On December 7th, 1941, the Japanese fleet launched two air strikes against the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, dragging the USA into World War II. They sank eighteen ships and destroyed 188 aircraft, most on the ground, damaging several more ships and a further 159 aircraft. Japanese losses were 29 aircraft, five… Continue reading Remembering Pearl Harbor
Tag: War
Weekend Wings #28: The Balikpapan Raid
The US Army Air Force carried out many notable bombing attacks in World War II. In the European theater of operations, they included the infamous Schweinfurt-Regensburg missions; Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on the Ploesti oilfields in Rumania; Operation Frantic Joe, the first of the so-called ‘shuttle bombing’ raids, where US bombers flew from English… Continue reading Weekend Wings #28: The Balikpapan Raid
A French soldier on US troops in Afghanistan
A tip o’ the hat to Jean-Marc Liotier at Serendipitous Altruism (certainly one of the more intriguing blog titles I’ve come across!) for translating observations by a French soldier, serving with an Operational Mentoring Liaison Team, or OLMT, concerning the US soldiers with whom he’s based. We have shared our daily life with two US… Continue reading A French soldier on US troops in Afghanistan
The battlefield of the future is getting a lot closer
Being a military veteran, and a techno-geek, I follow developments in military technology with interest. There have been two in the past week that’ve made me sit up and take notice. One is the first ready-for-combat laser beam ‘gun’, from Northrop Grumman. The FIRESTRIKE(tm) laser offers warfighters a 15 kilowatt (kW) fieldable laser as well… Continue reading The battlefield of the future is getting a lot closer
How warfare shaped human evolution
There’s a very interesting article of the same title in New Scientist magazine. It makes a compelling case for the link between warfare and how we’ve evolved. A couple of short extracts: These ideas emerged at a conference last month on the evolutionary origins of war at the University of Oregon in Eugene. “The picture… Continue reading How warfare shaped human evolution
Armistice Day
At 11 a.m. on November 11th, 1918, the guns fell silent across Europe as the Armistice of Compiègne brought an end to the fighting of the First World War. The war itself would not be officially over until the peace settlement of the Treaty of Versailles the following year, but the killing had ended. The… Continue reading Armistice Day
Another American hero
A few days ago we examined the World War I exploits of Sergeant York, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. A lesser-known Medal of Honor winner, whose deeds were, if anything, even more remarkable than Sergeant York’s, was First Lieutenant Samuel Woodfill. His Medal of Honor citation reads: Rank and organization: First… Continue reading Another American hero
Remembering an American hero
Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 8th, marks the 90th anniversary of one of the most celebrated feats of arms in US military history. On October 8th, 1918, Corporal Alvin C. York of the 328th Infantry Regiment displayed the heroism which led to his being awarded the Medal of Honor. His MOH citation reads: After his platoon had… Continue reading Remembering an American hero
Lest we forget
We should never forget the suffering of so many during World War II. Of the millions who died (estimated at anywhere between fifty and one hundred million, depending on who’s doing the counting), the vast majority were civilians. Among the military casualties were many taken prisoner by the Axis powers, who were usually merciless to… Continue reading Lest we forget
Battle Of Britain Day
Tomorrow, September 15th, is the 68th anniversary of the observance of the Battle of Britain. It’s celebrated on that date each year because in 1940, that was the climactic, largest-scale day of aerial fighting during the Battle. All over Britain, celebrations and memorial services will be held, both tomorrow and on Sunday, September 21st. Pilots… Continue reading Battle Of Britain Day