Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 75 i History of War

January 1968 GIÁP’S OFFENSIVE IDEA With the conflict caught in a stalemate, North Vietnamese commander Võ Nguyên Giáp chooses 31 January 1968 as the occasion to launch a coordinated, surprise offensive. The plan is to attack over 100 cities and outposts in South Vietnam. The intention is to cause the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) to collapse and encourage rebellion among the South Vietnamese people. If possible, the offensive might also convince American leaders to stop defending South Vietnam. 21 January-9 July 1968 BATTLE OF KHE SANH 01 North Vietnamese forces bombard a US Marines garrison at Khe Sanh on the main road from northern South Vietnam to Laos. While American resources are diverted to the defence, 70,000 North Vietnamese soldiers assemble to begin their true objective, which…

Twenty-five-year-old Captain Flint Whitlock of suburban Chicago, Illinois, graduated from the University of Illinois in 1964 with an officer’s commission in the US Army. After training on the Nike Hercules anti-aircraft missile system and completing parachute training at Fort Benning, Georgia, he was stationed in West Germany. Soon afterward he transferred to the Quartermaster Corps and received orders for Vietnam. Arriving at the replacement depot at Bien Hoa airbase, 20 miles northeast of Saigon, on 29 January 1968, Captain Whitlock experienced the opening hours of the Tet Offensive. After discharge from the army in 1970, Whitlock pursued a long and critically acclaimed career as an author and lecturer. He has written numerous books and articles on varied historical topics and resides today in Denver, Colorado. Memories of his Vietnam experience…

The campaign of 1806 began with the French victories of Jena and Auerstedt against the Prussians. Napoleon, having captured most major cities of Germany, marched east to crush remaining enemy forces. In December of the same year the Russian army came to the rescue of Frederick William III and his men who were retreating toward western Prussia. The first battles against the French, such as Czarnowo, Pultusk and Golymin, resulted in more Napoleonic victories but failed to bring a decisive result. In January 1807 General von Bennigsen, a German officer commanding the Russian army, went on the offensive in east Prussia but was also forced to retreat after a French counteroffensive. If Napoleon managed to push back his foe, he failed to turn the enemy. After being pursued for days…

“HIS BOLD TACTICS DURING THE FIRST DECADE OF THE ITALIAN WARS ENABLED THE SPANISH TO PREVAIL OVER FRENCH ARMS IN A STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF SOUTHERN ITALY” Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba, the Viceroy of Naples, is depicted at the Battle of Cerignola on 21 April 1503 wearing a long black cape over a full suit of plate armour with lavish gilding. Atop his head he wears a flat plumed cap. His left hand rests on the pommel of his Spanish sword. It was while fighting against the Moors in Granada that Cordoba experimented with revolutionary tactical methods. He refined his pioneering infantry tactics in the early Italian Wars. These methods became the foundation of the Spanish tercio that would dominate European warfare for the next 140 years.…

“ITS MAIN CLAIM TO FAME IS THREE MAGNIFICENT FLIGHTS THAT PROVED THAT AIRCRAFT COULD, AND WOULD, REVOLUTIONISE GLOBAL TRAVEL” The Vimy was designed for a bombing campaign against Germany, but it would make its name as a trailblazer, opening the world’s skies to long-range flights. As the RAF’s main frontline heavy bomber it would serve in the UK and the Middle East from 1919 through to the end of the 1920s, but its main claim to fame is three magnificent flights that proved that aircraft could, and would, revolutionise global travel. In June 1919 British pilots John Alcock and Arthur Brown became the first men to fly non-stop across the Atlantic. Taking off from Newfoundland they landed in Ireland just over 16 hours later in a specially modified civilian Vimy.…

DIMENSIONS: 25FT X 8FT 5IN X 9FT 6IN (7.62M X 2.56M X 2.89M) WEIGHT: 9 TONS CREW: 2(COMMANDER/GUNNER,DRIVER) PROPULSION: TWO BEAVER 4-CYLINDER WATER COOLED PETROL/GASOLINE ENGINES SPEED: 5 MPH (8.85 KM/H) FUEL TANK: 17GALLONS FUEL CONSUMPTION: 2 MILES PER GALLON OPERATIONAL RANGE: 34 MILES (55KM) ARMAMENT: .30 CAL MACHINE GUN ARMOUR: 0.5 IN (12.7MM) TOTAL PRODUCTION: 1 PROTOTYPE…

The peace and goodwill of Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year celebration, were shattered on 30 January 1968 when Communist forces launched their surprise offensive in 13 cities across South Vietnam. Sudden and ferocious, the onslaught spread rapidly to engulf more than 100 towns and hamlets throughout the embattled country. Nowhere was the shock of the Tet Offensive more keenly felt, or the reach of the communist regime in North Vietnam more powerfully demonstrated, than in the compound of the US embassy itself, situated in Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. While preliminary reports of attacks from both the Viet Cong and regular units of the North Vietnamese Army flooded into the US embassy, the Tet Offensive came home in shocking fashion, early in the morning of 31 January. Before…

01 ORIGINAL POSITIONS AT 7.00AM At 7am on 8 February 1807, the French are outnumbered but hold a shorter line of defence and a better position. Both sides are expecting reinforcement. 02 THE FRENCH ATTACK THE RUSSIAN CENTRE At 10.00am, Augereau is sent forward to strike the Russian centre but the weather makes it impossible to walk straight. Exposing their flank to the enemy’s artillery, the French are soon slaughtered. 03 THE RUSSIANS THREATEN THE FRENCH CENTRE Augereau’s failure leaves a dangerous gap in France’s centre of the line. The Russians spot the weakness and launch an assault which threatens Napoleon and his staff. 04 MURAT’S CAVALRY ATTACKS At 11.30am, Marshal Murat launches one of the biggest cavalry charges in history to protect the Emperor and…

War cartoons have a distinguished history in the British Army. During WWI Bruce Bairnsfather delighted his fellow troops with his satirical depictions of life in the trenches for the Bystander magazine, particularly the curmudgeonly soldier ‘Old Bill’. Similarly the renowned Carl Giles became war correspondent cartoonist for the Daily Express in 1945 and followed the British 2nd Army through Western Europe. Recreational drawing was, of course, not just confined to professionals and during the Korean War Williams made sketches that portrayed life on the front line. He sketched a variety of scenes from hills and bombardments to the interior of bunkers and mortar positions. His war cartoons have elements of humour but they are largely realistic recreations of the Welch Regiment in combat. After the war Williams went on to…

ANGLO-GERMAN POST-WAR HISTORY The National Army Museum is commemorating the British Army’s long role in Germany with a new book, exhibition and a section of Berlin’s infamous barrier As Britain re-examines its role in Europe the National Army Museum has been reflecting on three-quarters of a century of the British Army in Germany. A section of the Berlin Wall has been installed to mark the 30th anniversary of its fall in November 1989. The NAM is also launching a new book about British forces in Germany to tie in with a major new exhibition for 2020. The fall of the Berlin Wall was a seismic event in modern European history and a section of it has now been installed in the foyer of the NAM. Over three metres tall and…

From the chaos of the revolution to the political manoeuvring of the Cold War, Russian and Soviet armed forces have shaped the future not only of Russia but of countless other countries around the globe. Central to these forces have been the many variants of armoured fighting vehicles which have played a formidable role in wars and insurgencies in which Russia has participated over the last turbulent century. These images and the accompanying text are drawn from the book The Great Bear At War: The Russian And Soviet Army 1917-Present, edited by Chris McNab, published by Osprey Publishing and on sale now.(www.ospreypublishing.com). WORLD WAR I Early examples of armoured cars operated by the Red Army, pictured in 1918. Such vehicles would have provided armoured protection against only up to rifle-calibre…

GUSTAF BLAST Taken: February 2013 A US special forces soldier fires a Carl-Gustaf recoilless rifle on a firing range in Helmand province, Afghanistan. The original weapon was developed in Sweden shortly after WWII and was subsequently adopted by militaries around the world – favoured over other designs for its accuracy and ease of use. Today the M4 (CGM4) is widely used around the world. FESTIVE FRITZ Taken: December 1915 German troops bring a little festive decoration to their trench on the Eastern Front, in preparation for Christmas. As on the Western Front the war in the east was expected to be over by Christmas, 1914. Instead, by 1915, this front had witnessed over a million casualties in the first year of fighting. However fighting did not become as static as…

When North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap conceived the master plan for the Tet Offensive he did so with clear objectives. Giap hoped to spark a general uprising against the corrupt South Vietnamese government of President Nguyen Van Thieu, destabilising the political situation within South Vietnam. He wanted to convince the American people that the Vietnam War, already a protracted and costly endeavour by early 1968, was nowhere near conclusion. He also sought to demonstrate that Communist forces could strike at the time and place of their choosing, dictating to the South Vietnamese and their American sponsors that the Vietnam War would continue to take a heavy toll in lives and resources. Giap was keenly aware that the support of the American people for the war effort had begun to…

On 16 December 1944 at 5.30am in a salient just east of the Belgian/German frontier, dispersed wide along an area known as the Schnee Eifel, green troops of the 106th Golden Lion Division were rudely awakened from their winter sojourn by spectral red, green, amber and white thunder flashes irradiating the misty predawn sky. Moments later they heard the terrifying whine of ‘Screamin meemies’, Nazi ‘Nebelwerfers’ simultaneously belching out multiple mortar shells accompanied by booming artillery that collectively gouged and fractured the frigid earth where they stood. John Schaffner, a scout with 589th Field Artillery Battalion said, “Many rounds exploded real close and showered dirt and tree limbs about, I got down as low as I could and would have crawled into my helmet if my buttons hadn’t gotten in…

“IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF 12 MONTHS OF ALMOST RELENTLESS SERVICE ON THE FRONT LINE OF A WAR THAT HAD GROUND INTO A STALEMATE” Over 90,000 members of the British Armed Forces served in the Korean War between 1950-53. It was the largest commitment of soldiers in a conflict since WWII and with casualties of 1,078 killed and 2,674 wounded it remains Britain’s deadliest post-war conflict. A huge number of these troops were conscripted National Servicemen who may not have volunteered but nevertheless fought in a bitter conflict that cost the lives of possibly five million people. One of those conscripts was Neville Williams. A civilian engineer serving in the Welch Regiment, Williams fought in Korea between November 1951 and November 1952 with the majority of his time being spent…

“LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER E.C. BOYLE IN E14 WAS NOW ALONE … AT DAWN ON APRIL 27 … HE RAN PAST CHANAK ON THE SURFACE, WITH ALL THE FORTS FIRING ON HIM”Naval Operations, Sir Julian S. Corbett, 1921 “IN SPITE OF GREAT NAVIGATIONAL DIFFICULTIES … AND OF THE HOURLY DANGER OF ATTACK FROM THE ENEMY, HE … SUCCEEDED IN SINKING TWO TURKISH GUNBOATS AND ONE LARGE MILITARY TRANSPORT”VC Citation, London Gazette, 21 May 1915 A native of Carlisle Edward Courtney Boyle was already an experienced sailor by the outbreak of the First World War. He had entered HMS Britannia in 1897 becoming a midshipman the following year. A keen sportsman Boyle was particularly noted for his skills as a competitive rugby player. He was also an early member of the Royal Navy’s Submarine…

During World War I the Pioneer Tractor Company from Winona, Minnesota, designed a rather strange-looking tank that would be later known as the Skeleton Tank. The crew was encased in an armoured box at the centre of the vehicle with a gun turret on top and an engine on each side of the compartment. The driver had a small horizontal vision slit at the front of the armoured box. The commander/ gunner had a vision slit in the turret. The tracks were carried on mounted rollers installed on a tubular frame covered with wood. The pipe construction would allow for the tank to be dismantled and shipped relatively easily and then be reassembled on arrival in the war zone. Another advantage to this tubular design was that if one of…

THE DEVIL NEXT DOOR A MUST-SEE DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE WAR CRIME TRIALS OF JOHN DEMJANJUK “EYEWITNESSES STATED HE SOMETIMES MUTILATED PEOPLE WITH A SWORD” Director: Yossi Bloch and Daniel Sivan Distributor: Netflix Released: Out now The case tried in Israel against John Demjanjuk (1920-2012) turned out to be powered by the strangest irony. To his last breath the man protested his innocence as a victim of mistaken identity. Evidence unearthed after the fall of the Soviet Union points to Demjanjuk, a former Ukrainian national who later became an American citizen, as spending his war years as a Trawniki guard stationed not at Treblinka, as first accused, but another Nazi death camp: Sobibór. Reinventing himself after the Second World War as a hard-working Ford factory worker living the American dream, he…

In archaeological terms, 1922 was a momentous time when Howard Carter famously discovered the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen. However, in the same year other treasures were discovered in southern Iraq by British archaeologist Leonard Woolley who discovered the Royal Cemetery at Ur. Approximately 2,000 graves were unearthed, including 16 that were designated as ‘royal’ due to the spectacular finds that lay inside them. These objects included gold beads, bronze relics, cylinder seals, musical instruments and artefacts associated with mass ritual. This gold helmet was found in a tomb of a young man dated from 2,600-2,500 BCE that was designated as ‘PG 755’. Measuring 2.5 x 1.5 metres, Woolley did not include PG 755 as a royal tomb because there was no chamber or buried retainers but its artefacts…