Category: Odd Facts
The Kaiser’s War in the Far East – Inside Imperial Germany’s Asia & Pacific Campaigns of 1914
“Despite the comparatively small scale of the conflict there and the speedy surrender of some outposts, the overseas dimension of World War One has unfairly been overlooked.” By Katja Hoyer ON DEC. 6, 1897, the…
The Loss of HMCS Fraser – The Bizarre Story of the Allied Destroyer That Was Shorn in Two
“Fraser was the first RCN warship lost during operations in the war.” By James Brun HIS MAJESTY’S CANADIAN Ship Fraser began her life as a C-class destroyer in Britain’s Royal Navy. Five years later, she…
The Hatimura Blast – Convoy SC-107 and the Explosion that Shook the Atlantic
“The resulting shockwave rocked every ship in around the convoy.” By Alexander Zakrzewski ON THE AFTERNOON of Oct. 30, 1942, the Liverpool-bound convoy SC-107 was about 50 miles southeast of Newfoundland – barely out of…
The Bladensburg Races – Inside America’s Most Humiliating Battlefield Defeat
“At Bladensburg, the British did everything right and the Americans did everything wrong.” By John Danielski THE BATTLE OF Bladensburg, August 24, 1814, was the greatest military debacle in American history; a martial comedy-of-errors. Yet…
Of Fifes and Drumsticks – Victory at Saratoga and America’s First Thanksgiving Holiday
“The American triumph at Saratoga was considered the turning point of the eight-year War of Independence.” By Sean Kelleher MOST PEOPLE REMEMBER the first Thanksgiving being held by pilgrims at Plymouth in what is now Massachusetts in…
“We Happy Few” – The Battle of Agincourt and the Birth of an English Legend
“Gentlemen of England shall think themselves accursed they were not here” – Henry V, Act IV, Scene 3 (Originally published Oct 24, 2015) By Anne Curry WHY DOES THE Battle of Agincourt, fought in northern…
