Victor Magnus' page relating to Military History, Military affairs, and Wargaming. Postings will cover a broad spectrum including art, books, film and TV.
Timeline Photos
On this day in 1914, the Battle of the Marne begins, with British and French forces preventing German advance on Paris. This image shows the men of 7e Division d'infanterie arriving to the battle using 1200 local taxis. Artwork by Graham Turner from CAM221 The First Battle of the Marne by Ian Sumner: https://bit.ly/37ErSTF
Timeline Photos
Lieutenant Commander Donald D. Sheppard, of Coronado, California, aims a flaming arrow at a bamboo hut concealing a fortified Viet Cong bunker on the banks of the Bassac River, Vietnam, on December 8, 1967.
Timeline Photos
Two men from the 363rd Field Artillery Battalion near Okinawa. June 10, 1945.
Photo of the Day!
Sea Ops
The USS Ronald Reagan transits the South China Sea, 16 June 2021.
Timeline Photos
Kangaroos (#Canadian armoured personnel carriers or "APC") carrying infantry into battle near the village of Conselice, Italy, in 1945.
Did you know?
During December of 1944, an average of 70 jeeps per day were reported lost in the Brussels area, although the nearest enemy troops were some 50 miles away!
Did you know?
During December of 1944, an average of 70 jeeps per day were reported lost in the Brussels area, although the nearest enemy troops were some 50 miles away!
Today in Military History
1 Sep 2005
The Battle of Tal Afar was a military offensive conducted by the United States Army and supported by Iraqi forces, against Al Qaeda insurgents in the city of Tal Afar, Iraq in response to the growing increase of insurgent attacks against US and Iraqi positions in the area. Coalition forces developed and executed a detailed, painstaking methodology, that combined intelligence gathering, combat missions and stability programs to reconstruct Coalition control of the city, one neighborhood at a time. Civilians evacuated from the city in order to allow Coalition forces to use artillery and attack helicopters to overcome the insurgents' makeshift fortifications. Coalition forces fought street-to-street engagements with AQI terrorists and other insurgents, AQI insurgents tried to hold their ground, they also planned and executed coordinated attacks against Coalition troops, they also demonstrated the ability to somewhat command and control the insurgents in the city. The initial fighting was heavy, but most of the city was secured on 3 September. Although sporadic fighting and attacks would continue until the operation was declared finished on 18 September.
Today in Military History
1 Sep 2005
The Battle of Tal Afar was a military offensive conducted by the United States Army and supported by Iraqi forces, against Al Qaeda insurgents in the city of Tal Afar, Iraq in response to the growing increase of insurgent attacks against US and Iraqi positions in the area. Coalition forces developed and executed a detailed, painstaking methodology, that combined intelligence gathering, combat missions and stability programs to reconstruct Coalition control of the city, one neighborhood at a time. Civilians evacuated from the city in order to allow Coalition forces to use artillery and attack helicopters to overcome the insurgents' makeshift fortifications. Coalition forces fought street-to-street engagements with AQI terrorists and other insurgents, AQI insurgents tried to hold their ground, they also planned and executed coordinated attacks against Coalition troops, they also demonstrated the ability to somewhat command and control the insurgents in the city. The initial fighting was heavy, but most of the city was secured on 3 September. Although sporadic fighting and attacks would continue until the operation was declared finished on 18 September.
On this day in 1778, the Battle of Kingsbridge, or the Stockbridge Indian Massacre, took place in New York.
An ambush launched by the Loyalist Queen’s Rangers and British Legion left about 17 Stockbridge Indians (multi-ethnic Native Americans, who included Mahican, Housatonic, and Wappinger peoples, allied with the Continental Army) dead and more seriously wounded. This painting by Don Troiani Historical Artist shows the Stockbridges engaged in overwhelming combat with the Queen’s Rangers hussars that day, near the modern border of the Bronx and Westchester County, New York. The Stockbridges fired their muskets and swung them like clubs to knock the Loyalists off their horses, with some success. According to one Hessian officer who saw the carnage on the battlefield that day, “hardly one of the Indians escaped with his life to tell what happened to his fellow warriors.” Only two hussars were wounded, and one member of the British Legion was killed.
This painting will be featured in our upcoming exhibit Liberty: Don Troiani’s Paintings of the Revolutionary War, opening Oct. 16. Learn more: bit.ly/3C9uG9j
🎨: Battle of Kingsbridge (Stockbridge Indian Massacre), courtesy of Don Troiani
On This Day In Civil War History:
In 1862, the Second Battle of Bull Run at Manassas, Virginia, began.
On This Day In Civil War History:
In 1862, the Second Battle of Bull Run at Manassas, Virginia, began.
Grenadiers of the 3rd Garde Regiment served in the Hessian grenadier battalion led by Lieutenant Colonel Otto von Linsing. They fought at the Battle of Long Island on Aug. 27, 1776, and later crossed the Hudson River into New Jersey following the capture of Fort Washington on Nov. 16.
This portrait of a Hessian grenadier by Don Troiani (Don Troiani Historical Artist) will be featured in our upcoming exhibit, Liberty: Don Troiani’s Paintings of the Revolutionary War, opening Oct. 16.
On this day in 1776, the Battle of Long Island — also known as the Battle of Brooklyn Heights — was fought in New York.
Grenadiers of the 3rd Garde Regiment served in the Hessian grenadier battalion led by Lieutenant Colonel Otto von Linsing. They fought at the Battle of Long Island on Aug. 27, 1776, and later crossed the Hudson River into New Jersey following the capture of Fort Washington on Nov. 16. This portrait of a Hessian grenadier by Don Troiani (Don Troiani Historical Artist) will be featured in our upcoming exhibit, Liberty: Don Troiani’s Paintings of the Revolutionary War, opening Oct. 16.
Learn more about Liberty: bit.ly/3C9uG9j
🎨: Hesse-Cassel Grenadier of the 3rd Garde Regiment, 1776
Did you know?
Feldmarshall Bluecher, the Prussian Feldherr of 1813-1815, not only thought himself pregnant with an elephant by a grenadier of Napoleon’s Old Guard, but his concept of global strategy was hindered by his belief that the world was flat.
Today in 1346, during the Battle of Crécy, English longbowman rained arrows on the French army, resulting in an English victory.
The basic English formation at Crécy was the ‘herecon’ (hedgehog), in which men-at-arms with long spears formed a pike wall and the archers stood between them. However, at the moment depicted in this artwork, there have been several French charges and the French have taken heavy casualties. This enables the English archers to step forward from the protective hedgehog and form a front rank on their own. Crécy was a well-laid trap. The topography forced the French to enter the battlefield through a narrow bottleneck, minimizing the advantage of their superior numbers. It also dictated the direction of their attack, which pushed them towards strong English defensive positions where they were decimated by the combined forces of English men-at-arms, infantry and archers, who had the low evening sun at their backs. The archers had to work quickly, amid the sweat and danger of close combat.
Artwork by Peter Dennis from WPN 30: The Longbow, written by Mike Loades: https://bit.ly/2UutXid
Today in 1346, during the Battle of Crécy, English longbowman rained arrows on the French army, resulting in an English victory.
The basic English formation at Crécy was the ‘herecon’ (hedgehog), in which men-at-arms with long spears formed a pike wall and the archers stood between them. However, at the moment depicted in this artwork, there have been several French charges and the French have taken heavy casualties. This enables the English archers to step forward from the protective hedgehog and form a front rank on their own. Crécy was a well-laid trap. The topography forced the French to enter the battlefield through a narrow bottleneck, minimizing the advantage of their superior numbers. It also dictated the direction of their attack, which pushed them towards strong English defensive positions where they were decimated by the combined forces of English men-at-arms, infantry and archers, who had the low evening sun at their backs. The archers had to work quickly, amid the sweat and danger of close combat.
Artwork by Peter Dennis from WPN 30: The Longbow, written by Mike Loades: https://bit.ly/2UutXid
On 26 August 1071 a large Byzantine army under Emperor Romanus IV met the Saljuq Turk forces of Sultan Alp Arslan near the town of Manzikert. The battle ended in a decisive defeat for the Byzantine forces, with the Byzantine emperor captured and much of his fabled Varangian guard killed. This battle is seen as the primary trigger of the Crusades, and as the moment when the power of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire was irreparably broken. The Saljuq victory opened up Anatolia to Turkish-Islamic conquest, which was eventually followed by the establishment of the Ottoman state. Nevertheless the battle itself was the culmination of a Christian Byzantine offensive, intended to strengthen the eastern frontiers of the empire and re-establish Byzantine domination over Armenia and northern Mesopotamia. Turkish Saljuq victory was in no sense inevitable and might, in fact, have come as something of a surprise to those who achieved it. It was not only the battle of Manzikert that had such profound and far-reaching consequences, many of these stemmed from the debilitating Byzantine civil war which followed and was a direct consequence of the defeat.
This illustration depicts Emperor Romanos IV humiliating a Saljuq peace delegation during the evening on 25 August 1071.
Artwork by Christa Hook from CAM 262: Manzikert 1071, written by David Nicolle. Order your copy here: https://bit.ly/36VJhGV
On 26 August 1071 a large Byzantine army under Emperor Romanus IV met the Saljuq Turk forces of Sultan Alp Arslan near the town of Manzikert. The battle ended in a decisive defeat for the Byzantine forces, with the Byzantine emperor captured and much of his fabled Varangian guard killed. This battle is seen as the primary trigger of the Crusades, and as the moment when the power of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire was irreparably broken. The Saljuq victory opened up Anatolia to Turkish-Islamic conquest, which was eventually followed by the establishment of the Ottoman state. Nevertheless the battle itself was the culmination of a Christian Byzantine offensive, intended to strengthen the eastern frontiers of the empire and re-establish Byzantine domination over Armenia and northern Mesopotamia. Turkish Saljuq victory was in no sense inevitable and might, in fact, have come as something of a surprise to those who achieved it. It was not only the battle of Manzikert that had such profound and far-reaching consequences, many of these stemmed from the debilitating Byzantine civil war which followed and was a direct consequence of the defeat.
This illustration depicts Emperor Romanos IV humiliating a Saljuq peace delegation during the evening on 25 August 1071.
Artwork by Christa Hook from CAM 262: Manzikert 1071, written by David Nicolle. Order your copy here: https://bit.ly/36VJhGV
Did you know?
Of the 50 “four-pipe” destroyers transferred from the US to Britain in 1940, none had a more unusual war career than the HMS St. Albans (ex USS Thomas), that not only sank the German submarine U-401, but also, by mistake, the British minesweeper Aleric and the Polish submarine Jastrab.
Did you know?
Of the 50 “four-pipe” destroyers transferred from the US to Britain in 1940, none had a more unusual war career than the HMS St. Albans (ex USS Thomas), that not only sank the German submarine U-401, but also, by mistake, the British minesweeper Aleric and the Polish submarine Jastrab.
Timeline Photos
This piece of artwork depicts Zhukov orchestrating the Red Army’s first effective combined-arms attack at 0900hrs on 20 August 1939.
After more than a month of semi-static warfare against the Japanese 23rd Infantry Division along the Khalkhin-Gol River in the summer of 1939, Zhukov quietly assembled overwhelming mechanized forces on both enemy flanks in order to mount a devastating double envelopment attack. For the first time, Zhukov employed his trademark maskirova effort and a well-planned logistic build-up to position himself for a decisive blow on the morning of 20 August. At 0900hrs, the Southern Task Force, commanded by Colonel Mikhail I. Potapov, led parts of three mechanized brigades and an infantry regiment against the flank of the Japanese 71st Infantry Regiment. Zhukov masterfully coordinated a heavy artillery preparation with a massive airstrike to neutralize the Japanese artillery and suppress the enemy defences long enough for his ground troops to close and eliminate the disorganized resistance nests. This attack was the first synchronized combined-arms offensive ever mounted by the Red Army and its efficient ex*****on stood in stark contrast to the debacle in Finland a few months later, which helped to secure Zhukov’s reputation as a competent tactician. However, Zhukov would not be able to repeat this performance again for another five years.
Artwork by Adam Hook from CMD 22: Georgy Zhukov, written by Robert Forczyk: https://bit.ly/3kKowpI
Did you know?
The most sunk warship in history was the US submarine Tang. The Japanese claimed to have sunk it 25 times before a circling torpedo finally finished the job for them. In her short career in the Pacific War, Tang sank 33 ships totaling 116,454 tons. Tang departed Pearl Harbor on 22 January 1944 to begin her first war patrol, destined for the Caroline Islands-Mariana Islands area.
Did you know?
The most sunk warship in history was the US submarine Tang. The Japanese claimed to have sunk it 25 times before a circling torpedo finally finished the job for them. In her short career in the Pacific War, Tang sank 33 ships totaling 116,454 tons. Tang departed Pearl Harbor on 22 January 1944 to begin her first war patrol, destined for the Caroline Islands-Mariana Islands area.
This illustration depicts during the attack on the second French position at Roliça on 17 August 1808, when the British infantry was forced to advance along several gullies or dry watercourses. The ravine down which the 29th Foot advanced was particularly difficult, and well defended by the French. The 29th Foot persisted in their attacks and, supported by the 9th Foot, eventually carried the position. Roliça was the last battle in which the British infantry wore their hair in queues. Shortly after the battle the news arrived that the practice had been abandoned, much to the joy of the men.
This illustration depicts during the attack on the second French position at Roliça on 17 August 1808, when the British infantry was forced to advance along several gullies or dry watercourses. The ravine down which the 29th Foot advanced was particularly difficult, and well defended by the French. The 29th Foot persisted in their attacks and, supported by the 9th Foot, eventually carried the position. Roliça was the last battle in which the British infantry wore their hair in queues. Shortly after the battle the news arrived that the practice had been abandoned, much to the joy of the men.
Artwork by Patrice Courcelle from CAM 90: Vimeiro 1808, written by René Chartrand: https://bit.ly/3zkb3cf
Today in Military History
16 Aug 1777
The Americans led by Gen. John Stark rout British and Brunswick troops under Friedrich Baum at the Battle of Bennington in Walloomsac, New York as part of the Saratoga campaign. Baum's detachment was a mixed force of 700, composed primarily of dismounted Brunswick dragoons, Canadians, Loyalists and Indians. He was sent by Burgoyne to raid Bennington in the New Hampshire Grants area for horses, draft animals, provisions, and other supplies. Believing the town to be only lightly defended, Burgoyne and Baum were unaware that Stark and 1,500 militiamen were stationed there.
After the battle ended, while Stark's militiamen were busy disarming the prisoners and looting their supplies, Breymann arrived with his reinforcements. Seeing the Americans in disarray, they immediately pressed their attack. After hastily regrouping, Stark's forces tried to hold their ground against the new German onslaught, but began to fall back. Before their lines collapsed, Warner's men arrived on the scene to reinforce Stark's troops. Pitched battle continued until dark, when both sides disengaged. Breymann began a hasty retreat; he had lost one quarter of his force and all of his artillery pieces. Total German and British losses at Bennington were recorded at 207 dead and 700 captured; American losses included 30 Americans dead and 40 wounded.
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