Clik here to view.
Down the Boozer
Bomber Command's war was an odd one. During the Second World War it was more a battle of electronics and counter measures than of guns and performance. The British bombers flew at night simply because...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bad Choices
Some individuals in history have a very murky story, but sometimes wide reporting of the story sees it getting tied up in knots and contradicting itself. Here's one such story, that of Norman...
View ArticleClik here to view.
First Jet
A few weeks (due to lead times it takes me a couple of weeks to respond) ago, Allan Rowland suggested an article on the first air to air kill between jets. As I'm always looking for suggestions I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
China's first tank Battle.
Thanks to Seon, of Sensha-Manual, for providing me with the report on the Japanese tanks action used in this article.On the 9th of August 1937 a Japanese staff car drove down a road in China. Riding in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Have Faith
The route to Russia in World War Two was particularly harsh, it was even worse in winter, as Convoy PQ13 found out. Two weeks after leaving Scotland on 10th of March 1942, the convoy was scattered by a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wild Carrot
In the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq there was quite a bit of confused fighting that carried on for a period. A prime example of this was in the north of the country, where during the war the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Argyll Lanchester's
In 1927 a contract was placed for a pair of prototype armoured cars. Most armoured cars of the time were built upon truck chassis with an armoured body dropped on top. This pair of prototypes were on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Shrapnel, I presume?
Back in 1784 a young British officer holding the rank of lieutenant in the Royal Artillery finalised the design of his new type of ammunition. His name was Henry Shrapnel, and the ammunition he'd...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tank Log
In 1939 a lone road ran from the Soviet/Finnish border. It's in the north of Finland and it heads through the village of Alakurtti and on to a place called Salla. At Salla the road splits in two, with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Quick and Dirty
Due to several things, but mostly Christmas and obtaining some actual historical consultancy work with a short deadline, I am unable to do a full article this week. Normal service will be resumed next...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Low Bridge Ahead!
In April 1892 Christopher Draper was born in Cheshire. He would lead an eventful life, centred on flying. He first became interested in flying in 1909 when Louis Blériot flew across the Channel....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Inverted Skyscraper
The Atlantic Wall is often held as a mighty fortress of concrete, and a perfect example of this would be the Radar station at Douvres. The site was first occupied in 1940, when two Freya radars were...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hunter's Dawn
India and Pakistan are two countries who share a common border but have been to war with each other many times. In 1971 there was another outbreak of fighting, but things did not go as well as the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On Both Sides
Joseph Beyrle was born on the 25th of August 1923 to a second generation immigrant family in Muskegon, Michigan. His grandparents were originally from Germany, and so Beyrle learned German as a second...
View ArticleClik here to view.
U No Go
On the 8th of March 1944 the Japanese forces in Burma launched operation U-Go. Their aim was to smash through the Allied lines and claim a stunning victory over the Allies, and hopefully to reverse...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Russia vs France
In September 1944 the Russians finally managed to partially achieve one of their aims, they knocked Finland out of the war. The peace settlement called for the Finns to demobilise their troops and to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
IS-3's missile Opponents
Recently I've been doing a lot of research on early British anti-tank missiles, namely the Malkara, Orange William and Swingfire. However, I won't be going into detail on those, as they're destined for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Prickly Problem
In 1941 three ships were launched which would touch upon each other. These were U-380, launched on 5th of November and U-603 on 30th October. The ship that links them is HMS Porcupine, whom was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Veritable Victory
As 1945 opened the Allies had stabilized the setbacks caused by the Battle of the Bulge. Equally their supply woes had been somewhat improved by the opening of Antwerp. Now they had only the Siegfried...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Violet hedgehog
On January 14th 1944 convoy OS.65/KMS.39 departed from Liverpool. It consisted of about fifty ships in total, although several of the ships (including the escort carrier HMS Fencer) scheduled to be...
View Article