Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 65 i History of War

In the same way that aircraft heralded a new, previously unimagined combat in the sky, so too did submarines radically change the bitter struggle for dominance over the seas. In both cases, the lessons and developments of the First World War brought about even more effective and deadlier doctrines for the next global conflict. Perhaps the most infamous of these was the ‘Rudeltaktik’, or ‘wolfpack tactics’, developed by WWI veteran Karl Dönitz. Applying his first-hand experience of German U-boat doctrine, he was able to utilise new radio technology and improved submarine capability to unleash a hugely effective naval campaign, which took vulnerable Allied shipping by storm.…

23 - 24 August 1572 SAINT BARTHOLOMEW’S DAY MASSACRE After several religious wars across ten years, Catherine de Medici persuades her son Charles IX to order the assassination of around 200 Huguenot leaders. Parisian Catholic mobs use these killings as a pretext for large-scale butchery. 3,000 Protestants are killed in Paris while tens of thousands more are murdered across France. 1 March 1562 MASSACRE OF WASSY Decades of religious tensions in France descend into open warfare following a notorious incident. 63 Huguenot villagers are burned alive in their church at Wassy on the orders of the duke of Guise after he receives a slight injury while passing through the village. Widespread violence immediately spreads across the country. 6 November 1572 - 6 July 1573 SIEGE OF LA ROCHELLE Refugees from…

Rather than relying on standard latitude and longitude positioning for global positioning the Kriegsmarine – like the Luftwaffe and Army – developed their own charts using a grid reference system. The world’s oceans were divided into major areas, generally square though sometimes irregularly shaped near land masses. Each of these large areas was identified by a two-letter code (eg AE, CD, EH etc), and further subdivided into a three by three matrix of nine squares, in turn subdivided twice again by the same method. “FROM 1943 TO THE WAR’S END THE U-BOAT SERVICE UTILISED THE MOST POWERFUL TRANSMITTER OF ITS TIME” Further complicating the chart for enemy intelligence, these were produced using the standard Mercator’s projection, meaning that squares covering the same actual area became smaller as they neared the…

Carlism can lay claim to being one of the oldest political movements in Europe. Founded more than two centuries ago Carlism enjoyed an extraordinary level of popular support across much of Spain and gave rise to three civil wars between 1833 and 1876, conflicts that dealt a severe blow to the cause of liberal reform. The spark that ignited the Carlist uprising and the confrontation between liberals and those known as traditionalists had its roots in the dynastic conflict caused by the sudden and ultimately fatal illness of King Fernando VII in September 1832. The ideological clashes that raged in the Spanish Court prompted the ailing monarch to successively approve and then repeal what was called the “pragmatic sanction”. Fernando was determined to see his daughter Isabel, who was not…

With the capitulation of France and the Low Countries in the early summer of 1940 and the subsequent withdrawal of the BEF from Dunkirk, it became ever clearer that one of Germany’s principal war aims was the strangulation of Britain’s supplies by attacking ports and shipping. Of course, as an island and seafaring country, the importance of protecting the nation’s maritime lifeline was paramount and in the early days of the war some considerable thought was given to the protection of those assets. To that end a large number of merchant vessels were commandeered by the Admiralty for Royal Navy service. One of them was the 5,582 ton MV Foylebank. Built in 1930 it was requisitioned on the outbreak of war in September 1939 to be converted to an anti-aircraft…

When the English Electric Lightning entered RAF service with No.74 Squadron at Coltishall in June 1960, Britain had its first true supersonic interceptor and one of the most potent fighting aeroplanes the world had ever seen. Charged with protecting Britain from aerial attack, everything about a Lightning mission involved speed, with pilots using the blistering climb performance of the aircraft to mount a ‘supersonic dash’ to the target, returning to base, refuelling and rearming before repeating the process if the situation dictated. As one of the most famous squadrons of the Royal Air Force, No.74 ‘Tiger’ Squadron can trace its history back to 1 July 1917. “THIS 1:48 SCALE MODEL HAS A WINGSPAN OF 220MM AND IS 1 OF A LIMITED-EDITION RUN OF 2,000 PIECES” As the Squadron selected to…

1 AMBOISE CONSPIRACY 17 MARCH 1560 AMBOISE, CENTRE-VAL DE LOIRE One of the key events that directly lead to civil war is a failed Huguenot attempt to gain power in France. Provincial aristocrats attempt to kidnap Francis II when they unsuccessfully storm Château d’Amboise. 1,200-1,500 Protestants are subsequently hung from the town walls of Amboise. 2 EDICT OF SAINT-GERMAIN JANUARY 1562 WASSY, ÎLE-DE-FRANCE This edict is promulgated by Catherine de Medici, Regent of France, to provide limited tolerance to Huguenots in a Roman Catholic state. Freedom of private conscience and worship is guaranteed but not public worship in towns and settlements. Attempts to implement this flawed policy results in the massacre of Protestant villagers at Wassy. 3 RIOTS OF TOULOUSE 13-17 MAY 1562 TOULOUSE, HAUTE-GARONNE Violent clashes between Catholics and…

“THE KILLING SOON SPIRALLED OUT OF CONTROL AND THOUSANDS WERE SLAUGHTERED IN WEEKS OF UNBRIDLED BLOODLETTING” The French Wars of Religion opened with a massacre of Calvinist worshippers, at Wassy-sur-blaise (or Vassy) in March 1562. There, the retainers of the Duke of Guise first insulted and then attacked a group of Calvinist Protestant Huguenots worshipping. This was the ignition point of the wars but conflict had been building for some time. Religious tensions between Catholics and reformers such as John Calvin, Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli had been growing since the 1520s. There had been isolated incidents and massacres before, but by 1562 tensions had reached the point of no return. An attempt was made to reconcile Roman Catholics and Protestant Huguenots at the Colloquy of Poissy in July 1561…

The origins of Karl Dönitz’s fearsome ‘Rudeltaktik’ – anglicised as ‘wolfpack tactics’ – can rightly be attributed to the Führer der Unterseeboote (FdU, Commander of Submarines) of the previous war – Fregattenkapitän Hermann Bauer. Bauer maximised the potential of this new weapon in the naval arsenal, his U-boats achieving great success, bringing Britain’s merchant shipping balance to near bankruptcy in the first half of 1917. This was achieved with U-boats operating independent of one another or any centralised control. Such fearsome losses prompted the British Admiralty to introduce convoying during that year as a means of ‘collective defence’. In response Bauer submitted a proposal to the German naval staff that U-boats alter tactics and be co-ordinated and concentrated on crucial inbound British convoys. He intended to achieve this level of…

“THE PLAN WAS FOR TWO BRITISH ARMIES TO WORK THEIR WAY ALONG THE HUDSON – ONE MARCHING SOUTH FROM CANADA, THE OTHER MARCHING NORTH FROM NEW YORK” NEW YORK STATE, USA 19 SEPTEMBER & 7 OCTOBER 1777 If British plans had gone according to schedule, the critical battles around Saratoga may have happened a year earlier. A co-operation of forces along the Hudson River had been a huge keystone of British strategy from the very start of the American War of Independence, and a link-up of two armies was originally planned to take place in 1776. The ‘Hudson strategy’ was almost unanimously agreed upon by British military and political leaders. Dividing the rebellious American colonies in two would theoretically prevent commerce and movement of men between the warlike New England…

Foreign intervention in the First Carlist War was carried out in application of the Quadruple Alliance between Great Britain, France, Portugal and Spain to defend the liberal monarchies. In the case of Spain the request for help came from the Cristino military chiefs who came to the conclusion that they needed help to end the Carlist uprising in June 1835. France sent the Foreign Legion commanded by General Bernelle. It was decimated in the battles of Huesca and Barbastro. The Portuguese expeditionary body did not have a big military relevance because it was deployed in Castile and Extremadura where there was little Carlist activity. For its part the British Auxiliary Legion, with some 10,000 volunteers and under the command of Sir George de Lacy Evans, landed in San Sebastián between…

On 30 April 1619, in Olmutz, Moravia, a regiment of militia hastily prepared for a forced march on short notice. Their commander, 35-year-old Colonel Albrecht von Wallenstein, had no intention of supporting the Protestants who had seized power in Prague during the recent Bohemian Uprising. Instead he would march his troops to Vienna where they could join the Catholic war effort led by Archduke Ferdinand of Styria. Wallenstein ordered a major called Khuen to start out with 900 foot soldiers on the 125-mile trek to the Austrian frontier. He advised Khuen that he would catch up to him later with the regiment’s company of cuirassiers. Time was of the essence as a large Protestant army was bearing down on Olmutz. It was therefore imperative that Wallenstein’s regiment cross the Austrian…

The Nuremberg Trials are the most famous military tribunals in history. Overseen by Allied forces in the immediate aftermath of WWII, the trials were the prosecution of prominent members of Nazi Germany. These individuals were responsible for participating in some of the worst war crimes in history, including the Holocaust. Held within the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, the first and best-known tribunal was that of 24 major war criminals of the Nazi regime between November 1945 and October 1946. Key to the proceedings was the team of linguists who ensured that statements and rulings were fairly translated. Towering above all was the Chief Interpreter, Wolfe Frank, who is now the subject of the posthumously published autobiography Nuremberg’s Voice Of Doom. Compiled and edited by historian Paul Hooley from previously…

Author: Charles R. G. Bain Publisher: Fonthill Price: £40.00 The allure of the flying boat is easy to understand. These hybrids – often exotic, sometimes downright strange – are so distinctive they cannot fail to catch the eye. Charles Bain dives into a quirky world with gusto in this book, which charts the lives of nearly 40 flying boats from around the world in the 1930s and 1940s. Not all of the planes considered had military applications, but many served in various roles, with varying levels of armament (and varying levels of success). Although lining these planes up according to date would give the reader a better idea of the development of the aircraft type as a whole, Bain has arranged them in alphabetical order – grouping them by manufacturer…

With an area covering only 6.2 square kilometres (2.4 square miles) and dominated by the ‘Rock’, Gibraltar is a geographical choke point that controls the entrance and exit to the Mediterranean Sea. It’s a strategically vital base for the Royal Navy and has been a bitter point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations since 1704 – arguably none more so than during the ‘Great Siege’ of 1779-83. Conducted during the American War of Independence, the siege was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British. The garrison of 7,500 fought against approximately 65,000 Spanish and French soldiers and sailors for over three years and seven months. This was the longest siege endured by the British armed forces, and it was also one of the longest sieges…

FAREWELL TO RATS Taken: 9 April 1980 Men of the 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards stand to attention on parade at Pirbright Barracks, alongside their corgi-terrier mascot Rats. The canine served faithfully with the Guards in Northern Ireland during some of the worst years of ‘The Troubles’, where he was shot at and injured by several bombs. Known as the ‘soldier dog of Ulster’, Rats retired in 1980. MARINE WARFARE Taken: 26 March 1966 Five US Marines prepare to storm a beach in Rung Sat Zone, 20-30 miles south of Saigon, during Operation Jackstay. Over 1,200 Marines took part in this mission, which aimed to disrupt and dislodge Viet Cong forces in the area, which had been the staging ground for earlier enemy ambushes. Numerous Viet Cong camps were destroyed during…

From the determined defence put up by massed pike blocks, devastating volleys of arquebus shot, charges with lance by heavy cavalry gendarmes, to the distinctive arms and dress of the Swiss pikemen and the German Landsknechts, the French Wars of Religion were a series of very modern wars. In battle, siege, massacre and assassination too, they showed how a war of religious hatred could spiral out of control. ARQUEBUSIER BATTLEFIELD FIREARMS HAD BECOME A STANDARD PART OF VIRTUALLY ALL INFANTRY FORMATIONS BY THE TIME OF THE FRENCH WARS OF RELIGION Locally recruited troops as well as mercenaries trained in the use of the arquebus, a hand-held firearm with shoulder stock and crossbow rigger, with a slow burning match to ignite the gunpowder– the heavier musket already existed, was larger, but…

1. U-BOAT NUMBERS Dönitz’s wolfpack concept relied on the capability of gathering large numbers of U-boats against a single convoy target, swamping the enemy’s defences and causing havoc. However during the heady days of success the Germans still possessed insufficient numbers of Atlantic U-boats to achieve the destruction of merchant tonnage that was the core principle of the U-boat war. There were too few U-boats for effective reconnaissance until the war was in its third year. By that time the ‘old guard’ of commanders were largely gone and once a convoy was found, Allied defensive tactics and technology had improved to such an extent that the original principles of surfaced attack and ‘one torpedo for one ship’ could be effectively countered. 2. HF/DF AND RADAR The key to gathering a…

01 THE RIGHT COLUMN Brigadier General Simon Fraser commands the strongest of the three British columns, made up of redcoats, Native Americans, Loyalists and French Canadians, and numbering around 2,400 in total. He is backed up by more than 500 German troops. 02 THE CENTRE COLUMN Brigadier General James Hamilton, with Burgoyne in tow, commands the centre column, comprising 1,700 British regulars. This column will see the heaviest fighting. 03 THE LEFT COLUMN Major General Frederick von Riedesel leads around 1,600 Hessians along the river road, making slow progress and needing to repair several bridges. 04 THE FIRST CLASH Advanced units of both armies meet near Freeman’s Farm. Daniel Morgan’s riflemen, supposed to operate with the support of a light infantry battalion, instead go into action independently and are driven…

Based on a late 1940s requirement for an experimental supersonic testbed, the Lightning was first ordered for the RAF in 1956 as a stop-gap measure until a much more advanced aircraft could be developed. However the infamous Sandys Defence White Paper of 1957 stopped almost all new aircraft development, and greater investment was instead focused on the Lightning. In 1960 the F.1 entered service, followed rapidly by the F.2 (1962), F.3 (1964) and finally the ultimate version, the F.6, in 1965. The F.6 fixed many of the problems of the earlier versions, particularly regarding armament and range, turning it from an interceptor into a true fighter. These improvements also turned the stop-gap into the longest serving RAF fighter, only leaving front-line service in 1988. The Lightning F.6 was also the…

MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS & MILITARY SURGEONS A previously hidden document reveals the Stuart monarch’s humane concern for the role of medics in warfare Britain is currently rediscovering its fascination with Mary, Queen of Scots thanks to a new Oscar and BAFTA-nominated film starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie. The Stuart monarch is one of the most famous figures in British history but new facts are still being made public about her life. “ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT CLEAR WHETHER MARY WAS REFERRING TO THE CARE OF ENEMY SOLDIERS AS WELL, THE DOCUMENT WAS REMARKABLY AHEAD OF ITS TIME” The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) has recently made public a document showing how the queen protected the status of surgeons in military law. Known as a ‘Letter of Exemption’…