Military History

In 1759 British Maj. Robert Rogers’ vaunted rangers raided deep into Abenaki territory in Quebec. Fewer than half would make it back alive By Ron Soodalter IN THE ARCHIVES: Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s maritime research team found the wreck of t

I’d like to compliment author Dave Kindy on his excellent article about U-853 (“Last Shot at Glory”) in the March 2021 issue of Military History. I was especially pleased to see he acknowledged the participation of blimps in the battle that resulted

Four identical caskets lay abreast in the room at City Hall in Châlons-en-Champagne, France, on Oct. 24, 1921. Each held the remains of an unidentified American soldier, and U.S. Army Sgt. Edward F. Younger had the solemn task of selecting one. Appro

At the 1950 Battle of Unsan, North Korea, Capt. Emil Kapaun, a Catholic priest and U.S. Army chaplain, risked his life under heavy fire to rescue, aid and minister to the wounded. Recognized with the Medal of Honor, he didn’t live to see the award. T

The envelope, please! Military Vehicles has announced the inaugural inductees into its Military Vehicle Hall of Fame. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the magazine hosted an online show of restored vehicles in six categories: 1/4-ton wheeled vehicles (j

Surprised by a superior Japanese fleet while on escort duty amid the Oct. 23–26, 1944, Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Fletcher-class destroyer USS Johnston (DD-557) led a desperate defense before sustaining fatal damage and sinking off the Philippine isla

Based on the eponymous Adam Makos book Devotion, a forthcoming Korean War film relates the selfless efforts of Vought F4U Corsair pilot Lt. j.g. Thomas J. Hudner Jr. (above left) to rescue his downed wingman, Ensign Jesse L. Brown (above right), the

A satellite of the nonprofit Pritzker Military Museum & Library in Chicago, the Pritzker Archives & Memorial Park Center—under construction in Somers, Wis.—will feature a state-of-the-art repository, a public gallery and a firearms training center on

Archaeologist, historian, author and broadcaster Simon Elliott is an expert on Roman military history. A trustee of the Council for British Archaeology and ambassador for the Museum of London Archaeology, he has written numerous books on Roman themes

Sir Philip Vian Royal Navy Distinguished Service Order and Two Bars Atlantic Ocean 1940–41 British Admiral of the Fleet Sir Philip Louis Vian was one of history’s great fighting commanders. During World War II he was thrice awarded the Distinguished

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The term “Rough Wooing,” attributed to Scottish nobleman George Gordon, describes a brutal 16th century religious and dynastic war between England and Scotland. For much of the 1540s English forces pillaged or occupied areas of Scotland, ravaging Edi

Building on its successful P2Y sesquiplane flying boat of the early 1930s, Consolidated won a 60-aircraft contract from the U.S. Navy in 1935 for the Model 28 Catalina, which entered service a year later as the PBY-1. The Navy anticipated trouble wit

On Oct. 13, 1969, unknown to the American public, President Richard M. Nixon put the nation’s nuclear forces on high alert. For more than two weeks various unified combatant commands raised their readiness levels, while Navy surface ships and nuclear

It seems ludicrous anyone—let alone two nuclear powers—would risk war over Zhenbao. The tiny riverine island bisects the Ussuri, a stone’s throw from northeast China, to the west, and the Russian Far East, on the opposite bank. At best it comprises o

Conspicuously dressed in a gold-embroidered blue frock coat with epaulets, the U.S. Navy flag officer carefully wandered through weathered stone ruins on the East China Sea island of Okinawa. Marveling at the craftsmanship of Nakagusuku Castle, he ex

July 30, 1955, marked the 10th anniversary of the worst disaster in American naval history—the sinking of USS Indianapolis. That Saturday retired salesman and World War II Navy veteran Clair Young was at home in southern California reading a day-old

The 1870–71 war between France and Germany was the first, but remains the least remembered, of the archrivals’ terrible modern wars. Even less attention has been paid to the Americans it drew across the Atlantic to fight, observe, mediate, run a fiel

Since the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft in 1903 and the first wartime use of aircraft for reconnaissance and bombing in 1911, military aviation has grown exponentially. With that rapid development has come

In the autumn of 1136, high on a hill in the Welsh countryside some 2 miles northeast of Cardigan, Norman forces awaited the arrival of a 9,000-man Welsh army that had already taken several towns and sacked the only other Norman castle in the western

Women of Valor: The Rochambelles on the World War II Front, by Ellen Hampton, McFarland & Co., Jefferson, N.C., 2021, $29.95 During World War II Free French Army Gen. Philippe Leclerc was known for utilizing unusual tactics to gain material advantage

Can you match each of the following warriors of Wales to the battle for which he is remembered? 1. Dafydd Gam 2. Thomas Monaghan 3. John Campbell, 1st Baron Cawdor 4. William Henry Powell 5. Lionel W.B. Rees 6. John (Fielding) Williams 7. Stephen Bea

With Britain under threat of German invasion in the summer of 1940, the government of His Majesty George VI ordered Kent and other coastal counties to remove road signs and other identifying markers that might have aided enemy troops attempting to mo