Fleet Band Activities

Fleet Band Activities (FBA), formerly the Navy Music Program (NMP), is the central management office for nine active-duty fleet bands of the United States Navy. It is located at Naval Support Activity Mid-South in Millington, Tennessee. FBA has the responsibility of coordinating the assignment and distribution of personnel, equipment and funding to the worldwide activities of navy military bands. It also is responsible for managing the application and audition process for potential navy musicians. Personnel from the FBA work directly with the Bureau of Naval Personnel to meet our musician requirements for the fleet.
History of navy bands.
The earliest pieces of military music in the United States Navy was the Shantyman's Song, which often helped in boosting the morale of sailors and developing a culture based on shipboard life. Later came trumpeters, drummers and fifers who were carried on the early frigates to sound calls, give general orders, and perform at funerals and other ceremonies. They eventually gained a role as a separate section of the crew on many Navy vessels. Shore-based bands in the 19th century led to the creation of the Naval Academy Band, which grew in importance during the American Civil War. Other band units afloat and ashore played a major role in promoting the morale of sailors and civilians alike. At the start of World War I many civilian musicians left their famous orchestras and joined the Navy as well as other services of the United States Armed Forces, using their trade to contribute to the war effort. MUS1, a 45-piece regimental band led by notable James Benton Parsons, was composed of the first blacks to serve in the modern Navy at rank higher than messman. The first of a series of fleet music schools were established in 1903 in Virginia in an effort to improve the training and performance of navy bands. B-1 was replaced at Manana in October 1945 as its men mustered out and returned to the states by a 17-piece band that included future jazz great John Coltrane.
Premier Bands.
The United States Navy Band.
The United States Navy Band the official musical organization of the United States Navy. Based at the historic Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. since 1925, it serves the musical needs of the national government, performing at presidential inaugurations, state arrival ceremonies, state funerals, and state dinners, alongside other significant events. It is composed of the following ensembles: Concert Band, Ceremonial Band, Sea Chanters, Commodores, Country Current, and Cruisers. On 25 February 1960, 19 members of the Navy Band were flying from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro to join the rest of the band for a reception by Brazilian President Juscelino Kubitschek on behalf of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was on a state visit to the country. As the Navy transport plane approached the city in dense fog, a mid-air collision occurred with a Brazilian airliner, with 19 members of the Navy band (including the assistant leader J. Harold Fultz and most of the string section) being killed. The crash was the single worst event in the band's history, and devastated the remaining members who, despite the loss and its reconfiguration, completed their South American tour. Events that Navy Band has performed in years past have included the funeral for President John F. Kennedy, re return of the hostages during the Iran Hostage Crisis, the dedication parade of the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the International Naval Review and the Quebec City International Festival of Military Bands.
Naval Academy Band.
Officially formed in November 1852, the United States Naval Academy Band provides musical support to the Brigade of Midshipmen and the surrounding community. Special events include the Side-By-Side concert featuring local High School musicians chosen to play with the band under the baton of a special guest conductor, and the annual Finale concert featuring all Naval Academy Band ensembles and closing with Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture," complete with live cannon fire! Smaller ensembles are featured in the Chamber Music Series, a variety of recitals planned and presented by individual band members.
Fleet Bands in the continental United States.
Navy Band Northwest.
Navy Band Northwest dates back to the Bremerton Navy Yard Band of 1918 and the 13th Naval District Band of 1925. In the fall of 1970, its name was changed to Navy Band Northwest and then to Navy Band Seattle and stayed that way for close to 30 years until it changed its name to Navy Band Northwest in April 1999 as a result of regionalization initiatives.
Navy Band Southwest.
Navy Band Southwest is one of the Navy's oldest continuing musical organizations. The band serves as the musical ambassador for Navy Region Southwest. The 45-member band's other performing ensembles include the Wind Ensemble, the contemporary music ensemble, the Destroyers, the Show Band West, the Brass and Woodwind Quintets, and SeaBreeze. The latter is the band's VIP reception combo. It has performed for many different community concerts and professional sporting events, including regular performances with the San Diego Symphony Summer Pops.
United States Navy Band Great Lakes.
Navy Band Great Lakes performs in a nine-state area of responsibility stretching from Indiana to North Dakota. As its name implies, it is located near the Great Lakes, specifically Naval Station Great Lakes where it serves under Naval Service Training Command. It also provides support to the local Recruit Training Command in supporting naval recruits during ceremonies in their basic training. From 1911 to 1917, navy uniform regulations prescribed that the band wear US Marine Corps Uniforms (without USMC) in performance. From 1917 onward the band wore the famous "Crackerjack" uniforms. Navy Band Great Lakes was instrumental in cultural change in the during World War II, having enlisted black musicians, and even creating integrated Navy Bands later on.
Notable members of the band include composer John Philip Sousa, trumpeter Clark Terry, saxophonist Von Freeman, trombonist Al Grey, composer and conductor Gerald Wilson, saxophonist Lou Donaldson, composer and arranger Luther Henderson, Major Holley.
Navy Band Northeast.
Navy Band Northeast was officially established in 1974, located at Naval Station Newport in Newport Rhode Island. Navy Bands in Newport have previously dated back at least to the era of the American Civil War. It currently serves communities throughout the Northeastern United States.
Fleet Forces Band.
The Norfolk, Virginia based Fleet Forces Band is the musical representative for the Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, and is the largest of the 10 fleet bands.
Navy Band Southeast.
Navy Band Southeast was established in October 1995. It represents the Navy Region Southeast and serves throughout Florida and the Southeastern United States. The band consists of 31-one professional musicians. It is notable in that it was the unit American Idol finalist Phil Stacey was assigned to while on active duty (he was part of the "Pride" ensemble as well as with the wind and ceremonial bands). His success on the show benefited the band by drawing in an estimated 2.4 million dollars.
Fleet Bands outside the continental U.S..
Pacific Fleet Band.
The Pacific Fleet Band was formed coming out of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Prior to that, Navy Bands have been stationed in Hawaii either on ships home ported at Pearl Harbor, or attached to Navy shore installations at Pearl Harbor, Barbers Point and Waikiki. From 1959 to 1964, the Pacific Fleet Band operated from a building at Supply Base Pearl Harbor, just inside the Halawa Gate. It moved to its current facility in 1967. Since its establishment, it has traveled extensively in representing the Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, as well as the United States Pacific Fleet as a whole. It has performed at engagements in Pusan and Seoul, Guam, the Philippines and Okinawa. Its associations over the years have included American bands such as the Hickam Air Force Base Band and the Schofield Barracks Army Band as well as foreign navy band such as the Indian Navy Band, the Royal Australian Navy Band, and the Military Band of the Pacific Fleet of Russia.
United States Naval Forces Europe Band.
The United States Naval Forces Europe Band is the U.S. Navy's official band in Europe. Stationed in Naples, Italy, it under the operational control of Commander, Naval Forces Europe and Africa. The band performs throughout the European Region and throughout Africa and Western Asia. With that, it performs in locations such as the United Kingdom, Iceland, Croatia, Israel, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, and South Africa. Ensembles in the band include the Wind Ensemble, Ceremonial Band, Marching Band, Brass Quintet, Woodwind Quintet, a Brass/Show Band, Jazz Ensemble, Pop Music Ensembles, and Protocol Combo.
Seventh Fleet Band.
The Seventh Fleet Band was created as part of the United States Seventh Fleet, which was established upon the renaming of the Southwest Pacific Force on 7 March 1943. They base their activities out of Yokosuka, Japan,
The United States Seventh Fleet Band is today composed of six groups of professional musicians: the Pacific Ambassadors Showband, the Far East Edition, the Orient Express, the Broadside Brass Band, the Shonan Brass Quintet, the Woodwind Trio, and a variety of other groups. It has performed in the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, as well as many other cities and countries of the Far East.
Support Unit.
The Repair Division was established to provide the material support in the operation of Fleet bands both afloat and ashore. It comprises professional Navy musicians and civilians who operate out of Millington, Tennessee. It is responsible for many administrative tasks, not in the least of which is the shipping and receiving of equipment to/from bands fleet-wide. It is also responsible for maintaining inventory in excess of 50,000 items.
School of Music.
Located aboard the Naval Amphibious Base in Norfolk, Virginia, the Naval School of Music provides specialized training for selected personnel of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. It is also the first institution musicians attend following basic training. Graduates of the Navy School of Music go on to serve throughout the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps as members of the military bands of these three branches.
In June 1935, the Navy School of Music was opened, operating in conjunction with the United States Navy Band until becoming an independent entity in 1942. Students enrolled at the School during this era graduated as complete ensembles—transferring as a unit to serve aboard ships in the U.S. Fleet. Unit Band No. 22, for example, was deployed to USS "Arizona"—ultimately to be counted among the first casualties during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After more than a decade of operating as a Navy-specific institution, the School received group of 15 enlisted Marines and, following negotiations between Secretary of the Army Frank Pace and the Chief of Naval Personnel Admiral John W. Roper, Army students began being enrolled in January 1951. On 13 December 1951, the first women to graduate from the Naval School of Music received their diplomas.


Army on the Frontier

The "Army on the Frontier" is a term applied to the activities of the United States Army stationed near the frontier settlements from the beginning of national existence until about 1890, the end of the settlers' frontier.
The principal functions performed by the U.S. Army were:
Indian Wars.
Indian wars have occurred throughout the United States though the conflicts are generally separated into two categories; the Indian wars east of the Mississippi River and the Indian wars west of the Mississippi. The U.S. Bureau of the Census (1894) provided an estimate of deaths:
The Indian wars under the government of the United States have been more than 40 in number. They have cost the lives of about 19,000 white men, women and children, including those killed in individual combats, and the lives of about 30,000 Indians. The actual number of killed and wounded Indians must be very much higher than the given... Fifty percent additional would be a safe estimate...
The western movement of settlers brought conflict with the Indians. Scores of Indian wars and campaigns were fought by the Army. Some of the more notable Indian wars were: the Northwest Indians, 1790–95 and 1811–13; Seminole Wars in Florida, 1817–18, 1835–42 and 1856; Black Hawk War, 1832; Sioux War, 1862–1867; War of the Plains Indians, 1863–69; Sioux and Cheyenne War of 1876–79; and Apache Wars, 1861–90. These wars were fought by the regular infantry and cavalry regiments, occasionally aided by state militia and volunteers.
The frontier soldiers were usually stationed in posts at strategic points defending the routes of communications, settlements and Indian reservations. The strength of this army, about one half of the Regular Army in time of peace, ranged from 1,423 troops in 1790 in the Northwest Territory to over 26,000 in 1868, which was the height of the Indian wars on the Great Plains. The frontier posts had, on average, a garrison of 200 troops.
By 1867, over 100 posts were scattered throughout the West. As the Indian wars ended after 1870, these posts were rapidly abandoned. The army's supplies were carried by boats, steamboats, ox and mule trains, pack mules and horses and later by railroads, which stimulated the development of trade, farming and ranching. The difficulty of supplying these remote Army posts encouraged farming and urban enterprises around the posts, the beginning of permanent settlements. The daily life of the frontier soldier was a hardy one. The soldiers built their shelter, escorted travelers, emigrants, and wagon trains on the trails, aided and protected surveying parties, constructed thousands of miles of trails and roads, supplied needy emigrants, patrolled trails and railroad lines, guarded river navigation, protected government and private property from hostile Indians and outlaws, assisted and fed friendly Indians, fought hostile Indians and gave police assistance to the weak civil authorities on the frontier. Their shelters were usually log, stone, adobe or sod huts constructed largely by their own labor. The hardships of the soldiers, the miserable quarters, inferior food and the lonely life encouraged many desertions.
The Army on the Frontier disagreed with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the frontier civil authorities over the Indian policy. The frontiersmen in general demanded the destruction or removal of the Indians (see Indian removal). The Indian Bureau attempted to protect the Indians, and the Army to coerce them.
When the Indians revolted, the U.S. Army made war upon the entire Indian tribe, punishing the innocent with the guilty, even to the extent of killing women and children in raids on villages or camps. The Indian Bureau and the Army officials accused each other of being responsible for the Indian wars.


United States during the Turkish War of Independence

During the First World War, Ottoman Empire and United States sided in different sides, but they never officially declared war on each other. However, American ships carried weapons for the Entente during the Gallipoli campaign.
After the First World War, the Ottoman Empire was defeated and the Armistice of Mudros was signed. Entente requested Istanbul, Marmara Region and Greater Armenia to be under control of an American mandate. Some Turkish communities even defended idea of whole Anatolia being controlled by United States.
United States reportedly helped the Entente during Turkish War of Independence. American aid included but wasn't limited to logistic support. USS Arizona and 3 other American ships provided protection to the Greeks during Greek landing at Smyrna. In 7 June 1922, Greek battleships (including Georgios Averof) and the American battleships USS Sands, USS McFarland and USS Sturtevant bombed Samsun to help the Greek rebels in region. 4 Turkish civilians were killed and 3 were injured as a result of bombardment. The bombardment also caused large scaled damage in city, destroying dozens of buildings.
List of Battleships.
Many American battleships served in Turkish territorial waters between 1908-1923. The most important ones can be listed as;


Military history of Ukraine


Battle of Oposhnya

The Battle of Oposhnya was a battle which took place on February 8, 1709 during the Swedish invasion of Russia in the Great Northern War. After the costly siege of Veprik the Swedes under Charles XII of Sweden started an offensive against the Russian army in the area. The intention of this offensive was not clear to the Russians, as they subsequently had to spread their main forces out to cover possible attack directions. One of these were the troops under Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov positioned at Oposhnya on the river Vorskla to block any attempt by the Swedes to cross the river. Charles intended to attack Menshikov and his 6,000 cavalry in a surprising manner, forcing them off the location. He led 2,000 cavalry for this task and managed to catch the Russians completely by surprise while having dinner. Charles immediately charged with his men and swept the Russian forces out of the town followed by a hot pursuit on step. In this action the Russians lost more than 450 men, the Swedes only 19. Perhaps more importantly however, the Swedes could now cross the river Vorskla. The offensive continued for a while and Charles reached Krasnokutsk where he forced another Russian army on the run.


East Kent Militia

The East Kent Militia, based in Kent, England, was one of a number of county-based irregular military units designed to provide, during periods of international tension, homeland security, relief of regular troops from routine garrison duties, and a source of trained officers and men for the regular Army. Formed in 1760 it was amalgamated in 1881 into The Buffs (East Kent Regiment).
History.
The East Kent Militia Regiment was formed in Canterbury, Kent in 1760 and was successively designated the 1st or East Kent Militia (1793), the 57th or East Kent Militia (1803) and the 49th or East Kent Militia (1833). In 1876 it was split into two battalions.
In 1881, reorganisation of the Army as part of the Childers Reforms meant that militia regiments generally became the third battalions in local line regiments. Accordingly, the two East Kent battalions became the 3rd and 4th Battalions of The Buffs (East Kent Regiment), although the 4th Battalion was subsequently (1888) merged into the 3rd.
During the Boer War the battalion embodied (reported for duty) on 18 January 1900 and 16 officers and 551 other ranks under the command of Colonel T.F. Brinckman sailed from Southampton to Cape Town on 10 March in the "S.S. Moor". From Cape Town they were sent to Betany, Orange River Colony, where they were attached to the 3rd Infantry Division before moving on, firstly to Reddersburg to join the Guards Brigade and then a week later, on 16 April, to Dewetsdorp, fifteen miles south of Bloemfontein, to join Rundle's 8th Division.
After the Haldane Reforms of 1907 the Militia units were disembodied (stood down) and their strengths transferred to the new 'Special Reserve'. During World War I the Special Reserve was active on home security such as coastal defence, as well as providing a source of recruits for the regiments fighting in France. After the war they were disembodied, not re-activated in World War II and formally dissolved, including the 3rd Battalion of the Buffs, in 1953.


Harold Franklyn

General Sir Harold Edmund Franklyn (28 November 1885 − 31 March 1963) was a British Army officer who fought in both World War I and World War II. He is most notable during World War II for his command of the 5th Infantry Division during the Battle of France in May/June 1940.
Early life and First World War.
Harold Edmund Franklyn was born on 28 November 1885, the son of William Franklyn, a British Army officer. He was educated at Rugby School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into his father's regiment, the Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment) on 16 August 1905. Promoted to lieutenant on 16 January 1908, in 1913 he married Monica Belfield, daughter of Lieutenant General Herbert Belfield; they had one daughter and one son. By 1914, the year of his father's death, he was attending the Staff College, Camberley as a student. Among his fellow students there included J. F. C. Fuller.
He served in World War I on the Western Front and served mainly as a staff officer throughout the conflict. Soon after the outbreak of war in August 1914, Franklyn, graduating early from the Staff College, was made an Assistant Embarkation Staff Officer, later serving briefly as adjutant with the 6th (Service) Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment, a newly created Kitchener's Army unit composed of volunteers, which was followed, on 31 October, by a promotion to captain. After having served as a General Staff Officer Grade 3 (GSO3) and a brigade major, Franklyn was promoted to brevet major on 3 June 1916 and served on the operations staff of the 21st Division, a Kitchener's Army unit, and was involved in the division's preparations for the Battle of the Somme. The division was commanded throughout Franklyn's service with it by Major General David Campbell. After the division's involvement in the Battle of Arras in April 1917, followed by the Battle of Passchendaele (also known as the Third Battle of Ypres) throughout the summer, Franklyn became the senior staff officer in the division in mid-October, remaining in this role until hostilities ceased in November 1918. Throughout the war Franklyn was six times mentioned in dispatches and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and the Military Cross (MC).
Between the wars.
After the war Franklyn, promoted to major upon transferring to the East Lancashire Regiment on 19 August 1925, served at the Staff College, Camberley, as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General (DAAG) from 31 August 1925 until 31 August 1928. Transferring on 10 May 1930 and receiving promotion to lieutenant colonel in the West Yorkshire Regiment, he became Commanding officer (CO) of the regiment's 1st Battalion in 1930, and transferred to the Sudan Defence Force (SDF) in 1933, initially as a General staff Officer and then from 1935 until 1938 as Commandant. Promoted to colonel on 28 November 1933, on his forty-eighth birthday, he was, on 29 January 1938, promoted to major general (with seniority backdated to 1 January 1938), In December 1938 he returned to Britain where he was appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 5th Infantry Division, succeeding Major General Guy Williams. The division was the British Army's reserve formation, stationed in and around Catterick in North Yorkshire under the control of Northern Command, but was severely understrength, having recently returned from Palestine. On 21 August 1939 Franklyn was made Colonel of the Green Howards. In late 1939 he was appointed a Grand Officer of the Order of the Nile in recognition of his service in Sudan.
World War II.
France and Belgium.
Upon the outbreak of World War II soon afterwards, in September 1939, Franklyn had been GOC of the 5th Division for over a year. However, the division was still not fully formed and so, as a result, the division's brigades arrived piecemeal in France as independent formations where it became part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The divisional HQ only arrived in France in mid-December.
The division, composed of the 13th, 15th and 17th Infantry Brigades and supporting units, the latter composed mainly of Territorial Army (TA) units, was assigned to Lieutenant General Sir Alan Brooke's II Corps until early April 1940. All three brigades were commanded by future generals, the 13th commanded by Miles Dempsey, the 15th by Horatio Berney-Ficklin, and the 17th by Montagu Stopford. Dempsey would later command the British Second Army in Northwestern Europe from 1944 to 1945, while Stopford would also rise to army command, commanding first XXXIII Indian Corps and later the Twelfth Army in the Far East, whereas Berney-Ficklin would command the 5th Division from 1940 to 1943. Although the 15th Brigade saw contact with the enemy on the Saar front in January and February, the division, as a whole, saw little action, and time was spent digging defensive positions in expectation of a repeat of the trench warfare of World War I. In April, the 15th Brigade was detached from the division for participation in the disastrous Norwegian Campaign, leaving Franklyn's 5th Division with just two brigades.
The War Office had intended for the 5th Division, being the reserve division of the Regular army, to return to the United Kingdom as a reserve. By 9 May, many units had already reached the Channel Ports, but the order was cancelled. The German Army launched its assault in the West the day after, and the division joined Lieutenant General Sir Ronald Adam's III Corps. Just days later, Lieutenant General Michael Barker's I Corps, which was manning a defensive line on the River Senne. After withdrawing, the division was held in reserve until moving to Arras, which was then under attack from several German panzer divisions, including the 7th Panzer Division under "Generalmajor" Erwin Rommel.
The Germans had broken through the French armies on the BEF's right flank, and were sweeping their way west and northwards, aiming for the Channel coast. Senior Allied commanders believed a counterattack necessary, to be made southwards from Arras, and Franklyn was assigned by General Lord Gort, Commander-in-chief (C-in-C) of the BEF, to command "Frankforce". "Frankforce" was composed of Franklyn's 5th Division, along with Major General Giffard Martel's 50th Division (like the 5th Division, with only two brigades) and the 1st Army Tank Brigade. On 21 May the attack went in, and was initially very successful, greatly surprising the Germans and unnerving the "Oberkommando der Wehrmacht". However, French support did not materialise on time and Franklyn was forced on the defensive and ordered to hold the high ground on Vimy Ridge. "Frankforce" came under heavy attack and Lord Gort ordered its withdrawal on the night of 23 May.
Gort was then ordered to use the 5th and 50th Divisions to attack across the German lines of communication and link up with the French attacking from the Somme. However, Gort decided instead on 25 May to send both divisions, in one of the most important decisions of the campaign, to fill the gap between the Belgian Army and the BEF, along the Ypres–Comines Canal. Franklyn's 5th Division again came under command of Brooke's II Corps where, in the Battle of the Ypres–Comines Canal, the division was engaged in some of the toughest fighting of the war so far, with the Germans concentrating everything on eliminating the British penetration. As the battle wore on, more units came under Franklyn's command, including the 10th Brigade, under Brigadier Evelyn Barker, and the 11th Brigade, under Brigadier Kenneth Anderson (both detached from Major General Dudley Johnson's 4th Division), along with elements of Major General Harold Alexander's 1st Division, and heavy artillery from I Corps. By holding the line on the night of 27 May Franklyn enabled Major General Bernard Montgomery's 3rd Division to cross behind Franklyn's rear to fill the huge gap caused by the Belgian Army's surrender.
Franklyn's stand, Brooke believed, had saved the BEF from destruction, causing the latter to write in his diary that "Franklyn had put up a very fine show and the 5th Division had fought admirably". Major General Henry Pownall, Lord Gort's Chief of Staff, believed Franklyn to be the outstanding British divisional commander of the campaign. Brooke then gave orders for Franklyn and his division, now reduced to roughly 600 men in each of his two brigades, to withdraw from their positions and retreat to the Dunkirk perimeter, which they did on the night of 29 May, and were subsequently evacuated to England over the next few days.
Britain.
After returning to England on 1 June Franklyn, along with the two brigades of his division, both much reduced in manpower and equipment, were sent to Scotland to serve under Scottish Command, where Brigadier Berney-Ficklin's 15th Brigade was already serving, having been evacuated from Norway in early May, although it did not rejoin the division until early July. Made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) on 11 July 1940, on 19 July Franklyn handed over command of the 5th Division, which he had commanded for the last nineteen months, to Major General Horatio Berney-Ficklin, his senior brigade commander, who had returned from Norway, although he himself had been incapacitated and thus unable to participate in the campaign.
For his excellent performance during the short campaign in France and Belgium, Franklyn was promoted to acting lieutenant general on 19 July, and ordered to establish a new VIII Corps, with Franklyn as GOC, and aided by Brigadier Manley James as his Brigadier General Staff (BGS). With fears throughout the country of a German invasion, Franklyn, as GOC VIII Corps, was responsible for the defence of the counties of Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, a very long line of coast to defend, but one which was considered a less likely invasion target. The corps had the 3rd and 48th (South Midland) Divisions under command, both of which had fought in France with the BEF. In late November, the 3rd Division, under Major General James Gammell, was replaced by the 50th Division, now under Major General William Ramsden. All three divisions had fought in France with the BEF, and were all short of manpower and equipment. In early 1941 three of the independent infantry brigades serving as part of VIII Corps were merged to create the Devon and Cornwall County Division, whose first GOC was Major General Charles Allfrey, later replaced by Major General Frederick Morgan. The division was one of the many newly created British County Divisions which were being raised at the time, composed mainly of the very large number of conscripts recruited into the army in the aftermath of Dunkirk. Despite a plethora of infantry, the county divisions had no supporting divisional troops such as artillery or engineers and they were given a static and purely defensive role.
In May 1941 Franklyn handed over VIII Corps to Lieutenant General Kenneth Anderson, who had served under him briefly in France, and was appointed as C-in-C of Northern Ireland. Ireland, then still within the British Commonwealth and also known as Éire, had remained neutral in the war and kept diplomatic relations with Germany, who supported the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Of great concern to the British government, in particular to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, was the possibility of Germany invading Éire, where they could establish a foothold. To this end, an agreement was reached with the Irish government, allowing British troops to be stationed in Éire in the event of a German invasion.
As a result, III Corps, under Lieutenant General Desmond Anderson, was sent to Northern Ireland, and took under command the 5th, 53rd and 61st Infantry Divisions. Northern Ireland District was deemed to be too small and so Franklyn established a superior HQ, entitled British Troops in Northern Ireland. Franklyn's rank of lieutenant-general was made temporary on 19 July 1941, and permanent on 30 September. By early 1942, the United States had entered the war, and, due to an agreement between Prime Minister Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt before the American entry into the conflict, US troops, mainly the 34th Infantry Division, a National Guard (equivalent to the British Territorial Army) formation, began arriving in January 1942 and, their numbers swelling over the next two years, gradually relieving the British divisions.
Franklyn was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) on 1 January 1943, and remained in his post as C-in-C Northern Ireland until 23 July 1943 when he was promoted to the rank of full general and succeeded General Sir Bernard Paget, who had been a fellow instructor at the Staff College, Camberley between the wars, as C-in-C Home Forces, after Paget was promoted to the command of the newly created 21st Army Group. Home Forces had, until Franklyn's assumption of command, commanded all the army's field formations in the country. During the 18-month period between the fall of France in June 1940 until the entry of the United States in December 1941, Home Forces, commanded throughout this whole period by General Sir Alan Brooke, who became Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) in December 1941, was responsible for the defence of the country against invasion. By 1942, with the United States in the war and the Soviet Union fighting the Germans on the Eastern Front, the emphasis turned from the defensive to taking the offensive. The situation changed again by the time Franklyn took command of Home Forces.
Soon after he took command, Home Forces had to allocate several divisions to Paget's 21st Army Group and begin training for the Allied invasion of Normandy, then to take place in May 1944. The remaining divisions fell into three categories, with the 38th, 45, 47th and 55th Divisions being placed on the Lower Establishment, with a much reduced composition than a standard division. A further three divisions, the 48th, 76 and 80, were reserve formations, specifically for training and holding men before being sent on an overseas draft. The 77th was a holding division, created with the intention of retraining men returning from leave and released Prisoners of war (POWs). The 61st Division was the only field formation that did not transfer to the 21st Army Group and in the event never served overseas.
Reorganisations took place in late 1944, after the Normandy landings had taken place, with the 76th, 77th and 80th Divisions disbanded, and the 38th, 45th and 47th Divisions becoming reserve formations, and the 55th Division being raised to the Higher Establishment. By this stage of the war the British Army was suffering from a very severe shortage of manpower, particularly on the Western Front, the main theatre of war for the Western Allies, and Home Forces was under increasingly heavy pressure to provide enough men as battle casualty replacements (reinforcements in British terminology) to the British forces of the 21st Army Group, now commanded by Montgomery, in Northwestern Europe. It was during the fighting that his son, Captain John Belfield Edmund Franklyn, was killed in action in Holland on 27 September 1944 while serving with the 6th Battalion, Green Howards. He was just 22 years of age.
There were, however, other priorities, most notably co-ordinating with allies, mainly the Americans, and the running of an armed camp, which was no easy task. The Home Guard, along with numerous training commands and establishments, regimental depots and POW camps.
Postwar.
Retiring from the army on 15 October 1945, in May 1946, Franklyn was appointed chairman of the Battles Nomenclature Committee for the Second World War. Franklyn relinquished the colonelcy of his old regiment, the Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment) on 21 October 1949. He retired to Newbury, Berkshire, where he died on 31 March 1963, four years after the death of his wife, at the age of 77, from a heart attack.


Ten Year Rule

The Ten Year Rule was a British government guideline, first adopted in August 1919, that the armed forces should draft their estimates "on the assumption that the British Empire would not be engaged in any great war during the next ten years".
The suggestion for the rule came from Winston Churchill, who in 1919 was Secretary of State for War and Air. Former Prime Minister Arthur Balfour unsuccessfully argued to the Committee of Imperial Defence, which adopted the rule, that "nobody could say that from any one moment war was an impossibility for the next ten years ... we could not rest in a state of unpreparedness on such an assumption by anybody. To suggest that we could be nine and a half years away from preparedness would be a most dangerous suggestion."
In 1928 Churchill, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, successfully urged the Cabinet to make the rule self-perpetuating, and hence it was in force unless specifically countermanded. In 1931 the Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald wanted to abolish the Ten Year Rule because he thought it unjustified based on the international situation. This was bitterly opposed by the Foreign Secretary Arthur Henderson who succeeded in keeping the rule.
There were very large cuts in defence spending as a result of this rule, with defence spending going down from £766 million in 1919–20, to £189 million in 1921–22, to £102 million in 1932. In April 1931 the First Sea Lord, Sir Frederick Field, claimed in a report to the Committee of Imperial Defence that the Royal Navy had declined not only in relative strength compared to other Great Powers but "owing to the operation of the 'ten-year-decision' and the clamant need for economy, our absolute strength also has ... been so diminished as to render the fleet incapable, in the event of war, of efficiently affording protection to our trade". Field also claimed that the navy was below the standard required for keeping open Britain's sea communications during wartime and that if the navy moved to the East to protect the Empire there would not be enough ships to protect the British Isles and its trade from attack and that no port in the entire British Empire was "adequately defended".
The Ten Year Rule was abandoned by the Cabinet on 23 March 1932, but this decision was countered with: "this must not be taken to justify an expanding expenditure by the Defence Services without regard to the very serious financial and economic situation" which the country was in due to the Great Depression.
Recent reference.
In 2010, the Royal Navy decided to retire HMS "Ark Royal", Britain's only aircraft carrier, in 2011. This was five years earlier than previously planned and up to ten years before the planned entry into service of the new "Queen Elizabeth"-class aircraft carriers. A group of retired admirals criticized the decision, calling it a new "10-year rule".


Air campaign of the Heglig Crisis

The air campaign of the Heglig Crisis was a military air campaign of the Sudanese Government against the Republic of South Sudan, part of Heglig Crisis.
Conflict.
The Sudanese Air Force started the bombings in the Republic of South Sudan. The campaign started on 1 March 2012, in Panykang County when a helicopter damaged two oil wells. Than a south Sudanese bomber started fire on Teshwin, but it not damaged anything. The real campaign started when Sudanese forces open the fire against Bentiu, and make 5 casualties. NATO asked Sudan to stop the campaign, but the government didn't stop it.


Battle of Blenheim

The Battle of Blenheim (; ; ) fought on , was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. The overwhelming Allied victory ensured the safety of Vienna from the Franco-Bavarian army, thus preventing the collapse of the reconstituted Grand Alliance.
Louis XIV of France sought to knock the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold, out of the war by seizing Vienna, the Habsburg capital, and gain a favourable peace settlement. The dangers to Vienna were considerable: Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria and Marshal Ferdinand de Marsin's forces in Bavaria threatened from the west, and Marshal Louis Joseph de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme's large army in northern Italy posed a serious danger with a potential offensive through the Brenner Pass. Vienna was also under pressure from Rákóczi's Hungarian revolt from its eastern approaches. Realising the danger, the Duke of Marlborough resolved to alleviate the peril to Vienna by marching his forces south from Bedburg to help maintain Emperor Leopold within the Grand Alliance.
A combination of deception and skilled administration – designed to conceal his true destination from friend and foe alike – enabled Marlborough to march unhindered from the Low Countries to the River Danube in five weeks. After securing Donauwörth on the Danube, Marlborough sought to engage Maximilian's and Marsin's army before Marshal Camille d'Hostun, duc de Tallard could bring reinforcements through the Black Forest. The Franco-Bavarian commanders proved reluctant to fight until their numbers were deemed sufficient, and Marlborough failed in his attempts to force an engagement. When Tallard arrived to bolster Maximilian's army, and Prince Eugene of Savoy arrived with reinforcements for the Allies, the two armies finally met on the banks of the Danube in and around the small village of Blindheim, from which the English "Blenheim" is derived.
Blenheim was one of the battles that altered the course of the war, which until then was favouring the French and Spanish Bourbons. It ended French plans of knocking Emperor Leopold out of the war. The French suffered catastrophic casualties in the battle including their commander-in-chief, Tallard, who was taken captive to England. Before the 1704 campaign ended, the Allies had taken Landau, and the towns of Trier and Trarbach on the Moselle in preparation for the following year's campaign into France itself. This offensive never materialised as the Grand Alliance's army had to depart the Moselle to defend Liège from a French counter-offensive. The war raged on for another decade.
Background.
By 1704, the War of the Spanish Succession was in its fourth year. The previous year had been one of success for France and her allies, most particularly on the Danube, where Marshal Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars and Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria had created a direct threat to Vienna, the Habsburg capital. Vienna had been saved by dissension between the two commanders, leading to Villars being replaced by the less dynamic Marshal Ferdinand de Marsin. Nevertheless, the threat was still real: Rákóczi's Hungarian revolt was threatening the Empire's eastern approaches, and Marshal Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme's forces threatened an invasion from northern Italy. In the courts of Versailles and Madrid, Vienna's fall was confidently anticipated, an event which would almost certainly have led to the collapse of the reconstituted Grand Alliance.
To isolate the Danube from any Allied intervention, Marshal François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi's 46,000 troops were expected to pin the 70,000 Dutch and English troops around Maastricht in the Low Countries, while General Robert Jean Antoine de Franquetot de Coigny protected Alsace against surprise with a further corps. The only forces immediately available for Vienna's defence were Prince Louis of Baden's 36,000 men stationed in the Lines of Stollhofen to watch Marshal Camille d'Hostun, duc de Tallard at Strasbourg; and 10,000 men under Prince Eugene of Savoy south of Ulm.
Both the Imperial Austrian Ambassador in London, Count Wratislaw, and the Duke of Marlborough realised the implications of the situation on the Danube. The Dutch were against any adventurous military operation as far south as the Danube and would not permit any major weakening of the forces in the Spanish Netherlands. Marlborough, realising the only way to reinforce the Austrians was by the use of secrecy and guile, set out to deceive his Dutch allies by pretending to move his troops to the Moselle – a plan approved of by The Hague – but once there, he would slip the Dutch leash and link up with Austrian forces in southern Germany.
Prelude.
Protagonists march to the Danube.
Marlborough's march started on 19 May from Bedburg, northwest of Cologne. The army assembled by Marlborough's brother, General Charles Churchill consisted of 66 squadrons of cavalry, 31 battalions of infantry and 38 guns and mortars, totalling 21,000 men; 16,000 of whom were English. This force was augmented en route and by the time it reached the Danube, it numbered 40,00047 battalions and 88 squadrons. While Marlborough led this army south, the Dutch General Henry Overkirk, Count of Nassau maintained a defensive position in the Dutch Republic against the possibility of Villeroi mounting an attack. Marlborough had assured the Dutch that if the French were to launch an offensive he would return in good time, but he calculated that as he marched south, the French army would be drawn after him. In this assumption Marlborough proved correct: Villeroi shadowed Marlborough with 30,000 men in 60 squadrons and 42 battalions. Marlborough wrote to Godolphin "I am very sensible that I take a great deal upon me, but should I act otherwise, the Empire would be undone ..."
While the Allies were making their preparations, the French were striving to maintain and re-supply Marsin. He had been operating with Maximilian II against Prince Louis, and was somewhat isolated from France: his only lines of communication lay through the rocky passes of the Black Forest. On 14 May, Tallard brought 8,000 reinforcements and vast supplies and munitions through the difficult terrain, whilst outmanoeuvring , the Imperial general who sought to block his path. Tallard then returned with his own force to the Rhine, once again side-stepping Thüngen's efforts to intercept him.
On 26 May, Marlborough reached Coblenz, where the Moselle meets the Rhine. If he intended an attack along the Moselle his army would now have to turn west, instead it crossed to the right bank of the Rhine, and was reinforced by 5,000 waiting Hanoverians and Prussians. The French realised that there would be no campaign on the Moselle. A second possible objective now occurred to theman Allied incursion into Alsace and an attack on Strasbourg. Marlborough furthered this apprehension by constructing bridges across the Rhine at Philippsburg, a ruse that not only encouraged Villeroi to come to Tallard's aid in the defence of Alsace, but one that ensured the French plan to march on Vienna was delayed while they waited to see what Marlborough's army would do.
Encouraged by Marlborough's promise to return to the Netherlands if a French attack developed there, transferring his troops down the Rhine on barges at a rate of a day, the Dutch States General agreed to release the Danish contingent of seven battalions and 22 squadrons as reinforcements. Marlborough reached Ladenburg, in the plain of the Neckar and the Rhine, and there halted for three days to rest his cavalry and allow the guns and infantry to close up. On 6 June he arrived at Wiesloch, south of Heidelberg. The following day, the Allied army swung away from the Rhine towards the hills of the Swabian Jura and the Danube beyond. At last Marlborough's destination was established without doubt.
Strategy.
On 10 June, Marlborough met for the first time the President of the Imperial War Council, Prince Eugene – accompanied by Count Wratislaw – at the village of Mundelsheim, halfway between the Danube and the Rhine. By 13 June, the Imperial Field Commander, Prince Louis, had joined them in Großheppach. The three generals commanded a force of nearly 110,000 men. At this conference it was decided that Prince Eugene would return with 28,000 men to the Lines of Stollhofen on the Rhine to watch Villeroi and Tallard and prevent them going to the aid of the Franco-Bavarian army on the Danube. Meanwhile, Marlborough's and Prince Louis's forces would combine, totalling 80,000 men, and march on the Danube to seek out Maximilian II and Marsin before they could be reinforced.
Knowing Marlborough's destination, Tallard and Villeroi met at Landau in the Palatinate on 13 June to construct a plan to save Bavaria. The rigidity of the French command system was such that any variations from the original plan had to be sanctioned by Versailles. The Count of Mérode-Westerloo, commander of the Flemish troops in Tallard's army wrote – "One thing is certain: we delayed our march from Alsace for far too long and quite inexplicably." Approval from King Louis arrived on 27 June: Tallard was to reinforce Marsin and Maximilian II on the Danube via the Black Forest, with 40 battalions and 50 squadrons; Villeroi was to pin down the Allies defending the Lines of Stollhofen, or, if the Allies should move all their forces to the Danube, he was to join with Tallard; Coigny with 8,000 men would protect Alsace. On 1 July Tallard's army of 35,000 re-crossed the Rhine at Kehl and began its march.
On 22 June, Marlborough's forces linked up with Prince Louis' Imperial forces at Launsheim. A distance of had been covered in five weeks. Thanks to a carefully planned timetable, the effects of wear and tear had been kept to a minimum. Captain Parker described the march discipline – "As we marched through the country of our Allies, commissars were appointed to furnish us with all manner of necessaries for man and horse ... the soldiers had nothing to do but pitch their tents, boil kettles and lie down to rest." In response to Marlborough's manoeuvres, Maximilian and Marsin, conscious of their numerical disadvantage with only 40,000 men, moved their forces to the entrenched camp at Dillingen on the north bank of the Danube. Marlborough could not attack Dillingen because of a lack of siege guns – he was unable to bring any from the Low Countries, and Prince Louis had failed to supply any, despite prior assurances that he would.
The Allies needed a base for provisions and a good river crossing. On 2 July, therefore, Marlborough stormed the fortress of Schellenberg on the heights above the town of Donauwörth. Count Jean d'Arco had been sent with 12,000 men from the Franco-Bavarian camp to hold the town and grassy hill but after a fierce battle, with heavy casualties on both sides, Schellenberg fell. This forced Donauwörth to surrender shortly afterwards. Maximilian, knowing his position at Dillingen was now not tenable, took up a position behind the strong fortifications of Augsburg.
Tallard's march presented a dilemma for Prince Eugene. If the Allies were not to be outnumbered on the Danube, he realised that he must either try to cut Tallard off before he could get there or he must reinforce Marlborough. If he withdrew from the Rhine to the Danube, Villeroi might also make a move south to link up with Maximilian and Marsin. Prince Eugene compromised—leaving 12,000 troops behind guarding the Lines of Stollhofen—he marched off with the rest of his army to forestall Tallard.
Lacking in numbers, Prince Eugene could not seriously disrupt Tallard's march but the French marshal's progress was proving slow. Tallard's force had suffered considerably more than Marlborough's troops on their march – many of his cavalry horses were suffering from glanders and the mountain passes were proving tough for the 2,000 wagonloads of provisions. Local German peasants, angry at French plundering, compounded Tallard's problems, leading Mérode-Westerloo to bemoan – "the enraged peasantry killed several thousand of our men before the army was clear of the Black Forest."
At Augsburg, Maximilian was informed on 14 July that Tallard was on his way through the Black Forest. This good news bolstered his policy of inaction, further encouraging him to wait for the reinforcements. This reticence to fight induced Marlborough to undertake a controversial policy of spoliation in Bavaria, burning buildings and crops throughout the rich lands south of the Danube. This had two aims: firstly to put pressure on Maximilian to fight or come to terms before Tallard arrived with reinforcements; and secondly, to ruin Bavaria as a base from which the French and Bavarian armies could attack Vienna, or pursue Marlborough into Franconia if, at some stage, he had to withdraw northwards. But this destruction, coupled with a protracted siege of Rain over 9 to 16 July, caused Prince Eugene to lament "... since the Donauwörth action I cannot admire their performances", and later to conclude "If he has to go home without having achieved his objective, he will certainly be ruined."
Final positioning.
Tallard, with 34,000 men, reached Ulm, joining with Maximilian and Marsin at Augsburg on 5 August, although Maximilian had dispersed his army in response to Marlborough's campaign of ravaging the region. Also on 5 August, Prince Eugene reached Höchstädt, riding that same night to meet with Marlborough at Schrobenhausen. Marlborough knew that another crossing point over the Danube was required in case Donauwörth fell to the enemy. So on 7 August, the first of Prince Louis' 15,000 Imperial troops left Marlborough's main force to besiege the heavily defended city of Ingolstadt, farther down the Danube, with the remainder following two days later.
With Prince Eugene's forces at Höchstädt on the north bank of the Danube, and Marlborough's at Rain on the south bank, Tallard and Maximilian debated their next move. Tallard preferred to bide his time, replenish supplies and allow Marlborough's Danube campaign to flounder in the colder autumn weather; Maximilian and Marsin, newly reinforced, were keen to push ahead. The French and Bavarian commanders eventually agreed to attack Prince Eugene's smaller force. On 9 August, the Franco-Bavarian forces began to cross to the north bank of the Danube. On 10 August, Prince Eugene sent an urgent dispatch reporting that he was falling back to Donauwörth. By a series of swift marches Marlborough concentrated his forces on Donauwörth and, by noon 11 August, the link-up was complete.
During 11 August, Tallard pushed forward from the river crossings at Dillingen. By 12 August, the Franco-Bavarian forces were encamped behind the small River Nebel near the village of Blenheim on the plain of Höchstädt. The same day, Marlborough and Prince Eugene carried out a reconnaissance of the French position from the church spire at Tapfheim, and moved their combined forces to Münster – from the French camp. A French reconnaissance under Jacques Joseph Vipart, Marquis de Silly went forward to probe the enemy, but were driven off by Allied troops who had deployed to cover the pioneers of the advancing army, labouring to bridge the numerous streams in the area and improve the passage leading westwards to Höchstädt. Marlborough quickly moved forward two brigades under the command of Lieutenant General John Wilkes and Brigadier Archibald Rowe to secure the narrow strip of land between the Danube and the wooded Fuchsberg hill, at the Schwenningen defile. Tallard's army numbered 56,000 men and 90 guns; the army of the Grand Alliance, 52,000 men and 66 guns. Some Allied officers who were acquainted with the superior numbers of the enemy, and aware of their strong defensive position, remonstrated with Marlborough about the hazards of attacking; but the he was resolute.
Battle.
The battlefield.
The battlefield stretched for nearly . The extreme right flank of the Franco-Bavarian army rested on the Danube, the undulating pine-covered hills of the Swabian Jura lay to their left. A small stream, the Nebel, fronted the French line; the ground either side of this was marshy and only fordable intermittently. The French right rested on the village of Blenheim near where the Nebel flows into the Danube; the village itself was surrounded by hedges, fences, enclosed gardens, and meadows. Between Blenheim and the village of Oberglauheim to the north east the fields of wheat had been cut to stubble and were now ideal for the deployment of troops. From Oberglauheim to the next hamlet of Lutzingen the terrain of ditches, thickets and brambles was potentially difficult ground for the attackers.
Initial manoeuvres.
At 02:00 on 13 August, 40 Allied cavalry squadrons were sent forward, followed at 03:00, in eight columns, by the main Allied force pushing over the River Kessel. At about 06:00 they reached Schwenningen, from Blenheim. The English and German troops who had held Schwenningen through the night joined the march, making a ninth column on the left of the army. Marlborough and Prince Eugene made their final plans. The Allied commanders agreed that Marlborough would command 36,000 troops and attack Tallard's force of 33,000 on the left, including capturing the village of Blenheim, while Prince Eugene's 16,000 men would attack Maximilian and Marsin's combined forces of 23,000 troops on the right. If this attack was pressed hard, it was anticipated that Maximilian and Marsin would feel unable to send troops to aid Tallard on their right. Lieutenant-General John Cutts would attack Blenheim in concert with Prince Eugene's attack. With the French flanks busy, Marlborough could cross the Nebel and deliver the fatal blow to the French at their centre. The Allies would have to wait until Prince Eugene was in position before the general engagement could begin.
Tallard was not anticipating an Allied attack; he had been deceived by intelligence gathered from prisoners taken by de Silly the previous day, and his army's strong position. Tallard and his colleagues believed that Marlborough and Prince Eugene were about to retreat north-eastwards towards Nördlingen. Tallard wrote a report to this effect to King Louis that morning. Signal guns were fired to bring in the foraging parties and pickets as the French and Bavarian troops drew into battle-order to face the unexpected threat.
About 08:00 the French artillery on their right wing opened fire, answered by Colonel Holcroft Blood's batteries. The guns were heard by Prince Louis in his camp before Ingolstadt. An hour later Tallard, Maximilian, and Marsin climbed Blenheim's church tower to finalise their plans. It was settled that Maximilian and Marsin would hold the front from the hills to Oberglauheim, whilst Tallard would defend the ground between Oberglauheim and the Danube. The French commanders were divided as to how to utilise the Nebel. Tallard's preferred tactic was to lure the allies across before unleashing his cavalry upon them. This was opposed by Marsin and Maximilian who felt it better to close their infantry right up to the stream itself, so that while the enemy was struggling in the marshes, they would be caught in crossfire from Blenheim and Oberglauheim. Tallard's approach was sound if all its parts were implemented, but in the event it allowed Marlborough to cross the Nebel without serious interference and fight the battle he had planned.
Deployment.
The Franco-Bavarian commanders deployed their forces. In the village of Lutzingen, Count Alessandro de Maffei positioned five Bavarian battalions with a great battery of 16 guns at the village's edge. In the woods to the left of Lutzingen, seven French battalions under César Armand, Marquis de Rozel moved into place. Between Lutzingen and Oberglauheim Maximilian placed 27 squadrons of cavalry, 14 Bavarian squadrons commanded by d'Arco with 13 more in support nearby under Baron Veit Heinrich Moritz Freiherr von Wolframsdorf. To their right stood Marsin's 40 French squadrons and 12 battalions. The village of Oberglauheim was packed with 14 battalions commanded by , including the effective Irish Brigade known as the "Wild Geese". Six batteries of guns were ranged alongside the village. On the right of these French and Bavarian positions, between Oberglauheim and Blenheim, Tallard deployed 64 French and Walloon squadrons, 16 of which were from Marsin, supported by nine French battalions standing near the Höchstädt road. In the cornfield next to Blenheim stood three battalions from the Regiment de Roi. Nine battalions occupied the village itself, commanded by the Philippe, Marquis de Clérambault. Four battalions stood to the rear and a further 11 were in reserve. These battalions were supported by Count Gabriel d'Hautefeuille's 12 squadrons of dismounted dragoons. By 11:00 Tallard, Maximilian, and Marsin were in place. Many of the Allied generals were hesitant to attack such a relatively strong position. The Earl of Orkney later confessed that, "had I been asked to give my opinion, I had been against it."
Prince Eugene was expected to be in position by 11:00, but due to the difficult terrain and enemy fire, progress was slow. Cutts' column – who by 10:00 had expelled the enemy from two water mills on the Nebel – had already deployed by the river against Blenheim, enduring over the next three hours severe fire from a six-gun heavy battery posted near the village. The rest of Marlborough's army, waiting in their ranks on the forward slope, were also forced to bear the cannonade from the French artillery, suffering 2,000 casualties before the attack could even start. Meanwhile, engineers repaired a stone bridge across the Nebel, and constructed five additional bridges or causeways across the marsh between Blenheim and Oberglauheim. Marlborough's anxiety was finally allayed when, just past noon, Colonel William Cadogan reported that Prince Eugene's Prussian and Danish infantry were in place – the order for the general advance was given. At 13:00, Cutts was ordered to attack the village of Blenheim whilst Prince Eugene was requested to assault Lutzingen on the Allied right flank.
Blenheim.
Cutts ordered Rowe's brigade to attack. The English infantry rose from the edge of the Nebel, and silently marched towards Blenheim, a distance of some . James Ferguson's Scottish brigade supported Rowe's left, and moved towards the barricades between the village and the river, defended by Hautefeuille's dragoons. As the range closed to within , the French fired a deadly volley. Rowe had ordered that there should be no firing from his men until he struck his sword upon the palisades, but as he stepped forward to give the signal, he fell mortally wounded. The survivors of the leading companies closed up the gaps in their ranks and rushed forward. Small parties penetrated the defences, but repeated French volleys forced the English back, sustaining heavy casualties. As the attack faltered, eight squadrons of elite Gens d'Armes, commanded by the veteran Swiss officer, , fell on the English troops, cutting at the exposed flank of Rowe's own regiment. Wilkes' Hessian brigade, nearby in the marshy grass at the water's edge, stood firm and repulsed the Gens d'Armes with steady fire, enabling the English and Hessians to re-order and launch another attack.
Although the Allies were again repulsed, these persistent attacks on Blenheim eventually bore fruit, panicking Clérambault into making the worst French error of the day. Without consulting Tallard, Clérambault ordered his reserve battalions into the village, upsetting the balance of the French position and nullifying the French numerical superiority. "The men were so crowded in upon one another", wrote Mérode-Westerloo, "that they couldn't even fire – let alone receive or carry out any orders." Marlborough, spotting this error, now countermanded Cutts' intention to launch a third attack, and ordered him simply to contain the enemy within Blenheim; no more than 5,000 Allied soldiers were able to pen in twice the number of French infantry and dragoons.
Lutzingen.
On the Allied right, Prince Eugene's Prussian and Danish forces were desperately fighting the numerically superior forces of Maximilian and Marsin. Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau led forward four brigades across the Nebel to assault the well-fortified position of Lutzingen. Here, the Nebel was less of an obstacle, but the great battery positioned on the edge of the village enjoyed a good field of fire across the open ground stretching to the hamlet of Schwennenbach. As soon as the infantry crossed the stream, they were struck by Maffei's infantry, and salvoes from the Bavarian guns positioned both in front of the village and in enfilade on the wood-line to the right. Despite heavy casualties the Prussians attempted to storm the great battery, whilst the Danes, under Count , attempted to drive the French infantry out of the copses beyond the village.
With the infantry heavily engaged, Prince Eugene's cavalry picked its way across the Nebel. After an initial success, his first line of cavalry, under the Imperial General of Horse, Prince Maximilian of Hanover, were pressed by the second line of Marsin's cavalry and forced back across the Nebel in confusion. The exhausted French were unable to follow up their advantage, and both cavalry forces tried to regroup and reorder their ranks. Without cavalry support, and threatened with envelopment, the Prussian and Danish infantry were in turn forced to pull back across the Nebel. Panic gripped some of Prince Eugene's troops as they crossed the stream. Ten infantry colours were lost to the Bavarians, and hundreds of prisoners taken; it was only through the leadership of Prince Eugene and the Prince Maximilian of Hanover that the imperial infantry were prevented from abandoning the field.
After rallying his troops near Schwennenbach – well beyond their starting point – Prince Eugene prepared to launch a second attack, led by the second-line squadrons under the Duke of Württemberg-Teck. Yet again they were caught in the murderous cross-fire from the artillery in Lutzingen and Oberglauheim, and were once again thrown back in disarray. The French and Bavarians were almost as disordered as their opponents, and they too were in need of inspiration from their commander, Maximilian, who was seen " ... riding up and down, and inspiring his men with fresh courage." Anhalt-Dessau's Danish and Prussian infantry attacked a second time but could not sustain the advance without proper support. Once again they fell back across the stream.
Centre and Oberglauheim.
Whilst these events around Blenheim and Lutzingen were taking place, Marlborough was preparing to cross the Nebel. Hulsen's brigade of Hessians and Hanoverians and the earl of Orkney's British brigade advanced across the stream and were supported by dismounted British dragoons and ten British cavalry squadrons. This covering force allowed Charles Churchill's Dutch, British and German infantry and further cavalry units to advance and form up on the plain beyond. Marlborough arranged his infantry battalions in a novel manner with gaps sufficient to allow the cavalry to move freely between them. Marlborough ordered the formation forward. Once again Zurlauben's Gens d'Armes charged, looking to rout Henry Lumley's English cavalry who linked Cutts' column facing Blenheim with Churchill's infantry. As the elite French cavalry attacked, they were faced by five English squadrons under Colonel Francis Palmes. To the consternation of the French, the Gens d'Armes were pushed back in confusion and pursued well beyond the Maulweyer stream that flows through Blenheim. "What? Is it possible?" exclaimed Maximilian, "the gentlemen of France fleeing?" Palmes attempted to follow up his success but was repulsed by other French cavalry and musket fire from the edge of Blenheim.
Nevertheless, Tallard was alarmed by the repulse of the Gens d'Armes and urgently rode across the field to ask Marsin for reinforcements; but on the basis of being hard pressed by Prince Eugene – whose second attack was in full flood – Marsin refused. As Tallard consulted with Marsin, more of his infantry were taken into Blenheim by Clérambault. Fatally, Tallard, aware of the situation, did nothing to rectify the situation, leaving him with just the nine battalions of infantry near the Höchstädt road to oppose the massed enemy ranks in the centre. Zurlauben tried several more times to disrupt the Allies forming on Tallard's side of the stream. His front-line cavalry darting forward down the gentle slope towards the Nebel, but the attacks lacked co-ordination, and the Allied infantry's steady volleys disconcerted the French horsemen. During these skirmishes Zurlauben fell mortally wounded; he died two days later. At this stage the time was just after 15:00.
The Danish cavalry, under Carl Rudolf, Duke of Württemberg-Neuenstadt, had made slow work of crossing the Nebel near Oberglauheim. Harassed by Marsin's infantry near the village, the Danes were driven back across the stream. Count Horn's Dutch infantry managed to push the French back from the water's edge, but it was apparent that before Marlborough could launch his main effort against Tallard, Oberglauheim would have to be secured.
Count Horn directed Anton Günther, Fürst von Holstein-Beck to take the village, but his two Dutch brigades were cut down by the French and Irish troops, capturing and badly wounding Holstein-Beck during the action. The battle was now in the balance. If Holstein-Beck's Dutch column were destroyed, the Allied army would be split in two: Prince Eugene's wing would be isolated from Marlborough's, passing the initiative to the Franco-Bavarian forces. Seeing the opportunity, Marsin ordered his cavalry to change from facing Prince Eugene, and turn towards their right and the open flank of Churchill's infantry drawn up in front of Unterglau. Marlborough, who had crossed the Nebel on a makeshift bridge to take personal control, ordered Hulsen's Hanoverian battalions to support the Dutch infantry. A nine-gun artillery battery and a Dutch cavalry brigade under Averock were also called forward, but the cavalry soon came under pressure from Marsin's more numerous squadrons.
Marlborough now requested Prince Eugene to release Count Hendrick Fugger and his Imperial Cuirassier brigade to help repel the French cavalry thrust. Despite his own difficulties, Prince Eugene at once complied. Although the Nebel stream lay between Fugger's and Marsin's squadrons, the French were forced to change front to meet this new threat, thus preventing Marsin from striking at Marlborough's infantry. Fugger's cuirassiers charged and, striking at a favourable angle, threw back Marsin's squadrons in disorder. With support from Blood's batteries, the Hessian, Hanoverian and Dutch infantry – now commanded by Count Berensdorf – succeeded in pushing the French and Irish infantry back into Oberglauheim so that they could not again threaten Churchill's flank as he moved against Tallard. The French commander in the village, de Blainville, was numbered among the heavy casualties.
Breakthrough.
By 16:00, with large parts of the Franco-Bavarian army besieged in Blenheim and Oberglau, the Allied centre of 81 squadrons (nine squadrons had been transferred from Cutts' column) supported by 18 battalions was firmly planted amidst the French line of 64 squadrons and nine battalions of raw recruits. There was now a pause in the battle: Marlborough wanted to attack simultaneously along the whole front, and Prince Eugene, after his second repulse, needed time to reorganise.
By just after 17:00 all was ready along the Allied front. Marlborough's two lines of cavalry had now moved to the front of his line of battle, with the two supporting lines of infantry behind them. Mérode-Westerloo attempted to extricate some French infantry crowded into Blenheim, but Clérambault ordered the troops back into the village. The French cavalry exerted themselves once more against the Allied first line – Lumley's English and Scots on the Allied left, and Reinhard Vincent Graf von Hompesch's Dutch and German squadrons on the Allied right. Tallard's squadrons, which lacked infantry support and were tired, managed to push the Allied first line back to their infantry support. With the battle still not won, Marlborough had to rebuke one of his cavalry officers who was attempting to leave the field – "Sir, you are under a mistake, the enemy lies that way ..." Marlborough commanded the second Allied line, under and , to move forward, and, driving through the centre, the Allies finally routed Tallard's tired cavalry. The Prussian Life Dragoons' Colonel, Ludwig von Blumenthal, and his second in command, Lieutenant Colonel von Hacke, fell next to each other, but the charge succeeded. With their cavalry in headlong flight, the remaining nine French infantry battalions fought with desperate valour, trying to form a square, but they were overwhelmed by Blood's close-range artillery and platoon fire. Mérode-Westerloo later wrote – "[They] died to a man where they stood, stationed right out in the open plain – supported by nobody."
The majority of Tallard's retreating troops headed for Höchstädt but most did not make the safety of the town, plunging instead into the Danube where over 3,000 French horsemen drowned; others were cut down by the pursuing Allied cavalry. The Marquis de Gruignan attempted a counter-attack, but he was brushed aside by the triumphant Allies. After a final rally behind his camp's tents, shouting entreaties to stand and fight, Tallard was caught up in the rout and swept towards Sonderheim. Surrounded by a squadron of Hessian troops, Tallard surrendered to Lieutenant Colonel de Boinenburg, the Prince of Hesse-Kassel's "aide-de-camp", and was sent under escort to Marlborough. Marlborough welcomed the French commander – "I am very sorry that such a cruel misfortune should have fallen upon a soldier for whom I have the highest regard."
Meanwhile, the Allies had once again attacked the Bavarian stronghold at Lutzingen. Prince Eugene became exasperated with the performance of his Imperial cavalry whose third attack had failed: he had already shot two of his troopers to prevent a general flight. Then, declaring in disgust that he wished to "fight among brave men and not among cowards", Prince Eugene went into the attack with the Prussian and Danish infantry, as did Leopold I, waving a regimental colour to inspire his troops. This time the Prussians were able to storm the great Bavarian battery, and overwhelm the guns' crews. Beyond the village, Scholten's Danes defeated the French infantry in a desperate hand-to-hand bayonet struggle. When they saw that the centre had broken, Maximilian and Marsin decided the battle was lost and, like the remnants of Tallard's army, fled the battlefield, albeit in better order than Tallard's men. Attempts to organise an Allied force to prevent Marsin's withdrawal failed owing to the exhaustion of the cavalry, and the growing confusion in the field.
Fall of Blenheim.
Marlborough now turned his attention from the fleeing enemy to direct Churchill to detach more infantry to storm Blenheim. Orkney's infantry, Hamilton's English brigade and St Paul's Hanoverians moved across the trampled wheat to the cottages. Fierce hand-to-hand fighting gradually forced the French towards the village centre, in and around the walled churchyard which had been prepared for defence. Lord John Hay and Charles Ross's dismounted dragoons were also sent, but suffered under a counter-charge delivered by the regiments of Artois and Provence under command of Colonel de la Silvière. Colonel Belville's Hanoverians were fed into the battle to steady the resolve of the dragoons, who attacked again. The Allied progress was slow and hard, and like the defenders, they suffered many casualties.
Many of the cottages were now burning, obscuring the field of fire and driving the defenders out of their positions. Hearing the din of battle in Blenheim, Tallard sent a message to Marlborough offering to order the garrison to withdraw from the field. "Inform Monsieur Tallard", replied Marlborough, "that, in the position in which he is now, he has no command." Nevertheless, as dusk came the Allied commander was anxious for a quick conclusion. The French infantry fought tenaciously to hold on to their position in Blenheim, but their commander was nowhere to be found.
By now Blenheim was under assault from every side by three British generals: Cutts, Churchill, and Orkney. The French had repulsed every attack, but many had seen what had happened on the plain: their army was routed and they were cut off. Orkney, attacking from the rear, now tried a different tactic – "... it came into my head to beat parley", he later wrote, "which they accepted of and immediately their Brigadier de Nouville capitulated with me to be prisoner at discretion and lay down their arms." Threatened by Allied guns, other units followed their example. It was not until 21:00 that the Marquis de Blanzac, who had taken charge in Clérambault's absence, reluctantly accepted the inevitability of defeat, and some 10,000 of France's best infantry had laid down their arms.
During these events Marlborough was still in the saddle organising the pursuit of the broken enemy. Pausing for a moment he scribbled on the back of an old tavern bill a note addressed to his wife, Sarah: "I have no time to say more but to beg you will give my duty to the Queen, and let her know her army has had a glorious victory."
Aftermath.
French losses were immense, with over 27,000 killed, wounded and captured. Moreover, the myth of French invincibility had been destroyed and King Louis's hopes of an early and victorious peace were over. Mérode-Westerloo summarised the case against Tallard's army: It was a hard-fought contest, leading Prince Eugene to observe – "I have not a squadron or battalion which did not charge four times at least."
Although the war dragged on for years, the Battle of Blenheim was probably its most decisive victory; Marlborough and Prince Eugene had saved the Habsburg Empire and thereby preserved the Grand Alliance from collapse. Munich, Augsburg, Ingolstadt, Ulm and the remaining territory of Bavaria soon fell to the Allies. By the Treaty of Ilbersheim, signed on 7 November, Bavaria was placed under Austrian military rule, allowing the Habsburgs to use its resources for the rest of the conflict.
The remnants of Maximilian and Marsin's wing limped back to Strasbourg, losing another 7,000 men through desertion. Despite being offered the chance to remain as ruler of Bavaria, under the strict terms of an alliance with Austria, Maximilian left his country and family in order to continue the war against the Allies from the Spanish Netherlands where he still held the post of governor-general. Tallard – who, unlike his subordinates, was not ransomed or exchanged – was taken to England and imprisoned in Nottingham until his release in 1711.
The 1704 campaign lasted longer than usual as the Allies sought to wring out maximum advantage. Realising that France was too powerful to be forced to make peace by a single victory, Prince Eugene, Marlborough and Prince Louis met to plan their next moves. For the following year Marlborough proposed a campaign along the valley of the Moselle to carry the war deep into France. This required the capture of the major fortress of Landau which guarded the Rhine, and the towns of Trier and Trarbach on the Moselle itself. Trier was taken on 27 October and Landau fell on 23 November to Prince Louis and Prince Eugene; with the fall of Trarbach on 20 December, the campaign season for 1704 came to an end. The planned offensive never materialised as the Grand Alliance's army had to depart the Moselle to defend Liège from a French counteroffensive. The war raged on for another decade.
Marlborough returned to England on 14 December (O.S) to the acclamation of Queen Anne and the country. In the first days of January the 110 cavalry standards and the 128 infantry colours that had been captured during the battle were borne in procession to Westminster Hall. In February 1705, Queen Anne, who had made Marlborough a duke in 1702, granted him the Park of Woodstock and promised a sum of £240,000 to build a suitable house as a gift from a grateful crown in recognition of his victory. The British historian Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy considered Blenheim one of the pivotal battles in history, writing – "Had it not been for Blenheim, all Europe might at this day suffer under the effect of French conquests resembling those of Alexander in extent and those of the Romans in durability." The military historian John A. Lynn considers this claim unjustified as King Louis never had such an objective; the campaign in Bavaria was intended only to bring a favourable peace settlement and not domination over Europe.
Lake poet Robert Southey criticised the Battle of Blenheim in his anti-war poem “After Blenheim”, but later praised the victory as "the greatest victory which had ever done honour to British arms".


Zone 5 Military Museum, Danang

The Zone 5 Military Museum (Bao Tang Khu 5) is a military museum located at 3 Duy Tân, Da Nang, Vietnam. It covers all Vietnamese resistance to foreign occupation from the Chinese occupation, the First Indochina War with the French, the Vietnam War and the current standoff with China over the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands.
The Museum's opening hours are from 07:30 to 10:30 and from 13:30 to 16:30 daily except Monday. Admission is free for Vietnamese and VND 60,000 for non-Vietnamese, plus VND 10,000 to take photos.
Exhibits.
The museum complex comprises four main sections: an outdoor display of large military equipment; a military museum; a reproduction of Ho Chi Minh's house in Hanoi; and a Ho Chi Minh Museum.
Outdoor display.
Items on display:
Military Museum.
Displays include:


List of governors of Berwick-upon-Tweed

Below is a list of those who have held the office of Governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed, including the garrison at Holy Island (during English occupation of the Royal Burgh):


Emil (tank)

Emil, also known as the Kranvagn, KRV or Emil Olsson was a tank developed secretly in Sweden during the early 1950s, "Kranvagn", meaning mobile crane was a cover-name. The intention was to replace the Swedish Army's disparate tank fleet with a tank that could counter the Soviet IS series heavy tanks and be upgraded continuously. The initial design, in 1951, proposed mounting a 10.5 cm autoloader in an oscillating turret. Due to its size, weight and power to weight it was considered by many to be more of a medium tank than a heavy tank.
The project was discontinued during development and only two chassis were built. They were later rebuilt and served as testing platforms for the "Artillerikanonvagn 151" and "Stridsvagn 103" projects.
Project.
At the end of World War II, it was clear that the mix of tanks in service in the Swedish Armed Forces was not just obsolete but also presented a large logistical problem. Kungliga Arméförvaltningens Tygavdelning (KAFT) conducted a study that concluded that the most cost-effective alternative would be to purchase the newly developed Centurion Mk 3, which while quite modern was judged to have upgrade potential for future requirements. A request of purchase was sent to the United Kingdom, but the reply was that no deliveries could be made before the needs of the British Army had been met which was expected to take between five and 15 years.
In 1951, the vehicle bureau of KAFT set about to develop an indigenous manufactured alternative, which they did in great secrecy under the guise of constructing a mobile crane. Parallel with this, negotiations were entered with France about buying the AMX-13 light tank. All this came to an abrupt halt when the British in early December 1952 offered to sell the desired Centurions immediately in order to earn needed foreign currency. The Swedish Minister for Defence, Torsten Nilsson, ended the debate about the future tank purchase by (on his own initiative) signing a deal with the British at the beginning of 1953 with the first Centurion deliveries taking place in April 1953. The delegation in France was forced to depart under heavy apologies while the EMIL-project was terminated.
A consortium of Landsverk, Bofors and Volvo suggested to revive it for the Försvarsbeslut 1958 (white paper of Swedish defence policies 1958) where the replacement for the now ageing Centurions were to be decided upon. EMIL was however regarded as too costly and instead the S-tank proposal was put forward for the final draft which it won and it subsequently became the Stridsvagn 103.
Construction.
Testing of the German Panther and the French AMX 13 tanks in Sweden heavily influenced the initial 1951 design for the Emil project. The known documented statistics for the initial 1951 "EMIL" were to be as follows:
 Front – 180mm @ 45degs horizontal = 212mm eff
 Cheek, front on – 125mm @ 35 deg vertical = 218mm eff
 Cheek, side on – 125mm @ 80 deg horizontal = 127mm eff
 Side – 30mm
 Rear – 30mm
 UFP – 100mm @ 22 deg horizontal = 187mm eff
 LFP – 125mm @ 38 deg horizontal = 203mm eff
 Side – 20mm
 Rear – 30mm
In 1952, the Emil project then progressed to be a counter for the Soviet IS-3 tank which influenced the shape of the hull while the oscillating turret was redesigned. The schematics for the three designs were split into four parts; frontal armor, side/rear armor, engine and armament. For the first studies and trials a chassis which resembled a low IS-7 was built.
There were multiple armor thicknesses for both the front and the side which caused a variation in projected weight between the Emil 1, Emil 2 and Emil 3.
Turret Configurations:
Alt A
 Turret -
 - 140mm @ 44 - 40 deg = 201mm - 217mm eff
 Hull -
 UFP - 75mm @ 25 deg = 177mm eff
 LFP - 120mm @ 38 deg = 195mm eff
Alt B
 Turret
 - 170mm @ 44 - 40 deg = 244mm - 264mm eff
 Hull
 UFP - 95mm @ 25 deg = 224mm eff
 LFP - 145mm @ 38 deg = 235mm eff
Side turret/side hull/Rear Configuration
 1: 40/20/30
 2: 60/30/30
 3: 80/40/40
Two main options were considered for armament:
The ammunition feed regardless of gun was planned to be a dual-drum autoloader allowing for quick selection of ordnance (armor-piercing or high explosive).
A new prototype ammunition was tested, which was to be a combination of HEAT and APDS. In case of failure,l a back up armament was chosen: a 105 mm calibre rifled gun ~L/67
Each design was to have a different engine;
During testing of the 12cyl AV-1790 engine on the built Kranvagn hull it was discovered that after sending power to the cooling and other equipment the engine was only sending 723 hp to the drive wheel.
There were a total of 6 variations per Emil plan for a total of 18 variations. Weight varied between 30.7t for the Emil I A1 to 41.8t for the Emil III B3. Ultimately the Emil III B3 was the preferred option. The turret side armor (80mm) and rear armor (40mm) was to be dropped to 70mm at the side and 30mm at the rear to improve gun stability as well as gun elevation.


Battle of Zusmarshausen

The Battle of Zusmarshausen was fought on 17 May 1648 between Bavarian-Imperial forces under von Holzappel and an allied Franco-Swedish army under the command of Turenne in the modern Augsburg district of Bavaria, Germany. The allied force emerged victorious, and the Imperial army was only rescued from annihilation by the stubborn rearguard fighting of Raimondo Montecuccoli and his cavalry.
Zusmarshausen was the last major battle of the war to be fought on German soil, and was also the largest battle (in terms of numbers of men involved; casualties were relatively light) to take place in the final three years of fighting.
Background.
By the late 1640s all the belligerents in the Thirty Years War were exhausted by three decades of brutal fighting. Delegates had already convened in the Westphalian cities of Münster and Osnabrück to negotiate a peace treaty in 1646, but while the peace talks were in progress the opposing powers continued to jockey for position in order to improve their respective positions in the negotiations. The Swedes in particular were keen to win a final decisive victory against the Habsburg monarchy in order to secure territorial concessions within the Holy Roman Empire, and also to make the most of the war while it lasted by invading and plundering the rich Habsburg province of Bohemia, which was one of the few parts of the Empire to have been left largely untouched by the fighting so far.
Prelude.
There were four armies involved in the Zusmarshausen campaign. On one side was the main Imperial field army of 10,000 men commanded by Peter Melander Graf von Holzappel, and a Bavarian force of 14,000 under . Opposing them was the 20,000-strong Swedish army under Carl Gustaf Wrangel, and a French army of 6,000 men commanded by Marshal Turenne, France's ablest general of the period.
Wrangel began the 1648 campaign by leaving the Swedish base at Bremen and marching south up the Weser, while simultaneously Turenne advanced from Alsace and marched north along the Rhine to meet him, the plan being to join forces on the River Main. Melander attempted to prevent his two enemies from combining, but the obstructionism of his ostensible ally Archbishop-Elector Ferdinand of Cologne hindered his movements, prohibiting the Westphalian army under General Lamboy to leave his territory, and Melander was eventually compelled to retreat to avoid being caught between the French and Swedish armies. Wrangel and Turenne were therefore able to join forces and push southeast into Franconia, forcing Melander to retreat into Bavaria, and specifically to Ulm, where he was subsequently joined by Gronsfeld's Bavarian troops.
In May the Franco-Swedish army advanced southward into Württemberg and then swung east to confront Melander and Gronsfeld in Bavaria. By this point disease and desertion had whittled the Imperial-Bavarians down to 16,000 men, and they therefore found themselves outnumbered by a ratio of around 3:2. Moreover, Melander was under orders from Emperor Ferdinand III not to risk his army, as a decisive defeat could have drastic consequences for the peace negotiations in Westphalia. He therefore decided to retreat again rather than confront Wrangel and Turenne, and ordered his troops to pull out of Ulm and march eastward toward Augsburg. To cover the retreat he detached a force of 2000 Croatian cavalry under Raimondo Montecuccoli to perform a rearguard action at a bridge over the Zusam river, in the village of Zusmarshausen.
Battle.
The battle began at 7 AM on 17 May, when Montecuccoli's troops in Zusmarshausen came under attack from the Swedish vanguard. Montecuccoli held off the Swedish attacks for an hour before ordering his men to pull back eastward to the village of Herpfenried, where they mounted another stand. This time, however, a group of French cavalry managed to work their way round the southern side of Montecuccoli's position, threatening to cut him off from the rest of the Imperial-Bavarian army. Melander himself dashed back to rescue the rearguard, and in the resulting melee the general was shot in the chest and killed.
Montecuccoli managed to extricate his surviving men from Herpfenried around midday, and at 2 PM he rejoined Gronsfeld and the rest of the army, which had assumed a defensive position on the east bank of the Schmutter. Later that afternoon the French vanguard appeared and made a couple of probing attacks across the river, but they lacked the strength to mount a serious assault (most of the Franco-Swedish army was still strung out along the road from Ulm) and night fell before these forces could become available.
Under cover of darkness Gronsfeld abandoned the makeshift earthworks on the Schmutter and completed the retreat to Augsburg. The losses of the Imperial-Bavarian army were 1,582 dead or wounded, 315 prisoners, 6 field guns, parts of the baggage and the fallen commander von Holzappel but the bulk of the force escaped.
Aftermath.
Gronsfeld intended to hold a defensive position at the Lech river against the enemy. Yet after receiving a (highly exaggerated) report that the Swedes were fording the river on 26 May, he deemed his forces too weak to push them back. An Imperial-Bavarian war council decided to retreat to Ingolstadt, only Gronsfeld's second-in-command Hunolstein objected the decision. Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria was furious that Gronsfeld had abandoned so much of Bavaria without a fight, and arrested him on 3 June. His interim successor became Feldzeugmeister Hunolstein while the imperials assigned Ottavio Piccolomini as supreme commander. Their opponents' retreat allowed Wrangel und Turenne to plunder the area between Lech and Isar.
Despite the army being shrunk by desertions to at one point only 10,000 men, Hunolstein prevented Wrangel from crossing the fortified and heavily swollen river Inn in southern Bavaria and reorganized the defense together with Piccolomini. The latter improved his men's morale by bringing 3,100 reinforcements and using his own money to pay the arrears in their wages. Wrangel and Turenne, unable to advance further, started to retire their troops. Piccolomini went on the offensive in July, harassing the enemy without being drawn into a pitched battle. In August, Johann von Werth arrived from Bohemia with additional 6,000 cavalry whereas the Bavarians put Adrian von Enkevort in command instead of Hunolstein. Back to 24,000 strength and about equally numbered to Swedes and French, Piccolomini slowly maneuvered them out of bavaria, even achieving a minor victory at Dachau on 6 October and clearing Bavaria from enemy troops between Inn and Lech.
However, the Swedes took advantage of the weakened defenses in Bohemia; a second Swedish army under Königsmarck took the castle and the Malá Strana district of Prague by surprise on 25 July. Their following siege of the Old and the New Town at the other side of the Vltava river continued even after the final conclusion of the negotiations in Münster and Osnabrück with the Peace of Westphalia on 24 October. The Swedes failed to capture the larger Old Town of Prag until news of the peace treaty arrived on 5 November, followed by an imperial relief force sent by Piccolomini.
Montecuccoli later became one of the Habsburg Monarchy's most accomplished generals, and he and Turenne met again as opposing commanders in the Franco-Dutch War, first in the 1673 campaign and then again in 1675.


Qala-e-Bost

Qala-e-Bost is a fortress in Bost, Afghanistan, built 3000 years ago. It is located at 31° 30’ 02″ N, 64° 21’ 24″ E near the convergence of the Helmand and Arghandab Rivers, a half-hour's drive south of Lashkargah. Qala-e-Bost is famous for its 11th century decorative arch, which appears on the 100 Afghani note (Afghan currency). The arch is part of the remains of a mosque.
History.
In 2006 construction began on a cobblestone road to lead from the south of Lashkargah to the Qala-e-Bost Arch (known to readers of James A. Michener's "Caravans" as Qala Bist.) As of April 2008, it was possible to descend into an ancient shaft about 20 feet across and 200 feet deep, with a series of dark side rooms and a spiral staircase leading to the bottom. In 2020, restoration work started on the fort.


State Museum of the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan

The State Museum of the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan () is an institution located in northern Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. It is under the direct control of the Ministry of Defense and serves as one of its cultural institutions. The museum has over 10,000 pieces of Uzbek military memorabilia, dating back from Great Patriotic War era equipment to military artifacts from the Timurid dynasty. The total area is 3,000 square meters.
History.
It was founded in 1965 as the Museum of the Turkestan Military District of the Soviet Armed Forces. It served under the Central House of Military Officers. It moved to his current building on 7 May 1975, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the German Instrument of Surrender. In 2010, a monument was erected the monument "Oath to the Motherland". It was unveiled by President Islam Karimov as a replacement for a Soviet Army that was taken down the previous year. The reasoning behind this move was that the Soviet monument "did not represent the values and the current state of the Uzbek army".
Building and exhibits.
There are more than 10,000 exhibits. The main activity of the museum is to educate young people and servicemen in the spirit of military patriotism and devotion to the motherland. The museum building is located in the Park of Military Glory "Jasorat". The names of 338 Uzbek soldiers who won the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, 53 recipients of the Order of Glory and those who received the title of "Hero of Uzbekistan" are engraved in marble around the central statue. The park is lined with World War II-era and modern combat equipment (MIG21, Katyusha JM13, tanks, cannons, howitzers). The banner of the Tashkent Higher All-Arms Command School is located at the museum.
The building consists of 3 floors and the expositions are divided into 3 military historical periods. Floor 1 is dedicated to military history of the Timurid Period. The second floor is dedicated to the contribution of the people of the Uzbek SSR in the Great Patriotic War. The third floor consists of military actions conducted by the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan. The museum has become a unique scientific center among the museums of the republic to cover the activities of the army. A council of war and Armed Forces veterans has been set up at the museum.


Grauerort fortress

Grauerort fortress is a German artillery fort on Elbe river about 9 km (5.6 mi) north of Stade which was built between 1869 and 1879 to defend the Port of Hamburg. Its shape is hexagonal, taking advantage of the topography of the area and the location of the previously existing levee. The main armament of the fort were probably ten 21 cm breech-loading guns (as opposed to the initially planned four 28 cm and six 21 cm guns), but they are no longer in place. There were also 4 12 cm and six 9 cm guns. Construction materials were cement and brick; concrete was only used from 1885 onward.
While the fortress was in service during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870–71, it was never involved in any battles. After World War I, Grauerort was converted to a naval mine arsenal. Unused since 1985, it has been mostly restored to its original 19th-century state since 1997, and now serves as a museum and cultural venue.
Grauerort has a 250 m Elbe pier which was used to load ships with naval mines. After WW II, a popular restaurant, "Klein Helgoland" ("Little Heligoland"), was located on the pier. Its popularity was because until 1955, Heligoland was off-limits to passenger ships, therefore people from Hamburg visited "Klein Helgoland" instead on their day trips.
Between 1959 and 1985, decommissioning of ammunition took place in Grauerort. 1992 and 1995 chemical analyses of the soil at Grauerort revealed significant concentrations of, among others, PCNs, TNT, RDX, and cadmium up to a depth of 3 m, raising the concern that hazardous substances could leach into the local groundwater supply.