Operations
Kiev City defensive operation of 1941
During the opening phase of World War II Kiev was defended by troops of the Southwestern Front commanded by M. P. Kirponos. The German offensive of the “South” army group was commanded by General-Fieldmarshal G. Rundstedt. The initial battles in the western part of Ukraine took place between June and the beginning of July, during which the Germans broke through…
Most Recent
Battle of Tarawa Atoll
The capture of the Pacific Atoll of Tarawa in November 1943 launched the Marshall Islands campaign, which initiated the U.S. drive across the central Pacific. Tarawa is an atoll in the Gilbert Islands consisting of small islands, the largest of which, Betio, is no more than 2.5 miles in length.…
Ceylon 1942
IJN AKAGI by dugazm This island and British colony off the southeast tip of India was most significant during the Pacific war because of Japanese raids on and near it in April 1942. These raids accomplished little tactically or operationally; what they failed to do, however, was of critical strategic…
2nd South Staffords – Arnhem Part I
Major General Roy Urquhart shortly after returning to his Divisional HQ at the Hotel Hartenstein, 19 September. The 2nd lift advances into Arnhem where it encounters the German blocking line, 18 September. The 2nd South Staffords, about 420 strong, were brought in from their positions around Wolfheze and at 10.30…
2nd South Staffords – Arnhem Part II
Men of the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment advance toward Arnhem, towing a 6-pounder anti-tank gun with them, 18 September. The 2nd South Staffordshires The main attack on the upper road, by Lieutenant-Colonel Derek McCardie’s battalion along the Utrechtseweg in front of St Elizabeth Hospital, started half an hour late,…
City of Hue – Marine Tanks
By Raymond A Stewart. Abstract (Summary) Lieuenant Colonel Karl J. Fontenot, the tank battalion commander, recalled: We had four tanks that were due to go into the city of Hue that morning that Hue fell, to load onto LCUs to go on up to Dong Ha. Georgaklis had no idea…
The “Surge”? Part I
Few American commanders were well prepared for the chaotic post-invasion phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Too many officers neglected nation-building and instead, like the Israelis in Lebanon or, two centuries earlier, the French in Spain, chased after elusive insurgents in heavy-handed combat operations that killed or incarcerated too many Iraqis…