Category: Military
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2906 – Royal Navy actions during the Battle of Britain: Continuing a long tradition
‘Ask most people about the Battle of Britain, and they will think of the Spitfires and Hurricanes of RAF fighter command in combat with the German Luftwaffe over southern England in 1940. History books will often also mention Bomber Command carrying out raids on the French and Belgian ports where the Germans were assembling the…
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2905 – Charlemagne: The Father of Europe pt2
The machinery of war which Charlemagne inherited from his father. Pepin the Short, and grandfather (Charles Martel, ‘the hammer’) was singularly well tuned to wage war. All of Charlemagne’s vassals were expected to serve militarily and all free men were expected to serve if needed. This service included bishops, abbots and abbesses; they too could…
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The Doolittle Raiders and their Fight for Justice
The skill and bravery of the Doolittle raiders during WWII, who bombed Tokyo in 1942 captured the American public’s imagination, but not all the crews returned. Eight US flyers became Japanese prisoners of war who were tortured, put on trial for war crimes and found guilty… Not all of these men would make it home.…
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2904 – Charlemagne: The Father of Europe
Charles the Great, known as Charlemagne and the father of Europe, created an empire which would last 1,000 years. To secure it he fought continuously, on multiple fronts, throughout his long reign. Charlemagne came to power at a time when Europe was made up of many small kingdoms and principalities. Since the fall of the…
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2903 – Battles of Thermopylae, Artemisium and Salamis part 2
‘Thermopylae and Artemisium were never intended to be decisive stands even though the defeat of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae has gone down in history as just such a stand. There were also 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans at that defeat but their sacrifice has been all but been ignored. (indeed the historian Herodotus goes…
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2902 – Battles of Thermopylae, Artemisium and Salamis
The year 2020 represents the 2,500th anniversary of three battles which played a major part in shaping the future of the western Mediterranean world: the battles of Thermopylae, Artemisum, and Salamis. This episode was written by Murray Dahm. Murray is an ancient and medieval military historian from New Zealand, living in Australia. He has written…
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2901 – The ‘Lewis and Clark’ Air Rifle
The American West contains many epic tales and stories, perhaps the most astounding is the story of Lewis and Clark and the Corp of Discovery. Over the course of seventeen months a group of over forty individuals traveled seven thousand miles through hostile native tribes from the middle of America through previously unexplored mountain ranges…
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2810 – The Battle of Stony Point, 1779
July 15th 1779. The night was dark, the soldiers were ordered to fix bayonets and unload their rifles. Men exhausted; a 14 mile road march in the dead of summer that started at noon got them to this point. Anxiety filled the air as Washington’s men set to take back Stony Point. What took 20…
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2809 – John Hawkwood, The Greatest Mercenary of His Age pt.2
By 1365 the English mercenary John Hawkwood had an army of 7,000 horses with 43 corporals under him serving cities in Italy. With this army his reputation grew and grew. With his new force Hawkwood turned his attention on Florence. The Florentines (as one of the richest cities in Italy) responded by paying off Hawkwood…
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2808 -John Hawkwood, The Greatest Mercenary of His Age
The greatest mercenary commander of the 14th century, inspiration for historians, poets, novelists and playwrights, John Hawkwood is a name everyone should know. 14th century Europe was a plagued with incessant warfare. The Hundred Years’ War began between France and England in 1337 and would last until the middle of the next century. Other conflicts…