How It Works Book Of Incredible History

STOP 1C)!-. Elizal'eth I 2•••••••••••••••••TheCOigis 3•••••••••••••••••Queen VICtoria 4•••••••••••••••••DIU of Edinburgh 5•••••••••••••••••King Edward VII
The palace Is the Qo.Jeen's
FACTS london home. Inhabiting her TheQueenhas two corgis, Britain's longest-<eignlng Silce his marriage to QoJeen King Edward VII is the ooly
ownquite modest private Holly and WibN, and two monarch todatewho was
ROYAl RESIDENTS 'dotgis' (oorgVdachshund monateh, Victoriairr1llroVed Elizabeth In November 1947, both bom and died at
apartments, she isusually crosse<),candy and VLican. Bucl<inghan Palace. The
absent dumg.AtJgustand the palaceby adding the east Prince Philp has lived king was bom there In 1841
Septembereach year. TheroyalCO<gistravel with wing and stateballroom, but
hertiYoughoutthe year. alongside heratBuddngham and passedaway In 1910.
afterPrince Albert's death in
1861 she rarely visited it. Palace. He hashis own private

offtee and apartments.

fl)l•1'00I!Jll.1N•Pi!t> There are aver 350 working clocks and watches in Buckingham Palace, one of the world's largest collections

Throne room Under fire Sother

Used for royal receptions, The palace suffered nine direct hits royal pads
this impressive room is
most often seen as the from bombs in WWII, but suffered little ! Windsor Castle
backdrop to formal royal dam age. However, on 13 Sept ember The Queen's official
wedding photographs. residenceand the largest
1940, w hen King George VI and Queen occupied castle intheworld.
Audience room Elizabeth the Queen Mother were in Inside the walls isStGeorge's
residence, bombs hit the palace Chapel, horne tothe Knights of
Located in the central quadrangle. One smashed through a glass the Garterand the burialplace
section of the north roof while anot her destroyed the chapel. This often Britishmonarchs.
wing, the Queen has
regular meetings w ith incident led the Queen Mot her to utt er the 2 Sandringham House
4 the prime minister here. famous remark: " I am glad w e have been The privatehorneofthe
#' .... bombed. It makes m e feel I can look t he East End sovereignsince1862. The royal
in t he f ace." One person died during the w artime
bombing. PC St eve Robertson, a policeman on
duty at t he palace, was killed by f lying debris on
8 March 1941 when the north side of the palace
was struck. A plaque in t he palace garden
commemorates his heroism and sacrifice.

Quadrangle family usuallyspend

The courtyard was Christmas hereandstayuntil

formed when the east .F...e..~b..r..u...a..r..y...e..a...c..h...y...e..a...r...........................
wing was built to link
the palace's north and 3 Palaceof
south w ings. Holyroodhouse

The Queen's official residence

.2:rr=- Royal Standard East wing in Scotland, founded as a
monasteryin1128. Situatedat
The Royal Standard is Completed in the the end of the Royal Mile in
flown from the mid-19th century, this Edinburgh, the Queen is
flagpole on the east section contains many usually in residence for a week
wing whenever the Chinese-themed rooms
as they are decorated -.a..t..t.h...e...e..n.d...o...f.J..u...n..e...e..a..c...h..y...e..a..r...........
Queen is in residence.
with objects bought 4 Ciarence House
from Brighton Pavilion. Builtin the early-19th
century. TheQueen lived at
Clarence Houseafterher
marriage to the Duke of

Edinburghin1947. Today it's

The well-known fa~ade Forecourt Further information the official horne of the Prince
with its three classical about Buckingham ofWales, the Duchessof
pediments and the Only added to the Palace can be found on Cornwall and Prince Harry.
famous royal balcony is palace in 1911, the the official website of
101 years old in 2014. gravel In the forecourt the British monarchy: 5 Balmoral Castle
is raked every morning, The Queen's private horne
- whatever the weather. bit.ly/ l ml j944. in theScottish Highlands, the
Balmoralestatewas bought
and the presentcastle builtby
QueenVictoriaand Prince
Albert around1850.

1703 1761 1762

Buckingham House Royal residence Extreme makeover

is built George Ill buys King George Ill employs
Buckingham House Sir William Chambers to
The house forming the core for his wife, Queen completety remodel the now
of the present palace is made old-fashioned house, at a cost
for the Duke of Buckingham Charlotte, as a family of £73,000 - a huge sum in
by architect William Winde. home close to St the 18th century.
James's Palace.
0 51

Buckingham Palace uncovered

• itto Parliamentastheir new homeafter the chapel, post office, swimming pool, staff
Palace of Westminster (the Houses of cafeteria, doctor'ssurgeryand evena cinema.
Parliament)was destroyed by flre in1834- But
Queen Victoria decided to make Buckingham However, despite rumours to the contrary, the
Palace herhome and, after movinginto the palace does nothave its ownprivate
house in1837. decided to have it enlargedas the
palace had too few bedrooms for visitors and no Undergroundstation!
nurseries. Bloredesigned a new east wing and The gardens are privateand surrounded by
had the Marble Arch moved to its present home
atthe north-east corner of Hyde Park. The east high walls. They cover16 hectares (40 acres) and
wing was constructed usl ng French stone and
was the last major addition to the pa lace. include a lake, tenniscourtand helipad. Over99
Th is was not the end of construction work. In per cen t of green waste produced in the gardens
1911, the p resent forecourt was formed with its is recycled on site. They are thought to contain
impressive gatesand railings, where the
changing ofthe guard takes place today (see ab out30 different species of bird and over350
boxout). j ust two years later the stone on the east sp ecies of wild flowers. Thesetting for the
wing's fa<;ade was discovered to have a n nual royal Garden Parties in troduced by
deteriorated so badly due to London's polluted Queen Victoria in1868, the gardens have also
atmosphere that it needed to be replaced. Sir
AstonWebb produceda newdesignand, aftera hosted a charity tennis comp etition, pop and
yearofpreparation, the new Portland stone classical music concertsa nd a children's party.
fa<;ade was erected in just13 weeks.
Thepalace's most Impressive roomsarethe Although Buckingham Palace claims to be the
state rooms, most of which are in the west wing. world's largest working palace, there are other
These consistof a sequenceof theatrically bigger contenders suchas the Apostolic Palace In
magnificent interiors, designed to impress
visitorsand magnify thegloryofthe British the Vatican City, Rome, the Royal Palace of
monarchy. Thestate roomsare reached by Madrid inSpainand the lstana Nurullman
ascendingthegrand staircase. The throne room, Palace - home to the sultans of Brunei - which
the blue drawing room and the white drawing
room are the prindpaIreception rooms, while standson the northern coastof Borneo. Whether
the ballroom is frequently used for investitures. or not Buckingham Palace is the world's largest
Electricitywas first Installed in the ballroom in operational palace, it isnonethelessan instantly
1883and over the next fouryears it was extended
throughout the palace. Today thereare some recognisable symbol of London, the royal family
40,ooo light bulbs In use and since 2005 and Britalnasawhole.
traditiona l bulbs have been replaced with LED
low-energy bulbs wherever possible. C:::d'!ng~the
Ofthe palace's 775 rooms, there are19 state g 1nfoci1S
rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, t88 staff
bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. There The changing of the guard, or guard mounting, is
are some1,514doors and 760 windows in the the process during which the new guard n!lieves
palace; incidentallya II the windows are cleaned
everysix weeks. Aside from the state, private the old guard. Dating back to the 17thcentury, the
andstaffapartments, the palace has its own
household troops stand sentryover the reigning
sovereign and have been present at Buckingham
Palace since 1837. Taking place at 11.30am each
morning from May to July and on
alternatedaysthrough the rest of the

year, the ceremony isaccompanied
by a guards band, which plays a
range of music, including themes
from films, musicals and even

pop songs. Over 2 million people
watchthe changing oftheguard
each year. The guard's uniformof
black trousers, red jackets and tall

bearskin hats has become
synonymous with the British royal
family and Buckingham Palace.

1826 1830 1837 1847

House t o palace All change Queen Vic moves in East wing completed

George IVtransforms George IVdiesand William Queen Victoria is the Morespace isneededin the
Buckingham House into a IV takes the throne. John first sovereign to takeup palace so an east wing is added
palace. The king employs Nash is dismissed tor having to Edward Blare's design. This
John Nashand asks residence in Buckingham wing holds the balcony where
Parliament for £450,000 spent nearly £.500,000 on Palace, in July. It is just the royal family appear on
to COller the work.
the palace and Edward Blore three weeks afterher special occasions.
052
isappointed to finish the job. accession to the throne.

RECORD ' PORTRAIT BY MOST ARTISTS
BREAKERS
For three nights in Aprilzotz, an image of the Queen was
FACE THE FACTS
projected onto Buckingham Palace, made up of201,948
self-portraits created by British children.

1911 1913 1945 1993

Changing of the Guard Face-lift Victory in Europe Open house <•i3

As partofthe Victoria The soft French stone used On VEDay (8 May), the Ever since the summer of 1993
Memorial scheme, the world· on the east front is found to palace becomes the focus of the public have had access to
famous railing.s and forecourt be crumbling, so Sir Aston celebrations, with the Royal Buckingham Palace's state
in which the Changing of the Webb redesigns the fa~de Family appearing on the rooms during August and
Guard takes place are laid out in and replaces the soft stone balcony to the cheers of the
front of the palace. with hard Portland stone. crowds on the Mall. September, when the Queen
is not in residence.

053

Massachusetts State House

ouse

Why Boston's most iconic building has
spades ofsymbolism to match its pomp

With the American Revolutionary War Great Hall
having ended in 1783, the still-young
United States of America were s triving The newest addit ion
to define theirnationalidentity. One of the ways to the building,
in which the Oedgling nation tried to achieve construction was
this was through the construction of grandiose completed in 1990.
and symbolic structures like Boston's capitol
building, the Massachusetts State House. Main Staircase
The building was the brainchild ofarchitect Window
Charles Bulfinch, who took much of his
inspiration from the two years he spent Cootains the various state
travellingaround Europe. Construction seals of Massachusetts
CJVfY the years.
commenced in 1795, with Patri.otsSamuel
Adamsand Paul Revere layingdown its House of
cornerstone in its location on top of Beacon Hill Representat ives
- a site once owned by john Hancock, the first
elected governorofMassachusetts. Completed Home to the famous Cod,
in1798, it became an instant landmark, the chambe< is situated oo
towering over the low-lying rest of the cityand
giving true credence to john Winthrop's epitaph the third floor.
of"acityona hlii."
Hall of Flags
The dome atop the State House is perhaps the
section ofits exterior that has changed the most This room honours
over the years. Originally made of wood, it was Massachusetts'
overlaid with copper In the early-19th century soldiers and contains
before beingcovered In gold in 1874. During the over 400 flags.
Second World War it was painted dark for
protection against the possibility of air raids
during blackouts. The roof was finally re-gilded
in 1997. On top of the dome itself is a wooden
pine cone, symbolising the economicand
cultural importance of the logging industry in
the state's history.

Today, itstill functions as the state's capitol
building, hosting the Senate and House of
Representatives' Chamber. Hanging up in the
gallery in direct view of the Representatives is
one ofthe most culturallysignificantsights in
Boston: the Sacred Cod, which symbolises the
inlportance of Boston's fishing industry to its
prosperity. Combined with the numerous
pieces ofartworkand treasure in the building's
confines, it's fair to say the building's history is
extensive and far-reachIng.

054

STOP 1 2United StatesCapitol ••••••••••••••••• Un.V&usity Hall 3•••••••••••••••••MaineState House 4•••••••••••••••••F'urst Chun:h of 5•••••••••••••••••The BuriiiCh Building
Bolfinch owrsawconstructlon
FACTS ofthe capitol Bl.ilding between Having studied at Harvard. Based on his designs for the Oui'ist Unitarian Part of the Massachus<>tts
1818 and 1826, having it's fitting that Bulfonch went MassachusettsState, General Hospita~ construction
BULFINCH DESIGNS modified theoriginalconoept. on todesignoneof its most construction tool< place from Bulfonch's last projectbefore of the lluilding tobear the
iconic btlildings.ltwas built wori<ingon thecapitol. ar-chitect's name tookplace
He is responsible for the design from 1813·181Sand is a US 18;29.32.It waslater expanded from 1818·23, and is also a
of the domein thecellll1>. National Historic Lanclmar1<. Although smallerin scale, National Historic LandmaJI<.
on in 19ll, with much ot the this is no less ~si~
than his prelliouswori<.
old building being demolished.

fl)l•1'00I!Jll1. N•Pi!t> The Massachusetts State House con be seen in numerous scenes in Martin Scorsese's 2006 film The Departed

Inside the State House

Your guide to the most important features of the
Massachuset ts State House

Pine cone

Located on top of t he
dome, this symbolises
the importance of the
logging industry to t he
city's history.

Senat e Dome Inspirations
Reception Room
The dome was for the State
Here, portraits of former originally made out of House's design
wood, before being
presidents of the Senate covered in copper and During his travels, Bulfinch drew
later gold. on inspiration from a numberof
line the walls.
styles, which coalesced to form a

building with a style of its own.

Oneof the styles that can be most
clearly observed in the building's
design is Palladian in nature,
drawing on the design themes
present in the work of Italian

architect Andrea Palladia
(1508·80), notably the kind of

symbolism seen in classical Greek
architecture. A famous example of

this can be seen in Somerset
House, london (above), with the
central part of the State House
bearing the most obvious parallels

with Palladian architecture.

In addition, Bulfinch's work

evoked the neoclassical styles
embodied by the likes of Scottish
architect Robert Adam (1728-92),

although in a move that evoked
themes closer to home, wood was

used for the columns in the

colonnade, as well as for parts of
the stairs and decorative bands on
the columns.

Senate Chamber

Located directly below
the dome, thi s houses
the 40 senators.

t Nurses Hall Codswallop

This was named for the The State Building's famous Cod normal without the famous fish

statue of an Army nurse it attracted headlines for the wrong looking over them.

contains - the first in reasons when, in 1933, it was stolen. The cod was eventually recovered

Execut ive offices honour of the women of the The news of this theft sent the city (with only minordamage) by Harvard
North after the Civil War. Yard police chief Charles Apted, with
Contains the govemor's into an uproar, and even made
the cod·napping being blamed on the
office, as well as t he national news. Such was the symbolic
council chamber and significance ofthe cod to the city that staff of The Lampoon, Harvard
cabinet room.
some ofthe gathered members of the University's comedy magazine,
House of Representatives argued it although none if its members were

would be sacrilegious to carry on as ever charged.

055

The Globe Theatre

The most famous and historic theatre in Britain- if not the world- the Globe
was the original home to William Shakespeare's greatest plays

TheGiobeTheatrewasan Elizabethan- The Shakespeare's Globe
era playhouse part-owned by the great standing today (inset) is an
playwright Wllllam Shakespeare. Built accurate reconstruction of
from the remains of an existing theatre in the original Globe Theatre
Shoreditch, London, made by English actor and
theatre owner Richard Burbageand his brother
Cuthbert, the Globe was constructed overjusta
few months in 1599.The playhouse became the
home ofthe Lord Chamberlain's Men, a troupe of
which Shakespeareand the Burbageswere
members. The group went on to perform many of
the Bard's most famous plays there. Reportedly,
the first performance wasjulius Caesar, with
subsequent playssuch as Richard II, Romeo And
julietandA Winter's Tale also shown there.
The Globe proved a great success, with its J,OOO
capacity frequently tested to the limit. both in the
cheapstand.ing-<mly pit area as well as in the
more prestigious tieredseatinglocated around
the innerwalls. Unfortunately, however, on 29
Junet6tJduringa performance of Henry VITI, a
theatrical cannon misfiredand ignited the
wooden beam and thatch roof. leading to the
entire building burning down. Luckily, the
success of the Globe's owners and its
performances resulted In the theatre being
rebuiltagain in 1614, with the new playhouse
continuing to host many acting troupes well after
Shakespeare's death In1616. In fact, it was not
until 1642that the theatre was closed down- a
casualty of the English Civil War.

The Globe over time

Check out some of the main events in the theatre's hi.story now Theatre fans today can visit the modern
reconstruction of the Globe. It was nevertheless
1599: Grand opening ~---------------------4 made to be historically accurate, consulting the
plans, construction methods and materials of the
1997: Resurrection 1599 original, abeit with modem safety
standards in mind. Shakespeare's Globe is buit
The Globe Theatre is opened on Bankside, London. An accurate reconstruction of the Globe is built near to from 100 per cent English oak, with components
linked with mortiseand tenon joints - both
1601: Richard II runs the site of the original building. It stages Shakespeare's features shared by the original - and also has the
works and is a popular tourist attraction to this day.
only thatched roof permitted in all London since
Shakespeare's acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain's 1644: Globe destroyed the Gneat Fire of 1666. The attention to historical
detail even extends to the pit area, which
Men, are commissioned to stage Richard II.
remains standing only, albeit with a concrete
1608: Blackfriars bought The theatre is ra2ed to the ground again- this time by surface ratherthan the earthen/straw mix of the
order of the Puritans. Landowner Sir Matthew Brend 16th/17th century. A second Shakespearean play
venue, the Blackfriars Theatre, has been
The Globe's co-owner, Richard Burbage, acquires the builds tenement houses on the site in its place.
reconstructed and opened as the Sam
lease for the Blacl<friats Theatre, which Is then used 1642: Plays suppressed Wanamaker Playhouse in January 2014.
for winter perfonnances.

In the English Civil War, Parliament issues an ordinance

1614: Globe rebuilt that forbids all stage plays. The Globe is shut down.

Following a disastrous fire that burned down the Globe, it

is rebuilt a year later on the original foundations. 1616: Mortal coil
'------------------..1 William Shakespeare dies aged 52 in Stratford·upon·
Awn, where he is buried in the Holy Trinity Church.

056

STOP 1Motto 2•••••••••••••••••Sharetiolders 3•••••••••••••••••Breeches onfire! 4•••••••••••••••••Puritan shutdown ••
The Globe's motto was"lotus
FACTS mundus agit histrionEm', The Globe wasowned by According to reportsofthe llkeall other theatres at the panCar
der'ived frcm Roman COlWtier time, the Globe was closed
GlOBE TRIVIA Petronlus' statement that'al actors who were also Globe fi~ in1613, no onewas down by Puritansin 1642 5 Today, wt1ileanincredibly
theworld plays theacto<'- before being tom down two accurate reconstructionof
hence Its name, the Globe. shar<!holcleB in the Lotd seriously~ theonly years later to make way for the Globeexists- named
incident Involving a man's
Chamberlain'sMen. cheap r<!Sidential housing. Shakespear<!'SGlobe - the
Shakespeare ov.med a sing~ breeches being setalight and remainsoftheoriginal ate
then putoutwithale.
share, equal to 12.5per oent. located ll<lder acar par1<.

fl)l•1'00I!Jll.1N•Pi!t> The modern reconstruction of the Globe is located 230m [?soft] from the original site

Trip around the Globe The statistics•••

This famous theatre is unique - but how was it structured?

Roof

In 1599, the Globe had a
I • thatched roof, but it was

replaced w ith tiles after
catching fire in 1613.
The performance space
was open air.

Globe Theabe

Opened: 1599
Capacity: 3.000
Stage width: !3.Jm (43ft)
Stage depth: 8.2m (27ft)
Theatre diameter. 30m (100ft)
Closed: 1642

};;o..,..~ ;o;;,.ft~~~.' Balcony Storeys

The Globe's balcony was used The Globe had a three-storey
for performing as well as a seating arrangement used by
place to position the company's the m iddle and upper classes.
musicians. The balcony was Basically the higher the seat,
flanked by large wooden the more expensive it was.
columns that supported an
Foundations
overhanging roof.
Despite appearing circular in
Tiring house m~~~ Stage platform design, with a diameter of just
over 30m (98ft), the Globe's
The stage's back wall had three The stage platform extended foundations were actually a
doors on the ground floor and a the stage into the centre of the 20-sided polygon (icosagon). At
couple on the f irst floor as well theatre's pit. At 13.lm (43ft) the centre of the theatre lay the
as a balcony. These doors led to wide and 8.2m (27ft) deep, the rectangular stage platform.
the theatre's backstage area, stage was raised approximately
known as the 'tiring house', 15m (4.9ft) on the floor. It had Entrance (not shown)
where props and costumes a trapdoor at the centre for
were stored and actors There was one main entrance
prepared to perform. ...I quick entrances and exits. to the theatre, which was
~...). directly opposite the stage and
• c~ led into the pit. Two set s of
~- stairs near the entrance led
Pit into the upper seating tiers.
Surrounding the platform lay
the pit, a standing-only area 057
where the poorer visitors could
watch. Food and drink were
sold here and any rubbish was
dropped onto the mud and
straw on the ground.

•

Inside ajapanese castle

ns1• nese

We find out how Hirneji Castle- a 17th-centuryfortification- has stood
firm despite several centuries ofconflict and natural disasters

Built on a hill 45 metres (150 feet) above As is typical of traditional japanese beyond the perimeter, the home team would
sea level in southern-central japan, arcllitecture, Himeji Castle is an elevated then deploy an ingenious bevyof traps
Himeji Castle has survived woodenstructure featuring ornate tiling and designed to outwitand injure the incoming
innumerable feudal battles, sieges, embellishment. As welJ as gates, walls and aggressors, includingconduits down which
earthquakes and even a WWI! bombing. Wh ile other protective fixtures, Himeji and many they wou ld pour boili ng oil or water.
today it's famed as japan's largest castle, othercastles were equipped with a number of
construction ofthe original site began in 1333 defensive devices to s tall advancing foes. japan's best-preserved 17th-cen tury castle,
with the building ofa small fort. The fort wasn't Himeji becamea UNESCO World Herita ge Site in
turned into a castle stronghold until nearly 250 Before they could even think about breaching 1993. which is quite remarkable considering
years later, towards the end ofthe civil war era. the defences, the enemy would first have to what the region has endured, from ea rthquakes
The addition of three moats and dozens of extra navigate a frustrating maze ofsteep, snaking to attacks by US B-29 bombers. Ofcourse, since
buildings- including three large towersand a paths laid outaround the castle wa!Js. The the demolishment ofthe original1333 fort, the
huge, six-storey main keep, or tenshu- saw the physicaJlydemanding paths thatseemed to castle has been rebuiltand remodelled by
striking white complex become one of the lead directlyto the main keep - butwhich often various rulersand architects, but what's
greatest japanese castles ever built. led instead to a dead-end - would disorientate interesting is that neither nature norconflict
and tire invaders. And even if they made it has ever rna naged to get the betterof Himeji.

Tour of Himeji Castle Hip roof Dobei wall

Explore this impressive Japanese ca.stle to All reconstructed Japanese castles have an The white dobei walls
find out how it s tayed safe under attack wereconstructed by
elegant style of roof called irimoya, which spacing pillars about
Main keep L5m (Sft) apartand
features a hip-and-gable structure. Hirneji filling in between with a
located in a large has a rectangular hip roof, whereby the framework of wood and
courtyard the main keep, or longer two sides slope down toward the bamboo. Mud and clay
tenshu, is the highest tower walls and then turn up slighUy. were often mixed w ith a
in the complex. Due to its tough kind of Japanese
vulnerable wooden Gable grasscalled wara to
construction, it's covered reinforce the walls.
with thick. fireproof plaster. The two shorter opposing
Gates
Rock chute sides of the rectangle
slope too, but they also There are many gates among
Many keeps have feature a decorative the maze-like courtyards and
ishi·otoshi devices, or gable (the triangular bit) pathways or Hirneji, but all
rock chutes, protruding ' part of the way up. have similar construction,
from the walls. From here con.sisting of two columns
the defence can hurl f connected by a crossbeam.
rocks or boiling liquids
like oil onto invaders. ' .,,.. Plain interior

While the imposing fa~de
of a Japanese castle like
Hirneji may look striking,
the interiors are far more
modest Rooms are quite
dark with litUe decoration.

Loopholes Bailey Neribei wall

Japan's casUes featured Encircling the main keep is usually Walls of shattered stone. tile and clay
loopholes (like European a series of three baileys (extra
arrow slits) of various shapes, areas or defensive ground). The bride were mortared and co~~ered in
including circles. squares and
triangles, through which they main, or first, bailey directly hard plaster at Hirneil for quick
could fire projectiles upon encircles the tenshu, while the fortification wheneverbattle was
advancing enemies. second bailey surrounds the first, imminent These makeshift, earthen
and the third surrounds the second. walls did not feature the same
058 framework of pillars as dobei walls.

Teotihuacan 2.0LDER Tbe Acropolis "il•1 Io)i?iI Stonehenge

Buih around 110 BCE to Constructed circa 500 Beliewd to havebeen
BCE, the Actopolis in built circa 2500 BCE,
250 CEIn central Mexico, Greece's capital. Athens,
includes several temples this enigmatic religious
thlsdty contains the monument consisting of
Pyramid ofthe Sun,which - the most far"'OOS of rings of standing stones
is the thil'd·lar'gQSt
which is the Parthenon. Is found in Wlltsh.ke. UK.
w amld In the world.

fl)l•1'00I!Jll.1N•Pi!t> In 1974 o statue in the pogodo wos found to contain what's believed to be one of Buddha's original teeth!

Fogong Temple

China •'•t

The oldest wooden pagoda in Chinatodayis an
architectural marvel by anyone's standards

The pagoda, traditionaLly a tiered Anatomy of a pagoda Mezzanine
tower built ofstone, brick orwood,
originated in historic eastern Asia. Examine the Sakyamuni Pagoda of Inside there are four
Usually associated with Buddhismand used for Fogong Temple from top to bottom mezzanines (intermediate
the storing of relics and sacred writings, the
pagoda's architectural form has since been Steeple floors) between the
adopted by other religions and modified for pagoda's main five levels.
The steeple which
secularuse throughout the world. surmounts the pagoda's Floor
The Sakyamuni Pagoda of FogongTemple roof is 10m (33ft) tall and
serves as a lightning rod. The pagoda has f ive
forms the central element in a complex of full floors, each of
buildings erected by the Chinese Emperor Statue of
Daozong in 1056. Said to have been built on the the Buddha which houses Buddhist
site of his family home, the emperor was a icon.s and images.
devout Buddhistand demonstrated this This statue, surrounded
through the erection ofthis remarkable by images of other Pillar
wooden, nine-storey structure. Covered with a Buddhist deit ies, is the
profusion ofcarvedand painted decoration, pagoda's principal The pillars on each
the pagoda issupported by 24 exterior and devotional focus. floor slant slightly
eight interior pillars, and roofed with highly inwards and give
ornate and glazed ceramic tiles. Foundation
the building its
The pagoda has needed occasional minor The stone platform remarkable stability.
repairs over its lifetime and, despite surviving which supports the
numerous natural disasters, the only serious pagoda is 4m (13ft) 059
threat ithas faced came during the Second high and provides a
Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) when Japanese stable foundation.
soldiers raked thestructure with small-arms
fire. Today, the FogongTemple Pagoda is a
popular tourist attraction rather than a
religious site, but its cultural significance is
recognised in both Chinaand beyond. 0

Built to last

During the first 50 years of its existence, the Fogong Pagoda
survived seven earthquakes. The reason for the building's
resilience is both its design and building material. The key to
its wooden construction is found in its slanting pillars, which
act as both external and internal buttresses, and the 54
kinds of bracket arms used to create it. These interlocking
sets of brackets, called 'dougong' in Chinese (literally 'cap
and block'), provide increased support for the weight of
the horizontal beams that span the pagoda's pillars by
transferring the weight over a larger area.

In this way a building consisting of many storeys
may be constructed. Most importantly the use of
multiple bracket arms allows structures to be elastic,
which is how the Sakyamuni Pagoda has repeatedly withstood
earthquakes that have flattened many of its neighbours.

Brooklyn Bridge

One ofNewYork's most recognisable landmarks, the Brooldyn
Bridge was the first-ever steel-wire suspension bridge

Built between 1870 and 1883, the

Brooklyn Bridge links Brooklynand

Manhattan by spanning the East River

in New York City. Designed by a German Suspenders under tension

immigrant, john Augustus Roebling, it was his The two opposing forces - the cables
and the bridge deck - in balance
son, Washington Roebling, a nd daughter-in- produce tension in the suspenders.

law, Emily, who actually oversaw most of the

construction afterJohn's unexpected death just

months before building commenced.

The bridge consists of two main e lements.

Firstly, there are the two anchorages that are

positioned either side ofthe riverand between -

them are two towers lalso known as piers)

which stand some B4 metres 1277 feet) high.

Consistingof limestone, graniteand cement,

the towers- designed In a neo-Gothic

architectural style-stand on concrete

foundations that run 13.4 metreS(44 feet)and

23.8 metres(78 feet) deep on the Brooklyn and

Manhattan sides, respectively.

Secondly, the bridge itself is constructed

from iron and steel-wire cables, with a layer of

tarmac on the main deck. At 26 metresl85 feet)

wide and 1,825 metres 15,989 feet) long, the 'r!~~~~~~~~~

Brooklyn Bridgewas the longestsuspensio n _

bridge in the world when first built and held the

record for over 20 years. Roebling's design

includes many redundancies, such as a

diagonal stay system between cables and

stiffening trusses, which make the bridgevery

safe; indeed, even Ifone of the main support

systems were to fail altogether the bridge

would sag, rather than completely collapse.

More unusually, the bridge also has its own

nuclear fall-out shelter built into one

anchorage. Having fallen out of use and been

forgotten, the shelter was rediscovered in 2006, -::=::;=---7--~~~t~

along with provisions from the Cold War era. r-=:==~ Tower under
Designated a National Historic Landmark in
1964, since the Eighties the bridge has been • compression
floodlit at night to highlight its distinct
architectural featu res. lnltla lly intended to ...,._ _j:f:r.· The weight ofmassive
carry motor vehicles, trains, street cars, masonry towers

bearing downwards
produces compression.

bicycles and pedestrians, since the Fifties, the

bridge has only taken cars, cyclistsand foot

traffic. Over uo,ooo vehlcles, 4,000 pedestrians

and 3,100 cyclistscross It every day.

060

RECORD LONGEST SUSPENSION BRIDGE
BREAKERS
When completed in1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was a record holder,

but today it has beensuperseded by the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in

'SUPER SPAN Japan, with a main span of1,991 metres (6,532 feet).

fl)l•1'00I!Jll.1N•Pi!t> In 1884, showman PT Barnum paraded 21 elephants over the Brooklyn Bridge, proving its stability

The origins of suspension bridges Cultural

In a suspension bridge the deck - the ----------- Since its completion, the Brooklyn
load·bearing portion - is hung below The Brooklyn Bridge Bridge has inspired many an artist
suspension cables on vertical and poet. The modernist American
suspenders which bear the weight. during construction in poet Hart Crane, for example,
famously published the ode To
Although bridges of this design first the late·19th century Brooklyn Bridge in 1930. Regarded
as a wonder of its age, people
seem to have been invented in flocked to see the structure's
15th·century Tibet, it was really the opening with a spectacular
19th century which saw their fireworks display and regatta in
application on a massive scale. 1883 - a celebration which was
repeated on its tOOth anniversary.
The materials used in the
const ruction of the Brooklyn Bridge Many people have jumped off
were sourced in the US. The granite
blocks were quarried in Maine and the bridge as publicity stunts or
delivered to New York by boat. The wire
rope and steel cable were produced in suicide attempts, while others
local factories, while the pigment used have got married on it. In 1919 the
in the red paint with which the bridge Caproni heavy bomber, which was
was originally covered came from the then the world's largest aeroplane,
was flown under the deck, while in
m ines at Rawlins, Wyom ing.
The design and construction 2003 it was the intended target of

techniques employed in the Brooklyn an AI-Qaeda terrorist plot.
Bridge have changed little in their The Brooklyn Bridge has also
essentials over the last century or so.
Although at least 81 suspension bridges frequently appeared in Hollywood
today are longer than the Brooklyn
Bridge, they are all fundamentally the movies, such as I Am Legend, The
Dark Knight Rises and Godzilla;
same - except that now the materials
tend to be drawn from all over the more recently the bridge featured
globe rather than sourced locally. in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Live load Cable under tension

The weight of the traffic The two opposing forces -
the anchorage and weight of
that crosses the bridge, the bridge deck through the
as well as normal suspenders - create tension
environmental factors in the cables.

such as wind and rain.

Dynamic load 1 Dead load

Environmental factors The weight of the bridge
• which go beyond the itself - ie all the stone
and metal components.
::~: norm, such as sudden
gusts of wind or •

earthquakes, etc. 061

Chernobyl disaster

On 2.5 Apri11986, engineers at the

nudearplantatChernobyl begana

testthatwould lead totheworst

nucleardisaster In history.The powerplant.

located some lJO kilometres (So miles) north of

Kiev, Ukraine, was completed in1983·Three

years later, mglneers ran an experiment to

see howlongthe turbinescould continue

producingenergyln the eventofa powercut

Thefirst fatal error made bythe technidans

~~!!~• that day was to turn off the safetysystems.
Theywouldhaveaffected the experiment,

;....;.. - . - which Involved running the plantat low

power, butthisaction preventedworkers Nuclear fallout

realisingthe diresituation theyweresoon to The explosion and meltdown was
shocking enough, but worse was
put tllemselvesin.
st~l to come in the form of
The processof creating nuclear fission is
radiation spread and health issues
regulated bycontrol rods, which, when fM much of Europe.

inserted into the reactor core, absorb neutrons 31 people died immediately
after the event with 28 ofthose
and slow production. The idea was to lower
deaths a direct result ofradiation
lots of these rods to reduce the power output
poisoning inside and around the
and see what happened. Unfortunately, too
power plant site.
manywere loweredand the outputdropped at
The worst ofthe fallout centred
too high a rate. Rods were then raised again to around Chernobyl, but increased
levels of radiation were detected
increase output. returning toabouttz percent. in areas as far away as the UK,
Portugal and Sweden.
However, due to the rods being raised too
Thyroid cancer, caused by the
farand too quickly,a dangerous powersurge inhalation of contaminated air, has

occurredandthe reactoroverheated, the increased tenfold in adolescents in
Belarus since 1986with cases .,
watercoolingsystem unable tocopewith the adults also rising. Cases in children

sudden demand, turned to steam. up to the age of 14 also increased,

The emergencybuttonwaspressedand the but that number has since
reduced due to many of that age
rods began tolowerbut this led to even more group being born afterthe event.

rapid reactions in the core. The impact of the COI1taiTWlated

In the early hours of z6 ApriI, the reactor's air has also affected animals,
cropsand water supplies and the
roofwas blown offand radioactive mate.rial effects are stil widely felt to tNs
day. Radiation levels around
began to escape into the atmosphere.
Chernobyl wil remain far higher
The fire took nine days to extinguish and
than average fM many millennia.
the radioactive material had far-reaching

healthand political consequences.

062

STOP 1Zircaloy rods 2•••••••••••••••••Powa output 3•••••••••••••••••Big bang 4F'191•mu rn••••••••••••••••• the 5•••••••••••••••••Concrete CCM!MIP
The control rods were
FACTS made of neutron absorbing The fuel used in Chernobyt The buildup of pressureand Helicopters doused the A reinforced concrete
elements, encased in a tube flames in boron to slow
CHERNOBYL TRIVIA of zircaloy. This was used was two per cent temperatures of over the nuclear reactions. lead case was constructed
as it is capab~ of resisting 2,000'C (3,632'F) caused
corrosion by radiation. uranium·235, a f~y. to fonn a barrier frOO"' the around the plant to block
used TJSsion materia~ and an explosion that reportedly radiationand sand to
dampen the flames. radiation. Areplacement
each reactor produced rose 1,000 metres (3,280 is currently being buitt and
around l.OOOMW ofenergy.
feet) into the air. should be ready In 2015.

fl)l•1'00I!Jll.1N•Pi!t> At least 3a of the so rods needed to be inserted to be safe: when the plant exploded only six were inserted

Countdown to disaster

Find out how histo.-y's worst nuclear accident played out

0 Safety switches @ Rods dropped €) Rods raised e Water heating 0 Emergency

The safety switches were Control rods were lowered In order to get the plant The all-important cooling Pressing the emergency
to reduce power output, working again, the rods water began to overheat, button lowered the rods
intentionally turned off to but the power reduced too were raised causing a rapid turning to steam and failing again, but they displaced
much too quickly. increase in production. to cool the reactor. the remaining water.
allow the experiment to
(!) Radiation leak CD Clean up e Sarcophagus
run without intervention.
Nuclear radiation was Helicopters scrambled to A concrete shell was
0 Power surge f) Explosion released into the put out the raging reactor hastily constructed and
atmosphere where winds fire and limit the amount placed over the nuclear
The power level of the The reactor couldn't blew it over most of of radiation that was plant to limit the release of
system raised to 100 times contain the pressure continental Europe. escaping the plant. radiation from Chemobyl.
its normal output. Uranium buildup and a few minutes
fuel pellets began to later it exploded, blowing
damage the system. the roof off the reactor.

0

How it toppled the USSR of the
meltdown
The leader of the Soviet Union at the Furious at the lack of information
time of the Chernobyl disaster, and prot ection they had received, How many were directly
Mikhail Gorbachev, has claimed that especially as Gorbachev had affected by the disaster?
the incident was a key factor in the promised a new era of political
demise of the USSR. clarity and honest y, citizens railed 55,000
against the political system.
The government 's response t o the 6.4% died from
disast er was to try and cover it up as The general public lost faith in the
much as possible, with barely any govemment and the government in radiation
of ficial announcement of it and no turn lost control of the general
waming to residents in the public. Five years later, the Soviet 150,000
surrounding area as to the dangers Union was dissolved with Gorbachev
of radioactive poisoning. It took a quoted as saying, "The nuclear 17.4% were left ~
radioactive cloud that passed over melt dow n at Chernobyl [...] was disabled
Sweden to bring the event to the perhaps the real cause of the
world's attention. collapse of the Soviet Union." c
"655,000
!.~S-
76.2% underwent

medical supervision Q

063

Mochu Picchu

or1• n

Perched precariously between two Peruvian peaks, the ancient
Incan complex ofMachu Picchu is truly one of Earth's

STRANGE What did Machu Picchu's Answer:
BUT TRUE Incas use to tie up the Sun?
The lntlhuatana ritual stone at M.achJ Piochu is one
SUN LOVERS A A temple B A ritual stone C A long lasso
ormany stones atranged to point at the Sun during
lm•I\1•1!113N•l'.i!l' Mochu Picchu was mode o UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983
the wintersolstice. The lncan people believed this
stone tied the St.llln placealong itsannual path in
the sky. Its nome means 'hitching post of the Sun'.

Macho Picchu
I

Peru !:

•:•

065

The Sistine Chapel's ceiling

Explore the tools and techniques behind
Michelangelo's lofty Renaissance masterpiece

ln painting the Sistine Chapel's ceiling this, he laid out the linear structure of all the
in the early part of the 16th century architecture, which is consistent throughout.
Michelangelo had to overcome a
number of daunting hurdles. The first comes The last major obstacle that Michelangelo
directly from the physical properties of the faced was the sheer scale ofthe project, which
ceiling, as it isa barrel vault, which is a curved incredibly only took four years to complete.
surface. To make it more difficult still, that Painting the ceiling was a massive logistical
barrel vault is intersected with smallervaults undertaking and so he invitedsome of his
positioned over the windows. As such there are friends from Florence to Rome to aid him.
no fiat surfaces anywhere except around the
windows, where the artistalso painted a series As well as painting some of the recurring
of half-moon-shaped lunettes. As a result, even elements, suchas coin mns and statues, these
prior to pickingup a paintbrush Michelangelo assistants helped him to build the scaffolding
had to first work out how to create rea listie and mix/prepare the plaster, aswell as lending
portrayals of human figures in proper a hand with the manufacture of paints, the
proportion and in motion on these wildly trimming ofpaintbrushes and thesketchingof
uneven surfaces. His ability to pull this off is full-sized drawings on paper for transferral
testament to his immense artistic skill. onto thevault. This latter process involved the
Another major challenge in painting the papersketch beingpressed against the ceiling,
Sistine Chapel's ceiling wasactuallygetting up pricked with small holesaround the outlines
there, as it is 20 metres (65 feett above the Roor. and then covered with blackchalkdust to
Fortunately, a conservation campaign that produce a dotted outline on the plaster.
started in the Eighties revea led the method
Michelangelo employed to reach such heights: The famous fourth bay of
he constructed a complex scaffold. The scaffold the Sistine Chapel's ceiling
consisted ofa truss bridge that spa nned across showing the creation of man
the vaultand ran on rails thatwere at a
90-degree angle to the walls. This permitted
Michelangelo to access all areas of the ceiling
as the scaffolding could be moved a long the
rails- it was only ever coveringa quarter of the
vaultatany one time, as he needed ambient
lightfrom the windows to paint. Interestingly,
the holes that supported thisstructure can still
beseen in the walls to this day.
The third problem Michelangelo had to
tackle was how to lay out the sketch lines for
the entire ceiling. He did this by dividing the
vault intovarious units bystretching chalked
strings from one end ofthe chapel to the other
(with help from assistants!. beforesnapping
them against the prepared plaster. In doing

066

KEY Pope SiJ<tus IV(tight) Michelangelo M ichelangelo Preliminaryanalysis and Restoration of TOOSistine Chapel
be!jnswol1< is finally re-opened
DATES oommis.sions the completes his painting testscveconducted to the Sistine
SistineChapel to be ol the Sistine Chapel's assess the feas.bilityof Chapel to the public
SISTINE CHAPEL post·restotation.
constructed. ceii ng (tight). a restoration pro;ect.. oommences.

l•!ft1W•l!li3~1•1W Michelangelo is one of mony Masters to point in the Sistine chapel; others include Bottice//i and Pinturicchio

[J

--

Cardiff Castle

Heavenly bodies Bachelor pad

The gold-leaf dock·fac:e is Inside the clock tower is an
accompanied by statues extravagantly decorated 19th-<:entury
representing the Solar bachelor apartment built for the 20-yea..
System: Mercury, luna old Marquess of Bute.
(the Moon), Mars,
Siege defences
Jupiter, Saturn,
Burges built traditional defences
..aVenus,and Sol Into the castle for decoration,
Including machicolations - slits
(theSun) ........ from which boiling oil could be
poured on attackers.

Why does Wales'
most famous fortress
look like something
from a fairy tale?

Adorned with elaboratesculptures, Wooden walkway
covered walkwaysand dominated by
a striking dock tower, CardiffCastle A covered walkway leads
looksalmost too good to be true.
Builtsometime afteno81over the ruins ofa directly to the 19th·
Roman fort by the Normans, who were then century Marquess of
expanding from England into Wales, Cardiff Bute's apartments from
Castle was extended Ln the following centuries, the gatehouse.
notably in the early-15th century, where the
keep took shape, and Ln the 18th century, where Burges and Bute's
itwas embellished with a Georgian mansion.
In 1848, Cardiff Castle was inherited byjohn other fairy-tale fake
Patrick Crichton-Stuart, the third Marquess of
Bute- then still notsix months old - a nd its Burges and Bute didn't leave it at the more at home in Central Europe.
story soon took an unexpected swerve into the That Southern Wales.
past. "My luxury is art", wrote Bute later. "I have one castle; they built a whole new
considerable taste for art and archaeology, and Once past the portcullis and
happily the means to Indulge them." Armed one almost entirely from scratch in drawbridge, the interiors match
with his father's wealth and an eclectic taste in Cardiff Castle for ostentation and
history, religion, art, literatu re and even the Toogwynlais, north of Cardiff, which Castell Coch has been used by TV
occult, the18-year-old Butestruck up a series such as Merlin, Doctor Who,
friendship with eccentric architect and was to serve as the Marquess'
designer William Burges. The two began to and Da Vinci's Demons. A 1954
rebuild and decorate CardiffCastle to fit their summer home. Welsh Offtee Offteial Handbook
dream of how a medieval castle should look.
Extensively remodelling the interiorwith After dearing the weeds and describes Castell Coch as a "gigantic
cheeky carvings, stained glass, angelic statues debris away from the ruins of the
and vaulted ceilings, Burges dwarfed the 13th-century Castell Coch (Welsh for sham, a costly folly erected by an
original buildingwith Bute's new apartments 'Red Castle') in 1871, construction
in a 40-metre (130-foot) high clock tower began in 1875 and Burges 'rebuilt' eccentric Victorian architect to
decorated with the symbols of the Z·odiac. the castle with three historically satisfy the antiquarian yearnings of
Sadly, Burgesdied Ln 1881 before his finest dubiousconed towers and covered a wealthy nobleman." Ouch!
work yet- the breathtaklngArab Room, wooden walkwaysthat would look
inspired by his travels to Sidlyand Turkey-
was complete and Bute paid tribute to his
"soul-inspiring• friend in marble, carving both
of their names where they can still be seen
amid tile fairy-tale fantasy ofCardiff Castleby
stunned visitors today.

068

••••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••••• Saint F'., Bam!'s ••••••••••••••••• Waltham Abbey, Essex •••••
Cathedtal, lrelinl
Restoring and remodelling
Burges• first major work, the Interior in 1876,Burges
Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral painted the ceilingwiththe
signsofthe Zodac,
is a graceful Gothic something helater repeated
cN.trch that eamed the at catdillCastle.
architect a prize of £100.
Worcester College,

4Oxford
1 2 3 5 Th>Burgesovemauled the

IBth-centu'y hall and chapel in
1864, adding carvedanimals

and mosaics. Mostofhis wool<
was tetnOVed inthe 1960s.
STOP Knightshayes Ccu1, Mount stuart House,
lsleofBute
FACTS Devon
MarquessofBute's family
BURGES BUILDINGS He designeda new mansion home wasrebulk by Burges In
for businessman and
Gothic style. MountStuart
politician John Heathcoat·Amory, was the forst house to feature
remarkable because itwas the a heated swimming pool.

only cawenlional home hebuilt.

ft1l•1\1!I!IL\'"W•Pi!t> One outside woll is decorated with 15different animals -many were recorved because they weren't fierce enough

Herbert Tower Octagon Tower Roof garden

Built by the Herbert Containing the main spiral The walled garden in the
family in the 16th staircase, the striking Octagon Bute Tower is open to the
century, the Herbert Towe< is built in a Central sky, with a sunken
Towe< now contains European style rarely seen on fountain and murals
Burges' spectacular British castles. showing the Bible story
Arab Room with its of Elijah.
Moorish-style ceiling.

Banqueting hall

The banqueting hall is
covered in murals showing

Robert the Consul, the lord
who built the Norman keep

of the castle.

Library Cardiff Castle's real medieval history -
was far more bloody than romantic. A
The library was vital stronghold, it was used as a •
meticulously planned by prison (and execution site) for
architect William Burges high-profile traitors such as William --
down to the furniture. It is the Conqueror's mutinous son Robert
Burges' only complete -•
interior in the world. Curthose in 1106 and Welsh rebel lord
Uywelyn Bren in 1317. ••

Bren's execution disgusted the •
other English nobles in Wales and
fuelled their resentment toward Hugh
Despenser the Younger, a favourite of
King Edward II who had declared
himself the 'lord of Glarnorgan.' They

launched a revolt of tlheir own to cut
him down to size and sacked his
home at Cardiff Castle.

The Despenser War of 1321 to 1322
was crushed by tlhe crown, but the
days of Edward II and his flunky's rule
were numbered. The king was in
forced from power in 1326 and later
that year Despenser was
disembowelled over an open fire.
Cardiff Castle stayed in the family, but
Mure Despensers chose to live
elsewhere. Bad memories, perhaps...

069

072 Inside a Whippet 092 TheA7V
tank How this German tank was
built and operated
Discover the fastest British
094 Gunpowder
tank Learn about what gunpowder
is and how it was made
074 LUe in the trenches
Why has trench warfare come 094 Horse armour
to define WWI?
explained
078 Flying a WWII plane
Step into the aircraft that How were horses protected
trained pilots for WWII during battles?

082 The Sherman Tank 095 Inside the F-4
Phantom II
How this famous tank led the
Allied war machines in WWII One of the most iconic fighter
planes ever built
084 Brutal battering
096 Jousting explained
rams The intricacies of this martial
sport of the Middle Ages
How were these powerful

siege engines built and used?

085 Secrets of the Zulu 098 How drawbridges

Warriors worked

What made the Zulu warriors The key mechanisms of these
so successful?
fold-up entrances
o86 Meet the
099 Flint weapons
musketeers Look into the world of the
weapons before metal
The origins of this popular
military unit 099 Breaking the sound

088 Battle of Agincourt barrier

The most famous conflict of How does a w hip break the
the Hundred Years' War
sound barrier?

TheA7V

092

88 Battle

0 ofAginrourt

070

Meet the
musketeers

o86

-. How does
gunpowder
Battering
rants work?

084 094

•

' ,. 54 0

0"

"

Whippet tonk

ns1• tan

I• Son of Whippet

The fastest British tank of M ark I co-creator Walter G Wilson had been left out of Tritton's
WWI, the Whippet was a
deadly mobile gun nest Medium A project and thought he could do better. The Medium

The only British medium ta nk to see Behind the B's real innovations was the sloped armour at the front ofthe
action in World War I, the Medium hull, the ability to lay a smoke screen and having the crew in a
Mark A-later known as the Whippet arn1our separate compartment from the engine - all now standard
- was proposed by buslnessman William features in tank design. The f irst prototype was ready in
Tritton on 3 October1916and developed by his A look inside WWI's
chiefengineer, William Rigby. Tritton, along Whippet tank September 1918, but the end of the war on 11 November 1918
with Lieutenant WalterWilson, was the led to the order being cancelled w ith only 100 tanks in service.
inventor of the Mark I heavy tank and the Little Cooling system
Willie prototype, and hesawa gap in the Confusingly enough, the M edium B was also called Whippet.
battlefield for something faster than the Mark A fan and radiator, much like one
l's less-than-impressive top speed of 5·9 on a car, cooled the engine and
kilometres (3.7 miles) per hour. vented the heat through slats (or
Able to hit12.9 k:i lometres (eight miles) per 'louvres' ) in the armour.
hour the Medium Awasn't the hammer that
delivered the battlefield's killing blow like the Petrol tanks
Mark I, butwas designed to be more ofa chisel,
able to force open the weak pointsalready 3181 (70ga) of petrol were
subject to infantry assault, artillery carried at the front or the
bombardment orassault from the heavier tank. Though further from
models. While the Mark l's main weapons were the crew, it was fll()(e
its two six-pounder naval guns, the Whippet vulnerable to enemy fire.
relied on four machine guns mounted on its
fixed turret, which proved devastating to Identification markings
infantry caught in the open.
On 24April1918 justseven tanks ambushed The simple white/red/white
two German infantry battalions near Cachy in colours of the Tank Corps
Northern France and killed over 400 men.ln identified the vehicle as British,
another inddent that proved just how preventing friendly fire.
devastating these fast-moving machine-gun
nests could be, a single Medium A- called
MusicaJ Box by its crew-advanced so far on 8
August 1918 that it was completely cut off.
Musical Boxspent nine hours rampaging
behind the German Unes, destroying an
artillery battery, an observation balloon, the
camp ofan infantry battalion and raidinga
column ofGerman infantry before bullets
pierceda petrol can, causing fuel to leak and fill
thecabin with fumes. Fighting on in theirgas
masks, a field gun finally disabled the tank.
Ama2ingly, two of the three crewmen survived
and were taken prisoner.

on

I•U•J\7•l!n3N•It'U A .;mall number of Whippets were sold toJopon ond were used as late os the 1930s

Steering column

The steering column

controlled the throttle,
speeding up one track

and slowing the other

automaticallyso the

tank could turn.

Machine guns

Four Hotchkiss machine guns, firing up to

600 rounds per minute. Then~ was only one

gunner so he had to jump between guns.

Driver's seat

Although the Whippet typically had three
crewmen, there was only seat for the driver.
Everyone else had to crouch awkwardly.

Storage

Ammunition racks and a metal stowage bin
provided the tank's only storage. Around
5.400 rounds of ammunition were carried in
each tank.

-

Engines Gearbox ~

A 45hp (33.6kW) Tylor JB4 petrol For tighter turns, lel'
i!S
engine drove each track. In the speed of each
peacetime, they were commonly G
used on london double-decker buses. track had to be
changed by the 073
gearbox either side
of the driver's seat.

Drive wheel

The powerful drive wheel.s

at the rearof the tank
pulled the tracks over16

small road wheels.

Life in the trenches WWI battlefield revealed

• See how the complex trench system was laid out

Why has trench warfare come Artillery store
to define WWI?
This area housed
World War 1represented trenches, support trenches a nd heavy artillery and
a major shift In warfare barbed wire fences. soldiers waiting to be
practice. Aircraft and pushed forward. It was
machine guns were two examples, It would ta ke 450 men six hours
but whattruly dictated this conflict to construct a trench of just 250 located away from the
was trench warfare. metres (820 feet), after which
The first trenches ofnote were sandbags, wooden walkway front line to avoid
planks and barbed wire needed to being detonated.
dug byGermans in Septembert914 bestrategically placed to stop
after their charge through France flooding, collapsingand enemy
was haJted by Allied forces. In
orderto avoid losing ground, they advances. They were dug in zigzag
dug in, creating deep crevasses to patterns to stop enemies taking
hide in.The Allies quickly realised out an entiregroup ofsoldiers in
they couldn't breach these one attack. The most time-effective
defences and followed suit. What method of trench digging was
ensued wasa race to outflank the standing on the groundand
opponentaJong northern France. digging downward, but that left
The first trenches were faIrly soldiersat the mercy ofenemyfire.
shallow ditches, but evolved into The alternative was to dig down
an elaborate system of frontline then along, while still in the hole.
This was safer but much slower.

Support road

This t rack was used to
bring supplies and

weaponry to the front

line and remove bodies

and soldiers leaving the

dangef zone.

Support truck Artillery Secondary trench Refuge area

This vehide would Heavy-duty, long-range Location for troops Area used by soldiers to hide during heavy shelling
bring supplies and weaponry stationed well waiting to relieve the
rotate troops. out of enemy reach. attacks. Although slightly in the line <:A fire, it
front line. allowed for swift repositioning after shelling ended.
074

Sept1914 Nov1914 Jul1916 Apr1917 Octl918

Allied resistanceat The first Battle of Ypres The devastating Battla British and Canadian Allesb<eakthroogh the
Marne forcesthe in Flandersdraws toa ofthe Somme res<Jts in fon:estake VimyRidge so-called HindenlltJrg
necw the townof Arras line, gaining a
advancing German close, resultingin a heavy casualtieson waH!ndng.O:tOI)'.
In northern France.
anny to dig trenches. .O:too'y fortheAllies. both sides.

l•Jl•100I!Jl:fN•lW Around 14o,ooo Chinese labourers fought in Allied trenches during world war I

Trees No man's land Air-based recon

Small copses offered some These areas between For the first t ime in warfare,
shelter and camouflage, but Allied and German aircraft were used, usually to
many were destroyed by trenches were often check on enemy movements.
mortars or cut down for Their low speed and high
timber to line t rench walls. strewn with mines and visibility left them at high risk
bombs and exposed
soldiers to gunfire. of attack from below.

Barbed wire
fences

Barriers of barbed wire
halted many enemy

charges, allowing

riflemen to shoot down

The most dangerous
trench In the field, this
was the first line of

defence and the
starting point for an
attack charge.

This was about 300m located 75m (250ft)

(l,OOOft) behind the behind the front line,
soldiers here had to be
front line. This was ready to join the front
where soldiers waited line to repel attacks.
before being called

forward in battle.

No man's land Aircraft Tunnels

Exposed land between Provided reconnaissance to These were used to connect trenches
uncover enemy positions but also to sneak closer to enemy
the trenches. Had to be and location of artillery. lines to eavesdrop on tactics.
crossed to gain ground.
075

Life in the trenches

Located in north-east France, resulting in a similarly prolonged Trench firepower Barrier
Marne was the site of the war's first trench standoff.
example of trench warfare. German Trenches served as a point of Sandbags were put
The German forces failed to attack as well as defence
and Allied forces both realised the conquerVerdun because they had here partly to act as a
defensive power ofthisstrategyso to focus on the Britisharmy's
engaged ina shovelling'Race to the assault on the Somme.Thisbegan .-t~ ~~~- shield, but also to
with a massive week-long provide a stable rest for
Sea', building trenches all the way bombardment followed byan
to the North Sea at Ypres, Belgium. infantry attack. However, the ~" _ a soldier to rest his gun. =>~
German trenches were so weJJ
This then became the location for forti fled that the British shells Some trenches would Fire step
barely made an impact, so use sheets of
a bed-in that lasted for the thousands of Allied troops fell corrugated metal as This raised platform
remainder of the war, with attacks victim to the ruth less German shelter for soldiers
and counterattacks barelygaining machine guns. waiting in reserve. allowed soldiers to
reach over the trench
any ground at all, butat the cost of The end came atStQuentin Canal Rifleman wall, which was usually
millions of lives. in France.The British managed to slightly higher than the
storm through the Hindenburg Soldiers would spend height ofa man to
Verdun was another bloody site, Line, forcing the Germans back and up to two hours on avoid the enemy being
bringing about the first discussions guard duty here,
with the Germans launchinga ofsurrender. keeping an eye out for able to see inside.
devastating attack on the fortified an enemy offensive.

town. They broke French A day on the front line
resistance but the counter-
offensive eventually drove them Soldiers in the British army would line, you only got meat on nine out of
spend about 15 per cent of their 30 days. Diets were bulked out with
back to their startingpoint,
active serviceon the front lineand 40 corned beef, biscuitsand bread made
Job roles in ofdried ground turnips. As the
the trenches percent in the reserve trenches. kitchens were so far behind the front
line, it was nearly impossible to
The majority of soldiers in the trenches The average day on the front line provide hot food to the troops at the
were there to directly engage in
would begin with a stand to. This front, unless the men pooled their
combat These soldierswould have a would be around an hour before resources and boughta primus stove
sunrise and involved all soldiers
spectacular range of abilities and standing on the fire step, rifles ready to heat their food and maketea.
and bayonets fixed. They would then Other common meals included pea
experiences. Some may have been begin the 'morning hate', firing their
guns into the morning mist. This had soup with horse meat and
grizzled war veterans, while others the dual benefit of relieving tension Maconochie, a weak soup containing
and frustration, as w ell as helping to sliced carrot s and t umips.
would be fresh recruits, straight out of deter a possible dawn raid.
training. These people would be As dusk fell, the soldiers would
Breakfast would then be served, engage in an evening version of the
responsible for day·to·day
maintenance, guarding and, eventually, consisting of biscuits or bread and morning hate. Essential tasks like
going over the top and launching an canned or salted meat. Following repairing barbed wire and rotation of
breakfast would bea period of troops were done after dark. as the
0offensive on the German trenches. chores. These could range from enemy was less likelyto beable to
Officers would also be stationed cleaning weapons and fetching launch an effectiveattack.
in the trench. They would be soldiers of rations to guard duty and trench
maintenance. The latter would often Guards would look out for
higher status and would be in charge of involve repairing shell damage or night-time raids, with watches lasting
organising and leading night patrols, trying to shore up the damp,
which tried to keep track of the enemy's no more than two hours. Off-duty
location. They had marginally more underfoot conditions.
luxury than the other soldiers, sleeping men would try to snatch some
in a properdugout in the trench and One of the main challenges in precioussleep before the process
having first pick of the food.
everyday trench lifewas the food. At began again. Fal6ng asleep while
Medics ~ were stationed in three on watch resulted in death by
positions: the collecting zone (right by the start of the war, each soldier firing squad. Mostof the men
the battlefield), the evacuating zone would sleep in hollowed-out
(between the front and rear trenches) received 283 grams (ten ounces) of sections of the
and the distributing zone (where they meat and 227 grams (eight ounces)
would treat the wounded in pop·up of vegetables per day. HQ\11/EVer, as trench or on the /
hospitals). If a soldier couldn't be fire step.
moved, they would be treated where the war wore on, the meat allowance
they lay. The Royal Army Medical Corps reduced to 170grams (six ounces) of
(RAMC) is the only part of the British meat and, ifyou weren't on the front
army in which two~ hold
double Victoria Crosses.

Usteners @ would move through

tunnels closer to theenemy's front line

than the trenches. The idea w as to try

to hear enemy plans and put a halt to
the enemy planting mines close to their
trench. This was a very dangerous role
as tunnels could collapse at any time.

076

STOP Sanctuary Wood 2•••••••••••••••••YorksiWe Trench 3•••••••••••••••••Vuny Memmal Park 4•••••••••••••••••TheSomme 5•••••••••••••••••Verdun

FACTS 1This Isa musetJm and trench Originalydug by British Free tours to this site are OneofthemostsignlfiCatll Anotherkey siteIn the battle
troopsin 1915, the Yorkshire pr<Mded bycanadian battle sites in the war,where for the WesternFront,Verdun
TRENCHES TODAY amonetwori< 32km east of an estimated60,000 men was the locationofa bloody
Trench -located northof srudents. canadawas granted battle, with almost300,000
Ypres. You can \fisit the Ypres- has been restored tf1is pieoe of land after they diedin oneday.The area is soldiers kiled CN« ten
in oonsiderable detail and Is were instnmental in tllkingit monthsoffigllting.
woodland wheresoldiersonce from Germany in 1917. still COIIeted incraters and
shelteredandwalk in their free for ail tovisit today.
footsteps in the trenches. trench lines tothisday.

l•U•1\1!t!ll:iN•lW The machine gun was originally designed by American inventor Hiram Moxim os/ong ago as 1884

Trench network

By the end of the war,

around 40,200km
(25,000mi) of

trenches had been
constructed in total.

••

I No man's land
The average stretch of
no man's land -the

•

f

•

Different layouts

Trench systems varied,
with the British
preferring a front line,
secondary trench and a
reserve trench, the
French using just a
front line and
secondary trench, while
Germany had a massive
network oftrenches
going back up to
4,572m (lS,OOOf t).

Sandbags

Two orthree rows of
sandbags provided some
protection from enemy
fire and shrapnel. They
were also used in the
bottom to soak up water.

077

ng o WWII plane

We get into the • .. RC:A
aircraft that trained
pilots for World War II •

It's the summer oft940 and the German I
Luftwaffe Is preparing to launch a
mass air attack on Southern England. I
lfthey are victorious, Britain will be open to a
land invasion and Blitzkriegwill be upon the f:DV(Jd T- fi/Ngrth
British Isles. Luckily, brave and skilled RAF Arne!Dlli T-6 ThXtoi
pilots take down the Messerschmitts in their
Spitfires and Hurricanes, so the German length: 8.5m(28ft)
Operation Sea Lion never materialises. But how w._..., 12.&n(42ft)
were our pilotsso skilled at air-to-air combat?
Avisit to Goodwood Flying School in West Seating: Tandem
Sussex for a lesson way up In the sky almost Power: 45a<W (~)
exactlY74yearsafter the battle will most
certainly help us to understand. Engine: Pratt & WIWtney
On a glorious day on the south coast, we will R·l.340 Wasp
be overt,zoo metres (4,000 feetl in the air
learning to fly like It's1940. The plane taking PPrmopeloeller. Hamiloo Slandard
Two-Blade 12040
Oight today is nota Spitfire ora Hurricane; in Propeller

fact it's not even a fighter at all. Instead it's the
official World War ll training plane for the RAF,
the Harvard T-6, a Canadian-built Noorduyn
model. Before we go skyward, we meet pilot
Matt Hill who shows us the aviation ropes.

"The Harvard was used for advanced
training, gunnery practice and blind flying, it
had less speed and powerthan the Spitfire and
the Hurricane as it was a trainer, nota fighter",
Mattsays. He then delivers a crash course on
how to Oya plane so thatwhengeton board, we
won't be justa passenger- when we're in the
air, we will actually have control of the plane.

Before we take to the skies it is important to
know the history behind the aircraft. The
Harvard was the second step in a RAF fighter
pilot's training. Prior to this, a budding pilot
would take to the skies In a Tiger Moth biplane.
Tbisaircraftwould be used for a four-and-a-
balf-bourtrainingsession to hone the skillsand
art of Dying before ramping up the power in the
Harvard. Mattexplains: "This plane (the
Harvardl basa hydraulicsystem, brakes, a tail
wheel and flaps, which the Tiger Moth doesn't.
People wbo have Down the Mustang (US WWII

fighter planeI say it is very, very similar."

078

I•U.1\7•1!n3N•It'U Despite the Spitfire's popularity, the Hawker Hurricane shot down more Gerrmn fighters in the Bottle of Britain

RAF fighter aces during

the Battle of Britain

NAME AIRCRAFT KillS

Pilot Officer Eric Lock Spitfire

Flight Ueutenant Archie McKellar Hurricane ~ 19

Sergeant James lacey Hurricane ~ 18

Sergeant Josef Franti5ek Hurricane ~ 17

Flying Officer Witold Urbanowicz Spitfire

*F 242• •

46 - - 'I

••

AJ5B3
••
•

.. . . •

I •

C·FRWN - a..

3830

•

Flying o WWII plane

The Harvard was used by30 countriesas part The Cessna 1725
of their respective air forces and the last
military usage was as recent as1995 in the Skyhawk, a new
South African armed forces. training plane

On inspection ofthe Harvard, it is obvious The Harvard: inside and out
thisstriking machine isalmost entirely
unchanged since the1940s. In fact, a fresh coat A trip around the T-6 and its main features
of paint is literally the onlydifference. The first
production model flew ln 1938 and its successful Cruising speed Cockpits
test flight convinced the British to order over
300 for training purposes. F'ar from a relic, the Although the top speed is The Harvard contains two
original instruments are a ll still in complete slightly higher, the Harvard cockpits; one for the pilot and
working condition and the dual cockpits are generally cruised at around
exactly how they would have been in the war. 230km/h (145mph) at an ideal one for the Ieamer. Both have
With that, Matt calls an end to the ch itchat as altitude of 2,440m (8,000ft). very similar instrument panels
the runway beckons. The Top Gun-esque suit is
donned and into the skies we go. and the learner solo control
can be engaged at any time.
The flight itself lasted 40 minutes. F'irst. we
undertook a drcuit of the airfie ld and witnessed
some breathtaking views of the nearby towns of
Chichesterand Bognor Regis. There wasn't
much time to take in the sights, however, as it
was now our turn to take the reins. Matt
prepared the plane for a change in control by
maintaininga steadyspeed and rna king the
plane level. With a slightshunting motion, the
craft was now in our hands.The Harvard is
controlled by a central stick which you move in
the direction you want the plane to go. The stick
was incredibly sensitiveand a slight movement
to either side would alter the plane's Hight path
considerably. It felt very tense being in a tiny
vehicle ina huge expanse ofsky.

After the shortsolo journey, it was time to
relinquish control and hand over to Matt, who
would now do some extreme aerobatic
manoeuvres. We began with a fu ll loop, which
gave the experience of around 3g's worth of
force. Next up was the barrel roll, which was
followed by twists and dives that resu lted in a
similar amount of g-force. The only way to
describe the feeling Is to Imagine the biggest
and fastest roller coasteryou've been on and
then multiply it by ten.

Leaving Goodwood, you couldn't help but
wonder how the RAF performed these a mazing
moves, all while engaging in warfare with the
mighty Luftwaffe. It boggles the mind that
these brave men did this just a touch over 70
years ago. The Harvard T-6 is a wonderful
machine and undoubtedlya key component in
the RAF' having the skUI to win the Battle of
Britain and halt the German advance.

To tryyourhandat Oyinga World War II plane lor
yourseU, visit www.goodwood.eo.uk/avlatton lor
more in/ormation.

080

THE 1,012 RAF LOSSES 1,918LUFTWAFFE LOSSES 2,927ALLIED PILOTS
STATS
601 HURRICANES SHOT DOWN 357 SPITFIRES SHOT DOWN
B~ OF BRITAIN

In action Cont rol

In the war the T-6 could Steering is done using
also function as a FAC
(forward aircontroller) the oentre stick,
to support frontline
troops by surveying the although differential
local area. braking in the tailwheel
can be used as well.

Although strictly a

training plane, tlhe
Harvardcould hokllight
machine gunson its
wings and oould ewn
include bomb racks.

Range The Harvard can be
stretched to a service ceiling
On a full tank and in of 7,376m (24,200ft) before
good conditions, the the elevation is too high for
plane can fly up to its Instruments and

1,175km (730mi). That's The Tiger Moth
served as a
furtlher than from John o' preliminary
Groats to land's End!
training plane

Hydraulic
system

Activated by a push

of a button, tlhe

system allows you to

use tlhe gears and

flaps on tlhe plane.

The Sherman Tonk

erman

How this famous tank led the Allied war machines inWWII

The first use of the tank as a military The statistics... What's inside?
weapon was In the first World War at
the Battle of the Somme. Armoured Mt,Shennon Delving unde rneath the
vehicles would becomea big part of warfare but bodywork of a Sherman tank
it wasn't until the Second World War that they F'rst year of service: 1942
became essential. The most essential ofa ll the Amount made: 50.000 Engine Turret
Allied tanks was theSherman. Crew: five
Titled the M4MediumTank,ltwasnamed length: 5.84m(!916ft) The engine was situated at TheSherman had a fully
afterWilliam Tecumseh Sherman, who was a Width: 2.62m (8.6ft) the rear of the tank and 360-degree traversing
Union general in the American Civil War. It Height 2.74m (8.99ft) varied between each
replaced the MJ armoured vehicle and was model. They were made turret, which revolved
providedas part of the American Lend-Lease Max speed: 48lcmlh (3(mph) primarily by three US on a rail using an el!!!etric
policy to its allies. It was Hrst used in 1942by the Max r.onge: l93lcm (120mo) companies, General
British, to tussle with the German Panzer Tlls Weapons: 75mm maingum 3x Motors, Ford and Chrysler. system. Some versions,
and IVs for battlefield supremacy.
The Shermanwas based onspeedand machinegms like the Sherman Badger,
manoeuvrability. It had weakerarmour and less Engine: 317kW(425hp) were turretless.
equipment than Its German counterparts and
with the introduction of the Axis' Tiger and Tracks
Panthermodels, itbecame Inferior on the
battlefield.Thiswassoon remedied with the Using a V!!!rtical Volutl!!
introduction of the Firefly, jumboand Easy Eight Spring SuspE>nsion (WSS),
variants. The tank's main tactic was to fire an th!!! tank had 78-link tracks,
armour-piercing roundand then incinerate the which was d!!!signl!!d to put
unarmoured and exposed enemytank. minimal pri!!SSUrl!! on thl!!
Shermans were always Helded in great numbers ground to k"""P it light and
and worked well In partnership with M1oTank nimbi!!! on all tl!!<rain.
Destroyers. TheSherman was used extensively
in the African, French and Italian campaigns
until the end of the war. Some models could
attach a flamethrower, rocket launcher or
bulldozer blade, as well asamphibious versions,
which were used in the 0-Day landi ngs.
Even after the war, the Sherman was still used
frequently. Its reliability and low running cost
allowed it to be deployed In the Korean War, as
well as byother nations, with Australia, Brazil
and Egyptand many more having theirown
variations ofthe successful Sherman model.

082

T-34 Panther Firefly

The T·34 was a heavily ThisGe-rman tank"s Designed by the British.
arrn"""'d S<wlet battle protection was so tough it was theonly Allied
tank with good f~tepower. tank that could takeoo
The trusty and dufable that Itwas still used as the featsomeGerman
_ .,. standard by several Panthers and Tiger'S and
T·34 is still used by some have a hope of winning.
countde:s today. other natioosatound
Topgun
the wOOd after thewar.
The main Browning M2HB
More than ten different versions were mode of the originoiShermon tonk design 12.7mm .50-calibre

Main gun machine gun was located
on the turret and was a
Most Shaman tanks utilised a rapid·fire anti-infantry
75mm main gun, which fired alte<native to the main
explosive shells. Later in the war, Howitzer shells.
76mm and 105mm versions were
introduced for extra firepower.

Driving and steering

The tank included f ive
forward gears and two
steering levers and the

drivet's vision was
protected by metal hoods

and bulletproof glass.

Sights

Originally a periscopic
sight, these had been
ch.anged by the African
campaigns to high-power
telescopic sights - an idea
taken from the Germans -
enabling far superior sight.

Sherman tanks
passing through

Bayeux

Escape hatch Machine gun

To allow for quick The bow gunner had
escapes after a 7.62mm .30-<:alibre
sustaining damage, machine gun to
later models included an strike closer and
emergency hatch on the faster infantry. It was
floor below the bow gunner. protected by a
reinforced sloped

front hull.

Battering roms

rams

How were these powerful siege engines built and used?

Battering rams were one ofthe most Roof Chains
common pieces ofsiege equipment
from antiquity right through to the A wooden board Due to the Immense
Middle Ages, often granting offensive forces oovered with wet weight of the ramming
access to an enemy's forti fled stronghold or city. animal skins protected
Atypical battering ram consisted ofa soldiers below from ' tnmk, thick rope or
rectangular wheeled frame from which a large m issiles and also large metal chains were
tree trunk was slung via ropes or chains. The snuffed out fire arrows. typically used to take
suspended trunk would then be rocked most of the burden.
backwards and forwards within the frame until I
it swung with great force. By placing an obstacle
- such as a wooden gate- in the ram's path, it Cap
could transfera vastamount ofenergy into the
target, often shattering the defence. The tree trunk was
However, for a ram to get up to speed, a team capped with a pointed
ofsoldiers was required to first place it in steel plate. This helped
positionand also control itsswinging - both of prevent sPlitting in the
which are difficult when under fire by ranged ram when pounding
weapons. To counter this, battering rams often through gates/doors.
featured triangular wooden coverings
stretchedwith wetanimal hides. This shielding ••
not only protected the soldiers from direct
missile strikes butalso the risk of fire, with the Grips
hides extinguishingany flaming arrows.
The age of the battering ram came to a close Bolted into the side of
largely due to the proliferation ofgunpowder the trunk was a series
and explosives in the late-Middle Ages, with of metal bars, which
armysappers using these Incendiary devices to enabled the operators
bring down gatesand walls much faster.
and increase its swing.

084

••••••• CWJ •••• 5p6w ••••••••••••••••• Poison •••••••••• Rifle
••••••
A 0.6m (2ft)hatdwood A long, thin thtowing Zulu warrior would poison The Zulus also captured
javelin, the Jpapa spear many slngle·shot
was once the traditional thek spear4ips with an Martini-Henry rifles at the
weapon of the Zulu. but extract from the bark of the start of the Anglo·Zulu Wat.
it was replaced with the combretum caffrum tree. These were the standard
shottet iklwa by Shaka. Parts of the tree are also fitearm of the British Army.

used in traditional medicine.
STOP Axe ••••••
••
FACTS 1 2 3 4 5A semi-circular iron blade
•attached to a wooden
ZULU WEAPONS handle, the Zulu axe was
•used by the most
esteemed leaders and had
•to be held in both hands.
club with a knob on the
end, the iwisa - atso
known as the knobklerie

- can elthet be thrown or
used similarly to a mace.

rets The anatomy of a
rr1• ors fearsome warrior

How did the Zulus become SouthAfrica's What items the Zulu took into battle
most feared fighting force? and how they used them

From 1816 to 1879 the Zulu Zulu warriorsalso gained new Headdress Necklace
Kingdom became one of weapons, including the short,
the most powerful tribal Each tegiment wote The more important
societies in what is now South stabbing il<lwa spearIthe name a matching the warrior, the more
Africa. Only the arrival of the headdress, usually elaborate the necklace
British Empire finally ended their gruesomelysaid to be the consisting of a - kings like Shaka Zulu
expansion across the KwaZulu- sound made when pulled leopard-skin band wore lion teeth.
Natal region in the bloody Anglo- from a corpse), and revised with a feather plume.
Zulu War of1879, after which the Cow tail
Zulu Kingdom became subject to tactics. Zulu warriors were Shield
the authority of Queen Victoria. trained harshly too, forced to Oxtails were
Born around1787, Shaka Zulu, throwaway their sandalsso Shaka introduced the worn on the
the illegitimate son of chieftain theycould run faster - those longer oxhide shield so legs and upper
Senzangakhona, had a lot to prove, who complainedwere that the warrior could arms to make
and he did so the hard way. Taking simply killed- they crouch beneath it or knock the warrior's
control after his father's death, reportedlyjogged up to 8o his enemy off balance. muscles look
Shaka curbed the power ofthe bigger from
witch doctors and transformed the kilometres I50 miles) in a day, a distance.
army with reforms. Among those
was a policy ofabsorbing defeated with children as youngas six
tribes into his kingdom and running after them with food
promoting men based on ability and othersupplies.
rather than family ties.
ByShaka's death in 1828, the

Zulu Kingdom had expanded to
coveran incredible 29,8oo
square kilometres 111,500 square
miles) and ruled an estimated

25o,ooo people. 0

The Zulu's Coat of arms stabbing spear
would be jabbed
fonnation Each regiment used a under-arm up into
different pattern of the enemy's ribs.
The 'Buffalo hom' or 'bull-hom' oxhide so they could
be instantly tecognised
formation was the core battle strategy by its colour-s.
of a Zulu army. It had originally been
developed for hunting, but Shaka Bare feet
began to use it in battle, with
devastating success. Fighting without sandals
allowed the Zulus to
The bulk ofthe force would be in the move quickly and quietly
through the tall grass.
middle as the 'chest' of the buffalo,
made up of battle-hardened warriors.
They would charge into the enemy and
keep them well and truly occupied

whiletwo smaller forces of 'horns'
would circle around either side to
completely surround their foe. The

horns were often comprised of
younger and faster warriors.

A fourth force, the 'loins', would be

held in reserve ready to provide
reinforcements if the enemy looked

like they might break out ofthe Zulu's

deadly trap.

085

The musketeers

eett emus

One ofthe most popular militaryunits for centuries, musketeers fought in
battles and protected esteemed rulers all the way from France to India

Musketeers were an early form of (the Royal Household)- upon which the
fictional musketeers of Dumas's The Three
soldierwhowerearmed with Musketeers are based - Spain, Britain, Russia,
Sweden, Poland and even India each developed
muskets. They acted asa bridge unit theirown musketeer units in this period and
used them on the battlefield frequently.
between traditional infantry- which fought on
Musketeers as a common military unit were
foot and typically hand-to-hand with swords largely phased out by the middle ofthe 19th
century, with developments in firearms
- and dragoons, a type of light cavalry armed rendering the musket obsolete. With the
introduction ofthe rifle-which could shoot
with long-ranged weapons. Thisgranted them both farther and much faster than the musket
-the riflemanunit could emerge, negatingthe
a level of versatility and flexibility most prized need for the greater speed of the mounted
musketeer. This, combined with the decline of
on the battlefield, with musketeer units many dynastiesthroughout Europe - like the
Ancien Regime of France- sawaU musketeer
typically reserved for the protection of nobility units permanently disbanded.

or, in many Western nations, royalty.

While musketeers asa unit are oider(see

'Musketeer origins' boxout for details), they

didn't emerge in Europe until the 16th century,

with the concept only really taking offon a

large scale in the early-17th century. While this

particularera was dominated by the French

musketeers of the Malson du Roi -

A Prussian engraving of a

French musketeer (right)

from the reign of Louis
XIV (1643-1715) ~-47"'l,...

086

••• ••• ••• •••
:• For richer, not poorer :• More than tlree •4:• Behind the times : 5:• Mort realistic
1 : 2 •3Comb: d'Artagnan Despite Dumas's""""' Indeedoneoftheonly things
The real Cornied'Artagnan was In fact, far from emerging Oe5pite the Dumas """"'

nothing like the fictional hero : •from poorandhumble :••••• beingcalled The 'Three' : stating tllat O'Attagnan left : in Dumas's fictionalised
portra)'ed inAlexandre acco<.nt ofO'Artagnantllat Is
Dumas's famous~ The ••••••• origins. the real-lite Musl<eteers, halfway through ••••••• •his home to becomea ••• 100 percent accurate Is the
ThreeMusket...-s, wllichitself D'Artagnanwast~ sonofa O'Artagnanofficially joins U>e;r date ofthe soldier'sdeath - he
was based on a semt-fiction. noll4emanwho lived In a la'ge musketeerIn 1625, in fact the ••• died in Maastricht in 1673.
ranks, taking thenumberof real man did not do so until
chateauin SOI..Jth.west Franoe. : musketeers W\ the tale to four. later- during the 1630s.

l•Jl•100.IDI:iN•l!'W Musketeers of the Guard fought both on foot and on horseback

Unifon11 of a Hat
musketeer
M usketeers started off in the West
Check out the essential kit worn by famed wearing simply omate hats, but by
musketeer captain, Comte d'Artagnan the early-19th century these evolved
into metal helmets. They did remain
Bandolier decorative though, often w ith large

Bandoliers (a pocketed belt) feathered plumes attached.
and ammunition pouches/
bags were a common Tunic
accessory for musketeers,
so they were always well Considerably more elaborate than
supplied on the battlefield. standard Infantry, musketeer tunics
These belts were strapped
around the waist or chest. and - in later periods - cuirasses,
favoured manoeuvrability over
Musket armoured protection.

The musketeer's primary HoldaII
weapon, the musket was
deadly albeit cumbersome As musketeers were on the
to use. Its slow reload rate road during much of their
restricted use to four shots
per m inute at best m ilitary service, each carried
their own holdall to store food
Cape
and personal belongings.
A feature associated more
w ith earlier iterations of Sword
m usketeers, the cape offered
some protection from the As musketeers were trained to fight
elements while t ravelling. both on horseback like dragoon.s

Musketeer and on foot like infantry, they were
also equipped w ith a sword for
on•g1• ns hand-to-hand engagements.

Unli ke the musketeers of the Boots
Maison du Roi - the Royal
Household of France - who were Boots were an important part of
founded in 1622 during the reign the musketeer's uniform, both
of l ouis XIII, musketeers had
already been operating across the communicating their prestigious
other side ofthe world in China posit ion and providing good support
since the 14th century. Indeed,
on the ground and on horseback
through the Ming Dynasty (some had spurs attached).

(1368-1644) no national army "The musket wos
was complete without multiple deod/y, albeit
musketeer divisions, with
soldiers armed with matchlock cumbersome to use"
muskets. Surviving texts
indicate that these musketeers 087
fired in lines and typically from
a kneeling position. This
development ofthe concept
of musketeers in China
stemmed from their
invention and mastery of
gunpowder, with the musket
revolutionising traditional
forms of combat.

England vs France

The Battle ofAgl ncourt Is England to Isabella offrance. These prisoner. In contrast, the English sh redded byarrows. The battle was.
one of Europe's most losses were In the low hundreds. without doubt, one of the bloodiest
famous battles, echoing contested claims led to a number of meat-grinders everwitnessed.
down the centuries In bruta Ibattles throughout the 14thand Interestingly, however, despite the
15thcenturies, which cante to a head conflict beingsuch an obviousand Thesecond,and arguably more
historical record, song and even In the BattleofAglncourt, a horrific poignant reason, is despite Henry
dramatic re-enactment onstageand celebrated English victory, the battle
film. The battleitself was part ofthe battle fought between King Henry v is remembered today more for Its vivid winning the dayatAgincourtand later
Hundred Years' War, a seriesof representation of the polarised views
and King CharlesVI on250ctober1415· and consequences that war In general being named regentand heir to the
conflicts thatactually waged for over The battleitselfwas a major English generates(for William Shakespeare's Frenchthrone- agoalhehadchased
all his adult life - he died before he
a century(tJ37·145JI between the vlctoryagalnsta numericallysuperior take on this, see'The turning of the
Kingdoms of England and France for Frencharmy-see'Agincourt battle tide' boxout over the page).There are a could be crownedand his successors
control ofthe French throne. map' fora comprehensive rundown number of reasons why opinions proceeded to quickly lose both the
aboutitare so divided. throne and much ofthe territory in
The two contendersfor the throne -that rested ona seriesoftactical
mistakes by the French, commanded The first is due to the sheer mainland France that he had won
were the House ofValois, a noble magnitudeofthecasualllesand the through his campaign.
French family from the capellan by ConstableCharlesd'Albret, and a way in which they died. Records
dynasty that had da imed the throne seriesoftactical masterstrokes by indicate men were decapitated, Lastly, despite Henry'sactions
underSalic Law, and the House of Klng Henry V. Indeed, Agincourt bas cleaved in two, had their bones belngacceptedasjustifiedat the lime

Plantagenet'sAngevin famlly, who gone down in French historyas one of shattered, were trampled to death. by both french and English
contested the claimdue to the suffocatedand had their major organs chroniclers, hisactionswere heavily
their most disastrous defeats, with
ancestral marriage of Edward nof around 8,ooo french troops killed and criticised both morally and ethically
hundreds ofothers wounded or taken In latertlmes.Argumentsnotonly

088

STOP ••• ••• ••• •••
The waiting game
FACTS • : Outnumbered

BATTLE OF ; •
AGINCOURT One of the most contended Issues
: v !Victory songs ,••••••

; 2 ; 3 : 4 TheEnglish ; 5AttertheEnglishvicto.y

l at Aglncoutt, several
celelnto.y songswere
: ===~~shwritten. Themost

famous ol these is
The Agineo!Ntcarol.
The derogato.y 'V' signol modem :• Welsh allies Despite Hen)ls resounding
culture sterns from Agincoort. The
gesturewas used byEnglish archers forces atAglncourt

ln defaance ol theFrench threat that : worenot just from England but ••••••• victory, hewas not
znycaught longbowmen would haw
theirtwo bow·fngers cutoff. •••• foroes. Consetvatllle ligures lie ••••••, Wales too. Indeed,oneof the ollidally recognisedas
regentand heir to the
around 4:3, while other'estimates most notable genetals, Dafydd French throne mtill420,
•, place itat 4:10t'even 6:L Gam, died In the battleaftet •• Trveyears atmr ~conflict.
reportedlysa.ing Henry's ife.

I•JIIJW!JitW•lW Actor Kenneth Bronogh played Henry v in the 1989 film adaptation ofshakespeare's ploy

contested his right to invade, butalso Bom

his decision to executeall buta handful Reign
of the French prisoners taken at the
battle, which while numbers are Predecessor

unclear, probablyapproached, oreven Death
exceeded, a thousand men. Indeed, the
Frenchlosses at Agincourt largely
obliteratedtheiraristocracy, with
hundreds ofnoblemen (including three

dukes, eightcountsand one viscount),
knights and evenan archbishop killed
in the fighting.

In this feature HowItWorks breaks

down the main eventsof the battle
itself,analyses the surrounding
context, highlights the key players and
explores the ramifications that
Agincourt had on the economic, social

and politicalspheresof Europe in the
Late Middle Agesand beyond. .,

089

En land vs France

Agincourt
map
Discoverthe mainevents,
tacticsand terrain ofthis
famous conflict

Contextually, the two sides and Voyennes ·~•..<=oult:t
approached the Battle ofAgincoun
and resumed his Unit guide English
from completelydlfferent march north.The French forces
directions- both literallyand then proceeded to shadow the French Sta:ldard: R(Pf<ll Alms of England
metaphorically. Henry had been English right up until24October, Men (estimate): 6.()00.9.000
campaigning In Francesince where they met them atAgincourt. Slandard: Atms of the
Kingdom ol France Archers: Red triangle •
t3August1415, which had seen The French, however, did not M en (estimate): 12.()()().36.000 Infantry. Pine
him besiegeand take the port engage the English Immediately,as Archets and infantry: 8tJe Cavalry. Red and white •
city of Harfleurand cover they were expectingaddltional King Henry v : Maroon •
hundreds ofmiles through troopstoarrlve to support them.As Cavalry. Bb! and whte Duke or Yori<: Orange •
Normandy.As a result, the Sir Thomas Erpingharn: Green
such,the first day passed without Conslable Charles d'Aibret:
Eng!Ish forces were tired Incident, settingup 25Octoberas Baron Thomas de Camoys: Yellow
from fighting and marching. aswell oneof the most famous days in Oai1< blue •
as suffering from food shortages, European mllitary history. Duke or Ale~on: Purple •
and disease was rife.
Fora blow-by-blowaccount of Duke or Bar: Turquoise 8
In contrast, the French had Count Faueonberv: Cyan 8
assembled a largearmy during the battle, read through our
Henry's taklngofHarOeur at Rouen chronological guide ofthe main Count Dammarlln: Silver
and then moved to block Henry's events, which can be followed
crossing of the RlverSomme on his directly on the battle map.

march north to the English
strongholdofCalais.The French
forceswere much fresher,
substantial in number-with many

noblesandsoldlersalikeamassed
-and betterequipped. All these
factors led them to believe,quite
understandably, that ifa battledld
happen, theywould win decisively.

After beingInitially prevented
from cross! ng the River Somrne.
Henry finally managed to cross it
south ofPeronneat Bethencourt

The turning of the tide Step-by-step

Shakespeare'sdramatic re-enactment of the Battleof event ide
AgincourtinHenryVsendsoutsomernixedmessages

WllllamShakespeare'splayHemyV TTJ...--

(c. 1599)ls l~teresting ln itsambiguously C R. O N IGl E Howdid HenryVleadthe Englishto victory?
polarised v1ews on the battle, Henry ·
himself. and war in general. Onone l! 1Henryadvances towards the French fronta Icharge, Henry ordershis flanking
'!:...fllt.,-r~~ frontline, ordering his archers to squadsof longbowmen to move up the
uproot the!r defensive spearwalland battlefieldwithin the trees to the right
hand, Shakespeareappears to praise - "'1::- replace It farther up the battlefield.This and left, advancing to a polntwhere they
catches the French forces off-guard and can fire from either Dank into the centre
mllltaryconquestandjustify Henry's ""'!.t::;••' : ; : - they faII to charge before the spear wall ofthe French troops. Like the frontline
is reinstated. English longbowmen in archers, they set up spear walls.
campaign- most notably in his famous the central frontline begin bombarding
the French with arrows. 3 Constable O'Aibretorders the French
StCrispin's Dayspeech, where Henry frontline to chargeat the English
2 While the French frontline try to frontline. Theyare met by multiple
rallies his men. On the other hand, the quicklyorganise themselves fora waves ofarrows, which decinlate large

play doesn't shyaway from detailing

the horrors ofwarand evencloses with

a reminder that, while Henry's victory

won him the French throne, in the long

term his sonlostitand the battle was,

historically, largely inconsequential.

090

STRANGE BLOODI FSS BATTLE
BUT TRUE
Despite Shakespeare's play Henry V revolving entirelyaround the Battle of
PLAY FIGHTING Agincourt, the stage production actually features no depiction ofcombat

whatsoever, focusing instead on events before and after the fighting.

I.U•JW!II:f~l•lW As well as being famed for his military prowess, Henry v was also considered a shrewd political diplomat

it went wrong for the French

Drawingonthe lessonsofmilitaryhistory,we weighup whereCharles d'Albret's
strategyfoundered,andhowthe Frenchmighthavewonthe battle

Key to Henry's victorywas his good use oftactical bombardedfrom the front and sides by Henry's well-placed
positioningand ConstableD'Albret's poor use ofit. units, severelydecimating their troops before they even

Indeed, with D'Albret's biggerand fresher force, he reached the English frontline. Onceagain, a moreopen
arguably should have won the battleifhe had made
a few key adjustments. terrain could have avoided this.
First, ifD'Albret had engaged Henry's forces ona Third, and last, D'Albret's forces-notably the French

more open terrain, hewould have beenable to better army's noble knights - were outfittedin heavy armour.
utilise his largeselectionofcavalry, which during the Whilesuch gear prOIIldeda greater degree ofprotectionIn
skirmishcould not outflank the Englishforces andso
were forced to charge head-on. hand-to-hand combat, itseverely limited their movement
Second, D'Albret totally underestimated the damage and agility, something that would becomefatal on the busy,
muddy central battlefield. Indeed, reports indicate that the
that could be Inflicted by the English longbowmen, who battlefield becameso cramped and sodden thatwhen
were the bestarchers in the world at the time. As such,
Frenchcavalryand infantryalike were continuously knights were knocked down they struggled to evenstand
back up again, let alone efficientlyengage the lighter-
armoured, and somore agile, English troops.

point the twoside flanks ofEnglish
archers abandon their ranged weapons

and rush into the french secondline
from both the right and left.

numbers 7The DukeofYorkis killed bya blow
of their to the bodyand proceeds to get lost
cavalry amid the seaoffightingsoldiers. In
and addition, Henry's brother- Humphrey,
infantryas the Duke ofGloucester- is wounded bya
they cover blow to the groin. Henry quicldy moves
the central to his positionand defends him with his
battlefield. personal retinue - he succeeds but in
The English the process receives a blow to the head
archers oneach that removes part ofhis crown.
flank also begin
firing, hitting the 8 The Duke of Baris killedas his forces
French frontline get depleted bythe encircling
from bothsides. English. Uponseeing the disaster that is
unfolding before his eyes, the Duke of
A D'Albretand limited numbers ofthe Alen~n attempts to reach the English to
submita surrender notice, however he
Aforrench frontline reach the English is ldlled bya blow to the head before it
spear wal land begin to engage them in can be delivered.
hand-to-hand combat, pushing it
backwards. The longbowmen retreat gThe third line ofFrench forces
and Henry orders his infantry to hovers on theoutskirts ofthe battle,
advance a nd meet the French. unsure whether to fight or not. Henry
perceives they will and, due to the large
SFierce, close-quarters fighting number ofunrestrained French
begins upon the sodden, muddy prisoners from the firstandsecond
ploughed terrain atthe centreofthe waves, orders all but the most high-
battlefield.The combination of the ranking to beexecuted to prevent them
dense mud and heavyarmourworn by from rearming en masse and
the french knights leads to thousands overrunning the exhausted English.
of them gettingseverely bogged down
and exhausted, with the lighter- loUpon seeing the vast losses and
armoured English forces able to operate executions, the French third line,
much more effectively. led by the Counts fauconberg and
Dammartin, retreat to the rear, fleeing
6 D'Albretissuddenlykilled in the the battlefield. Henry wins the battle
melee, falling into the mud. and ordersacountofthedead, which
Meanwhile, the french secondline reveals roughly8,ooo french troops had
advances into the centre ofthe died compared to the English's 450.
battlefieldcongesting it further. At this

091

--.-------Ins1de the A7V tonk

the • • . . .. . . ...••
Panzermuseum In Munster, Germany

Takea lookinside this
WorldWar I tank to see
justhowitwas built
and operated

Annour

Despltehavtngwmm(uln)steel
plateat thesldes,)omm(o.Bln)at the

lrontand tomm (o.4in) on theroof,
theA'fl/was easilypenetrated by

can non fire. Thiswas because the
steelwas not hardened armour
plate.Assud\, Itcouldonlystop

small arms fire.

One ofthe earliest tanks to beproduced, Annament Suspension
theA7Vwas supposed to deliverGerman
soldiersa mobile fortress to breakthrough The mainweapon ottheA'fllwasa 57Dlffi TheA'fl/wasequlppedwilhbelkalsprlngs,
Alliedlines, butwasn'ta greatsuccess... rear.<frlvesprockels, front-mounted idlersand
(2 2ln)Maxim-Nordenleltcannon.whlch
Designedspeci6cally to counter the emergenceof Britishtanks wasequippedtoall malevariants-The 24rollerwheelslnbogles.Thelackofshocl<
on the Western Frontduring World War I, theA7Vwasa
medium-armoured tank designed by the German General War secondaJyarmamentwas aseries ols1xto absorbersmade theride incrediblybumpy
Department In1916.The vehicle resembled a mobile pillboxor and thelowclearance{le19Q-400mm/
eight?.9JD.II11o.)lnlMGo8 machineguns.The
APC (armoured personnel carrier)and delivered a steel-plated body fon8 tankcouldcarryt8oshellslorthe cannon. 7·5-15.7ln)ledto pooroff-road capabilities.
soldiers,a 57-millimetre (z.z-lnch) cannon and six to eight 7·9-millimetre
(O.J-inch) machine guns (for a full hardware breakdown see'Anatomyofan
A7V' diagram).lts role, as hinted at by Its German classification -

Sturmpanzer-Kraftwagen translates roughly as 'assaultarmouredmotor
vehicle'- was to assault and breal< through fortified Allied lines.

The first preproduction A7Vwas delivered In Septemben917and was
closely followed by the first production modelin Octoberof the same year.
Despite this, the first deployment ofthe A7V had to walt until March1918,

where five ofthe tota l zo made were deployed north ofthe St QuentinCanal
in northern France. Unfortunately, this Is where the first design Oaws ofthe
vehicle were first encountered.Three of the live tanks broke down during
operationdue to mechanical faults.

Despite these issues, the A7V fleet was then deployed en masse, with18
vehicles partaking in the Second BattleofVille.rs-Bretonneux inApril 1918.
Although reports from Alliedsoldiersat the timestate that theA7V'sarmour
made direct attack from their handheld weapons Impossible, the A7V's
modestarmour was easily breached by the Allied Mark IV's six-pounder

cannons_Further, due to the low clearanceand crude design ofthe A7V's
suspensionand tracks, many got stuck on difficult off-road terrain and two
even toppled over into holes- In addition, after a swift counterattack byAllied
forces, threeofthestrandedA?Vswerecaprured.

As such, even though 100A7Vshad originally been ordered, theirlimited
impact Jed to the programme to bescrapped, with many of the remaining
vehicles dismantled as earlyas October1918.Today, no original A7V bas
survived, with the majority scrappedafter the war. However, a replica based
on original designs was built between1987and1990and can now be viewed

by the publicat the Panzermuseum In Munster, Germany. 0

092

STOP 1Fortress •••••• Service ••••• Designer : Wotan•••••• Female•••
British forces nid<named the !•4 ; 5Tf~hevAa7rViahnadtbso.tThhmeamleaalendhad six : One A7V. namedWotan,atte<
FACTS A7V the 'Moving Fortress' ; 2 1lue to Itscrude design and 3 The IIM!ntorof the A7V, • being scrapped by the Alios in
JosephVolmer, wasthe
A7VTRIVIA : myriad problems, the A7V
whenit was forst deployedon
•••• was only in operation for a chiefdesignerforthe German ••••••• •machine guns anda 57nvn •••••• 1919 was rebuilt inthe Eighties
thebattlefK!Id. Thiswas due War Department He wenton
totalofse.en months, from (2.2in)cannon, while the female based on originalde<lgns.The
to Itslarge pillboxdesignand March to October 1918.Only to produce theK·Wagen, LKI repica now resides in the
••heavy(for the time) armour. • replicas SU'Irille today. and LK II tanks. 1/et'Sionreplaced thecannonwith
two extra machine gLnS. Panzermuseom, Germany.

l•!ftJW!Jit'W•lW In German the A7V was called the 5turmponzer-Kroftwogen [which means assault armoured motor veHICle]

Crew
AnA11f'screwconsistedofr,soldlers
andone officer. Thesewereneededfor
thefoUowingroles:rommander,

driver,mecllanlc. twoart!Uerymen
(gunnerand loader)and12. infantry
men (sixgunnersand six loaders).

DespitetheA7V beingcapable oftravellingat15kmlh AshotofanA7Vand liScrewfrom july1918
(9mph}, itfrequentlygotstuckonunevenground
The statistics...
. ' . . ....
•

/tftl

Crew: 18
Height: 3.3m (11ft)
Width: 3.Jm (!Oft)
Length: 7.3m (24ft)
Weight: 30 tons
Engine: 2 x Dainler f our-cylinder

petrol (149kW/200hp total)

Su._.sion:
Holt track. vertical springs

Max _ . t l.5kmlh (9mph)
Max....._ SOI<m (SOmi)
Armour:
Sides: 20nm (0.8in); front
30nm (1.2in); roof: !Omm (0.4in)
Main armament: 57mm (2.2in)
Maxim·Nordenfeltcannon
Secondary annament: 6 x
7.9mm (0.:lin) MG08guns

Engine
TheA7V'spowercame rourtesyoftwocentrally
mounted Daimlerfour-cylinderpetrol engines, each
capable ofgenerat1ng75kW(1oohp}.The engineswere

ledbya 5001 (!J2ga} fueltank.Attun power, thefoqV

could travelata maximumspeed oh5km/h(9mphl.

AnA?Von the Western -,.. .
Front inMarch1918 •
093

Gunpowder 1Horse armour

Gun What is it and how is it made?

Gunpowder-also referred to as black powder - Is made Potassium nitrate (75%) • GunpowderIs madefrom
from potassium nluate(75 percent),sulphur(uper cent) Charcoal (14%) a mixormaterials
andcharcoal(14percent~When these three materialsare
ground finelyand combined, the resultant mixture bums •

quicklyand produces a mix ofgaseous and solid by-products. The • .. Sulphur(11%)
mixture is relatively Insensitive toshocka nd friction, requiringhigh
levels ofheat to be Ignited. However, when Ignited In a confinedspace
- such as in the breech ofa weapon- the released gases generate

enough pressure to launch projectUes, hence Its widespread use in
armaments. While still used today In Ignition charges, fusesand
primers, gunpowder Is no longerwldelyused asa propellant for guns
and cannons, being replaced with smokeless powders thatgrant
higher muzzle velocities due to their progressive burns (they generate
moreand more gas pressure throughout the combustion process). 0

Horse r explained

Ifyou thought itwas onlythe knightswho were protected
from head to toe duringbattle, it's time to thinkagain...

Medievalcombat largely revolved through the14lh and15thcenturies and grew knight's saddle as well as a croupiere- a large
around mounted engagements, with in bothstature and complexity until horses plate or chain dome that would shield the
cavalry playing a crudal role in the horse's h indquarters.
majority of battles. Keeping horses a live and were equipped with a variety of battlegear.
ingood cond1t1on was therefore imperative to Combined, t hese pieces of armour Jeftvery
success, w ith arrows, s pears and swords Armourplates included:a champron - a little of the horse's body exposed, allowing it
often targeting the anima lover the rider due type of helmet worn to protect the horse's to charge through voiJeys of arrows without
to the knig ht's extensive a rmour. bead; a criniere, which was a series ofarmour being comprom ised. It was onJyvuJnerable to
As s uch, armour for horses (known as plates that encircled the animal's neck; and a well-placed sp ear or sword incisions, which
barding) became increasingly p revalent breastplatecalled a peytral. Itwould a lso were incredibly difficult to achieve ifyou were
have a pair of flanchards, which were two bein g charged down at speed!
armoured panels that sateitherside of the

094

STOP 1Spooky 2•••••••••••••••••Nicknames 3•••••••Export 4••••••••••••••••Arigels 5••••••••••••••••Obsolete
The Phantom's emblem was
FACTS a wNmsical cartoon ghost ThePhantomaoqLireda •••0 The Phantom was notonly 0 The F·4J Phantom II variant 0 The F-4 Phantom II was
referred to as 'The Spook' by numberofnicknames during 0 used in North America but also S2NV plentyofnon-mi~ary eventually superseded bya
F·4PHANTOM piots. lt wasdesigned by its longcareer Including the also in manyother national brace ofnewerf~ghter jets
Rhino, Flying Anvi~ Flying •••• action.. For instance, it was
McOoonell Douglas technical Footlocker, lead Sledand the miitaries, being exported to from the Elghtlesonwards.
artist Anthony Wong. StlouisSlugger. 0 Greece, Germany and Iran to flown bythe US aer<lbatlc These included F·14Tomcats
namejustafew oount:ries. andF/A·l8Homets.
display team, the BlueAngels,

from 1969tiYough to1974.

I•JIIJW!Jit'W•lW The F-4 Phantom II was officially introduced on 30 December 1960

ns1• - ntom

One ofthe most iconic fighter planes ever, the F-4
Phantom II set15 world records duringits lifetime

The F-4 was one of the most As a fighter-interceptor, the F-4 was equipped
technologicallyadvanced fighter- with nine external hardpoints. Air-to-air AIM-9
interceptors of its generation. Sidewinders, air-to-groundAGM-65 Mavericks
Breaking numerous records - highest-altitude and anti-ship GBU-15s, as well as a Vulcan
flight, fastest flight speed and fastest zoom six-barrelled Gatling cannon, were buta small
climb to name buta few - and introducing selection of the heavy-duty weaponry
advanced newconstruction materials and available. In addition, it was also specified to
aviation features, the jet ruled the skies from
carry a range of nuclear armaments.
1960 up until the end of the Seventies. Perhaps the biggest innovation delivered by
The Phantom was powered by a pair of
the F-4 Phantom II, however, was the adoption
General Electric179 axial compressor turbojets, of a pulse-Doppler radar. Still in use today, this
which could delivera whopping 8,094 is a four-dimensional radar system that's
kilograms-force j17,845 pounds-force) of thrust capable of detectinga target's 3D position and
in afterburner. This, along with itssuper-strong its radial velocity. It does this by transmitting
titanium airframe, granted the aircraft a short bursts of radio waves jrather than a
lift-to-drag ratio of8.58, a thrust-to-weight ratio continuous wave), which after being partially
of o.86 and a rate of climb north of 210 metres bounced back by the airborne object, are
(689 feet) persecond. That extreme amount of receivedand decoded by a signal processor,
power also afforded it a top speed of 2,390 which discerns its location and flight path
kilometres j1,485 miles) per hour. through the principles ofthe Doppler effect. 0

Anatomy of an F-4E Phantom II Powerplant

Check out the tech th at made the Phantom The F· 4E was equipped with two GE
such a record-breaking fighter j et J79·GE·l7A axial compressor turbojets.
These delivered a dry thrust of
Airfram e 5,400kgf (11,9051bf) and 8,094kgf
(17,8451bf) with afterburner engaged.
The Phantom's airframe
was forged heavily from
titanium, granting it the
strength, durability and
heat resistance necessary
to perform manoeuvres
at immense speed.s.

- The statistics.•.

Radar Armame nts Wing F-.t,£Phantom II •~

One of the Phantom's Up to 8,480kg (18,6501b) of Leading edge slats on both Crew: 2 <•
biggest innovations was weapon.s on nine hardpoints wings greatly improved Length: 192m (63ft)
its pulse-Doppler radar high angle of attack ~
installed in its nose. This could be carried. These manoeuvrability. This 4 Wingspan: ll7m (38ft)
type of radar transmits included laser-guided enhanced its handling at sif
short pulses of radio waves slow to medium speeds. Height: 5m (16.4ft)
to determine an object's bombs, rocket pods and Weight: 13,757kg (30,328lb) i!S
position and movement. heat-seeking m issiles.
Powerplant 2 x General Electric Q
J79·GE·l7A turbojets
Max thrust:
8,094kgf (17,8451bf)

Max speed:
2,390km/h (L485mph)

Max altitude:
i8,300m (60,000ft)

095

How jousting worked

-------------------------------------,

joustingwas a martla Isportingevent match was consideredover. Importantly, however, opponentcould demand bothas a victory trophy. Of
undertaken between two horsemen only true blowsgenerated points, with a true blow course,all these rules came behind the first and
using lances, eachaiming to strike the consistingofthe lanceshatteringon impaCL most Important. which stated that only noblemen
otherand unhorse him. Itworked either Glancing blows, low blowsandanystrike that did could compete.
as a singleeventoras partof a larger tournament, not shatter the lance were notcounted.
the latter Involving otherathleticdisciplines such as Ifthejoustwas held as partofa larger
hand-to-hand combaL for eachjoustboth horsemen were equipped competition. the other key event was the hand-to-
Thejoust itseU, however, worked ona point- with a trio oflances, to be used overa seriesof three hand combat match. Thlsworkedalongasimilarset
scoringsystem, with each true blowstruckon the charges.Alliances were measured beforeeach joust of rules to the joust proper. With the first knightto
opponentgeneratinga number ofpoints for the to ensure theywere ofequal length and therefore no land three blowson his opponent thevictor. Which
striker, the total dependlng on where the blow reach advantage could besoughL Inaddition, strict weaponsandstyleswereallowedweredlctated
landed.So, ifa rlderhithlsopponenton the helmet rulesgoverned each meeting. With only the before the toumamenL
he wasawarded two points, while If he struck them horseman'ssquire(assistant)allowed to hand hlm
on the breastplateonlya single point would be new lances or help him Inthe eventofan urthorsing. Historically. joustingemerged outof the High
awarded Ifa rider unhorsed his opponent with a Aspartofthese rules, it wasalso mandatory thatany Middle Ages (tooo-tJoo) and was based on the
strike then he wasawarded three pointsand the knightcompetingown the horse and armour he was military use ofthe lance by heavy cavalry. Up untll
using. as in the event that they were urthorsed. the! r the17th century. joustinggraduallyevolvedfrom a
bloodsport Into thesportlngform ofchivalryfor

096

a.nctJousti111gjeopa dy ••••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••••• ••••••• •••••••••••••••••
•
1 2 3 4 5Jousting tournaments In the ••••••
Hlgh Medieval period were
COCl<iderably rougherand
more dangerous than the
more chivalric events held in
the Late Medieval period.
STOP Aquest!on ofhoncxr the main event Etymology Lance a·lot

FACTS Bythe 1390s <x>mbat in Despite the main eventin attry The term 'joust' is beliel/ed to Jousting lances were often
haveclerived from theOld made from ash ..ood,
JOUSTING joustswasgenerally •jousting tournament being the French WO<d 'joster', which how<M!r unlike their military
expected to be non-~thal, •joustproper, there wereother
ltse~ is deril/ed from the Late predecessors, they were not
with any defeated opponent subsiciary events, lncludng Latin •iuxtare'. meaning to
approachand/or to meet fitted will\ sharp ironor steel
expected to honourablyyield foot combat, with the firstto
to the more dominantf~ghter. tips b u t rather blunt ones.
•land three blows thewinner.

I•JIIJW!Jit'W•lW jousting was phased out in France after King Henry II was mortally wounded in a tournament in 1559

Jousting a r Helmet
Due to bonuspoints being
breakdown awarded fora headstrlke,
joustlnghelmetswere
Beinghit with a lance whilejoustingwas heavily modified toadd
akin to beingstruck bya sledgehammer, moreprotectlon.Armetsand
requiring knights to bolster theirsteel dose helmswere popular,as
plate to avoid injuryoreven death. - aside from beingsharply
angled-theywereequipped
Gorget with a pivotingvisor,
Thegorgetwas a steel collardesigned to allowingsuccessful knights
protect the knight's throat Itslottedinto the topresentthemselves to the
sultofarmour underneath the breast· and audiencepost-battle.
backplates, andtypicallycomprised layered
andangled steel plates. Pauldron

Besagew Dueto the high likelihoodof
belngstruckintheshoulder,
Duetoreduced pauldrons(shoulder guards)
necessltyofmovement were heavilystrengthened.
whilecharging in
horsebackjousts, Thicker, ridgedsteel was
knightswouldoften used, oftenwitha fluted
equipbesagews (small auxiliary layerdesigned
circularshields) totheir todeflectlancestrikes.
armour. Thesewere
designed toprovide
extraprotectionatjoints
- suchasthearmpll
- where gaps in theplate
could be exploited.

Lancer Cuirass

Auniqueadaptation to The technical nameforthe
armour'sbreast-and
standard platearmour
wasalanceholder, backplates, lhecuirasswas
whlchwasposltloned one ofthecorecomponents to

beneath theright-ann anyjoustingarmour.The
pauklron.Thesteelhook breastplate wasoften

waswelded to the smoothly angled away from a
breastplate and helped centralapexto deflect blows.
supportthe lancewhile
Sabaton
charging,allowingfora
greaterstrlkeaccuracy. Thesabatonwasthepartof
thearmour thatcovered the
which it is now remembered. for example, by the Gauntlet
time ofQueen Elizabeth l's reign (1558-16oJ), jousting jouster's fOOL Theywere
had been heavily romanticised and was known Joustinggauntletswere commonlymade from riveted
more as a form ofentertainment, rather than proof designed to maximise the
ofmilitary prowess. combatant'sgrlpoftheirlance ironplates.Theirdesign
and,assuch, Almaln rivet type varied dependingbothon the
Interestingly, todayjoustingisseeingsomething era andtheclass ofthejouster,
ofa renaissance, with dedicated joustingclubs designswere commonlyused.
organising competitionsand medieval re- These consistedoflayered, withhigh-hom membersof
enactmentevents held worldwide. 0 overlappingsteel plates thearistocracyallowed to

augmentedwithreinforced sportlong tapered sabatons,
knuckle a n d fingertip caps, while thestandardgenrry
were onlyallowedtowear
whichcoveredonlythe topand short, Oat..Uppedvarieties.
sldesofthehands, leavtngthe
undersidefree to grip through a em

leather/fabricglove.

"Only true blows generated points,

with o true blow consisting of the
/once shattering on impact"

Drawbridges

How drawbridges worked

Used to defend castles for centuries, these fold-up entrances were simple yet effective

Classical, medieval drawbridges Bridge
worked via the simple principle of
counterweight, with large wood and The bridge itself Is
metal bridges pivoted via a series ofbalancing
weights in a castle'sgatehouse. Theweights, constructed out of wood and
which were attached to the bridge's lifting pivoted on a metal cylinder
chains, enabled the platform to be raised via a at the base of the gatehouse.
windlass, which in turn rotated a pair of lifting Its underside is commonly
drums that gathered in the chains. By reinforced with metal plate.
employing counterweights, incredibly heavy
bridges could be operated by just a few people The bridge's chains extend
-useful when under attack. Along with a moat, from the far end of the
a reinforced drawbridge served as a two-fold bridge, through the
barrier, making it much more difficult for any gatehouse•s exterior and on
enemies to invadea fortification orcity. to the lifting drums. Each
chain wraps around its
the drawbl'idge! drum as the bridge is lifted.

Get to 11Ips with a medllmll

drawbridge's key mechanisms

Ufting drum

Wooden and metal
cylinders positioned in
the roof of the gatehouse
- When tumed by the
windlass- draw in the
bridge's chains to raise it.

~""! Counterweights A water·filled moat or ditch
Is a common feature of
Without counterweights, the hefty medieval castles, with the
drawbridgeproviding the
bridge would be too much for the only dry entry into the
structure. lifting thebridge
windlass system. With them prevents easy access.

installed, this weight can be offset

to a degree and they take a lot of
the strain out of the operation.

A second barrier that sits The key mechanical part of the Pit
beNnd the drawbridge is
the portcullis. This metal system, the windlass - when ::::::;:;:; When the drawbridge Is
and wood gate can be slid operated by lever or rotary
or dropped across the wheel - turns the lifting drum.s up, the counterweights
entrance to bar intruders. to draw in or let out the chains.
drop into a pit in the
gatehouse floor. When the
bridge is down, the pit Is
cOYered with trapdoors.

098

RECORD FAS I ES I FREE FAll.

BREAKERS ' Felix Ba umgartner became the first human to freefall

A LONG WAY DOWN km/h faster than the speed ofsound when he hit1,357.6km/h
(843.6mph) during h is Stratos jump on14 October 2012.

l•U•1\i!IDI:iN•lW There are 20 quills laid out every day the us supreme court is in operation

Flint weapons A select ion of Stone
Age flint weapons
including arrowheads
and spearheads

How human tool andweapon manufacturing first began

Before metals were first extracted ideal for the first primitive tools and weapons. which were used to hunt animals, chop wood,
during the Bronze Age, toolsand The stone was first mined overa million years dig and evenstarta fire. Early weapons were big
weapons were made out ofstone. A ago during the Paleolithic period, usingan and blunt while later arms were better crafted,
extraction method known as flinti<napping. This polished and sharper. From these primitive
fundamental material used in the Stone Age was would involve chippingaway at the seam of rock beginnings would arise the first daggers, spears
a sedimentary rod< known as flint. Strongand until the desired shape of blade was created. and arrowheads, becomingan integral part in
with sharp edges, flint is p lentifulin chalkand Some of the earliestflint tools were hand axes, Stone Age warfare, toolwori<ingand hunting.
limestone beds around the world, which made it

The age of stone

The eras in which flint was a major component

Paleolithic period AMpepsrooxliltSh,ic ~iorsdago Neolithic period

Approx 2.5 million years ago Tools became more sophisticated in this era, Approx 12,000 years ago

Flint tools of this age were at their most being used in carpentry to make the first Emerging agriculture was the influence on the
primitive with only basic tools like hand axes
made. This type of toolwork was used by structures. The forst pottery was made in this tools of this age with scythes made to harvest
Homo erectus as well as Homo sapiens.
period, in no small part due to this evolution. grain. Tools of this era also had a distinctive

appearance <lJe to increased polishing.

Breaking the "As the wove moves along,
sound barrier it gets foster as the whip
gets thinner"
What was the first thing to go faster
than sound? 099

The first time that magical speed oft,225 kilometres
(761 miles) per hour was breached dates bad< to the
Ancient Egyptians. They are one of the first
civilisations recorded as using a whip, which has been

creating sonic booms for over 4,ooo years.
Lifting a whip and bringing it down sharply causes a ripple

to move down the length of the whip as it rises up then snaps

back down. As the wave moves along, it gets faster as the
whip gets thinner. This continues until it reaches the tip and
the thinnest part ofthe whip. Ifyou have done it right, by this
point the wave is moving so fast that the tip breaks the sound
barrieras it flicks up, creating that characteristic crack.

Incidentally, the first human to travel faster than sou nd
was US Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager as he flew an X-1 plane
at Mach 1 - the speed ofsound - in 1947. 0

The first
telephone

107

102 Inside a cottonmill 108 The Colossus
computer
Understand the workings of
of one of the cornerstones of The first programmable digital
the Industrial Revolution
computer

104 Medieval writing 110 How drystone walls
equipment
are built
Learn how the people of the
learn about this clever form
medieval age wrote their of centuries-old masonry

letter and scripture

104 The first hearing 110 Inside metronomes
aids
Rnd out about how the time·
How did we improve hearing keeping instruments work

before batteries? 111 What were
pneumatic tube
105 Apothecary secrets •••
systems used for? ••
What are the origins of the
How these unusual machines
pharmaceutical industry? transported messages fast

105 Compass of the 112 The Parsons steam Inside a
oceans cotton mill
turbine
The device mariners once 102
The driving force behind
used to navigate the seas power production in the world

106 The origins of 114 Rack-and-pinion
helicopters railways

How did we take to the skies Unique transit systems that

on an aircraft without wings? scale steep mountains

106 Pocket watches 116 Preserving the
explained MonaLisa

Find out what made these How to maintain the world's
cog-mechanisms worked most well-known painting
and told the time
118 The first electric
submarine
107 Meet Madame
Guillotine The earliest elecrtically·

learn about how this method powered underwater vessel

of execution was used 118 Who was the
Piltdown Man?
107 The first telephone
How did these fake bones fool
Discover how the first
scientists for decades?
telephone worked

100