Spanish Civil War: Day-by-Day: 10th October 1936

The Republican Government announced the creation of the Popular Army. This was to incorporate both the Army units that had remained loyal to the Government and the Party Militias.

Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front 1943-1945

Having recently read Robert Forczyk's TANK WARFARE ON THE EASTERN FRONT 1941-1942 (published in 2013 by Sword and Pen Military [ISBN 978 1 78159 008 9/EPUB ISBN 978 1 47383 443 9]) on my Kindle, I decided to read his second book on this subject, TANK WARFARE ON THE EASTERN FRONT 1943-1945 (published in 2016 by Sword and Pen Military [ISBN 978 1 78346 278 0/EPUB ISBN 978 1 47388 091 7]).

The author argues that:

• The Russians learned more from its defeats in 1941-42 than the Germans did, and as the war went on, they put what they had learned into practice.
• The Russians were able to produce far more tanks than the Germans because they concentrated on a few simple to build and easy to repair models (e.g. T-34, KV-1, IS-2) whilst the Germans moved to more complicated, heavier, more cumbersome, and less mechanically robust tanks (e.g. Tiger I, Panther, Tiger II).
• Control of tank production in Russia was much better organised and directed than in Germany, and served the needs of the Red Army rather than the whims of political leaders and bureaucrats/technicians/designers.
• The German reliance on petrol tank engines put a great strain on Germany's dwindling fuel supplies as the war progressed, whereas if time and effort had been spent developing a suitable, economic diesel engine, fewer tanks might have suffered from breakdowns and been lost when they ran out of fuel.
• The creation of rival organisations in Germany that were vying with the German Army for the limited supply of armoured fighting vehicles (e.g. the SS Panzer Divisions) led to the experienced Army Panzer Divisions ending up being under or poorly equipped at a time when they were needed to stem the tide of advancing Russian troops.
• Lease-Lend enabled the Russians to both produce more tanks (thanks to large quantities of imported machine tools and essential raw materials) and to keep their advancing armies supplied with ammunition and fuel (thanks to the large number of US-built trucks that were delivered).

One other thing also became very apparent to me as I read this book; the importance of recovering damaged tanks and repairing them. At various points in the book the ability of one or other side to return damaged tanks to front-line service was vital to their ability to continue fighting.

I have enjoyed reading both of these books, and I must say that I feel that I have a much better understanding of tank warfare on the Eastern Front than had beforehand.

Admiral: Command & Conquer

When I saw this DVD on sale in a local branch of ASDA's, I first assumed that it was a PC game that had been put in the wrong place (the 'Command & Conquer' part of the title made me think so), but on closer inspection it proved to be a film ... so I bought it. It cost less than £5.00, so I felt that even if it wasn't very good, I hadn't wasted a lot of money to find out.

In fact the film is excellent in many ways. It was made in the Netherlands, so most of the dialogue is in Dutch. That said, the sections of the film set in England or aboard English or French ships are in those languages, and my version of the film has subtitles for the Dutch and French dialogue. (The makers have avoided dubbing in dialogue in the language of the country they are selling the DVD in. I much prefer this although I know that other people might not.)

The film tells the story of Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter, one of the Netherlands most famous sailors. It begins with the death of Maarten Tromp's death during the Battle of Scheveningen. This battle ended the First Anglo-Dutch War, and De Ruyter was offered the post of admiral in his place. The offer was made by Johan de Witt, the de facto Prime Minister of the Netherlands, and De Ruyter declined the offer as he felt himself to be unfit for such high command.

During the Second Anglo-Dutch War the offer was made again, and after some serious consideration De Ruyter accepted command of the Dutch fleet. (Cornelis Tromp – Maarten Tropm's son – had held the position on a temporary basis, but his support of the Prince of Orange was unacceptable to the republican Johan de Witt.) During the war Tromp proved to be a difficult subordinate, but De Ruyter's raid on the River Medway and the destruction of a large part of the British fleet helped to bring the war to an end.

The Third Anglo-Dutch War went badly on land for the Netherlanders, and led to the loss of part of the south of the country. The lack of military preparation was blamed on John de Witt, and he and his brother Cornelis de Witt were dragged from the prison Cornelis was incarcerated in and butchered by Dutch peasants. At sea De Ruyter managed to stave off an invasion with victories at the Battles of of Solebay (1672), Schooneveld (1673) and Texel (1673). In 1676 De Ruyter led a combined Dutch-Spanish fleet into the Mediterranean to put down the Messina Revolt. As a result the combined fleets fought the French at the Battles of Stromboli and Augusta, and during the latter he was killed when a cannonball hit his right leg.

The film covers all of these major events, and puts them into the context of the conflict between the Orangists and the Republicans in the Netherlands.

The film uses a mixture of CGI and real ships in the battle scenes, and is well worth watching for that alone.

The historical elements have been simplified, but it leaves one with a better understanding of the conflicts between the various larger nations of Europe (i.e. Britain and France) and its smaller but economically powerful neighbour, the Netherlands. It also goes some way to explaining the conflict between the Orangists and the Republicans in the Netherlands.

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The film was originally entitled MICHIEL DE RUYTER, and was made in 2015. The cast includes:

• Charles Dance (King Charles II of England)
• Rutger Hauer (Maarten Tromp)
• Barry Atsma (Johan de Witt)
• Derek de Lint (Kievit)
• Frank Lammers (Michiel de Ruyter)
• Egbert Jan Weeber (Willem III)
• Sanne Langelaar (Anna de Ruyter)
• Roeland Fernhout (Cornelis de Witt)
• Will Bowden (Prince Rupert)
• Colin Mace (Monck)
• Hajo Bruins (Cornelis Tromp)
• Jelle de Jong (Hans Willem Bentinck)

A trip into Kent

Sue and I originally planned to visit the National Archives at Kew today ... but when we woke up the weather forecast predicted good weather for South East England, and we decided that we would rather spend the day visiting Canterbury and Herne Bay in Kent.

We arrived in Canterbury before midday, had no difficulty finding somewhere to park our car, and then spent a very pleasant couple of hours wandering the streets of the city. As the tourist season is coming to an end the centre of Canterbury was not too crowded, and we had no difficulty walking through some of the city's narrow medieval streets.

There are plenty of restaurants in Canterbury, but we decided to drive to Herne Bay so that we could eat a fish and chip lunch in our favourite seafront restaurant and ice cream parlour, Makcaris.

We parked in the car park on the seafront ... and when we got out we realised that there was a strong cold wind blowing from the east. Luckily it was only a short walk to the restaurant, and by just after 2.30pm we had both ordered cod and chips for lunch. (The mushy peas come unless you choose not to have them, and the fish is always served with a piece of lemon and a pot of tartar sauce.)

As usual the fish was fresh and fried to perfection, and the chips were (to quote the captured U-Boat captain in the famous episode of DAD'S ARMY) 'crisp and light brown'.

Our drive home was uneventful, and by 4.30pm we were sitting in our living room having a refreshing drink.

So did we feel that we missed out by not going to the National Archives today? The simple answer is a resounding 'No!' We had a pleasant day out on what might be one of the last nice days before the Autumn weather begins to take hold ... and the records we would have looked at are still going to be there when we do pay our next visit to the Archives. After all, they've been there for almost two hundred years, so a wait of a few more days isn't going to make much difference!

A chance find

Yesterday was even busier than I had expected. Sue had to pay a visit to the dentist in the morning, and ended up having to have a filling replaced at short notice. As a result the morning seemed to zip by, and once lunch was over I was on my way to central London. For once the regular delays on the suburban train service worked in my favour, and I actually managed to catch a train to Charing Cross Station rather than Cannon Street Station. As the former is closer to Freemasons' Hall than the latter, I actually got to my meeting early, and had a chance to sit down and have a chat with other members of the Lodge before the meeting started.

The meeting went very well, and the meal afterwards – which we ate in the nearby Kingsway Hall Hotel – was excellent. On the way home I managed to catch a fast train back to Woolwich Arsenal Station, and although I had to wait for a bus to take me from the station to the top of Shooters HIll, I was still home just after 10.00pm.

Whilst travelling up to London I had a trawl through the latest batch of free or very cheap e-books that were available to download onto my Kindle, and I was somewhat surprised to find that there was a set of wargame rules amongst them. They are entitled BATTLEFIELDS: BROADSWORDS TO BULLETS and are described as 'Being a set of skirmish rules for all historical eras in 1/72nd (HO) or 25mm scale.'

I managed to download the rules, and although the layout leaves a bit to be desired (I suspect that is due to conversion process from text file to e-book format), the rules appear to be very simple yet sound, and would be an excellent starting point for anyone who wanted to tryout wargaming for themselves or with a few friends.

The author of the rules is Clayton J Callahan, and the latest edition of the rules seems to have been published privately in February of this year.

A busy week ahead

Having looked at my diary for the coming week, it looks as if I am going to be rather busy at times. Hopefully I will be able to fit in a bit of wargame-related stuff (including blogging) in the gaps, but experience tells me that what I hope to be able to do and what I am actually able to do are likely to be two different things.

On Monday I am attending a meeting of the London Masonic Lodge of which I am a member. The meeting starts at 4.00pm, but as getting there is dependent upon the suburban railway network and the London Underground (both of which can be prone to unforeseen delays) I will have to leave at least ninety minutes to make the journey. The meeting involves the Initiation of a new Freemason, and as I will be playing a small but vital part (I am the Inner Guard) being late is not an option.

Wednesday will see Sue and I at the National Archives, Kew, hopefully finishing off the research into the military career of William Richardson. Our last few visits have yielded very little information, but over the years we have learned that one can often glean almost as much from what is omitted from the records as from what is included.

If this sounds a bit opaque, perhaps the following example will help. When following a soldier's career using the Muster Rolls, Pay Lists, and Pension Records, one can track their progress up through the ranks. At the point when they cease to be a sergeant and become a staff sergeant or sergeant major, they no longer feature on the standard Muster Rolls or Pay Lists. If they lose their rank, and revert to a lower rank, they reappear. The Pension Records include the date when a soldier retired, and if they are absent from the Muster Rolls and Pay Lists from the date of their promotion to the date of their retirement it means that they have retained their promoted rank for the remainder of their service.

On Friday I have to travel over to Radlett in Hertfordshire for my second Masonic meeting of the week. It is a meeting of the Veritatem Sequere Lodge, which is Hertfordshire's Research Lodge. I am currently the Junior Warden (i.e. the third most important officer in the Lodge) and the meeting will see a new Worshipful Master installed in the Chair and my 'promotion' to Senior Warden. This meeting will not start until 5.30pm, but as I have to drive around the M25 to get to there, I will have to leave at least two to two and a half hours earlier than that to in order to allow for possible traffic delays. (Radlett is to the north west of London and I live in south east London, and to get there I have to go through the Dartford or Blackwall Tunnels. Both have a reputation for serious delays, and as they have now shut Tower Bridge for three months in order to undertake major repairs, those delays are likely to be worse than normal.)

I am told that there's nothing like retirement for ensuring an easy, quiet, and restful life. I have yet to find out if it is true as my life seems to be almost as busy as it was when I was working full-time!

My Portable Wargame book: An update

Since my last update I have managed to do a bit more work on my PORTABLE WARGAME book.

To date I have managed to draw and add numerous explanatory diagrams to the chapters entitled Grids: Hexes and Squares and Definitions, and I have begun work on a chapter entitled A brief (and incomplete) history of gridded wargames, which is taking me somewhat longer than expected to write.

It was original plan to have this book completed by Christmas, but I suspect that I am going to have to extend that deadline into the New Year.

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Below are some examples of the explanatory diagrams that I have drawn:

A diagram that shows the adjacent (and non-adjacent) grid areas on a squared grid.

A diagram that shows examples of lines-of-sight on an offset squared grid. In this example the Unit has a direct line-of sight to A and B, but the hill and the woods interrupt the direct lines-of-sight to C and D.

A diagram that shows how measurement or movement are made through the sides of the grid areas making up a hexed grid. In this example the measurement or movement is 2 grid areas. The grey lines show how the measurement or movement takes places through the sides of the grid areas and not the corners.

Spanish Civil War: Day-by-Day: 1st October 1936

General Franco was proclaimed Commander-in-Chief (Generalissimo) and Head of State in Burgos.

The Republican Government approved the Statute giving autonomy to the Basque Provinces. Jose Antonio Aguirre became the first President of the new Basque State, Euzkadi.

War memorials and statues in the Whitehall area

Whilst Sue and I were visiting the Whitehall area of London, I had a chance to look at some of the numerous memorial and statues that have been erected there. On Horse Guards Parade itself are statues of Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, ...

... Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley, ...

... and a memorial to Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener.

On the St James's Park side of Horse Guards Parade is the Guards Memorial, which was erected after the First World War. It commemorates the members of the Guards Division who died during the Great War as well as the dead of the Household Division from the Second World War and other conflicts that have been fought since 1918.

In Whitehall itself the most prominent memorials are the Cenotaph ...

... and the more recent Monument to the Women of World War II.

The former was erected in 1919 and the latter in 2005.

There are also three statues of British Field Marshals along one side of Whitehall. They are Field Marshal William (Bill) Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, ...

... Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, ...

... and Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein.

A few more 'fine fellows'

After a bit of a hiatus, I've resumed work on my Napoleonic project.

The latest additions to my British Napoleonic army include an Infantry unit and two units of Rifles.

The Infantry unit was made up from a number of figures that did not fit in with the majority of the rest of the British Infantry figures in my collection, and it is my intention to use them as Fencibles, Volunteers, or Militia.

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Note: Fencibles were temporary units that were recruited to serve solely as garrison or home defence troops within Great Britain.