History of War Magazine

04/07/2025

John Trumbull’s ‘Declaration of Independence’ depicting the drafting committee presenting the declaration to Congress during the American Revolutionary War. It is a fictionalisation as all characters portrayed were never in the same room together. The declaration was ratified on 4 July 1776.

Following its ratification, the declaration was shared throughout the Thirteen Colonies. General George Washington famously read it to his troops in New York City on July 9, against a backdrop of British ships in the harbour manned by thousands of troops.

The Declaration was made at a concerning time in the war. General William Howe began landing troops on Staten Island on 2 July in the New York counter-offensive. Washington’s force was driven off Long Island a month later. His Army retreated further, and by 16 November, Fort Washington had fallen.

03/07/2025

3 July 1863 - On this day, the Union Colonel George Hull Ward died of his wounds. During the previous day’s Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate forces engaged Ward’s 15th Massachusetts regiment along Cemetery Ridge. While the accompanying New York regiment fell back, Ward attempted to mount a rearguard action. A rapid retreat was impossible regardless, as Ward had a prosthetic leg and had already sent his horse to the rear.

A shell fragment struck Ward’s leg. The rest of his regiment fled in disorder, leaving Ward and 36 mortally wounded comrades on the field. As fighting died down, Ward’s brother found him and brought him to the field hospital. It was too late, and Ward died of his wounds at sunrise.

Pictured: Ward’s portrait (1861): WorcesterHistory.org via Wikimedia Commons

02/07/2025

Adam Hart spoke to our colleagues at All About History on his new book Operation Pimento: My Great Grandfather’s Escape. The book recounts Hart’s great-grandfather, Frank Griffiths, a pilot who crashlanded in occupied France and escaped to Switzerland with help from French civilians.

Hart told All About History: “The plane crashed straight through a village and started a terrible fire, killing all the crew except Frank. The only reason Frank survived is that he was catapulted out of the cockpit. He somehow became tangled in these telephone wires, which basically broke his fall. He stumbled into the village where he met a 14 year old boy who took him home to his mother on his bicycle, where Frank received first aid.”

➡️ Read today:

In 1943 Frank Griffiths crash landed in France, escaped to Switzerland then then made the long journey home - back through occupied territory... The six years of war between 1939 and 1945 are full of stories of horror, cruelty and bloodshed. But there can also be found numerous tales of bravery, com...

30/06/2025

⏰Special 20% off sitewide offer ends tomorrow ⏰

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30/06/2025

30 June 1934 - On this day, Adolf Hi**er ordered the purging of Ernst Röhm and the Sturmabteilung (SA) during the Night of the Long Knives. Hi**er saw the SA’s independence and its tendency towards street violence as a threat to his rising power.

At least 85 were murdered, with some estimates reaching 1,000. The killings positioned Hi**er as the supreme leader of the German people, placing him above the law. The world’s democracies failed to conjure a robust response for fear of antagonising Hi**er.

Read our frontline feature “A WWII Blueprint for Facing Modern Threats” in issue 146 to discover James Holland and Al Murray’s thoughts on how lessons from the 1930s and Second World War can be used by modern democracies to prevent the rise of autocratic powers.

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Pictured, Hi**er reviews troops in the purged SA during a parade in Nuremberg (National Archives and Records Administration).

27/06/2025

Inside issue 147 - Great Battles: Cold Harbor with Iain MacGregor. On the march to Richmond, Ulysses S Grant's 100,000 men were stopped in their tracks by 65,000 of Robert E Lee's rebels.

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Pictured, Battle of Cold Harbor by Kurz & Allison (United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division).

27/06/2025

This weekend, the world’s only running King Tiger will be in action at The Tank Museum’s TankFest, with help from World of Tanks and the Musée des Blindés.

The Tiger II combined the Tiger I’s formidable armour with the armour sloping used on the Panther medium tank. This beast weighed almost 70 tonnes with a front plate 3.9-7.3 inches thick. A fearsome 8.8 cm KwK 43 anti-tank cannon was its offensive armament.

The King Tiger was sent to the front with heavy tank battalions in the Heer and Waffen SS. A lack of testing made early Tiger II’s highly unreliable. Modifications from Henschel brought the reliability rate up to an acceptable 59% by March 1945.

However, when the King Tiger was operational, it performed well. After-action reports claimed some Tiger II’s sustained over 20 hits without being disabled. It also had good manoeuvrability for a vehicle of such incredible size.

Almost 500 were built, but just one remains running. Discover more about this tank in issue 147. The cover feature, Operator’s Handbook and an interview with a Tank Museum curator all focus on the King Tiger:

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Will you be at TankFest this weekend? And have you been lucky enough to see the King Tiger in action?

Photo: Musée des Blindés.

26/06/2025

25 June 1950 - On this day, the Korean People’s Army crossed the 38th parallel during Operation Pokpung, beginning the Korean War. The Republic of Korea forces lacked the heavy weaponry needed to halt the North Korean’s combined arms assault.

South Korean forces routed within days and continued gradually falling back south. However, they caused heavy losses for North Korean forces, meaning that they could not maintain their plans to advance 6.2 miles (10km) a day. This delay meant that the US Army and United Nations Command had time to join the fight.

Read more about the end of the Korean War and if it is a blueprint for peace that could be followed today in the frontline feature “How to End a War: Lessons from Korea” (issue 146) by Dr Robert Lyman

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Pictured, South Korean forces delayed the North Korean advance long enough for men like these M24 tank crewmen to arrive (Department of Defense)

25/06/2025

Inside issue 147 - Frontline features on historical and current conflicts and crisis zones:

➡️Peter Caddick-Adams explores the origins of Kaliningrad as a Russian exclave.
➡️ Interview with the political scientist Hager Ali on the ongoing crisis in Sudan.
➡️ Cold War historian Vladislav Zubok compares our current global crisis with the Cold War.
➡️ China's latest weapons that threaten US carriers.
➡️ The Kinmen Islands on the frontline of the Chinese Civil War.

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24/06/2025

Royal Air Force Air Vice Marshal Harry Broadhurst, Air Officer Commanding the Desert Air Force, with his Fieseler Fi 156 C Störche at the Advanced Headquarters of the DAF at Lucera, Italy. Broadhurst acquired the German aircraft in North Africa, had it painted in British markings and used it for touring the units under his command. He continued flying the Storch while commanding the 2nd Tactical Air Force in North-West Europe.

Several Störche were captured by the Allies. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, Air Vice Marshal Arthur Coningham and Broadhurst each used a Störche as their personal aircraft. Many high ranking German officials, such as Field Marshals Albert Kesselring and Erwin Rommel, also used Störche as their personal aircraft.

Despite the aircraft’s simplicity, it was treasured by the Allies whenever it could be captured due to its leading short take off and landing ("STOL") performance. The Störche could also fold back its wings for storage.

Photo: Royal Air Force official photographer (IWM CNA 2170)

24/06/2025

❗Our three issues for £5 summer offer ended yesterday, but you can now get 20% off sitewide. Use code SMILE20 at checkout❗

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23/06/2025

Inside issue 147 - The Name of Treason: Vidkun Quisling. The life and betrayal of a nation of the Norwegian fascist leader and N**i collaborator. Quisling maintained his innocence until the end in front of the barrels of an Oslo firing squad.

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Pictured, Quisling speaks during the visit of the Reichsjugendführer Artur Axmann (National Archives of Norway).