Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 131 i History of War

I write this on the eve of the two-year anniversary of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In that time, several key moments, or string of events, have captured the attention of analysts and observers as they seek to identify a turning point or momentum shift in the conflict. Of course, the importance of these events may only be fully understood with the long view of historians in the years to come. This issue explores one such turning point relating to the Second World War, which took place over the course of an entire month. May 1943 saw over 40 U-boats sunk or incapacitated in the Atlantic, most with the loss of their entire crew. This was the culmination of months spent developing tactics and technology, which continued to have a…

1814-16 01 ANGLO-NEPALESE WAR As the Kingdom of Nepal fights the East India Company for control of mountainous territory, Gurkha defectors join the British forces. Colonel David Ochterlony sees the potential of using these men as irregular forces. They are formed into the Nasiri regiment, impressing Ochterlony with their abilities. After the Anglo-Nepalese War, they are recruited into the British Army permanently as the 1st King George’s Own Gurkha Rifles. June – September 1857 02 SIEGE OF DELHI The Gurkhas remain loyal to the Crown during the Indian Mutiny of 1857, exemplified by their actions in the Siege of Delhi. The Sirmoor Battalion fights alongside the 60th Rifles and the Corps of Guides at a defensive position outside the city before mounting an assault on 14 September. They help to…

Even amid the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814-16), the British Empire had begun the process of integrating Gurkhas into its armed forces. This continued throughout the 19th century, with the Nepalese soldiers tasked with protecting India’s Northwest Frontier and beyond. From fighting in the Anglo-Sikh Wars (1845-46; 1848-49) to helping quell the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Gurkhas had more than proven their worth as capable, adaptable and dependable warriors. Such qualities were vital with the consistently changing nature of warfare, especially so when the First World War broke out in the summer of 1914. In this conflict the men faced their greatest challenge yet. At that time, there were ten Gurkha Regiments, each comprised of two battalions. A proportion shipped out to Europe as part of the Indian Corps, eventually deployed to…

When India gained independence in 1947, six of the original ten Gurkha regiments became part of the Indian Army, while the remaining four transferred to the British armed forces. Those in India were subsequently reorganised and have since served in several of the nation’s conflicts. However, recent changes to the Indian Army’s recruitment plan have sparked controversy among Gurkha service members, raising questions about their future. Likewise, off the back of Indian independence in 1949 a proportion of Nepalese veterans joined the newly created Gurkha Contingent in Singapore, a force still used today for neutral peacekeeping and counter-terrorism duties. Additionally, the Sultanate of Brunei has raised its own Gurkha Reserve Unit (GRU) employed as a special guard formation.…

01.05.43 Kriegsmarine’s Oberkommando der Marine records a total of 134 submarines at sea. 02.05.43 U465 sunk north-west of Cape Ortegal, by an RAAF Sunderland. 04.05.43 U109 intercepted on the surface transiting south-west of Ireland by a Liberator of 89 Squadron. U439 and U659 collide west of Cape Finisterre, with the loss of 84 crew from both boats. 05.05.43 U638 depth-charged and sunk with all hands by HMS Sunflower. 06.05.43 U192 sunk in the early hours of the morning by HMS Loosestrife. U630 and U531 both destroyed by HMS Vidette. U438 is depth-charged and sunk by HMS Pelican. U125 sinks north-east of Newfoundland, after ramming by HMS Oribi and gunfire from HMS Snowflake. 07.05.43 U209 lost, presumed sunk south of Cape Farewell. U447 sunk west of Gibraltar by two RAF Hudson…

1932 MARIAN REJEWSKI CRACKS ENIGMA Six years after the Wehrmacht began using the Enigma machine to encrypt messages in 1926, Polish mathematician Marian Rejewski cracked the Enigma code. After obtaining the daily keys used in Enigma machines in September and October 1932 from a French spy, Rejewski made comparisons with intercepted messages to uncover the internal rotor wiring of Enigma machines. He then built the Bomba machine to reliably decrypt Enigma messages. 1940 CONSTRUCTION OF VICTORY At the outbreak of the war, Germany made its Enigma machines more complex, rendering the Polish Bomba obsolete. However, Alan Turing learnt from Rejewski’s Bomba to create his mechanised Bombe. The first successful machine was called Victory and began codebreaking on 14 March 1940. Collaboration with Gordon Welchman led to the more efficient Agnus…

The Nivelle Offensive brought devastation to the iconic Chemin des Dames ridgeline. Within the shell holes, tangled barbed wire and shell-scarred concrete bunkers lay hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded men. The Allies suffered 187,000 French casualties, with 134,000 amassed from 16 to 25 April. Meanwhile, Germany suffered 163,000 casualties, with a further 20,000 captured. Nivelle’s plan achieved some local gains, but the cost was deemed too high and he lost his position on 15 May. He was replaced by Philippe Pétain. The Nivelle Offensive brought the French Great War death toll up to a million, five percent of the fighting-age males in France, lighting a powder keg of discontent in the French Army. Disorder began to bubble up on 29 April and open mutiny was sparked on 3…

Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz Dönitz joined the Imperial German Navy in 1911. He served as an officer in the surface fleet primarily in the Black Sea fighting the Russian navy but transferred to submarines in 1916. In July 1918 his U-boat was sunk in the Mediterranean by a British destroyer – Dönitz survived and spent his captivity on Malta. As an experienced submarine officer he was selected to command the Kriegsmarine’s fledgling U-boat service. During the mid-1930s he devised much of his tactical planning for sub-surface warfare, including the Rudeltaktic, or wolfpack, method. Dönitz realised early on that Germany’s failure to implement Plan Z – the re-equipment and expansion of the navy – would leave the U-boat arm as the primary means by which Germany could challenge Britain at sea.…

1939 AXIS POWERS WIN THE INTELLIGENCE WAR Having failed to pick up warnings that the Axis forces were exploiting their Great War-era codes, the British would not have updated their encryption technology. Now, the Axis forces would have superior intelligence on the battlefield, which would have swung the tide of some battles. 1943 DISASTER FOR ALLIED CONVOYS In May 1943, the U-boat strength peaked at 240 operational submarines. Without Enigma intelligence, Allied convoys wouldn’t have been able to manoeuvre around U-boat patrols, which would have been less vulnerable to Allied attack. Dönitz could finally have deployed his wolfpack tactic as he imagined it, with devastating effect. 1947 WAR IN EUROPE IS OVER War finally comes to an end in the summer of 1947, but it is a Pyrrhic victory for…

 * 12 ISSUES £51.99 Visit www.magazinesdirect.com/WAR/C94J or call 0330 333 1113 & quote C94J REASONS TO SUBSCRIBE… NEW! Full digital access to all prior and future publications when you subscribe to print! Never miss an issue Delivered direct to your door Brilliant value – save on the cover price PLUS DIGITAL ACCESS! PRINT EDITION 13 ISSUES A YEAR OF THE PRINT EDITION No-hassle home delivery Pay less than you would in the shops DIGITAL EDITION 13 ISSUES A YEAR OF THE DIGITAL EDITION Instant access via your Android or iOS device Same content as print editions Terms and Conditions: Offer closes 9 May 2024. Offer open to new UK subscribers only. *Savings are based on the print newsstand cost. We will notify you in advance of any price changes. Please allow…

By the dawn of the 1930s, the Soviet Union’s tank force was so out of date that the communists had to look overseas for ideas. The result was an order for 15 British Vickers 6t Model A light tanks. The first deliveries were made in the autumn of 1930, with the rest in 1931-32, by which point the Bolshevik Factory, Leningrad, had its own version ready to roll. The new tank, called the T-26 and identified by the year design improvements were authorised, started with Model 1931 and Model 1932. These featured twin turrets, just like the British tank, but had an observation slit and a firing port for a 0.3in (7.62mm) DT machine gun in the 1931 version, replaced by a 1.5in (37mm) main gun in 1932. The engine…

A FASCINATING MEMOIR THAT SHEDS SOME MUCH-NEEDED LIGHT ON A HITHERTO MURKY WORLD Author: Will Britten Publisher: The History Press Price: £20 (Paperback) Released: 28 March Britain’s covert war against paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland during The Troubles is shrouded in mystery. With so many documents relating to it still classified, its history remains obscured by half-truths, rumours and bonkers conspiracy theories. This new book by a former British intelligence officer now seeks to redress that. The author, writing under the pseudonym of Will Britten, tells us that he served in Northern Ireland with the British Army’s Forces Research Unit (FRU). Set up in 1982, this was an undercover outfit tasked with stymying paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland, supposedly on both sides of the sectarian divide. In the early 2000s,…

EASTER GIFTS 24 April 1916 Italian artillery gunners in the Alps load shells inscribed ‘Buona Pasqua’ (‘Happy Easter’) into a howitzer aimed at Austrian defences during a two-month stalemate. The deadlock began with the inconclusive Fifth Battle of Isonzo (9-15 March 1916), where the Italians gained Mount Sabatino but saw their advance halted by awful weather conditions. Active fighting started again on 15 May 1916 with the Battle of Asiago, a mammoth Austrian offensive designed to cripple the Italian war effort. However, Russian successes in Galicia (Eastern Europe) forced thousands of Austro-Hungarian troops in Italy to be redeployed and the attack collapsed. PRE-WAR PREPARATIONS 15 May 1939 Recruits at Lulworth Camp, Dorset, work on equipment for Vickers-Armstrongs Light Tank Mk IVs commissioned by the British Army during the interwar period.…

In the late 1960s, Gurkha rights came under scrutiny, revealing discrepancies between the UK’s approach toward British and Nepalese veterans. Cuts to the British Army had resulted in Gurkhas being discharged with little or no pensions and limited gratuities. Furthermore, a proportion of former soldiers were found to be living in destitution in Nepal. These main factors prompted the establishment of The Gurkha Welfare Trust to help support affected individuals and their families. Pension controversies, however, have persisted into recent years in addition to Gurkha settlement rights in the UK. British actress Dame Joanna Lumley, whose father served with the Gurkhas, became a figurehead for a campaign that led to many Nepalese veterans who had retired before 1997 earning the right of abode.…

In the autumn of 1933, the German navy opened its first submarine warfare school, at Kiel. The first intake consisted of eight officers and 80 senior and junior ratings. Theoretical training included U-boat construction, steering, ballast, diesel and electric propulsion, and the use of escape apparatus. The following year a further cadre was added and training commenced onboard converted minesweepers and on submarines operated by Finland. Torpedo firing exercises were conducted, and officers and senior rates received training in the technical aspects and use of the periscope. By May 1943 the Kriegsmarine had created schools in Bremerhaven and Mürwik, and artillery training facilities in northern Germany. Meanwhile, the service had expanded to 28 seaman branches, from gunnery to survey recorder and nine specialist engineer trades. Life at sea was harsh…

Keen to reward the most extraordinary acts of valour during the Crimean War (1853-56), Queen Victoria introduced the Victoria Cross on 29 January 1856. One of its first recipients was Seaman James Gorman in an action that also saw his compatriots Thomas Reeves and Mark Scholefield awarded Victoria Crosses. The medals had the following citation: “At the Battle of Inkerman, 5 November 1854, when the Right Lancaster Battery was attacked, these three seamen mounted the Banquette, and under a heavy fire made use of the disabled soldiers’ muskets, which were loaded for them by others under the parapet. They are the survivors of five who performed the above action.” Auction house Noonans Mayfair sold Gorman’s Victoria Cross at its Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria auction on 6 December 2023. It…