Category: Military

“The marching Romans soon came upon the Gothic wagon laager. Scouts reported that it was perfectly circular (literally “turned by a lathe”) and probably sited on a hill as earlier wagon laagers of the previous two years had been. The Goths at the wagons uttered a “fierce and hideous yell” and the Roman officers began…

‘In AD 376 an entire nation of Goths (the Theruingi) gathered on the northern banks of the Danube and asked permission to enter and settle within the Eastern Roman Empire. The Eastern Emperor, Valens (r. 364–78), agreed and this set off a series of events which would end in the greatest disaster for Rome since…

‘It is a rare thing that a man be awarded his country’s highest award for bravery because of his actions as a Prisoner of War, but that is exactly why Air Wing Commander James Stockdale was singled out. He was the highest ranking US Prisoner of War during Vietnam from 9 September 1965 until 12…

‘By the time of America’s entry into WWI in April 1917, Eddie Rickenbacker was already famous. Always obsessed with engines, he had become a mechanic to Lee Frayer in the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup at the age of only 15. In 1910 he became a race-car driver himself, racing in the Indianapolis 500 in 1911. He…

‘In late October AD 312, the fate of the future of the Roman world was decided near the Pons Milvius, the Milvian Bridge (the modern Ponte Milvio, Italy), crossing the River Tiber some 5 kilometres north of Rome on the via Flaminia. The battle was the culmination of the war between rival Roman emperors, Maxentius…

‘The First Battle of Ypres came at the end of the strategic ‘race to the sea’ which occurred following the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914, when allied forces halted the initial Axis advance made since the outbreak of the war. Before winter set in, several offensives were launched by both sides to…

‘On that day in 144 BC, Colonel Li Guang [Lee Gwang, rhymes with ‘angst’ without the ‘st’] was in command at the frontier outpost when one of his officers dashed in to give a breathless report. While on patrol with a band of cavalry, the Chinese officer had sighted three of the enemy, nomadic Xiongnu…

‘Lieutenant Bythesea and (Leading) Stoke Johnstone’s action was one of the first gazetted for the award of the Victoria Cross in The London Gazette on February 24th, 1857. Indeed, theirs are only the second action by date (midshipman Charles D. Lucas’ action on June 21st, 1854, occurring first). Since The London Gazette listed recipients by…

‘During the Baltic campaign of the Crimean War, in August 1854, Lieutenant John Bythesea together with Stoker William Johnstone of Her Majesty’s ship HMS Arrogant performed an audacious act of bravery. This would lead to both men being awarded the Victoria Cross, among the first gazetted  and earliest actions so awarded. Despite this, tragedy would…

The legions of Magnentius and Decentius in Amida had been raised by the former usurper Magnentius (a general who usurped against Constantius in Gaul between 350 and 353) in his name and that of his brother. They were therefore a remnant of those disloyal troops, hence their stationing (a banishment) in the east. Their conduct…