Description
In this issue:
– The immortal Hawke and the Battle of Quiberon Bay, 1759
– Omdurman, 1898: the charge of the 21st Lancers
– The paper raiders: the RAFs bizarre propaganda war
– 62nd Wiltshire Regiment at Ferozashah, 1845
– Torpedo! The underwater missile that transformed naval warfare
– The Long Range Desert Group in North Africa
Plus: news, reviews, museums, opinion columns, and much more!
From the Editor:
Britannia Rules the Waves. Well, it certainly did by 1805, and continued to do so until at least 1916. Trafalgar and Jutland are really the brackets around the period of unqualified British global maritime supremacy.
Our special this issue begins a short series looking at the men and the battles behind the rise of British naval power in the second half of the 18th century – men like Hawke, Howe, Rodney, and, of course, Nelson.
We begin with Edward Hawke, who served in both the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War, and whose greatest victory was the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759.
Hawke was typical: a man of relatively modest middle-class origins, who rose to the top through sheer professionalism and brilliance. An advocate of improved conditions of service, relentless training, and lethal close-quarters gunnery, he was one of the architects of a century of British naval supremacy.
As well as our special, we have Michael Somerville’s reappraisal of the famous charge of the 21st Lancers at Omdurman, and Patrick Boniface’s overview of the history of the torpedo.
We also have Patrick Mercer’s account of the attack of the 62nd Wiltshires at Ferozashah, Simon Baker’s exploration of the role played by the Long Range Desert Group in North Africa, and Steven Taylor’s discussion of the RAF’s leaflet offensive during the Phoney War phase of WWII.
Cover Date: Aug / Sep 2020, Volume 10 Issue 9