March 2014

Volume 15, No. 5

COVER: A British soldier fires a Vickers machine gun during combat in late 1944. British and Canadian forces struggled to capture Caen after the Normandy landings.

Photo courtesy Imperial War Museum, London.

The climactic moment of the Battle of Courtrai occurred when Count Robert of Artois, commander of the French army, led a suicidal charge into the Flemish ranks after the battle already had been lost. He is portrayed in a 19th-century painting pinned under his horse and mortally wounded.

Military Heritage

Revenge Of The Flemish Lion

By William E. Welsh

The Flemish infantry fidgeted under the sweltering sun as they stood shoulder to shoulder in a field east of the town of Courtrai on July 11, 1302. Read more

Furious counterattacks by Parliamentarian cavalry, including Oliver Cromwell’s “Ironside” troopers, prevented the Royalist horse from disrupting the advance of the Parliamentary army at Marston Moor.

Military Heritage

Shock Of The Charge

By Eric Niderost

Prince Rupert of the Rhine did not like to be kept waiting, especially when each passing minute seemed to lessen his chances of victory. Read more

Union soldiers of Colonel John Wilder’s Mounted Infantry Brigade armed with Spencer repeating rifles delay Confederate attempts to cross at Alexander’s Bridge over Chickamauga Creek at midday on September 18, 1863. The rebels suffered heavy casualties but eventually overpowered the defenders by sheer force of numbers.

Military Heritage

“A Terrible Cyclone”

By Lawrence Weber

On Saturday, September 26, 1863, six days after the Battle of Chickamauga, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet wrote Confederate Secretary of War James A. Read more

Military Heritage

For nearly 200 years, India was the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. Untold wealth flowed from such cities as Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta, supplying Great Britain with much of what made it possible to construct its world empire. Read more

A British M4 Sherman medium tank races past a knocked-out German PzKpfw. IV tank during the desperate fight for control of the crossroads and communications hub of Caen during the weeks after D-Day. Allied planners had projected that Caen would be in British hands on D-Day itself; however, a month of bitter fighting was required for Allied forces to capture the town.

Military Heritage

Panzer Fury at Caen

By Kelly Bell

The black uniformed German panzer crews climbed into their Panther tanks at 10 pm on June 8, 1944. Read more

Varangian leader Rurik and his sons arrive in the trading post of Staraya Ladoga in 862. About that same time Varangians began serving with forces protecting the frontiers of the Byzantine Empire.

Military Heritage, Soldiers

The Byzantine Army’s Varangian Guard

By Erich B. Anderson

Byzantine Emperor Basil II suffered a massive defeat against the Bulgarians on August 17, 986, at a strategic mountain pass known as Trajan’s Gate in Bulgaria. Read more

A U.S. airman belonging to a security squadron trains with an M-79. Although most commonly associated with the Vietnam War, the sturdy grenade launcher also saw action in the 1982 Falklands War and is still in the inventory of many armed forces around the globe.

Military Heritage, Weapons

The M79 Grenade Launcher

By Blaine Taylor

I fired the M79 grenade launcher in advanced infantry training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, in 1965, and had one on the back seat of my machine-gun jeep during my tour of duty in South Vietnam in 1966-1967 as a member of the U.S. Read more

Hitler and Eva Braun dining at a tea house in 1942. One assassination scheme involved poisoning Hitler’s tea.

Military Heritage, Intelligence

The details of Operation Foxley, a British attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, were a closely guarded secret for decades.

By Peter Kross

The sniper was perched under a craggy bluff overlooking German Führer Adolf Hitler’s alpine mountain retreat at Berchtesgaden in Bavaria. Read more

Liberty Memorial, which opened in 1926, languished from neglect for many decades until a grass-roots effort resulted in a major restoration.

Military Heritage, Militaria

The National World War I Museum

By Peter Suciu

While no one American city played a greater role in World War I than others, after a campaign by local residents, Kansas City, Missouri, was chosen as home to build the nation’s memorial for those who gave their lives in what was hoped to be the war to end all wars. Read more

Military Heritage, Books

World War I Naval Battles

By Christopher Miskimon

The strength of the British Empire lay in its colonies. Together, they formed a vast trade network which gave the United Kingdom a decided advantage in military ability, finance, and commerce. Read more

Military Heritage, Games

Winter 2014 Military Games

By Joseph Luster

Warface is another of many shooters that take war into the near future, doubling up on tech while sticking to real-world locations and a first-person perspective. Read more

March 2014

From Around the Network

Up through the Ranks

The History of the American Long Rifle

Aircraft Carrier Survival

How the Second Battle of Sedan Led to the Fall of France