Personnel
âThe Three-Week Subalternâ or Pilot
Many legends have sprung up since the First World War. Among the most prevalent are those which say that the life expectation of a subaltern in a front-line infantry battalion or of a pilot in a frontline fighter squadron was only three weeks. While it is true that both groups of men suffered severe losses, the âthree-week life expectationâ is…
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German Infantry â Eastern Front
In the spring of 1943, German forces were no longer the undisputed masters of the battlefield. In North Africa they were being pushed back into an enclave in Tunisia, facing defeat by the combined Allied forces, and in Russia they were on the back foot after Stalingrad. The battle of…
American snipers
Sgt. Timothy Murphy The earliest American snipers were hunters first, then soldiers. They hailed from the frontier, where long-range shooting was a survival skill. Military muskets of the time were smoothbores, accurate out lo 50 yards or so-adequate for massed volley fire. But in the American wilderness, where one had…
La Guard recule!
Napoleon addresses the Old Guard as it prepares to attack the Anglo-Allied centre at Waterloo. âLa Garde recule. Sauve qui peut!â Napoleon did not have much time in which to unleash the Imperial Guard onto the Anglo-Allied line, as von Zietenâs column had already reached the hamlet of Smohain, thereby…
2nd South Staffords â 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 â 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 McCardieâs battalion along the Utrechtseweg in front of St Elizabeth Hospital, started half an hour late,…
Swiss Guards of Louis XVI were massacred at the Tuileries on 10 August 1792.
Swiss regiments had historically fought as mercenaries in the armies of other nations, including that of France, long before the French Revolution. During the Revolution, the Swiss Guards of Louis XVI were massacred at the Tuileries on 10 August 1792. Eventually the Swiss took the side of the Revolution, forming…