Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 72 i History of War

264 BCE – ORIGINS Carthage is defeated in the First Punic War (264-241 BCE) and loses Sardinia and Corsica to Rome. However, the Carthaginians gain control in Iberia and tensions rise over the hegemony of Saguntum, a Hellenized coastal city with Roman connections. May-December 219 BCE SIEGE OF SAGUNTUM 01 Hannibal, the Carthaginian military leader in Iberia, besieges pro-Roman Saguntum. Rome does not send aid and Hannibal kills every adult in the city after they refuse to leave unarmed. War consequently breaks out the following year. September 218 BCE BATTLE OF RHONE CROSSING Due to Roman control of the Mediterranean Sea, Hannibal decides to attack Italy overland from the north. Moving up from Spain into southern France, the Carthaginians must cross the Rhône River to enter Italy. They defeat local…

The Battle of Normandy effectively ended on 21 August 1944 with the closing of the Falaise Gap, 76 days after Allied troops first set foot on the D-Day landing beaches. The battle cost the Germans around 10,000 dead and 50,000 prisoners along with almost all their heavy equipment and vehicles, and an estimated tide of 20,000 survivors fled eastward as far as southern Holland, where the local civilians dubbed Tuesday 5 September ‘Dolle Dinsdag’ or ‘Mad Tuesday’. The Allied pursuit began on 28 August with British tanks reaching Arras on 1 September, Brussels was liberated two days later and by 6 September the advance was approaching the Dutch border in the face of stiffening German resistance. In an effort to maintain the momentum Allied Supreme Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower…

01 APPROACH TO THE CITY Harris decided that the western walls presented the best chance of success, and later determined on a site near the north-western bastion. His and the Nizam’s forces deployed accordingly to the west of the city. 02 NIGHT TIME DISASTER Operations on the night of 5-6 April saw two British and EIC columns attempt to clear Tipu’s men from an aqueduct (‘tope’) across their path. Both columns became hopelessly disorganised and fell back. A more successful attack was staged the following dawn. 03 STUART’S FORCE ARRIVES On 14 April General Stuart’s Bombay army arrived. On 17 April they attacked the Mysorean outposts north of the river, and began to establish enfilading batteries on that shore. A week later a Mysorean sally from the…

Shamyl, the third imam of Dagestan, joined the dozens of warriors trying to escape the mountain stronghold of Akhoulgo on 21 August 1839. After a bloody 80-day siege, the Russians had finally succeeded in capturing the fortified village. As the conquerors methodically cleared the highland village one stone hut at a time, Shamyl and a handful of compatriots lowered themselves by rope down a sheer cliff under in the black of night. After resting in a cave halfway down the cliff, they continued their descent the next day reaching the river at the bottom of a shaded gorge. To deceive Russian pickets guarding the river, they launched a raft with straw dummies downstream and then walked upstream. Evading renegade tribesman who wanted to bring his head to the Russians, Shamyl…

CHELSEA HISTORY FESTIVAL, 2019 The Royal Hospital will be playing host to its inaugural history festival with dozens of events including talks by distinguished historians and a WWII veteran Running between 9-13 October 2019, the first Chelsea History Festival will be taking place along the Royal Hospital Road in London. This street is the location of the festival’s founder venues: the National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Chelsea and Chelsea Physic Garden. These three establishments all have unique historical pedigrees beginning with the National Army Museum that tells the stories of British soldiers over 350 years. The Royal Hospital Chelsea is an iconic institution that was founded in 1682 and is the home of the famous Chelsea Pensioners while the Chelsea Physic Garden is even older. Founded in 1673, this green…

On 5 June 1806, Napoleon installed his younger brother Louis as the ‘King of Holland’. The new monarchy replaced the Batavian Republic, a client state that had existed since French revolutionary forces overthrew the old Dutch Republic in 1795. Louis went to great efforts to please his new subjects. He declared himself Dutch and made a sincere attempt to learn the language. Shortly after becoming king, the former Corsican officer brought together national treasures such as military and naval trophies, including captured flags from previous wars. On 31 July 1806, these items were transported from The Hague to the new capital of Amsterdam. Flying at the head of the procession was this pictured banner, which was painted with Amsterdam’s coat of arms, two lions and the imperial crown. Its text…

After the Allied invasion of Occupied France, culminating in the Battle of the Falaise Pocket that devastated and routed the German 7th Army, many could have hoped the end of the war was in sight. If successful, Operation Market Garden was intended to bring that end, yet infamously it turned into a military disaster, and is still the subject of controversy and debate 75 years later. This issue, historian William F Buckingham explores some of the popular myths surrounding the operation, and suggests why the real reasons for the failure might be more fundamental than previously thought.…

“BOTH FORCES OF HANNIBAL’S CAVALRY THEN STOPPED AND PREPARED TO RETURN TO THE BATTLEFIELD, CHARGING INTO THE REAR OF THE ROMAN INFANTRY FORMATION” Hannibal, sworn to enmity for Rome since childhood, quickly defeated two Roman armies at the Trebia and Lake Trasimene, shortly after invading Italy. However, on the large sweeping plains near Cannae, he would meet a very different challenge. Those victories had been achieved largely thanks to Roman hubris and error, but now Rome had raised a new army, 80,000 strong to face Hannibal’s own force of less than half that number. The Carthaginian had more (and better) cavalry, but in this period it was largely the heavy infantry that won battles. Rome had new consuls, Gaius Terrentius Varro and Lucius Aemilius Paulus, who would take them to…

The weapons of war for Roman legionaries and their Carthaginian enemies were essential tools, developed and refined over time. However, in many cases the terminology of these weapons remained the same for centuries and we can lose sight of how period-specific some of them were. HEAVY ARMOUR Roman legionaries in this period relied on bronze breastplates or a mail coat (lorica hamata). They wore bronze helmets (these are Montefortino types) decorated with horsehair plumes and feathers. By far the most distinguishing feature, however, was the scuta, a large oval shield. GLADIUS Despite being armed with heavy javelins, the Roman legionary’s primary weapon was his gladius – a Gladius Hispaniensis during the Second Punic War. This was longer and heavier than later Roman swords but still shorter than most, ideal for…

Buckingham Palace would seem a most unlikely place to find an ordinary Canadian soldier, but on 15 October 1917, King George V leaned forward and pinned the coveted crimson ribbon and bronze cross emblazoned “for valour” on the tunic of Corporal Filip Konowal. The king then offered, “Your exploit is one of the most daring and heroic in the history of my army. For this, accept my thanks.” The acts of bravery for which Konowal was recognised occurred in August of that year during the fight for Hill 70 near the town of Lens, France. Over two days, Konowal, a member of the Canadian Army’s 47th Battalion, silenced a pair of menacing German machine-gun positions and killed at least 16 enemy soldiers, helping ensure the capture of the high ground.…

SEEING IN THE DARK From the autumn of 1941, Defiants received Airborne Interception (AI) radar for night combat. The transmitters were behind the turret, while the receiver and screen were in the cockpit. ADVANCED WING The wings were built in sections, and were a simplified version of the elliptical design used on the Spitfire. They were more advanced than the Hurricane’s wings but much quicker to build than those of the Spitfire. “INSTEAD OF BECOMING ‘BOMBER DESTROYERS’, THEY RAPIDLY BECAME EASY PREY THEMSELVES” ONLY ARMAMENT The gun turret was the Defiant’s only weapon. It was heavy and cramped; the gunner had to wear a ‘GQ Parasuit’ – a body suit with the parachute built into the lining – rather than a conventional parachute. Even so, survival rates were low. Based…

Director: Adrian Panek Distributor: Eureka Entertainment Stars: Kamil Polnisiak, Sonia Mietieleca, Danuta Stenka, Nicolas Pryzgoda UK Release: 20 September Adrian Panek’s WW2-themed horror film begins with the Nazis in retreat. It’s early February 1945 at Gross-Rosen concentration camp, Stalin’s Red Army not far away and closing in fast. The night sky is lit up by gunfire, thick plumes of smoke from nearby artillery explosions wafts through the air. SS guards mercilessly execute prisoners, even as they prepare to bolt from the scene. A woman is chased down by an Alsatian and has her throat ripped out. In a bunkhouse, two Germans stand and laugh at severely weakened men and women doing numerous press-ups, amused by their obedient attitude. Opening on a panorama of bedlam and cruelty, the total absence of…

FIRE SUPPORT Taken: 9 June, 1951 An American gun crew crouches as they fire their M20 75mm recoilless rifle, in support of infantry units across the valley. First deployed in the closing months of WWII, the M20 became a mainstay of US forces and their allies in post-1945 conflicts. Although designed as an anti-tank weapon, it was also used against enemy infantry positions and light armour. TUNEFUL TRENCHES Taken: c. 1914 A soldier plays a travel or ‘trench’ cello for his comrades during the early months of WWI. Although many soldiers were known to build improvised instruments from ammunition boxes and other materials, these small, compact box cellos were designed for holidays and long-distance travel. Once war broke out they proved ideal for dismal, cramped trenches. MELTING POINT Taken: 1943…

“HIS ARTILLERY INCLUDED NOT ONLY FIELD GUNS, BUT ALSO LARGE NUMBERS OF ROCKETS. THESE WERE SMALL, INACCURATE, BUT TERRIFYING TO THE UNINITIATED AT THEY CAME SCREAMING TOWARDS THEM IN BATTLE” In the mid-1790s, Great Britain’s colonies in India were largely limited to widely separated coastal enclaves, where the East India Company (EIC) conducted trade while protected by its own armed forces. These were mainly composed of ‘native’ battalions, locally recruited officers and men with a smattering of white European officers in command. A small number of EIC battalions were made up of white European soldiers, many of them central European mercenaries. To reflect the growing importance to the Crown of the commercial opportunities afforded by the Indian sub-continent, greater numbers of regular British troops had begun to be sent to…

“APPROXIMATELY 30,000 PEOPLE DISAPPEARED AND WERE KILLED BY THE JUNTA IN AN ATTEMPT TO SILENCE OPPOSITION” Between 1976-83, Argentina was ruled by a military dictatorship that was commonly known as the ‘junta’. Throughout this period, the regime conducted a ‘Dirty War’ where political dissidents were hunted down. Approximately 30,000 people disappeared and were killed by the junta in an attempt to silence opposition. Thomsen witnessed this brutal regime as part of a British diplomatic bag run to Buenos Aries. Along with his sergeant major, Thomsen was officially an emissary delivering messages from the governor of the Falklands to the British ambassador. He discovered a deceptively quiet city, “Funnily enough, it was really calm and ‘safe’ in the sense that the criminal element was virtually nonexistent because of the junta’s armed…

On 1 April 1982 Major Mike Norman took command of a small garrison of around 70 Royal Marines stationed on the Falkland Islands. He was looking forward to a quiet year’s posting, with time for some adventure training, fishing and exploring the rugged interior of the islands. His Foreign Office briefings and their low-level intelligence summaries gave him no major cause for concern, forecasting a slow ratcheting up of economic sanctions by the Argentine military junta of President Leopoldo Galtieri. But that afternoon, at 2.25pm Falklands Time, a dramatic message came through from London, “We now have apparently reliable evidence that an Argentinian task force will gather off Cape Pembroke [the easternmost point of the Falkland Islands] early tomorrow morning. You will wish to make your dispositions accordingly.” This brief…

“WISH ME LUCK AS YOU WAVE ME GOODBYE!” A member of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) bids farewell to his family before departing for France. The first British troops arrived on 9 September, and soon almost 400,000 would be positioned along the Belgian frontier, where they would remain for the entirety of the ‘Phoney War’. THE LIGHTNING WAR Two German soldiers pictured near the outskirts of Warsaw, during the invasion of Poland. VICTORY PARADE Soviet and German officers take the salute as vehicles and infantry march past at Brest-Litowks. The city was located along the agreed border between the two countries after the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact the previous month. The joint parade took place to celebrate the successful partition of Poland between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. OPERATION PIED PIPER…