History of Warfare
EL ALAMEIN
Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery was the mastermind and prosecutor of the British campaign of El Alamein, a spectacular victory which reversed the successes of the Germans during World War Two.
The German Africa Corps under Rommel had successfully pushed the British 8th Army out of the Western Sahara into Egypt, with a front forming west of Alexandria between the coast and the dreaded Qattarah Depression. In August 1942 Montgomery took command of the 8th Army, a bedraggled lot used to defeat.
But one of the first things he realised was that, with such a speedy German advance, their supply lines would be weakened, leaving a weaker Africa Corps than thought. Interdiction air raids were thus organised to make sure the Germans remained as weak.
The first attempt to break the Germans began on 30 August and the battle of Alam Halfa, when the Germans attacked. The 8th Army held, the Germans withdrawing, with Montgomery shrewdly refusing to counter-attack.
The actual battle of El Alamein came 23 October 39 1942, when Montgomery launched 230,000 men and over a thousand tanks against the Germans following a neat deception plan which involved hundreds of tanks disguised as trucks and hundreds of trucks disguised as tanks, making the Germans think the attack would come in another sector. The battle lasted until 4 November, when British forces finally broke through the German positions into the rear, routing German forces.
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BEGINNINGS OF THE ROYAL NAVY
The first stirrings of the future British Royal Navy occurred with the Tudor, Henry VII. Establishing a naval base at Portsmouth, he built the first dry dock. Later, Henry VIII was to build some purpose- built warships. One of these ships was the Mary Rose, which sank leaving port, but ship designs were changing fast.
With the galley consigned to history, square-rigged ships came into being, gaining better control with sail. The wooden castles on bow and stern disappeared, replaced by gunports cut into a ship’s side. With rows of cannon on port and starboard, the new tactic was to approach an enemy ship, fire a broadside to cripple it, then move closer to allow boarding parties to swing onto enemy ships.
These innovations were far superior to the previously technically competent northern Italians, and most of them were English. However, the Spaniards soon copied the designs, utilising them to great effect, guarding their gold ships crossing the Atlantic from their new, gold-rich colonies.
This was the time of the Counter Reformation, where the new Protestantism fought for its existence. England championed this Protestantism under Elizabeth I, whilst the Spaniards championed Catholicism. Conflict would inevitably come, and it would be mainly naval.
Henry VIII had already established the Admiralty, with the Royal Navy being a powerful force capable of confronting Spain. With their new galleons, sailors such as Sir Francis Drake began attacking Spanish lines of communication with the New World, eventually raiding the gold ships themselves.
In many ways it was not a noble period of English naval history, the English being little better than pirates. But this new naval technology was to clash in 1588 when Spain decided it would invade England.
The Spanish Armada sailed in May and consisted of 130 ships crewed by 8,000 sailors and carrying 19,000 soldiers. Delayed by storms, the English fleet sighted them off Corunna. Keeping an eye on the fleet, on 19 July the English began harassing them with long range guns. Consequently, the Armada anchored off Calais.
The English took this as an opportunity and sent fire ships into their midst. During the night, the Spaniards attempted an escape, but were pounded by English guns. Much of the Armada was destroyed, and strong winds dispersed the rest of the fleet into the North Sea.
Over half of the Armada had been destroyed and the invasion attempt failed.
With the decline of Spanish naval power following the destruction of the Armada, it was the Dutch who rose in power to challenge the might of the Royal Navy. This rivalry characterised much of the century. Further innovation in ship design was begun by Oliver Cromwell, who built the first warships with three decks of guns.
Under Charles II, Samuel Pepys introduced a refined naval organisation and administration, and for the first time the now British fleet became officially known as the Royal Navy.
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BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN
One episode of military stupidity concerned General George Armstrong Custer, known to the Native Americans as ‘Long Hair’ A flamboyant soldier, Custer made his name during the American Civil War, being promoted to General by the age of 23. But his success made him a vain, arrogant man.
After the war, he was reduced in rank, but in 1868 he was promoted once more in order to solve the problem of the Plains Indians, pushed out of their lands by the white man and deciding to play up about it.
Trouble really began when the Black Hills of Dakota, a major spiritual location that had been left to the Native Americans, was taken back. By 1876 the Sioux and Cheyenne were in open revolt.
The US cavalry fought hard to control the situation, and Custer was ordered to lead an element of the required force to the Valley of the Little Bighorn on the fork of two rivers where the Native American chief, Sitting Bull, was thought to have congregated the bulk of his warriors.
Custer arrived at the valley on 24 June 1876, with his twelve troops of men numbering over 600. He had pushed them hard, outstripping all other units, determined to get into action first.
What Custer had not realised was that he would be facing some 10,000 warriors. Sending a small force around the enemy to outflank them, this force was totally routed, a large band of warriors thus turning towards Custer and taking him by surprise.
The general ordered his men to a nearby hill to mount a defence, but with a thousand warriors, Crazy Horse soon caught up with the cavalry, forcing Custer to a last stand battle on open ground. Surrounded, the entire force was wiped out following an exceptionally brave fight. If only such brave men had not been led by such a vainglorious fool.
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MEDIEVAL WARFARE
The Medieval feudal system had a military nature endemic to it, with knights and surfs offering military service to the lords, and the lords to the king. From the knight upwards, this system was reinforced by the concept of chivalry – a code of gallantry and honour, it demanded virtues of the knight which echoed Christianity.
These were piety, honour, valour, courtesy, chastity and loyalty. Secular literature of the time exalted the chivalric knight, with the legend of King Arthur and others used in both England and France to exemplify the purity of the knight as being as one with the quest for the Holy Grail. Hence, knighthood became an almost spiritual concept, armed with the rightness of Christ and the power of the sword.
With the Crusades, orders of knighthood appeared with the Hospitallers and Templars, the guardians of Christendom, and prowess with arms became a must for the successful knight. This was enforced through a series of games where jousting became the highlight of the knight’s social year, forever perfecting his skills in warfare.
This allowed the knight to be at the apex of the Medieval army system. Known as ‘chevalliers’, they were mounted men-at-arms, armed with heavy lance and broad sword. Initially wearing chint mail armour, by the High Middle Ages they became heavy and cumbersome, wearing fully plated body armour with helmet and visor.
The principle military tactic of the time was the heavy cavalry charge, where groups of knights simply launched themselves en masse into the enemy, lancing and slashing until no enemy was left standing.
Apart from meeting opposing knights, the only real fears for the knight on the battlefield were the erection of outward facing stakes to guard the infantry, and the archer.
By the 11th century the longbow had been perfected into a frighteningly accurate weapon, and all armies of the period had bands of archers. The main form of artillery – extending weaponry beyond a man’s reach – archers came from the serfs, but if shown to be particularly good archers, they could win their freedom from serfdom, becoming a yeoman. This allowed them to concentrate on their archery skills rather than the fields.
(c) Anthony North, December 2008
