601 Rommel pt3

Rommel had dominated the North African campaign throughout much of 1942…by September he had pushed the British back to El Alamein. This was the last line of defence before entering Egypt. It was an unusual position with the sea to the North and the Qattara Depression to the south (the lowest point in Africa with its saline marshes it is impassable to vehicles), it provided only a short front of 40miles for the British and their new Commander Montgomery to defend and it could not be turned on the flanks.

602 Spioen Kop

Spioen Kop would be the third defeat in one week of the British army in January of 1900, at the height of its Imperial power, by a handful of untrained men who only weeks previously had been farmers. It was a battle, and indeed a war, the British were ill trained or prepared for.

603 Enigma

The Enigma machine has become synonymous with espionage, with the race to discover Germany’s secrets during World War 2, with the code-breakers at Bletchley Park in the UK, and it was surely the inspiration to Ian Felming for the LECTA chipher machine in the James Bond classic “From Russia with Love”. However, its beginnings were far more humble...

604 The Siege of Constantinople

For over a thousand years Constantinople had been one of the richest cities in the world sitting at the cross roads where east meets west. Its fall would see the end of the Byzantine Empire (the Eastern Roman Empire) and with the death of Constantine XI, the last Roman Emperor, bringing the ascendancy of the Muslim Ottoman Turks over the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean.

605 The Grande Armee

Two coalitions had been formed previously against the French expansionist armies following the French Revolution, both came to nought and eventually Britain and France had given in to a precarious a peace agreement, the Peace of Amiens in 1802. It didn't last long however, and so with the Third Coalition against France of 1803, war once more broke out, and with two of the coalition nations, Russia and Austria, at his back Napoleon ordered his troops to the east, and named them The Grand Armee.

606 The Doolittle Raid

Dawn of the 18th of April 1942 saw 16 B-24 medium bombers lumbering down just 467ft of runaway on USS Hornet.  All sixteen planes managed to take off and head on a one way mission to bomb the Japanese mainland. Just months after the attack on Pearl Harbour this raid lead by Lt. Colonel James H. Doolittle would show just how far America's reach could extend.

607 Naval Warfare

For thousands of years man has fought battles at sea, from manpowered fighting ships with rowers sweating away at their oars to giant nuclear powered aircraft carriers, naval warfare has extended a people's reach beyond their land based boundaries, moving men and material to where it is needed or preventing the movement of men and material.

608 The French Foreign Legion

The French Foreign Legion conjures up romantic images of soldiers marching in columns across the vast deserts of North Africa, led by brutal French officers the men a desperate bunch of internationals wanting to leave their pasts behind. Life in the French Foreign Legion is tough and at times the training brutal, designed to bring soldiers of many nationalities together, fighting firstly for the honour of the legion itself. Historically seen as expendable by French governments they have seen service with distinction all over the globe and are considered one of the best units in the world.

609 The Law of War

The lyrics famously ask the question “War..what’s it good for?” and while there’s no definitive answer to that another similar question might be “War…WHO is it good for?” or perhaps more importantly, how can war cause as little turmoil and distress to non-combatant civilians and innocents? War is an inevitable part of our world, and is governed, or seeks to be governed by rules and laws. What are these and how did they come about?

610 Tank pt3

The realisation of the tanks importance on the battlefield was hammered home with the defeat of France in 1940, it would take the allies a long time to fully learn the lessons that the Germans already knew on the use of tanks. But by the end of the war those miracle Blitzkrieg tactics would themselves be blunted by new lessons learned through five years of war, and the rapid development of new tanks.