The Deadly Defiant, A Game-Changing British Warplane in WW2
The 1930s were an age of aeronautical experimentation. All around the world air forces were trying new and fascinating designs, searching for the perfect combination…
Meet Chief Dog Sinbad, The Cheerful and Brave Coast Guard Mascot of WW2
The Coast Guard Cutter Campbell steamed out from New York in the winter of 1937. Like most peacetime cutters, she was patrolling the American coast,…
Starving Their Own Men: Britain’s Epic Supply Failure in the Crimea
The very least a soldier expects when sent on a campaign is to be fed, clothed and given the necessary equipment to carry out their…
Drunkenness, Disorder and the Plague: The Cadiz Fiasco Of The Royal Navy
The English navy has a reputation as a force to be reckoned with from the 16th century onwards. But in the early 17th century it…
An Italian Civil War in Spain: Guadalajara, 1937
Proxy wars have been an ugly feature of military history since ancient times, powerful nations turning others into battlegrounds without risking themselves in full-scale warfare.…
Battle of Omdurman – When The British With 11,000 Soldiers Took On 60,000 Natives in Sudan, Losing 47 Killed
All through the darkness of the night, a British infantryman waits nervously by the banks of the Nile. The Mahdists, infamously bloodthirsty savages, are just…
Victory For The Scottish Rebels At Bannockburn – Mud, Blood, And Sabotage
Fought on 23-24 June 1314, the Battle of Bannockburn is one of the most celebrated incidents in Scottish history. Having been conquered by the English…
Laid Low By Their Illnesses – French Commanders Who Became Liabilities Because of Ill Health
Even the best of commanders are prone to poor performance when ill health strikes. Several of note have affected the French army during its history.…
A Valiant Fight To The Death – 62 Against 3000
“These are not men; they are demons!” This was Mexican Colonel Francisco De Paulo Milan’s response when presented with the only French survivors of the…
Totally Outgunned, This Revenue Cutter Took Down One Of The Largest French Privateers In The Carribean
There are few moments in Naval History which better demonstrate how tenacity and skill can outweigh size and strength than the story of the Pickering…
How the Cruiser Olympia Led the Asiatic Squadron to Victory in Manila Bay
In the evening of April 30th, 1898, a message was sent out to the Spanish Admiral Patricio Montojo, commander of the Pacific Squadron at Manila.…
5 Generals Who Went on to Lead Nations
In the modern world, it is unusual for a general to become the leader of an important nation. Political and military leadership have become two…