The History Network

The Aleutian Islands Campaign is often referred to as the Forgotten Battle due to history concentrating more on battles like that of Midway and Guadalcanal, yet this important campaign to take back U.S. soil, witnessed the first American amphibious assault in the North Pacific as well as one of the first Japanese banzai attacks of the war, and was fiercely fought by both sides. After the Japanese first took their Aleutian Island targets it would take over a year and a force some 20 times as strong before the US retook the land back from the Japanese. Dur: 20 mins File: .mp3

At the Outbreak of English Civil War it was convention that the aristocracy would lead the troops, this was irrespective of ability or experience. As the war went on it became clear to the parliamentarians that a conflict of interest both for power, and the unwillingness to drive home a Royalist defeat, meant that another solution should be sought. The result was the New Model Army, at Naseby it would show its mettle. Dur: 18mins File: .mp3

In this episode we’ll be looking at Ancient Warfare Magazine volume 9, issue 5 “At the point of a Sarissa: Warriors of the Hellenistic age” To discuss the topic Angus is joined by Josho Browuers, Murray Dahm and Marc de Santis.

Despite being well-led, trained, and equipped at the outbreak of the Second Boer War in October 1899, the British army was unprepared for the guerilla-style tactics their enemy employed, suffering more than 3000 casualties and several defeats in the first two months of the conflict. On December 12th, as the leadership in London was attempting to formulate a plan to counter the Boer threat, 28-year old reservist Lieutenant Simon Joseph Fraser the 14th Lord Lovat & 22nd chief of the clan Fraser, approached the War Office with a proposal to raise two companies of Scottish Highlanders, one mounted and one infantry, for use as elite units with the express mission of neutralizing the Boer on their own terms. Dur: 25mins File: .mp3

By the first decade of the last century, the two great opposing alliance systems in Europe had formed, or been starched into the fine conformity of Milton, "a staunch and solid piece of framework, as any January could freeze together" (if we overlook the pliable Italians). All had their war plans, but none as famous as Schlieffen's. And by 1914, all plans were for the offensive – any previous defensive ones were discarded in favour of the much more manly and becoming offensive action, or so the thinking went. Dur: 46mins File: .mp3

"If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles", so said the great Chinese general and strategist Sun Tzu. Though all military tacticians since the dawn of time have tried to predict and understand their enemy, few organisations have succeeded and truly become their enemy. To truly become one's enemy, takes more than putting on a uniform. Empathy with their foundation, a knowledge of their society, traditions and customs are the basics when trying to get inside your enemy's head. In modern military times, when discussing becoming one's enemy, the name of the Selous Scouts easily stands out above all others. Dur: 20 mins File: .mp3

In the last episode we heard of Dracula's rise to power in Wallachia and how in 1459 he refused to pay tribute to the Ottoman's. His failure to do so forced Sultan Mehmed II to raise a huge army to march on Wallachia. Dracula had prepared Wallachia for such a fight. Not only did he order the construction or repair of border castles, and hire mercenaries for the army, but he also prepared his people for war. He moved his official residence south to the strong citadel of Bucharest to be closer to the border. Dur: 28mins File: .mp3

"The First Punic War (264 to 241 BC ) was the longest uninterrupted war in antiquity and the beginning of a series of military conflicts between Carthage and Rome. During the struggle, these ancient powers fought for the control of Sicily, a strategic point in the central Mediterranean. In the end, Rome was victorious and Carthage lost Sicily." In this episode we look at Volume 9, issue 4 “The First Punic War”. To discuss the topic Angus is joined by Josho Browuers, Murray Dahm, Lindsay Powell, Mark McCaffery and Marc De Santis.  

In December 1476, two monks from the monastery of Snagov, about forty kilometers north of Bucharest, stumbled upon a bloody, mangled, headless corpse. Recognizing the clothing, the monks secretly interred the body in the monastery's crypt. The head, meanwhile, made its way to Constantinople where it was put on display. The body belonged to the newly returned prince, Vlad, who was at the time known as 'the Impaler', but history knows him by a different name - Dracula. Dur: 39mins File: .mp3

The threat to Britain's supply lines during the second world war is a story of U-Boat Wolf Packs, preying on the merchant shipping as they brought vital goods to Britain across the Atlantic. But in other seas and oceans there was another threat, much akin to latter-day day pirates, at sea for months at a time in converted cargo ships. With their guns hidden, masquerading as other merchantmen they would sail remote sea lanes sinking or capturing lone shipping. Only nine German merchant raiders put to sea, yet they sank 130 Allied or neutral ships… The origins of these raiders goes back to the First World War... Dur: 22mins File: .mp3

The Second Punic War was already in its twelfth year with neither side in a strong enough position to claim supremacy. The Roman general Scipio had been campaigning successfully in the contested province of Spain for over three years but now the Carthaginians had gathered a huge army and marched out to destroy him. Significantly outnumbered, yet eager to draw his enemies into a decisive battle, Scipio accepted the challenge and in the spring of 206 BC the two armies met near the small town of Ilipa in southern Spain. The outcome of the Battle of Ilipa would not only determine control of the wealthy and strategically vital Iberian peninsula, but ultimately decide which city would become master of the whole Mediterranean world; Rome or her arch rival – Carthage. Dur: 29mins File: .mp3

Angus is joined by Josho Brouwers, Murray Dahm, Mark McCaffery, Steven Weingartner and Sean Manning. They discuss Ancient Warfare Magazine volume IX, issue 3 "The Hittites and their Successors". "Anatolia juts out from Asia and forms an important gateway to Europe. Essentially a large peninsula, it borders Syria in the south, Mesopotamia in the east, and the Aegean in the west. Over the course of time, it has been the home of a remarkable number of different peoples, speaking a great variety of different languages. In the second millennium BC , a powerful kingdom arose whose leaders rubbed shoulders with mighty rulers from other parts of the Near East: the kingdom of the Hittites." More  

During the hiatus between seasons we thought you might be running a bit short of military history? So we thought we'd put out this episode from Angus's new WW2 Podcast (sorry if you already subscribe and have heard it). The WW2 podcast is a regular podcast looking at all aspects of the Second World War. You can subscribe on iTunes, for more information have a look at WW2Podcast.com. In this episode, from August, Angus talked to Andrew Panton. Andrew is the pilot of "Just Jane", a Lancaster based in Lincolnshire. You can find out more at lincsaviation.co.uk  

In this episode Angus is joined Josho Browers, Murray Dahm, Mark MacCaffery, Owen Rees and Roel Konijnendijk. We look at Ancient Warfare Magazine IX.2 The ascendancy of Thebes. "The women of Sparta screamed at the sight of the flames that raged just across from the bridge over the Eurotas. Their men were in a panic, rushing to prepare and defend the unwalled city. Fighting had broken out in the nearby village of Amyclae. Lacedaemonians were falling to the earth, dead. The soil of Sparta had been invaded for the first time in centuries. The mightiest warriors of Greece were at the mercy of a new order in the Hellenic world. Thebes had finally ascended to its place of power and control. All it needed to do was learn from the mistakes that Sparta had made."

During the 15th Century Swiss Pikemen dominated the battlefield. Fighting as mercenaries these well drilled, professional soldiers, would provide the backbone to many European armies. The Spanish introduction of the Arquebusiers into their armies would prove to be their achilles heel to pike units and ushered in the era of "Pike and Shot". Dur: 25mins File: .mp3

By the outbreak of the first world war the railways had become key to any military deployment. Troops could be rapidly moved en masse with all their equipment. The early hotch-potch of railway lines had become politicised as governments saw their use for both offensive and defensive reasons. It's not unfair to say in certain situations the laying of a new lines was done more for military reasons than economic. The importance of the train and its crucial role in the build of troops for the first world war is emphasised in AJP Taylor's statement that the First World War was "war by timetable". Dur: 27mins File: .mp3

As peace descended on Europe in 1945, The Colt Manufacturing company had no intention of reinvigorating production of a weapon, who's design it now considered to be obselete - after all it had first become the standard United States Army revolver over 70 years prior - However, the post World war two years saw the burgeoning of television, and with that came Western themed movies, which in turn created customer demand for the revolver, and so Colt resumed its manufacture in 1956 with the Second Generation of Peacemakers. Even then, this would not be the last generation of the famous firearm. Dur: 23mins File: .mp3

In this episode of the Ancient Warfare Magazine podcast Angus, Josho, Lindsay and Mark discuss volume 9, issue 1 "The end of empire: the fall of Rome" "On 4 September AD 476, the Western Roman Empire came to an end. No great battle was fought, no great foreign invasion force marched upon the capital, nor was there an iconic enemy in the shape of a second Hannibal who annihilated Rome’s armies and broke down the emperor’s gates. Odoacer of the Germanic Sciri tribe and military commander in Rome’s employ, simply marched into the city of Ravenna after being proclaimed king by his troops, and dethroned the last Roman Emperor in the West."

When Alexander the Great requested ships from an unwilling Athens, the Senate asked the incorruptible Phocion for his opinion. He responded that "you should either have the sharpest sword, or keep upon good terms with those who have". In the Pact of London, signed on 5th September 1914, Britain, France and Russia agreed that none would make a separate peace with the Central Powers, deliberately making each indentured to the others: Even if one country achieved its aims, it had to remain in the fight until the other two succeeded in theirs. This must be considered at least a little odd given that their aims were very disparate, sometimes even opposed. The following April Italy signed this secret pact, having been promised far more extensive territorial gains by the Entente than by her former allies. Dur: 36mins File: .mp3

Armour was not just protection for the wearer it was a status symbol, however impractical and uncomfortable, it was a sign of power and authority. From the 18th century its popularity waned, as that of gunpowder weapons rose. What was left in use was more symbolic than practical protection. The last vestige was the helmet, often retained by the Heavy Cavalry in the 19th Century. That was until the outbreak of the first world war where it once more found use protecting Tommy Atkins, the American Doughboys, the French Poilu or the German infantryman. Dur: 24mins File: .mp3