Culture
History of War
MILVIAN BRIDGE
Rival emperors Constantine and Maxentius fought to establish their supremacy in a battle that would have momentous consequences for the Roman Empire
10+ min |
Issue 118
History of War
WOMEN BEHIND 'THE FEW' WAAF
The Women's Auxiliary Air Force and British Air Intelligence during the Second World War
10+ min |
Issue 118
History of War
CAMP DAVID ACCORDS
Efforts to officially end the Yom Kippur War and wider conflict between Egypt and Israel finally concluded with an historic summit in the US
3 min |
Issue 118
History of War
NICKEL GRASS THE GREAT AIRLIFT
With the IDF suffering multiple setbacks in the first week of the war, Israel’s leadership faced a terrifying possibility. Was this the last great struggle in their country’s brief existence?
3 min |
Issue 118
History of War
STRUGGLE FOR THE GOLAN
The IDF thought it held the perfect buffer against the Syrians, but on 6 October its men were outgunned and outnumbered in a brutal tank battle
3 min |
Issue 118
History of War
EGYPT STRIKES BACK
To avenge its humiliation in 1967 the Egyptian military assaulted the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula during the Yom Kippur holiday
4 min |
Issue 118
History of War
1870: FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR
Defeating their powerful neighbour to the west was the crowning glory for the Confederation and signalled the birth of the German Empire
3 min |
Issue 117
History of War
1866: AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN WAR
The main opponent to Bismarck's plan for unification was defeated in just seven weeks
3 min |
Issue 117
History of War
1848 & 1864: SCHLESWIG WARS
Prussian leader Otto von Bismarck's first roll of the iron dice came in a war against two duchies controlled in part by Denmark
3 min |
Issue 117
History of War
CONFEDERATION OF THE RHINE
After dissolving the Holy Roman Empire, Napoleon established a pro-French military alliance of German states that loosely resembled a united Germany
3 min |
Issue 117
History of War
SHREWSBURY
In 1403, English archers faced each other in battle for the first time as rebels sought to topple Henry IV
10+ min |
Issue 117
History of War
VIETNAM’S 'BAND OF BROTHERS': Q&A WITH IAN GARDNER
How 3rd Battalion, 506th Airborne overcame adversity in the jungles of Southeast Asia, continuing the legacy of their WWII forebears
10+ min |
Issue 117
History of War
HO CHI MINH’S ART OF WAR
The leadership of North Vietnam’s revolutionary premier succeeded in defeating the colonial French state, and later South Vietnam and its Western allies
10 min |
Issue 117
History of War
PETER BADCOE
This major of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam displayed conspicuous bravery on three separate occasions, leading members of the territorial forces of South Vietnam in Thua Thiên-Hué Province
6 min |
Issue 117
History of War
BOMBER COMMAND: THEIR FINEST HOUR
In June 1944, the Allied invasion fleet launched to begin the liberation of Occupied Europe did so in a cocoon of protective air power. Fighters swept ahead and above; maritime patrol aircraft shielded the flanks; and vast fleets of transport aircraft carried the paratroopers who would seize bridges and causeways behind enemy lines. An often overlooked contribution to Operation Overlord was the role of the heavy bombers, who attacked the Nazi shore defences and carried out several other critical missions that paved the way for Allied success
10+ min |
Issue 117
History of War
SHERMAN THE MAKING OF A WAR WINNER
The M4 Sherman medium tank was produced in huge numbers during WWII and became the Allies' most prominent yet controversial land weapon of the conflict
10+ min |
Issue 116
History of War
THE MAN WITH MIRACULOUS HANDS
THE REMARKABLE STORY OF HEINRICH HIMMLER’S PHYSICIAN, FELIX KERSTEN, WHO SAVED MANY NAZI VICTIMS FROM THE FANATICAL BUTCHER AND FORCED HIM TO BETRAY ADOLF HITLER
1 min |
Issue 116
History of War
DESERT ARMOUR TANK WARFARE IN NORTH AFRICA
FROM BEDA FOMM TO OPERATION CRUSADER 1940-41, THIS THOROUGH STUDY OF ARMOURED WARFARE IN THE WESTERN DESERT IS A WORTHY ADDITION TO ANY ENTHUSIAST’S SHELF
2 min |
Issue 116
History of War
RUSSIA'S WAR ON EVERYBODY
THE STORY OF RUSSIAN AGGRESSION AND HOW AND WHY MOSCOW PUSHES FOR POWER AND INFLUENCE FAR BEYOND UKRAINE
1 min |
Issue 116
History of War
JIHADI POLITICS
A RECONSTRUCTION OF THE BLOODY INFIGHTING WITHIN THE GLOBAL JIHADI MOVEMENT THAT SET AL-QAEDA AGAINST ISLAMIC STATE, WITH CONSEQUENCES THAT ARE STILL FELT TODAY
2 min |
Issue 116
History of War
WWII THIS MONTH...FEBRUARY 1943
To commemorate 80 years since the Second World War, History of War is taking a look at some of the key events during each month of the conflict
3 min |
Issue 116
History of War
HOW TO FIGHT A WAR Q+A WITH DR MIKE MARTIN
The former British Army officer and senior visiting fellow at King's College London reveals how and why wars are fought, from the ancient world to Ukraine and beyond
10 min |
Issue 116
History of War
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF...T.E. LAWRENCE
In late 1916, a little-known archaeologist arrived in the Red Sea port of Jeddah. What started as a trouble-shooting mission would transform the Middle East
8 min |
Issue 116
History of War
Heroes of the Victoria Cross ERNEST 'SMOKEY'SMITH
In October 1944, as the Allies fought to establish a bridgehead across Italy's Savio River, a roguish private challenged an armoured column
6 min |
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History of War
SHIROYAMA
A final showdown pitting a rebellious samurai clan against a Westernised army of Japanese conscripts launches a new Asian empire
10+ min |
Issue 116
History of War
THE DEVIL'S PORRIDGE
During World War I, Britain's female workforce rallied to the war effort, joining munitions and weapons factories. Some of this work was notoriously hazardous...
10 min |
Issue 116
History of War
LEGACY OF THE CORPS
Despite being at its largest in December 1918, the MGC reduced significantly and swiftly after the armistice and subsequent treaty
3 min |
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History of War
MOUNTED & MOTORISED
In October 1915 the Cavalry and Motor branches were created to be more mobile than the infantry brigade companies
3 min |
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History of War
INFANTRY BRANCH
Of the three branches of the Machine Gun Corps, the largest was the Infantry. Initially formed in each infantry brigade, a machine gun company took on the role of machine gun support to the infantry battalions
3 min |
Issue 116
History of War
'WE HAVE THE MAXIM'
Early machine guns were used by British forces during the 'Scramble for Africa' but the British Army was slow to fully realise their lethal potential
3 min |