I highly recommend the book Roughneck 91: The Amazing True Story of a Special Forces A-Team at War. This happened early on in the War and did not get a lot of coverage, but next to the Marines at Fallujah, this is definitely one of the most amazing stories of the War. -SF When a group…
Category: Military History
World War II History: One of The Most Devastating Bombing’s of WW2 You Most Likely Never Heard About
“It was a lovely winter morning with a clear sky overhead. At 11:10 a.m., the earth shuddered violently.” So reads an official’s account of an otherwise unremarkable day in 1944. But what was very remarkable was the source of the shuddering: an explosion so fierce it left a crater 80 feet deep and a…
Military Weapons From the Past: Steyr-Hahn Pistol Variations
The Steyr-Hahn is one of the less glamorized pistols used in WWI, despite being made in quite large numbers (250,000-313,000, depending on who you read). The gun is an interesting mix of features, including bits from the Roth-Steyr M1907 and the early Colt/Browning 1900/1902/1903 pistols. As the M1912, the gun was the standard pistol for…
Know Your Weapons: The Armalite AR-10
In 1955, the small Californian firearms company ArmaLite unveiled one of the most defining and influential rifles of the 20th century — the AR-10. The hard-hitting rifle would see extensive service in bitter colonial conflicts and provide the basis for the M-16, one of the most iconic rifles of all time. But despite its importance there has…
Military Naval History: Lessons From the Battle of Jutland
May 31st marks the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Jutland. There, off the Danish coast, British and German naval forces fought as the Royal Navy sought to bottle up the German battle fleet in the North Sea and the Germans aimed to cripple the Royal Navy. In The World Crisis, Winston Churchill’s eloquent and…
Know Your Weapons: The CIA Probably Still Uses Some of the High Standard Spy Pistols It Bought During World War II
A suppressed .22-caliber “Wetwork” weapon that never needed replacing When the United States entered World War II, the Pentagon quickly bought up all the stocks it could find of .22LR target pistols — a .22-caliber handgun that fires a rifle-style cartridge—for training purposes. But the British Special Operations Executive was already using suppressed versions of similar weapons in combat….
World War II History: Bomber Plane Missing for 72 Years Found in the Pacific
TBM-1 Project Recover discovered its sixth WWII bomber plane since 2012. World War II American bomber plane the US Navy TBM-1C Avenger, missing since July 1944, was found in waters surrounding the Pacific Island nation of Palau, according to multiple news reports. It was discovered 85 feet under water within a lagoon. The plane was…
World War I History: Vintage Photo
Belgian soldier smokes a cigarette during a fight between Dendermonde and Oudegem Belgium in 1914. This is a really good photo of a Belgian Maxim, although it appears to be staged – the man has his thumbs on the trigger, but there does is not ammo belt in the gun. View the Original Photo and…
A “What If” Memorial Day
As a Veteran and Historian, I appreciate Post like this, I hope you do too. Happy Memorial Day Weekend to all my readers and subscribers. -SF The news could not have been worse. Starvation, malnutrition, diseases such as typhoid, smallpox, dysentery, and pneumonia, along with freezing temperatures that assaulted thousands of shoeless feet bloodying…
Espionage Files: The Man Who Seduced the US Navy’s 7th Fleet
He tempted his targets with the high life; whiskey, cigars, prostitutes and cash. His moles fed him bundles of military secrets and law enforcement files. All so he could rip off the Navy on an industrial scale for years and years. Now, the depth of the corruption is being exposed as the investigation reaches into the highest…