Christmas Truce Eyewitness — Irish Great War Vet Recalls the Famous Ceasefire of 1914
“It was Christmas Day and the ceasefire held. With the sun fully up, Germans suddenly appeared in No Man’s Land.” By Brendan Farrell MY GRANDFATHER, Peter Farrell of Drumconrath, County Meath, like many thousands of…
The Arctic Convoys — Inside the Second World War’s Gruelling Polar Naval Campaign
“It was possibly the harshest place on Earth to conduct a war and led to Churchill describing the Arctic convoys as ‘the worst journey in the world.’” By John McKay THE ARCTIC convoys were a…
Child Soldiers of the U.S. Civil War — Just How Rare Was Underage Enlistment in Armies of the Era?
“If military physicians strongly opposed youth enlistment, and plenty of parents fought to retain authority over sons up to age 21, how did so many boys below 18 end up in the army?” By Rebecca…
The Girardoni Air Rifle – Why Didn’t More 18th Century Armies Rush to Adopt This Experimental Rapid-Fire Infantry Weapon?
“The Girardoni was the first repeating rifle to see regular military service and the first to employ a tubular magazine. It featured a magazine of 22 shots and had an effective range of 125 yards.”…
The French Army at the Somme – Inside France’s Important (But Often-Overlooked) Role in the 1916 Offensive
“Unlike Haig’s divisions, which quickly bogged down, the French enjoyed a stunning success in the opening phase of the battle.” By Benoît Chenu THE 1916 BATTLE of the Somme has been exhaustively dissected, debated and…
The Battle for the P-51 Mustang – How the U.S. Military Almost Rejected the One of the Best Fighters of WW2
“For all its world-beating qualities, this silver bullet of a plane would initially be shunted aside by the U.S. Army Air Forces.” By David Fairbank White And Margaret Stanback White …
