The First Barbary War – The US Navy Asserts Its Power
The Set-Up It was the very start of the 19th century. Thomas Jefferson had just become president of the still incredibly new United States of America.…
The Employees of the Danzig Post Office Fought the Germans For 15 Hours During the Invasion of Poland Before They Were Captured
In 1939, it was obvious that Nazi Germany was on the war path. Austria had been annexed just a year earlier, and so also was the…
The Roman Legionary – Well-Trained and Excellently Equipped
The Roman army was the closest the ancient world had to a modern army, with disciplined troops uniformly organized and equipped. As in a modern…
Stalingrad: For 59 Days 30 Soviet Soldiers Were Under Siege In Pavlov’s House, They Never Surrendered
The Battle of Stalingrad is one of the best-known battles of WWII. The siege of the city that lasted from 23rd of August, 1942 to…
Tiny and Mighty – Deadly Pre-Gunpowder Weapons
Massive two-handed Zweihänder- type swords are pretty cool, and were certainly effective on the battlefield, but sometimes a small, twisted pair of nails can fell…
War And Conflict After The Fall Of The USSR
The Soviet Union officially ceased to exist on December 26, 1991, 74 years after its inception in 1917. The fall of the Union left the…
The Impenetrable Castle of Krak des Chevaliers Was Captured With A Single Sheet of Paper
A hulking edifice of sun-bleached stone, Krak des Chevaliers loomed against a clear blue sky. How many men had died to hold those walls, and…
The Charge of The Polish Cavalry Against German Tanks in 1939 – How It Was Turned Into A Modern Myth
Poland had a long history of horsemanship, and its light cavalry called Uhlans (A Tatar word for “Hero,” or “Rider”) were the pride of its…
The Commander Of The Lost Battalion From The Meuse-Argonne Offensive
Colonel Charles White Whittlesey earned his fame when he was a major in World War I with the American Expeditionary Force. He led a battalion…
The Horror Of Auschwitz – Looking Closely, We Can Find Stories Which We Have Not Heard Before
Auschwitz today is synonymous with the Holocaust; it has become an overarching symbol of the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime during the Second World…
The One Man Demolition Squad Who Destroyed Six Enemy Positions Single-Handed
Thomas Currie “Diver” Derrick wasn’t among the first to join the Australian military when WWII broke out in 1939. When he finally did join the…
The Last Flight to Kuwait – How British Airways Flight 149 Passengers & Crew Became Saddam Hussein’s Human Shields
The sounds of gunfire, of bombs exploding and military combat. Unknown hotel rooms, military and industrial sites, and an abandoned airport. Sudden, random acts of…