I thought I'd start a new thread for your delectation, Ladies and Gentlemen, on the basis that it might be appropriate to remember and discuss important dates in the military past.
With suitable apologies to our French friends (pour ce coup de Trafalgar...), today is Trafalgar Day. Stewart may have some choice thoughts on this topic for us all?
Simon
Good idea Simon. Should it be a new board??
I believe Nelson was a great man.
The "Fighting Temeraire" is also my favourite painting.
martin :)
Thanks Martin, and good point on the new board.
Unfortunately I don't have the Admin powers to create such a thing. If there is sufficient support, perhaps Simon C can do the honours for us?
Simon
Morning Simon, I have had a small rum in celebration but I have to drive and got to let Martin have a chance of wining a game tonight.
Stewart
Good to hear, Stewart.
Sober or not, on past performance I think you stand a good chance tonight, unless Martin has made some cheeky changes to the rules...?
Best of luck to you both!
Simon
Simon, Martin normally tells me the rule changes when I turn up, keep the enemy the dark etc
Stewart
I think the changes this time will guarantee success??
i.e Big hat = larger D6. That should make the difference. A larger D6 will surely roll a larger number?
martin :)
25th fast approaching, Get your schapka and David Hemmings ready (unless you are a big Errol Flynn fan).
Good point, Andy. I might hazard a guess (i'm clearly not going well with the film references...), but were you specifically thinking of:
- 1147 occupation of Lisbon?
- 1147 Battle of Dorylaeum?
- 1415 Battle of Agincourt (whoops - apologies again to our French friends...)?
There's so much history out there!
Simon
one would imagine
QuoteHalf a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!" he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Ah - my list clearly didn't run as far as 1854, but that makes a lot more sense! Time to hunker down and pull on my Balaclava, I think...
Simon
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the end of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd,
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers,
For he shall be my brother, be he ne'er so,
This day shall gentle his condition, vile,
And Gentlemen in England, no a bed,
Shall think themselves accused,
Why were not there,
And their manhood cheap,
While any speak,
That fight with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
I know where that came from, at least!
I thought the Charge of the Light Brigade was on Sunday ? 25th ?
As I normally drink a pint of "The Trooper" on or around the day.
Miles
Yes - we're talking about 25th a little ahead of time.
After Trafalgar Day, Leman was looking forward to pulling on a Cardigan over his Raglan and watching some quality British cinema on Sunday.
Simon
Serves me right for getting ahead of myself.
On this day 23rd October 1643 the battle of Edgehill.
Edgehill gives us the only officially recognised ghosts in this country due to a Royal Commission being sent to investigate the phenomenon by Charles I. Their report is apparently 'lost' so we have to rely upon newssheets paraphrasing, and no doubt embellishing the story.
A ghost reports on ghosts?
Surely 8 days too early...
Sorry to be pedantic but Edghill or Edgehill was 1642.
John
Fuss fuss fuss John
martin :)
I believe it is also the anniversary of the 3rd battle of El Alamein in 1942. Gen Claude Aukinleck (not sure of the spellijng) stopped the DAK in the first battle, then repulsed their thrust towards the Suez in the second battle before Monty completed the job. Churchill, always one to bend the truth to fit a famous quote said that we never won a battle before Alamein and never lost one after. How quickly he forgot the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the River Plate and the sinking of the Bismarck.
John
Quote from: John Watson on October 23, 2020, 08:53:33 AM
Sorry to be pedantic but Edghill or Edgehill was 1642.
John
D'oh! School boy error, lack of sleep. Probably both.
Quote from: John Watson on October 23, 2020, 09:49:53 AM
Churchill, always one to bend the truth to fit a famous quote said that we never won a battle before Alamein and never lost one after. How quickly he forgot the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the River Plate and the sinking of the Bismarck.
John
Tobruk?
I think he was referring to a "Land Battle" to which an average person on the street relates to, even though all the fore mentioned battles had cost many thousands of lives collectively already.
But I am afraid to say that is a sad fact of life !
The effort,gains and sacrifices made up that point had been quite high, but the average person on the street and in Parliament never look at the other things that went on, as they were not "Headline" grabbing enough !!!
Miles
October 25th 1854 - Battle of Balaclava. Successful charge of the Heavy Brigade, defence of Kadikoi by the thin red line of Highlanders, Turks and invalids, and the one and a half hours resistance by the hugely outnumbered Turks in Redoubt No.1 all overshadowed by the unclear orders and miscommunication of the Light Brigade charge, which nevertheless shook the Russians up a bit. And also to be remembered the Charge of the Chasseurs d'Afrique on the left flank Russian guns and infantry which helped the Light brigade survivors to get back down the valley less molested than they might have been.
Nice summary, Andy. Did I read somewhere that you game the Crimean War?
Simon
Gamed it back in my teenage years with 25mm Minifigs. Not gamed it since then, although did dabble with some 6mm stuff but but did not make much progress. Currently considering 10mm with Magister Militum as they have the most complete range in that scale. Nothing yet though as the Netherlands and Belgium bank differently from the rest of, well, the world it would appear. A good example of how to take back control without leaving the EU.........oh silly me, no country in the EU ever lost its national sovreignty. Anyway I now find I am having to go through the hoohaa of cancelling my PayPal account and then open a new PayPal account in the Netherlands.
I think Andy that will be the case for a lot of internet sites. Ebay is going to be the same. And a number of trade sites will also need new accounts creating in Europe and cancelling in the UK.
I put together a couple of big Crimean war forces years ago using Minifigs 15mm figures. Still use them occasionally with Black Powder ruleset.
Nick
26 October 1881. Tombstone Arizona. The shootout at the O.K. Coral.
On this day 27nd Oct 1644, it was Second Battle of Newbury
31 October 1917. Beersheba. The last great mounted charge in history.
https://youtu.be/_udGcKMhbtc
Thanks chaps.
Paul, Beersheba is Dave's favourite charge I think?
martin :)
It is Martin, something I really want to do in 15mm one day. When I was out in South Australia for work many years ago, one of the lads who I was with, his grand dad had taken part in the charge. He still had his slouch hat and bits of the uniform, quite a privilege to be shown. He remembered his grand dad getting really emotional at having to shoot his horse at the end of the war, before they shipped back home.
Dave
81 years ago today, Churchill became Prime Minister and the first bombs fell on the UK in Kent.
In Europe, the phoney war ended, with Hitler invasion of Western Europe, through the low countries and France.
Quite a day!
Battle of Pinkie 1547 - English victory over the Scots.
Nice weather?
Does that get the fighting spirit going?
martin ???
Also the Battle of Lake Erie (1813) where Commodore Perry wins the day, The Germans start falling back ending the Battle of the Marne, Canada declares war on Germany, a Bomb hits Buckingham Palace and the 8th Army occupies Taranto.
My co-workers have an ongoing this day in history thing on "teams" but tend not to appreciate the militry side of things so much
Derek
Battle of Bita Paka 1914. Australian army invaded German New Britain. Island captured after heavy fighting around wireless station. British flag raised. Invasion force moved to German New Guinea and expelled German army.
9/11. New York. 20 years ago today. So many people lost theirs lives at the time, and many more in the 20 year aftermath.
Quote from: pbeccas (Paul) on September 11, 2021, 03:41:37 AM
9/11. New York. 20 years ago today. So many people lost theirs lives at the time, and many more in the 20 year aftermath.
Hard to calculate just how many people died to from its' ramifications.
1709 - Battle of Malplaquet.
Stirling Bridge 1297, Drogheda in 1649, Brandywine 1777, and a first - St Mihiel France - the first ever US tank attack led by our very own wild card Col George S Patton. Never a quite day.
so 1 loss, a wine either way as no one else was involved and a win over our colonial cousins.
Derek
1683 - Battle of Vienna - Austria and allies defeat Ottomans.
Today 12 Sep:
Battle of Marathon 490BC (how do they know, was bad enough to have an accurate year!)
Battle of Northpoint (saving/losing Baltimore) 1814
Battle of Harpers Ferry 1862
Italians invade Egypt 1940
Skorzeny liberates Mussolini 1943
Coupe in Ethiopia unseating Heile Sellasi
and finally
Belarussian armed forces shoot down a balloon in an international race, 2 Americans die 1995.
Derek
1759 - Battle of Quebec.
1914 - End of First Aisne - Race to the Sea begins.
1940 - Battle of Britain Day - tide turns in favour of the RAF
1861 - Battle of Princeton, (W)west Virginia
For those of us intrigued by the events of the Russian Civil War, current world events seem to be repeating themselves 100 years on. A Russian Army once again in and around the Crimea and Ukraine... It seems the Don will never run quietly :(
Quote from: Leman (Andy) on September 16, 2021, 01:20:49 PM
1861 - Battle of Princeton, (W)west Virginia
Putin was criticising Lenin for being too libral and tolerant
The men of Snake Island will join the long list of soldiers bravely uttering defiance in the face of overwhelming odds...
"Then we shall have our battle in the shade"... (Dienekes, Thermopylae, 480BC)
"Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal!" (Sepoy Gurumukh Singh, Saragarhi, 1897)
"N U T S !" (Gen. Anthony McAulliffe, Bastogne Ardennes, Dec 1944)
"Go F yourselves" (Ukrainian Border guards, Snake Isl., Feb 2022)
They will not be the last... and History won't forget them.
Neil, you missed The Battle of the Java Sea 1942. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-eXwJRLhFs
And Operation Biting 1942 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ_141vpelM
German invasion of Denmark 1940. Also title of the film depicting the event, which is a "must see."
9th April 1982
P&O cruise ship Canberra sailed from Southampton with 3Cdo Brigade on board
Destination - Falkland Islands
Stewart
Aaaargh! Madre de Dios!
Just as well it was back then and not now. You can imagine the news. British invasion of Falklands delayed as P & O ferries sack staff without notice. Maritime Health and Safety regs prevent troop ships from sailing.
John
5th May 1945 - Last German troops in the Netherlands surrender.
80 years ago today, in the early hours of 9 August 1942, HMAS Canberra was sunk by a Japanese naval force during the Battle of Savo Island.
The RAN heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra was hit 24 times in less than two minutes and 84 of her crew were killed including Captain Frank Getting. Following an order to abandon ship, Canberra was sunk the next day by a torpedo from a US destroyer.
At the time of the action, Canberra had formed part of a US Navy-RAN force screening American transports during the landing operations of US marines at Guadalcanal, which begun on 7 August 1942.
A failure of Allied intelligence and vigilance resulted in this screening force being surprised by a determined group of seven Japanese cruisers and a destroyer near Savo Island just before 2am on the morning of the 9 August 1942.
HMAS Canberra, as the lead ship of the screening force, was the first to be engaged and received the full force of the Japanese opening bombardment.
I can't believe that the Americans sunk something with one of their torpedoes! They certainly weren't sinking many Japanese with torpedoes at that time.
John
The target was stationary (sitting) so relatively easy to hit. The above post only says it was sunk by one torpedo, it doesn't state how many torpedoes were launched to achieve that one hit.
Best wishes,
Martin Buck
Nor does Paul's post confirm that the torpedo was actually fired from said US destroyer. It could have been hoisted aboard with a time fuse? ;D
Simon