A Real Life Weapon Of Legend: Greek Fire
Greek fire was a real weapon which has achieved near-legendary status. An incendiary device deployed against advancing Arabs by the defenders of Constantinople; it became…
The Fokker Scourge: Imperial Germany’s Secret Weapon in the First World War
When World War 1 Broke out in 1914, most nations were ill-equipped for a sustained aerial war. The Treaty of Madrid, in 1911, outlined aircraft…
Get Out of Jail Free – How Monopoly Helped Allied POWs Escape
Imagine the following scenario: you’re with the Allies during WWII. Fortunately, your side eventually won. Unfortunately, you’ve ended up in a Nazi POW camp before…
The Submachine Gun – An Infantry Weapon Which Changed The Face Of Warfare
From the First World War to the Second World War, the submachine gun played an important part in infantry fighting. A small machine gun firing…
Canadian Pilot Alan McLeod Took Down Enemy Planes Even as He Crashed
Bored with life in his small town, Alan Arnett McLeod wanted to fight and fly. So they let him, and fight he did in the most…
Building Armies in the Harsh World of Medieval England
Recruiting an army could be a difficult business in the Middle Ages. Most people’s lives consisted of farming small patches of land. When people didn’t…
Sidney Reilly: The Ace Of Spies
A man of many talents, Sidney Reilly, was perhaps the first well-known spy figure of the 20th century whose incredible exploits were always on the…
Australian Keith Payne Was Awarded The Victoria Cross for Great Heroism in Vietnam
The 1960’s war in Vietnam has long been remembered as a conflict fought primarily by the United States of America. What is often lost in…
Life at Thélepte, a US Air Base in WWII North Africa in World War Two
Over the winter of 1942-3, American pilots spent several months based at the airfield at Thélepte in North Africa. It was a difficult posting, one…
Alexander Bonnyman: From a Miner’s Life to the Pacific
To emerge victorious from a global war, a nation must not only produce gallant warriors for the battlefield, but they must maintain an unprecedented level…
A Desperate Fight to the Death: RMS Carmania Vs. SMS Cap Trafalgar 1914
In September 1914, WWI had only just begun. Europe was plunged headlong into the greatest conflict yet seen, but a victory for either side was…
When One Man Attacked The USA With His Militia at His Back – Pancho Villa
In 1916 WWI was ravaging Europe. Neutral countries were on edge, striving to stay out of the conflict. Then the southern border of the United…