Quotulatiousness

July 1, 2017

Hunting the Bismarck – III: A Chance to Strike – Extra History

Filed under: Britain, Germany, History, Military, WW2 — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Published on May 25, 2017

Sponsored by Wargaming! New players: Download World of Warships and use the code EXTRA1 for free goodies! http://cpm.wargaming.net/i3v7c6uu/?pu…

The order went out: Sink the Bismarck. Ships converged from all over the Atlantic to hunt down the pride of the German navy, and Swordfish planes launched from the aircraft carrier Ark Royal raced to harry the great warship.

June 30, 2017

Russia’s New Offensive – The Russian Women’s Battalion of Death I THE GREAT WAR Week 153

Filed under: Europe, Greece, History, Military, Russia, WW1 — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 05:00

Published on 29 Jun 2017

After the Russian Revolution, fresh optimism is gripping the troops at the front line and another offensive is planned. The first American troops arrive in France and Greece officially joins the Entente.

June 29, 2017

Tank Chats #12 TOG II*

Filed under: Britain, History, Military, WW2 — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 04:00

Published on 17 Dec 2015

This enormous tank was designed on the premise that World War II would evolve in the same way as the First World War. Some believed that existing tanks would not be able to deal with such conditions, and one of the most influential was Sir Albert Stern, who had been secretary to the Landships Committee in the First World War. In company with many others involved in tank design in 1916, including Sir William Tritton, Sir Eustace Tennyson D’Eyncourt, Sir Ernest Swinton and Walter Wilson, Stern was authorised by the War Office to design a heavy tank on First World War principles.

Two prototypes were built, both known as TOG for The Old Gang and they were even manufactured by the company that built Little Willie and the first tanks in 1916, William Foster & Co. of Lincoln.

http://tankmuseum.org/museum-online/vehicles/object-e1951-49

[Winter War] Motti Tactics – How The Finns Destroyed Soviet Divisions

Filed under: Europe, History, Military, Russia, WW2 — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Published on 18 Nov 2016

» SOURCES & LINKS «

Mountain Operations FM 3 97.6
https://archive.org/details/Mountain_Operations_FM_3-97.6

Chew, Allen F.: Fighting the Russians In Winter – Three Case Studies
https://archive.org/details/FightingTheRussiansInWinter-nsia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Finland

» CREDITS & SPECIAL THX «
Song: Ethan Meixsell – Demilitarized Zone

June 28, 2017

TANKFEST 2017 – At The Tank Museum, Bovington

Filed under: Britain, Europe, History, Military, WW1, WW2 — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 04:00

Published on 27 Jun 2017

Tanks. They’re like big, angry houses.

The Tank Museum: http://www.tankmuseum.org/home

June 27, 2017

Armoured Trains of World War 1 I THE GREAT WAR Special feat. Military History Visualized

Filed under: Europe, Germany, History, Military, Railways, Russia, WW1 — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 04:00

Published on 26 Jun 2017

Check out Military History Visualized and his video on armoured trains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvHTR-5n2_E

Armoured Trains were heavily armed and armored trains operating the vast rail networks of Europe, especially on the Eastern Front of World War 1. Their tactics and design evolved considerably during the First World War and the later Russian Civil War. From rather improvised locomotives to sophisticated designs specially built for combat purposes.

June 26, 2017

Tank Chats #11 Valentine

Filed under: Britain, History, Military, WW2 — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Published on 24 Nov 2015

The eleventh in a series of short films about some of the vehicles in our collection presented by The Tank Museum’s historian David Fletcher MBE.

The Valentine – A popular and reliable British tank. It was designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd., in 1938 and offered to the Army who accepted it for production shortly before the outbreak of war in 1939.

It made quite a name for itself in the North African campaign and also served with New Zealand forces in the Pacific and with Soviet troops on the Russian front.

http://tankmuseum.org/museum-online/vehicles/object-e1949-344

June 25, 2017

Spain and the Spanish Arms Industry in WW1 I THE GREAT WAR Special feat. C&Rsenal

Filed under: Europe, History, Military, WW1 — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 04:00

Published on 24 Jun 2017

Spain was one of the neutral nations of World War 1. A deep social divide and a decline from world power meant that they stayed out of the global conflict. Still, the war affected Spain in many ways. One of the consequences was the establishment of a huge arms industry that supported France and other fighting nations.

Fort Drum – America’s concrete battleship

Filed under: Asia, History, Japan, Military, Pacific, USA, WW2 — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Published on 15 Sep 2016

After the United States acquired the Philippines from Spain, the U.S. Board of Fortifications recommended that important harbors be fortified. This led to the development of defenses on several islands at the mouth of Manila and Subic Bays. One of these was El Fraile Island which would later become Fort Drum, America’s concrete battleship.

Read more about America’s concrete battleship, Fort Drum, here: http://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/americas-concrete-battleship-defended-manila-bay-until-the-very-end

June 23, 2017

The Disillusionment of Lawrence of Arabia I THE GREAT WAR Week 152

Filed under: Britain, Europe, France, History, Middle East, Military, WW1 — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 05:00

Published on 22 Jun 2017

Almost a year after the secret signing of the Sykes-Picot-Agreement, British intelligence officer and guerrilla fighter T.E. Lawrence learns about the deal. He learns how the French, British and Russians are carving up the Middle East while officially supporting the Arab Revolt. Lawrence is increasingly frustrated with this double crossing behaviour and warns his superiors about the consequences.

June 22, 2017

Hunting the Bismarck – II: The Mighty HMS Hood – Extra History

Filed under: Britain, Germany, History, Military, WW2 — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 04:00

Published on May 18, 2017

Sponsored by Wargaming! New players: Download World of Warships and use the code EXTRA1 for free goodies! http://cpm.wargaming.net/i3v7c6uu/?pub_id=2017_Video_2

The Bismarck had been sighted, and the British fleet raced to intercept it with their own flagship: the mighty HMS Hood. As Hood and her escort caught up, a harrowing battle between four giant ships ensued.

June 21, 2017

Greek Rifles and Pistols of World War 1 I THE GREAT WAR Special feat. C&Rsenal

Filed under: Europe, Greece, History, Military, Weapons, WW1 — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 05:00

Published on 20 Jun 2017

If you want to learn more about the firearms of World War 1, subscribe to C&Rsenal: http://youtube.com/candrsenal

Othais explains the rifles and pistols that Greece fielded in the First World War, among them the legendary Mannlicher–Schönauer M1903 and the Greek Gras M1874.

June 20, 2017

Hero or Burden? – King Constantine I of Greece I WHO DID WHAT IN WW1?

Filed under: Europe, Greece, History, Military, WW1 — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 05:00

Published on 19 Jun 2017

King Constantine I of Greece embodies the complex history of modern Greece in the early 20th century. By some he was and still is perceived as a hero who united the country. Others perceive him as a burden who only brought problems to Greece.

Why Arabs Lose Wars

Filed under: Middle East, Military — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 02:00

Published on 5 Jan 2015

Read from source: De Atkine, N. (1999, December 1). Why Arabs Lose Wars. Retrieved January 5, 2016, from http://www.meforum.org/441/why-arabs-lose-wars
In the modern era of warfare, Arabic-speaking countries have been generally ineffective. Egyptian special forces fared poorly against Yemeni tribes and irregular forces. The Iraqi army has collapsed several times; The Iran Iraq War, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and against the Islamic State. And the Arabs have done poorly in nearly all military confrontations with Israel. Many Middle Eastern states have not adapted to the modern battlefield.

QotD: The essential horror of army life

Filed under: Europe, History, Military, Quotations — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 01:00

One of the essential experiences of war is never being able to escape from disgusting smells of human origin. Latrines are an overworked subject in war literature, and I would not mention them if it were not that the latrine in our barracks did its necessary bit towards puncturing my own illusions about the Spanish civil war. The Latin type of latrine, at which you have to squat, is bad enough at its best, but these were made of some kind of polished stone so slippery that it was all you could do to keep on your feet. In addition they were always blocked. Now I have plenty of other disgusting things in my memory, but I believe it was these latrines that first brought home to me the thought, so often to recur: ‘Here we are, soldiers of a revolutionary army, defending Democracy against Fascism, fighting a war which is about something, and the detail of our lives is just as sordid and degrading as it could be in prison, let alone in a bourgeois army.’ Many other things reinforced this impression later; for instance, the boredom and animal hunger of trench life, the squalid intrigues over scraps of food, the mean, nagging quarrels which people exhausted by lack of sleep indulge in.

The essential horror of army life (whoever has been a soldier will know what I mean by the essential horror of army life) is barely affected by the nature of the war you happen to be fighting in. Discipline, for instance, is ultimately the same in all armies. Orders have to be obeyed and enforced by punishment if necessary, the relationship of officer and man has to be the relationship of superior and inferior. The picture of war set forth in books like All Quiet on the Western Front is substantially true. Bullets hurt, corpses stink, men under fire are often so frightened that they wet their trousers. It is true that the social background from which an army springs will colour its training, tactics and general efficiency, and also that the consciousness of being in the right can bolster up morale, though this affects the civilian population more than the troops. (People forget that a soldier anywhere near the front line is usually too hungry, or frightened, or cold, or, above all, too tired to bother about the political origins of the war.) But the laws of nature are not suspended for a ‘red’ army any more than for a ‘white’ one. A louse is a louse and a bomb is a bomb, even though the cause you are fighting for happens to be just.

George Orwell, “Looking back on the Spanish War”, New Road, 1943 (republished in England, Your England and Other Essays, 1953).

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