Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 76 i History of War

This year will see a unique series of poignant anniversaries for anyone interested in the history of World War II. 2020 marks both 80 and 75 years since among the most important and world-changing events of the war. One such event in January 1945 was Operation Bodenplatte – the Luftwaffe’s final bid to defeat Allied air superiority, following the defeat on the ground in the Battle of the Bulge. This mass of air attacks saw veteran and novice pilots thrown into combat, flying both outdated machines and cutting-edge jets. It was a tragic last chapter for a force that had once reigned supreme in Europe’s skies. FOR MORE FROM THE HISTORY OF WAR TEAM VISIT: WWW.HISTORYANSWERS.CO.UK…

The George Cross was instituted by George VI on 24 September 1940 to replace the Empire Gallantry Medal. It is the second highest award in the United Kingdom’s honours system and is awarded “for acts of heroism or for most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger”. Both civilians and military personnel can receive the award for bravery that is not in the presence of the enemy and in 1942 a special case was made for the island of Malta. “TO HONOUR HER BRAVE PEOPLE I AWARD THE GEORGE CROSS TO THE ISLAND FORTRESS OF MALTA TO BEAR WITNESS TO A HEROISM AND DEVOTION THAT WILL LONG BE FAMOUS IN HISTORY”– George VI On 15 April 1942, George VI awarded the George Cross to Malta in a letter to the…

The U-2 is a masterpiece of design, with every possible trick and technique employed to help it get to its prodigious operating altitude. To start with, the plane is in essence a glider that just happens to have jet propulsion built in. The massive wingspan (103 feet) gives the aircraft the appearance of an albatross, and also generates vast amounts of lift. The glide ratio (the distance covered for each unit of altitude lost when power is removed) is 23:1. This means that, theoretically, a U-2 losing engine power at an altitude of 13 miles could glide for 299 miles before needing to land. To achieve these aerodynamic qualities, the designers of the U-2 had to cut the plane down to its bones. As a rule of thumb, every extra…

Director: Sam Mendes Starring: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Benedict Cumberbatch Released: 10 January (UK) The Western Front, 1917. A pair of British soldiers are tasked with carrying a vital message to a distant division, calling off an attack that they’re told is doomed to fail. To reach their destination they must travel across miles of enemy territory in just 24 hours. They pick their way through the wilderness of no-mans-land, creeping through barbed wire mazes and around lake-sized shell craters. Each stop on their journey reveals new levels of devastation and death, and the characters they encounter on the way are no less damaged – Andrew Scott’s brief appearance is a memorable reminder of the damaging impact the front line had on soldiers’ mental health. Narratively 1917’s do-or-die ‘solo mission’…

BRITISH RATIONING BEGINS From 8 January, the purchase of a range of everyday food products came under regulation by the UK government, in order to control food shortages expected as a result of the German U-boat campaign. Dairy products, pork, sugar, cooking fat and tea were all restricted to certain amounts, per adult per week. Ration books were issued by shopkeepers to log each customer’s allotted ration. Later in the war, additional food products were added to the rationing list, and the Ministry of Food promoted ‘make-do’ methods of avoiding food waste and creating improvised ‘wartime dishes’ using limited ingredients. MITFORD EMERGENCY A rich socialite and passionate Nazi supporter, Unity Mitford was one of the most controversial figures in 1930s England. At the outbreak of WWII, she was living in…

“AFTER THEY FINALLY SURRENDERED THE TLAXCALANS, TOTONACS, TEXCOCANS AND CHALCA WENT AROUND, PULLING PEOPLE FROM HOLES, CLUBBING THEM TO DEATH AND CANNIBALISING THEIR CORPSES” When the conquistadors arrived in Tenochtitlan, they discovered a society founded on an institutionalised cult of death. At the Great Temple, prisoners of war, slaves and even children sent from the provinces were sacrificed to delay the death of the fifth and final sun – the sun of the Aztecs. They were strapped to a slab and had their hearts cut out alive, a shockingly violent, terrifying death. Although the conquistadors had come for the gold, they justified their actions as a conquest to liberate Mexico from the barbaric Aztec yoke, in the name of Christendom. However, they were no saints. Before reaching Tenochtitlan, Cortés secured…

Although Bodenplatte was led by a handful of highly advanced jet aircraft – Messerschmitt Me 262A fighters and Arado Ar 234B bombers, the vast majority of the German aircraft were two or more year-old designs. On paper, German aircraft development in 1945 was superbly advanced, with concepts and designs that were far beyond Allied technology, and laid the ground work for aircraft for decades to come. However, this veneer hid a hollow reality. Few of these highly advanced designs made it past the concept stage or basic drawing board. They were pipe dreams that distracted from reality. The Nazi hierarchy’s obsession with ‘wonder weapons’ stymied practical development, as did Hitler’s insistence on bombers taking priority – even the Me 262 was produced mostly as a very light bomber rather than…

“THE TWO BRITISH REGIMENTS IN THE CENTRE OF WOLFE’S BATTLE LINE WAIT UNTIL THE FRENCH ARE WITHIN 20 YARDS BEFORE UNLEASHING A SINGLE, DEVASTATING VOLLEY” 01 THE CITY Quebec was well defended against an assault from the St Lawrence, but the British believed its landward fortifications were incomplete and vulnerable. If troops could get into place quickly, they would be able to storm the defences before the French had time to react. 02 THE FOULON The first wave of British boats lands further down river than anticipated and Colonel William Howe, leading the light infantry, has to improvise. Under his leadership, three companies of light infantry climb the steep cliff and get behind French defences at the top of the cliff road. 03 THE NARROW CLIFF ROAD…

The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund is the leading welfare charity supporting current and former members of the RAF, their partners and families, providing practical, emotional and financial support, whenever they need it. Founded in 1919 just one year after the formation of the air force, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Benevolent Fund. To mark the occasion, the charity has launched a campaign to double the number of people it supports. Allan Scott is an ambassador for the RAF Benevolent Fund and is enthusiastic about the support they provide for those in need, “I help them because they help people in distress. There are lots of families coming out of the air force now in really dire circumstances. The Benevolent Fund helps them in most ways, money-wise…

The gunfire crackled so heavily that it sounded like popcorn, startling Staff Sergeant Roy Benavidez, who heard the frantic calls for help over the radio at the US Special Forces forward operating base in Loc Ninh, South Vietnam, near the border with Cambodia. “Get us out of here! For God’s sake, get us out!” came the cries for evacuation from a 12-man team of Fifth Special Forces Group Detachment B-56 inserted across the Cambodian frontier. Their mission had been to capture a North Vietnamese truck and drive it back to base as proof that Communist forces were using Cambodian territory as a covert means of supply and reinforcement to their troops in South Vietnam. Soon after deployment by helicopter, however, the team was in dire straits, surrounded by a North…

The U-2’s finest hour came during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Cuba had been an object of interest for the States ever since the revolution, led by Fidel Castro, in the 1950s. When America was planning for its disastrous Bay of Pigs Invasion, which took place in April 1961, U-2 planes provided valuable intelligence on the island’s defences. The stakes were raised in October 1962 when the Soviets set up missile facilities on the island, partly to counter the American Jupiter missiles based in Turkey and Italy. U-2 flights over Cuba provided evidence of a steady escalation in the Russian military presence on the island. To begin with, these were limited to fighter jets and anti-aircraft installations, but on 29 August 1962, a U-2 piloted by Bob Erickson discovered…

CHURCHILL’S WAR FLOOR The Imperial War Museum has deployed the latest technology to save a rare carpet in the wartime prime minister’s underground bedroom Located beneath the Treasury in Whitehall, the Churchill War Rooms are one of the five branches of the Imperial War Museum. Constructed in 1938 from cleared spaces, sandbagged alcoves and telephone lines, this subterranean base became operational on 27 August 1939. The site was a central hub for gathering military intelligence and had 500 people working underground at its height. Winston Churchill was given his own bedroom study in the War Rooms after becoming prime minister where he made four major speeches between September 1940 and December 1941. Today, the IWM offers private ‘Behind the Glass’ tours of three of the most significant rooms – Churchill’s…

John Chard is arguably the most famous officer to have served in the Royal Engineers. Commissioned in 1868, he served across the British Empire before participating in the Anglo-Zulu War. Chard was stationed at Rorke’s Drift, an isolated depot and hospital in Natal and was tasked with protecting flying bridges across a nearby river. After the disastrous British defeat at Isandlwana, Rorke’s Drift suddenly became the front line against an advancing, numerically superior force of Zulu warriors. Although Chard was one of just two Royal Engineers (including his batman) and only ranked as a lieutenant, he was the senior officer at Rorke’s Drift. Commanding a tiny garrison of approximately 140 soldiers, mostly from the 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot, he worked closely with Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead and Assistant Commissary…

STREET FIRE Taken: c. 1985 A militiaman is photographed in Beirut, during the Lebanese Civil War. What began in 1975 as a struggle between Christian and Muslim factions, soon attracted attention from neighbouring states. Syrian troops intervened in 1976, followed by Israeli forces in 1978. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon was installed the same year to help stabilise the region – as of 2019 it is still active. “RATS, RATS, BIG AS BLOOMING CATS!” Taken: c. 1914 French soldiers pose next to a tally of rats caught on the Western Front. Once both fronts had stagnated into static trench warfare, vermin infestations became a problem for troops on both sides of no-mans-land. Traps, terriers, or trusty bayonets were all used to hunt the long-tailed foe. PISTOL PRACTISE Taken: 8…

At 9.00am on 1 January 1945, a formation of around 60 fighters of the German Luftwaffe arrived at low level over the town of Eindhoven in southern Holland. Roughly evenly split between Focke Wulf Fw 190s and Messerschmitt Bf 109s, their target was British airfield B-78, just west of the town. The airfield was crowded with aircraft from the 2nd Tactical Air Force (2TAF), the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) units supporting the Allied advance into Holland and Germany. No. 124 Wing with four squadrons of Hawker Typhoons, No. 39 (Recce) Wing with three squadrons of North American Mustangs and Supermarine Spitfires, and a host of support and communications aircraft were packed close together due to lack of space. Three squadrons had already taken off on operations, and several more were…

OBERSTLEUTNANT HELMUT BENNEMANN LUFTWAFFE, OC JG53 SCORE: 93 DOB: 16 MARCH 1915 OBERSTLEUTNANT HERBERT IHLEFIELD LUFTWAFFE, OC JG1 SCORE: 122 DOB: 1 JUNE 1914 LEUTNANT HEINRICH HACKLER 11/JG77, LUFTWAFFE SCORE: 73 DOB: 14 DECEMBER 1918 FLIGHT LIEUTENANT TADEUSZ POWIERZA NO. 317 (POLISH) SQN RAF SCORE: 0 DOB: 24 AUGUST 1914 FLIGHT LIEUTENANT PETE WILSON NO. 438 SQN RCAF SCORE: 0 DOB: UNKNOWN…

“ALTHOUGH THEIR PILOTS WERE HEAVILY OUTNUMBERED, THEY SHOT DOWN HUNDREDS OF AXIS AIRCRAFT DISPROPORTIONATE TO THEIR NUMBERS” Described by Winston Churchill as an “unsinkable aircraft carrier”, the Mediterranean island of Malta endured an excruciating, sustained bombing campaign during 1940-42. A strategically vital fortress, Malta was virtually obliterated by German and Italian aircraft but it was successfully defended by a dogged garrison who held out against overwhelming odds. One of the keys to this achievement was the presence of RAF Spitfires on the island. Although their pilots were heavily outnumbered, they shot down hundreds of Axis aircraft disproportionate to their numbers. This was no accident because the fliers were largely seasoned fighters who had cut their teeth defending the United Kingdom from invasion. Among them was Allan Scott, an experienced airman…

“THE BASE WHERE TESTING OF THE NEW PLANE WOULD TAKE PLACE WAS KNOWN AS WATERTOWN, BUT BOTH THE BASE AND THE PLANE ITSELF WOULD SOON HAVE NEW IDENTITIES. WATERTOWN BECAME AREA 51. THE CL-282 BECAME THE U-2” As soon as World War II ended, the United States was faced with a major problem. Its wartime ally, the Soviet Union, was clearly poised to become its chief adversary in the post-war years. The strength of the Russians was frightening enough. Equally concerning was the fact that very little was known about what was going on behind the ‘iron curtain’. Traditional spies could only be relied upon so far. America needed to have a clearer and far more comprehensive understanding of what the Soviets were up to, and the longer this need…

IDEAL JUNGLE TANK The Ha-Go tank was only 2.06m (6ft 9in) wide. It could negotiate narrow jungle tracks and the back streets of Asian cities with ease. It only weighed 7.4 tons and could cross most weak bridges, unlike heavier Allied tanks. SIMPLE SUSPENSION SYSTEM The Ha-Go tank was fitted with two bell crank scissor system paired bogie wheels on each side. If damaged, these could easily be replaced. The drive sprocket for the track was fitted at the front of the tank. CURVED ARMOUR The original tank prototype had straight side armour. The tank designers introduced curved side armour on the production Type 95 Ha-Go light tank to give more room for the three man crew, in the fighting compartment and turret. REAR MACHINE-GUN The tank commander could turn…