British
THE BROWN BESSÂ MUSKET
By the time of the American Revolution, Britain’s .75 calibre Land Pattern Musket head earned the unofficial nickname of “Brown Bess.” Even the 18th century Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue described the popular expression “to hug Brown Bess,” as slang for enlisting in the army By the time of the Napoleonic Wars, Britain’s Brown Bess musket had delivered nearly a…
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The Sea Battles for the Dardanelles II
A naval artillery observation post on land: standing left, Lieutenant Franz Wodrig, right Lieutenant Rolf Carls. Meanwhile, a major Allied landing operation at Kumkale on 3 March underlined the urgent nature of the munitions question. The almost 400 man strong landing detachment of the Royal Marine Light Infantry was, however,…
Beaverette
The first version of the vehicle was built in 1940 by Standard Motor Company at the instigation of Lord Beaverbrook, then Minister of Aircraft Production (hence the name Beaverette). It was based on commercial car chassis, on which a simple riveted armoured hull was mounted. The 11mm of steel was…
RAF Fighter Command Operations 1944-45 North-West Europe
A large number of Advanced Landing Grounds were constructed in southern England for the air build-up for the invasion of Europe; Merston, 1944. Map showing radius of Action for fighter offensive operations January 1943 to May 1944. Throughout 1943 and early 1944 much of the Allied air effort had been…
Elizabeth I – Opening New Fronts Against Spain Part I
Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud was the Moorish ambassador to Elizabeth in 1600. A life-size portrait of Sultan Murad III (1574-1595), attributed to a Spanish artist, 17th century. Europe 1600 Elizabeth was enjoying the final few days of her summer progress at Nonsuch late in September 1598 when the news filtered…
Elizabeth I – Opening New Fronts Against Spain Part II
Philip III of Spain, 1599-1601 The Somerset House Conference between English and Spanish diplomats that brought an end to the Anglo–Spanish War (1585–1604). At the very last moment, Philip III’s ships sailed not northwards for England or Ireland, but southwards for the Azores, where a formidable fleet of Dutch warships…
Richard III’s Usurpation of the English Throne
It is not surprising that there was little opposition to the usurpation of Richard III to the English throne. The senior peerage had been hollowed out during Edward IV’s reign and the simultaneous minorities of the three Bourchier lords – the Earl of Essex and Barons FitzWarin and Berners –…