Browsing: Military

A Brief History On February 22, 1744, the British Royal Navy began an engagement with Spanish and French naval ships in a sea battle off the coast of Toulon, France in the Mediterranean Sea, a battle that was a defeat for the British and one of the most humiliating fiascos in Royal Navy history, The Battle of Toulon.  While we do not believe we are Anglophiles per se, we do have great respect for the Royal Navy and its long tradition of courage at sea and its many accomplishments.  In fact, the only national navy we would place alongside the…

A Brief History On February 19, 1945, 30,000 US Marines landed on the Japanese held island of Iwo Jima, part of the Volcano Islands chain.  The Battle of Iwo Jima is often cited as the most ferocious battle in American History and is a testament to the incredibly brave and dedicated men on both sides that fought and died there.  Among the bravest of the brave was Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone, a previous Medal of Honor winner from the Guadalcanal Campaign that was only at Iwo Jima because he demanded to be returned to action instead of staying in the…

A Brief History On February 18, 1942, the Japanese Imperial Army began a carefully planned massacre of ethnic Chinese men in the conquered territories of Singapore and Malaya, an effort to eliminate what the Japanese perceived to be “hostile elements.”  As many as 100,000 Chinese men were executed in a purge called Sook Ching by the Chinese.  Soldiers carrying out the deadly deeds were supervised by the Kempeitai, the Japanese secret police. Digging Deeper The Japanese saw the Chinese as their main enemy in Asia and called the purge of ethnic Chinese “Kakyō Shukusei”  or  “purging of Overseas Chinese” in…

A Brief History On February 15, 1113, the reigning Pope of the Catholic Church, Pope Paschal II, issued a Papal Bull titled “Pie Postulatio Voluntatis,” recognizing the Order of Hospitallers, a military order of Catholic knights that had existed in the Holy Land since about 1099.  The order had begun in Jerusalem during the 11th Century in service of an Amalfitan (established by people from the Italian city-state of Amalfi) hospital that was founded in Jerusalem to see to the medical needs of Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land, part of the Christian Crusades.  Known more formally as The Order…

A Brief History On February 8, 1904, the Japanese Navy started the Russo-Japanese War by conducting a sneak attack against the Russian naval fleet at anchor at Port Arthur, Manchuria, a key strategic Pacific port then under the administration of Imperial Russia.  Most of us are familiar with the Japanese sneak (or “surprise” or even “preemptive” attack if you want) on Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii on the American fleet, aircraft and port facilities on December 7, 1941, that started World War II for the United States, but even before that famous sneak attack, the Japanese had already embraced the idea…