September 2014

Volume 16, No. 2

WWII era B-17 bomber Aluminum Overcast, restored and flown by the
Experimental Aircraft Association, is a popular attraction at air shows across the U.S.

Photo: Buddy Mays; www.buddymays.com

Military Heritage

Unstoppable God Of War Alexander At Issus

By Charles Hilbert

Those rare qualities that set the extraordinary military commanders apart from the average ones were present in Alexander the Great, wrote the Greek historian Arrian, who drew on the account of Alexander’s general, Ptolemy. Read more

B-25 Mitchell medium bombers fly over islands covered in snow and shrouded in fog to strike at Japanese forces.

Military Heritage

Showdown In The Aleutians

By Phil Zimmer

With a sharp clatter of machine guns, the Japanese marines announced their presence by spraying bullets into the isolated U.S. Read more

The gallant men of the 1st Maryland (Confederate) Battalion charge the Union position atop Culp’s Hill on the morning of July 3 in a painting by Don Troiani. The attack, which was repulsed with heavy losses, sought to take advantage of the success of the previous day when the Confederates captured lower Culp’s Hill.

Military Heritage

“Many Gallant Men Were Lost”

By Kelly Bell

Rifle flashes erupted at intervals on the base of the slope. The flashes gave away the location of the confederate troops advancing in large numbers in the darkness of the night of July 2, 1863, on the eastern side of Culp’s Hill southeast of the town of Gettysburg. Read more

New England militiamen disembark from British ships and row to shore at the beginning of the siege of Louisbourg in May 1745. The Americans were eager to capture the French fortress because it gave safe haven to privateers and French naval vessels that preyed on colonial maritime trade.

Military Heritage

Cannonballs, Grapeshot, and Profanity

By David A. Norris

For nearly a month, 4,000 New England militia aided by the Royal Navy had surrounded the great fortress of Louisbourg, the key to French Canada. Read more

French troops in the foreground counterattack Prussian infantry in a vain effort to stabilize their right flank at the elevated village of Saint-Privat seen in the background. Infantry of both sides fought valiantly throughout the day, but both the French and Prussian high commands performed poorly.

Military Heritage

Victory At A Dreadful Cost

By William E. Welsh

King William I of Prussia stood resplendent in the uniform of a Prussian Guard officer on a hill in eastern France on a sunny day in late summer 1870. Read more

Military Heritage, Editorial

The French sought revenge after the fall of Louisbourg.

In the wake of the impressive victory by American colonists over the French at Louisbourg in June 1745 during King George’s War (1744-1748), the Province of Massachusetts Bay braced for the inevitable raids by the French and their Native American allies on two fronts. Read more

Keith Ferris’s painting, Fortresses Engaged, shows two German fighters attacking head-on through a formation of B-17s of the 100th Bomb Group.

Military Heritage, Weapons

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Flew Deep into Enemy Territory

By John Emmert

Second Lieutenant John Bosko was flying his seventh mission on August 24, 1944. He was reasonably seasoned as far as bomber commanders went but was unaware of his target’s macabre reputation. Read more

Military Heritage, Soldiers

Howard W. Gilmore and the USS Growler: Making the Ultimate Sacrifice

By Chuck Lyons

On February 7, 1943, while on patrol in the Southwest Pacific Ocean, U.S. Navy Commander Howard W. Gilmore, commander of the USS Growler (SS-215), and his crew carved out a place for themselves in Navy legend and set a standard of duty that is remembered in the submarine service today. Read more

Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess speaks at a Nazi Party rally in 1937.

Military Heritage, Intelligence

Rudolf Hess’s Secret Scotland Visit in May 1941

By Peter Kross

To the people of the Scottish Highlands the Battles of the previous year had seemed a distant concern. Read more

Britains’ range extended well beyond the British Empire, and their stock included dozens of troops from other nations, such as the Danish Gardehussars.

Military Heritage, Militaria

Britain’s hollow-cast toy soldiers continue to attract collectors decades after their manufacture.

By Joe Wallis

Many militaria collectors can trace the roots of their hobby to their childhood encounters with toy soldiers. For American kids in the 1930s and 1940s, this may have been with three-inch-tall American-made Manoils or Barclays from the local dime store. Read more

Military Heritage, Books

MRAP Ambush

By Christopher Miskimon

On Thanksgiving Day 2009, a convoy of three mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles left the south gate of Camp Ramadi, Iraq, and began the roughly three-mile journey to the Provincial Government Building. Read more

Military Heritage, Games

E3 2014 Showcase

This year’s E3 was full of the typical spectacle one expects from a slew of games and promises that are still waiting in the relatively distant future. Read more

September 2014

From Around the Network

Pétain: Savior of France

Poles in the West: Fighting in the Falaise Pocket

Carnage at Bussaco

Rationing on the U.S. Home Front