Military and Naval
Naval Operations in Scotland in the 18th Century
The action took place off Bishops Court between Captain Elliott and the French Captain Thurot Pirates and Smugglers During the first half of the eighteenth century the Royal Navy rarely operated in Scottish waters unless there was a specific threat from Jacobites, smugglers or pirates. By this time Scotland was not a great centre of piracy, which enjoyed a kind…
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Martin B-26 Marauder
A twin-engined bomber that experienced severe handling problems, and a phenomenal accident rate in its early days, was the Martin B-26 Marauder. One of the most controversial Allied medium bombers of the Second World War, at least in the early stages of its career, the Glenn L. Martin 179 was…
VTOL
The Harrier Jump Jet, one of the most famous and successful fixed-wing single-engine VTOL aircraft. The Soviet Union’s VTOL aircraft, the Yakovlev Yak-38 It was a French engineer, Michel Wibault – whose company had built a range of commercial aircraft during the 1930s – who came up with a possible…
Epaminondas (418?–362 BC) Beotarch of Thebes I
Epaminondas was born to no great wealth or status. His father, Polymnis, was of a noble but poor family. Still, through one means or another Palymnis made sure his son received a more than ordinary education, since he “was so well educated that no Theban was more so,” reports the…
The Red Army vs. the Mujahideen, 1980–1989 Part I
Few could have imagined that jihadist insurgents would prove so powerful when the Soviet Union launched its textbook takedown of Afghanistan. The Soviet assault began on Christmas Eve 1979—exactly fifty days after the takeover of the American embassy in Tehran—with more than a division of paratroopers landing at Kabul airport…
The Red Army vs. the Mujahideen, 1980–1989 Part II
Read part I here: The Red Army vs. the Mujahideen, 1980–1989 Part I In a professional army, officers and NCOs are supposed to inspire and discipline soldiers and channel their aggression in a constructive direction. But in the Red Army the officers acquired a reputation as “jackals” who looked out…
The British War at Sea – The Americas
Dutch engraving denouncing the looting of the island of St. Eustatius in 1781 by the Royal Navy (Caribbean). Admiral Rodney is compared to Nero and General Vaughan is treated Caligula. By the time Lord Cornwallis was chasing Nathanael Greene across the Carolinas and Benedict Arnold, in red regimental coat, was…