World War I
Charles ‘Swede’ Momsen: Submarine Pioneer
By Glenn BarnettIn July 1943, the American submarine USS Tinosa was on patrol in Japanese waters when she came across an unescorted oil tanker. Read more
World War I
World War I was a global conflict of the early 20th century from 1914-1918, between the Central Powers, Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria, and the Allied powers, primarily Great Britain, France, Russia, and later the United States. World War I was ignited in the Balkan city of Sarajevo in June 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and war was declared in August. World War I was characterized by the horror of trench warfare on the Western Front and the rise of Bolshevism in the East, and millions died in the catastrophic conflict. The causes of World War I were many, including various territorial disputes, a major arms race, conflicting political ideologies, and more. World War I ended with the Treaty of Versailles; however, the agreement left many issues unresolved and heaped blame and the requirement for reparations on Germany, sowing the seeds of World War II.
World War I
The Mauser 98: The Best Bolt-Action Rifle Ever Made?
By Blaine TaylorAccording to The History Channel’s Tales of the Gun, the Mauser 98 was “the best bolt action rifle ever made.” Read more
World War I
The Odyssey of the Australian Destroyer HMAS Vendetta
By Glenn BarnettOn October 20, 1941, the Australian destroyer Vendetta weighed anchor in the port of Alexandria, Egypt. After spending nearly two years supporting the Royal Navy in the fight for control of the Mediterranean Sea, the aging engines of the busy warship could no longer give her the speed needed to escort convoys, screen the fleet, or dodge dive- bombers. Read more
World War I
Hero of Verdun: Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain
By Blaine Taylor“I’ve been old in all my ranks,” said Henri Philippe Pétain, created Marshal of France on December 8, 1918, at age 62. Read more
World War I
The Norden Bombsight: Was it Truly Accurate Beyond Belief?
By Roaul DrapeauIn a 1921 bombing test, U.S. Army Air Corps General Billy Mitchell’s airmen sank the former German battleship Ostfriesland. Read more
World War I
General Arthur Percival: a Convenient Scapegoat?
By Jon DiamondOn February 15, 1942, the island fortress of Singapore surrendered with 130,000 men, thus ending the defense of Malaya as one of the largest military disasters in the history of British arms since Cornwallis’s capitulation to Franco-American forces at Yorktown in 1781 during America’s Revolutionary War. Read more
World War I
The 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City
By Christopher MiskimonThe 45th Infantry Division of the United States Army earned an impressive record during World War II. Originally formed from an Oklahoma National Guard unit, the division was rounded out by National Guard formations from Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Read more
World War I
The Red Baron’s Band of Brothers
By O’Brien BrowneLike a swarm of ungainly dragonflies, a squadron of six British RE8 observation aircraft droned over the trenches of northern France on the afternoon April 13, 1917. Read more
World War I
From Doughboy to GI Helmet
By Earl RickardWhen the United States Army mobilized for defense in the fall of 1940, the peacetime draftees, National Guardsmen, reservists, and regulars carried Model 1903 Springfield rifles; the Guardsmen wore puttees; and all the soldiers covered their heads with the doughboy helmet—head-to-foot relics of World War I. Read more
World War I
Canadian Capture of Vimy Ridge
By Jerome BaldwinBy the fall of 1916, Canadian soldiers fighting in the trenches on the Western Front had already distinguished themselves in battle. Read more
World War I
The Mark IV Tank: Why the British War Machine Became so Iconic
The “Mark IV” tank of World War I was rhomboidal in shape and came in two basic versions: male and female. Read more
World War I
The Thompson Gun’s Curious History, from World War I to World War II
By Arnold BlumbergIn 1917, when America entered the First World War, the United States Army tasked Brigadier General John T. Read more
World War I
Belleau Wood: Shrine of Great Deeds
By Al HemingwayIn the early morning hours of May 27, 1918, the earth trembled and the air was filled with a deafening roar as 4,000 German artillery pieces let loose a tremendous barrage on Allied lines. Read more
World War I
The British Cromwell Tank: What Made it Such a Success
By Arnold BlumbergAt the outbreak of World War II, the British War Office assumed that conditions on the Western Front in France would be the same as those experienced in the Great War of 1914-1918. Read more
World War I
Why Study Military History?
By Roy Morris Jr.As a writer and editor, it’s been my privilege to spend a great deal of time in the company of my betters: ordinary men and women engaged in the often heartbreaking act of making history. Read more
World War I
Were the Angels of Mons in World War I Real, or Mass Hysteria?
By Robert Barr SmithSome Tommies swore it had been St. George, the warrior saint of England. Others said the “Angels of Mons” might have been St. Read more
World War I
WW I Tanks at Amiens
by Eric NiderostThe tank was created to break the bloody deadlock along the Western Front. It was originally envisioned as a kind of “land battleship” that could cross trenches and barbed-wire entanglements. Read more
World War I
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
World War I
WWI’s Verdun Battlefield Today
by O’Brien BrowneFrom a distance, the bush- and tree- covered hills seem innocuous, even welcoming. But as you drive upwards and peer through the leafy undergrowth, you began to perceive that there is something wrong, even sinister, about this place. Read more
World War I
Hamilton Fish III and the “Harlem Hell Fighters”
By Blaine TaylorIn July 1918, 30-year-old U.S. Army Captain Hamilton Fish, Jr., was in war-torn France with the 15th New York National Guard Regiment—also known as the (U.S.) Read more
