Browsing: Military

A Brief History On October 3, 1952, (October 2 local date), the British became the third country to boast the possession of atomic weapons when Operation Hurricane resulted in a successful nuclear blast in the Monte Bello Islands of Western Australia.  The United States had first achieved nuclear fission in bomb form on July 16, 1945, in a famous/infamous blast called the Trinity test in the desert of New Mexico, the culmination of a joint Allied effort to design and field an atomic bomb, an effort that the United Kingdom had contributed to.  So why was the UK not included…

A Brief History On October 1, 1994, the Pacific island nation of Palau entered an agreement with the United States called “a Compact of Free Association with the United States,” maintaining its independence while reaping some of the territorial benefits of being part of the “American Empire.”  While the average American is probably not familiar with the most populous of the 340 islands that make up the country, and probably never heard of the capital city of Ngerulmud, those familiar with the US vs. Japan Pacific War during World War II may be familiar with the island of Peleliu, the…

A Brief History On September 27, 1944, the American bombing command in Europe, the US Army Air Forces’ 8th Air Force, conducted its Kassel Mission, a horrendous raid that resulted in the worst losses for any US bomb group in World War II, a tale we told back in 2013.  The 445th Bombardment Group, consisting of 39 Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers had become separated from the main bombing force, and to make matters worse, also lost their fighter escort.  Although the big bombers suffered terribly, they managed to shoot down about 29 German fighters, a remarkable defensive performance by the…

A Brief History August 12, 1915 marks the date of a story – which is not actually just a simple story – which tells of the vanishing of a group of British soldiers during the now infamous Gallipoli campaign, during World War One.  Most say that the 5th Norfolk Battalion vanished into thin air. Other versions of this legend say that the soldiers actually walked into thick mist and were then swallowed up, without a single trace.  Ever since the men of Sandringham have vanished, theories have been created, as well as a lot of controversies. Naturally, all of those…

A Brief History On September 7, 1997, the latest and greatest of America’s jet fighter air superiority fighter planes first took to the sky.  Incredibly complex, sophisticated, and of course, expensive, the Lockheed F-22 Raptor was designed to be a stealthy fighter that could take down enemy fighters and bombers without even being detected.  Despite its steep price, the fighter would be worth the cost if it could deliver on its promises.  Could it deliver?  Read on… Digging Deeper Back in World War II, several nations attempted to produce fighter aircraft specifically designed to out fight other fighters and provide…