{"title":"The Social, Educational, and Early Military Backgrounds of Senior Officers of the British Army of the Second World War, 1944–1945","authors":"Mark Richard Frost","doi":"10.1163/24683302-bja10066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24683302-bja10066","url":null,"abstract":"Seventy-eight officers held senior command positions at army, corps, and divisional level in Britain’s three main field armies – the Second (North-West Europe), Eighth (Italy), and Fourteenth (Burma) – at the end of the Second World War. Using a range of source material, including their private papers, this article examines their socio-economic and family background, education, and early career development and finds that as a group, they were more representative of the middling classes than heretofore depicted. They were also far more diverse in education and place of birth: twenty-one were born outside Britain. As this article argues, the make-up of the three armies also differed, suggesting the formation of a more elite, home-grown, ‘first team’ for service with the Second Army in North-West Europe.","PeriodicalId":40173,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Military History and Historiography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142201807","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Britain’s Last Colonial War","authors":"Thomas R. Mockaitis","doi":"10.1163/24683302-bja10065","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24683302-bja10065","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The United Kingdom fought its last colonial war in South Arabia (1963 t0 1967) during a pivotal era of waning economic strength, rising Arab nationalism, and growing anticolonialism. Determined to retain Britain’s international status, the Macmillan government considered military facilities in Aden essential to projecting power east of Suez. This article argues that policy decisions taken from 1937 onwards increased the likelihood of a nationalist insurgency and made countering it at an acceptable cost extraordinarily difficult. The British never devised a comprehensive strategy, responding to threats on an ad hoc basis. Contrary to what some scholars insist, South Arabia neither confirmed the failure of the British approach nor heralded a new era of counterinsurgency. The conflict was a political failure, not a military defeat.</p>","PeriodicalId":40173,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Military History and Historiography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2024-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141520630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hungarian Hussars in Napoleon’s Campaign Against Russia","authors":"Attila Réfi","doi":"10.1163/24683302-bja10062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24683302-bja10062","url":null,"abstract":"<p>It is little known that Hungarian soldiers, including Hussars, took part in Napoleon’s 1812 campaign against Russia. Moreover, the four, and later five Hussar regiments assigned to the so-called Imperial-Royal Auxiliary Corps clearly played an important role in the activities of this Corps. During the campaign, the Hussars were mainly responsible for the tasks of reconnaissance and securing the march, which was vital as the Auxiliary Corps was operating deep in hostile and unknown territory. The Hussars, of course, also distinguished themselves in small and large engagements. As an indication of their prominent role, in October 1812 a fifth Hussar regiment was sent to the theatre of war to reinforce the Hussars. This shifted the balance of the Auxiliary Corps’ cavalry even further in favour of the Hussars. Their special importance was also reflected in the new order of battle which was then introduced. This meant that Hussars were assigned to more major military formations than before, a clear indication of their indispensability and the importance of their deployment.</p>","PeriodicalId":40173,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Military History and Historiography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2024-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141505974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Career and Performance of the Artillery Officers in the Batteries of the Siege of Cartagena (1873–1874)","authors":"Diego Cameno Mayo","doi":"10.1163/24683302-bja10063","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24683302-bja10063","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The pacification of cantonal Cartagena occurred at a very difficult time for Spain. The republican government had to face several conflicts at the same time, as well as internal disorder and indiscipline in the Army. In these pages, an investigation is proposed, from the field of prosopography, on the artillery officers who were in charge of the cannon batteries and who ended up surrendered in Cartagena. The objective is to know their previous and future trajectories, in addition to the training they received to successfully fulfill their mission.","PeriodicalId":40173,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Military History and Historiography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140978069","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Shrewdness and Coup d’œil: The Cognitive Attributes of the Consummate General (Greek Antiquity, Byzantine Era, Modern Times)","authors":"Ami-Jacques Rapin","doi":"10.1163/24683302-bja10064","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24683302-bja10064","url":null,"abstract":"This article tests Everett Wheeler’s hypothesis that the Greek concept of <jats:italic>ankhínoia</jats:italic> finds its equivalent in the 18<jats:sup>th</jats:sup>-century military writers’ notion of the <jats:italic>coup d’oeil</jats:italic> by comparing treatises on the art of war written in the two periods. After highlighting the different meanings of the <jats:italic>coup d’oeil</jats:italic> in 18<jats:sup>th</jats:sup> -century military terminology, Carl von Clausewitz’s approach is examined in his new conceptual way.","PeriodicalId":40173,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Military History and Historiography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2024-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140926598","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Heathfield Down: An Alternative Location for the Battlefield of Hastings, 1066","authors":"Rebecca Welshman, Simon Coleman","doi":"10.1163/24683302-bja10061","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24683302-bja10061","url":null,"abstract":"The exact location of the Battle of Hastings remains a question of debate. We identify previously unknown 18<jats:sup>th</jats:sup> and 19<jats:sup>th</jats:sup>-century sources that locate the battle near Old Heathfield in East Sussex, ten miles north-west of Battle Abbey, on land once known as Heathfield Down and ‘Slaughter Common’. We analyse the relevance of the <jats:italic>haran apuldran</jats:italic> (‘Hoar Apple Tree’) in the ‘D’ text of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as an original name for the battlefield and discuss the survival of this name in medieval deeds concerning a nearby place ‘Horeapeltre’. We consider the military and cultural reasons why the battle might have taken place near here and show that the <jats:italic>haran apuldran</jats:italic> was probably a military assembly point. Heathfield Down was a likely conflict area due to its communication links, topography and strategic location, and Harold being stationed here could explain why he was taken by surprise, according to English sources.","PeriodicalId":40173,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Military History and Historiography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2024-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140926600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A New Key Port in America: The Fortification of Buenos Aires in the Seventeenth Century","authors":"Juan A. González Delgado","doi":"10.1163/24683302-bja10060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24683302-bja10060","url":null,"abstract":"The outcome of the 1640 Portuguese rebellion against Spanish rule instantly turned Buenos Aires into a new key port in Spanish America, given its location on the frontier with now-Portuguese Brazil. Consequently, the Spanish imperial bureaucracy focused on its fortification in the second half of the century. That case was part of a larger process during that century of fortifying Spanish American cities with walls and more complex elements. The present article will focus on the role of the local authorities and their response to the crown’s plan, illuminating the difficulties and mistakes in that ultimately unsuccessful effort, such as hiring a lack of skilled workers, especially engineers, and the misconceiving of the territory and its resources. For that purpose, the research will be based on unpublished documents from the Archivo Histórico Nacional and Archivo General de Indias, as well as various plans for the projects.","PeriodicalId":40173,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Military History and Historiography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2024-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139582081","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“A Distinctly Busy Man” – Lieutenant Colonel (Dr) Frederick Holles Brennan, First Officer Commanding of the 1st South African Irish Regiment, 1861–1927","authors":"Hendrik Snyders","doi":"10.1163/24683302-bja10059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24683302-bja10059","url":null,"abstract":"Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Holles Brennan, formerly the commanding officer of the 1<jats:sup>st</jats:sup> South African Irish Regiment, medical officer of the Transvaal Volunteers, surgeon to the <jats:italic>Hawarden Castle</jats:italic> hospital ship and recipient of the Volunteer Officer’s Decoration and Long Service Medal during active service, is a forgotten name in South African military history today. Canadian-born Brennan, a qualified medical doctor, emigrated to South Africa during the 1890s. After settling in Johannesburg, he established a successful medical practice and became an integral part of the Irish-Canadian diasporic community on the Witwatersrand. This was complemented by active involvement in a range of charitable causes, in addition to participating in both the Anglo-Boer War (on the side of the British) and the First World War. From 1894–1927, Brennan made a fundamental contribution to the development of the South African military and sports history, without compromising his Irish-Canadian identity.","PeriodicalId":40173,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Military History and Historiography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2024-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139460367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bibliographical Records","authors":"","doi":"10.1163/24683302-44010001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24683302-44010001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":40173,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Military History and Historiography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2024-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139625692","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Greedy for Effect: The Historiography of US Naval Logistics and the Pacific War","authors":"Jonathan P. Klug","doi":"10.1163/24683302-bja10058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24683302-bja10058","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Naval and military historians have generally not focused on logistics, and this is true for Second World War naval historians and, more specifically, for United States Navy logistics of the Pacific War (1941–45). Naval logistics deserves more serious study as they circumscribe what surface fleets can accomplish. Recently, historians have started to treat this topic as an integral part of naval strategy, operations, and tactics, which is a step in the right direction. This article explores the current state of historical literature and demonstrates that further historical inquiry is necessary – the topic deserves more attention from historians and, indeed, today’s navies.</p>","PeriodicalId":40173,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Military History and Historiography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138816538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}