50
www.military-history.org
LENINGRAD
Shostakovichs war
NORMAN
CONQUEST
DEBATING
THE SOMME
Futile slaughter?
MHM
MILITARY
LENINGRAD
kkk
Shostakovichs war
Battle
a le off the
th Alma
lma
Nazi architecture
i ec u
Napoleon
ole of East:
a :
Nader
er Shahh
Mark Corby
Military historian, lecturer, and
broadcaster
Paul Cornish
Curator, Imperial War Museum
Gary Gibbs
Assistant Curator, The Guards Museum
Angus Hay
Former Army Officer, military
historian, and lecturer
Nick Hewitt
Historian, National Museum of the
Royal Navy, Portsmouth
Nigel Jones
Historian, biographer, and journalist
Alastair Massie
Head of Archives, Photos, Film, and
Sound, National Army Museum
Gabriel Moshenska
Research Fellow, Institute
of Archaeology, UCL
Colin Pomeroy
Squadron Leader, Royal Air Force
(Ret.), and historian
Michael Prestwich
Emeritus Professor of History,
University of Durham
Nick Saunders
Senior Lecturer, University of Bristol
Guy Taylor
Military archivist, and archaeologist
Julian Thompson
Major-General, Visiting Professor at
London University
Dominic Tweddle
JUTLAND 1916
The battle
t that
h won the war?
NORMAN
R
CONQUEST
ON
DEBATING
T G
THE SOMME
OM
Battle
a tl of Civitate,
v t te 1053
10
Futile
i slaughter?
a
WHAT DO
YOU THINK?
Now you can have your opinions
on everything MHM heard online
as well as in print. Follow us on
Twitter @MilHistMonthly, or
take a look at our Facebook page
for daily news, books, and article
updates at www.facebook.com/
MilitaryHistoryMonthly.
Think you have spotted an error?
Disagree with a viewpoint? Enjoying
the mag? Visit www.militaryhistory.org to post your comments
on a wide range of different articles.
Alternatively, send an email to
feedback@military-history.org
ADD US NOW
and have your say
Greg Bayne
President, American Civil War Table
of the UK
PATRICK MERCER
served in the
Sherwood Foresters, then was
defence reporter
for Today on BBC
Radio 4 before
being elected as an MP. He now
writes history books and novels.
DAVID PORTER
worked at the
Ministry of
Defence for
30 years and
is the author
of nine Second
World War books, as well as numerous magazine articles.
NICK HEWITT
is Head of Heritage Development
at the National
Museum of the
Royal Navy. He
has previously
worked as resident historian on HMS
Belfast for Imperial War Museums.
ON THE COVER
Battle of Jutland
To commemorate the centenary of the Battle of
Jutland, naval historian and curator Nick Hewitt
reflects on the battle and its legacy, while David
Porter assesses the capabilities of the warships
that fought there. These articles form part
of our extended special feature 1916 On Land
and At Sea, which also considers the history
and historiography of the Battle of the Somme.
24
Welcome
Letters
12
War Culture
18
Great Debate
44 The
Part 1: the revisionist paradigm
MHM Editor Neil Faulkner analyses
the modern revisionist challenge to
the war-poets view of the Somme.
14
12
Civitate, 1053
William E Welsh explores another Norman victory,
won 13 years before the conquerors took England.
10
War Composers
Background
Technology
Legacy
Timeline
FEATURES
UPFRONT
INCLUDES:
50
Breakdown
Shell shock on the Somme
Taylor Downing reports on the British
Armys shell-shock crisis in the summer
of 1916.
54 REGIMENT
The Derbyshires
Patrick Mercer uncovers the role
of the 95th Regiment of Foot at
the Battle of the Alma, 1854.
4
July 2016
EDITORIAL
Editor: Neil Faulkner
neil@military-history.org
Assistant Editor: Hazel Blair
hazel.blair@currentpublishing.com
Books Editor: Keith Robinson
books-editor@military-history.org
Editor-at-large: Andrew Selkirk
andrew@military-history.org
Sub Editor: Simon Coppock
Art Editor: Mark Edwards
mark@currentpublishing.com
Designer: Lauren Gamp
lauren.gamp@currentpublishing.com
Managing Editor: Maria Earle
maria@currentpublishing.com
Managing Director: Rob Selkirk
COMMERCIAL
Advertising Sales Manager: Mike Traylen
T: 020 8819 5360
E: mike@currentpublishing.com
Advertising Sales: Nick Hayes
T: 020 8819 5361
E: nick.hayes@currentpublishing.com
THE DEBRIEF
72
SUBSCRIPTIONS
68
MHM VISITS
Museum | 72
MHM REVIEWS
Book of the Month | 62
Books | 64
Breakdown by Taylor
owning; U Battery
y Brinley Morgan;
nd The Last Raid
y Will Fowler.
n View | 66
HM s round-up
the best military
tory titles.
Listings | 76
NEWS DISTRIBUTION
Briefing Room | 82
All you need to know about
Nader Shah.
www.military-history.org
War on Film | 68
aylor Downing reviews
Millions Like Us.
MHM CONTENTS
www.military-history.org
Tel: 020 8819 5580
TWITTER
@MilHistMonthly
@MilHistMonthly
3 May 2016
@MilHistMonthly
13 May 2016
The @RoyalVolService
needs to raise 25,000
in 30 days to digitise
unpublished material
relating to the WVS in
WWII ow.ly/bgQi300a8K2
@MilHistMonthly
14 May 2016
#OnThisDay in 1264,
Simon de Montforts forces
fought against Henry III
and his son Edward at the
Battle of Lewes.
feedback@military-history.org
@MilHistMonthly
MilitaryHistoryMonthly
L E T T ER OF T HE MON T H
AIR POWER AND THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
Jeremy Blacks review of air power in the 20th century correctly points
out that predictions of its effectiveness were frequently exaggerated.
A particularly extreme example of such exaggeration occurred
in 1937, when the RAF advised the Committee of Imperial Defence
that the Luft waffe could inflict 1.8 million casualties in the course
of a two-month offensive against London.
This forecast relied on four assumptions. German bombers would
incur no losses, they would never be unserviceable, the weather over England would never be unsuitable
for bombing operations, and there would be 50 casualties per tonne of bombs dropped (reflecting the
experience of World War I, when no significant air-raid precautions had been implemented).
The RAF must have been aware that these assumptions were unrealistic. In the Blitz in the autumn of
1940, the actual casualties were about 3% of the level predicted.
However, the RAFs exaggerated prediction influenced its budget (which almost quadrupled in the two
years between 1937/1938 and 1939/1940) and thus helped to win the Battle of Britain.
Image: WIPL
5 May 2016
Video: @chrisbambery
discusses T E Lawrence,
the Arab Revolt, & #WW1
in the Middle East w/
MHM Ed. Dr Neil Faulkner
ow.ly/4ns7pV
6 May 2016
Saying goodbye to
one of our staff with a
@GameOfThrones themed
ofce party! Good luck,
Tiff! #GameofThrones
CANADIANS IN CAEN
I am surprised that you do not
mention that it is Canadian
soldiers whom Churchill and
Dempsey are meeting in your
Behind the Image photo last
time (MHM 68).
The Canadians had been
cooped up in southern England
for years some since 1939. They
played a major part in the 1944
invasion, and I am not sure this
is always recognised.
The men are wearing Canada
insignia on the tops of their
sleeves and all the vehicles are
Canadian: you can tell by the
slope of the windscreens.
I hasten to say that I was not
there but in school!
H James Claygate, Surrey
CURIOUS COSTUME
I am trying to determine the
uniform being worn by my greatgreat-grandfather in this picture.
He had a son born in Australia
Please note: letters may be edited for length; views expressed here are those of our readers,
and do not necessarily reflect those of the magazine.
www.military-history.org
Captain Cooks
HMS Endeavour found?
It is really significant
in the run-up to the
centenary of the HMS
Hampshire to carry out a condition survey and map
the extent of the wreck site.
This survey is being undertaken as a mark of
respect and remembrance for those who lost their
lives aboard, and all those who lost their lives at
sea during the First World War.
This project will use the latest 2D- and 3Dscanning technology. It has received funding
and sponsorship from Interface, Orkney Islands
Council, and Northlink Ferries.
GOT A STORY?
Let us know!
www.military-history.org
editorial@military-history.org
MHM FRONTLINE
NEWS IN BRIEF
Military museum
controversy
Historians and government officials in Poland have
clashed over the flavour of a new Second World
War museum in Warsaw, due to open in 2017.
The museum wants to tell the story of
World War II from an international perspective,
but Polands government wants the history of
the Second World War to be told from a Polish
point of view.
Polish culture minister Piotr Glinski said he
planned to merge the museum with a Museum
of Westerplatte, dedicated to the German attack
on a Polish garrison there in 1939, but such an
institution does not currently exist.
Some 200 historians and academics have written
an open letter to Glinski opposing his plans.
10
July 2016
www.military-history.org
Image: part of the Manchester Art Gallery collection, copyright Bridgeman Images
MARCHING
TO WAR
RETURNING TO
THE TRENCHES, 1916,
DRYPOINT ON PAPER, BY
CHRISTOPHER RICHARD
WYNNE NEVINSON
11
Dmitri Shostakovich
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
BIOGRAPHY
Image: WIPL
12
LEFT Mother Russia summons her children to the defence of the homeland
during the Second World War.
MILITARY HISTORY MONTHLY
July 2016
QUOTES
ABOUT
SHOSTAKOVICH
THE LENINGRAD
SYMPHONY
No composer
had ever attempted
to describe a future
victory, in music,
with such power
and conviction.
Russian composer
Nicholas Slonimsky
Image: WIPL
IN CONTEXT: SHOSTAKOVICH
Controversial composition
www.military-history.org
RESISTANCE
Symphony No.7 became a national
symbol of resistance to the German
invasion, and the Soviets were
eager to export it to the Allies. In
a scenario from a spy movie, the
score was copied onto film, flown to
Tehran, transported by car to Cairo,
and then flown westwards, where it
was performed in both Britain and
America in 1942.
The arrival of such a monumental
work was well timed for President
Roosevelt, whose administration
was eager to portray the Soviets
as American allies in the struggle
against the Nazis, while ignoring
Stalins own dictatorship.
The surviving musicians of
the Leningrad Radio Orchestra,
with the help of military musicians
to make up the gaps, performed
the symphony in Leningrad itself
on 9 August 1942. It was broadcast on loudspeakers to the
besieging German forces as an
act of defiance.
The effect on the people, starving and dying, was tremendous.
It received an ovation and roused
Leningrads remaining citizens
to continue their resistance. The
conductor, Karl Eliasberg, later
remarked that, in that moment,
He said openly
that the 7th (and
the 5th as well)
was not only about
Fascism but about
our country and
generally about
all tyranny and
totalitarianism.
Daughter-inlaw of the Soviet
Foreign Minister
Today it is so
simple to die. You
just begin to lose
interest, then you lie
on the bed and you
never again get up.
Anonymous
diarist in besieged
Leningrad
we triumphed over the soulless
Nazi war machine.
The siege was not lifted until 1944,
after a significant pushback against it
in 1943. By its end, as many as a million Leningraders had died. But the
performance was long remembered
as a turning-point in the struggle.
MILITARY HISTORY MONTHLY
13
The Nazis lent historical legitimacy to their activities by setting themselves up in buildings like Wewelsburg
Castle, built between 1603 and 1609. Triangular in structure, the Renaissance fortress comprises three
round towers connected by three high walls. Heinrich Himmler turned the castle into an SS training centre in
1934, but it was used primarily as a centre for pseudo-historical research into Germanys ancient and medieval
past, designed to reinforce Nazi claims of Aryan superiority. The castle now houses the Wewelsburg 1933-1945
Memorial Museum, a local history museum, and a youth hostel.
14
July 2016
HEILIGENBERG THINGSTTTE
www.military-history.org
15
PRORA-RGEN HOLIDAY
COMPLEX, RGEN ISLAND
FUTURE FANTASIES
GO FURTHER
16
July 2016
1053
Civitate
18
POWER VACUUM
Image: WIPL
CIVITATE
With no place
to retreat and no
desire to surrender,
the Swabians
fought to the death.
After his eldest brother William died in
1046, Drogo succeeded him as commander
of a Norman band based at the Apennine
stronghold of Melfi on the Apulian border.
Emperor Henry III bestowed on Drogo the
title of Duke and Master of all Italy and Count
of all the Normans of Apulia and Calabria in
1047. These areas were still controlled by the
Greeks, so Drogo or his heirs would have to
conquer them first.
The third Norman commander was Robert
de Hauteville. He was the eldest of Tancred
de Hautevilles seven sons by his second wife.
Robert arrived in the region in 1035. He eventually became known as Robert Guiscard, his
surname being a derivation of the Old French
word viscart, meaning cunning or resourceful.
In 1049, Drogo appointed Robert to command a Norman band based in Calabria, a much
poorer region than Apulia. Robert subsequently
established his base at San Marco Argentano.
A PAPAL OFFENSIVE
Following his selection by a great council held at
Worms in 1048, Pope Leo IX was consecrated
in Rome in January 1049. Later that year, he
20
[FAR LEFT] Norman armies, like other Western feudal armies of the period, were based on armoured
cavalry equipped with javelins, lances, and swords, axes, or maces. They were supported by
armoured spearmen and by archers.
[LEFT] Except for the small round shield, this could be a Norman knight. The long chainmail tunic
or hauberk seems to have been a universal form of armour in 11th-century Europe.
[BELOW LEFT] Byzantine soldiers like these may have fought in some numbers at Civitate.
[BELOW] Some 11th-century armies included contingents of poorer men with little or no armour.
The Anglo-Saxon militia at Hastings is an obvious example. This 11th-century illuminated
manuscript image appears to show something similar but we know nothing of the identity,
character, or status of the soldiers depicted here.
www.military-history.org
Images: WIPL
THE ARMIES: With the notable exception of the Bayeux Tapestry, contemporary depictions of
11th-century warriors are relatively few. These images may give an impression of the appearance
of the armies that fought at Civitate.
21
CIVITATE
Greek armies. He sent word to Richard of Aversa
and Robert Guiscard to join him at the Norman
stronghold of Troia. Approximately 3,000
Normans and 500 Lombard militia gathered
at the town, and Humphrey led them north
in search of Leo IXs army.
The Normans took up a blocking position
south of the Fortore River to await the arrival
of the enemy host. The papal army crossed the
river on 17 June and bivouacked on the south
bank under the walls of Civitate.
The Normans had misgivings about fighting
soldiers in the service of the Pope, and they
therefore sent envoys to ask Leo to enter into
peace negotiations with them. Not only was the
proposal rejected, but the Swabians surrounded
the envoys and shouted insults at them.
Word soon spread through the Norman
ranks that the Germans had mocked them.
This enraged them, and they vowed revenge.
Because his army had no supplies and was in
hostile country, Humphrey decided to attack
the following day.
Images: WIPL
22
July 2016
Images: WIPL
VICTORY
Fortunately for the Hauteville brothers,
Richard returned to the main battle with
the bulk of his horsemen. His cavalry attacked
the Swabians from behind. The two other
divisions renewed their assaults in concert
with Richards fresh attack.
Assailed from all sides, the Swabians could
not withstand the numbers arrayed against them.
When gaps opened in their ranks, the Normans
rode among the Swabians, hacking and stabbing.
With no place to retreat and no desire to surrender, the Swabians fought to the death.
Pope Leo IX watched the disaster unfold
beneath his eyes from his perch inside
Civitate. The Normans lost 500 cavalry and
the papal army 1,500 men. After the battle,
1916
on land
and at sea
JUTLAND AND
THE SOMME
INTRODUCTION
ander
ABOVE Field Marshal Douglas Haig, comm
me.
Som
the
of
e
Battl
at the
25
JUTLAND
RIVAL PLANS
Britain had long-standing plans, in the event
of war, to blockade Germany economically,
cutting off vital imports from the Americas
like cotton, grain, non-ferrous metals (for
example, copper and zinc), and nitrates,
essential for fertilisers and explosives.
New technology, notably mines, submarines, and torpedo-boats, meant that the
British could no longer patrol immediately
outside enemy ports without exposing
their valuable battleships to great risk.
Instead, the British Admiralty planned
a distant blockade, keeping the Grand
Fleet at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.
This gave Germany access to the North Sea,
but Britain could still capture or sink her
JUTLAND: BATTLE
ABOVE Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, commander-inchief of the Royal Navys Grand Fleet at Jutland.
LEFT Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty, commander
of Jellicoes Battlecruiser Fleet at Jutland.
www.military-history.org
Images: The National Museum of the Royal Navy, unless otherwise stated
DER TAG
The Germans could not
risk Der Tag until they had
achieved some sort of parity
in numbers, and the first two
years of war in the North Sea
were characterised by little
more than inconsequential
skirmishing, with the Germans
seeking to lure out and isolate
a smaller portion of the Grand
Fleet and destroy it.
But in January 1916
Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer took
command of the High Seas Fleet. Scheer
persuaded the Kaiser to let him use the
fleet more aggressively, and he devised a
27
German naval
officers dreamed of
Der Tag (The Day).
plan to provoke the British into making
a mistake.
Vice-Admiral Franz von Hippers German
battlecruisers were to attack British convoys
of merchant ships to neutral Norway. Scheer
expected Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty to
engage Hipper with his Battlecruiser Fleet
from Rosyth, to be joined later by Jellicoe
from Scapa Flow. German submarines would
ambush the emerging fleets, and Hipper
would engage Beatty and lure him towards
the main High Seas Fleet. Destroying Beattys
force first would give the Germans equality in
numbers when they fought Jellicoe.
28
The plan failed. Thanks to better intelligence and greatly superior numbers, the
Royal Navy won the day, despite losing more
ships and far more men. This victory, costly
and at times clumsily fought though it
may have been, meant that the blockade
of Germany was maintained.
As it tightened, it brought severe hardship
to the German civilian population, forced
Germany into a disastrous submarine campaign that helped bring the USA into the war
on the Entente side, and eventually triggered
the German naval mutiny and revolution
of October-November 1918. These conse-
July 2016
JUTLAND: BATTLE
surpassed in the British popular imagination by the sacrifice on the Somme and
at Passchendaele, and over the years was
gradually forgotten.
There is little doubt that this was caused
in part by the comparative absence of
material culture: the enormous underwater
battlefield remained largely invisible for
decades. Jutland yielded few relics, and no
vast, sweeping cemeteries. Over time, participants died and ships were scrapped. Only
now, in the centenary year, has a concerted
effort been made to evaluate Jutlands
surviving material culture, and to use it to
better tell the story of this great confrontation,
which decided the fate of empires.
THE SEABED
Perhaps the greatest source of evidence
lies on the seabed, where the remains of
the ships lost on 31 May 1916 lie to this day,
slowly disintegrating but still recognisable.
Marine archaeologists, notably Dr Innes
McCartney, have been at the forefront of
recent investigations of the Jutland wrecks,
interpreting the bones of these great ships
to help improve our understanding of the
technology, and the battle itself.
The wrecks of Jutland form an underwater battlefield that is arguably more
complete than those of the Western Front.
But just like a land battlefield, this fragile
landscape is under constant threat. The
www.military-history.org
Despite its
importance,
Jutland was
overshadowed
by subsequent
land battles.
UNDERWATER SENSING
New technology, including multi-beam Sound
Navigation and Ranging (sonar) sensors,
Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and digital
photography, have dramatically improved
our ability to study maritime archaeology
MILITARY HISTORY MONTHLY
29
July 2016
JUTLAND: BATTLE
WAR GRAVES
Inside the battered hull of every ship
when it slipped beneath the waves in 1916
were dead and maimed sailors. Mindful of
this, when the survey was complete, Echos
www.military-history.org
LEFT Multi-beam sonar image of the wreck of HMS Defence upright, largely intact, and recognisable
thanks to the distinctive profile of her secondary armament along each beam.
BELOW LEFT HMS Black Prince, also largely intact, though inverted.
31
MEMORIALS
Many informal war memorials refer directly
to Jutland the register maintained by
Imperial War Museums lists 139, like the
column in South Queensferry erected In
memory of the men and boys who fell in the
Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916. In Canada,
several mountain peaks were named after
people and ships that fought at Jutland.
The German Navy saw Jutland as the start
of a tradition. When Germany re-armed in
the 1930s, the pocket battleship Admiral
Scheer, cruiser Admiral Hipper, and a number
of smaller warships and auxiliaries were
named after Jutland heroes.
Immediately after the war, the anniversary
was celebrated in both countries. The battle
became the subject of poetry and novels, as
well as feature films in both Britain (The
Battle of Jutland, 1921, sadly now lost) and
Germany (Die versunkene Flotte, 1926).
In this centenary year, a reappraisal
of Jutland is long overdue. In a unique
collaboration between the National
July 2016
JUTLAND: BATTLE
Museum of the Royal Navy and Imperial
War Museums, a ground-breaking exhibition
in Portsmouth will bring together more than
300 artefacts from public and private collections, innovative audio-visual presentations,
and the latest research to restore Jutland to
its rightful place in history as the battle that
won the war.
Artefacts like the extraordinary builders
models of the dreadnought battleship HMS
Canada and the German battlecruiser SMS
Ltzow can help us understand what was
unique about the scale of war at sea in the
First World War, now that the great warships
of the Grand Fleet and the High Seas Fleet
are no more.
Humble Next of Kin Memorial Plaques
bitterly known by some relatives as Dead
www.military-history.org
33
MATERIAL CULTURE
Other artefacts were themselves
participants, and highlight key moments
in the action. Some of them serve as
grim reminders of the human cost, like
the lifebelt, binoculars, and pocket watch
found on the body of Commander Loftus
William Jones VC, captain of the sunken
destroyer HMS Shark, when he washed
ashore on a lonely Swedish beach, weeks
after the battle.
34
The battle of
Jutland was
simultaneously
a triumph and
a tragedy on
an epic scale.
31 May
2am German High Seas Fleet
puts to sea.
2.28pm first shots: HMS
Galatea and HMS Phaeton open
fire on the German torpedo boats.
4pm SMS Ltzow hits HMS Lion
with a shell.
4.02pm HMS Indefatigable
shelled by SMS Von der Tann.
She soon sinks, leaving only
two survivors from a
1,019-strong crew.
4.25pm HMS Queen Mary is hit
and she explodes, leaving nine
survivors from a 1,275-strong
crew.
4.40pm British destroyers
ordered to fall back and draw the
Germans towards the Grand Fleet.
4.46pm Knig-class battleships
surge forward and open fire on
the British.
6.34pm HMS Invincible is hit. She
breaks in two, killing Rear Admiral
Hood and all but six of her crew.
www.military-history.org
1 June
12.20am SMS Thringen opens
fire on HMS Black Prince, blowing
her up. Some 900 men are lost.
1am SMS Ltzow scuttled.
2.10am SMS Pommern is
torpedoed by HMS Obedient. She
sinks with all hands.
5.20am the Germans escape.
3pm Admiral Scheers
flagship anchors at
Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
EXHIBITION
36 Hours: Jutland 1916, the Battle
that Won the War
On 19 May 2016, the National Museum
of the Royal Navy, in collaboration
with Imperial War Museums, will open
a major exhibition in Portsmouth to
commemorate the centenary of the
Battle of Jutland.
It will be the most comprehensive
exhibition ever staged on the subject,
and will highlight the essential role of the
Royal Navy in winning the First World War
through previously unseen artefacts and
immersive audio-visual experiences.
The exhibition will provide a once-ina-generation opportunity to view the
NMRN and IWM Jutland collections,
alongside objects from 21 private lenders
and five public organisations.
36 Hours coincides with the NMRNs
other major contributions to the
Jutland centenary, the opening of the
battles only surviving ship, the light
cruiser HMS Caroline, in Belfast, and the
reinterpretation of the only aircraft to take
part in the battle, F J Rutlands Short 184
at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton.
35
36
July 2016
JUTLAND
THE TECHNOLOGY
David Porter assesses the capabilities of the warships
that fought at Jutland.
37
I had a peculiar
passion for the
navy. It sprang
to no small
extent from my
English blood.
Kaiser Wilhelm II
Before 1900, the French and Russian
fleets were regarded as the main threats to
British naval hegemony, but these forces
were then overtaken by the rapidly growing
Imperial German Navy.
The expansion of German naval power
was a primary policy of Kaiser Wilhelm II,
who recalled that:
I had a peculiar passion for the navy. It sprang
to no small extent from my English blood.
When I was a little boy I admired the proud
British ships. There awoke in me the will to
build ships of my own like these and when
I was grown up to possess as fine a navy as
the English.
July 2016
Image: WIPL
Image: WIPL
JUTLAND: TECHNOLOGY
DREADNOUGHTS AND
SUPER-DREADNOUGHTS
Naval technology made dramatic advances
as a result of the pressures of the arms race.
The all big-gun HMS Dreadnought was
completed in 1906, with a main armament
www.military-history.org
r(FSNBOBSNPVSQJFSDJOHTIFMMTXFSF
more effective than their British equivalents, which often failed to penetrate
heavy armour. The issue particularly
concerned shells striking at oblique
angles, which was generally the case at
long range. Germany had adopted TNT
as a shell filling in 1902, while the British
still used the picric acid-based Lyddite.
MILITARY HISTORY MONTHLY
39
MINES
The shock of impact against armour often
prematurely detonated Lyddite-filled
shells, but TNT was more resistant and
allowed delayed-action fuses to operate
efficiently, detonating shells after they
had penetrated the targets armour.
r5IFNBJOQSPQFMMBOUDIBSHFTPGFWFO
the largest German naval guns were
contained in brass cartridge cases,
whereas those for large-calibre British
guns were issued in silk bags, making
them far more prone to igniting if turrets
were penetrated by enemy fire. (British
cordite propellant charges were also
more unstable than their German RP
C/12 equivalents, tending to explode
rather than burn.)
r(FSNBODBQJUBMTIJQTHFOFSBMMZIBE
better armour protection than their
British counterparts this was especially
true of battlecruisers.
HMS Dreadnought had carried a secondary armament of 76mm (12-pdr) guns as
a defence against torpedo boats, but the
increasing threat from longer-ranged torpedoes launched by larger destroyers forced
British super-dreadnoughts to adopt more
powerful secondary armaments of 102mm
(4-inch) or 152mm (6-inch) guns. All their
40
TORPEDOES
The modern torpedo had been invented
in 1866, but it was not used on a large scale
July 2016
JUTLAND: TECHNOLOGY
Fear of torpedo attack affected both sides
at Jutland. Although no submarines were
present, both German and British vessels
repeatedly reported sighting imaginary
periscopes. A total of 199 torpedoes were
launched by both sides battleships, cruisers,
and destroyers, but no more than nine hit
(six British torpedoes and three German.)
Only two battleships were hit by torpedoes
during the battle HMS Marlborough was
damaged by a torpedo from the light
cruiser Wiesbaden, while the destroyer
HMS Onslaught sank the pre-dreadnought
battleship Pommern.
NAVAL AVIATION
The Royal Navy had recognised the
potential of naval aviation well before the
war. In May 1912, three aircraft took part
in the fleet review at Weymouth in the
presence of King George V. These aircraft
put on a convincing display, including successfully spotting submerged submarines
at periscope depth and dropping a 140kg
(300lb) dummy bomb.
On 9 May, the second day of the review,
Commander Charles Samson flew the S.27
Centralised
British command
structures had
stifled initiative.
off a ramp on the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Hibernia, while the ship was
steaming at 15 knots, the first successful
take-off from a warship under way.
These successes led to the formation
of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) on
1 July 1914. At the outbreak of the First
World War, the RNAS had 93 aircraft, six
airships, two balloons, and 727 personnel.
Reconnaissance was a priority for both
sides, and the Germans had an early advantage
thanks to their rapid pre-war development
BELOW A reconnaissance Zeppelin flies over the
German High Seas Fleet.
Images: WIPL
Zeppelin L7 was
shot down by AA
fire from the light
cruisers Galatea
and Phaeton on
4 May 1916.
ABOVE US destroyers laying a smokescreen
during WWI. The Germans also used smoke to
conceal themselves from the British at Jutland.
COMMUNICATIONS AND
INTELLIGENCE
Radio sets were installed in three Royal
Navy vessels as early as 1899, only two
years after radios invention. Many more
were fitted over the next few years, and
the 1902 naval manoeuvres included experimental interception and jamming of radio
traffic. By 1914, the Royal Navy had 435
radio-equipped ships in service, and over
30 shore-based radio stations with directionfinding equipment.
Paradoxically, this awareness of radios
potential led to acute problems for the
Grand Fleet at Jutland. In their anxiety
to maintain radio security, the British
primarily used ship-to-ship flag and
lamp signals, whereas the Germans
used radio successfully.
Signal flags little different from those
used by Nelsons ships of the line were easily
misread amid the smoke and confusion of
a fleet action. Attempts to use signal lamps
for night communications advertised the
senders location to an enemy, inviting a
reply by gunfire or torpedo. Recognition
U BATTERY
brinley.morgan@btinternet.com
SOMME: DEBATE
MAIN IMAGE The 1st Lancashire Fusiliers
fix bayonets in preparation for an attack on
Beaumont-Hamel in July 1916. Were they a
necessary sacrifice?
LEFT Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967).
Image: WIPL
SASSOON
www.military-history.org
GRAVES
After the Somme, a gulf separated the soldiers
who had served at the Front from civilians back
home, fed on lies. England looked strange to
us returned soldiers, wrote Robert Graves,
another war-poet who fought on the Somme.
We could not understand the war-madness that
ran wild everywhere, looking for a pseudo-military
outlet. The civilians talked a foreign language;
and it was newspaper language.
Graves now found himself disgusted by
the military:
The training principles had recently been revised.
Infantry Training, 1914 laid it down politely that
the soldiers ultimate aim was to put out of action or
render ineffective the armed forces of the enemy. The
War Office no longer considered this statement direct
enough for a war of attrition. Troops learned instead
that they must HATE the Germans, and KILL as
many of them as possible. In bayonet-practice, the
men had to make horrible grimaces and utter bloodcurdling yells as they charged. The instructors faces
were set in a permanent ghastly grin. Hurt him,
now! In at the belly! Tear his guts out! they would
scream as the men charged the dummies.
MILITARY HISTORY MONTHLY
45
SINISTER REPUTATION
Ten years after the war, the reputation of the
Somme became yet more sinister. A series
of influential histories and memoirs were
published at this time, including Edmund
Blundens Undertones of War (1928), Robert
Graves Good-bye to All That (1929), and Basil
Liddell Harts The Real War 1914-1918 (1930).
46
July 2016
SOMME: DEBATE
Image: WIPL
There is a strong body of evidence that Germany seized on this excuse [the assassination at
Sarajevo] to achieve its grand strategic aims, even at the risk of bringing about a general
war. Some historians have gone further, arguing that from at least December 1912 onwards
the German leadership had been actively planning to go to war in the summer of 1914.
Seeking to break out of self-created diplomatic encirclement, and achieve hegemony in Europe,
the German leadership risked war in 1914 and embraced it when it occurred. In doing so,
Germany took Europe on the first step towards the Somme.
RIGHT The German Kaiser: ruthless warmonger? A contemporary cartoon by Louis Raemaekers.
www.military-history.org
47
SUMMARY
The revisionist paradigm offers a coherent and
compelling alternative to the war-poets view.
It argues that high casualties were
inevitable in a long war of attrition between
modern industrialised states; that the
wearing down of German resistance could
be achieved only by waging battles like the
ABOVE The German Empire: a militaristic rogue state? A contemporary cartoon, again
by Louis Raemaekers. The woman being consumed is the nurse Edith Cavell.
Image: WIPL
There is the clear implication, then, that the policies of neardemocratic France and Britain were measured and reasonable,
while those of autocratic Germany were not; and perhaps the
further implication that this difference arose because the former
were near-democracies, and Germany an autocracy.
This attempt to discern clear differences effectively moral
differences between the great powers has been taken much
further by Niall Ferguson. He has elevated the British Empire
into an historical model suitable for emulation specifically by
the contemporary American Empire.
In Empire: how Britain made the modern world, the book of a
highly successful TV series, the barbarism of German imperialism (among others) is compared unfavourably with the relative
humanity and beneficence of British imperial rule, at least as it
existed in the early part of the 20th century.
Thus, for instance, whereas General von Trotha waged a war
of extermination against the Hereros of South-West Africa, the
British were promoting commerce, providing clean government
and the rule of law, and preparing their colonies for an eventual
transition to parliamentary democracy.
NEXT MONTH:
July 2016
Breakdown:
SHELLSHOCK
DEVILS WOOD
Later in the battle, Burgoyne and two of his
mates were sheltering in a shell-hole when a
soldier from another battalion crawled towards
them on his hands and knees.
He did not appear to be suffering from physical wounds, but, as Burgoyne wrote, He was all
in. His eyes were bulging, his mouth open.
Burgoyne asked if he had been hit, but he
did not seem to understand and stared right
past them. Barely able to speak, the poor man
called out, I want to get out, I want to get out.
Burgoyne directed him to the nearest dressing station, but the man replied, I dont want
the dressing station, I want to get out.
Shaken, Burgoyne and his mates pointed to
a house at the edge of the wood, and the man
www.military-history.org
EPIDEMIC
With the incidence of shell shock rocketing,
the military authorities decided they had to take
a stand. Military executions of men charged
with cowardice but who were almost certainly
suffering from trauma continued.
Lieutenant-General Sir Aylmer HunterWeston made it clear when he confirmed the
execution of a deserter that a mans nervous
condition could not be used as an excuse. He
wrote on the papers: Cowards of this sort are a
serious danger to the Army. The death penalty is
instituted to make such men fear running away
more than they fear the enemy.
Many officers and no doubt some of the
men, too felt that if a man let down his mates
MILITARY HISTORY MONTHLY
51
tion/Wellcome Images
Image: RAMC Muniment Collec
COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT
On occasion, it was not just individuals but
whole battalions who were punished. The
11th Borders, known as the Lonsdales after
the local earl who had founded the unit,
was a pals battalion raised in Cumbria in
autumn 1914. It went over the top on 1 July
and suffered one of the highest casualty rates
on that dreadful day. Nearly all the battalions
officers and 490 men were lost.
Just over a week later, the survivors were
ordered over the top again. But the men were in
a dreadful state, having spent the week burying
the dead under constant German bombardment. Many had reported in with shell shock.
The battalion medical officer, Lieutenant
George Kirkwood, issued a certificate to the
effect that the men were too traumatised to
attack again. The full force of the high command
came down on him. An enquiry was held and
General Rycroft accused Kirkwood of showing
undue sympathy with the men. He went on: It
is not for an MO to inform a CO that his men are
not in a fit state to carry out a military operation.
When news of the failure of the Lonsdales to
go over the top reached General Hubert Gough,
he exploded. The facts disclose a deplorable
state of discipline and an entire absence of courage and of any soldierly qualities, he wrote.
52
THE TOLL
Of course, morale did not collapse in the British
Army in the summer of 1916. The Army kept
up the struggle of attrition for four-and-a-half
bloody months. By mid-November, when the
Battle of the Somme ground to a halt in the
mud, rain, and snow of winter, the British Army
had lost 420,000 men dead and wounded. Of
these, about 60,000 were lost to shell shock.
The Royal Army Medical Corps decided to
tighten up its system of classification, and in
November banned medical officers from using
the term shell shock. Men were to be classed
as NYDN (Not Yet Diagnosed Nervous), and
it was left to specialist doctors to diagnose their
condition. Treatment was to be near the Front
it was realised that men recovered more quickly
if they were kept in a military area and not
evacuated to civilian hospitals back home.
The principles laid down on the Somme
have shaped medical thinking since. Today,
the military medical authorities still struggle
to cope with cases of Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD). But a fundamental
principle in the approach to traumatised
soldiers is that treatment should be provided
as quickly and as near to the combat zone as
possible. At least some of
the lessons from the crisis
on the Somme were put
to good use.
Taylor Downing is a TV
documentary maker, film
critic, military historian, and
regular contributor to Military
History Monthly. His new
book, Breakdown: the
crisis of shell shock on the
Somme, 1916, has just been
published by Little, Brown,
price 25.
July 2016
The Derbyshires
at the Alma
20 September 1854
THE BATTLEFIELD
The Russians had elected not to oppose
the landings, but rather to hold the line of
the River Alma, which, along with several
other rivers and streams, runs like the rungs
on a ladder from inland westward to the
coast of the Crimea.
Bearskin caps
could be seen still
emerging from the
riverbed some 600
paces behind.
As the Allies landed north of Sebastopol
and then turned south, hugging the sea and
staying under the protection of the fleets
guns, so they bumped headlong into their
enemys pre-prepared position.
Based on two entrenched batteries,
the Russians had thoroughly recced the
ground to the extent that from the stronger
position, the Great Redoubt, ranges had
been marked for the gunners with wooden
posts topped with oil-drenched straw every
hundred paces.
Yet, with 26,000 men and 86 guns, the
Russians had neglected their left flank,
next to the sea; they feared the Allies naval
Shako
The old shako had been replaced in 1844 by a smaller version known as the Albert shako (after
the Crown Prince), with peak front and back. In 1855, as uniform was modified to make it more
comfortable, practical, and hard-wearing, the Albert was replaced by the undress forage cap.
Accoutrements
Equipment was improved in 1850 and henceforward comprised a white crossbelt with
regimental-pattern plate, a grey bedroll, and, in the case of the rank and file, ammunition
pouch, bayonet in scabbard, haversack, water bottle, secondary ammunition pouch, small
pouch (attached to crossbelt) containing percussion caps, and a large black canvas pack
carried on shoulder-straps.
Uniform
By the time of the Crimean campaign, the British Army had not taken part in a major
conflict since Waterloo. It was pickled in tradition and unfit for purpose. This was
symbolised by gaudy, impractical uniforms cluttered with braid and lace which fell to
bits on active service. Later in the war, men wore simple red tunics or coatees.
Small arms
www.military-history.org
Our officer carries a pistol and wears a sword. His men would have been
equipped with the Pattern 1851 Mini, a single-shot, muzzle-loading
percussion musket with rifled barrel sighted up to 800 yards. The effective
ranges of infantry were therefore at least double those of Napoleonic soldiers,
making the battlefield a far more lethal place.
55
Major Hume
rallied the tattered
remnants of
the 95th on the
flank of the
Grenadier Guards.
Images: WIPL
57
STORM OF FIRE
Morgan had nothing with which to defend
himself, so he passed the colour to a private
soldier, took the mans rifle, aimed carefully,
and bowled the Muscovite over like the
rascal he was.
It is an interesting comment on Victorian
mores that one of the first things that Major
Hume (who, though himself struck by a
splinter, commanded the regiment once
Webber-Smith was wounded) did after
the battle was to call Morgan to him and
upbraid him for this act.
Morgan told Hume that he saw the sharpshooter reloading and that the fellows next
58
RETREAT
Then the same contagion seized the British.
The spent infantry looked down the slope
behind them and saw nothing except their
own casualties: there were no supports, no
Guards Brigade, which should have been
close behind them.
Instead, bearskin caps could be seen still
emerging from the riverbed some 600 paces
behind. One of their battalions, the Scots
Fusilier Guards, were some way up the slope,
but a battalion of the 31st Vladimir had fallen
on the Guardsmens colour party and bayonets were at work. Meanwhile, the two other
Vladimir Battalions were counter-attacking
hard. Shot was thumping into the redoubt
from the exposed rear. So the British fell back,
slowly, sullenly at first, then ever faster.
Remember that the 95th had never been
in action before. Undoubtedly, there were
many acts of great bravery in the teeth of
the enemy, but what happened next was
probably the proudest moment in the
history of the regiment.
While the other units that had stormed
the redoubt now regrouped and tended to
their wounds, Major Hume rallied the tattered remnants of the 95th on the flank of
3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards.
The Grenadiers were now some way
from the river. They had dressed their ranks,
allowed the Scots Fusilier Guards to collect
SECOND ADVANCE
Several regiments, quite rightly, count
the Alma as one of their greatest honours,
yet only one advanced up those fatal
slopes twice.
It was a shockingly violent baptism for
the 95th. Twenty-nine officers and 738 noncommissioned officers and men had gone
into action. One third of the officers became
casualties, including the commanding officer
wounded, the adjutant killed, the brothers
Lieutenant and Captain Eddington killed,
and every subaltern and sergeant who stood
below the colours struck down.
Similarly, the soldiers had behaved,
according to Lieutenant Carmichael of the
Grenadier Company, quite magnificently.
Over a quarter became casualties, while
three Distinguished Conduct Medals were
later awarded, as well as a number of orders of
the Lgion dhonneur by Britains French allies.
Private Keenan carried the Queens colour
for a while when all the officers were struck,
but perhaps the final word in this litany of
gallantry should go to Lieutenant Boothby
and Captain Heyland. Both served on the
former without a leg, the latter without an
arm. I wonder if they ever thought back to
that callow conversation before the battle
and smiled wryly?
I 07/16
TA
R
TORY MON
H IS
TH
LY
M
H
M
re
n
ds
JULY Each month, the Debrief brings you the very best in film and book
reviews, along with suggested historical events and must-see museums. Whether
you plan to be at home or out in the field, our team of expert reviewers deliver
the best recommendations to keep military-history enthusiasts entertained.
MILI
com me
MHM REVIEWS
Breakdown
by Taylor
RECOMMENDED
Downing;
Indias War
U Battery
by Srinath
by Brinley
Raghavan
Morgan;
and The
Last Raid by
Will Fowler. Taylor Downing
reviews Millions Like Us.
BOOKS
WAR ON FILM
MHM VISITS
HIGHLIGHT
Chalke Valley
History Festival
LISTINGS
MUSEUM
WIN
BRIEFING ROOM
O T
TA
R
TORY MON
H IS
TH
MILI
M
H
M
re
n
ds
Srinath Raghavan
Allen Lane, 30 (hbk)
ISBN 978-1846145414
LY
com me
IMPERIAL POLICE
Between the Great Rebellion (or
Mutiny) of 1857 and the outbreak
of the Second World War, the Indian
Army was not allowed to possess
field artillery, being restricted to
mobile mountain-guns. That would
change during the course of the war.
In 1939, it was an unmechanised
army lacking heavy weapons, and
staffed by British officers unprepared
for what was to come: not surprising
given that the Indian Army was
charged with internal security,
the defence of Indias borders, the
control of the North West Frontier,
and imperial duties.
The latter reflected the fact that the
British administration in Delhi effectively ran large chunks of the Empire
east of Suez. The Indian Army had
been the force that conquered and
MHM REVIEWS
BRITAINS WAR
On 3 September 1939, the Viceroy
of India, Lord Linlithgow, broadcast
on the radio that, because Britain
was now at war with Germany, so
therefore was India. No Indian was
consulted; above all, no effort was
made to involve Congress, the main
force championing independence,
despite the fact that its key leaders,
Gandhi and Nehru, were opponents
of Fascism.
The Chamberlain and Churchill
governments were both determined
to prevent independence. They aimed
to sideline Congress, using both
repression and sectarianism, the
latter by deliberately building up the
rival Muslim League.
Yet the events of the war highlighted Britains inability to police
India. Its reduced status on the world
stage, and the mass involvement
of Indians in all aspects of Britains
war, brought that home.
Initially, in 1939, the Indian Armys
role was seen as that of securing
Egypt, Aden, Kenya, Iraq, and
Singapore. It was also charged with
defending the North West Frontier
from Russian or German attack, a key
www.military-history.org
WARS END
What Raghavan demonstrates is
that, by the wars end, the Indian
Army had become a modern, welltrained force, deploying British and
American weaponry, plus hardware
manufactured in India, and that it was
CHRIS BAMBERY
MILITARY HISTORY MONTHLY
63
O S
THE BEST NEW MILITARY HISTORY TITLES THIS MONTH
BREAKDOWN:
THE CRISIS OF SHELL SHOCK
ON THE SOMME, 1916
Taylor Downing
Little, Brown, 25 (hbk)
ISBN 978-1408706619
MHM REVIEWS
etween its formation in 1870 and its disbandment in 1962 (it was placed in suspended animation
in 1956), U Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) had an impressive record. Yet this record
is overshadowed by what author Brinley Morgan describes as four myths: the loss of its guns at
Sannas Post in 1900 during the Boer War; the loss of Queen Victorias coffin to the Royal Navy in
1902; its exile in 1906 and 1926; and finally the loss of its RHA status in 1922. In this book, the author
sets out to put the record straight.
The story of U Battery begins with their humiliation during the Boer War, before moving on to what
was, arguably, the Batterys finest hour its service on the Western Front in 1918.
Then, after the interwar period, the book covers the units service in the Middle East and Italy during
World War II. This is followed by the tragedy it experienced in Palestine in 1948, and ends with its final
years of existence during the Cold War.
During its history, the battery was armed with 17 different types of ordnance, ranging from a 9-pdr
muzzle-loader to three different types of self-propelled gun.
This is a thorough account. The research is comprehensive, with the author drawing heavily on official regimental accounts and histories. The narrative,
however, could be livelier at times.
There is no denying the authors enthusiasm and passion for his subject, and the book is at its finest when he uses his own words to analyse the units
performance during the World Wars, and to reminisce about his own service with the Battery during the final few years of its existence.
The account of the batterys service in Iraq, Persia, Palestine, and Syria (1941-1943) is particularly interesting, as these are theatres not regularly covered elsewhere.
And how did the unit lose Queen Victorias coffin? Youll have to read the book to find out!
DAVID FLINTHAM
www.military-history.org
65
ILLUSTRATED BOOK
1916 remembered
Julian Thompson
Andr Deutsch, 40 (hbk)
ISBN 978-0233004686
This is rather more than a book, being a cornucopia
of primary sources and commentary produced in
conjunction with the IWM. There are some 200
photographs and 17 full-colour battle maps of these
two immense struggles on the Western Front. Added
to these are several facsimiles of documents and
memorabilia, and a CD containing over an hours worth
of veterans recollections. Something of a treasure trove.
ABOVE Men of the 26th (Highland) Infantry Brigade
returning from Longueval.
66
No More Soldiering:
conscientious objectors
of the First World War
Stephen Wade
Amberley, 16.99 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1445648941
ISBN 978-1781592922
ISBN 978-1612346441
ISBN 978-1611687651
In 40 months of Japanese
occupation of the Dutch East
Indies, millions of Indonesians
were worked to death or killed
as expendable slave labour. In
addition, some 900 Indonesians
were known victims of a brutal
medical experiment. They were
human guinea pigs for a vaccine
that had not been vetted: all
900 victims suffered protracted
and agonising deaths.
ISBN 978-0750966061
July 2016
S
SOMME
In partnership with The Royal British Legion, the National Memorial Arboretum (a living
and growing tribute to those who serve and continue to serve our Nation) will commemorate the centenary of the Battle of the Somme with a variety of events and activities.
Events at the Arboretum in Staffordshire will include a candlelit vigil and remembrance service on 30 June to mark the start of the battle, plus weekly Battle of the
Somme guided walks around the 150-acre site, which is home to hundreds of military
memorials and around 30,000 trees.
A section of an authentic replica WWI trench will be constructed at the Arboretum
and there will also be a mass-participation art project, representing the 19,240 soldiers
who died on the first day of the battle. The commemorations will close with a service on 18 November.
For details on events and activities, log on to www.thenma.org.uk/somme100
DATES: 30 June-18 November 2016
WHERE: National Memorial Arboretum, Croxall Road,
Alrewas, DE13 7AR
EMAIL: info@thenma.org.uk
PHONE: 01283 245 100
WEB: www.beamish.org.uk
EMAIL: museum@beamish.org.uk
PHONE: 0191 370 4000
O
TAYLOR DOWNING REVIEWS A CLASSIC WAR MOVIE
WOMEN AT WAR
FILM | CLASSIC
MILLIONS LIKE US
Strawberry Media
8.99
68
July 2016
MHM REVIEWS
goes shopping, cooks, and does the
whole familys ironing, as well as
working full time in a drapery shop.
A series of narrative devices
push the story forward through the
early stages of the war, Dunkirk,
the Battle of Britain, and the
Blitz. By now, the family has been
transformed by war. Dad is in the
Home Guard and is out most nights
on patrol. Tom is in the Army and
sends back letters from Egypt.
Phyllis joins the Auxiliary Territorial
Service (ATS) and brings soldiers
home to canoodle on the sofa.
When Celia announces she is
being called up, the situation
comes to a head. Cant you say
you have to look after me?, says
Dad. Oh you dont count, replies
Celia, Im a mobile woman. Ever
suffering, Dad now has to face coming
home late to an empty house with
no woman to care for him and no
dinner on the table.
In one charming sequence,
Celia imagines the glamorous
HE PEOPLES WAR
roles that have now opened up
for her: in the WAAF, giving help
he opening credits roll over documentary shots of workers streaming to dashing pilots; in the WRENs,
assisting naval officers; and in the
ut of a wartime factory, highlightATS, surrounded by soldiers. She
ng that this will be a film about
sees handsome boyfriends lining
he Peoples War. The first section
ntroduces us to the Crowson family. up to propose to her.
But when she attends the Labour
is late summer 1939, before the
Exchange she is told, to her horror,
war, when eggs used to come out
that she will have to work in a
f shells, as the film reminds the
factory. Mr Bevin [the Minister of
iewer, referring to the ubiquitous
Labour] needs another 1,000,000
gg powder imported from America.
women and I dont think we should
he family are together and head
disappoint him, the official tells her.
ff on their annual visit to the south
oast and the Balmoral Guest House. You can help your country just as
much in an overall as you can in a
Widowed father Jim (Moore
Marriott), or Dad, seems constantly uniform these days.
Celia is sent to a government
ut-upon and irritable. His son Tom
hostel for women, where she meets
s married to Elsie, and they have
three other women whose stories
wo young children. Of Jims two
are at the centre of the rest of the
aughters, the eldest, Phyllis ( Joy
film. Celias roommate is Gwen
helton), is a flirt who is constantly
unning off with different boyfriends. (played with great grit by Megs
Jenkins). She is the daughter of a
elia (Patricia Roc, in her finest
Welsh coal-miner but has been to
creen role) is a hard-working
university. She befriends Celia,
aughter who looks after her father,
MILITARY HISTORY MONTHLY
69
FACTORY WORK
The scenes in the huge factory
to which the women are sent
were filmed at the giant aircraft
70
BEREAVEMENT
The inevitable happens. Celia is
called from the production line
to the managers office, where
an RAF chaplain is waiting for
her. Fred has been shot down
over Germany.
In keeping with so many British
films of the time, there is no
on-screen emotion. The door shuts on
Celia. Later, we see her framed in the
window of the flat where they had
spent their all-too-short time as a
married couple. Within her young
life she has experienced love, marriage, and now bereavement.
In a parallel and rather unlikely
storyline, the stand-offish Jennifer
has started an affair with the
Yorkshire foreman Charlie Forbes.
July 2016
B
BOOKS
THE BATTLE OF
JUTLAND
KITCHENERS
MOB
John Brooks
THE OXFORD
ILLUSTRATED HISTORY
OF WORLD WAR II
Richard Overy
SU
02
10
ENTRY
03
VISIT
36 HOURS
Housed in a wooden boathouse
directly opposite HMS Warrior in
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, this
monster exhibition has been given
ample room to convey the magnitude
of the battle and its legacy.
Hosted by the National Museum
of the Royal Navy, in conjunction
with Imperial War Museums, 36 Hours
is a spectacular collection of over
300 objects relating to the Battle of
04
06
MHM VISITS
P OR T SMOU T H,
UNI T ED K INGDOM
07
05
BATTLE-SCARRED
Nevertheless, the battle was a truly
destructive engagement, and both
sides suffered heavy damage: on
display is a piece of shell-punctured
armour-plate from the gun room of
HMS Barham. Featured elsewhere
are three guns that saw action at
the battle, including one from a
German destroyer.
Also exhibited are a number
of archival documents, portraits,
photographs, ensigns, medals, and
military uniforms, including several
items donated by the Jellicoe, Beatty,
and Scheer families, many of which
www.military-history.org
DEBATE
The end of the exhibition focuses on
themes of remembrance and recovery.
Not only does the display open up
debate about the impact of Jutland on
the outcome of the First World War,
but it also invites visitors to consider
the complex moral challenges posed
by sites that are both historically
important and designated war graves.
The Jutland waters are shallow,
but it is now against the law to remove
items from the wrecks (although
some objects were salvaged before
08
73
M
MUSEUM
THE HOUSEHOLD
CAVALRY MUSEUM
WEB: www.householdcavalrymuseum.co.uk
OPENING TIMES: April-October, 10am-6pm.
November-March, 10am-5pm.
MMORIAL DU SOUVENIR
This educational museum is dedicated to the Battle of Dunkirk and
Operation Dynamo the 9 days that allowed the evacuation by sea of
330,000 combatants from the beaches of Dunkirk and East Mole.
The Museum comprises 700m2 of exhibition space, with 350m of
photos and maps of military operations. It includes a fine collection of
weapons and uniforms from the periods 1914-1918 and 1939-1940, with
film archives in English.
Please allow one to two hours for your visit. Free entry for 1939-1945
veterans. Adults: 5; children under 12 accompanied by their parents: free;
groups (10 or more people): 4 per person; school groups: 3.50 per person.
EMAIL: contact@dynamo-dunkerque.com
WEB: www.dynamo-dunkerque.com
OPENING TIMES: 1 April-30 September,
10am-5pm.
RAF MUSEUM
Get your name on a Red
Arrows plane and support the
RAF Museum.
2018 marks the centenary
of the Royal Air Force. The
award-winning RAF Museum
will celebrate and commemorate this anniversary through
a major transformation of our
visitor experience, sharing the
RAF story on site and online.
Accordingly, the Museum is
offering a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to have your name, or the name of a loved one, on a Red
Arrows Hawk Jet for a donation of just 30. The Hawk will be flown across
the globe during the Red Arrows 2017 aerial display season.
All of your donation to Names on a Plane will directly support the RAF
Museums RAF Centenary Programme, details of which can be found on
the Museums main website www.rafmuseum.org or by signing up to the
Museums Centenary E-newsletter, the link for which can be found at the
bottom of each webpage.
Put your name on a plane now at www.namesonaplane.org
ADDRESS: Royal Air Force Museum London,
Grahame Park Way, London, NW9 5LL
TEL: 020 8205 2266
EMAIL: london@rafmuseum.org
WEB: www.rafmuseum.org
OPENING TIMES: 10am-6pm, last admission
5.30pm.
WEB: www.radarmuseum.co.uk
OPENING TIMES: Tuesdays and Thursdays,
the second Saturday of the month, bank
holiday Mondays, and Easter Saturday to
end November, 10am-5pm.
The Museum of Army Flying tells the 100-year story of the British Army in
the air and boasts a unique collection of military aviation history one of
both national and international importance.
Open daily and home to over 35 historic fixed-wing and rotary-wing
aircraft, detailed dioramas, artefacts, trophies, and models, the Museum
serves as a profound and inspiring tribute to the Army and their machines.
There are a range of interesting and engaging activities for children to
enjoy including Museum trails, puzzles, games, and simulators.
Situated right alongside the Army Air Corps busy working airfield
at Middle Wallop, visitors can often enjoy watching the Army Air Corps
training in their impressive Apache and Lynx helicopters.
The Apache Caf is also open daily and serves a wide variety of snacks
and meals with a prime view over the airfield.
WEB: www.armyflying.com
OPENING TIMES: 10am-4.30pm, every day
(open until 5.30pm throughout July and
August).
ISTI S
10
ENTRY
7
ENTRY
www.dorsetcountymuseum.org/dorset_yeomanry
01305 262 735
orset County Museum and The Keep Military Museum, Dorchester, in conjunction with the Dorset
Yeomanry, have assembled a small exhibition to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the famous
charge of the Queens Own Dorset Yeomanry against a mixed Turkish and Senussi force in the
Egyptian Western Desert on 26 February 1916. The charge (the last regimental charge in battle
by the British Army) routed the enemy and was a key element in preventing the Turks and their German allies
from capturing the Suez Canal, a vital link with India. The highlight of the exhibition is a painting recording
the gallantry of the QODY, commissioned from military artist Lady Elizabeth Butler in 1917. A complementary
display of military ephemera will be staged at The Keep Military Museum at the same time. Dorset County Museum
and The Keep Military Museum are offering a discounted joint ticket to see both displays.
EVENT
27
ENTRY
21
ADVANCE
76
RNAS Yeovilton will host over five hours of flying and static displays
featuring historic naval aircraft. Taking Naval Aviation: past, present,
and future as its theme, the event will mark 75 years since the
Swordfish participated in the pursuit and sinking of the Bismark
during the Second World War; it will host the last public appearance of the Lynx maritime helicopters, set to be retired
from service in 2017; and it will provide insight into the future of the Fleet Air Arm. Thrill-seekers can take a flight in a
helicopter or experience the skies in a flight simulator, and there will be a number of stalls and exhibitions to explore.
July 2016
EXHIBITION
STORMS, WAR,
AND SHIPWRECKS:
TREASURES FROM
THE SICILIAN SEAS
EVENT
DATES TO
REMEMBER
ENTRY
Blood-soaked Fields:
Waterloo and the
Somme compared
The Royal Green Jackets (Rifles)
Museum, Peninsula Barracks,
Romsey Road, Winchester,
Hampshire, SO23 8TS
www.rgjmuseum.co.uk
01962 828 549
4
FESTIVAL
VARIOUS
34.50
MHM VISITS
FREE
TALK
ENTRY
ENTRY
7 JULY 2016
Image: IWM
The Flying Legends Air Show will see a variety of pistonengine aircraft flying over the historic airfield at IWM
Duxford. World-famous for its unique flying displays
and formations, the air show promises an exciting and
entertaining day out for the whole family. On the ground,
guests can listen to the 1940s sound of The Manhattan
Dolls, get a vintage makeover, and have photographs
taken in a replica Spitfire. Admission to IWM Duxford
is included in the ticket price, so attendees can explore
all of the exhibitions and historic buildings that the site
has to offer. Advance booking only.
This new exhibition explores the history of the Royal Navy and the
strategic importance of the Firth of Forth during the First World War.
Home mainly to small fishing boats before the outbreak of war, the
Forth hosted everything from patrol boats to battleships between
1914 and 1918. Paintings of warships, auxiliary vessels, and
merchant ships by artist Jim Stormonth are on display alongside
material from the museums collections.
EXHIBITION
www.military-history.org
A Bloody Necessity:
the Somme, 1916
8
MUSEUM
ENTRY
Towton Battlefield
Walk
Rockingham Arms, Main Street,
Towton, Tadcaster, LS24 9PB
www.towton.org.uk
chairman@towton.org.uk
3
77
over 10
SAVE UP TO Save
Never miss
Name
9 7 1 7 4 3
Bank/Building Society Account Number
Banks and Building Societies may not accept Direct Debit instructions for some types of account
Please pay Current Publishing Direct Debits from the account detailed in this instruction subject to the safeguards assured by The Direct Debit Guarantee.
I understand that this instruction may remain with Current Publishing and if so, details will be passed electronically to my Bank/Building Society.
Delivered free
to your door
NDD 16
NORMAN
S
NQ EST
CONQU
5
it e 1053
att of C vitate,
Battle
ONLINE www.military-history.org/sub/MHM70
PHONE 020 8819 5580 and quote MHM70
S AV E
U P TO
Card No.
Expiry Date
Date
te
l
Futiti e slaughter?
Signature
the war?
ING
DEBATI
D
ME
THE SOMM
Account in
the name(s) of
Branch Sort Code
The Derbyshires
HOW TO PAY
an issue
| Shell shock |
Tel. no.
Shostakovichs war
kkk
the Somme
1916 | Debating
LENINGRAD
4.50
Jutland,
1053 | Battle of
Postcode
Battle of Civitate,
20%
Address
MILITARY
4 4%
ON AN NU AL
DI
SU BS CR IP GI TA L
TI ON S
26/05/2016 16:16
TITIO S
PUT YOUR MILITARY HISTORY KNOWLEDGE TO THE TEST WITH
THE MHM QUIZ, CROSSWORD, AND CAPTION COMPETITION
MHM QUIZ
Published in the 100th
anniversary year of the
Battle of the Somme, The
Lost Tommies brings together
stunning, never-before-seen
images of Tommies on the
Western Front. Printed
alongside these photographs
are stories from soldiers who
discovered some
4,000 abandoned
photographs taken
by the couple, in a farmhouse
in Vignacourt, France.
The collection covers many
significant aspects of British
involvement on the Western
Front, from military life to the
MHM
CROSSWORD
NO 70
ACROSS
6 Short curved swords (9)
7 Spanish port attacked by Drake
in 1587 (5)
10 French commander killed in 1675
at the Battle of Salzbach (7)
11 Mine attached magnetically to a
ships hull (6)
12 Large fleet of ships (6)
13 US air base of the Vietnam War (3,5)
14 Treaty of ___, signed after the
Anglo-Dutch War of 1665-1667 (5)
16 Standard carried by a Roman
aquilifer (5)
21 NCO rank below a sergeant (8)
23 ___ book, means of obtaining
certain foodstuffs during World
War II (6)
80
July 2016
CAPTION COMPETITION
To be in with a chance of
winning, simply answer
the following question:
? On which date in 1916
MHM
Answer
online at
www.
military-history.
org
DOWN
1 Site of army hospital where Florence
Nightingale worked in the Crimean War (7)
2 Ottoman city occupied by Greece from
1919 to 1922 (6)
3 Carrier-based fighter built by Dassault,
which entered service in 1962 (8)
4 French city besieged by the English
in 1428-1429 (7)
www.military-history.org
WINNER:
See! It does wash whiter than white.
David Gradwick
RUNNERS-UP
It was always the same: while Ted and Joe put their thinking
caps on, Dave just stood there and took the pith.
Calum Macleod
Look chaps, if we dont get this restaurant bill sorted out
then we are going to miss the rest of the war.
John Blakey
81
g ro
in
f
ie
r
B
+
m
o
o
r
g
in
f
om + Brie
o
r
g
in
f
ie
r
B
+
m
o
o
r
briefing
NADER
SHAH
fact
file
Nader Shah
Not exactly. By the early 18th century, the Safavid dynasty had ruled Persia
for over 200 years. But their empire began to disintegrate under Sultan
Hussayn, due to internal rebellions, and Russian and Ottoman invasions.
Nader was not a member of the ruling Safavid elite. The ambitious son
of a peasant herdsman, his early years were turbulent: his father died when
he was 13, after which Nader and his mother were captured and forced into
slavery. Nader escaped and lived for a while as a robber, before developing
his skills as a soldier under a local tribal leader.
When Sultan Hussayn was forced to abdicate, rival factions emerged
fighting for control of imperial territories. Nader proved his courage and
leadership skills to Tahmasp II, Sultan Hussayns son, when he led an
uprising against one of Tahmasps rivals. He was soon appointed commander
of Tahmasps forces, and won a number of significant victories.
Although Nader recaptured swathes of lost Safavid territory for the Shah,
Tahmasp grew increasingly jealous of his commanders military vigour.
Keen to best his underling, Tahmasp launched his own offensive against
the Ottomans at Yerevan in 1731. The siege of the city was a resounding
failure, and the Persians lost many of Naders recent gains in the resulting
peace treaty. Tahmasps reputation was severely damaged, and he was
deposed in favour of his baby son Abbas in 1732, for whom Nader was
regent. Nader proclaimed himself Shah in 1736.
There are almost too many to choose from. Zealous in his campaigns, Nader
pursued and conquered lands from local rebel groups, Ottomans, Russians,
and Mughals, among others, accumulating land, troops, and riches as he went.
82
Born:
probably 1698
Nationality:
Persian
Occupation(s): leader of Shah Tahmasp IIs army
(1726-1736); Shah of Persia (1736-1747)
Key qualities: military strategy, courage,
ruthlessness
Greatest achievement: victory over Ottoman
forces at the Battle of Yeghevrd in 1735
Died: 1747
He led a particularly strong force against the Mughal Empire at the Battle
of Karnal in February 1739, where he defeated a 300,000-strong army despite
being outnumbered six to one.
But perhaps his most tactically brilliant manoeuvre was his use of a hidden
contingent of troops to outflank the Ottomans at the Battle of Yeghevard in
June 1735, during the Ottoman-Persian War (1730-1735). Commandeering
enemy artillery, Naders forces launched a devastating attack on the Ottomans
and won a decisive victory.
Despite his military genius, strategic brilliance, and daring conquests, Nader
Shah has been overshadowed in Western literature by near-contemporaries
such as Napoleon.
Historian Michael Axworthy has suggested that Victorian scholars neglected
Nader as they sought to claim Western superiority and justify Western colonialism
in the backward and barbaric East. So Nader has been largely overlooked in
the European historical tradition, and even today there are only a handful of
studies in English dedicated to his life and military career.
July 2016