Browsing: Military

A Brief History On December 21, 1936, the German concept of a “schnellbomber” that could outrun most fighter planes took to the air when the prototype Junkers Ju-88 made its first flight, achieving a speed of 360 mph.  Today, we look at the major belligerents of WWII and their most produced 2 engine bomber, leaving you to tell us which one was best. Digging Deeper Germany, Junkers Ju-88: 15,183 were built with a 290 mph, top speed and  3100 lbs of bomb capacity internal, plus 3000 lbs of bombs external. Defense was provided by  5 x 7.92mm machine guns Britain,…

A Brief History On December 20, 1941, the American Volunteer Group, better known by its nickname, the Flying Tigers, engaged in its first air-to-air combat when its fighters encountered 10 Japanese “Sally” bombers. Digging Deeper Flying the rugged Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, this dashing and daring band of American military pilots and support personnel had resigned from the American military to volunteer to fight for China against the Japanese aggressor.  By the time of their first combat, the US was already in the war, and the AVG was disbanded by July of 1942, most of its personnel reabsorbed by the American…

A Brief History On December 10, 1997, Ukrainian paralympic World Record holder and Gold medalist swimmer, Viktoriia Savtsova, was born, taking her place among the many distinguished Ukrainians throughout history.  Today, we take a look at another famous Ukrainian hero, known as The Ghost of Kyiv. Digging Deeper Our title Ghost is a product of the current war between Russia and Ukraine and is reputed to be the pilot of a MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jet.  While admitted by the Ukrainian government to be a myth, the stories about this intrepid pilot who reportedly shot down 6 of the invading Russian…

A Brief History On December 8, 2022, we take the opportunity to review a new book by Stephen Dando-Collins, an author we have become familiar with through previous reviews.  This latest work, Rebels Against Rome, sub-titled 400 Years of Rebellions against the Rule of Rome, is another winner in our estimation, excellently written in a manner easy and pleasing for academics and casual readers of history alike. Digging Deeper Dando-Collins, an Australian, does not get bogged down in incessant citing of sources and references often found in more academic treatments, instead relying on end notes for citations, a method we…

A Brief History On December 2, 1954, the United States and the Republic of China, known to us today more familiarly as “Taiwan,” signed a mutual defense treaty that was really just the US promising to ensure the integrity of the island of Taiwan which claimed to be the “legitimate” government of China against any invasion or aggression from mainland/Communist China or perhaps the USSR. Digging Deeper A Cold War arrangement, this treaty became obsolete because of a change in the relationship between the US and Communist China during the 1970s and by 1980 the treaty was nullified.  The treaty…