History of War - Issue 02-14

First World War: don’t know what’s to be adamant (as, naturally, were the French BACKSTORY
done… this isn’t war,”
In an extract from his “I commanders) that it was only on the The war on the
Western Front had
Western Front that a decisive victory
wailed the War Secretary,
new book, Great Britain’s Lord Kitchener. Within four might be won: any reduction of the reached a stalemate:
trench warfare had
Great War, Jeremy months of the beginning pressure would give the impression that set in, with neither
Britain considered Germany unbeatable
of hostilities, Great
Paxman recalls the Allies’ Britain’s Great War was at there. But a third man thought he had the Allies nor the
Central Powers
a standstill. Conventional
disastrous Gallipoli British military tactics were redundant, a way to break the deadlock. able to gain an
In the Admiralty, Winston Churchill,
advantage. So
campaign of 1915-16, with both sides stuck in a series of with his sensitive political nose, believed Winston Churchill,
and uncovers the fate of trenches that ran from the North Sea there was an opportunity to attack then First Lord of the
Admiralty, suggested
Germany “through the back door”. He
to the borders of Switzerland, and
his heroic great-uncle, neither side holding the initiative. But demanded a plan from the Admiral in a new tactic…
Charles Edmund Dickson Sir John French, commanding British command of the east Mediterranean
fl eet, who reluctantly provided one,
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The most senior officer in the Royal
Navy, Admiral Jackie Fisher (left), Getty Images
was fiercely opposed to Churchill’s

plan and, in 1915, resigned in protest
which he then presented to the War w SOLEMN to take the straits would be a hugely of mines laid across the straits. No one
Council in the middle of January 1915. PILGRIMAGE dangerous enterprise. Churchill talked had suspected the minefi eld’s existence,
The idea was seductive, if complicated. SOME 15,000 blithely of risking only a few out-of-date and allied minesweepers were incapable
Suppose an Allied force could break PEOPLE TRAVEL warships, but, infuriatingly, the most of clearing the mines while under fi re
TO GALLIPOLI
through from the Aegean to the Sea EACH YEAR signifi cant dissenter was the most senior from the Turkish shore batteries. To the
of Marmara, the inland sea on which FOR ANZAC DAY. offi cer in the Royal Navy, the respected great embarrassment of Britain’s naval
sat Constantinople, the capital of THIRTY PER 73-year-old Admiral “Jackie” Fisher, who commanders, three of the expedition’s
Germany’s ally, Turkey. Menacing the CENT OF ANZAC grew increasingly hostile to the whole biggest warships were sunk and another
Turkish capital would oblige Germany FORCES’ FIRST plan – even storming out of the room at three disabled. Now, what in prospect
to divert troops to defend it – troops WORLD WAR one point when it was being discussed. had seemed a relatively cheap and
that might otherwise be facing Britain CASUALTIES Despite this, most of the War Council cheerful naval mission risked becoming
and France on the Western Front. OCCURRED ON were upbeat and excited. By mid-February, a catastrophe. There was a swift retreat.
Should its capital fall, Turkey would be THE PENINSULA. the idea of a purely naval mission had Sir Ian Hamilton, the General appointed
forced out of the war, and Britain and been modifi ed – Kitchener agreed that to command the land operations, was
France would then be able to open ground troops would also be sent, to a veteran of wars from Afghanistan to
a supply route north through the Black complete the occupation of the Turkish South Africa. He was a brave, decent,
Sea to their ally Russia. Churchill forts after the Naval bombardment of cultured man with a taste for poetry, but
anticipated that a successful attack on the Dardanelles coastline. had been rather baffl ed to have been
Turkey would also ensure the safety of given the mission. As he later admitted,
British-controlled Egypt and encourage Swift retreat “My knowledge of the Dardanelles was
irritatingly neutral Balkan states to get It was another disaster. On 19 February, nil; of the Turks nil; of the strength of our
off the fence in the war. At the very a large force of British and French own forces next to nil.” The only research
least, it was an alternative to the battleships, cruisers, destroyers, material he could fi nd to prepare himself
stagnation on the Western Front, and submarines and associated vessels was a guidebook and a collection of
no one seemed to have any better idea. began the attack. Everyone knew about “travellers’ tales”. But the British
The diffi culty was that this bold the Turkish forts, but there was a general Government was desperate and Sir John
enterprise hung upon forcing a passage assumption that the Turkish armed French’s strategy of slugging away on
through the Dardanelles, the narrow forces weren’t up to much and there the Western Front was going nowhere.
strip of water that runs for 40 miles or was great confi dence in the power of Sir Ian concluded that the naval
so between the Aegean and the Sea the Royal Navy guns. This turned out to disaster meant the only thing to do
of Marmara. It was well known that be very misplaced – apart from anything was send soldiers ashore to destroy
the Turks had built a series of forts to else, the Royal Navy had not had enough the Turkish gun emplacements. In other
protect the channel, and a feasability practice in fi ring at shore targets. In the words, he wanted to turn the original
study had already shown that attempting event, the naval force ran into a thicket plan – a naval bombardment followed
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by a land operation – on its head. further landings were attempted but, with Below A 60-pounder

Unfortunately for him, the naval calamity no critical mass, they were repeatedly heavy field gun in
meant that any element of surprise had repulsed by the increasingly effective action on a clifftop at Gallipoli timeline
Helles Bay, Gallipoli
been lost, and the Turks used the break Turkish soldiers. Now, even the new
in hostilities that followed it to prepare battle plan was failing. Hamilton sent 1914 a further three
their defences. They were blessed with a a message to Kitchener: “Our troops are damaged. Two-
skilled German commander, General Otto have done all that fl esh and blood can 6 NOVEMBER thirds of British
Liman von Sanders, who came to admire do against semi-permanent works, and The UK declares battleships in the
and promote a brilliant young Turkish they are not able to carry them. More war on Turkey. Dardanelles are
offi cer, Mustafa Kemal – later to become and more munitions will be needed to do lost on this day.
the founder of modern Turkey. Tens of so. I fear that this is a very unpalatable 25 NOVEMBER 25 APRIL
thousands of reinforcements of men conclusion, but I can see no way out of it.” Winston Churchill Amphibious
and guns were brought into the Gallipoli puts forward his landings begin,
plan for a new
peninsula alongside the Dardanelles, Gas attack war front in the as British and
and positioned high on the cliffs. On the Western Front, meanwhile, in Dardanelles French troops land
The British planning of the ground the new battle raging around Ypres, the to the British unopposed on
assault, by contrast, was confused and Germans launched the fi rst gas attack, Government’s three beaches at
Cape Helles, while
indecisive – not that that was apparent a horrifying development that transfi xed War Council. Anzac troops land
to many of the young men involved. military and civilians alike. Contrary 1915 at Anzac Cove.
Rupert Brooke, the beautiful boy of to predictions, gas did not turn out to 24 MAY
his age, had turned down an offer to be the wonder weapon to break the
join General Hamilton’s staff and was deadlock in Europe, since its destructive 13-15 JANUARY An armistice is
declared from
among those eagerly looking forward to power was literally thrown to the wind. The War 7.30am to 4.30pm,
splashing ashore. “Oh God! I've never But its use was a reminder that it was Council gives during which time
its agreement
been so happy in my life,” he exclaimed. in France and Belgium that the outcome and approves Turkish and Anzac
“I suddenly realise that the ambition of the war would be determined. If plans for a naval dead are buried.
of my life has been – since I was two so, the Dardanelles campaign was an operation to force 6 AUGUST
– to go on a military expedition against irrelevance, and this might have been the Dardanelles.
Constantinople.” He did not achieve the moment to call time on the whole British troops The British 11th
(Northern) Division
his dream because he died of blood mission. Fisher resigned as First Sea stationed in Egypt begin landings at
poisoning on the way to the invasion, Lord. But yet again, national “honour” are put on alert. Suvla Bay, aimed
almost certainly from an infected was used to justify fi ghting – Kitchener 19 FEBRUARY at capturing
British Admiral the heights of
NOW, WHAT IN PROSPECT HAD SEEMED LIKE Sackville Carden Sari Bair range.
Chunuk Bair in the
opens the
7 DECEMBER
attack on Turkish
A RELATIVELY CHEAP AND CHEERFUL NAVAL positions in the The British
Dardanelles.
Cabinet orders
OPERATION RISKED BECOMING A CATASTROPHE 25 FEBRUARY the evacuation of
Anzac and Suvla.
A second attack
is launched on
the Dardanelles, 19-20 DECEMBER
The Anzac/Suvla
mosquito bite on his lip. It was an believed that to abandon the attack led by Vice-Admiral Bay evacuations
unheroic death, “as though Sir Lancelot would be catastrophic for Britain’s John de Robeck. are completed.
had been diagnosed with terminal standing in the world. There must be 18 MARCH 1916
dandruff”, as one historian put it. another attempt to take the peninsula. Turkey repels the
Sir Ian Hamilton eventually assembled It would cost many more lives. One of final attempt by

about 75,000 troops – roughly 18,000 them would be Uncle Charlie’s. the British and 8-9 JANUARY

from the 29th Division (a regular army The form sent by the military to his French fleets to The evacuation of
unit made up of soldiers gathered from mother records Uncle Charlie’s place force the straits. Helles is completed
garrisons in the Empire), some 30,000 of death as “34 Field Ambulance”. Three British as the last British
Australian and New Zealand (Anzac) battleships troops depart the
are sunk and
Gallipoli peninsula.
soldiers, 10,000 from the Royal Navy
Division and a French contingent of some
17,000 troops. He had very few high-
explosive shells and not much of a
clue about the enemy he faced. He
also made a signifi cant mistake, for
instead of a single, overwhelming attack,
there were to be several separate
landings, all of them against an enemy
ensconced on high ground above the
beaches, perfectly positioned to pour
terrible fi re down on the incoming troops.
Even so, on 25 April, two beachheads
were established – one at Helles, at
the tip of the Gallipoli peninsula, where
British troops ran into feebler resistance
than had been feared, and another
further up the coast. This one was soon
renamed Anzac Cove, in honour of the
loss there of Australian and New Zealand
soldiers pitched ashore at night, with
little idea of the lie of the land and under Getty Images
murderous fi re from well-placed Turkish
positions. Over the next few weeks,

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Turkish shells burst close to the SS River
Clyde on V-Beach, Cape Helles, Gallipoli w ANZAC
TRAGEDY
AUSTRALIA AND
NEW ZEALAND
BOTH SUFFERED
HUGE LOSSES
AT GALLIPOLI. OF
THE 8,556 NEW
ZEALANDERS
WHO SERVED
THERE, 2,721
DIED AND 4,725
WERE WOUNDED.




































































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If so, he died in his place of work. Field
ambulances were frontline medical units
usually made up of ten offi cers and a
couple of hundred stretcher-bearers and Getty Images
medical orderlies, their job being to carry
the wounded and erect tented hospitals
on the battlefi eld (vehicles were then
called ambulance “wagons”). The
records show that 34th Field Ambulance
was attached to the 11th (Northern)
Division, which had been raised in the
early days of the war when Kitchener
appealed for volunteers. Sir Ivor Maxse,
who became the Army’s Inspector
General of Training, damned it with faint
praise when he later described it as
showing “what may be called ‘Yorkshire’
characteristics: steadiness – amenability
to discipline – rather than enthusiasm;
slow in thought and movement rather
than the mental alertness that is seen,
say, in the Irish or London regiments”.
These comments come from 1917.
At the time the division was despatched
to Gallipoli in 1915, the volunteers had Hammersley was another magisterially
enormous gaps in their training and were moustached veteran, who had fought water discovered it was so deep that
inexpertly offi cered. Many travelled to the at the battle of Khartoum and been they were lucky not to be drowned by the
Dardanelles on board two requisitioned seriously wounded fi ghting the Boers weight of their own equipment. Others
transatlantic liners, the Aquitania and in South Africa. But the reason for were taken to the wrong beaches
the Empress of Britain, chosen because Kitchener’s concern was that a few years and, because senior offi cers had
– unless they were very unlucky, like the before the war with Germany had broken expected much of the landing to be
Lusitania – they could outrun any U-boat. out, he had suffered some kind of mental stealthy and unopposed, some had even

Mental collapse
By early August, over three months after SOLDIERS STEPPING OFF INTO THE WATER FOUND
the ground campaign had been launched,
the division was on the island of Imbros, IT WAS SO DEEP THAT THEY WERE LUCKY NOT TO BE
off the mouth of the Dardanelles. It was
accompanied by two other divisions, also
comprised of men who had joined up in DROWNED BY THE WEIGHT OF THEIR EQUIPMENT
response to Kitchener’s 1914 appeal for
volunteers: the Irish of the 10th Division
and the West Country men of the 13th. collapse. Hammersley later brushed it been ordered not to load their rifl es,
Of the three divisions, the War Offi ce off as a minor nervous breakdown but denying them the minor satisfaction
considered the 11th the most impressive, according to the tittle-tattle, it had been of shooting back at invisible Turkish
but with what turned out to be a key a much more serious affair, during the snipers. Yet more found their rifl es
proviso: that much would depend upon treatment for which he had had to be jammed by the effects of seawater
the personality of its commander. held down while being medicated. and sand. Somewhere in this mass
Kitchener was under incessant Together, these three divisions of frightened men was Uncle Charlie.
pressure from Sir John French at this (approximately 25,000 men) came under For Charlie and other men of 34th
time not to deprive him of his more able the command of Sir Frederick Stopford, Field Ambulance, there was an additional
offi cers. But even so, the commanders an easy-going old fellow who had retired problem: almost all their equipment
he decided to send to Gallipoli were an in 1909 and, at the outbreak of war, had been left behind on the dockside
odd choice to bring off an operation that had been Lieutenant of the Tower of in England. For the duration of the
he had previously decreed to be vital London, where his main duty had been attack, they were ordered to join up
to the success of the war. The original the wearing of fancy dress. He chose to with the 35th Field Ambulance, which
offi cer commanding the 13th Division – command the landings from his sloop was wading ashore at Suvla Bay at
a hero of the Boer Wars – killed himself – the Jonquil – moored offshore. Here, 2.30 in the morning of 7 August. By
with a shot to the head soon after the he slept through much of the assault. 8am, it had established a substantial
outbreak of hostilities. He was replaced The vast majority of young men under dressing station. That day and the
by the mountainous fi gure of Major the command of these near-extinct next, it treated over 700 wounded men.
General Frederick Shaw, who weighed the volcanoes had never heard a shot fi red
best part of 20 stone. The 10th Division, in anger, for this was to be the very fi rst Intensely hot
meanwhile, was under the command of attack by soldiers in Kitchener’s so-called Conditions on the beach were hellish,
Sir Bryan Mahon, a rather over-the-hill “New Army”. Nor did they arrive in great for it was intensely hot during the day
cavalry offi cer who had been part of the shape, as the August temperatures and very cold after dark. There was
relief of the siege of Mafeking during the climbed to over 30 degrees Centigrade virtually no shade and little water. With
Second Boer War, and whose favourite during the day. Many of them had the heat, the dust and the smell of
recreations were riding steeplechases, contracted diarrhoea or dysentery en cordite parching their throats, the more
hunting and pig-sticking. As for the route. These inexperienced men were inexperienced soldiers soon fi nished
commander of the 11th, Major General landing on an exposed beach directly the meagre allowance of water they had
Frederick Hammersley, Kitchener beneath enemy guns. It struck such brought with them when they landed.
appointed him to the mission with the terror in some that they lay paralysed Without portable radios and with Turkish
ominous caveat that “he will have to be Above A Field Ambulance with fear in the bottom of the “beetles” snipers picking off anyone who tried to
watched to see that the strain of trench medic attends an injured – the early landing craft taking them to lay a telephone line, offi cers could give
warfare is not too much for him”. soldier near the Dardanelles the shore. Soldiers stepping off into the orders only to those within earshot.
HISTORY WAR 55
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Q&A Stretcher-bearers ferried wounded men
to the medical posts, but there was
hardly any more safety there: however
JEREMY often the fi rst-aid posts were moved
about the beaches, shrapnel from
Turkish artillery still tore through them.
A Sergeant in one of the fi eld hospitals
PAXMAN described trying to provide medical care
on the beach as “a task to make angels
weep… We have accommodation for
about 150. Our usual number of patients
Dave Williams The broadcaster and is about 280… We are never out of the
zone of fi re, both artillery and rifl e. Hardly
historian on who started
a night passes without a patient or
the First World War, and the
someone being hit.” The offi cial war diary
inspirations for his book
of the 35th Field Ambulance records
of 7 August that “during the greater
The BBC website recently ran a feature where it part of this day, the Bearer Division and
asked ten historians which country (or countries) Dressing Station were working under
Q caused the First World War (www.bbc.co.uk/news/ shrapnel fi re, and there were some
magazine-26048324). Who was right? casualties among the personnel of the
I’m slightly bothered by this question: the war was a product of its time, 34th Field Ambulance who were attached
and there was some blame all round. Countries don’t start wars, leaders (three killed, six wounded)”. Assuming
do. Any sensible person of any nationality wants to avoid war. But if I have the information provided to his family
to choose only one of the combatant nations, responsibility clearly lies is correct, Uncle Charlie must have been
with Germany. Without its militaristic culture and ambition – and, above one of these men, although whether
all, without its guarantee to Austria-Hungary – the war would not have he was killed at the medical facility
happened as and when it did. German dreams and ruthlessness would or while carrying a stretcher on the
have led to confl ict with the other great powers at some point, though. battlefi eld will probably never be known.
What was the inspiration for your book, Great Britain’s No offensive spirit
Great War? Why bring the war “home”? Uncle Charlie did not go to Gallipoli to
Q I am not a military historian. But I’m fascinated by what makes fi ght, but the whole invasion force was
us who we are, and I realised that many of the things I thought I “knew” singularly ineffective. Perhaps a more
about the war were actually prejudices I’d imbibed over the course of my battle-hardened force would have done
life. The real story is much more complicated, much more moving and better, although it is hard to imagine
much less ideological. The more I thought about it, the more I realised this any head-on assault making spectacular
was the event that created modern Britain. gains. The problem was leadership.
On a personal level, I had grown up with a photo on my wall showing When General Hamilton demanded to
my Great Uncle Charlie – a Private in the Royal Army Medical Corps who know what had gone wrong with the 11th
died at Gallipoli. I have the picture on the wall of my study even now. Division, he concluded that the problem
When my mother died a few years ago, we found an old cigar box among was less with the men of Kitchener’s
her effects. Inside was the dreaded form Charlie’s widowed mother had New Army than with the Generals of
received informing her of his death, along with a few other mementoes, the old army: they seemed to have no
like the “Dead Man’s Penny” – the plaque sent to dead soldiers’ next of offensive spirit. The Germans agreed:
kin. I became obsessed with how it was that an ordinary working-class lad Major Wilhelm Willmer, the Bavarian
(the census lists him as a “loom overseer” in one of the West Yorkshire cavalry offi cer commanding the Turkish
woollen mills) came to end up dead on the other side of Europe. He joined defence, delightedly reported to Von
up in the rush of volunteers in the early days of the war. If he was typical Sanders that “no energetic attacks on
of his class and age, he had probably never left his county – let alone his

country – before he wore uniform. Key gures
Do you consider yourself a journalist or an historian
first and foremost?
Q I’m a journalist. Curiosity is what gets me out of bed in the
morning: I can’t see anything without asking, “Why is it like that?” Apart
from anything else, my university degree was in English, so I guess I’m
disqualifi ed from calling myself an historian. It’s not something that keeps
me awake at night.

You’ve been presenting Newsnight for almost 25 years.
Is it a job for life? WINSTON CHURCHILL IAN HAMILTON
Q Rule Two of journalism: never assume.
As the Great War Hamilton commanded
began, the future the Mediterranean
What’s next in terms of books and documentary Prime Minister was Expeditionary Force
series? Are you working on anything else that would First Lord of the during the Gallipoli
Q interest the readers of History Of War? Admiralty. It was he campaign. With
I am working on something. I hope it’s of interest to others, but I’m afraid who, in an attempt to little knowledge
you’ll have to wait and see what it is! gain the upper hand of the Dardanelles,
in what had become he spent six months
a stalemate, suggested unimaginatively
the Allies attack bombarding the Turks
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Germany “through and making little
After attending Cambridge University, Jeremy Paxman joined the BBC’s graduate training the back door”, progress. He was
programme in 1972. He has been with the Corporation ever since, appearing on advancing through the recalled in October
everything from Panorama to Breakfast Time. Since 1989, he has been the presenter of Dardanelles towards 1915, effectively ending
Newsnight, and he also fronts University Challenge. He has written several history books. Constantinople. his military career.
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the enemy’s part have taken place. On a question of who can slog longest A Turkish sniper, disguised as a bush, in custody
the contrary, the enemy is advancing and hardest”. The brilliant initiative after being captured by Anzac troops. (From The Great
timidly.” It mattered not whether men to break the stalemate of the Western World War: A History Volume III, published 1916.)
died bravely or cravenly, full of belief in Front had become a stalemate itself.
their cause or simply terrifi ed, because
their senior offi cers had led them so badly. Merciless march
For all the bloodshed, yet again the Had the British people known in
attempt to break out from the beachhead detail what a shambles the Gallipoli
failed. Kitchener decided that Freddy misadventure had been, perhaps it
Stopford must be sacked, cabling would have been called off earlier. But
Hamilton that “this is a young man’s they were never given the full picture.
war and we must have commanding In the early days of the campaign, it
offi cers that will take full advantage of had seemed as exotic as Kitchener’s
opportunities which occur but seldom”. merciless march up the Nile to
It was Kitchener, of course, who had Omdurman in 1898 to wreak revenge
appointed the old men – summoning on the rebels who had dared to defy
Stopford from the Tower of London the British Empire. The press coverage
because he didn’t want to take anyone did little to put them right. In April,
better from among the Generals on the The Daily Telegraph had hailed the start
Western Front. Sir Frederick Hammersley, of the campaign with the headlines
meanwhile, commanding the 11th “Great attack on the Dardanelles. Getty Images
Division upon which the attack had Fleet and armies. Allied troops land
hinged, was evacuated – not, as had in Gallipoli. Success of operations.

A SERGEANT IN ONE OF THE FIELD HOSPITALS convinced Australian soldiers that he
was a spy. He was saved from summary
execution only when a Royal Navy sailor
DESCRIBED TRYING TO PROVIDE MEDICAL CARE ON recognised him from the journey out.
Ashmead-Bartlett, an arrogant young
THE BEACH AS “A TASK TO MAKE ANGELS WEEP” man with a taste for high living that
could not be sustained by his income,
did not make things easy for himself:
on the voyage out, he had been noted
been feared, because of a mental Large forces advance.” This had been for appearing in the mornings in a yellow
breakdown, but, as General Hamilton followed by a fantastical claim two w GIBSON’S silk robe and shouting for his breakfast
reported it, because he was said to days later that troops had fought their GALLIPOLI “as though the Carlton [Club] were
have a blood clot in his leg, and “he way 20 miles inland. A FILM OF THE still his corporeal home”. For all this,
has to lie perfectly prostrate and still… The campaign was a censor’s dream CAMPAIGN, though, he recognised at the start that
as the least movement might set it – soldiers on the Western Front might SIMPLY ENTITLED the Gallipoli campaign was bound to
loose and it would then kill him”. return home on leave or for medical GALLIPOLI, WAS fail, even if the rules meant that any
On 17 August, ten days after treatment, but Turkey was thousands of RELEASED IN report he sent home could only be
the landing, General Hamilton was sea-miles away. It was easy to control 1981. DIRECTOR transmitted long after the commander’s
cabling Kitchener with the familiar the fl ow of information. The one national PETER WEIR’S offi cial anodyne communiqué.
refrain: “Unfortunately, the Turks have newspaper reporter whom Kitchener POIGNANT At fi rst, Ashmead-Bartlett did his best
PORTRAYAL
temporarily gained the moral ascendancy had allowed to travel offi cially with the HELPED TO to play the patriotic game, describing
over some of our new troops.” If there expedition was in trouble from the start. LAUNCH THE the Australian landings at Anzac Cove
was to be any chance of success, For some reason, Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett CAREER OF ITS in heroic terms, and including the
he needed “large reinforcements” landed at Anzac Cove wearing an old LEADING MAN, observation that “the fi rst Ottoman
immediately, because “it has become pale-green felt hat, which somehow MEL GIBSON. Turk since the last crusade received














HORATIO OTTO LIMAN FREDERICK FREDERICK ELLIS KEITH MURDOCH CHARLES MONRO
HERBERT KITCHENER VON SANDERS HAMMERSLEY WILLIAM STOPFORD ASHMEAD-BARTLETT A journalist for The Within days of
The Secretary of State A skilled commander In charge of the As General Officer Through his criticism Sydney Sun, Murdoch replacing Hamilton as

for War, Kitchener for the Ottoman 11th (Northern) Commanding IX Corps, of the campaign, agreed to take a letter Commander-in-Chief
was one of the few Empire during the First Division, Hammersley Stopford was blamed Ashmead-Bartlett written by Ashmead- of the Mediterranean
people to foresee World War, Von Sanders led the landing at for the failure to attack was instrumental in Bartlett to British Expeditionary Force,

a long conflict, and succeeded in forcing Suvla Bay. However, following the Suvla bringing about Ian Prime Minister Herbert Monro ordered
organised the largest the Allies to evacuate the Dardanelles Bay landing. He was Hamilton’s dismissal. Asquith, containing the evacuation of
volunteer army the the Dardanelles, Commission criticised largely unsuited to the Working for The Daily sensitive criticisms troops from Gallipoli,
world had ever seen. preventing a seizure his command, job due to his age, and Telegraph, he covered of the Gallipoli recommending to
He was blamed for of Constantinople. deeming his orders his commands were the 25 April landing at campaign. However, Lord Kitchener that
the shortage of shells His Ottoman 5th Army to be confusing and given from an off-shore Anzac Cove, and soon upon reaching France, the peninsula be freed
in 1915, one of the was the best on the ineffective. He was battleship. However, began claiming that he was arrested and of troops due to his
events that led to Gallipoli peninsula, removed from the Kitchener is considered Allied attacks were the letter was seized. belief that the war
the formation of a with 84,000 well- frontline and replaced partially at fault for amateurish and under- So Murdoch wrote his could only be won on
coalition Government. equipped soldiers. by Edward Fanshawe. appointing Stopford. prepared in execution. own letter to Asquith. the Western Front.
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Some of this was rubbish – there had,
for example, been no order to offi cers
to shoot their own men. But there was
enough truth in it not merely to rock the
boat but to sink it. Somehow, Murdoch’s
explosive document found its way into
the hands of Lloyd George, who didn’t
care for Kitchener and had decided
the campaign was a foolish irrelevance.
This presented Kitchener with a real
dilemma. He was already attempting
to root out every available soldier for
a new offensive on the Western Front.
He could see French commitment to the
Dardanelles campaign waning by the
week, and it was abundantly clear that
Mary Evans Picture Library that, once embarked upon, there could
the much-sought-for breakthrough had
failed to occur. And yet he had ordered

be no letting up until victory. An honest
appraisal would have led him to the
conclusion that he had never given the
campaign the resources or backing it
needed. Instead, Kitchener decided to
change the commanding General.
tell the truth, he persuaded a visiting In October, he sacked Hamilton.
an Anglo-Saxon bayonet in him at fi ve Australian reporter, Keith Murdoch The closest the General would get to
minutes after fi ve am on April 25”. At (father of Rupert), who was travelling to active service again would be when
home, the War Secretary’s assessment London, to smuggle a letter to Asquith. he was appointed to Sir Frederick
had been “a masterpiece of organisation, Apologising for disturbing the Prime Stopford’s old job as Lieutenant of the
ingenuity and courage”, and “though the Minister, Ashmead-Bartlett described Tower of London in 1918. Hamilton’s
enemy is being constantly reinforced, the latest British offensive as “the most replacement was General Sir Charles
the news from this front is thoroughly
satisfactory”. Newspaper commentators
offered further comfort. On 29 May, KITCHENER COULD STILL MESMERISE THE PUBLIC
Archibald Hurd assured readers of
The Manchester Guardian that, despite BUT HE WAS NOW LOOKING LIKE A LIABILITY
the sinking of naval ships and the
possibility of more losses to come,
“There is no occasion for alarm.” TO MANY OF THE POLITICIANS IN THE CABINET
But the public was growing sceptical
of offi cial cheerleaders – the campaign
was taking a great deal longer than had ghastly and costly fi asco in our history Monro, who had disliked the Dardanelles
been expected. Increasingly, the casualty since the Battle of Bannockburn”. Lives “slideshow” from the start and needed
roll-calls in the newspapers included were being squandered, morale was only a three-day visit to the British
men who had been hit in the fi ghting appalling and the commanders despised. toeholds in Turkey to conclude that their
at Gallipoli. Letters were printed that Unfortunately, his whistle-blowing plan inadequate trenches, exposure to enemy
described the condition of the wounded did not remain a secret. Years later, shellfi re and hopeless artillery positions
who were lucky enough to make it to the Ashmead-Bartlett discovered that his comprised “a line possessing every
military hospitals in Mudros and Cairo conversation with Murdoch had been possible military defect” – the only thing
(albeit couched in terms of praise for overheard by another correspondent, to do was abandon the whole mission
their good treatment there). Even the Henry Nevinson, who informed General and get out as soon as possible.
newspaper dispatches allowed through Hamilton. When Keith Murdoch landed in Churchill, who had been such a forceful
by the censor were less positive than the Marseilles on his way to London, he was advocate of the Dardanelles operation,
presentations coming from offi cialdom. promptly arrested and the letter seized. commented tartly that, “He came,
Murdoch now sat down and wrote he saw, he capitulated.” Kitchener
Costly fiasco his own letter, to the Prime Minister of could still mesmerise the public, but he

In the squalid conditions at Gallipoli Australia, Andrew Fisher. His account of was now looking like a liability to many
itself, disease was rampant and perhaps the situation in Gallipoli made Ashmead- of the politicians in the Cabinet. He
half of the men were unfi t for duties. Bartlett’s seem inhibited. The Generals resisted attempts to remove him from
Ashmead-Bartlett concluded that the were inept, conceited and complacent. the War Offi ce, but agreed to travel to
attack had been amateurish in style The staff were bunglers. The volunteers the Dardanelles to judge for himself.
and under-prepared in execution. The of Kitchener’s army were miserable; Seeing the situation with his own eyes
mission, he decided, was well-nigh physically and mentally inferior not fi nally convinced the War Secretary that
impossible. In September – a month merely to Australians but to the average Monro was right: there was nothing for
after Uncle Charlie’s death – Ashmead- Turk: at Suvla Bay, British offi cers had it but to cut Allied losses and evacuate.
Bartlett decided he’d put up with it for been ordered to shoot their own men
long enough. He had already taken the to prevent formations dithering. Now, Devastating criticism
opportunity during a visit home to call after weeks of achieving almost nothing, As soon as he returned to London,
on Herbert Asquith, and had informed the soldiers were utterly demoralised. Kitchener tried to tender his resignation
the Prime Minister that offi cial accounts “You would refuse to believe that these as War Secretary, but Asquith talked
of the campaign gave a very misleading men were really British soldiers,” said him out of it. There was worse to come
impression. Things were not going well. Murdoch. “They show an atrophy of mind for the poor soldiers at Gallipoli. At the
In early September, after returning Above British Secretary and body that is appalling.” Morale end of November, a winter storm struck
of War Lord Horatio
to the theatre of operations and being Herbert Kitchener visits was dreadful. “Sedition is talked round and, in addition to hunger, dysentery
begged by disillusioned offi cers to the trenches at Gallipoli every tin of bully beef on the peninsula.” and Turkish fi re, the soldiers lived in
58 HISTORY WAR
of

the midst of snow and ice. Finally, in w WAR ON As Naval Chief of Staff to Vice-Admiral Sackville
Carden, Commodore Roger Keyes (far right)
early December – a full fi ve weeks after THE WEB THERE was heavily involved in the Gallipoli campaign.
General Monro’s recommendation – the IS A WEBSITE Here, he is seen walking on the beach on the final

Cabinet reached a decision to abandon DEDICATED day of the Allied evacuation of the peninsula
the whole operation. On 18 December, TO THE ANZAC
the British began a remarkably FORCES’
successful evacuation in which over PARTICIPATION
80,000 men were spirited away to sea AT GALLIPOLI,
with virtually no casualties. Nothing WITH PHOTOS
so became the invasion of Turkey as AND EYE-WITNESS
ACCOUNTS.
the leaving of it. All told, the Gallipoli VISIT IT AT
adventure had cost the lives of over WWW.ANZAC
29,000 British soldiers, nearly 10,000 SITE.GOV.AU
French, over 11,000 Australians and New
Zealanders, and almost 2,000 Indians.
Over 20 years later, when the US
Army attempted to house-train the future
Second World War commander George
“Old Blood and Guts” Patton by sending
him to staff college, he was asked to
write a dissertation on the Gallipoli
campaign. He made a number of points,
among them the observation that it was
not particularly sensible during a night
operation to try to protect your soldiers
from friendly fi re by making them wear
white patches on their uniform, since
it made them identifi able to snipers.
But his most devastating criticism was
reserved for the British commanders. “It
was not the Turkish Army which defeated
the British – it was Von Sanders, Kemal
Pasha and Major Willmer who defeated
Hamilton, Stopford, Hammersley… Had
the two sets of commanders changed
sides, it is believed that the landing
would have been as great a success
as it was a dismal failure.”
It was a characteristically aggressive
analysis: better leadership might have
won the day. There is something in it,
although the truth is probably that the
more experienced Turks outclassed the
Allies at every level. But Kitchener could
only use the Generals he had available,
and the plain fact was that they weren’t
up to the job. The levels of incompetence
displayed make it hard to consider
the entire venture as anything other
than a misguided, irrelevant and costly
sideshow that wasted scarce resources
and undermined morale. The campaign
demonstrated the chasm between the
young men who had volunteered to fi ght
the war and the old men who directed
it. Its failure meant that the British
were now more than ever committed
to the trenches of the Western Front
and to a victory of attrition. If, indeed,
the war could be won at all. w










This feature is an
edited extract from the
book Great Britain’s
Great War by Jeremy Mary Evans Picture Library
Paxman. Published
by Viking Press, it is
available from both
high-street and online
book stores, RRP £25.
HISTORY WAR 59
of

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Back to pas
BOTH SIDES NOW











First World War: Exploring war from the perspectives of opposing sides can be
an engrossing and enlightening experience. Giving you the opportunity to do just that
is a new battlefi eld tour – Fritz and Tommy. Paul Dimery decided to take a look…

HEN IT COMES TO LEARNING thrust into the fi eld of combat against their
military history in school, there will and better judgement.
is often a problem of impartiality The battlefi eld visit we are looking at this
– or, rather, a lack of it. Here month goes some way to correcting the balance.
in Britain, it’s rare to study war Called Fritz and Tommy (the nicknames German
accounts from anything other and British soldiers gave to each other during
than our own side’s perspective the First and Second World Wars), this brand-
W (whether this is down to ignorance new tour is at once poignant and fascinating.
on the part of the teaching staff or a lack of It takes in three key First World War sites on
knowledge is open the Western Front –
to debate). And some HERE IN BRITAIN, IT’S RARE Flanders, northern
US schools have France and the Somme
gone one step further, TO STUDY WAR ACCOUNTS – and explores how
bending the truth the confl ict evolved
entirely – I remember on both sides of no
meeting a student FROM ANYTHING OTHER THAN man’s land. In this, the
from Kansas City who centenary of the start
was adamant that the OUR OWN SIDE’S PERSPECTIVE of the war, there’s no
Second World War better time to expand
began with the bombing your knowledge while
of Pearl Harbor in 1941! paying tribute to those who lost their lives in
The downside to this bias, of course, a confl ict that seemed to never end.
is that we miss the opportunity to garner Departing Britain by coach, the fi ve-day tour
a well-rounded appraisal of certain begins in Flanders in northern Belgium. This
confl icts: the tactical approaches area saw some of the greatest loss of life
of Britain’s foes; the cultural impact during the First World War, and the “Flandern”
war had on those countries; not to operations are still a byword for sacrifi ce in
mention the personalities of the soldiers Germany today. The excursion explores how
fi ghting for the other side, who are the nation commemorated its dead here, with
often demonised as cold, emotionless visits to the German cemeteries at Vladslo and
killers, when many – like our own men Langemarck. There will be time to appreciate
and women – were the moving “Grieving Parents” statues






















David Crossland/Alamy



The Christmas truce, where rival
soldiers ceased fighting to play football

against each other, is immortalised by
this memorial at St Yvon, Belgium
HISTORY WAR 61
of

FRITZ AND TOMMY TOUR































Where once there was gunfire

and misery, now there is serenity
and reflection: a German

cemetery in northern France
by German sculptor Käthe Kollwitz, and also Gheluvelt, where future führer Adolf Hitler fought look at the story of the infamous Christmas
learn about the “Langemarck myth”. This was in 1914 and may have been taken prisoner truce, exploring some of the myths from both
a story published in German newspapers to by a British Victoria Cross hero! After lunch at sides, as well as a visit to the grave of a German
raise morale in the country, at a time when Hooge, it takes in German bunkers on the Ypres offi cer buried in a British cemetery. His story
many citizens were opposed to the war effort. battlefi eld, their trench system at Bayernwald is a fascinating one, and ties together much of
According to their reports – which were later Germany’s history from the 20th Century.
“corroborated” by Adolf Hitler in his 1925 Day two sees the tour veer into northern
book Mein Kampf – “young regiments broke THE TOUR VISITS GHELUVELT, France. You’ll get to see the ground near
forward with the song Deutschland Uber Alles Wervicq-Sud where Adolf Hitler was gassed in
against the frontline of enemy positions, and WHERE HITLER FOUGHT IN 1914 October 1918, before exploring the Fromelles
took them. Approximately 2,000 men of the battlefi eld from both sides – the German
French infantry line were captured, along with AND MAY HAVE BEEN TAKEN defences as well as the Australian quarters.
six machine guns.” This has since been widely Following lunch in Bethune, there’s time to pay
dismissed, however. For a start, Deutschland PRISONER BY A VC HERO! respects at the grave of First World War British
Uber Alles did not become the recognised fi ghter pilot Albert Ball VC, who crashed behind
German national anthem until 1922. And German lines and was buried by his foe with
besides, it’s unlikely that soldiers charging and their mining operations on the Messines full military honours, with many senior German
through a battlefi eld with fi xed bayonets would Ridge. Then the focus returns to Hitler with a offi cers in attendance. The day ends with a
have been in any position to break into song. visit to the crypt where he sheltered and the recollection of the fi ghting that took place
From here, the tour continues along the Menin farm he visited after his armies had conquered near Arras and Vimy Ridge, as well as a visit
Road, examining the pivotal skirmishes around Europe in 1914. The day ends with an in-depth to the vast German cemetery at La Targette.


The tour
examines the
war from the
point of view
of German
troops as well
as British
















Käthe Kollwitz’s “Grieving Parents”
statues at Vladslo military cemetery,
dedicated to the sculptor’s son, Peter,
who was killed in Flanders in 1914

62 HISTORY WAR
of

Getty War on the

Western Front

This historic map depicts northern France and Belgium,
which saw some of the bloodiest battles of the
First World War, and which the Fritz and Tommy tour
focuses on. For most of the young men who fought,

it would have been their first visit to these countries.
Yet many died here, hundreds of miles from home.








































































Classic Image/Alamy








HISTORY WAR 63
of

FRITZ AND TOMMY TOUR

The fi nal full day takes in the Somme, where
some of the bloodiest battles of the war took From gun to pen
place (during the initial Battle of the Somme
– fought between July and November 1916 – Ernst Jünger was made of stern stuff. Having already
it’s estimated that more than a million men served in North Africa with the French Foreign Legion
were wounded or killed). The tour starts at (whom he’d signed up with after running away from home
Copse 125, a wood where German soldier- as a teenager), he joined the German army’s campaign on
writer Ernst Jünger (see right) fought in 1918 the Western Front. Despite being wounded seven times,
opposite a force of New Zealanders. These he managed to serve with distinction and was awarded
Prussia’s highest military accolade at the time, the Pour
included “the King of No Man’s Land”, Dick Le Mérite. He went on to describe his experiences in the
Travis – so named because he was said to Great War in his 1920 book, Storm Of Steel – a work that
know the neutral territory (“every sap and was accused of glorifying conflict – and in the ensuing

shell-hole”) better than he knew his own years he wrote for several right-wing nationalist journals
trenches. On Hawthorn Ridge, the tour looks at (though he never endorsed the Nazi Party).
how Württemberg troops repulsed the British Jünger fought for his country again in the Second World
attack from this position in the early stages War, although this time in an administrative position.
of the Battle of the Somme. Following lunch Stationed in Paris, he socialised with some of the prominent
at Thiepval and a look at the German 180th artists of the day, including Picasso and Jean Cocteau.
He wrote about this period in his 1948 book, Refl ections.
Regiment that resided there in 1916, it’s on to In 1984, he effectively renounced his earlier beliefs
Poziéres to visit the German “Gibraltar” bunker, when he called the ideology of war in Germany before and
captured by the Australians that same year. At after the First World War a “calamitous mistake”. He died in
Courcelette, the tour looks at the use of British 2008, a year after converting to Catholocism. He was 102.
tanks against the Germans, and there’s a visit
to a forgotten German headstone. Then it’s a
drive to Guillemont, where the focus returns can almost hear the sound of raindrops pinging the Fritz and Tommy tour is for you. It presents
to Ernest Jünger, contrasting his experience of off the soldiers’ steel helmets. Then there’s the the confl ict from both angles, giving us the chance
the fi ghting there in 1916 with British soldier- story of the Hawthorn Ridge mine – 40,000lb- to bring in lesser-known battlefi eld locations
writer Francis Hitchcock (who immortalised his worth of explosives detonated by the Royal and examine existing ones in a fresh light.” w
recollections of the war in Stand To – A Diary Engineers on 1 July 1916, the fi rst day of the
of the Trenches 1915-1918. The day – and the Battle of the Somme. You may have seen the
tour – fi nishes with a visit to the Museum of fi lm footage, but what that doesn’t reveal is Fritz and Tommy tour
the Great War in Peronne, paying particular the Germans’ experience of the explosion: how
attention to the German side of its collection. those who survived reacted, and the physical Leger Holidays will be running two Fritz and
The Fritz and Tommy tour can be an intense, and psychological impact they suffered. This is Tommy tours in 2014 – starting on 29 September
emotional experience. It’s one thing reading something the tour explores in detail using eye- (£439 per person) and 20 October (£419 per
about the devastation that occurred in places witness accounts and contemporary fi ndings. person). These prices include coach travel and
like Flanders and the Somme; it’s another to Helping out with this is German historian Rob accommodation, and are based on two passengers
sharing a standard room. Please note: there
actually stand where those brave men fell, with Schafer, whose expertise – not to mention his will be £20 off the price if your trip is booked
the sound of bullets and the screams of their collection of rare First World War photographs before 30 April. Please quote reference BB17.
comrades ringing in their ears. Whatever the and other objects – is combined with that of For further details,
weather, it’s an all-encompassing experience Head Battlefi eld Guide Paul Reed to present call 0844 324 9256
– in the heat, one can imagine what it must a colourful and balanced depiction of what or visit
have been like to lay wounded in a shell-hole happened during those few fateful years. www.visitbattlefi elds.co.uk
in the baking sun, not knowing which would Says Reed, “If you want to use the centenary
come fi rst: help or death. In a downpour, you period to discover new angles to the Great War,

A collection of rare photographs
will help to bring the stories of both
Allied and German troops to life.
Here, German soldiers pose for a
picture before heading into battle































64 HISTORY WAR
of

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Military M IL E ST O N E S
MISSILES







In terms of projectile warfare, the human race has come a long
way since the days of launching hot sand at invading forces.
History Of War traces some of the major missile developments…
















26
26
9
9
1000AD CHINESE FIRE ARROWS 1 1 1 9 26
LIQUID-FUELLED ROCKETS
LIQUID-FUELLED ROCKETS
Having invented gunpowder, the Chinese eventually 1926 LIQUID-FUELLED ROCKETS
fathomed a way to utilise it in a military theatre. They While studies had been car ried out on the pr acticality
While studies had been car
While studies had been car
While studies had been carried out on the practicality
ried out on the pr
ried out on the pr
acticality
acticality
ets since the 19th Centur
y
ets since the 19th Centur
ets since the 19th Centur
y
of liquid-fuelled rock
of liquid-fuelled rock
y
of liquid-fuelled rock
attached bamboo tubes containing gunpowder to long of liquid-fuelled rockets since the 19th Century, , , ,
as the fi
t H Goddard w
arrows (the length increased stability), then launched US professor Rober t H Goddard w as the fi rst person
US professor Robert H Goddard was the first person
t H Goddard w
US professor Rober
US professor Rober
rst person
rst person
as the fi
his rock
In 1926,
In 1926,
et,
et,
to actually launch one. In 1926, his rocket, “Nell”
to actually launch one.
to actually launch one.
his rock
“Nell”
them with bows. With a range of up to 1,000 feet, they to actually launch one. In 1926, his rock et, “Nell”
“Nell”
(pictured with Goddard),
are thought to have been first used in combat by the (pictured with Goddard), spent just two and a half
(pictured with Goddard), spent just two and a half
spent just two and a half
spent just two and a half

(pictured with Goddard),
seconds in the air
seconds in the air
seconds in the air
,
,
,
rising 41 feet at a speed of 60mph,
Southern Wu during the siege of Yuzhang in 904AD. seconds in the air, rising 41 feet at a speed of 60mph,
rising 41 feet at a speed of 60mph,
rising 41 feet at a speed of 60mph,
before crashing into a cabbage field. Goddard was
as
as
before cr
eld.
Goddard w
e fi
eld.
e fi
In the 13th Century, the Chinese found that the tubes before cr ashing into a cabbag e fi eld. Goddard w as
before cr
ashing into a cabbag
ashing into a cabbag
Goddard w
but in tr
but in tr
ts,
uth he had
uth he had
ts,
ridiculed b
ridiculed by the public for his efforts, but in truth he had
ridiculed b
could launch themselves using the power produced ridiculed b y the public for his effor ts, but in tr uth he had
y the public for his effor
y the public for his effor
ards ushering in the space ag
ards ushering in the space ag
ards ushering in the space ag
e.
by the escaping gas – creating the world’s first rocket. made giant steps towards ushering in the space age.
e.
e.
made giant steps tow
made giant steps tow
made giant steps tow

1000 500 0 500 1000 1500 1900 1905 1910 1920 1930 1940 1945
8OOBC EARLIEST THERMAL PROJECTILES 1939 KATYUSHA ROCKET LAUNCHER

French historian Jean Juvénal des Ursins identified First fielded by the Soviets during the Second World
the importance of missiles when, following Henry V’s War, this multi-launching device could quickly deliver

firing of Meaux in 1421, he wrote, “War without fire anything from 14 to 48 rockets to a specific target
is like sausages without mustard.” But this wasn’t a area. Usually mounted on a truck, the “Little Kate” Getty Images
revolutionary idea, and thermal projectiles had already was able to deliver its blow, then move on before being

been around for hundreds of years. As early as 800BC, located and attacked with counter-fire. So deadly was
the launcher – and so eerie w
as the sound of
defending forces would throw boiling water or hot the launcher – and so eerie was the sound of
its missiles howling through the air – that
sand over castle walls to repel invaders, while sulphur- its missiles howling through the air – that
able psychological
it had a considerable psychological
it had a consider
or oil-soaked materials would be attached to spears
Getty Images Getty Images and arrows, ignited and launched. These were capable 1780 MYSOREAN ROCKETS impact on German troops, who
impact on Ger
man troops,
who
it “Stalin’
org
an”.
Their
labelled it “Stalin’s organ”. Their
labelled
s

of inflicting huge damage on wooden structures, though
one beacon of hope w
as that it
one beacon of hope was that it
they did give away one’s position if used under the cover
took a long time to reload and
r
and were also er
atic in wet weather
In the 18th Century, the Mysoreans ascertained that by
.
of darkness,
of darkness, and were also erratic in wet weather.
wasn’t always accurate.

w

ate.

t alw
ys accur

a
asn’
protecting propellant with a steel casing, their missiles took a long time to reload and
could attain greater thrust and a longer reach (up to
2km). They deployed these new weapons against the
British East India Company in the Battle of Pollilur
in 1780, resulting in the destruction of their enemy’s
stores and its ultimate defeat. Following Mysorean
leader Tipu Sultan’s death in the fourth Anglo-Mysore

War, the remaining rockets were confiscated and used
by Sir William Congreve, an inventor with the Royal
Arsenal, to develop further weapons. The result was
the Congreve rocket, fired during the Napoleonic Wars.

66 HISTORY WAR
of

4
4
19 19 4 4 V-2 ROCKET
ROCKET
1944 V-2 ROCKET
V-2
enitor of
Recognised as the progenitor of
Recognised as the prog
Recognised as the prog enitor of
V-2 w
ets,
man
n rock
as
the Ger
moder
modern rockets, the German V-2 was
moder n rock ets, the Ger man V-2 w as
the wor ld’ s fi rst long-r ang e ballistic
the wor
ld’
the world’s first long-range ballistic
e ballistic
ang
rst long-r
s fi
missile.
missile.
missile. Standing at 46-feet high
Standing at 46-feet high
Standing at 46-feet high
and with a velocity of 3,500mph,
and with a velocity of 3,500mph,
and with a velocity of 3,500mph,
er
nher
nher
as developed b
as developed b
y
y
er
W
W
on
it w
it w
on
V
V
it was developed by Wernher Von
Braun and presented by the Nazi
aun and presented b
aun and presented b
Br Br
y the Nazi
y the Nazi
propag
propaganda machine as retaliation
anda machine as retaliation
propag anda machine as retaliation
for the bombing of Ger man cities.
for the bombing of Ger
for the bombing of German cities.
man cities.
Be ginning in September 1944, more
Be
ginning in September 1944,
more
Beginning in September 1944, more
Allied
than 3,000 were launched at
than 3,000 were launched at Allied
than 3,000 were launched at Allied
targ ets – principally London and
targets – principally London and
ets – principally London and
targ
rst
as also the fi
V-2 w
Antwerp.
Antwerp. The V-2 was also the first
Antwerp. The V-2 w as also the fi rst
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missile to reach outer space and,
missile to reach outer space and,
missile to reach outer space and,
in 1946, the fi rst photog r r aph of
rst photog
in 1946, the first photograph of
aph of
in 1946,
the fi
as tak
Earth was taken from one of the
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as tak
th w
th w
en from one of the
en from one of the
aun went on to
on Br
rock ets. V V on Br aun went on to
ets.
rockets. Von Braun went on to
rock
where he helped to
where he helped to
work for NASA,
work for NASA,
work for NASA, where he helped to Getty Images
develop the Saturn V booster rocket.
develop the Satur n V booster rock et.
et.
V booster rock
develop the Satur
n
1973 EXOCET
TOP SECRET
The French-built Exocet (above) is one of the world’s
most iconic missiles – and such has been its success 2014 WU-14 HYPERSONIC GLIDE VEHICLE
in combat situations that variants are still in service
today. Taking its name from the Latin word exocoetus The Chinese have come a long way since those early


(roughly translated as “flying fish”), it’s an anti-ship fire arrows. While they are notoriously secretive about

missile designed to destroy small to medium craft – their missile programme, reports abound that they
though larger ships can be sunk with multiple hits. have followed other nations, including the USA and
Launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters Russia, in building an HGV (Hypersonic Glide Vehicle).
and fixed-wing aircraft, it’s guided in mid-flight and It is believed that the WU-14 will be capable of travelling


switches on active radar late on to find and hit its 62 miles above the Earth’s surface, before zooming

target. Due to the missile’s low altitude during ingress back into the atmosphere at up to 7,680mph –
(just 1-2m above the sea surface), it typically cannot be much too fast for any potential enemy to activate
detected by its target until it is 6,000m from impact. its missile-defence system. Frightening stuff, indeed.
1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
1957 BOEING CIM-10 BOMARC 1983 BGM-109 TOMAHAWK
Such was the paranoia brought about by the Cold Named after a Native American axe, the all-weather,
War that, in 1957, the US developed a long-range subsonic Tomahawk is a ship- or submarine-launched
anti-aircraft missile – the world’s first – to intercept missile designed to hit targets on land. It is initially


any Soviet planes that might fly over its air space in deployed from a booster rocket, before a small
the event of a full-scale conflict. Standing at 45-feet turbofan engine takes over and the missile is directed

tall and with a top speed of around 1,900mph, the towards land by its inertial-guidance system. Upon
missiles were housed in launch shelters in remote reaching shore, a more precise guidance method
areas of the US and Canada. And they were primed known as TERCOM (Terrain Countour Matching) takes
for quick deployment, each one fitted with an alert over. The 20-foot missile, which flies at up to 550mph


signal that, when triggered, could fire the missile and has a range of 470 nautical miles, is a nightmare


within 30 seconds. In 1960, a Bomarc fitted with a for those on the receiving end, due to its ability to
Mary Evans Picture Library

nuclear warhead caught fire at a launch site, causing twist and turn, and thus evade radar detection. The
contamination, and the missile was retired in 1972. US Navy is believed to have around 2,000 Tomahawks.

HISTORY WAR 67
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BATTLES



in BRIEF





FRANCE




Revolution to Empire








French Revolution: In 1879 in France, the demands of commoners for political rights and
an end to noble privilege erupted into full-scale revolution. By 1792, the country had been
declared a republic, which it remained until 1804 when Napoleon was crowned Emperor.
The revolution ignited a series of wars, which were both an ideological confl ict between the
revolution and its enemies, and a continuation of the power struggle between European states


SHOCK TACTICS part of the enemy’s army and then turning with charge – ensured that casualty rates were
full force on the now-outnumbered remainder.
high on both sides. For example, at the battle
Napoleon’s large armies moved swiftly by forced The French leader’s ruthlessly aggressive of Borodino in 1812, there were around
marches, living off the countryside. When battle application of power on the battlefi eld – the 74,000 casualties in one day. Napoleon saw
was joined, success often depended on superior cannonade by heavy artillery, the infantry no need to conserve manpower, fi guring that
manoeuvre – for example, destroying a weaker attack in dense columns and the mass cavalry more could always be raised by conscription.

































NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, 1769-1821

Born in Corsica, Napoleon was an artillery officer
whose readiness to suppress street disturbances
in Paris in 1795 earned him command of an
army. His military successes gave him the
chance to seize political power, culminating in
his assumption of the title of Emperor in 1804.
Napoleon won almost all of the 50 battles he
fought. A natural gambler, he even attempted
a return to power from exile on Elba in 1815.
However, defeat at Waterloo (see last issue) led
to his imprisonment on St Helena, where he died.


68 HISTORY WAR
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CITIZEN ARMY
The dominance achieved by the French army during this turbulent period
was rooted in the pre-Revolution era. A royal war councillor, the Comte de
Guibert, envisaged a “citizen army” that would fi ght decisive, combined-
arms campaigns based on mobility and aggression, and the royal
army’s inspector of artillery, Jean-Baptiste de Gribeauval, endowed France
with mobile and accurate cannons commanded by trained artillery offi cers,
FRANCE including Napoleon Bonaparte. The most radical period of the Revolution,
from 1792 to 1794, made a citizen army a reality. The constitution of June
1793 declared, “All Frenchmen shall be soldiers; all shall be trained to
arms.” The following August, 300,000 troops were raised by conscription,
but it was declared the duty of every citizen to participate in the war effort.
Revolution to Empire marched on King Louis XVI’s Palace of Versailles to complain about the high price and


ARMED WOMEN On 5 October 1789, women armed with pikes, axes and muskets
scarcity of bread. The women were joined by a mob of thousands and the march became

a symbol of the struggle of poor folk against the rich, a defining moment of the Revolution

INSTRUMENT

Steel flint-cock Pan cover Steel OF POWER

barrel
Wooden
stock Conscripts, revolutionary volunteers and
the old royal army were amalgamated into
mass armies supplied by an expanding
state armaments industry. Extreme
revolutionary gestures such as the election of
offi cers were abandoned in favour of formal
discipline and hierarchy, but revolutionary
and patriotic enthusiasm distinguished
FLINTLOCK PISTOL French troops from their foes. Men of all
The pistol was primarily social backgrounds were able to win rapid
Trigger Trigger a cavalry weapon at the Ramrod promotion on merit. This was the context for
guard
time of the Napoleonic the rise of Napoleon, who turned the army into
Wars. This is the British a formidable agent of personal ambition. Creating
Army’s New Land Pattern self-contained, combined-arms formations,
pistol, introduced in 1814 he followed an offensive strategy, seeking out
and attacking the enemy in pursuit of victory.
EXTREME REVOLUTIONARY GESTURES MEDAL OF VICTORY

WERE ABANDONED IN FAVOUR OF The British Waterloo
Medal celebrates the
FORMAL DISCIPLINE AND HIERARCHY defeat in 1815 that marked
the end of Napoleon’s career


MARSHAL OF FRANCE Michel Ney, one of Napoleon’s FRENCH DEFEAT
26 Marshals, was a mere Sergeant-Major at the outbreak
Britain, France’s most consistent enemy, was
of the French Revolutionary Wars Britain, F rance’ s most consistent enem y , w as
dominant at sea throughout the Napoleonic
dominant at sea throughout the Napoleonic
Wars. On land, Napoleon suffered a steady
Wars. On land, Napoleon suffered a steady
BRASS CANNON Napoleon saw this gun as a crucial drain on his resources in the Peninsular War,
drain on his resources in the Peninsular War,
battle-winner, not a support weapon. “It is with cannon where he faced Spanish guerrillas and British
where he faced Spanish guerrillas and British
that one makes war,” he said intervention. He over-reached himself with
intervention. He over-reached himself with
the 1812 invasion of Russia, and the retreat
the 1812 invasion of Russia, and the retreat
from Moscow destroyed his army. Learning
from Moscow destroyed his army. Learning
from the French, other states enlarged their
from the French, other states enlarged their
forces – though only the Prussians began
forces – though only the Prussians began
conscription – and improved their tactics. Not
conscription – and improved their tactics. Not
as brilliant as Napoleon, they nevertheless
as brilliant as Napoleon, they nevertheless
became increasingly capable of taking on
became increasingly capable of taking on
the French and fi nally won out. The French
the French and fi nally won out. The French
monarchy was restored in 1814, and
monarchy was restored in 1814, and
Napoleon’s gamble at Waterloo
Napoleon’s gamble at Waterloo
the following year was
the following year was
a doomed effort.
a doomed effort.
HISTORY WAR 69 69
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FRANCE: REVOLUTION TO EMPIRE
THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY WARS




THE WARS BETWEEN REVOLUTIONARY FRANCE and a varying coalition of direction of Lazare Carnot, the hundreds of thousands of new recruits
European powers began in 1792 as resistance to an invasion intended to raised by mass mobilisation – the levée en masse – were amalgamated
restore the authority of the French monarchy, but evolved into a crusade with old regulars to form a national army full of revolutionary enthusiasm.
to spread the principles of the Revolution. A by-product of this was an In Napoleon Bonaparte, they found a General of genius to lead them. But
aggressive expansion of France’s borders. From 1793, under the inspired the limit to French power remained the sea, where Britain was dominant.


SUBJECTED TO HEAVY
ARTILLERY FIRE, THE

FRENCH SOLDIERS
STOOD FIRM

















































VALMY EPOCH-MAKING BATTLE This painting shows French
a
c
t
he f
s
T
positions by the mill at Valmy coming under intense
In April 1792, France declared war on Austria artillery fire from Coalition forces. The German poet The facts

and Prussia. Coalition forces (Prussian, Goethe, who was present at the battle, described it as DATE 20 September 1792
Austrian, Hessian and French emigrés) advanced the beginning of “a new era in world history”
into France in August. The Prussian Commander, LOCATION: Eastern France
the Duke of Brunswick, took Verdun on FORCES French: 30,000; Coalition: 30,000-40,000
3 September and then marched on Paris. heights of Valmy. Subjected to heavy artillery CASUALTIES French: 300 killed; Coalition: 200 killed
Two French armies, commanded by Charles fi re, the French soldiers stood fi rm. When the
Dumouriez and François-Christophe Kellermann, Coalition infantry advanced, it was the turn of
failed to stop Brunswick passing through the the French artillery to show its effectiveness
wooded heights of the Argonne and on into in breaking up the assault. Brunswick soon
the west. With the road to Paris open in front decided that, since the French were not going to
of him, Brunswick chose to turn to engage run away, his best course was to withdraw while
the French, fearing to continue the advance his forces, already racked by disease, were still
with enemy armies across his lines of relatively intact. Although more a drawn stand-off
communication. Brunswick’s army met French than a serious battle, Valmy was hailed as a
forces under Kellermann, drawn up on the great victory and the salvation of the Revolution.
70 HISTORY WAR
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JEMAPPES gallant until the end, were eventually swamped
by force of numbers and retreated briskly.
The facts
In early November 1792, Charles Dumouriez By the end of the year, France had occupied T he f a c t s
advanced into the Austrian Netherlands the Austrian Netherlands. DATE 6 November 1792
(Belgium) with the Armée du Nord. It was while As for Duke Albert, as the French Revolution
doing so that he came across an Austrian progressed, he eventually fl ed to Laeken Palace LOCATION: North of Mons, eastern Belgium
army, led by Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen, at in Brussels (the present-day home of the FORCES French: 40,000-45,000;
Jemappes, just outside Mons. The Austrians Belgian royal family), and it was here that he Austrian: 13,000-25,000
were heavily outnumbered but, occupying began to indulge his love of fi ne art. In his CASUALTIES French: 2,000-4,000 killed or
strong defensive positions, they were not going remaining years, he amassed a vast collection wounded; Austrian: 4,500 killed or wounded
to be a pushover. of drawings and paintings, which can now
The battle began with a three-hour French be seen in the Albertina Museum in Vienna.
artillery barrage that had little effect on the
Austrian defence. Frustrated, Dumouriez then
launched a series of frontal assaults, but the fi re FIELD ARTILLERY Due to the exhaustive reforming
of Austrian cannons and Tyrolean Jägers armed efforts of General Jean-Baptiste de Gribeauval (1715-89),
with rifl es, as well as cavalry counter-attacks, the French army’s guns were more accurate and mobile
repeatedly drove his army back. The Austrians, than those of their enemies





































TOULON the port of Toulon, French forces laid siege to possession of this ground, on 17 December. As
the town, seeking to take the forts of Mount
Napoleon had predicted, the following day Hood
By August 1793, the revolutionaries were at war Faron, which dominated the city to the east. was obliged to evacuate and pull out his fl eet.
with Britain and Spain as well as Austria and A junior artillery offi cer – a certain Napoleon
Prussia, and large parts of France were now Bonaparte – devised a plan to drive out the
in the hands of royalist rebels. After royalists fl eet by seizing high ground dominating the NAPOLEON AT THE SIEGE The French leader’s reputation
invited an Anglo-Spanish fl eet under Admirals harbour, thus exposing the enemy to artillery was made at the siege of Toulon. He was promoted from
Samuel Hood and Juan de Lángara to occupy fi re. The French took Fort Mulgrave, the key to Captain to Brigadier-General in just four months


T he f a c t s
The facts
DATE 27 August-19 December 1793
LOCATION: Toulon, on France’s Mediterranean coast
FORCES Some 18,000 British, Spanish and
Piedmontese inside Toulon
CASUALTIES No reliable estimates











HISTORY WAR 71
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AIR WARFARE

The French established the world’s fi rst air force, the Compagnie
d’Aéronautique, in 1794. A hydrogen balloon, the Entreprenant, was
deployed on 2 June of that year at Maubeuge, where it was used for
reconnaissance during an enemy bombardment and remained airborne
for nine hours. However, reports of its success varied and, while three
more balloons went into service, Napoleon eventually decided that aerial
warfare was not the way forward, and the company disbanded in 1799.


NAP
NAPOLEON DECIDED THAT
NAP OLEON DECIDED THA T
OLEON DECIDED THA
T
ARE
ARF
AERIAL W ARF ARE W A S NO
AERIAL WARFARE WAS NOT T
AERIAL W
W
OR
THE W A Y F OR W ARD
Y F
THE WAY FORWARDARD
THE W
A





































FLEURUS REVOLUTIONARY COMMANDER General Jourdan, on a
white horse, launched his reserves in a decisive counter- The facts
From the autumn of 1793, the French attack against the Coalition at the battle of Fleurus
revolutionaries regained the initiative in their DATE 26 June 1794
war against the Coalition of foreign powers
and against royalists in France. In June 1794, of the project, Charles Coutelle, stayed in LOCATION: North of Charleroi, Belgium
General Jourdan laid siege to the Belgian the air for the duration of the battle, sliding FORCES French: 75,000;
city of Charleroi. Austrian and Dutch forces, messages about enemy movements down a Austrian, Dutch and British: 52,000
plus a sprinkling of British, under the Prince cable to the ground. Aided by this impressive CASUALTIES French: 4,000 killed;
of Saxe-Coburg, advanced to relieve the city. view of the battlefi eld, Jourdan was able to Austrian, Dutch and British: 2,300 killed
Despite being fewer in number, the Coalition rally his forces on the right and left, and launch
forces attacked boldly near the town of an attack through the centre. The Coalition
Fleurus at daybreak on 26 June. Saxe-Coburg’s forces were obliged to retreat, although the
forces attacked in fi ve columns, those on French, tired and short of ammunition, did not
the left and right driving back the French pursue. The victory was nonetheless decisive.
at each end of their line. Jourdan, however, The French occupied Belgium, which they
had the unprecedented advantage of aerial would hold for the next 20 years. By relaxing the
reconnaissance, as his hydrogen balloon, fear of foreign invasion, the victory undermined
Entreprenant, fl oated above the battlefi eld. the extremists of the ruling Committee
The crew of two, including the mastermind of Public Safety, which fell in July 1794.

72 HISTORY WAR
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ARCOLE way across the Adige on 14 November, after
which the two armies were separated only by
t
s
he f
a
c
T
Appointed Commander of the French Army of the Alpone. On 15 and 16 November, repeated The facts
Italy in 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte proceeded French attempts to cross this river by the bridge DATE 15-17 November 1796
to demonstrate his genius for rapid manoeuvre at Arcole were beaten back by Austrian fi repower
and decisive attack. In April and May of in some ferocious exchanges. LOCATION: South-east of Verona, Italy
that year, he defeated Piedmont and drove On the 17th, however, French fl anking moves FORCES French: 20,000; Austrian: 17,000
the Austrians out of most of northern Italy. convinced Alvintzy that he was threatened CASUALTIES French: 4,500; Austrian: 6,000
There followed a long siege of the remaining with encirclement, and the Austrians retreated.
Austrian stronghold of Mantua, while the Napoleon went on to rout the Austrians at
Austrians mounted a series of relief attempts. Rivoli in January 1797, forcing the country to
In November, Napoleon confronted an sign the Peace of Campo Formio later that year.
Austrian army led by Josef Alvintzy near the
junction of the Alpone and Adige rivers. By
this point, the French army was short of BRIDGE CROSSING Heroic images, such as this one
everything from boots to food, but nonetheless of Napoleon crossing the Arcole, served as propaganda
took the offensive. Its soldiers made their to promote the leader’s personal popularity




































CAPE ST VINCENT the Spanish from sailing north to join their blocked the escape of the larger body of
Spanish ships, at one point engaging seven
French allies. On the morning of 14 February
In 1796, Spain allied itself with France. The 1797, Jervis intercepted a Spanish fl eet of them unaided. Four Spanish ships were
combined strength of the French and Spanish under Admiral José de Córdova off the coast captured, two of them by Nelson and his
fl eets threatened to end British naval superiority of Cape St Vincent. Despite having numerically crew, and a number of other vessels suffered
and open the way for an invasion of Britain. inferior forces, the British sailed in to attack, serious damage in the fracas. The surviving
The British Mediterranean fl eet under Admiral their line of ships splitting the Spanish forces Spanish were blockaded in Cadiz, meaning that
Sir John Jervis was given the task of preventing in two. Commodore Horatio Nelson bravely plans for an invasion of Britain were scotched.
NEXT MONTH Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt and
the achievement of French supremacy.
s
he f
The facts On sale 8 April
T
t
c
a
DATE 14 February 1797
LOCATION: Off Cape St Vincent, south-west Portugal WAR ON CANVAS Robert Cleveley’s painting
Battle of Cape St Vincent captures Nelson’s victory
FORCES Spanish: 27 ships; British: 15 ships
CASUALTIES British: 73 killed, 227 wounded;
Spanish: 255 killed, 341 wounded, 4 ships captured This feature is an edited
extract from the book
Battle: A Visual Journey
Through 5,000 Years
Of Combat, by RG Grant.
Published by Dorling
Kindersley, it is available
from both high-street
and online book stores,
RRP £19.99.
HISTORY WAR 73
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Leaders Men
Leaders Men

CRUSADES LEADERS







They were the Medieval men and women who sacrifi ced
their lives – or, in some cases, the lives of others – to win
wars and conquer lands in the name of their religion

or as long as there’s been religion, there’s thousands of eager but ill-equipped peasants
been religious confl ict. And no time period set off in pursuit of religious vengeance, the
has seen more disturbances than the First Crusade proper was launched. It was to be
Middle Ages, when armies claiming to the fi rst of nine numbered missions (there were
represent Christianity and Islam regularly many other, less-signifi cant ones) over the next
F engaged in bloody warfare to seize control two centuries that would help to shape the
of holy cities in the Middle East and Africa. world socially, geographically and economically.
After the Muslim Seljuk Turks captured So what kind of person does it take to
Jerusalem in 1076, they forbade Christian persuade thousands of people to risk life and
pilgrims to enter the city. So Pope Urban II limb in the name of their god? As History Of
made an impassioned plea to his subjects to War discovers, the characters of these men
march east and reclaim what he considered and women varied greatly – some were veteran
to be the Christians’ rightful Holy Land. After military campaigners, some relied purely on their
a false start – the People’s Crusade – in which heart, and some were just plain schemers…

1040AD 1060AD 1080AD 1100AD


1040 1045 1050 1055 1060 1065 1070 1075 1080 1085 1090 1095 1100 1105 1110






All images © maryevans.com unless marked POPE URBAN II


THE MAN WHO INSPIRED THE FIRST CRUSADE
LIVED 1042AD-1099AD
After being elected Pope in 1088, Urban made arguably the most
infl uential speech of the Middle Ages on 27 November 1095,
when he called upon every Christian in Europe to wage war
against Muslims in order to reclaim the Holy Land – the speech that
gave rise to the First Crusade. The feared Seljuk Turks had run amok in
the East, conquering Jerusalem and preventing Christians from making
pilgrimages to holy sites. When they threatened to take Constantinople,
Byzantine Emperor Alexius I pleaded with Urban for help. The Pope
saw this as a chance to unite Christian Europe under him. At the
Council of Clermont in France, he delivered a rousing speech to
several hundred clerics and noblemen, summoning rich and poor
alike to put an end to their civil fi ghting and embark on a righteous
war to help their fellow Christians take back
Jerusalem. The speech was an overwhelming DID YOU KNOW?
success: between 60,000 and 100,000 Pope Urban II died 14 days
Crusaders responded to his call, adopting after the fall of Jerusalem
his war cry “God wills it!” as they marched to the Crusaders. However,
on the city. In July 1099, Jerusalem fell in as news of the success had
what was later described as “a juxtaposition yet to reach Italy, he never
of extreme violence and anguished faith”. learned the outcome of the
campaign he had ignited.
74 74 HISTORY WAR
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PIERRE L’ERMITE
P I E RRE L GODFREY OF BUILLON

PREACHER AND SPIRITUAL LEADER
PREA CHER AND SPIRITUAL LEADER LEADER OF THE FIRST CRUSADE
LIVED 1060AD-1100AD
THE PEOPLE
OF “THE PEOPLE’S CRUSADE”
“
OF
LIVED 1050AD-1115AD The son of Eustace II (Count of Boulogne), Godfrey
LIVED 1050AD-1115AD
was another to be inspired by Pope Urban II’s call to
After Pope Urban II made his arms. Having served in battle alongside King Henry Getty Images
stirring speech at the Council IV of Germany, he was a highly capable military campaigner
of Clermont in France, urging and, after taking out loans on, or selling, most of his land,
Christians to liberate the Holy Land he gathered thousands of knights to overthrow the Muslims.
Christians to liberate the Holy Land
from the Mohammedans (see below In 1096, the First Crusade proper began, with Godfrey’s
from the Mohammedans (see below
left), “Peter the Hermit” became and three other armies beating a path towards Jerusalem,
left), “Peter the Hermit” became
a passionate campaigner for the defeating Muslim forces and conquering lands as they went.
a passionate campaigner for the
cause. Venturing out on his donkey, he
cause. Venturing out on his donkey, he After the city was taken in July 1099,
preached throughout France and Germany, Godfrey was pronounced the fi rst King
preached throughout France and Germany,
enrapturing hordes of peasants – both of Jerusalem – although, believing
enrapturing hordes of peasants – both
adults and children – who saw a mission
adults and children – who saw a mission it immoral to be crowned as such
to Jerusalem as a means of escaping in the city where Jesus, the King of
to Jerusalem as a means of escaping
the hardship of their everyday lives. Kings, died, he insisted on being
the hardship of their everyday lives.
In fact, so enthused were they that
In fact, so enthused were they that referred to as Advocatus Sancti
thousands ventured off towards
thousands ventured off towards Sepulchri (Defender of the Holy Land)
Jerusalem months before any until his death from illness in 1100AD.
Jerusalem months before any
organised military campaign, in what Succeeded by his brother Baldwin I,
organised military campaign, in what
became known as “The People’s
became known as “The People’s Godfrey was never forgotten and
Crusade”. Armed with crude weapons
Crusade”. Armed with crude weapons he was later idolised in legend
at best and lacking any real leadership
at best and lacking any real leadership as “the perfect Christian
(for all his goodwill and gusto, Peter
(for all his goodwill and gusto, Peter knight, the peerless hero of
was no warlord), they stood little
was no warlord), they stood little the whole Crusading epic”.
chance. Seeking reinforcements,
chance. Seeking reinforcements,
Peter headed for Constantinople,
Peter headed for Constantinople,
telling his army to stay put. But, eager DID YOU KNOW?
telling his army to stay put. But, eager
for glory, they did not. Entering Civetot, they were surrounded by Turks
for glory, they did not. Entering Civetot, they were surrounded by Turks According to legend, Godfrey
– said to have been tall of
and ordered to convert to Islam. Those who stature and strong beyond
didn’t were slaughtered. When the offi cial DID YOU KNOW? compare – once wrestled a
First Crusade did make it to Jerusalem, Peter the Hermit acquired bear and won, and beheaded
Peter played only a subordinate role, and in his nickname as he always a camel with one blow of his
1099 he returned to France, where he lived wore a hermit’s cloak and sword. A statue of him still
out the rest of his days at a monastery. was consistently dirty due stands today in the Royal
to his ascetic lifestyle. Square of Brussels, Belgium.
1100AD 1120AD 1140AD 1160AD 1180AD
1110 1115 1120 1125 1130 1135 1140 1145 1150 1155 1160 1165 1170 1175 1180
SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX
CAMPAIGNER FOR THE SECOND CRUSADE
LIVED 1090AD-1153AD
Like Urban II and Peter the Hermit before him, Saint Bernard
will be remembered as someone who inspired armies of
Crusaders through his speeches. Admitted into the Cistercian
Order at a young age, he founded Clairvaux monastery in 1115 and
his infl uence within the clergy quickly grew. Indeed, following the
death of Pope Honorius II in 1130, Bernard used his power to secure
the papacy for Innocent II. When the Christians were defeated at
the Siege of Edessa in 1144 – resulting in the loss of the fi rst state
conquered during the First Crusade – the Pope showed his respect
for his champion when he commissioned him
to rally support for a Second Crusade. This DID YOU KNOW?
Bernard did in March 1146, when he told an Saint Bernard founded
enormous crowd in Vézelay, northern France, 163 monasteries
“Cursed be he who does not stain his sword throughout Europe, and
with blood.” His speech was so successful following his death he
that the previously reluctant crowd enlisted en was canonised by Pope
masse. However, the Second Crusade turned Alexander III – making

out to be a disaster, bringing great shame and him the first Cistercian
guilt on the man who had encouraged it. monk placed on the
calendar of Saints.
HISTORY WAR 75
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CRUSADES LEADERS

ENRICO ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE

DANDOLO maryevans.com DUCHESS OF AQUITAINE AND QUEEN CONSORT OF
FRANCE AND ENGLAND DURING THE SECOND CRUSADE
BLIND WARLORD LIVED 1122AD-1204AD
One of the most powerful people of the Middle Ages, Eleanor
AND DOGE OF inherited vast wealth at just 15 years of age after her father, the
VENICE DURING THE Duke of Aquitaine, and only brother both died. That same year, she
FOURTH CRUSADE married King Louis VII of France, and she later joined her husband on the
LIVED 1107AD-1205AD Second Crusade. She arrived dressed as an Amazon, along with 300 of
Despite being her ladies-in-waiting and a thousand non-noble vassals. The presence
blind, Dandolo of women on the Crusade caused a scandal across Europe but Eleanor
was responsible insisted that they were only there to tend the wounded (in fact, Eleanor
for redirecting (and took an active role in strategy meetings). Tensions arose between
effectively ending) her and her husband, as she preferred to follow the rule of her Uncle
the Fourth Crusade. Raymond, the Prince of Antioch. But Louis forced her to follow him on to
Becoming the Doge Jerusalem with his dwindling army – a humiliating feat that stayed with
of Venice in 1192, her for the rest of her life. The expedition
he reformed the city’s ultimately failed, and Eleanor and Louis DID YOU KNOW?
currency and legal returned home on separate ships. Their Following Eleanor’s exploits in
system, while seeking marriage was annulled in 1152 and, just the Second Crusade, a papal
stronger ties with western two months later, she married Henry, who bull in 1189 forbade women
powers. Venetians were would become King Henry II of England. from taking part in the Third
the master mariners of Crusade. It was widely ignored.
the day, so knights of the Fourth Crusade – eager to seize control of
the Nile delta and subsequently conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem
– commissioned them to supply a fl eet. However, fi nancially the knights
came up short, so Dandolo made an offer: they could have the ships
if they helped his forces to attack Venice’s
trade rivals, Zara and Constantinople. DID YOU KNOW?
Although both of these were Christian-ruled, Dandolo was buried in
most of the Crusaders complied and both the Hagia Sophia in
cities were brutally sacked (only a small Constantinople. His tomb
number of Crusaders declined and made was later destroyed, either
their own way to the Holy Land). Dandolo by the Ottoman Turks or
was later remembered as “prudent, discreet the Niceans, but his grave
and skilled in decision-making”. You could can still be found in the
probably add scheming to that list. Hagia Sophia Museum,
in what is now Istanbul.
1100AD 1125AD 1150AD 1175AD


1100 1105 1110 1115 1120 1125 1130 1135 1140 1145 1150 1155 1160 1165 1170 1175 1180 1185






Getty Images SALAH AL-DIN YUSUF


MUSLIM LEADER DURING THE THIRD CRUSADE
LIVED 1137AD-1193AD
Born into a prominent Kurdish family, Salah al-Din (or Saladin,
as he is known in the West) went on to become one of the most
admired military leaders in Medieval history, noted for his chivalry
and honourable behaviour. In 1169, aged just 32, he was appointed
Commander of the Syrian troops in Egypt and, in 1187, he recaptured
Jerusalem for the Muslims after defeating the King of Jerusalem at the
Battle of Hattin, thereby ending the Europeans’ 88-year hold over the
city. News of this Muslim victory travelled fast
and, before long, three of Europe’s greatest DID YOU KNOW?
leaders – King Philip Augustus of France, Saladin was renowned
King Richard I (the Lionheart) of England and for his knightly virtues
German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa – set – so much so that when

out to recover Jerusalem, each at the head his fierce rival Richard
of a large army. In 1191, the long siege of the Lionheart was struck
Acre was won by the Crusaders, but no more down with fever, Saladin
sent him a gift of the
was achieved as they could not defeat the choicest fruits of the
mighty Saladin. As a result, a truce was called land. Furthermore, after
between him and Richard I, where it was Richard’s beloved horse
agreed that Christians were permitted to had been killed in battle,
visit Jerusalem without hassle from Muslims. Saladin sent him one of

his finest Arabian steeds.
76 HISTORY WAR
of

FREDERICK II


HOLY ROMAN
EMPEROR DURING
THE FIFTH AND
SIXTH CRUSADES
LIVED 1194AD-
1250AD
Despite
vowing on
numerous
occasions to join
the Fifth Crusade,
Frederick failed
to show up and,
as a consequence,
was blamed by
RICHARD I (THE LIONHEART) Pope Honorius III and
the general Christian
KING OF ENGLAND DURING THE THIRD CRUSADE populace for its failure.
LIVED 1157AD-1199AD In response, he decided
to launch a new Crusade
The son of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard showed
military ability from a young age and was noted for his chivalry – paid for with Holy Roman
and courage. However, he was more concerned with his Crusading Empire funds – that would recover
endeavours than in governing his country, and spent only six months of Jerusalem and restore his reputation.
his ten-year reign as King in England. After Jerusalem was captured by Recruiting an army, he set sail in 1228.
Saladin in 1187, Richard began to build a new Crusader army – though, However, his forces were smaller than that of the
having spent most of his father’s treasury, he was forced to raise taxes Fifth Crusade, so rather than engage the powerful Ayyubid Empire
and sell land. Despite winning the Battle in battle, he pretended to have a much larger army in the hope of
of Acre in 1191, Richard was not able to DID YOU KNOW? gaining Jerusalem through diplomacy.
recover Jerusalem and, after making a Not just the King of England, His idea worked, as Sultan al-Kamil, who DID YOU KNOW?
truce with Saladin, he left for home. But on Richard I was also the Duke was tied up with other matters in Syria, Aged 14, Frederick married
his way back, he was captured in Austria of Normandy, the Duke of surrendered the city, along with Nazareth a 25-year-old widow –
and imprisoned for two years. Upon his Aquitaine, the Duke of and other towns, in exchange for a ten-year Constance, daughter of
release, he fi nally arrived back in England, Gascony, the Lord of Cyprus, truce. Frederick had achieved what other the King of Aragon. Two
but spent just a month there before the Count of Anjou, the Count Crusades before him had failed to: he had years later, she bore him
of Maine, the Count of Nantes
a child, the future King
leaving for Normandy, never to return. and the Overlord of Brittany. recovered Jerusalem, and without force. Henry VII of Germany.
1175AD 1200AD 1225AD 1250AD 1275AD


1185 1190 1195 1200 1205 1210 1215 1220 1225 1230 1235 1240 1245 1250 1255 1260 1265 1270 1275






LOUIS IX


LEADER OF THE SEVENTH AND
EIGHTH CRUSADES
LIVED 1214AD-1270AD
King of France between 1226 and 1270, Louis
King of France between 1226 and 1270, Louis
IX led both the Seventh and Eighth Crusades.
IX led both the Seventh and Eighth Crusades.
After Jerusalem had once again fallen
into Muslim hands in 1244, and the Sultan of
Egypt had seized Damascus, Louis took 100 DID YOU KNOW?
ships carrying 35,000 men to liberate the Before embarking on
Holy Land. However, his army suffered from the Seventh Crusade,
disease and ill discipline and, following defeat Louis fell ill with a form
at the Battle of Fariskur, Louis was captured of malaria, and family
by the Egyptians. Freed upon payment of and doctors stood at his
a huge ransom, he returned to France in bedside preparing for
1254. Sixteen years later, after learning of his demise. However, he
the persecution of Christians in Palestine, suddenly roused himself
and cried, “The cross!
he set off on the Eighth Crusade. With his The cross!” – at which
army, he landed in Tunisia early in 1270, point, the cross was laid
but plague struck and Louis himself died upon his heart. Within
from the disease. He was later canonised a day or two, he recovered
by Pope Boniface VIII, making him the only and he decided on a
King of France ever to be made a Saint. Crusade to the Holy Land as
gratitude for his restoration.
HISTORY WAR 77
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VOICES FROM VIETNAM


Interviews with some – perhaps many – villagers felt for a government THE VILLAGE OF VO DAT
A YOUNG MAN FROM
resettlement programme that had helped the poor to
Saigon loyalists improve their lives. To restore GVN control to the area and This interviewee
to keep the rice harvest out of NLF hands, elements of the
These two interviews, conducted by the Rand Corporation recently arrived US 173rd Airborne Brigade and the First was described by
his interviewer as
(the second one begins overleaf), provide a sense of the Infantry Division intervened in late November and early “intelligent”, “fairly
Saigon government’s diffi culty in asserting rural control, December of that same year as part of Operation New well-educated”
and the disruptive effects of intervention by US forces. The Life. Our interviewees were arrested two days apart in late and “very sincere”.
two loyalists were youths from adjacent villages 75 miles November by these US forces and handed over to the ARVN.
north-east of Saigon. The villages came under NLF (National Particularly striking here is the degree to which the ARVN,
Liberation Front) sway in late February 1965, were retaken not to mention US forces, failed to take advantage of two
by the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) in April, favourably disposed villagers. Whatever its relative military
and were then returned to NLF control in June. The GVN weakness, the NLF had demonstrated at the rice-roots
(Government of Vietnam) had lost out despite the gratitude level the power of organisation and relentless education.


I wa s a member of the Village Notable s Council, therefore I wa s a GV N civil servant.

I wa s afraid of the VC coming…
[After the Februar y NLF ta keover, ever yone] who worked or had worked for the GV N [ wa s]

arre sted. We were about 20…

We were all ta ken to the mountain s to attend a re-education cour se for a month… The cadre
started to teach u s ho w, since 1 945, the whole nation ha s revolted again st the French
coloniali st s and rich reactionar y landlord s for the right to work and earn their
living. No w the revolution goe s on in the South. The Front fight s again st the GV N and
drive s the American s out of the countr y in order to bring the Revolution to a succe s sful
stage and bring happine s s to the people. We were all traitor s, since we were all farmer s
and we worked for the GV N and made our selve s American e ye s and ear s… Finall y, the
cadre ordered each one of u s to write a declaration telling of all our activitie s since
1 954, all our po sition s in the GV N admini stration, ho w man y underground cadre s we had
helped the GV N to arre st, and ho w man y Front secret organi sation s we had helped the
GV N to di scover. We al so had to tell what our parent s, brother s and si ster s did. The cadre
told u s to write the truth in our declaration. Onl y with thi s condition could we benefit
from the Front’s genero sit y and be set free. When we fini shed our declaration s, the
cadre took u s bac k to our village s. We had spent almo st one month in the mountain s…


...A s soon a s we returned from the cour se, the cadre s gathered all the villager s in a
meeting to judge u s… Finall y, the cadre s declared tho se who had been obliged to attend
the re-education cour se were condemned to live under hou se arre st from 6 to 14 month s…


At the beginning of October, the cadre launched a campaign called “Enem y Spie s
Extermination Campaign”… The y urged the villager s to denounce tho se who had worked
for the GV N… Our puni shment didn’t get an y wor se, but the cadre s were sati sfied becau se
the y could watch u s clo sel y and soil u s in front of the villager s…


...At fir st, mo st of the villager s thought the Front force s were strong. Be side s, the
propaganda wa s effective. Therefore, there were villager s who had confidence in the
Front and s ympathi sed with the cadre s. But later, thing s changed. Contribution s became
heavier each da y, the lo s s of freedom of movement, and trade, sorro w, fatigue, the lo s s of
time and expen se s due to forced labour made them see clearl y. The real face of the Front
appeared. The cadre s lo st the villager s’ s ympath y. Some of u s even hated them…







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HISTORY WAR 85

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TRIGGER


POINT




THE START




OF THE





SOVIET/




AFGHAN




WAR







In the late-Seventies, a new communist regime in
Afghanistan was met with disapproval by the country’s
Islamic fundamentalists. The crisis escalated into a war that
involved numerous nations and ultimately changed the world



HE TROUBLE WITH REFORM IS THAT author of the book Russian Roulette: Afghanistan
it tends to split people down the Through Russian Eyes, explained, “To the
middle, and that’s when problems peasants, the revolutionary government was as
arise. This is what happened in remote and incomprehensible as a government
TAfghanistan in the late Seventies. on another planet. The peasant acknowledges
Following a military coup in which President only one authority: the mullah.”
Mohammad Daoud Khan and his family were “The communists were trying to change the
executed by the Afghan Army, Nur Muhammad law of God,” Sahar Gul, mullah of the Laghman
Taraki – Secretary General of the communist Province, elaborated in an interview with CNN.
People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan “They wanted to destroy Islamic traditions,
(PDPA) – ascended to power in 1978 to rid Afghanistan of poverty and make
in what became the Democratic everyone equal. But God has decided
Republic of Afghanistan. who is rich and who is poor.”
In a move that echoed King The dissent quickly escalated:
Amanullah Khan’s policies UNIVERSITIES universities and schools
in the 1920s, the new AND SCHOOLS across the country were burnt
government spent the next few down and by the spring of
months initiating a number of WERE BURNT 1979, the vast majority of
socialist reforms in the country, DOWN Afghanistan’s provinces had
designed to put different classes suffered outbreaks of violence.
and sexes on a more even keel. Meanwhile, in neighbouring Islamic
Local television stations buoyantly countries, Muslims joined in the
reported that rich farmers’ land would call for a jihad (holy war) against what
be divided up among peasants, enabling them they perceived to be a Godless new regime.
to be self-subsistent, and that women were In response, the government – and in
being encouraged to remove their veils and particular Taraki’s volatile second-in-command,
learn to read and write alongside the men. Prime Minister Hafi zullah Amin – ordered a
However, just as they had been with severe repression of its opponents, establishing
Amanullah Khan’s policies (the King was forced a secret police force, the “Afghan Interests A Red Army tank and soldiers in
to abdicate in 1929), the country’s Islamic Protection Service”, who imprisoned and the Hindu Kush mountains during
fundamentalists were fi ercely against the executed thousands without trial. the invasion of Afghanistan by the
reforms, believing them to be a threat to ancient In the Soviet Union, which borders the Soviet Union, January 1980. In the
customs. Soviet journalist Gennady Bocharov, northern part of Afghanistan, the civil unrest foreground are a group of Afghans
86 HISTORY WAR
of

KEY FIGURES















MOHAMMED DAOUD KHAN NUR MUHAMMAD TARAKI
Originally the Prime One of the founding
Minister of Afghanistan, members of the PDPA,
Daoud seized power from Taraki became President
his cousin, King Zahir, of Afghanistan following
in a bloodless coup, the coup to depose Khan,
establishing a republic and set about reforming
with himself acting as the country with socialist
President. He planned to policies. Amid a torrent
distance Afghanistan from of civil unrest, he fell
the Soviet Union but was out with his second-in-
killed in a coup headed by command, Prime Minister

the People’s Democratic Hafizullah Amin, and
Party of Afghanistan. was later assassinated.













HAFIZULLAH AMIN LEONID BREZHNEV
Second only to Taraki Brezhnev was leader of
in the Afghan government, the Soviet Union during
Amin was reportedly the first years of the

responsible for the hardline Soviet/Afghan War,
repression of dissidents. having succeeded Nikita
After hearing of Taraki’s Khrushchev in 1964. He
plan to reduce him to an was initially reluctant
ambassadorial role, Amin to invade Afghanistan
ordered the President’s but agreed that it was
execution. It was his the best policy after
courting of Pakistan and Amin became leader in
Iran that influenced the the country. Brezhnev

Soviet decision to invade. died in November 1982.













YURI ANDROPOV JIMMY CARTER
As Chairman of the KGB The US President at the
and an influential member start of the Soviet/Afghan

of the Politburo at the crisis, Carter voiced his
beginning of the Soviet/ disapproval of Soviet
Afghan crisis, Andropov intervention and called
was instrumental in for people to boycott the
the decision to invade 1980 Olympic Games
Afghanistan, insisting that in Moscow. Despite
the action was necessary. threatening the use of
He became leader of the nuclear weapons against
Getty Images Leonid Brezhnev’s death this never came to fruition.
Soviet Union following
Brezhnev’s government,
in 1982, and remained
Carter was replaced by
in power until 1984.
Ronald Reagan in 1981.
HISTORY WAR 87
of

soon attracted attention – although it wasn’t “practical and technical assistance with men
entirely unexpected. “[Then leader of the and armament”. But the Soviets were initially
Soviet Union, Leonid] Brezhnev and the Politburo reluctant, fearful that military intervention
had tried to talk sense into Kabul,” General would lead to negative political repercussions,
Vladimir Kryuchkov, the then-Deputy Head of both at home among Soviet Muslims and
the KGB, told CNN. “We couldn’t understand abroad, and they stressed to Taraki the
how they could build socialism in just fi ve importance of easing up on his social reforms.
OPPOSING years. We said, ‘You can’t do that – we’ve been In an interview with CNN, then-Soviet Foreign
building socialism for 60 years and we’re still
Minister Vasily Safronchuk remembered the
FORCES not fi nished. But they thought it was us that discussions: “The Afghans wanted us to
had got it wrong. Naivety was coming out of
introduce a limited contingent of Soviet troops
their every orifi ce. It was in their every word.” to guard military bases. They couldn’t cope
PERSONNEL The crisis also became a priority in the with the Mujahideen themselves. They kept
SOVIET/DRA United States, especially after demonstrations pushing for Soviet troops but we kept refusing.”
115,000 Soviet; 50,000 DRA in Iran led to Shah Mohammad Reza Shah Eventually, however, the Soviets gave in and
(combined total of 165,000) Pahlavi – who had enjoyed a close relationship agreed to limited military aid. This included the
MUJAHIDEEN with America – being overthrown and replaced redeployment of two Soviet armed divisions at
200,000-250,000 by the Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. the Soviet-Afghan border, the sending of 500
All of a sudden, America’s oil interests in the military and civilian advisers and specialists,
TANKS/ Persian Gulf were under serious threat. If not plus the delivery of Soviet armed equipment
GROUND VEHICLES from the Iranians, then from the Soviets, who sold at 25 per cent below the original price.
might use the unrest as an excuse to move
For Taraki, though, there was more than
SOVIET/DRA south and seize control. just the civil unrest in his country to worry
BMP (Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty) amphibious tracked “We were faced with the possibility that, one about. He had fallen out with Prime Minister

infantry fighting vehicles way or the other, before too long we may have
1,800 tanks, including 200 T-54s and 700 T-55s either a hostile Iran on the northern shore of Amin, with whom he had once enjoyed a
seemingly unbreakable relationship. Amin was
MUJAHIDEEN the Persian Gulf facing us, or we might even reportedly disillusioned with his President’s
Toyota pick-up trucks
AIRCRAFT THE SPAT ESCALATED TO THE POINT
SOVIET/DRA WHERE AMIN FELT THAT HIS BOSS NEEDED
500-650 helicopters, including 250 Mi-24
Hind gunships and the Mi-6 Hook TO BE REMOVED FROM THE EQUATION. SO
Various aeroplanes, including Ilyushin I1-76s, TARAKI WAS IMPRISONED AND SUFFOCATED
Antonov An-22s and Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21s
MUJAHIDEEN: N/A have the Soviets there,” then-US National dismissal of his suggestions, and felt that Taraki
Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski told CNN. was beginning to believe in his own brilliance.
RIFLES In an effort to bring the situation to a In turn, Taraki – who believed that Amin’s hard-
SOVIET/DRA quick conclusion by removing Afghanistan’s line punishment of dissidents was exacerbating

Dragunov sniper rifle communist regime and restoring equilibrium, the problem – sought to diminish the Prime

AKU-74 5.4mm assault rifle the US provided the dissidents with millions Minister’s power by arranging for him to serve
MUJAHIDEEN of dollars worth of weapons. Many of these overseas as an ambassador. Amin was furious
Short-magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III men – who called themselves the Mujahideen, with this suggestion, screaming, “You are the


Kalashnikov assault rifle loosely translated as “strugglers” – had walked one who should quit! Because of drink and old
many miles across the mountains from Pakistan age, you have taken leave of your senses!”
MISSILES to join in the fi ght. At one stage, Brzezinski fl ew The spat escalated to the point where Amin
SOVIET/DRA N/A to the Pakistani-Afghan border to rally these felt that his boss needed to be removed from
MUJAHIDEEN men and inspire them to recapture their holy the equation, and in September 1979 Taraki
150 FIM-92 Stinger missiles, supplied by the US lands, without revealing the US’ true intentions. was imprisoned and suffocated with a pillow.
“It’s entirely true that this was a war that was Amin claimed that the President had died of
MISCELLANEOUS fought with our gold but with their blood,” former a “serious illness”.
SOVIET/DRA CIA Director Frank Anderson admitted to CNN. As the new leader of Afghanistan, Amin sought
Automatic grenade-launchers Negative repercussions to repair relations with those who opposed his
Smoke screens government. He began to invest in the repair of
Napalm and antipersonnel mines In March 1979, Mujahideen rebels staged an mosques and published a list of 18,000 people
Chemical weapons uprising in the Afghan city of Herat. Chanting who had been executed in the unrest, blaming
RPG-18 rocket-launchers “God is great”, the dissidents killed and the killings on Taraki. But he was neither liked
MUJAHIDEEN fl ayed alive hundreds of Afghans, as well as nor trusted and, during his tenure, more than
RPG-7 antitank grenade-launcher. Soviet advisors and their families. In a state half of the soldiers in the Afghan army deserted.
5 ZPU-1 and 4 ZPU-2 anti-aircraft heavy machine guns of panic, Taraki turned to Moscow for military At the same time, Amin attempted to reduce
aid. He contacted Alexei Kosygin, Chairman of Afghanistan’s dependence on the Soviet Union.
the USSR Council of Ministers, and asked for He did this by balancing the country’s relationship


1978 TIMELINE 1979

27-28 APRIL 21 MAY MARCH 17 MAY AUGUST
The communist People’s Nur Muhammad Taraki is elected USSR begins military aid to A mechanised brigade from The 5th Brigade of the 9th
Democratic Party seizes power President of the DRA. the DRA, including hundreds the Afghan army’s 7th Division Afghan Division mutinies
in Afghanistan after a coup, in of advisers. Afghan soldiers defects to the resistance. and joins the resistance in
which President Daoud and his mutiny in Herat in the west, the Kunar Valley.
family are executed. The country massacring Soviet citizens
is renamed the Democratic before their rebellion is crushed.
Republic of Afghanistan (DRA).


HISTORY WAR
of

TRIGGER POINT: SOVIET/AFGHAN WAR

with Moscow by courting Pakistan and Iran, and “I had to put restraints on the Soviet Union,” money – you were required to serve. Some
he also met with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, one of he later said in an interview. “One of them young men broke their legs, some paid money
the leading anti-communists in Afghanistan. was to issue a public statement that if the [for exemption from service].”
These actions were a cause of great concern for Soviets did invade either Pakistan or Iraq out As a consequence of the war, the network
the Kremlin, who were also worried that – due of Afghanistan, I would consider this a personal that became al-Qaeda took root, with Osama
to their reluctance to provide substantial military threat to the security of the United States. Bin Laden and others like him providing
support – Amin might turn to the US for help. I would take whatever action I considered substantial funds to future jihadi. But the most
With this in mind, the Politburo called an appropriate to respond – and I let it be known signifi cant consequence of the confl ict was the
emergency meeting to discuss how to remove that this would not exclude a nuclear reaction.” disintegration of the Union of Soviet Socialist
the Afghan President from power. “Our major Republics, meaning that communism itself
concern was the security of the southern borders Fatal defects was now dead. Leonid Brezhnev, who passed
of the Soviet Union,” recalled Safronchuk. Fortunately, this was not necessary – although away in 1982, was once quoted as saying
“We also feared the spread of Islamic the US did continue to provide support to [about communism], “God will never forgive us
fundamentalism into Afghanistan from Iran.” guerrilla forces in Afghanistan, whose sights if we fail”. But fail they did, and the USSR split
And so, on 12 December 1979, the decision were now set on the Soviet invaders. It was into 15 separate countries after Gorbachev’s
was made to invade Afghanistan. The Soviets ultimately the arrival of Mikhail Gorbachev as resignation in 1991. Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s
had previously employed the tactic of using the new Soviet leader that set in motion an end civil war continues.
military intervention to remove a troublesome to the conflict. The occupation of Afghanistan Incredibly, considering the devastating
leader in both Hungary and Czechoslovakia. did not sit well with Gorbachev’s “new thinking” impact the Soviet/Afghan War had on both
And while it would be a costly measure, it was on foreign policy, as well as his will to reform nations and the world as a whole, relatively
considered the best (and quickest) option – his own country’s economy. And in May 1988, little is known about it here in the West. In
at least, by most people present. Karen Brutents, the first wave of troops were brought home. 1984, Vitaly Smirnov, the Soviet Ambassador
Deputy Chief of the Central Committee’s To many of the young Soviet soldiers, this to Pakistan, warned that any journalist
International Department, predicted a disaster. was the news they had been waiting for. Like so caught illegally inside the country would be
“I said that military intervention in Afghanistan many young American draftees who had been “eliminated”. Exactly what he meant by that is
would be very diffi cult for our army,” he told destined for service in Vietnam in the 1960s a matter of interpretation. But for this reason,
CNN. “It would not necessarily lead to success. and 70s, Soviet men had been frequently television footage and newspaper reports of
One only had to consider the conditions in reluctant to serve in a war whose purpose they the crisis were thin on the ground compared
Afghanistan, its geography, its history and the did not understand and in a country about to, say, the Gulf or Vietnam Wars, and in many
independent nature of the Afghans.” which they knew nothing. One young conscript, countries the confl ict went unnoticed. However,
Vladislav Tamarov, recalled, “We had no for millions of people in both Afghanistan and
Assassination force choice. If you weren’t in college, if you weren’t the former Soviet Union, the Soviet/Afghan War
On 25 December 1979, Operation Storm-333 disabled, if your parents didn’t have a lot of will never be forgotten. w
was set in motion. After Soviet Minister of
Defence Dmitry Ustinov issued a statement
saying, “The state frontier of the Democratic
Republic of Afghanistan is to be crossed by
forces of the 40th Army and the Air Force at
1500hrs,” tens of thousands of Soviet soldiers
in tanks and trucks made their way across the
border. While the Kremlin hoped to bring an
end to the crisis within weeks, the mission
would result in a nine-year war that would cause
the death of some 20,000 Soviet troops and
as many as a million Afghan civilians. And on
top of the human cost, there was the fi nancial
one: the annual price tag for the Soviets was
around $2.7billion.
Concerned for his safety, Amin fl ed from the
Presidential Palace in Kabul to the formidable
Tajbeg Palace, the roads to which had been
heavily mined and were guarded by troops
with machine guns, mortars and assault rifl es.
But the Soviet assassination force was just
too strong and, after penetrating Amin’s
defences, they found and killed the President.
The Soviet invasion was met with widespread
disapproval internationally, with the US
predictably leading the condemnation. Then-
President Jimmy Carter called for a boycott of Getty Images
the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, labelling A Red Army post along the supply route to Russia. Many

Soviet men opposed the conflict but were forced to serve
the intervention “a serious threat to peace”.



14 SEPTEMBER 12 DECEMBER 24 DECEMBER 27 DECEMBER 28 DECEMBER

Hafizullah Amin emerges as The Politburo’s inner circle, The Soviet Defence Ministry Soviet divisions cross the border Babrak Karmal is declared the
DRA leader following the fearing the impending reveals orders to senior staff to and begin the advance south new President of the Democratic
assassination of Taraki. possibility of an Iranian-style send troops into Afghanistan. along the eastern and western Republic of Afghanistan.
Requests for large numbers Islamist revolution, and wary Armoured columns cross the highways. Soviet airborne forces
of Soviet forces to combat the of Amin’s secret meetings with border at Termez and Kushka, overthrow the government and
growing insurgency continue US diplomats in Afghanistan, heading towards Kabul and kill President Amin.
under Amin’s administration. decides to invade. Herat respectively.


HISTORY WAR
of

MACHINES
of WAR



Attack/reconnaissance helicopter
AH-64 APACHE





The anti-armour AH-64 is used by a number of the world’s
armed forces. It employs many of the offensive and defensive
technologies that dominate the modern battlefi eld


nitially developed by Hughes Helicopters and Target- Mast-mounted Flare
now produced by Boeing, the twin-engined acquisition radar dome container
sensors
AH-64 Apache attack helicopter was introduced
I in 1984. It performed well in Operation
Desert Storm in the fi rst Gulf War and subsequently
during the US invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and
Iraq in 2003. Shown here is the AH1 – a version of
Boeing’s AH-64D Apache Longbow, built under licence HIDAS sensors SIDE VIEW
by AgustaWestland for the British Army.
Armour-protected
The Apache’s weaponry includes a chain gun, turboshaft engine Fully articulated
rotor blade
rockets, and its primary armament of Hellfi re missiles.
Using target-acquisition and fi re-control systems,
the crew merely need to pinpoint what they want Rocket and missile
to hit and then fi re; the missiles will then lock on to launchers
the targets and do the rest. This “fi re-and-forget” Non-retractable
capacity allows the Apache to take evasive action landing gear
as soon as it has launched its own weapons. To FRONT VIEW
make this slow-fl ying helicopter less vulnerable in Stub wings Chain gun
a combat situation, the Apache is equipped with T-34/85 The helicopter’s fuselage is 15.5m (51ft)
a variety of defensive systems. These include the in length, and the main rotor diameter measures 14.6m
suppression of infrared radiation (to avoid detection (48ft). With a range of 537km (334 miles), the Apache
by hostile heat-seeking missiles), and sensors that has a cruising speed of around 260kph (162mph).
give advance warning of incoming threats.


30MM CHAIN GUN The Hughes M230 chain gun can fire ROCKET POD Mounted under the wings,

625 rounds per minute, fed from a 1,200-round magazine by the two pods can each launch 19 unguided
an electrically driven chain mechanism. 70mm rockets against infantry.


















INSTRUMENT
PANELS The pilot
sits above and
behind the co-
pilot/gunner. All
the helicopter’s
systems are
displayed in both
cockpits and
managed using
the buttons
around the screens.



MISSILE Up to 16 Hellfire guided missiles can be carried by the aircraft (a training
round is shown above). These anti-armour weapons have a range of 8km (five miles).

90 HISTORY WAR
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RADAR “HAT” The hat-like structure above the main rotor is the
Longbow radar. It gives a 360-degree electronic picture of the

battlefield, regardless of conditions, and locates enemy targets.
HIDAS SENSORS
The Helicopter
Integrated
Defensive
Aids System
(HIDAS)
automatically
detects
and responds to
enemy missiles.


MAIN ROTOR
ASSEMBLY
The rotor blades
are attached to the
hub by laminated
steel straps. The
blades can be
folded or removed
for transportation
by air or ship.
WIRE CUTTER
Blades on the
airframe can
cut through
power cables
and telephone
wires that
could bring
the craft down.




SAFETY BELT An array of safety features
gives the helicopter’s crew a good chance
of surviving crash landings.











FLARE CONTAINER Decoy flares housed
near the tail are fired by the helicopter’s

automatic defence system to confuse
hostile missiles.
CONTROL STICK Both the pilot and gunner
have flight and weapons controls. They can

CANOPY JETTISON The armoured cockpit take over from each other if necessary.
canopy can be jettisoned in an emergency.












This feature is an edited extract from The
PILOT’S MONOCLE The monocle provides Military History Book, published in the UK
thermal (infrared) imaging and flight by Dorling Kindersley. It is available from both

information in all weather conditions. high-street and online book stores, RRP £30
HISTORY WAR 91
of

REVIEWS History Of War casts its eye over the military-based

books, DVDs and games that may or may not
convince you to part with your cash this month




THE WARS OF AFGHANISTAN: MESSIANIC TERRORISM,

TRIBAL CONFLICTS AND THE FAILURES OF GREAT POWERS


Peter Tomsen PublicAffairs RRP £17.99
★★★★★

t 700-plus pages, you would Washington heed the warning, Tomsen calls for the US to
imagine this to be the and the rest, as they say, is history. re-evaluate its relationship with
definitive history of all wars While Tomsen gives an honest Pakistan over regional security, as
ever waged in Afghanistan. account of this period, it’s when well as developing a more hands-
After all, how much war he writes about US involvement off, common-sense strategy. One
A can one country take? In post 9/11 that his rationale that relies more on understanding
Afghanistan – a strange, lunar for this vast work shines through. the bigger picture and less on
landscape familiar to most people He clearly understands the blundering in, all guns blazing.
only via TV news – the answer is intricacies of Afghanistan and Essential reading for modern-history
a lot. So perhaps it’s not surprising writes about the tribal factions, enthusiasts and US Presidential
to discover that Peter Tomsen’s religious differences and historical nominees alike. Nick Soldinger
opus is mainly concerned with the forces that have forged it with
rolling conflict that’s consumed the overwhelming authority. But his
country since the ill-fated Soviet book is so much more than Tomsen’s book is a future peace guide
invasion in 1979. an account of what’s been; it’s a
The work is a unique mix of future peace guide for the region, for the region, by a man who’s witnessed
historical interpretation, personal by a man who’s witnessed a
memoir and political polemic. lifetime of foreign-policy gaffes. a lifetime of foreign-policy ga es
Tomsen, you see, isn’t simply
an historian – he’s a history
maker. A US Diplomatic Service
veteran of 32 years, he spent the
years 1989 to 1992 as President
Bush Snr’s Special Envoy to
Afghanistan. Critical years, indeed.
Rewind to . The Mujahideen,
many trained
over the border in Pakistan to
use US-supplied weapons and
tactics, have just defeated the
Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev
orders the last of the Red Army to
withdraw, leaving behind 15,000
Russian corpses and an almost-
forgotten puppet leader called
Mohammad Najibullah.
Najibullah doesn’t stand a
chance. With the US still backing
Islamic extremist groups rallying
in Pakistan, he’s finally toppled in
1992. The same year, the US
government and Tomsen move on
and, after more fighting, the Taliban
moves in. Najibullah’s subsequent
treatment at the hands of the
movement’s shock troops becomes
a macabre hint of what’s to come.
On 27 September 1996, Taliban
fighters seize Najibullah at the UN
compound in Kabul. Without trial,
he’s beaten, castrated, chained to
the back of a truck and dragged
through the streets of the capital
until he’s almost dead. His bloody,
broken body is then hanged from a
traffic light. The message is clear:
the new regime in Afghanistan –
a regime effectively empowered by Getty Images
the US – will be as barbaric as it
is fundamentalist. Tragically, few in
92 HISTORY WAR
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THE NAZI AND THE PSYCHIATRIST


JACK EL-HAI PublicAffairs RRP £17.50 REVIEWS
★★★★★
lfred Hitchcock, who and/or display some kind of In the six months leading up to
knew a thing or two about “Nazi personality disorder”. the trial, as Kelley’s role grew
making successful thrillers, Cue ambitious young US Army from assessor to confidante, he
once said, “A story is psychiatrist Douglas M Kelley, developed a respect for Goering
only as good as its villain.” who’s dispatched to find out. that frequently tipped over into
A Despite its title, The Through extensive interviews admiration. Indeed, after Goering
Nazi And The Psychiatrist, by US and Rorschach inkblot testing, swallowed a cyanide capsule
journalist Jack El-Hai, isn’t a thriller Kelley assesses all the captured to dodge the ignominy of the
but a thrilling historical account. Nazis, including Rudolf Hess, hangman’s rope at Nuremberg
At its heart, however, it does have Julius Streicher and Karl Dönitz. a year later, Kelley described
one of the greatest villains of the Over time, though, it’s the his star patient’s suicide as
20th Century. enigmatic and cultured Goering “a brilliant finishing touch,
The story begins in 1945. to whom he becomes drawn – completing the edifice for Germans
Europe is in a state of ruin, the here was a man who could be to admire in times to come”.
Nazi empire has been smashed, both mawkishly sentimental (he Kelley’s infatuation was as
and although Adolf Hitler is ensured Germany was the first misplaced as his forecast of
dead, following his suicide in
his Berlin bunker, 22 of his In the six months leading up to the trial, as Kelley’s role
surviving inner circle are facing
trial for war crimes. Incarcerated grew from assessor to con dante, he developed a respect
in a hotel in Luxembourg is the for Goering that frequently tipped over into admiration
biggest (quite literally) of the lot
– Hitler’s nominated successor,
decorated First World War fighter country to ban animal testing) Goering’s legacy. In fact, the European artworks from the period,
pilot, bon vivant and remorseless and ruthlessly indifferent (in 1940, Nazi’s spell is long broken in which he largely instigated.
monster, Hermann Goering. he ordered the obliteration of modern Germany. Today, he’s Ultimately, though, The Nazi And
This being the golden age of the open city of Rotterdam, the remembered as a corpulent crook The Psychiatrist is a captivating,
psychiatry, however, the American subsequent air raid killing 1,000 who helped drag the country superbly researched book that
authorities want to discover and leaving 85,000 homeless). through its most shameful period, explores the powerful allure of
whether the men responsible Kelley, it seems, recognised and is most commonly connected evil – and, in the case of the
for Auschwitz and Action T4 something of himself in the well- with kuntstraub – the ongoing tragic Dr Kelley, just how costly
are fit to face criminal charges, read, highly manipulative Nazi. criminal trade in plundered that can be. Nick Soldinger

LOVE LETTERS OF THE LAWRENCE IN ARABIA
GREAT WAR Scott Anderson Atlantic Books RRP £25

Edited: Mandy Kirkby Macmillan RRP £9.99 ★★★★★
★★★★★ Scott Anderson’s book – which
This deeply affecting collection of tells the swashbuckling story of
romantic correspondence from the archaeologist and British Army
First World War contains some truly officer TE Lawrence, a man who
heart-rending and poignant human helped the Arabs in their fight
stories. Often, when recounting against the Ottoman Empire during
the events, battles and military the First World War, helping to
campaigns undertaken during that create the modern Middle East in
period of history, it’s difficult to fully the process – has been heaped
grasp quite how psychologically with honours. The New York Times
difficult it must have been for the described it as “the best work of
people involved. However, this military history in recent memory”,
book – which collates the hand- and it was also shortlisted for the
written stories of ordinary people 2013 National Book Critics Circle
catapulted into extraordinary Award (Biography). So I delved into
circumstances – brings the epic Tom Hughes on his way to France it with high expectations. Of Arabia, starring Peter O'Toole.
war down to a relatable and human in September 1914, addressed It’s hard to disagree with the However, this has been criticised
level. In equal measures, there’s to his sweetheart, also resonates. plaudits. The writing herein is for distorting the facts in its desire
longing, desire, love, hope and The letter, written “just to see if concise and accessible, avoiding to romanticise the story for the
humility in the face of the dark it will reach you”, expresses a the dry, history-textbook style silver screen (for a start, O'Toole
uncertainty that lay ahead. common concern that was shared beloved of many academics. It’s was nine inches taller than the
The most emotionally stirring by many in these pages. presented in a font that never real Lawrence, while the attack on
story for this reviewer surrounded The lives of these brave men once causes eye strain or brain Aqaba was heavily fictionalised).
the letters written by Gunner Wilfrid and women are brought vividly ache. And what’s more, Anderson Anderson’s book sets out to
Cove to his wife and daughter, back to life in this excellent is clearly passionate about the scrub away the myth and legend,
whom he loved dearly and wrote book, which features a thoughtful subject – the narrative is so and home in on the facts. And
to frequently – his daughter’s reply foreword by Orange Prize-winning colourful and involving, you’d think satisfyingly, the truth is more
was found in his breast pocket author Helen Dunmore, who has the author had been stationed compelling than the fiction.
when he was killed shortly after. written several novels about the in the Arabian desert himself. There are few enlightening photos
The simple, somewhat hopeless First and Second World Wars. Love Many of us will have already from the period, which is a shame.
message dropped into the sea Letters Of The Great War is a highly seen David Lean’s 1962 film Otherwise, Lawrence In Arabia is
in a ginger-beer bottle by Private recommended purchase. Andy Price of Lawrence’s life – Lawrence full of eastern promise. Paul Dimery
HISTORY WAR 93
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REVIEWS THE MONUMENTS MEN THE WAR BEHIND
THE WIRE
Robert M Edsel with Bret Witter
Arrow RRP £7.99
John Lewis-Stempel
★★★★★
★★★★★
This book is currently getting a Weidenfeld & Nicolson RRP £20
lot of attention, as it’s been made
into a film by Twentieth Century Fox With 171,720 British soldiers
that’s doing rather well at the box taken prisoner by Germany and its
office. Sadly, it’s this star treatment allies during the First World War,
that exposes its fault lines. it’s high time these men had their
The Monuments Men – written full story told, even if a hundred
by Robert M Edsel, the founder years have passed. As author
and President of the Monuments John Lewis-Stempel argues in his
Men Foundation for the book, how many people today know
Preservation of Art – recounts the story or even the name of
the barely known but astonishing escaper Second Lieutenant Harold
story of a band of Second World Medlicott? And how many of us
War soldiers who were tasked with truly know what being a prisoner
locating and rescuing Europe’s and feelings. Perhaps it was of war entails, and the extent of
cultural and artistic artifacts from desperation to convey the humanity the suffering that these men went
Nazi theft and destruction. of the situation that made him through at the hands of the Nazis? that are graphic and stomach-
The book charts with considerable write this way, but it just distracts Packed with original transcripts, turning, such as details of mass
passion the ceaseless dedication from the amazing reality. poems and quotes, Lewis-Stempel’s burials and torture.
of this committed band of troops Equally, you would be forgiven book is fantastically well-written, It’s extremely difficult to fault
(including one rather amazing for thinking that the Second thoroughly researched and full of Lewis-Stempel’s work, but it
woman), entertainingly conveying World War was fought against the surprising facts. Did you know, would’ve been nice to see the
the breathless quest that the Nazis solely by America as the for example, that the raising of inclusion of some images. The lack
under-resourced but highly British and the other Allied nations hands to represent a soldier’s of photographs turns the book into
resourceful team undertook. looked on reverentially. To that surrender was an act first seen a challenging read due to its
However, you’re soon questioning end, the book feels like a pitch for during the First World War? Lewis- wealth of information with nothing
the veracity of the narrative. The a movie, rather than a fascinating Stempel discusses this during one but chapters to segregate it.
author has admitted using creative historical account. of his many insights into warfare However, it’s a small gripe and,
licence to join some dots, and this The Monuments Men has an and capture. As a result of his high on the whole, The War Behind The
is evident when he hypothesises amazing story to tell, but misses regard for detail, the book also Wire is a riveting and, at times,
about the soldiers’ thoughts the objective of telling it. Mark Sinclair contains information and statistics harrowing read. Chris Short

LONE SURVIVOR THE ARMED FORCES OF THE REBELLION: BRITAIN’S FIRST THE STEADY RUNNING OF
Marcus Luttrell Sphere RRP £7.99 UNITED KINGDOM 2014-2015 STUART KINGS THE HOUR
★★★★★ Charles Heyman Tim Harris Oxford Justin Go William
Marcus Luttrell’s Pen & Sword Military University Press Heinemann
true account of RRP £9.99 RRP £30 RRP £14.99
Operation Red ★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★
Wings – a 2005
mission to isolate It strikes me as Renowned Destined to
and remove an slightly absurd European History join the long
important Taliban that (what Professor list of wartime
figure allied with seems like) Tim Harris is romances that
Osama Bin Laden every last detail the author of have been turned
in Afghanistan – is an exciting, of the armed forces’ personnel, numerous essays, articles and into Hollywood movies (think The
pulse-pounding and powerful equipment and machinery is in books on Britain in the early- English Patient and Atonement), US
account of modern warfare that the public domain. Whatever modern period, and his latest author Justin Go’s first novel is what
brings home the amount of risk happened to the phrase “classified offering continues along the same they might’ve called in the Fifties
faced during operations such as information”? Still, those military lines. Tackling the reigns of the first a “rip-roaring adventure”. It follows
this. The book also highlights the buffs amongst us should be two Stuart Kings, from 1567 to a young American called Tristan as
morality faced in combat situations, grateful, I guess. the outbreak of civil war in 1642, he sets out on a breathless quest
with the decision not to execute This isn’t what you’d call a he explores why their kingdoms to prove his lineage in time to claim
three shepherds a pivotal point riveting read, in the sense that rose in rebellion. his vast inheritance. The trouble
from which the mission starts there’s no narrative or interesting Charles I and his apparent is, he only has 27 days. What
to go drastically and terribly awry. anecdotes. But it will appeal to ineptitude tend to be Harris’ main follows is an engaging detective
Occasionally breaking the fourth anyone who played Top Trumps as focus here, rather than the causes story that takes in a number
wall and speaking directly to the a kid. Taking each of the armed of the civil war. The book is by of historical sites and events,
reader, the narrative is consistently forces in turn, the book breaks no means a light read and will including the Somme battlefields
gripping and gives remarkable down what’s in its arsenal, offering definitely take a while to complete, and the British expeditions to
insight into the bravery and difficulty a dazzling array of information that particularly with Harris’ lengthy Mount Everest, and leads Campbell
faced by soldiers in the field. even includes a forecast of what paragraphs. However, his to uncover the heartbreaking truth
One can’t help but feel admiration will be spent in the next ten years. writing is clearly structured and about the man who left the money
for Luttrell, the only survivor of The pictures are merely adequate he considers a wide range of and the long-lost love who never
this ill-fated mission. And his and some of the content is strictly opinions and angles before making claimed it. I won’t give away the
story is now deservedly gaining for obsessives only. But on the his conclusions, so it can’t be ending – suffice to say, The Steady
further attention due to its being whole, this is a useful reference claimed that he’s biased. All in Running Of The Hour will leave you
made into a Hollywood movie point. Let’s just hope it doesn’t end all, Rebellion is an interesting – if feeling emotionally drained and
starring Mark Wahlberg. Andy Price up in the wrong hands. Paul Dimery slightly specialist – read. Chris Short historically enlightened. Paul Dimery
94 HISTORY WAR
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TRIUMPH OF THE WILL

Directed by Leni Riefenstahl Go Entertain RRP £7.85 REVIEWS
★★★★★
his year sees the 80th about Adolf and his twisted chums, 700,000 attendees. The crowds
anniversary of the 1934 Riefenstahl would’ve either had are frequently shown to be lost
Nuremberg Rally – one of a to be a true believer or a ruthless in a state of pseudo-religious
series of annual propaganda opportunist – and by her own reverie as Hitler and his henchmen
events held by Hitler’s Nazi account, she wasn’t the latter. deliver a barrage of speeches – all in
T Party between 1923 and (In 1940, believing the war to be the same hell-fire preacher manner.
1938 – and this reissue of Leni won after German troops took over If only the audience had
Riefenstahl’s controversial film Paris, Riefenstahl actually wrote actually listened to what was
about the original occasion will no a telegram to Hitler, saying, “With being preached, because, in
doubt do much to resurrect her indescribable joy, deeply moved between the white noise about
reputation as an innovative director. and filled with burning gratitude, pride and freedom, it’s clear that,
To those in the know, we share with you, my führer, your even in 1934, what was really on
Riefenstahl’s skills have never and Germany’s greatest victory, the agenda was genocidal war.
really been in doubt. (Indeed, the entry of German troops into Nowhere is this more creepily
following her death in 2003, Paris. You exceed anything human
aged 101, the BBC noted that imagination has the power to The crowds are shown to be lost in
her documentaries “were hailed conceive, achieving deeds without a state of reverie as Hitler and his
as groundbreaking film-making, parallel in the history of mankind.
pioneering techniques involving How can we ever thank you?”) henchmen deliver a barrage of speeches
cranes, tracking rails and many Regardless of her motives,
cameras working at the same the films she left behind remain apparent than when Der Führer 10 years later. Or were maimed,
time”.) What’s more debatable vital historical documents – with addresses the Hitler Youth, telling or mad, or had committed mass
is her later insistence that she The Triumph Of The Will arguably them that they must harden murderer on their leader’s behalf.
wasn’t really a Nazi, but merely an the most important. Filmed over themselves for the sacrifices So, is this a propaganda film
ingénue who’d been mesmerised four days in September 1934, ahead. That they must honour or a documentary masterpiece?
by the passionate speeches, the it captures the appalling brilliance themselves on the battlefield Ultimately, it’s a propaganda film
flag-waving and the Hugo Boss of the Nazi party at the height of as their fathers had done. The that documents, quite brilliantly,
uniforms. Which, of course, is utter its hypnotic powers. The spectacle sweet-faced boys in uniform cheer how the words of a few men
nonsense. To have been given of the rally is still dazzling to him wildly like the next generation so enchanted a deeply civilised
the unprecedented funding and 21st-century eyes, and was clearly would Elvis, and one is left nation that it sleepwalked into
access to make her elaborate films overwhelming to many of the wondering how many were still alive catastrophe. James Parker

VIKINGS ASSAULT ON NORMANDY: HERCULES 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE
Directed by Ciaran Donnelly, Ken Girotti, POINTE DU HOC Directed by Roger Young Warner Bros Free
Johan Renck Directed by Anthony Spirit Entertainment Ltd RRP £5 ★★★★★
20th Century Fox Clayton Pen & Sword ★★★★★
RRP £29.99 Military RRP £16.95 Here’s yet
★★★★★ ★★★★★ I must admit, another movie
tie-in, this time
I like my films
Vikings is an with a bit of an app game
18 certificate Continuing Pen & realism, so this to promote the
and a quote Sword Military’s dramatisation March release
on the sleeve series on the of the Greek of the film of
describes it as D-Day landings, mythological the same name.
“brutal” – so it Pointe du Hoc legend was Looking at the
was no surprise when the first recounts the operation to destroy always going to fall short. Originally stills on the app store, it’s easy to
15 minutes saw one man skewered the German gun battery on a released as a two-part TV series be impressed – the screen shots
by a sword and another branded promontory overlooking both Utah in 2004 (both of which are featured make the game look exciting and
in the face with a red-hot poker. But and Omaha beaches. The job fell to on the disc), Hercules isn’t a total dynamic. And with such a solid
then, the Vikings weren’t exactly the 2nd Ranger Battalion – an outfit waste of time. The cast – which pedigree (it has movie giant Warner
known for pussy-footing around. based on the British Commandos includes Timothy Dalton, Elizabeth Brothers behind it), expectations
With a second season of this Irish- – who were required to scale a Perkins and, bizarrely, Kristian will justifiably be high. Not only
Canadian TV series due to be aired crumbling cliff face, 100 feet high. Schmid from Neighbours – perform that, but it’s free – a seemingly
around about now, the makers have The DVD, which runs for some admirably (especially Dalton, who remarkable giveaway.
decided to cash in by releasing the 90 minutes, covers the operation acts like he’s in an RSC production Soon after you start playing the
first on DVD and Blu-ray. in fine detail, using location shots of Hamlet). And it has surprisingly game, however, you become bored.
Over nine episodes, we follow at Pointe du Hoc, animated maps high production values for a title It looks good but has very little
a warrior, Ragnar, who’s fighting and fascinating period photography. you’ve likely never heard of. user engagement – essentially,
a battle on two fronts: on one side, The narrative is nicely inter-cut However, the telling of the story it’s a repetitive gore fest with a
he wants to conquer new lands; with sequences describing the is just too wishy-washy to truly glut of stabbing and blood. Just
on the other, he must defend his Rangers’ uniform and equipment. capture the imagination. So much at the point you expect the game
wife and family from bad guys. The location footage is rather so that by the end of the first to evolve, to add features or even
While some of the lines are cheesy washed out, but the information episode, I had to really motivate challenge, you realise it’s the same
(at one point, Ragnar compares presented is thoroughly myself to sit through the second. scenario with a different backdrop.
his heart to a black pudding), researched. In truth, it’s probably If I were you, I’d save my money If you’re stuck in a queue,
it’s undoubtedly been made on not a DVD you’ll watch often, but for the new version of Hercules maybe 300: Rise Of An Empire is
a big budget and the sets are it offers an intriguing insight into that’s due to hit cinema screens worth five minutes of your time. Any
breathtaking, giving Vikings an one of the less well-known chapters in July. It promises to have a little more than that and you’ll wonder
authentic, filmic quality. Paul Dimery of Operation Neptune. Steve Jarratt more grit than this. Paul Dimery why you bothered. Mark Sinclair
HISTORY WAR 95
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T h e T G r e a t e s t
The Ten Greatest
en


WO R L D W A R I I M O V I E S
WORLD WAR II MOVIES





Visceral, heroic, harrowing… the best Second World War fi lms bring
the confl ict to our screens in terrifying detail. Here, we pick our top 10,
which depict everything from the D-Day landings to German U-boats



COME AND SEE

2 Director Elem Klimov, 1985
Based on the real-life experiences of director Elem
Klimov, this Soviet movie covers the atrocities carried
out by Nazis during their occupation of Belarus, when
628 villages were systematically burned to the ground
along with their inhabitants. Central to the story is
a 14-year-old boy, Florya, who digs up an old rifl e in
order to join the Soviet partisans. What follows is an
unfl inching account of his experiences, which include
rapes, executions and churches set on fi re. Free of blockbuster effects,
Come And See explores the psychological effects of the barbarities of
war – as Florya descends into insanity, the fi lm takes on a disturbing,
hallucinatory feel. But it’s also an important depiction of real-world events
that acts as a reminder of the depravity that man is capable of in confl ict.


SCHINDLER’S LIST LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA


1 Director Steven Spielberg, 1993 3 Director Clint Eastwood, 2006
Beating his own fi lm to the top spot is the latter of When Clint Eastwood wanted to recount the US
Steven Spielberg’s Second World War masterpieces. assault on Iwo Jima, he decided it needed two movies:
It tells the incredible true story of Oskar Schindler one from the viewpoint of the Americans, the other
(Liam Neeson), a German industrialist, spy and from the Japanese. The former was well received, but
member of the Nazi party who, horrifi ed by the it was the companion fi lm that won the real plaudits.
“punishment” meted out to the Jewish populace Letters From Iwo Jima sees the battle through the eyes
by his comrades, saved the lives of 1,200 men, of the defenders, who were outnumbered, without air
women and children by employing them at his or sea support, and told that they would die defending
enamelware factory and bribing SS offi cials to leave them alone. the island. With a force of just 22,000 men, they weren’t expected to hold
Spielberg’s fi lm – which scooped seven Academy Awards, including out for more than fi ve days. But under the guidance of wily, unorthodox Lt
ones for Best Film and Best Director – is emotive and poignant, General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe), who suggested building a network of
while avoiding his usual heavy-handed sentimentalism. At times, caves and tunnels, they held back 100,000 US troops for 35. Eastwood’s
it makes for diffi cult viewing, yet it remains eminently watchable. desaturated cinematography perfectly captures the despair of the defenders’
situation, and this tragic tale is at turns breathtaking and heartbreaking.



SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

4 Director Steven Spielberg, 1998
Spielberg’s D-Day tale follows a US Army Captain
(Tom Hanks) and his squad as they attempt to fi nd
and repatriate Private James Francis Ryan. Ryan’s
three brothers have all been killed in action and it is
deemed that their mother must not lose the fourth.
The fi lm begins with a depiction of the Omaha Beach
landings, with Spielberg capturing the brutality as
troops were cut down by German gunfi re. On the
fl ip-side, historian Antony Beevor has described the end of the fi lm as
“ghastly”, suggesting that Spielberg “milks our tear ducts with both
hands”. But Saving Private Ryan still stands as a great war fi lm, presenting
an unfl inching view of the horrors of combat on a very personal level.


96 HISTORY WAR
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THE LONGEST DAY


5 Directors Ken Annakin/Andrew Marton, 1962
Although it was made in 1962, director Ken Annakin
shot this epic account of the D-Day landings in
black and white docu-drama style (the “colourised”
TV version is best avoided). Events are recalled
in a linear fashion, starting a few days before the
landings, with Allied forces debating the date of
their attack while the Germans prevaricate about
locations and their intended response. The fi lm also pays respect
to other activities, such as the US Paratroopers shot down around
Sainte-Mère-Église, the British glider assault on the Pegasus Bridge
and a sweeping, three-minute helicopter shot of the Free French Forces’
assault on Ouistreham. Eschewing the visceral carnage of Saving Private
Ryan, this is war stripped of its horror – but it’s impressive nonetheless.


DAS BOOT A BRIDGE TOO FAR


6 Director Wolfgang Petersen, 1981
7 Director Richard Attenborough, 1977
Focusing on the terrible privations faced by submarine
crews, Das Boot is based on the real-life exploits of One of a long line of war fi lms directed by Richard
U-96, a Type VIIC U-boat that survived 11 patrols over Attenborough, A Bridge Too Far tells the heroic but
nearly three years, sinking 27 ships in the process. ultimately disastrous story of Operation Market
It follows a war correspondent as he joins the crew Garden, where British troops parachuted into the
and bears witness to the stresses and strains of life Netherlands to secure bridges over the Maas and
at sea: the boredom of a three-week storm, cramped the Rhine, facilitating Field Marshal Montgomery’s
and unhealthy living conditions, and the terror of being entry into northern Germany. The plan had been
depth-charged by the British Navy. While the fi lm is incredibly realistic for the 10,000 men of 1st Airborne Division to defend the bridge at
in its portrayal, the submarine-interior shots were actually shot on land Arnhem for two days. However, after a German onslaught decimated
in Munich, using a painstakingly accurate representation of a U-boat the force, just 740 men held it for four. A very British war fi lm, A Bridge
that could be shaken and tilted. The effect works brilliantly – Das Boot Too Far is notable for covering what was seen as an Allied failure.
will go down as one of the most poignant German fi lms ever made.


THE BIG RED ONE

9 Director Samuel Fuller, 1980
Famous for featuring Mark Hamill in between Star
Wars movies, this is director Samuel Fuller’s semi-
autobiographical account of life in the 1st Infantry
Division (the Big Red One of the title). It follows four
men in a squad led by their Sergeant (Lee Marvin),
who experience action in North Africa, Sicily and
Czechoslovakia, where they help liberate the Falkenau
concentration camp. Fuller’s brusque, unsentimental
storytelling puts the viewer right there with the troops,
as they experience all the vicissitudes of war: fear,
agony, joy, madness, despair. As the crew move from one battle to another,
Fuller presents war as cruel and random, obscene and absurd; a string
of unconnected vignettes – because that’s what war is like. Darkly comic,
dispassionate, sometimes messy, The Big Red One is, nonetheless, an
intimate depiction of war told by someone who experienced it fi rst-hand.
DAYS OF GLORY


8 Director Rachid Bouchareb, 2006 THE DAM BUSTERS
This movie highlights the segregation between
French troops and their colonial brethren – from 10 Director Michael Anderson, 1955
Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco – who were recruited When the British were seeking a way to halt the
to fi ght alongside them. The action kicks off in German war machine, they looked to the industrialised
the Italian campaign, with an attack on a German area of the Ruhr Valley, the site of hydro-electric power
mountain outpost, where the French commanding stations, factories and mines. Operation Chastise
offi cer sends North African troops in to attack. was designed to breach the Möhne, Sorpe and
Later, the same troops are denied privileges, such Edersee dams, and was driven by the invention of the
as tomatoes in their rations and leave of absence “bouncing bomb”, the brainchild of inventor Sir Barnes
to visit home. The fi lm ends with a statement about how the French Neville Wallis. This 1955 movie follows Wallis (Michael
Government decided to freeze military pensions in former colonial Redgrave) as he struggles to make his idea work. The climactic
countries at the level of the late 1950s (colonials received a tenth of mission itself is let down a little by the limitations of 1950s special
the pension of French veterans). On its release, so touched was he effects, but the fi lm remains an enduring tale of British ingenuity
that President Jacques Chirac ordered the pensions to be paid in full. and skill, and a testament to the bravery and sacrifi ces of the men
of 617 Squadron: of the 133 aircrew involved, only 53 made it back.
HISTORY WAR 97

of

WARin
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NUMBERS 650,000
THE AMERICAN died in the war, from combat, accident, starvation and disease. This is
The approximate number of Union and Confederate soldiers who
CIVIL WAR around 200,000 more American deaths than occurred during the Second

World War, making the Civil War the bloodiest conflict in US history.
Calculating the 1861-65 clash between
the Union and Confederate Armies to fight in the war in his place, equating to
7 Presidents fought: $300 Staples $500 to fi ght in his place in 1864.
7
The minimum a man could pay a substitute

around $5,000 in today’s money. Abraham
Lincoln did it, paying 19-year-old J Summerfield
Seven future
Andrew Johnson,
Rutherford Hayes,
Ulysses Grant,

James Garfield, $13
The number of southern “slave” states that seceded from the US Benjamin Harrison,
following the election of Abraham Lincoln as President in 1860, a move Chester Arthur and
that ignited the Civil War. Four more seceded after the war began. William McKinley.
The amount of money white Union Privates made per month
during the war. Their black counterparts initially earned $7
– although this discrepancy was rectified in 1864.

68,162 51,116 The number of
Union soldiers who
The number of letters received by The number of casualties in the legendary fought in the Civil War.
They outnumbered
Clara Barton, who founded an Office of Battle of Gettysburg – fought 1-3 July 1863. Confederate soldiers

Correspondence with the Friends of the by almost two to one.
Missing Men of the US Army in 1865.
313
By the time she closed her doors in 1868,
she had gathered information on 22,000
troops, and she later set up the Red Cross. 183,000
The number of cases of venereal disease
5 days Union soldiers who died in the Union Army. In response, the army set
(sexually transmitted infections) detected
The number of
up Government-sanctioned prostitution in
of sunstroke during
Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee, where
the Civil War.
prostitutes worked legally and were subjected
to medical examinations and treatment for VD. 2,128,948
President
Abraham Lincoln was
assassinated just five

days after Robert E
Lee’s Confederate
Army of Northern 504
Virginia surrendered.
The man who shot
him, John Wilkes The number of women who served in the
Booth, wanted war disguised as men. One of the most famous The average number of deaths per day
to avenge the was Sarah Edmonds, who joined the Union during the Civil War – the highest number

Confederate states. Army as a male nurse called Frank Thompson. of any conflict fought before or since.
98 HISTORY WAR
of

Military & Civil Aviation – Military Weapons & Equipment – Naval Vessels










Sturmgeschutz III on The Great War From
the Battlefield 2 the Air Then and Now
M Panczel Second G Ramsey Includes:
Achzarit Heavy APC On Display Vol.3 IDF Armor Series 2 United States vs Haynes Owners Capturing Clervaux - volume covers Stur- Houthulst, Houplines,
in IDF Service M Mass British Steel British Train Hard - Fight German Equipment Workshop Manual The Final Hour mgeschutz III assault Bailleul, Vlamertinghe,
Colour photo album WWII Armour R Pituch Easy O Zidon 1945 U Feist Churchill Tank Manual C Joachim The dio- guns during WWII. With Armentieres, Wulvergem,
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Heavy APC in Israeli step by step guide with on combined forces comparing US and record. Colour and building the diorama. tions and previously Redoubt and more.
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Nurnberg's Panzer
Factory: A Photographic
Study R Macdougall
Theirs Not To Reason Portugal's Guerrilla Days of Battle Magach Tanks of the Stemming the Tide Sturmgeschütz- World War II US An illustrated study of
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British Army 1875-1925 Three Wars in Angola, north of the River Volume 1. The Leadership in the “Buffelbrigade” de Embroidered, Cut- developed and pro-
G Winton A compre- Mozambique and Danube, Hungary Complete Guide to British Expeditionary 1940-45 des Balkans Edge, Shoulder duced at the M·A·N
hensive study of the Portuguese Guinea 1944-45 N Számvéber Magach Tanks in Force 1914 S Jones à la steppe des Sleeve Insignia and plant in Nürnberg dur-
use of horse services 1961-74 A Venter A new study that throws Israeli Service This book reveals that Kalmouks how they were ing the period 1934-
in the British Army be- The author, a foreign much-needed light on R Manasherob when faced with the B Bork Established on manufactured H Bree 1945. It graphically
tween 1875 and 1923 correspondent who armoured warfare on Covers the history of realities of modern 1 October 1949, this Lavishly illustrated, shows the develop-
including the use of covered Portugal’s the Eastern Front dur- the IDF early M48A1 combat, the officers of book documents the colour reference focus- ment of M.A.N vehicles
horses in the 1899- three wars, gives a ing the final months of and M4812C Magach the BEF were prepared history of this unit with ing on WWII US made, and variants for use by
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the 1914-18 wars. of the events, illustrated a much neglected part unique and previously offers a broad picture of white photos. dered, cut edge shoul- With over 200 black
B&W photos and maps. with his own images. of Hungarian history. unpublished photos. command at all levels. FRENCH TEXT. der sleeve insignia. and white photos.
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Als Panzermann in
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1942-45 Panzer
Tankograd Militaria Guides 6 US British Military Trucks Armies of Bismarck's Osprey New De Kronstadt à la Osprey New Regiment 8 und
Panzerkampfwagen Army Insignia 1941- of World War One Wars : Prussia, 1860 - Vanguard 206 US Normandie avec un Vanguard 204 British schwere Panzer-Abt
T 34 - 747(r) The 1945 Volume 1 Army Types and Variants of 1857 B Bassett-Powell Army and Marine officier de la Hohen- Battleships 1914-18 508 A Urbanke
Soviet T-34 Tank as groups, Armies, British-Built and Non- Describes the history Corps MRAPs Mine staufen P Tiquet (2) The Super This volume focuses
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J Vollert A compre- to the insignia worn by T Gosling A compreh- prominence. The ment and operational Waffen-SS during the history and service viving diary entries and
hensive study with U.S. army units in Europe, ensive overview of growth of the General history MRAP vehicles Second World War. modifications of the letters to his wife.
over 500 B&W photos. Asia and the Pacific. British forces trucks. Staff is also examined. with technical details. FRENCH TEXT. super Dreadnoughts. Colour photos.
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Military Miniatures Steel Masters Hors Ship Dioramas: 1st Bedfordshires Les Cuirasses de la Battlefield Rations La Bataille du Czechoslovak tanks
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