701 Merrill’s Marauders

With the tide slowly turning in favour of the Americans in the Pacific throughout 1943, against the Japanese, on the mainland in Burma and China the Japanese were still stubbornly holding out and a formidable force. Merrill's Marauders would be the first US troops to fight on the Asian continent, and while they were only operational for less than a year their achievements were impressive, though at a price. When they were disbanded they had suffered 80% casualties.

702 Battle of Leuthen

1756 saw Fredrick the Great launch a pre-emtive strike against Silesia. Austrian and Saxon forces were scattered but this was just the beginning of what would be come the Seven Year War, or as Churchill would later describe it the first "world war".

Things started well for Prussia but as the Russians, Austrians and French mobilised and went on the march things started to look grim for Fredrick with a series of defeats throughout 1757. But in the closing months a quick one two would see the Prussians stabilise the situation. Firstly at the Battle of Rossbach against the French, then at the Battle of Leuthen where a Prussian army of 36,000 would be pitched against 80,000 Austrians.

703 Simon Bolivar

At one time Simon Bolivar was simultaneously President of Gran Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. He was instrumental in the struggle for independence of Latin America from Spain, and is revered for being integral to the independence of present-day Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela…and of course is the founder of Bolivia. He is held as a hero in all of these countries. Despite living only to the age of 47 his accomplishments are enormous and it’s easy to see why he has inspired so many others along the years since his death.

704 The Swiss Army Knife

The Swiss Army Knife first went into production in 1897. From its early origins as a multi tool come pocket knife the phrase has come to mean much more, often referring in popular culture to things that have a plethora of functions.

705 The Battle of Poitiers, 732

At the battle of Poitiers East would meet West, the Saracens moving through Spain and into France would be stopped in their tracks by Charles king of the Franks, who would be lorded as saving Christianity in the struggle against Islam. Historians such as Gibbon saw Poitiers as the high-tide mark of the Muslim advance into Europe, the result would put in place the future building blocks for the Carolingian Empire and Frankish domination of the West for the next century.

706 Maginot Line

Twice in 50 years Germany had attacked France, the trauma of first World War caused France to re think her defense policy, the slaughter and destruction on French soil could not be allowed to happen again. The Maginot Line, a static line of defense along the French / German / Italian boarder was created to hold any foreign aggression long enough for the French Army to mobilise. Although it is the second largest line of static defense ever built, after the Great Wall of China, it proved to be a white elephant in the face of the German Blitzkrieg.

707 The Tanks, pt.4

The second world war saw the rapid development of the tank, in both tactics and design, which would dominate tank warfare in the post war world. The cold war would see massive tank armies built, but with the threat of the"nuclear deterrent" they would never be tested and by the close of the century with America being the only major military super power remaining the nature of war had changed and the emphasis on the main battle tank would shift as the military increasingly was brought in to fight small wars against insurgents and used for other policing roles.

708 B-52

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress came into service with the United Sates Air force in 1955 and was commissioned to play a cold-war deterrence role served largely by its design to specifically carry nuclear weapons. Despite this capability the B-52 has only ever dropped conventional weapons in actual combat, though as it can carry up to 70,000 pounds (32,000 kilogrammes) of these, its conventional capability is huge none the less.

709 Camouflage

When battles were a show of strength and close quarter combat dominated, the art of concealment was not important. Military clothing, armour etc was designed to be seen and intimidate the enemy. It was also a tool for lifting "the fog of war", allowing armies to quickly identify one another. With the coming of the rifle, combat could begin at greater distances and the need to be seen by the enemy diminished. From the late nineteenth century many of the worlds armies started looking at replacing existing uniforms with something that would help conceal their troops.

710 Monte Cassino

In the autumn of 1943 the Allies invaded Southern Italy, as they moved up through the peninsula the German General Albert Kesselring withdrew his forces to what became known as the Gustav Line, 100 miles south of Rome, he was determined to contest every inch.

The main north south road to Rome was via Route 6, though the Liri Valley. The entrance to the Liri valley was dominated, then as now, by the great bulk of Monte Cassino.