History of War

West Indian recruits pose for a photo after arriving for duty in the Royal Navy during WWI. As well as answering the empire’s call to join the Royal Navy and Fleet Auxiliary, over 15,000 men from Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and other Caribbean island

William the Conqueror introduces royally appointed military engineers to England from 1066. Henry V raises a permanent ‘Office of Ordnance’ that comprises artillerymen and officers in 1415, which later becomes the ‘Corps of Engineers’ in 1716. George

World War I tested the skill of the Royal Engineers as the reality of industrialised conflict demanded their expertise. Both sides faced the need to break through the enemy’s defensive entrenched positions, and it was into this situation of military

Engineers of the Soldier Artificer Company dig a tunnel in the North Face of 'the Rock' in order to place cannon that can fire down on French and Spanish forces. The siege ends in a decisive British victory after three years and seven months.  Design

In times of war, the Royal Engineers often had to be as concerned with destroying things as with building them. This was most certainly the case with the oilfields of the Middle East. As WWII raged into the summer of 1942, German forces were getting

Officers of the Royal Engineers are not usually expected to take on combat duties, but Lieutenant John Chard had no choice when his isolated post at Rorke’s Drift came under attack from thousands of warriors during the Anglo-Zulu War. Immortalised in

Throughout the history of the corps (which arguably goes back to the days of William the Conqueror and the construction of the White Tower), the infrastructure of war has been provided by the Royal Engineers. From fortifications to shelters and ship-

Berlin is burning. After more than five years of war, the Nazis’ much-vaunted ‘thousand-year Reich’ is finally coming to an end. But the agony isn’t over quite yet. As the Soviet Red Army inexorably advances into the heart of the city, a few thousand

DONG AP BIA REPUBLIC OF SOUTH VIETNAM 11-20 MAY 1969 The Tet Offensive of January 1968 had been an enormous blow against the Americans and their South Vietnamese allies, but not necessarily in the way the North Vietnamese had anticipated. While the

After a heavy air and artillery bombardment of the landing zone (LZ), at 0710 on 10 May, a large force paratroopers - ‘Rakkasans’ from the 3/187th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division - touch down in the mountainous A Shau Valley. Still unsure of

During World War II, British forces suffered grievous losses at the hands of superior German armoured fighting vehicles. German tanks typically outgunned Allied types, their armour protection was superb and they were capable of destroying Allied tank

Centenary commemorations of World War I in Britain have been largely fixated on the Western Front; most recently the horrors of Passchendaele and then the Hundred Days Offensive have inevitably captured the public’s attention. Often neglected is the

Among the most recognisable engines in the world, the Rolls-Royce Merlin was the power plant behind Britain’s WWII defenders – the Spitfire and Hurricane – as well as its trusty sword arm in the form of the Lancasters and Halifaxes of Bomber Command.

The loss of HMS Truculent on 12 January 1950 remains one of the worst peacetime naval disasters in British post-war history. The Truculent was a T-class submarine that was commissioned in 1942 and had spent much of its WWII service in the Pacific the

Author: Robert Lyman Publisher: Amberley Price: £20 The years 1939-1941 witnessed Europe’s march towards the greatest catastrophe of warfare the world has even known. Robert Lyman’s well-documented history follows events from September 1939, when Br

‘I WAS THERE: ROOM OF VOICES’ IS THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM’S NEW EXHIBITION THAT FEATURES HAUNTING SOUND RECORDINGS FROM THOSE WHO WITNESSED THE END OF WWI The IWM’s ‘Making a New World’ season of innovative exhibitions, installations and experiences

Authors: Mark Connelly and Stefan Goebel Publisher: Oxford University Press Price: £18.99 Within months of the outbreak of the Great War, Ypres witnessed the first of a series of devastating battles that endured until the end of hostilities in Novem

Author: David Bremner Publisher: Fonthill Price: £25 It takes a special kind of passion to build a reproduction World War I aircraft, and It also requires a little eccentricity to build a humble scout aircraft rather than one of the more glamorous f

This issue, History of War readers have the chance to win a bottle each of Spitfire Gin and Supermarine Vodka, created by British company Spitfire Heritage Distillers. Concocted by award-winning distiller John Walters, Spitfire Gin is made with two t

Author: Lisa Traynor Publisher: Royal Armouries Price: £14.99 The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the spark that ignited World War I, is a familiar event – most people will know at least something about it. What most people will not know

In May 1982, the Dark Ages dramatically returned to the light when a mechanical digger struck an object below the soil during an excavation in York. This transpired to be an intact Anglo-Saxon helmet, which was discovered in a wood-lined pit containi