Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 154 i History of War

SCAN TO GET OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER I recently read Professor Frank McDonough’s The Weimar Years, an outstanding account of post-WWI Germany and the rise of the Nazi party. McDonough brilliantly recounts the political and domestic landscape within which German fascism grew, and Hitler ultimately though not inevitably seized power. During these ‘interwar years’ (though by no means were they peaceful) the struggle for Germany’s destiny took place at the ballot box but also through street brawls and violence. The Schutzstaffel, what would become the SS, first emerged from this chaotic period. Formed ostensibly to protect the Nazi leadership at meetings and rallies, the SS soon grew to become the brute force of national socialism - a paramilitary force pledged to Hitler himself. In this issue, Dr Charlie Hall recounts how the…

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REINHARD HEYDRICH RANK OBERGRUPPENFÜHRER SENIOR GROUP LEADER, OR SENIOR GENERAL Himmler’s most senior deputy, Heydrich made his name by essentially running the Nazi police apparatus, through his leadership of the RSHA. He was appointed protector of Bohemia and Moravia (the Nazi-occupied part of Czechoslovakia) in 1941. A few months later, he chaired the Wannsee Conference which devised a ‘Final Solution to the Jewish Problem’ and he was therefore one of the principal architects of the Holocaust. Even Hitler described him as “the man with the iron heart”. FATE Heydrich was assassinated in Prague in June 1942 by a team of Czech and Slovak soldiers trained and parachuted in by the British Special Operations Executive. THEODOR EICKE RANK OBERGRUPPENFÜHRER SENIOR GROUP LEADER, OR SENIOR GENERAL Eicke joined the SS in 1930 and enjoyed…

GET A TASTE OF THE FEAR, TENSION AND ‘DEATH OR GLORY’ LIFE OF GERMANY’S SUBMARINE CREWS Author: Roger Moorhouse Publisher: William Collins Price: £25 (Hardback) On sale: Out now In this remarkable book, we’re taken through an introduction to the history of Germany’s U-boat service before the author delves into examining re-armament in the lead up to the Second World War. The reader is then taken through early actions and the dramatic October 1939 sinking of HMS Royal Oak, which is dealt with in the author’s prologue. If anything, that event underlined the lethality of the U-boat to Britain’s maritime assets. Doubtless a loss which preyed on Winston Churchill, he described the U-boat threat as the only thing that “really frightened” him. As the author lays out the story it…

PART 1: CONFRONTING MARXISM IN GRENADA By the autumn of 1983 the Caribbean island of Grenada had been under the control of a Marxist regime for more than three years. The growing influence of the Soviet Union and its proxy state, Fidel Castro’s Cuba, in the Western Hemisphere raised concerns within the United States government and elsewhere in the region. Introduced to Marxist theory as a young man and the holder of a law degree from the University of London, Maurice Bishop came to power in Grenada in 1979. He had long expressed admiration for the Cuban experiment in communism and once stated: “It did not matter what we heard on the radio or read in the colonial press. For us it comes down to the courage and legendary heroism of…

The Berlin Blockade was the first real crisis of the Cold War. Joseph Stalin closed off the road, rail and waterway access to the British, American and French sectors of occupied Berlin in a cynical plan to force his former allies out of the city. The only way in or out of West Berlin was via the three air corridors crossing over 100 miles (160km) of Soviet-occupied territory. In response, the British and American governments began an airlift that kept the Western sectors supplied with the basic necessities for life for almost a year, forcing Stalin into a humiliating climbdown. How is this famous operation relevant today? Although the unique set of circumstances that created and sustained the four-power city of Berlin are unlikely to be repeated, there are…

Born in the inner Sydney suburb of Redfern in February 1926, Rayene ‘Ray’ Stewart Simpson was abandoned by his mother in 1931. He was placed in the Church of England Home for Boys in Carlingford, 14 miles (22km) northwest of Sydney, and would remain a dedicated Anglican for the remainder of his life. Separated from his siblings, he was later educated in mid-northern New South Wales at Taree and then worked as a labourer. He enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) soon after his 18th birthday on 15 March 1944 and was posted to a training battalion, the 41st/2nd Battalion AIF, to begin training for campaigns in the Pacific Theatre. On 5 August 1944, 1,104 Japanese prisoners of war a broke out of No 12 Prisoner of War…

SPIES, LIES AND DECEPTION Introduce your children to over a century of spying as the Imperial War Museum’s exhibition on espionage comes to Manchester After a successful run at IWM London, Spies, Lies and Deception comes to IWM North with a family friendly approach to espionage history, aiming to introduce younger audiences (aged 8+) to the world of spies. Particularly appealing to children will be the Mission Room, an exhibition trail that invites youngsters to piece together information and test their spying skills. Spies, Lies and Deception will also be accompanied by a programme of themed family activities and trails. As with the exhibition’s run at IWM London, there is plenty for adults interested in espionage to get their teeth into. It showcases 60 objects, including gadgets, classified documents, art,…

Since 1945 the majority of writers, analysts, veterans, observers and historians have been highly critical of the Allied bombing campaign against Germany, claiming the attacks failed to reduce Germany’s war industries but instead killed thousands of civilians. In 1963 David Irving’s book The Destruction of Dresden became an international bestseller when it grossly exaggerated the number of civilian casualties in February 1945. Critics of Bomber Command’s record especially condemn its commander, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, for unleashing a ‘brutal and immoral’ campaign designed to kill civilians and force the Nazi regime to sue for peace. In 2015 I attended the unveiling of the new Bomber Command memorial at Green Park in London and spoke to many of the surviving air crew members. They asked: “How could it be…

LEARN ABOUT THE INNOVATIVE USE OF INLAND WATERWAYS AND THE FORGOTTEN OPERATIONS THAT TURNED DEFEAT INTO VICTORY IN BURMA Author: Lucy Betteridge-Dyson Publisher: Osprey Publishing Price: £20 (Hardback) Released: Out now Disasters, defeats and retreats dogged the British in Burma throughout 1942. With its forces decimated by death and disease, and with morale at rock bottom, British commanders rebuilt their forces and adopted new tactics. Strict anti-malarial regimes; the use of defensive ‘boxes’; close support from air power, artillery and armour; and resupply by air have all received much attention. However, this work details the forgotten campaign in Burma’s coastal Arakan region and the groundbreaking amphibious operations undertaken on its inland waterways. For the Japanese, the Arakan hills were ideal defensive positions. Taking advantage of the water courses enabled the…

Author: David Price Publisher: Head of Zeus Price: £25 (Hardback) On sale: Out now Garden ornaments and decorative statuary are a very British obsession, but when David Price decided he wanted something to grace his back garden he went one stage further than most people. Not for him the traditional garden gnome or a concrete representation of Goddess Diana; instead, he opted for a full-size representation of a Supermarine Spitfire. How he came to build his full-scale Spitfire model is explained in detail in this rather charming and slightly whimsical tale charting the tribulations and disasters of his epic quest. Here, written in the first person, is the astonishing story of building the mother of all Spitfire models. Cleverly, Price interweaves his own journey with real-life stories of the design…

On the night of 31 March - 1 April 1955, explosions rang out across Cyprus. The National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA) had launched its campaign of urban bombing, sabotage, rioting and attacks on the police and military. Its aim was to end British colonial rule in Cyprus and achieve Enosis – the unification of Cyprus with Greece. With the attacks showing no signs of abating, Governor General Sir John Harding declared a state of emergency on 26 November 1955. A central symbol of the EOKA was the Greek flag. The one shown here is embroidered with the motto: “Freedom or Death. Hail Greece.” Part of the slogan, “Freedom or Death”, is borrowed from Greece’s national motto. It originated in the Greek War of Independence, fought against the Ottoman Empire…

Having consolidated its grip on South Asia by the early 19th century, the prospect of a Eurasian conflict gripped British minds – politicians and generals alike – who feared the empire’s greatest possession would be jeopardised. An even thornier problem was the choice for an enemy: the stubborn Persians whose language and governance were crucial for the East India Company’s colonial governance? Or perhaps the Russians, whose march eastward was clearly unstoppable? Soon enough, the Afghans became the chosen foes of this ‘Great Game’ and for several decades British-led armies, rather than the British Army per se, were engaged in one debacle after another. The Anglo-Afghan Wars (1839-42, 1878-80, 1919) are romanticised for their futility but it was their disastrous nature that inspired much far-fetched storytelling, from Rudyard Kipling to…

Heinrich Himmler was born in 1900 to a middle-class Catholic family in Munich. He joined the Bavarian army in December 1917 but he was still in training when the war ended less than a year later and he saw no combat. In many ways, he was always seeking to prove his toughness and make up for what he saw as a lamentable lack of frontline military experience. He returned to his studies after the war and also found himself drawn into far-right and paramilitary circles, where his latent anti-Semitism was nurtured and inflated. He joined the Nazi Party in August 1923, participated in the Beer Hall Putsch, and then steadily built his position as a party functionary in the years that followed. Himmler joined the SS in 1925 and developed…

THE AIRLIFT VICTORIES, MYTHS, AND THE BERLIN BLOCKADE A FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON THE SOVIET ATTEMPT TO FORCE ITS ERSTWHILE ALLIES OUT OF THE CITY, AND THE WESTERN POWERS’ AUDACIOUS RESPONSE Author: Joseph Pearson Publisher: The History Press Price: £22 (Hardback) Released: Out now The Berlin Blockade of 1948-49, and the resulting airlift, was the first real crisis of the emerging Cold War and is explored in Joseph Pearson’s new book The Airlift – Victories, Myths, and the Berlin Blockade. There have been several books on the Berlin Airlift in recent years, including one by this reviewer, but Pearson approaches the subject from a different perspective – using the experiences of real people to tell the broader story of the airlift, an approach that is very enjoyable and readable. In June…

THIS EXAMINATION OF WHAT THE END OF WWII MEANT FOR THE BRITISH, DUTCH AND FRENCH EMPIRES POSES SOME UNCOMFORTABLE QUESTIONS Author: Phil Craig Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Price: £25 (Hardback) Released: Out now This reviewer can’t recall when he last came across a military history book so wonderfully researched and with such a commanding, innovative narrative which adds inestimably to our wider understanding of events surrounding the end of the Second World War. Phil Craig’s standing as a meticulous researcher and a consummately skilful presenter of seismic events across our recent history was surely established in his earlier bestselling title Finest Hour. Those who enjoyed that work will not be disappointed in his latest offering. Making sense of the ending of the Second World War across Asia can be challenging,…