The Manville Gun
One of my favourite war films is the Dogs of War, an adaptation of the Frederick Forysthe novel of the same name. A most memorable scenes is the final assault, in which a monstrosity of a multi-shot grenade launcher is…
Tag History
The Battle of Agincourt and the AirLand Battle Doctrine
The only thing I could find in the TD archive for Agincourt was an old video post from 2013 but one of our American friends has beat me to the punch with a very good post on the subject. A…
Testing the Funnies
The specialist armoured engineering vehicles of the 79th Brigade under Sir Percy Hobart played a pivotal role in the success of the D Day landings, read more here. This video shows a number of them under test in 1942, carpet…
Securing the Skies
To coincide with the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, the RAF have released a an interesting brochure that compares and contrasts the defence of British airspace then and now; the raison d’être of any Air Force is to…
War Against the Man – Missed Chances (Part 2)
Sorry it is a bit late. We all know how the battle plays out, Napoleon is sent packing to a small island and Europe is at peace (or so) until 1914. But how much of a close run thing the battle…
Opening the Port at Umm Qasr, Iraq 2003
The area around Umm Qasr and the Al Faw peninsula in Iraq featured a range of amphibious and mine clearance activities in 2003. Background The port of Umm Qasr, before the conflict, was responsible for two-thirds of the United Nations…
The Falkland Islands San Carlos Landings
The amphibious landings at San Carlos on the Falkland Islands in 1982 were arguably world's most demanding amphibious operation since D-Day
The D-Day Normandy Landings
Soon after Dunkirk and with the Battle of Britain won, thinking turned to the return fixture and the realisation that it would need a logistics element of unparalleled proportions possessing the technical means to cross the English Channel.
A Pier at La Panne
I have been rather remiss in not writing anything about Dunkirk but with so much great material out there it is hard to produce anything that is interesting. On Twitter earlier someone highlighted an aspect of the Dunkirk landings I…
Bearskins, Bayonets and Body Armour
Bearskins, Bayonets and Body Armour is the title of a new book from Pen and Sword about the Welsh Guards in their 100th year anniversary During the First World War, their ranks never broke. Other regiments slept more easily knowing…