Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 45 i History of War

13 March 1567 and 23 May 1568 BATTLES OF OOSTERWEEL AND HEILIGERLEE After decades of Dutch Protestant discontent against Spanish Catholic rule, a revolt broke out when the Duke of Alba led an army into Brussels. The first Battle at Oosterweel was a Spanish victory but the rebels gained a victory at Heiligerlee. 1573-74 SIEGE OF LEIDEN The Duke of Alba’s 60,000 strong Spanish army inflicted many atrocities on the Dutch, but it only strengthened their resolve to resist. At Leiden, the Spanish twice besieged the city, but a relief force of Protestant privateers eventually forced their retreat. July 1584 – August 1585 SIEGE OF ANTWERP The Spanish Duke of Parma besieged the rebel-held port of Antwerp, which was then the most important city in the Netherlands. Parma constructed…

“THEY HAVE NO WAY OF ESCAPE, NOTHING IS LEFT TO THEM BUT GHASTLY MEMORIES AND RESIGNED ANTICIPATION. THE BATTLEFIELD IS NOTHING REALLY BUT ONE VAST CEMETERY” In August 1917, a German artilleryman called Gerhard Gurtler wrote a letter home. Even though he was not in the front line, he had been unable to escape the thunderous apocalypse that had consumed the salient around Ypres, “Darkness alternates with light as bright as day. The earth trembles and shakes like a jelly… And those men who are still in the front line hear nothing but the drum-fire, the groaning of wounded comrades, the screaming of fallen horses, the wild beating of their own hearts, hour after hour, night after night. Even during the short respite granted them, their exhausted brains are haunted…

A key feature of the battlefield on the Ypres Salient in 1917 was the German pillbox. Constructed of concrete, reinforced with steel and with roofs and walls that were several feet thick, these miniature field fortifications wreaked havoc upon advancing Allied soldiers. With the increasing firepower of British artillery, the Germans had began building concrete fortifications during late 1916-early 1917, which enabled front line troops to survive massive bombardments and then fight from them. The Germans gave these fortifications the functional name of ‘Mannschafts Eisenbeton Unterstände’ (Reinforced Concrete Shelters for Troops), but British and Commonwealth soldiers soon nicknamed them ‘pillboxes’. The pillbox’s primary role was to shelter troops from bombardments and many were deliberately covered in debris on the roofs and against the walls to break up the structure’s silhouette.…

Charlemagne came to power at a time when Europe was made up of many small kingdoms and principalities. Since the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, it had also faced invasion from various peoples who had established kingdoms of their own, such as the Visigoths and Muslims in Spain. There were also new peoples on the outskirts of Europe who were either asserting themselves for the first time, such as the Danes and Norse, or intent on breaking into Europe itself, like the Avars. Europe also clung to the past, and saw itself as a continuation of the Western Roman Empire. Throughout his reign (768-814 CE), Charlemagne, his sons and commanders fought almost continuous wars of expansion and aggression. By the end of his reign, he had…

 Moscow made a lot of money selling their BMP-2 amphibious infantry fighting vehicles to quite a few Third World countries. Both Angola and Sierra Leone acquired this fairly versatile machine that first appeared with Iron Curtain armies in the 1980s. “A LOW, AGILE, RELIABLE AND SERVICEABLE VEHICLE WITH ADEQUATE ENGINE POWER ‘FOR MOST ALL-TERRAIN MISSIONS’” It was a useful acquisition because it is relatively easy to control but its low profile could not have fared well in thick African bush, let alone jungle. A singular disadvantage is its rather cramped interior and the ability to transport only seven troops. But is certainly a marked improvement on the BRDM and BTR, also Soviet manufactured but dating from a few decades before. For all that, Moscow has always focussed on the BMP-2…

“THE BOMBING OF THIS PLACE MARKED A CRITICAL TURNING POINT IN GLOBAL HISTORY AND HAS SINCE BECOME A DIRE SYMBOL OF HUMANITY’S CAPACITY FOR SELF-DESTRUCTION” Western Japan: 1945. A 23-year-old sailor wanders around a large, desolated city, picking his way through an endless sea of rubble. There is no life here, only a cold silence and remnants of the utmost horror. For a man who has known almost nothing but the noise of war for the last five years the British seaman can barely comprehend what he is experiencing. The obliterated city is Hiroshima, the first victim of the nuclear age. The bombing of this place marked a critical turning point in global history and has since become a dire symbol of humanity’s capacity for self-destruction. The world still lives…

“THE MI-4 BEARS A STRIKING RESEMBLANCE TO ITS AMERICAN-DESIGNED COUNTERPART; HOWEVER, IT WAS CONCEIVED AS A MORE ROBUST AIRCRAFT, SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER AND WITH GREATER TRANSPORT CAPACITY” Soviet military commanders took note when United States and United Nations forces deployed large numbers of helicopters during the Korean War. It was clearly apparent that the helicopter was a versatile aircraft, performing a variety of wartime tasks, from transport to medical evacuation and ground support. The Soviets showed particular interest in the Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw, which entered service with the US Army in the early 1950s as its first true transport and airlift helicopter. The Soviets recognised the future role that the helicopter would play in providing battlefield mobility and theatre-based logistical support. The response to the Chickasaw was the Mil Mi-4, which…

1 CAPTURE OF BRIELLE 1 APRIL 1572 BRIELLE, SOUTH HOLLAND, NETHERLANDS ‘Sea Beggars’ under the command of William van der Marck capture the undefended Spanish garrison at Brielle on April Fools' Day. This is a huge boost to Dutch morale. 2 SIEGE OF ALKMAAR 21 AUGUST – 8 OCTOBER 1573 ALKMAAR, NORTH HOLLAND, NETHERLANDS A Spanish army led by the Duke of Alba’s son besieges Alkmaar, but the Dutch breach the dikes around the city. The Spanish cannot continue the siege and are forced to withdraw. 3 BATTLE OF MOOKERHEYDE 14 APRIL 1574 MOOK EN MIDDELAAR, LIMBURG, NETHERLANDS Spanish forces break off from the Siege of Leiden to defeat a relieving Dutch army under Louis of Nassau. Louis and his brother Henry are both killed along with thousands of their…

“THE PERFECT RATIO OF ARQUEBUS, MUSKET AND PIKE WAS A MAJOR QUEST” “THE MUSKET WAS LONGER AND HEAVIER THAN THE ARQUEBUS AND PACKED A HEFTIER PUNCH” The introduction of gunpowder had slowly transformed the battlefield by the time of the Eighty Years’ War. The arquebus was a fairly primitive handgun but still retained its place in early 17th century armies alongside the heavier musket. The perfect ratio of arquebus, musket and pike was a major quest of the period, with firearms gradually taking over as their sophistication increased. WHEELLOCK MECHANISM An early improvement on the arquebus saw the wheellock firing mechanism introduced around 1500, using a steel wheel to generate a spark rather than a permanently burning match. 17TH CENTURY ARQUEBUS Invented around 1475, the arquebus was still a…

“LITTLE MORE THAN DUCKBOARD WALKWAYS THROUGH FEATURELESS, MUDDY LANDSCAPES, SUCH ‘ROADS’ WERE OFTEN THE ONLY WAY TO PASS” WARRINGTON ROAD, 1917 BY RICHARD TENNANT COOPER Richard Tennant Cooper painted this scene after the end of the First World War, but it was based on his own memories of the conflict. He had trained as an artist in Paris, but in 1914 he volunteered as a private in 16th (Service) Battalion (Public Schools), The Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment). In 1916 he was given a temporary commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers, and he served with them at Passchendaele in 1917. He survived the war. ‘Warrington Road’ was a track in the Ypres Salient, running from Shrapnel Corner on the Lille Road out of Ypres, past Zillebeke…

01 SIGNIFICANCE OF PLEVNA Roughly 17,000 civilians lived inside the Bulgarian village of Plevna in 1877. Six major routes intersected through the village. Surrounded by a network of hills to the south and west, the region was also shielded by vineyards, gardens and orchards, providing a prime location to wage a defensive battle. 02 OSMAN BEATS BACK TWO ASSAULTS Osman repulsed Schilder-Schuldner’s (19 July) and Krüdener’s (30 July) assaults, inflicting over 10,000 casualties with minimal loss. He delivered to the Russians one of their first major setbacks during the war. William von Herbert declared that Osman’s defence provided a symbol of “heroism, endurance, and sacrifice” to the Ottomans. 03 SKOBELEV’S SUCCESS ON THE LEFT Skobelev achieved a foothold on Osman’s redoubts on 11 September, holding his position through the night…

When Germany conquered Greece in April 1941, Crete was a primary target, to prevent the Allies using it as a base for air attacks in southeast Europe. Adolf Hitler swiftly ordered ‘Operation Mercury’ that was based around an airborne assault by paratroopers of the elite XI Fliegerkorps. This would be the first largely airborne assault in military history but they would meet stiff resistance. The Allied forces on Crete consisted of 35,000-40,000 British, Dominion and Greek troops that significantly outnumbered the initial 9,500 the Germans deployed on 20 May. Lieutenant General Bernard Freyberg VC was also the first field commander to have access to ULTRA intelligence and knew the date of the German attack. Between 20 May-1 June 1941 a fierce battle ensued with the paratroopers taking heavy casualties. The…

Within months of its first flight in 1952, the Mil Mi-4 Hound utility helicopter entered service with the Soviet armed forces. Subsequently it was introduced to the armies of the Warsaw Pact and served with the armed forces of more than 30 countries. By the time production ceased in 1979, more than 4,500 Mi-4 and Z-5 helicopters were completed. The Z-5 was the Chinese-built version manufactured by the Harbin Aircraft Industry Group. The service life of the Mi-4 extended well beyond half a century, and reports indicate that a few may remain in service with the North Korean Air Force to this day. The highly adaptable Mi-4 has been configured as a transport, ground support, anti-submarine, patrol and medical evacuation helicopter, while its application has extended into civilian endeavours such…

Writer: Martin van Creveld Publisher: Oxford University Press Price: £18.99 Martin van Creveld is no stranger to controversy. In 2016, the Israeli military historian ruffled feathers in some Western political circles by arguing the case for supporting Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria as ‘the lesser of two evils’ in the battle against ISIS. The Dutch-born author adopts as his hypothesis that it would be suicidal for the West to blindly cling to the moral high ground in the struggle against an enemy that we are ill-equipped to combat with conventional methods of warfare. Van Creveld cites the painful fact that the post-World War II years witnessed the emergence of a new form of conflict. This came in the guise of low-intensity conflicts (LICs), in which powerful nation states often ended…

LA VICTOIRE Taken: 14 July, 1919 French tanks participate in the Bastille Day military parade, which in 1919 also celebrated the recent victory of France and her allies in the Great War. Contingents from every Allied nation took part in the parade in the centre of Paris on a route that would be replicated 11 years later by occupying German forces. COLUMN UNDER ATTACK Taken: c. July 1942 A British infantryman crouches as a German bomb hits a nearby supply column during the Western Desert Campaign of 1942. This photograph was taken just a month after the fall of Tobruk, during the Battle of Gazala, and in the same month as the crucial British victory in the First Battle of El Alamein. HAVING A BLAST Taken: 24 June, 2016 US…

“THE SITUATION FOR MAURICE WAS NOW DIRE, AND THE ANNIHILATION HE HAD FEARED WAS A VERY REAL POSSIBILITY – WITH HIS LINE OF RETREAT CUT OFF, THERE WOULD BE NO ESCAPE IF HIS ARMY BROKE ENTIRELY” The strategic situation in 1600 was promising for the Dutch. The Netherlands had been split, with the northern provinces declaring their independence while the southern remained loyal to Spain. Maurice of Nassau had taken over military leadership of the Dutch Revolt from his father, the assassinated William of Orange, and he was earning a glowing reputation. Spain, meanwhile, was distracted by commitments elsewhere and found its treasury strained to breaking point and beyond. An inability to pay its mercenary troops had led to frequent mutinies, while the loss of the Armada in 1588 had…

“PASSCHENDAELE VIES WITH THE SOMME FOR THE POSITION OF ‘MOST INFAMOUS AND EMBLEMATIC BATTLE OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR’” It has been 100 years since the third, and largest, battle of Ypres; a battle more commonly known in the Anglophone world as ‘Passchendaele’. In the canon of the First World War, and especially the cultural memory of that conflict in Britain and parts of the former British empire, Passchendaele vies with the Somme for the position of ‘most infamous and emblematic battle of the First World War’. The argument over the necessity and results of the battle has been waged, off and on, for generations, and with scarcely a few metres movement in any direction by either camp. It would be difficult to dislodge the overwhelming majority who believe that…

“THE TARGET LAY AT THE FAR END OF A VIRTUALLY NON-EXISTENT ROAD IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. THROUGHOUT, WHILE MOVING TOWARDS ITS OBJECTIVE, THE STRIKE FORCE WAS VULNERABLE IN A REGION THAT HAD LITTLE DEFENSIVE COVER AND ALMOST NO PROSPECT FOR BACK-UP SHOULD THINGS GO WRONG” The battle for Cafunfo lasted weeks, though if you include the planning stages and movement of assets needed for such a foray, it actually took months. It is recognised today as one of the most significant ‘small war’ campaigns in recent years. The process involved a mechanised strike force of about 100 vehicles. It included dozens of Soviet-era BMP-2 amphibious fighting vehicles and by the time it was over, the attacking force – Combat Group Bravo – had covered hundreds of kilometres in a…

“…DETACHMENTS SERVING THE GUNS OF THE 14TH AND 66TH BATTERIES… HAD ALL BEEN EITHER KILLED, WOUNDED, OR DRIVEN FROM THEIR GUNS … AND THE GUNS WERE DESERTED” – London Gazette, 2 February 1900 The Honourable Frederick Hugh Sherston Roberts was born in Umballa, India, in 1872, the son of the well-known Field Marshall Frederick Sleigh Roberts VC. Like so many of his peers, he would be educated at Eton College before attending the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, being commissioned as a second-lieutenant into the King’s Royal Rifle Corps on 10 June 1891. Arriving in India, he would join his regiment at Rawalpindi, and was noted by his fellow officers to be full of enthusiasm and ready to enter ‘with spirit’ into any sports. Roberts would receive his baptism of…

‘Little Boy’ was a monstrous weapon both in its physicality and explosive power. It weighed almost 4,400 kilograms (9,700 pounds), was over three metres (10 feet) long and had an explosive force of equivalent to 15 kilotons of TNT. The bomb also used 64 kilograms (141 pounds) of processed uranium, which was almost all that then existed. Upon its release from the US B-29 ‘Enola Gay’ bomber on 6 August 1945 it took 43 seconds to hit the ground. Such was its power and perversely poor efficiency that the resulting explosion used only 0.7 grams of uranium, but it was enough to destroy 90 percent of Hiroshima. However, its most brutal legacy was the direct and indirect deaths of an estimated 200,000-237,000 people from the actual blast and the bomb’s…

“PARLIAMENTARIAN COLOURS OFTEN USED STARS AS DEVICES AND A JUNIOR OFFICER SUCH AS AN ENSIGN PROBABLY CARRIED THIS FLAG” During the English Civil Wars (1642-51), all regiments would use colours to distinguish themselves, although the designs could be confusing. Each regiment was commanded by a colonel who would design their flags according to taste and this could include a plain background, heraldic badge or a motto. Most English regimental flags on both sides displayed the Cross of Saint George as a canton and one has remarkably survived from Sir John Gell’s Regiment of Foot. Sir John Gell (1593-1671) was a Parliamentarian colonel of infantry whose soldiers wore grey coats. At one point Gell was commander-in-chief of the Parliamentary forces in Warwickshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire and his troops took part in…