british military history
The Rockets’ Red Glare: Francis Scott Key’s ‘Star-Spangled Banner’
By Blaine TaylorLawyer, poet, and Maryland militiaman Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) was born in Frederick County, Md. He graduated from St. Read more
british military history
Reginald Earnshaw: The Youngest British Casualty
By Michael E. HaskewDuty in the British Merchant Navy was hazardous during World War II. Braving the stormy Atlantic, the expanse of the Pacific, and the daily rigors of life aboard ship were challenging enough during peacetime; however, during the dark days of the war a determined enemy, bent on bringing the island nation and its far-flung empire to their knees, unleashed a vicious campaign against Britain’s merchant lifeline. Read more
british military history
Rain of Terror: The Bombing of the British Isles
By Michael D. HullFirst, there was a faint drone, with black specks visible in the sunny sky. Then the drone grew into a thunder, and hundreds of bombers appeared over London. Read more
british military history
Secret Agent Man: The Story of Eddie Chapman
By Peter KrossNations have often pressed unsavory characters and criminals into service during wartime, rationalizing that such action is in the best interest of the country during extraordinary times. Read more
british military history
Mission Critical Overlord Weather
By Gene J. PfefferOperation Overlord, the cross-Channel attack that hit the Nazi-occupied beaches of Normandy in 1944, was the culmination of a grand strategy adopted early in the war, followed sporadically during the years of conflict, and aimed at defeating Hitler’s Reich by striking directly at Germany by invasion. Read more
british military history
Red Sea Naval War
By Vincent P. O’Hara & Enrico CernuschiOn May 9, 1936, four days after Italian troops entered Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, Mussolini appeared on a balcony of Rome’s Palazzo Venezia to proclaim Victor Emmanuel emperor of the newly created Italian East Africa. Read more
british military history
Tale of the Biscuit Bomber: The C-47 in WWII
By Sam McGowanEven though, technically at least, it was not a combat airplane, the performance of the Douglas C-47 transport led General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower to label it as one of the most important weapons of World War II. Read more
british military history
Barrier at Monte Cassino
By John BrownThe Gustav Line, stretching across Italy at its narrowest part between Gaeta and Ortona, was a formidable system of defenses, some of it in coastal marshes but mainly in mountainous country through which ran fast-flowing rivers. Read more
british military history
Italy’s North African Misadventure
By Walter S. ZapotocznyWhen most people think of the Italian Army in North Africa during World War II, they tend to believe that the average Italian soldier offered little resistance to the Allies before surrendering. Read more
british military history
King as Pawn
By Eric NiderostOn May 6, 1939, King George VI of Great Britain and his wife Queen Elizabeth arrived in Portsmouth to board the liner Empress of Australia, which was to take them to Canada and subsequently to the United States. Read more
british military history
The St. Nazaire Raid
By Flint WhitlockBritain badly needed a victory. As if to underline Britain’s difficult fortunes, on May 21, 1941, the German battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen dealt the island kingdom a serious blow by sinking the battlecruiser HMS Hood and severely damaging the new battleship HMS Prince of Wales during a furious engagement in the Denmark Strait. Read more
british military history
Twisting the Lion’s Tail: Dutch Raid up the Medway River
By Eric NiderostLieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter was a man of action, but he could be formidable even in repose On June 7, 1667, de Ruyter was sitting in the great cabin of the Dutch flagship Harderwijk listening stolidly while Cornelius de Witt finally revealed his plans for a raid on England to a group of assembled naval officers. Read more
british military history
The Relief of Ladysmith
By John BrownIn the early hours of October 12, 1899, Commandant-General Piet Joubert and 15,000 Boers crossed the border between Transvaal and Natal near Laing’s Nek in southern Africa. Read more
british military history
Inkerman: The Soldiers’ Battle
By Victor KamenirWhen armed hostilities flared up between the Russian and Ottoman Empires in 1853 over control of holy places in Turkish-ruled Jerusalem, Great Britain was quick to throw its weight behind the Ottomans. Read more
british military history
Captain Minié’s Deadly Invention at Inkerman
By Victor KamenirThe force multiplier that allowed the outnumbered British to stand up to the overwhelming numbers of Russian attackers at Inkerman was the Minié bullet (not ball). Read more
british military history
The March on Baghdad & What Could Have Been
by John F. Murphy, Jr.When Rashid Ali seized power in Baghdad, his coup provided Nazi Germany with a key piece of its world strategy for victory. Read more
british military history
Battle of Amiens: Putting the Allies on the Road to Victory
By Eric NiderostAt the start of the Battle of Amiens, Sergeant Paul Maze was in a forward observation post not a thousand yards from the front, peering into the darkness for any signs of enemy activity. Read more
british military history
The Battle of the Somme: Offensive At All Costs?
by Michael HaskewIn February 1916, Allied military leaders met at Chantilly, in the Picardy region of France to discuss grand strategy as World War I entered its second full year. Read more
