Nicknamed the “Black Swallow of Death”, This Fighter Pilot Fought With The French in WWI
Occasionally in history, an individual will come along whose story is almost too inexplicable to be true. To be a runaway youth in early 1900s…
The Eye In The Sky – Aerial Reconnaissance With Planes Was A Totally New Technique Which Became A Crucial Part Of The War Effort
WWI was the first occasion in which planes played a significant part in the fight. It began with reconnaissance aircraft, which remained relevant throughout the…
The Opening Frontier Battles Of World War One Were Fast-Moving Compared To The Long And Terrible Stalemate Which Later Defined The Conflict
WWI is remembered as a war of stagnation, in which the Allied and Central Powers faced each other from their trench lines across no man’s…
100th Anniversary of the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux – the First Ever Tank-Versus-Tank Encounter in History of Warfare
The 24th of April, 2018, marked the 100th anniversary of the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux ― the first tank-versus-tank skirmish in history. The battle took…
How the Schlieffen Plan Failed
Military plans are seldom famous in themselves. The battles are remembered but not the schemes that led to them. One notable exception is the Schlieffen…
The Second Battle Of Ypres: An Extraordinary Defense In The Face Of Poison Gas
The Belgian town of Ypres was the site of the fiercest fighting of the First World War. A series of battles left the town deserted,…
The Battle Of The Somme Was One Of The Bloodiest Battles In Human History
The Battle of the Somme is one of the bloodiest battles in human history. Lasting three and a half months, it was one of the…
The Arizona Balloon Buster – Epic Tale of Courage, Friendship and Sacrifice
In only nine days of flying in World War I combat, just ten missions and thirty hours of time in a Spad XIII aircraft, Lieutenant…
Captain Albert Jacka – The First Australian VC In World War One
War History Online presents this guest blog by Guest Blogger James Maloney Albert Jacka was the first Australian soldier to receive the Victoria Cross during the…
Breaking The Deadlock – Machine Gun Tactics of WWI
The machine-gun was possibly the most valuable weapon in defining the fighting of WWI. Its massive firepower devastated infantry formations and virtually eradicated the use…
The Great War Illustrated 1917 – Review by Mark Barnes
I remember a warmish spring evening four years ago when I attended an event at the Houses of Parliament in London where a number of…
The Female Allied Spy Was Condemned To Death By The Germans – In The End They Gave Her The Iron Cross
During WWI, the German government condemned a woman to death for spying on them. Fortunately for her, they commuted her sentence when they realized they…