2006RUS

The summer months of 1940 saw World War II reach the English skies as the Royal Air Force heroically fought off the endless attacks of Hitler’s Luftwaffe. After a phase known as the ‘Phoney War’, Hitler had ordered his forces to invade several other European countries and they met minimal resistance in Belgium, Holland or France.

Operation Dynamo had seen approximately 300,000 men of the BEF brought to safety by a flotilla of ships making the journey between England to Dunkirk over a number of days. So now Hitler had his sights on England. The white cliffs of Dover were clearly visible as the German High Command peered past the English Channel from Calais.

Nonetheless, unless the skies of England were under German command, Hitler couldn’t authorise Operation Sealion – the invasion of United Kingdom. With America being reluctant to participate in the war at this stage and her Allies overcome, Britain would need to face the Germans all alone.

Could Britain hold out until the summer was over when the weather would thwart the Germans from crossing the Channel? British hopes was in the hands of the brave pilots of the Royal Air Force, “The Few” as Churchill later referred to them. It wasn’t merely British airmen in the RAF, the Commonwealth was represented with pilots from an array of colonial outposts like as South Africa and Rhodesia as well as Poles and even a couple of Americans.

Hitler sent the Luftwaffe over to hammer UK into submission however crucially, their fighter escorts only had the fuel for only a few minutes combat before they would have to go back leaving the bombers unprotected. For the first time, the Luftwaffe came up against firm resistance and there was to be no repeat of their speedy victories on the Continent. Britain’s airfields in the south east were suffering a beating until one night in August 1940, a German bomber got lost and dumped its bombs over London before heading home. In retaliation, the RAF launched an air raid on Berlin.

Hitler was furious and instructed his aircraft to attack London and not the RAF airfields. This was a decisive turning point as it gave the RAF some much needed relief. The Luftwaffe failed to achieve the upper hand at any point and in mid September, Hitler indefinitely postponed Operation Sealion. The risk of attack was gone and Churchill spoke of the contribution of Fighter Command in a widely known speech “Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few”.

The number one fighter ace was Sgt Frantisek from the Czech Republic with a total of seventeen kills. He piloted a Hawker Hurricane which was the real workhorse of Fighter Command although almost everyone remembers the legendary Spitfire. Sgt Frantisek was killed in action in October 1940.

The Battle of Britain was the first occasion the Germans had sustained a military defeat during World War II.

Defeating Nazi Germany in the Battle of Britain meant that Britain and her Allies could carry on fighting World War II with Nazi Germany.

categories: world war II,britain,battle of britain,aircraft,military,war,reference,society,culture,history,humanities

The Battle of Rorkes Drift is without doubt one of the most renowned actions during the history of the British Army. On 22 January 1879, only hours after the Zulu victory at Isandlwana, around 4,000 Zulu warriors attack the mission station at Rorkes Drift located across the Buffalo River in Natal.

With less than 140 men defending Rorkes Drift, you would be forgiven for guessing the soldiers had little prospect of survival, particularly taking into consideration what happened to their colleagues at Isandlwana. Nonetheless, together with in addition to being very courageous soldiers, the defenders of Rorkes Drift had a rifle that would give them an advantage over the Zulus. The weapon in question was the Martini Henry rifle.

This .45 calibre rifle was very effective at inflicting bad wounds and when fired at a range of less than 200 yards, a round could very well easily pass through a body injuring the person behind too. The Martini Henry was a single shot, breech loading rifle and provided the British an important advantage over the Zulus who were just armed with short stabbing spears (iklaws).

Even though the Martini Henry was at fault partly for the defeat at Isandlwana, if looked after, it had been an excellent rifle. To single the rifle out as the cause for the defeat at Isandlwana is harsh as there were a lot of other factors that contributed to the defeat.

At Rorkes Drift, the Martini Henry was vital for the British. As a store, there was clearly sufficient ammunition in addition to extra rifles plus the defensive area was considerably smaller and thus was less of a challenge to defend in comparison to the position at Isandlwana. Brought to the British Army in 1871, the Martini Henry could quite possibly fire up to ten rounds per minute in the hands of the experienced soldier. The rifle offered a highly effective range of around 500m which resulted in providing the British could see the Zulus, they could begin killing them before they were near enough for hand to hand fighting.

Despite the tremendous odds at Rorkes Drift, the British only lost close to 10% of their strength while at the same time, the British buried roughly four hundred Zulus and it was viewed a comparable number would’ve later died of their wounds. The soldiers had beaten back the Zulu attack and were thankful to the Martini Henry rifle.

The most well known battle of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 is certainly Rorkes Drift. The British defenders were able to fight off the Zulu warriors using the iconic Henry Martini rifile.

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On the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, many assumed it would be finished by Xmas. Devoted teenage men were eager to enlist in the army as soon as possible as they presumed they would miss out on the action. Suffice to say, history has confirmed that their positive outlook was misdirected as the war would not end till 1918. The German progress was halted at the First Battle of Marne and the drive for the sea developed as the Allies and Germans both dug in. It was the commencement of the trench warfare of the Western Front.

The outcome was lines of trenches running from the North Sea to Switzerland along a 440 mile front. The battle lines moved very little as a war of attrition broke out. Initial trenches weren’t well constructed and were liable to collapse. Even by trench warfare standards, 1914 was pretty lousy. As winter neared, the infantry on the front line realised that the war would not be all over by Xmas after all.

The Western Front ran through Belgium and France with infantry from France, Belgium and United Kingdom guarding a mixture of sectors. In some places, the German trenches were no greater than 30 yards away. Being in such close proximity allowed the soldiers to call to their opponents or even hold up signs. On the German belt buckles was the inscription “Gott Mitt Uns” (God is with us). The British reply was “We’ve got mittens too”. Some of the shouting matches were a bit more black humour. A volley of shots would draw the response “Missed” or “Right a bit”.

Nonetheless, it was these exchanges that laid the foundations of a few extraordinary moments across the Western Front on 24th December 1914. The Germans celebrate Christmas on the 24th as opposed to UK and France who celebrate on the 25th). The weather had improved and on the 24th, the voices from the German trenches were completely different. They began singing carols and set Christmas Trees on their trenches. Troops began calling to each other and inevitably, some embarked into no mans land where they spoke and swapped cigarettes, food and souvenirs. Stories of the truce may differ greatly as there were actually quite a few truces up and down the lines. They were predominantly in the sectors manned by the British as the Germans were occupying Belgium and French land so the Christmas spirit was less in evidence amongst these troops.

The Xmas Truce of 1914 was not official but as many as 100,000 men were believed to have been involved. As well as fraternisation, the chance was also taken to recover and bury the dead. One of the most famous parts of the truce was the football match between the British and Germans. There are a number of inconsistant accounts concerning the game with a number of finals scores. This would suggest there were various games at different places.

The duration the truce lasted also varied but generally, it was over on Xmas Day. By and large, the war resumed by mutual arrangement. In one case, on the morning of the 26th December 1914, Captain Stockwell of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers fired into the air and stood above the parapet. His opposite number in the German trench also stood up, they saluted and stepped down. Captain Stockwell heard the German fire a couple of shots into the air and World War I resumed. Never the less, the Xmas Truce was very much against the wishes of British commanders and in the following years, artillery barrages were ordered for Xmas Eve.

In 2008, a plaque to the Christmas Ceasefire on the Western Front was unveiled at the village on Frelinghen and was the 1st memorial to the incidents of Christmas 1914. The legacy the truce left behind is substantial with a variety of books being written and it was also the inspiration for a number of songs.

During the First World War, fighting on the Western Front was horrific yet despite this, British and German soldiers still found time to be human for a short time in December 1914.

categories: western front,history,culture,society,people,military,reference,britain,germany,football,soccer,christmas,xmas

1st July 1916 saw Britain and her Allies started an extensive offensive along a 25 mile part of the Western Front. The offensive happened to the north of the River Somme in rural France. Little villages are dotted all over the area along with the town of Albert. It was to be the battle that for lots of people, defined the horrors of the trench warfare of The First World War.

The Battle of the Somme lasted about 4 months with precious little gain for Britain and her Allies. The casualties sustained by each side were horrendous; Britain sustained 420,000 killed and wounded, the French 200,000 and the German Army close to 500,000.

The German soldiers were well dug in and tactically held the more favourable ground hence it was plain an immense effort would be needed to make inroads into their lines. The plan was to lay down an artillery bombardment for seven days prior to the offensive. In addition, plenty of mines were laid under the German trenches. It was supposed that the mines and artillery would generate such devastation, Allied Forces would simply need to walk through no mans land and take the trenches. Unfortunately, this was not the way things worked out.

For 7 days prior to the attack, a fearsome barrage was laid down by Allied Forces firing 1.7m shells. Even so, the German trenches were dug deep into the earth delivering them with relative protection from the barrage. The mines did contribute to deaths as intended but in general, the Germans had enough time to make ready their defences once the artillery ceased and Britain and her Allies went over the top.

All along the line, the story was similar. Courageous soldiers went over the top and were killed prior to getting anywhere near their objectives. At Beaumont Hamel, only 68 of the 1st Newfoundland Regiment, finished the day uninjured out of around 800 men. At La Boisselle, the Tyneside Irish was essentially wiped out as it sought to move forward more than 1 mile over open ground in full view of German machine guns.

However, there were some achievements. The French had made advances in the north and south of the lines. The 36th Ulster advanced on and took the Schwaben Redoubt and so becoming one of the few to accomplish their main objective. Unfortunately, running low on ammo, German counter attacks compelled the Ulstermen to pull back later that day.

The 1st day of the Somme had cost Britain about 54,000 casualties, 21,000 of those being killed. Now, the site of the Schwaben Redoubt is marked by the Ulster Tower and close by at Thiepval, the Memorial to the Missing commemorates the names of about 70,000 men who fought at the Battle of the Somme.

The futility of trench warfare in the First World War are summed up by the first day of the Somme. Military tactics had been left behind by advances in weapons technology and the result was the deaths of thousands of men.

categories: somme,military,society,history,reference,france,british army,battlefields,society,culture

The 6th June 1944 saw the largest invasion force in history land on the beaches at Normandy merely a couple of hours after a huge number of paratroopers had dropped in Nazi occupied France. D-Day was at long last underway.

Thousands of Allied troops landed on the 5 beaches of Normandy; Gold, Sword, Juno, Omaha and Utah. There were countless acts of bravery and yet there was just a single Victoria Cross awarded on D-Day. That had been granted to CSM Stan Hollis who landed on Gold Beach.

Hollis was an experienced veteran who had been in combat at Dunkirk, El Alamein and Sciliy. He’d previously been captured by Rommel’s Afrika Korps but managed to get away to rejoin the war.

Discipline wise, Hollis was never a model soldier yet on D-Day, there was no doubting his expertise as a soldier. He had also been recommended for a Distinguished Conduct Medal while in action in Italy and it was as part of the offensive on the Mont Fleury Battery that Hollis earned his Victoria Cross in action with the Green Howards regiment.

As his company, advanced away from the coast, he noticed 2 pillboxes had been side stepped. When Hollis went to examine, the Germans within commenced firing. Hollis assaulted the Germans and eliminated both pillboxes taking a number of prisoners at the same time. This permitted the key exit from the beach to remain open.

Later on that day near the village of Crepon, Hollis engaged the Germans with a Bren gun to free 2 British troopers who had been cornered in a building. He successfully freed both soldiers. The bravery exhibited by Hollis in Normandy on D-Day preserved many British lives and he was given the Victoria Cross. Holllis was wounded in Sept of that year and the next month was given his medal by King George VI. Today, his Victoria Cross is on show at the Green Howards Museum in Yorkshire alongside a number of other Victoria Cross accorded in battle to other soldiers of the regiment.

The D-Day landings in Normandy saw the start of the Allied fightback in the Second World War. Today, the beaches are regularly visited by groups wanting to see the historic battlefields with their own eyes.

categories: normandy,victoria cross,british army,world war ii,culture,history,humanity,military,people,education

As a nation that is at war, the requirements of every soldiers lengthy and ongoing deployment can have a detrimental impact on the financial stability of our Navy and Marine Corps family members. It is no doubt that many of these families can suffer extensive budget loss and be strained by loans and debts to live while their loves ones fight the worldwide Terror that is a threat to us each and every day. Our American soldiers are devoted to protecting the freedoms we might take for granted, however we can make a decision right now to help the families of these heroes and injured soldiers alike by making a contribution to the Marine Corps Military Appreciation.

Making contributions to various organizations in order to profit the troops financially is essential, however more essential then that’s to aid them. If sending cash is not an option, a show of private support includes a larger impact then you can imagine, a letter of your stuff, or your children is the very best thing to transmit as a care package goes a long way in the moral support of these heroes. For ideas of what you could put in these care packages, visit http://anysoldier.com/WhatToSend.cfm where you’ll find an extensive list.

Your contribution can help support the members of the family of those that have or are serving in combat, more so you’ll help those who suffered losing a loved one and those people who are currently injured. The ideal that drives our effort to support these troops ought to be the knowledge and appreciation from the sacrifices these heroes endure every day, doing this for the benefit.

Supporting those soldiers who are currently injured would be to acknowledge they deserve the very best care and support available at their moment of need. Inasmuch as the road to recovery or rehabilitation from sustained injuries is definitely an expensive and lengthy one, the injuries are often very severe and life altering.

The costs of hospitalization and treatment for these soldiers is really a phenomenal one, expenses can pile up quickly; especially so for the families who may need to have a leave of absence from work to be able to visit and care for their injured loved ones. The emotions that surround this time are stressful, taking their toll on each family which has a partner, brother, father, sister, or daughter serving in combat. Family budgets are stretched to the near breaking point, and if which were not enough understanding that at any time they may never see this hero again.

Contributions produced by people like you from the lifeblood of our Marine Corps, without them we would be unable to afford the treatment to help save the lives of these individuals. The requirement for physical therapy, counseling, wheelchairs, learning devices and specialized devices are a growing one. In some cases for those soldiers that experience extensive injuries an excuse for modified homes and cars are needed to accommodate the injury.

For more information how you can help the marine corps visit the Military Appreciate Page. For more information about the author, you can visit his site finding the best prices on Beef Jerky

The word dummy has a number of connotations in military nomenclature that can refer to a variety of assorted technologies. It can indicate misleading actions employing equipment and capabilities created to confuse an adversary before during and after the cessation of war as well as weapons and equipment that are used for training purposes. Another usage of the word indicates a thing that does not have a chemical explosive. In other words, a dummy slug, missile or grenade will not detonate and is usually involved in some type of development regimen given to inexperienced personnel. The expression also indicates that the round is totally deficient in propellant and has no volatile potential whatsoever.

This expression is ofttimes confused with the concept of a blank; whilst a blank does have some form of powder it does not have a bullet projectile to impact a target. Additionally, the word has come to denote many forms of deceiving practices used before and during combat operations. Duplicate airfields and towns were scattered across the English countryside during the Second World War in order to bedevil the Luftwaffe, the German Air Force. As a result, armed forces installations and civilian cities were spared the ravages of perpetual bombardment runs. There were many other misleading tactics utilised during the hostilities in order to reduce damages and subdue a resolute foe.

The tactical usage of dummy airfields and dummy towns led to the systemization of the dummies concept in an comprehensive operational design. One of the most notable of the strategies implemented during the Second World War was known as Operation Fortitude that itself was solely a portion of Operation Jael afterwards known as Plan Bodyguard. Divided into a twofold pronged attacking manoeuvre the dummy landing sites included the Pas de Calais and Norway. The ‘Allies’ deceived the ‘Axis’ powers that a northern and a southerly battlefront would open up at the indicated sites. This dummy information tended to concentrate the forces of the Axis powers at locations that would receive the opening disastrous blows that would be the start of the conclusion of the warfare.

The complete Bodyguard campaign included a variety of subterfuges regarding the timing, localisation and forces deployed to attack the mainland. The Bodyguard operation had three main components: Fortitude’s northern and southerly dummy operation as indicated above and Operation Zeppelin that was a ruse implying a invasion in the East. The entire war hoped to achieve at least a triad of primary goals that would be utilized in conducting the fight. The beginning, as was previously mentioned, included the initial timing of the invasion. Secondly, to detain the enemy powers for two or more weeks.

But the most foremost of all objectives was of course to make the German High command assume the attack would come around the Pas de Calais region or East of this area so as to secure a relatively undefended front at Normandy. Each of these objectives met with outstanding success and as a result victory over the Axis powers would soon be attained despite heavy losses in the initial landings. The outcome of the deceit and dummies used in combat continue to reverberate across history but their counterparts in peacetime are more effective and less well known as part of a scheme of deceiving the subject populations.

More Info or Strauss Relativity Theory Einstein Book: dummies or dummy

Emergency kits may mean the difference between life and death of you and your family in an emergency. There are many types of disasters and emergencies: fires, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and tornadoes. The government action plan for a major disaster is three to seven days to start providing workers to the area. 72 hours is three days – it would be a good idea to put together a survival kit that you could live on for seven to ten days.

Instead of dismissing this kind of planning out of hand; remember the types of disasters that happened in the past 15 years. Imagine what one of these would be like if you had nothing with you but what you were wearing. Even worse, consider the elderly or children that are in your care and how they would cope. To ease your mind, start creating your survival bags immediately.

Before you start packing or purchasing anything, consider what the most probable situational scenario is based upon where you are. This will lead to what you plan to do in the event of an emergency. For example, if your home is close by the ocean and the most probable problem is a hurricane, then your plan should include packing your vehicle with what you need and driving to a safe place. If you live in a city then you probably will be walking to safety either because you have no car or the streets will be so gridlocked that walking is the only option. If you live in a relatively protected area inland, then you will probably hunker down in your home.

Even though you should get ready for the most likely scenario, you should also have a fallback plan. There may come a time in your life when you have to get away as fast as possible, and you will be unsure as to what help and support you will get while on the way. That is when you should have one of these kits ready to go.

Prepare 72 hour kits for every person in your family. Start by getting a rucksack that is a size and capacity that the person can carry all day. You do not have to buy the bag to start putting together the items of the kit, however. Set aside two complete sets of rugged clothes that you no longer wear, but would serve well in an emergency. Then plan on what you are going to need for food, water, and shelter, and get it. Pack light so you can take it all.

Start preparing immediately, and be ready for when disaster strikes.

Create your emergency preparedness checklist for you and your family. See how to do it at 72 hour survival kits.

Mark Cella What is a Black Op?

Was 9/11 a Black Op Which Served a Dual Purpose? Elites Gained Endless War and Destruction of Most of the Constitution When They Felled the Twin Towers Using Controlled Demolition.

A black op is a covert operation involving activities which are highly secretive and can be associated with political, military, intelligence, scientific, medical or business agendas.

They’re used to manipulate sensitive or controversial issues. It is sometimes helpful to hide behind a smoke-screen to hide the real intention of the action. Black op missions are commonly denied if or when a leak does occur and public knowledge of the coup is made known, as most times the actions of the group are questionable and draw attention to illegal government or corporate activities.

Typically in black ops, a decoy operation is used to present the appearance that responsibility lies with a certain individual or group when a completely different entity is responsible for the carnage.

Mark Cella on Black Ops

In looking back and seeing that 9/11 was the catalyst for Bush to declare a state of emergency, which allowed him to establish constitutional dictatorship, it is obviously black op that paved the way for America’s entry into the war on Iraq.

It is also the black op that is used to disguise the restriction of civil rights, and it is the justification for the development of the Department of Homeland Security, which has endangered more of the people’s rights than any single act of legislation in the history of American government.

A covert operation is traditionally associated with such activities as assassinations, sabotage, spying, military coups, extortion, fraud, supporting resistance movements, weapons testing, torture, trafficking in contraband and other such illegal and questionable government and corporate activities.

Technically, any government operation that is considered classified and to which access to the information is denied is considered a black op, and we all know that our American government has plenty of operations they do not disclose to the voting public.

Mark Cella on Black Ops

Covert operations go on all the time in government as demonstrated by the assassination of President Kennedy, the Iran-Contra Affair and Watergate, as well as all the spying that has gone on in the two world wars, Korea, Vietnam and the two gulf wars.

Many times government intelligence agencies are involved in a black op and if that information were made public, it would endanger lives and possibly national security which can be either a good thing or a bad thing.

Because the covertness of the operations can be justified by a need for safety or national security, it leaves a margin of error for those who would seek to defraud the system by using secrecy as a tool for deception rather than a device for protection.

Mark Cella What are Black Ops?

Many times one covert operation is linked closely with another covert operation and involves many persons or agencies; so it is very difficult to get to discover the whole truth, even if the operation itself is exposed.

To determine who is involved, establish a motive for the crime and prosecute and punish the guilty parties is extremely difficult, as the smoke screen of secrecy is rarely penetrated, and the entire truth is rarely told.

Want to find out more about Mark Cella, then visit Mark Cella’s site on for a variety of humor and serious topics Mark Cella.

Think back across the last 10 years and about disasters that caused disruption of the fragile food supply chain that brings everything to the supermarkets. What if you were in the Gulf Coast area when Hurricane Katrina hit? How about within a few hundred miles of Mount Saint Helens and the ash fall area? Now ask yourself if you are a place that could be affected by a natural disaster like an earthquake, hurricane, flooding or anything else that can disrupt the food supply chain.

Do you have loved ones in your family that depend on you to provide for them? How would you feel if you can not take care of your family and children? Visualize what it would be like day after day looking at your hungry and thirsty children and not being able to do anything about it. The time to stop something like that from taking place is now.

Here are three tips to help you get started on putting together a plan.

Make sure you have a safe place that everybody knows to come to. For many people this will be their house, but it also could be a cabin up in the woods, or a relative’s house. It is best to have a place that is accessible and won’t have hordes of people that will take your supplies.

Have a source of water, a way to keep it, and a way to get fresh water. A good way to do this is to have a well dug on your property. Another is to find a river or pond close by and ensure you have water filtration equipment on hand.

Have a reserve of food available. You can start by getting some cases of canned soup and hotdogs locally, but to do this well you should calculate the quantity of calories that you may require based on the quantity of people that are dependent on you and how long you think food will be needed. Also, make sure that food does not spoil by rotating it regularly or getting food created for long-term storage.

The time to prepare for a disaster so you can ensure your survival of your family is before the disaster happens. Make a plan and take action now.

Find out more about disaster preparedness supplies so you can properly prepare your family for an emergency at http://disasterpreparednesssupplies.org