combat scientists and engineers was rooted in strategy laid out by Winston Churchill in the war’s earliest days, and how it produced many of the advances that enabled the Allies to achieve final victory.
Elsewhere, in our latest two-part special, Paul Rahe examines the history of the Peloponnesian War, the epic contest between Athens and Sparta during the 5th century BC that signalled the end of the ‘Golden Age’ of ancient Greece.
Also in this issue, Graham Goodlad reveals how the partnership forged by the late-Victorian commanders Roberts and Kitchener helped to win the Anglo-Boer War, but brought controversy in its wake; and William E Welsh describes the events that led to the Battle of Baugé, the bloody encounter in 1421 that saw Scottish forces achieve a notable victory in the Hundred Years War.
And, finally, to mark the 50th anniversary of the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam, Taylor Downing looks back at the end of a conflict that had stretched across almost 30 years.
We hope you enjoy the issue!
