Description
In this issue:
– Battle of Naseby, 14th June 1645. We begin our History of the British Army in 25 Battles series with Cromwell, the New Model Army, and the Battle of Naseby. Bastion of the Establishment it may seem today, but the Army was forged in revolution and civil war.
– History of Gunpowder. Edmund West describes how gunpowder transformed world history
– WW1 Conscription. Tim Lynch questions whether the conscripts of 1918 – the men who won the First World War – were really so different from the volunteers of 1916.
– Invasion of the Third Reich. In the first of a two-part series, war veteran and military historian Patrick Delaforce explores different aspects of the ‘invasion of the Third Reich’ – including the monstrous discovery of Bergen-Belsen.
Plus: news, reviews, museums, opinion columns, and much more!
From the Editor:
Was the British Army founded in 1645 or 1660? This month, we give an unequivocal answer as we begin our ‘History of the British Army in 25 Battles’ with Cromwell, the New Model Army, and the Battle of Naseby. Bastion of the Establishment it may seem today, but the Army was forged in revolution and civil war.
Naseby was badly handled and close-run. The New Model Army’s first major battle was no glorious feat of arms. But it was decisive: it destroyed the King’s field army, and he never got the chance to raise another.
Later, as experience increased, the New Model evolved into one of the finest armies in the world, fighting and winning two further civil wars, campaigning successfully in Ireland, Scotland, Flanders, and the West Indies, and winning notable victories at Preston (1648), Dunbar (1651), and Dunkirk Dunes (1658). The creation of that extraordinary army is our theme as we open the new series.
Also this issue, Edmund West describes how gunpowder transformed world history, and Tim Lynch questions whether the conscripts of 1918 – the men who won the First World War – were really so different from the volunteers of 1916.
And we have two Second World War stories. In the first of a two-part series, war veteran and military historian Patrick Delaforce explores different aspects of the ‘invasion of the Third Reich’ – including the monstrous discovery of Bergen-Belsen.
In the second WW2 story, retired naval officer Paul Flint analyses Operation Frankton – a daring and innovatory special forces attack by canoe-paddling Royal Marines on German merchant shipping at Bordeaux.
Cover Date: Jul-2011, Volume 1 Issue 10