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Click for part 2 Battle of Togbao, 1899 In Central Africa, a punative field force was destroyed in circumstances the French would nonetheless take full advantage of. The long-standing Kanem–Bornu Empire, centred around Lake Chad, was well past its zenith by the turn of the century. It had never been conquored before the swashbuckling warlord... Continue Reading →
Click for Part 1 Battle of Maeva, 1846 Although little is documented of the fighting itself, the French lost a shore party of marines in what has been described as a massacre by some, on the island of Huahine, modern-day French Polynesia. The Leeward Islands were divided between four kingdoms: Tahiti, Huahine, Raiatea and Bora... Continue Reading →
Click for part 3 Battle of Bataan, 1942 With many parallels to Britain's own catastrophic Fall of Malaya & Singapore, the USA lost its final foothold in the western Pacific after US forces fought for and lost the Bataan Peninsula on Luzon island in early April. US Commonwealth forces under the command of General Douglas... Continue Reading →
Click for part 2 Apia Cyclone, 1889 It was during the peak years of Western-state nationalism when countries like the USA, Britain, Germany and Italy strutted around the world with their chests puffed out that a small US Naval squadron was wrecked in rueful circumstances. A storm had been brewing in the Samoan Islands since... Continue Reading →
“History is written by the winners,” quipped Napoleon. Despite France's vast compilation of conquests at home and abroad, historians found space to record the occasions this superpower was mauled also. This four-part article includes the worst military calamity of every decade, from the founding of the First Republic in 1792 until Algeria's independence in the... Continue Reading →
Part 3 Battle of Spion Kop, 1900 The British, reinforced after the trauma of 'Black Week', were still labouring to relieve Ladysmith after almost three months of siege. General Buller decided on seizing Spion Kop because the hill stood slap-bang in the centre of Boer positions around Ladysmith. 20,000 troops, Mahatma Gandhi and Winston Churchill... Continue Reading →
Click for part 2 Battle of Saint-Denis, 1837 The Lower Canadian Rebellion was a toothless attempt to fight the British Army out of modern-day Quebec. The standout success for the Patriote insurgents, was when they fought off a British assault at Saint-Denis. The rebellion kicked off on November the 6th and the Patriots established the... Continue Reading →
"Modern American war is as easy to script as a B-movie" quipped one US Army officer, referring to the predictability of US victories against its enemies in the late 20th Century. Yet, it wasn't always smooth sailing for the Yanks. Presented, the worst US military disaster of every decade spanning the Declaration of Independence til... Continue Reading →
This French General is famous for the many, many wounds he suffered in battle but survived. You'll be amazed the damage this bullet-magnet lived through! Nicolas Charles Oudinot was born in Paris, 1767. He was born to survive against the odds as just one of nine siblings to reach adulthood. He joined the Kingdom of... Continue Reading →
History and Things 