Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 91 i History of War

In 1941, Britain and her allies began launching a series of special operations along the Norwegian coast, with the aim of disrupting and destroying any resources or facilities being used to fuel the Nazi war economy. These hit-and-run raids were carried out by commando units: small groups of tough and highly skilled infantry trained to strike fast and hard. The success of these operations forced Hitler to divert men and resources to defend the huge Norwegian coastline. The experiences of the commandos set the blueprint for commando units around the world and modern-day special forces.…

1978-79 MUJAHIDEEN REBELLION Unrest grows against the DRA, who kill thousands of political prisoners and fight among themselves. A loose collection of Afghan opposition groups (known as the mujahideen) rebel, which causes the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev to deploy the 40th Army to Afghanistan. 27-28 April 1978 SAUR REVOLUTION The Soviet-backed People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) launches a coup d’etat against the First Republic of Afghanistan. Afghan President Mohammad Daoud Khan and his family are killed and the socialist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) is established. 27 December 1979 OPERATION STORM-333 01 Soviet special forces (Spetsnaz) begin the Soviet-Afghan War by storming the Tajbeg Palace in Kabul and assassinating the DRA leader Hafizullah Amin. A new pro-Soviet DRA government is installed and Kabul is occupied. December 1979-February 1980 SOVIET…

“THE REST OF THE WORLD SOON PAID A PRICE FOR IGNORING AFGHANISTAN’S DESCENT INTO ISLAMISM” Even before the shock of the Soviet invasion settled, a consensus view emerged in American policy circles, and later on with the press and politicians, that Afghanistan could serve as a springboard for impending Soviet plans to reach ‘warm water’. This imagined geopolitical risk was so pervasive that it galvanized steady support for the anti-Soviet mujahideen as well as a beleaguered Pakistan, whose ruling strongman General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq welcomed the Americans’ involvement. With the threat of another war with India always on the horizon, Pakistan’s leader understood he couldn’t afford to ignore the immense Soviet army that was now patrolling the Durand Line, the artificial border separating Afghanistan from Pakistan. But half the duration of…

On the evening of 24 April 1940 a Royal Navy submarine departed Rosyth in Scotland bound for Norway on what was codenamed ‘Operation Knife’. On board HMS Truant were seven men described by the vessel’s captain, Lieutenant Commander Christopher Hutchinson, as “a bunch of cutthroats”, armed with plastic explosive and a variety of “ghastly looking” weapons. The seven were led by a Scots Guards officer, Bryan Mayfield, and included Peter Kemp, a veteran of the Spanish Civil War, and Bill Stirling, a former Guards officer and one of the wealthiest landowners in Scotland. Fifteen days earlier, on 9 April, Germany had invaded Norway, occupying the capital Oslo as well as Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik. The Norwegians, assisted by a hastily assembled British Expeditionary Force, had offered spirited resistance, and the…

“RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF ESSEX, IF BYRHTNOTH DID NOT FACE THE VIKING THREAT AT MALDON HE WOULD NEED TO SHADOW THEM AND CONFRONT THEM ELSEWHERE” According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for the year 991, that summer, Olaf Tryggvason (later king of Norway) sailed with a fleet of 93 ships and raided the English coast. He began in Kent, raiding Folkestone and then Sandwich, and then moved on to Ipswich in Suffolk. After overrunning Ipswich, the fleet moved onwards to Maldon in Essex, sailing up the River Blackwater and establishing a base at the island of Northey in early August. Northey was only accessible to the mainland via a tidal causeway and so was a safe harbour for the Vikings. Not that they needed to be overly wary: no one…

“THE ‘NIGHT WITCHES’ FLEW SORTIES AGAINST GERMAN REAR AREAS FROM THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD ALL THE WAY THROUGH TO THE BATTLE OF BERLIN” Designed in the 1920s as a general purpose trainer, crop duster and light transport aircraft, the Polikarpov U-2 (later reclassified the Po-2) saw distinguished service during World War II. It was old, basic and slow, but it found a niche as a reconnaissance and communications aircraft, while some models were fitted out as air ambulances. With short take-off and landing capabilities and able to operate from rough fields, its slow speed also made it hard for the enemy to target, with its top speed roughly the same as the stalling speed of Germany’s most modern fighters. It was as a night bomber that the Polikarpov Po-2 achieved…

“THE GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION IS OFTEN REVEALED NOT IN THE PANICKED EYES OF A RECRUIT FACING A GERMAN TANK BUT IN THE LINES ETCHED ON THE FACES OF THE COMMANDERS TASKED WITH SENDING THEM TO THEIR FATES” Director: Vadim Shmelyov Cast: Artyom Gubin, Lubov Konstantinova, Igor Yudin Released: 8 March 2021 (DVD) It’s October 1941 and the relentless Wehrmacht is closing in on Moscow, every attempt to halt the German tide ruthlessly crushed beneath the boots and tracks of an army hell-bent on seizing the Russian capital. Desperate to buy the city time to prepare for the coming onslaught, Red Army commanders reluctantly order 3,500 cadets from the Podolsk Military School to march to the Ilyinsky Frontier. The fate of the Motherland will depend on their ability to hold…

Catherine II (r.1762-96) was the most accomplished empress in Russian history. Better known as Catherine the Great, she began life as a minor German princess but became empress of Russia after overthrowing her husband Tsar Peter III in a coup d’état. Catherine was subsequently fortunate to be assisted by talented generals and admirals, which resulted in many victories, such as the Russo-Turkish War (1768-74). During her reign, the empire grew by 520,000 square kilometres with new Russian territories including the Crimea, Belarus, Lithuania, Northern Caucasus, parts of Ukraine, Latvia and even Alaska. She also quelled internal risings, including Pugachev’s Rebellion of Cossacks during 1773-75. Although Catherine left campaigning to her commanders she had her own warrior spirit. She trained herself to use a sword when she was a child and…

GENERAL MOHAMMAD ZIA-UL-HAQ PAKISTAN’S MILITARY DICTATOR SUPPORTED THE MUJAHIDEEN WHILE SECRETLY ADVANCING A NUCLEAR WEAPONS STRATEGY 1924-88 PAKISTAN Having come to power through a coup and imposing martial law, General Zia-ul-Haq’s foresight never anticipated the Soviets getting so close to the Pakistani border. This put immense pressure on Islamabad as it did not have the resources to defend its porous border with Afghanistan. General Zia-ul-Haq’s response was to adroitly manoeuvre himself as a beneficiary of US aid and the Arab states financing the Afghan resistance. Over the course of a decade Pakistan received American money and F-16A/B multirole fighters as compensation for making the country’s tribal frontier a safe haven where the mujahideen could muster and re-arm. Whether or not the CIA knew about the general’s plans to import equipment…

It is good to remember how we felt in time of war; To feel all the hatred for the misery and gore; To relive our thoughts and feelings at the evil that we saw; And still be determined to prevent it all once more. Remembering, means we don’t forget, and have not fought in vain; Recalling what could once more be if we forgot the pain; It means that we still heed the signs from some oppressive reign; And keep our strength and will to fight, so we need not fight again. This poem on war and remembrance is used with the author’s kind permission…

01 VIKING RAIDS OF 991 In July and August 991, a fleet of 93 Viking longships ravages Hampshire, Kent and Ipswich before heading up the River Blackwater to Northey Island, near Maldon. This location offers a safe harbour for their ships and is protected from the mainland by a tidal causeway. 02 BYRHTNOTH RESPONDS The Ealdorman of Essex, Byrhtnoth, must’ve had advance warning of the Vikings’ approach and has time to call the muster, the fyrd, of the manpower of Essex. This requires that a certain number of men per area (hide) of land serve in the army when needed. These men are told to gather at Maldon to face the Viking threat. 03 FIGHT, WAIT OR PAY Byrhtnoth has the option of not fighting the Vikings…

LEND-LEASE APPROVED Though President Roosevelt had recently won re-election on a promise of non-intervention in what was perceived as Europe’s war, the Lend-Lease Act was passed by the US Congress on 11 March. This was a critical moment in the build up to the US participation in the war, and allowed ammunition, tanks and supplies worth around $7 billion to be sent to Europe. Speaking in support of the Act, Secretary of War Henry L Stimson told the Senate: “We are buying… not lending. We are buying our own security while we prepare.” A ROYAL COUP After pressure from Hitler, the Yugoslavian government signed the Tripartite Pact on 25 March. Two days later, a military coup, supported by the British SOE, declared that the 17-year-old Prince Peter Karadordevic had gained…

Certificate: 12 Director: Simon Stone Cast: Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Lily James Based on the book of the same name, The Dig is a retelling of the events around the discover of the Sutton Hoo archaeological site, one of the most extraordinary finds in Europe. With excavation beginning in 1939, what started as a buried ship revealed itself to be a richly adorned burial chamber with some of the most incredible Anglo-Saxon treasures found to this day. Widowed estate owner Edith Pretty (Mulligan) hires the much sought-after and self-taught archaeologist (or ‘digger’ as he prefers to be called) Basil Brown (Feinnes) to excavate some burial mounds on her land in Suffolk. What Brown finds sends ripples through the archaeological community, starting a mild-mannered war between the academics who want control…

DESERT LÉGION c.1990 Members of the French Foreign Legion train in the Saudi desert in preparation for the coalition intervention in the Gulf after Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. The Iraqi forces were known to have possessed and deployed chemical weapons in recent conflicts, prompting the US-led ground forces to equip and drill in preparation for chemical attacks. Though there remains debate as to whether chemical weapons were used against coalition forces, thousands of Gulf War veterans reported suffering health complications years after the end of the war. DRESSED FOR NORWAY c.April 1940 Members of the British Expeditionary Force dressed in sheepskin coats prepare for their departure across the North Sea to Norway. The invasion of Norway by Allied forces was intended to prevent the expected German invasion of the…

The Soviet 40th Army existed in two very distinct phases during its 20th century history. It was first formed in 1941 after the German invasion of Russia during Operation Barbarossa and almost immediately suffered heavy casualties at the Battle of Kiev. It continued to fight on the Eastern Front in engagements such as Operation Blau and the battles of Kursk and Dnieper. By the end of WWII, the army was in Czechoslovakia participating in the Prague Offensive before it was disbanded in July 1945. 40th Army was reformed in December 1979 and became the core of the Soviet occupation force in Afghanistan, which was abbreviated to OKSVA. Primarily consisting of motor rifle and airborne divisions, 40th Army was largely supplied in Afghanistan through the Salang Pass, which transported hundreds of…

The closing months of the Second World War saw the first combat flight of the jet fighter, with the deployment of Nazi Germany’s Me 262 – a milestone in aviation history that changed air warfare forever. However, jet fighters would not truly come into their own until the following decade. In his new book Korean Air War, former RAF pilot Michael Napier recounts the overlooked story of the first large-scale jet-versus-jet conflict, and how air forces of the nine belligerent nations adapted their flight combat tactics and aircraft design to keep up with the fast pace of jet-age warfare. The book interrogates combat reports from both sides, as renowned fighters such as the MiG-15 and F-86 Sabre were pitted against one another to the north of the Korean battlefields. Napier…

When the Empire of Japan launched its pre-emptive strike on Pearl Harbor at the end of 1941, a young Virginian called Desmond Doss was working at the Newport News shipyard. Though he was entitled to request a deferment, he felt a duty to serve his country and enlisted just months later. It was an unusual move for a devoted member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, one who as a child had vowed never to kill. When Doss arrived at Camp Lee for training on 1 April 1943, a skinny vegetarian, his fervent beliefs immediately landed him in a world of trouble. While the other trainees perfected their marksmanship, he refused to even carry a weapon. This attitude infuriated Doss’ fellow recruits to no end, with one even threatening, “Doss, as…

Cardiff’s Medical Museum The Museum of Military Medicine is moving from Surrey to a new home in the Welsh capital The Museum of Military Medicine tells the story of military healthcare disciplines including medicine, nursing, dental, veterinary and allied health professions, from the British Civil Wars to the present day. It explores developments in military medicine, including many that have gone on to be used in hospitals around the world to save lives and provide treatments that improve quality of life and wellbeing. Those stories are told through exhibitions, archives and collections that incorporate over 30,000 objects that preserve the heritage of those who have saved lives through service. The museum is currently based in Surrey but has been searching for a new location that saw several UK cities being…