Thanks that kind of feedback means a lot to me, I mean I love the research and writing side of things, but its nice to be able to share and hopefully get some debate or discussion.
I first decided to do this for a couple of reasons. I need to do something to exercise my brain besides work.
Second my nephew is a university student taking history and he wants to be a teacher and he asked me to review his work, and I didn't think it was all that great, both in terms of research and second because there was really a shortage of analysis. Why people made the decisions they made based around the information they had at the time? What was the global effect of small details?
So, I've been compiling these and sending them to him, and offering to have discussions with him on history if he wants to.
I think that military history is so crucial as a subject, and I'm saddened that there is less and less emphasis put on it as we go along.
Well we are all benefitting from you helping him. Maybe after Stalingrad, you do Passchendaele for a little Canadian flavor.
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Hey, for lack of a better place to put this, I've always been curious about a piece of WWII memorabilia I have. It's a landmine case (like a little wooden box with no explosives inside). It was my grandpa's and family lore has it that it lists some battles he was in. There is a list of places or something on the underside of the lid. Anybody heard of one of these landmine keepsakes? I can post a picture tonight.
He's been gone for 25 years so there's no checking this with him and he didn't talk about the war much like a lot of those guys. His kids never heard a single story to my knowledge about the war. I remember him telling me two stories:
1. He was out and about somewhere in Europe when an ally air attack was about to occur and all the planes were flying overhead. He said there were so many planes it blocked out the sun. Exaggeration for sure, but painted a neat picture.
2. Other one was some Germans waiving him and his crew (I don't know military terms, sorry) over pretending to need help. IDK, I guess they looked like harmless German soldiers? Anyway, as my Grandpa's team (wrong term, I know) got closer the Germans started shelling them. Don't know how that story ended - he kept both stories kind of vague and I was only like 12 or something so I don't think he wanted to get into details.
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Hey, for lack of a better place to put this, I've always been curious about a piece of WWII memorabilia I have. It's a landmine case (like a little wooden box with no explosives inside). It was my grandpa's and family lore has it that it lists some battles he was in. There is a list of places or something on the underside of the lid. Anybody heard of one of these landmine keepsakes? I can post a picture tonight.
He's been gone for 25 years so there's no checking this with him and he didn't talk about the war much like a lot of those guys. His kids never heard a single story to my knowledge about the war. I remember him telling me two stories:
1. He was out and about somewhere in Europe when an ally air attack was about to occur and all the planes were flying overhead. He said there were so many planes it blocked out the sun. Exaggeration for sure, but painted a neat picture.
2. Other one was some Germans waiving him and his crew (I don't know military terms, sorry) over pretending to need help. IDK, I guess they looked like harmless German soldiers? Anyway, as my Grandpa's team (wrong term, I know) got closer the Germans started shelling them. Don't know how that story ended - he kept both stories kind of vague and I was only like 12 or something so I don't think he wanted to get into details.
As kids we had a collection of large wooden building blocks that were stored in a wooden ammunition box, something like this. I always thought that was cool. It as cool as my father’s souvenir Luger though!
The most overrated General in WWII was MacArthur! A Trump-Style general 80 years before Trump...
I don't know - I would probably say Rommel is up there too. Patton was pretty overrated too.
Lots of unsung heroes. Canada's II Corps Commander, General Simonds was probably the best Corps Commander period on the Allied side although Brian Horrocks was also superb.
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Actually, Captain, on the North African side, I am tempted to write about Operation Compass - essentially an aggressive recon push by the Brits that turned into a complete rout of the Italian forces in North Africa which forced the Germans to send Africa Korps down on that weird little misadventure.
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I have a WWII bullet that I dug up in Normandy (battle of Falaise gap). It was dug up in a farmer’s field with his permission.
We were doing a WWII guided tour with an awesome guide and I asked if there was a chance I could find something from the war. He said we would find something the next day. That day we stopped at the farmer’s field and he gave me a softball-sized rock and asked me to toss it into the field. Where it landed he dug gently a circle and began lifting the soil. He found lots of glass, wire, and the rust-encased bullet.
At home I showed the bullet to a local gun enthusiast who confirmed it’s not live.
That bullet and a piece of concrete I found at Zeppelin Field from a crumbling grandstand are my most prized souvenirs from that trip to Europe. That and a poppy I obtained at the Ardenne Abbey (a cloth poppy, not the usual kind) where some 28 Canadians were slaughtered by the Germans.
I loved that trip.
Last edited by MoneyGuy; 11-18-2020 at 12:15 PM.
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I love military and war history especially battles and wars that shaped how the world is today. So many what ifs in world history.
Hannibal's war against Rome in the Second Punic Wars where he outwitted Romans at every step deep in enemy territory. Who knows what would have occured had the Carthaginians supported him after his huge successes. We could all be talking a very different language. My particular favourite battle is the Battle of Lake Trasimene (less famous of course than Cannae, but it just showed how crazy his tactics was at the time)
Napoleon's first battle that led him to greatness. Follow it up with their Napeoleon War series.
Watch these Youtube series for some epic history viewing, unlike anything ever but put in on TV and in any history classes.
Hannibal was brilliant, stubborn, and incredibly charismatic. His ability to not only take advantage of the different national troops in his army and use their strength in an over arching strategy while keeping them united was key to his success.
The toughest decision in his life was deciding not to march on Rome against the advice of his other advisors, but it was likely a smart move. He had lost a great many experienced men at Cannae, he also had a shaky supply line and thus couldn't really risk a protracted siege against Rome.
A bloody siege of Rome over the span of weeks probably would have broken the resolve of his army and split his coalition.
Like the American's after Desert Storm, Hannibal never really had a post Cannae battle plan except to cause havoc, try to draw the Roman's into another structured battle and hope that Rome fell on its own. He didn't get those results, instead Rome had a chance to reform and rebuild its army, went back to avoiding major battles and bloodied Hannibal where he could, and eventually push Hannibal back to Carthage.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
I think that military history is so crucial as a subject, and I'm saddened that there is less and less emphasis put on it as we go along.
I just wanted to pop in here and say I am quite enjoying these! I am youngish (in my twenties) and have a BA in History, more with an emphasis in military history so these are awesome to read.
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THE INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC missile (ICBM) took off from Kwajalein Atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on November 17th. American satellites spotted its bright plume at once. They alerted Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado which in turn informed the USS John Finn, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer poised north-east of Hawaii. A hatch on the deck flipped open and spewed out a torrent of flames as an SM-3 Block IIA interceptor shot up and out. High above the Earth, it collided with the descending ICBM.
It was the first time an interceptor fired from a warship had shot down a (mock) ICBM in space. “Politically this test is a big deal,” says James Acton of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think-tank. Russia and China have always complained that American missile defences undermine their own deterrents. America has always batted away those concerns. When the SM-3 was developed, America first said it would protect aircraft-carriers, and later that it would shield Europe from Iranian medium-range missiles. I
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
