Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 112 i History of War

Approximately 1.3 million Indian soldiers served during the First World War – almost twice the number of British. This contribution is often overlooked, as is the terrible sacrifice made by the Indian Corps during the perilous months in late 1914. This issue Dr Robert Lyman recounts how thousands of Indians laid down their lives and held the line against the German offensive, saving the depleted British Army from destruction after the retreat from Mons. In fact, Dr Lyman describes how the Indians continued to hold the line long into 1915, by which time – along with their Anglo-French allies – they found themselves bogged down in the mire of trench warfare. FOLLOW THE HISTORY OF WAR TEAM /HISTORYOFWARMAG @HISTORYOFWARMAG…

1812-15 WAR OF 1812 The navy once again fights the British at sea but is heavily outnumbered. Many ships are blockaded by the Royal Navy but the Americans still win victories at Lake Champlain and Lake Erie, as well as dramatic naval duels. 1775-85 01 CONTINENTAL NAVY The fledgling United States forms the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. The navy’s aim is to disrupt British maritime commercial shipping, with its fleet consisting of converted merchant vessels. It is dissolved after the end of the war. 27 March 1794 02 NAVAL ACT The 3rd United States Congress passes an act to construct six frigates “to provide a Naval Armament”, which is signed into law by President George Washington. These vessels are the first ships of the modern US Navy.…

In the aftermath of World War I, the US Navy was the largest force of its kind in the world in terms of personnel, numbering more than 500,000. It absorbed the implications of emerging technology such as the submarine, the airship and the potential for naval aviation. The latter of these was most significant, however it was not exclusive to the US Navy command establishment and navies around the world began to incorporate the concept of airpower into their strategic thinking. Yet there was significant resistance in the US Navy, particularly from the ‘battleship faction’ that clung to the belief that all naval wars of the future would be won or lost depending on the outcome of a major Jutland-style slugfest between battleships and heavy surface assets. Nevertheless, US Army…

Author: Donald Nijboer Publisher: Osprey Price: £30 The United States Army Air Force’s 8th Air Force was activated in early 1942, deploying to the United Kingdom later that year to be the tip of the American spear in the war with Germany. Its bomber command began to operate in increasing numbers in the daylight skies over Germany and occupied Europe. Despite appalling loses they were instrumental in crippling the German war economy and air force over the next three years, and setting the preconditions for the liberation of western Europe and the overthrow of Nazism. It grew into a vast and complicated organisation in the air and on the ground. Nijboer provides a sweeping introduction to the ‘Mighty Eighth’’s bomber and fighter forces in over 300 pages. By breaking down…

The first president and ‘Father of the Nation’ of the United States of America, George Washington, is a seminal figure in American history. His reputation was forged in the fire of revolution when he commanded the Continental Army against the British during the American Revolutionary War. A wealthy gentleman farmer from an English colonist family, Washington shared many of his army’s privations – but not when it came to food. While he was on campaign, Washington carried a camp chest. Otherwise known as canteens, these boxes of utensils and cooking equipment were used by 18th century officers and their staff to make life in the field more comfortable. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington’s chest was equipped to enable him to eat meals fit for a general. The chest…

Following the conclusion of the American Revolution in 1783, the US Navy ceased to exist as a fighting force. The navy, which had consisted of relatively few warships, was disbanded for several reasons, including an inward focus for the new United States of America, difficulty achieving a consensus for a future navy among the 13 original states, and financial difficulties. However, it soon became apparent that some form of maritime force was necessary, particularly to combat rampant smuggling to avoid import tariffs which were a primary source of revenue for the United States. As a result the Revenue Marine, the predecessor of the US Coast Guard, was created in 1790. Ten revenue cutters formed the nucleus of the Revenue Marine; however, immediate pressure from the pirates of the Barbary Coast…

The long conflict pitting China’s fledgling Communists and the ruling Nationalist government originated in 1927 and stretched into World War II when they upheld a shaky alliance against Japan. In December 1945, with the Japanese evicted from the mainland and Mao Zedong’s generals able to capture Manchuria, a fake truce was arranged in the city of Chungking by the American envoy General George C Marshall that both sides agreed on. By 1946, however, the Communists went on the offensive. Armed to the teeth and with full Soviet backing, come early 1949 the old imperial capital Peking was theirs. Seeing his own generals bogged down south of the Yangtze River, the Nationalist leader and US ally Chiang Kai-shek decided to withdraw and relocate the government on the island of Formosa (Taiwan),…

01 I SHALL RETURN On 20 October 1944, General Douglas MacArthur wades ashore on the Philippine island of Leyte, fulfilling his earlier promise: “I shall return!” MacArthur further exhorts the Filipino people to rise up against the occupying Japanese. 02 DARTER AND DACE After spotting Admiral Takeo Kurita’s Center Force in the Palawan Passage on 23 October, US submarines Darter and Dace shadow the Japanese surface force and launch torpedoes, sinking two heavy cruisers and damaging a third, in the opening phase of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. 03 MIGHTY MUSASHI SUNK The Japanese super battleship Musashi, sortied along with sister ship Yamato as elements of Kurita’s Center Force, comes under devastating air attack in the Sibuyan Sea on 24 October, and finally sinks after absorbing hits from 17 bombs and 19 torpedoes.…

POETS ON THE SOMME Major war poets like Robert Graves, Ivor Gurney and Siegfried Sassoon all fought here, impacting on the Somme’s cultural legacy. On a beautiful summer’s morning over a century ago, men of the British Army stepped out into no-man’s land at 7.30am. It was 1 July 1916 and the start of what was then called ‘The Big Push’. With high hopes of a walkover to victory, the Tommies stepped into what can only be described as machine-gun oblivion. By the end of the day more than 57,000 were casualties, with nearly 20,000 dead. But the Battle of the Somme raged on. The Germans were pushed back, new weapons and tactics helped the British Army win battles, then the weather turned the area into a quagmire ending with…

Authors: Julia Boyd and Angelika Patel Publisher: Elliott & Thompson Limited Price: £10.99 A Village in the Third Reich, by Julia Boyd and Angelika Patel, takes readers back in time to the village of Oberstdorf, high in the Bavarian Alps. It is from this seemingly distant place that we watch the rise of National Socialism and come to see the impact it had on even the most distant parts of Germany. From hopeful beginnings to the shattering final days of the war, this is a story of ordinary people in an extraordinary situation. By not situating the book in the political heart of the Third Reich, Boyd and Patel bring a new perspective to a well-represented field. It introduces readers to a varied cast of characters and the events that…

INSPECTING THE GRENADIERS 17 May 1944 Princess Elizabeth inspects an honour guard during a royal visit to 2nd (Armoured) Battalion, Grenadier Guards at Hove in East Sussex, England. It was as the colonel of the Grenadier Guards that she had undertaken her first solo appearance on a visit to the regiment the previous year. Aged only 18 in this picture, Elizabeth was inspecting the Guards as part of the Allied preparations for D-Day. The princess herself became an honorary second subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service in February 1945. A CIGARETTE BREAK c.1870 German signallers take a break during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). This conflict culminated in the unification of Germany for the first time, although its soldiers fought under the banner of the ‘North German Confederation’. This de facto…

With the outbreak of the American Civil War in April 1861, the US Navy, like the Army and the government of the nation itself, was torn between allegiances to the North and South. By the end of 1861, nearly 400 officers and sailors of the US Navy had left its service to join the upstart Confederate States Navy. In the opening days of the conflict, US sailors burned and abandoned some vessels that were likely to fall into the hands of the Confederates. However, such tactical action did not materially affect the strategic decision of the US military, chiefly advocated by General Winfield Scott, to employ the Anaconda Plan. The strategy involved conducting assertive campaigns on land against the Confederate armies, while the US Navy executed a tight blockade of…

In the first three months of the Great War the dramatic impact of massed European armies smashing into each other across the rolling grainfields of Picardy, Artois and Flanders forced the combatant nations to face the harsh new realities of modern, machine-driven warfare. It quickly became apparent the devastating affect artillery, machine guns and rifle fire had on massed and unprotected infantry and cavalry. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF), sent to the continent to support the much larger French Army in its attempt to prevent the Germans breaking through to Paris, was well-trained and professional — but it was small. The first battles of the Great War were shocking in their intensity and scale, and Britain soon realised that if fighting continued on this trajectory it would quickly run out…

In 1958 the aerial skirmishes over the Taiwan Strait compromised an iconic weapon system of the Cold War: the AIM-9B Sidewinder. The air-to-air missile made by Raytheon was a simple design with four canards near the seeker’s glass ‘eye’ and four stabiliser fins around its booster. It was a short-range munition that tracked the intense thermal signatures of an enemy fighter jet’s exhaust. With a diameter of 120mm and a length of 2.87 metres, a single missile carried a 9.4kg proximity fuse warhead of plastic explosive. Yet as with all sorts of military innovations, the original Sidewinders had their shortcomings. Unfortunately, the PLAAF retrieved an intact Sidewinder after a dogfight left a dud lodged in a fighter jet, most likely a MiG-15. At the time most Western intelligence analysis agreed…

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LOW-SLUNG GUNS The contemporary Panther jet had its four cannon mounted high in the nose, but the muzzle flashes could dazzle the pilot. On the Banshee they were moved down to below the cockpit, out of direct view. KNEELING NOSE Early models had a second, shorter nose wheel onto which weight could be transferred from the main wheel. Tilting the nose down like this was supposed to enable Banshees to overlap in hanger decks, fitting more in. FIRST-GENERATION WINGS The Banshee was not fast enough to require swept-back wings for peak efficiency. The leading edges were straight while the rear edges – with flaps, ailerons and air brakes – were angled forwards towards the tips. EXTERNAL TANKS Most Banshee types had external tanks fitted at the wing tips. These were…