The August/September issue of Military History Matters, the British military history magazine, is now out now.
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In this issue:
ON THE COVER:
Hawke and Quiberon Bay
In 1759, Britain faced an invasion threat from France, but two remarkable victories – the Battle of Lagos and later the Battle of Quiberon Bay – put paid to the plan.
Our special focuses on Admiral Sir Edward Hawke, commander of the Atlantic blockading fleet and the victor at Quiberon Bay. Graham Goodlad surveys his career, while Neil Faulkner offers a detailed analysis of his victory over the French.
The last charge: the 21st Lancers at Omdurman
Michael Somerville analyses one of the most famous incidents in British colonial history
The torpedo: a short but complicated history
Patrick Boniface charts the development of the underwater missile that transformed naval warfare
Out in the blue: the Long Range Desert Group
Simon Baker on Britain’s pioneering special forces unit in the Western Desert
Sideshow: the Paper Raiders
Steven Taylor reports on the RAF’s bizarre propaganda offensive during the Phoney War
Regiment: the 62nd Wiltshire Regiment
Patrick Mercer on a forgotten regimental assault
Also in this issue:
Christopher Warner’s series on War Athletes, Behind the Image, War Culture, Book Reviews, Museum Review, Back to the Drawing Board, Listings, Competitions, and more.
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From the editor
Britannia Rules the Waves. Well, it certainly did by 1805, and continued to do so until at least 1916. Trafalgar and Jutland are really the brackets around the period of unqualified British global maritime supremacy.
Our special this issue begins a short series looking at the men and the battles behind the rise of British naval power in the second half of the 18th century – men like Hawke, Howe, Rodney, and, of course, Nelson.
We begin with Edward Hawke, who served in both the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War, and whose greatest victory was the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759.
Hawke was typical: a man of relatively modest middle-class origins, who rose to the top through sheer professionalism and brilliance. An advocate of improved conditions of service, relentless training, and lethal close-quarters gunnery, he was one of the architects of a century of British naval supremacy.
As well as our special, we have Michael Somerville’s reappraisal of the famous charge of the 21st Lancers at Omdurman, and Patrick Boniface’s overview of the history of the torpedo.
We also have Patrick Mercer’s account of the attack of the 62nd Wiltshires at Ferozashah, Simon Baker’s exploration of the role played by the Long Range Desert Group in North Africa, and Steven Taylor’s discussion of the RAF’s leaflet offensive during the Phoney War phase of WWII.
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