History of War Magazine

03/01/2024

3 JANUARY 1941 - Italian artillery fires at the first Australian formations deployed in the Second World War at the Battle of Bardia.

Allied forces successfully assaulted the Italian fortress in Bardia, Libya, despite having less than half the manpower. Under the cover of naval and land based artillery fire, the 16th Australian Infantry Brigade used Bangalore torpedoes to blow gaps in the barbed wire defences and broke down anti-tank ditches with picks and shovels. This allowed 23 Matilda II tanks to break into the fortress. It took three days of heavy fighting to capture the whole of the fortress, with 36,000 Italian soldiers taken prisoner.

The victory facilitated Allied forces taking vast swathes of territory across North Africa, provoking the Wehrmacht to launch Operation Sonnenblume, drastically escalating the fighting in the theatre.

02/01/2024

Inside issue 128: Frontline features on the Chechen Wars, the region's bid to breakaway after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Kremlin's brutal response, a precursor to Russia's horrific actions in Ukraine.
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02/01/2024

The New Zealand Artillery in action in Butte, Belgium on New Year's Day 1918.

01/01/2024

Happy New Year from the History of War team.
Pictured, Task Force 34 celebrate the coming of 2009 on Joint Base Balad, Iraq.

30/12/2023

Inside issue 128: Discover the first appearance of Japanese Kamikaze su***de squadrons, desperate to halt the US fleet in the Philippines. Pictured, two Kamikaze pilots severely damage USS Bunker Hill, killing 352.
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30/12/2023

30 DECEMBER 1943 - On this day, the Austrian test pilot Josef Pöhs was killed during a test flight of Me 163 Komet.

The Komet was the world’s first and only rocket fighter, capable of climbing to 32,000 ft (9760 metres) in just three minutes, with a maximum speed of 620 mph (1000 kph).

However, this extraordinary capability required a lethal fuel mixture. It used C-Stoff and the highly acidic T-Stoff, two chemicals which explosively combust upon contact. They had to be kept apart and risked an explosion if an emergency landing ruptured their fuel tanks. What’s more, is that the 120 litre T-Stoff tanks sat beside the pilot inside the cockpit.

During Pöhs final flight, a T-Stoff line was ruptured during takeoff which shut the engine down requiring an emergency landing. Pöhs was found dead in the cockpit, covered in the fatal T-Stoff.

Pictured, a Me-163 that was donated by the British Army to the Australian War Memorial.

27/12/2023

Inside issue 128: BBC journalist Jennifer O'Leary talks to us about her recently released book "The Padre", covering Father Patrick Ryan, the IRA's closest connection to Gaddafi and pioneer of the bomb timer used in the Brighton Bomb.
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27/12/2023

“The End of the Cuxhaven Raid, Christmas Day, 1914.” Oil on canvas by R. Pearson. A German Zeppelin flies above while a seaplane is scuttled to avoid capture by the Germans and submarine E11 surfaces to rescue the airmen from the water.

26/12/2023

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26/12/2023

British troops of the Northumberland Hussars, 7th division, head out onto No Man’s Land to meet with Germans on Christmas Day, 1914 in the Bridoux-Rouge Banc Sector.

25/12/2023

Merry Christmas from the History of War team.
The Devereux family celebrate Christmas while their Father and husband are away fighting in December 1944. Their Christmas tree was purchased via the Gifts to Home League of the YMCA.

23/12/2023

Australian soldiers enjoy a Christmas hamper near Bardia, Libya, paid for by the Comforts Fund (25 December 1940.)

22/12/2023

Salonika, Greece. Officers and men of the 26th Divisional Ammunition Train enjoy a game of football on Christmas Day 1915.

21/12/2023

Issue 128: Jennifer O'Leary on her new book "The Padre", the first Kamikaze pilots and the Chechen Wars
➕The Battle of Ortona
➕PBY Catalina operator's handbook.
➕The RAF's unlikely first Victoria Cross recipient..
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20/12/2023

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18/12/2023

18 DECEMBER 1939 - On this day, 22 Vickers Wellington bombers met 44 BF 109 and 110 fighters at the Battle of Heligoland Bight. This was the first named air battle and saw British defeat after the RAF falsely concluded fighters were not a serious threat to modern bombers.

The battle started after three squadrons of Wellingtons were launched against ships in the Wilhelmshaven area near Lower Saxony, Germany. Although only 44 fighters made contact with the bombers of 80-120 launched, they were able to shoot down over half of them.

The battle was highly influential in defining aerial warfare strategies for the rest of the war. The RAF abandoned daytime bombing raids, favouring the lower risk and lower accuracy night raids. Meanwhile, the Luftwaffe falsely concluded that Germany was invulnerable to bombing attacks so they neglected their daytime defensive fighter force. This came to have serious consequences in the war’s later years, as they were unprepared for the RAF and USAAF strategic bombing campaign.

Pictured, Vickers Wellington bombers of No.9 Squadron which fought in the Battle of Heligoland Bight

17/12/2023

Inside issue 127: Murray Dahm on the Battle of Chaeronea when an unlikely alliance of Athens and Thebes stood in King Phillip II of Macedon's way. Will Greece become dominated by Macedon or remain free?
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15/12/2023

Spanish Civil War - Republican soldiers execute house-to-house combat in the Battle of Teruel which began on this day in 1937, during the coldest Spanish winter for 20 years.

The attack was launched with the hope of diverting Nationalist attention away from Madrid which had been under siege since November 1936. The impetus came when the Republicans received intelligence that Franco was planning an imminent assault on Madrid.

The city changed hands multiple times during brutal urban conflict while it was bombarded from the air and with heavy artillery. The battle became one of the war’s bloodiest with each side suffering a combined 110,000 casualties.

Teruel was a disaster for the Republicans which depleted their meagre resources. Describing the battle in his memoir “Moment of War”, Laurie Lee wrote, "The gift of Teruel at Christmas had become for the Republicans no more than a poisoned toy. It was meant to be the victory that would change the war; it was indeed the seal of defeat.”

13/12/2023

Inside issue 127: Timeline and Frontline features on the African fronts in the Great War. Learn how the final 'Scramble for Africa' transformed the continent and sparked countless rebellions against European colonisation.
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Pictured, South African troops man a 5.4-inch howitzer during the East Africa Campaign.

12/12/2023

US servicemen reloading the 105 mm howitzer on an AC-130 gunship. The USAAF is considering removing the howitzer to adapt the gunship for new battlegrounds without guaranteed aerial domination. It may be replaced with cruise missiles and advanced radar equipment.

The AC-130 was originally introduced in 1967 to replace the AC-47 Spooky, intended to provide maximum air-to-ground firepower. It has been used in the Cold War, War on Terror, Vietnam War, and Gulf Wars. Flying in a pylon turn, the gunship has the ability to fire on ground targets with a 40mm cannon and a gatling gun for extended time periods.

10/12/2023

https://trib.al/tp11mri
“No Bravery”, by James Blunt, written about his experience serving as a NATO peacekeeper during the Kosovo War in 1999.

Blunt volunteered to join the Blues and Royals squadron after serving as a captain in the Life Guards before a posting in the British Army Training Unit Suffield in Alberta, Canada.

In Kosovo, his unit was assigned on a reconnaissance mission on the North Macedonia-Yugoslavia border where they located Serbian forces for NATO’s bombing campaign. Following this activity, his unit led a 30,000-strong peacekeeping force ordered to move into Pristina International Airport where the famous “Incident at Pristina airport” occurred as Russian forces had already moved in.

While in Kosovo, Blunt kept his guitar strapped to the outside of the tank. His performances entertained troops and locals alike. It was during the war that Blunt wrote, “No Bravery.”

“Tracers lighting up the sky
It's another families' turn to die
A child afraid to even cry out says
He has been here”

The official music video for James Blunt - No BraveryTaken from the debut album 'Back To Bedlam' released in 2004, which featured the singles, 'High', 'Wisem...

09/12/2023

Inside issue 127: Stuart Hadaway's operator's handbook of the De Havilland Vampire. The first British post-war jet fighter was built to intercept jet bombers, first entering frontline service in 1946. In 1948, it become the first jet to cross the Atlantic.
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07/12/2023

Inside issue 127: Discover hero of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the War of Independence Casimir Pulaski, and learn how this count became the 'father of American cavalry'.
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07/12/2023

7 DECEMBER 1941 - On this day, the Japanese 1st Air Fleet conducted a surprise attack at Pearl Harbor on neutral USA, killing 2,000 sailors. Duane Reyelts is pictured throwing flowers off the guided missile frigate USS De Wert at the 2012 Pearl Harbor Day ceremony.

Reyelts served as a Navy Seaman First Class during the war, and survived the Pearl Harbor attacks. He was stationed on the USS Oklahoma and thrown from his bunk at 8am when a Japanese torpedo struck the hull. Having run to his battle station 600 feet from his bunk, Reyelts then had to climb through a porthole to escape the capising ship.

The attack on Pearl Harbour sank four battleships and damaged a further four. It preceded Japan declaring war on the US and the UK. It provoked outrage across the US, and was described in a speech to Congress by President Roosevelt as “a date which will live in infamy.”

05/12/2023

U.S. airstrikes at the Battle of Tora Bora, guided in by US and UK special forces with laser designators. The strikes peaked on 5 December, lasting for 72 hours and aiming to weaken militants protecting Osama bin Laden amongst a tunnel complex in Spin Ghar.

The attack was part of Operation Enduring Freedom which came in the aftermath of the 9/11 Terror Attacks, attempting to destroy the Taliban regime which was protecting Bin Laden.

Despite the overwhelming firepower used by the coalition military, Bin Laden was able to escape. General Thomas Franks was later blamed by CIA officer Gary Berntsen for failing to deploy Rangers to cut off the escape routes into Pakistan.

04/12/2023

Inside issue 127: former intelligence officer and military expert Anthony Tucker-Jones writes on Churchill's arctic convoys codenamed PQ, sent to Murmansk and Archangel to es**rt crucial supply ships, facing relentless attacks from 100 Luftwaffe bombers.
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Pictured, ammunition ship SS Mary Luckenbach of PQ18 is vaporised after being hit by an aerial torpedo, detonating the 1,000 tons of TNT carried by the ship, as seen from HMS Avenger.

29/11/2023

“Some folks inherit star-spangled eyes
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord
And when you ask 'em, "How much should we give?"
They only answer, "More, more, more, more"”

November 1969 saw Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” climbing the charts. The rock and roll classic is one of the most infamous songs of the Vietnam War protest movement.

John Fogerty, frontman of Creedence Clearwater Revival has stated the song was an expression of anger at “rich men making war and poor men having to fight them”, and his perception of Nixon’s callous arrogance towards young people.

The song has continued to hold an important place in US military politics. In 2014, the song was controversially played at the Concert for Valor in Washington D.C. by Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl, and Zach Brown.

28/11/2023

28 NOVEMBER 1943: On this day, the “Big Three” met at a conference codenamed Eureka in the Soviet embassy in Tehran. The war had pushed the two great democracies of the UK and the US into an uneasy alliance with a vast communist power. There was tension over the war being used by the Soviets to gain control of Eastern Europe, and by the British to consolidate their empire.

Despite the tension, the conference was a success. The powers agreed that the Western Allies would open a second front against N**i Germany, helping the Soviets against the might of the Wehrmacht. Meanwhile, the Soviets committed to going to war with Japan once Germany was defeated. On top of this, the alliance standardised their approaches to Turkey, Iran, Yugoslavia and Japan.

The conference was a vital precursor to the Yalta and Potsdam conferences. These meetings went further as N**i Germany collapsed, agreeing on post-war territory divisions.

Pictured, a Russian stamp commemorating the conference.

28/11/2023

Inside issue 127: Serhii Plokhy, Harvard professor and author talks to us about the updated edition of his critically acclaimed history of the Russo-Ukraine war. He covers the implications of all the key events that have transpired since his book was first published in early 2023
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24/11/2023

Noor Inayat Khan was a radio operator for the Special Operations Executive, SOE, sent to occupied France in 1943. Being a radio operator risked capture, torture, and ex*****on, and the average life expectancy in the role was just six weeks.

She first came into service in November 1940, working as a wireless operator for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). After finding this work lacked excitement she was transferred into the SOE where she became the first woman sent into occupied territory as a radio operator. All previous women sent were used as couriers.

After being in France for just over a month, Noor’s “Prosper” network had begun to be rounded up. Despite being offered an evacuation, she decided to remain in Paris as the only British radio operator there. However, by mid-October, she was betrayed to the Gestapo and captured.

Under intense interrogation, Noor refused to give up any information. On 12 September 1944 she was transferred to Dachau concentration camp and executed alongside three fellow female agents. Her last word was reportedly “Liberté” according to an anonymous Dutch prisoner.

Pictured, a bust memorialising Noor Inayat Khan, located in Gordon Square Gardens, University of London.

23/11/2023

Issue 127: Serhii Plokhy on his history of the Russo-Ukraine war, Churchill and Stalin's arctic convoys, and the Battle of Chaeronea
➕The African fronts in WWI.
➕ An operator's handbook for the De Havilland Vampire.
➕Hero of the War of Independence Count Casimir Pulaski.
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21/11/2023

21 NOVEMBER 1970 - On this day, the Sơn Tây prison camp in North Vietnam was raided by US Special Forces in Operation Ivory Coast. It was a tactical success, taking control of the camp with no fatalities in just 30 minutes. Meanwhile, 52 Vietnamese guards were killed according to US sources.

However, the operation was an unmitigated intelligence failure. No POWs were rescued in the meticulously planned operation because they had been moved 15 miles closer to Hanoi. Reports had been received that the camp was empty, but it was just five hours before the launch of the operation that the Defense Secretary found out. Without time to verify the data, the mission went ahead regardless.

This failure provoked Nixon’s administration to fundamentally reorganise the ways in which military communications networks interact with the government’s intelligence services.

Pictured, the Sơn Tây raiders.

20/11/2023

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20/11/2023

Inside issue 126: Before his presidency, 38 year old Roosevelt led the 1st US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, known as the Rough Riders, during the Spanish-American War. In Cuba, he harnessed his rising cowboy persona and perceived virtues of "manliness" in an effort to help the Cubans win freedom from colonial Spanish rule
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19/11/2023

19 November 1944 - Today, we remember the Medal of Honor recipient Ruben Rivers. Rivers was a staff sergeant in the 761st, The Black Panthers, the first all-black tank battalion. He was one of scores of 761st men who brought acclaim to the unit culminating in a Presidential Unit Citation.

Rivers earned his Medal of Honor while leading an assault near Guebling, France. Entering the town, Rivers’ tank hit a mine, cutting his leg to the bone. Due to this severe injury, Captain David J. Williams ordered Rivers to accept evacuation. Yet Rivers refused, taking command of another tank.

Advancing further, his unit came under heavy fire from an anti-tank battery, forcing the rest of the company to retreat. However, Rivers held his position, using the tank to provide cover. As a solitary target exposed in the open, the tank was quickly struck by two high-explosive shells, killing Rivers.

Despite the clear heroism of Rivers’ final actions and recommendation for the military’s highest award by Captain Williams, Rivers didn’t immediately receive a posthumous Medal of Honor. It took until the 1990s when a report found that black soldiers had been denied Medal of Honor awards due to racial prejudice for Rivers to gain his reward.

15/11/2023

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15/11/2023

15 NOVEMBER 1796 - On this day, the Battle of Arcole began, fought between French and Austrian forces during the War of the First Coalition. A bold manoeuvre from Napoleon outflanked the Austrian army, cutting off their retreat.

The battle was fought as part of a two-pronged offensive against Napoleon in an attempt to break the siege of Mantua. Although over 1,000 more French troops died at Arcole, it is considered a French victory as it forced the Austrian forces led by József Alvinczi back to Olmo, and future attempts to challenge Napoleon by the weakened army failed.

Print by Antonio Bonamore, showing Napoleon’s forces crossing the Arcole bridge.

14/11/2023

Aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal damaged and listing heavily after being torpedoed by U 81 off Gibraltar. Design flaws were uncovered in an enquiry held after she sank on 14 November 1941 while being towed to Gibraltar for repairs, contributing to the development of Illustrious Class aircraft carriers.

Prior to her sinking, Ark Royal had been involved in some of the Second World War’s most active theatres including the search for the battleship Bismark and the defence of the Malta Convoys.

The wreckage of Ark Royal was not discovered until 2002, when a US underwater survey team was contracted by the BBC for the filming of a documentary on the vessel.

13/11/2023

Inside issue 126: In August, the US finally approved Denmark and the Netherlands sending F-16 Fighting Falcons to Ukraine. In issue 126, we take a closer look at this multi-role fighter, arguably the world's best, which could turn the tide of battle against Russia. We break down its engineering, armament, and usage around the world.
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12/11/2023

On Remembrance Sunday, we pause to pay our respects to the brave men and women who have given their lives in service to our nation. Their unwavering commitment to protecting our freedoms and safeguarding peace has left an indelible mark on our history.

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”
“For the Fallen”, Laurence Binyon