Pre-Dreadnought Battleships in World War One
When the British Royal Navy launched the HMS Dreadnought in 1906, battleship design was transformed. This one ship was so powerful that everything preceding it…
The Knights Hospitaller and the Great Siege of Malta
In 1530, the Knights Hospitaller were given control of the island of Malta. 35 years later, in 1565, the Ottoman Empire invaded the island. The…
WWI: An Evolution in Naval Warfare
Just like the war on land, the naval sphere of the First World War was dominated by industrial methods and new fighting machines. The Arms…
“Violet Lightning” and “Mighty Wind” – Japanese Late War Fighters
Two planes fielded by the Japanese late in the Second World War, the Kawanishi N1K1-J and N1K2-J fighters, became popular with the Japanese military, despite…
The Great Retreat: Germany Captured 1 Million Russians 1915
1915 saw some of Germany’s greatest successes of the First World War, and all on the Eastern Front. In the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive and related smaller…
8 Soviet Infantry Fighting Vehicles of the Cold War
During the late 1960s, the armies of the Warsaw Pact started adopting a new type of military vehicle – the infantry fighting vehicle (IFV). The…
The Disastrous Dieppe Raid That Cost Thousands of Canadian Casualties
On the 19th of August 1942, the Allies launched a raid on the port of Dieppe in Nazi-occupied France. Though the operation was run by…
Myth Busted: The Truth About How Seaweed Apparently Helped Break the Enigma Code
Some myths about military history are too good to be true. However, with the best ones, once you peel back the myth, you find a…
Counter-Attack at the Siegfried Line: How Field Marshal von Rundstedt Threw Back the First Allied Break Through
In September 1944, American troops broke through Germany’s toughest defensive line. The Germans were saved from disaster by a hard-drinking field marshal who reacted faster…
Aviation Innovator – Fokker’s 4 Leading Warplanes
Founded in 1912 by the Dutch aviator and industrialist Anthony Fokker, the Fokker company was one of the most influential forces in the history of…
Fighting in the Desert – The Battle for Sidi Bou Zid, Saint Valentine’s Day, 1943
On February 14, 1943, a force of American soldiers received the worst Valentine possible. Around the Tunisian village of Sidi Bou Zid, the Germans launched…
Scattered and Isolated: The Struggles of Airborne Forces on D-Day
When we talk about D-Day, most people picture the landing craft approaching the beaches, troops pouring off into the waves under a hail of German…