[Cross-posted at Cliopatria.] Libya now holds an unfortunate record. It is the country which has the longest experience of aerial bombardment. Libya was first bombed in 1911, by Italy; now, in 2011, it is being bombed by its own air force. That makes it just under a century from the first bomb to the latest. […]
By recapturing from Italian forces Berbera, the capital of British Somaliland, a small part of the British Empire has been restored. Royal Navy warships landed Army troops at the port, suffering ‘negligible’ (Glasgow Herald, 5) casualties. RAF armoured cars assisted too. This adds to the Allied offensive against Addis Ababa: ‘British Empire troops are now
Philip Anthony Towle. Pilots and Rebels: The Use of Aircraft in Unconventional Warfare 1918-1988. London: Brassey’s, 1989. From air control to counterinsurgency. A bit RAF-centric until after 1945.
Today the Glasgow Herald returns to what has been the predominant theme of the last week, America’s increasing commitment to the Allied cause, here represented by a ‘world broadcast’ made by Roosevelt on Saturday (5). Fearlessly he castigated the Axis partners — “these modern tyrants” with their “stuff and nonsense” about the master race. Their
The war news today is much closer to home for the Glasgow Herald than usual. A big air raid last night on ‘a Central district of Scotland’ (5) is vividly described, as though the reporter had witnessed it: readers would know for themselves just how far away it was. One Nazi ‘plane which appeared to
The big news today is that the latest Italian offensive against Greek forces in the Tepelini sector has been a disaster. War correspondents estimate 10,000 Italian casualties, including 2000 dead; yet ‘it was stated in authoritative circles in London yesterday that the Italians do not appear to have made any perceptible progress’ (5). This is
The Glasgow Herald today again leads with Lease-and-Lend, specifically the massive appropriation request made by Roosevelt to Congress — over half a billion pounds’ worth of ‘aircraft and aeronautical material, including engines, spares, and accessories’ alone (5). The Bill will be ready for debate early next week: the Speak of the House of Representatives, Sam
The Glasgow Herald, like many early-twentieth-century ‘provincial’ newspapers, made a serious effort to cover war and other international news, as well as reporting on national and local issues. (In fact, it almost seems more interested in what’s happening overseas than it is in London or even Edinburgh.) Its highmindedness is also evident in its lack
At Frog in a Well China, Alan Baumler is post-blogging the Chinese Revolution of 1911, beginning with a premature mutiny in Canton. It should make a nice companion series to David Silbey’s earlier effort on the Boxer Uprising.
The indefatigable David Silbey has posted Military History Carnival #26 at Cliopatria. The link which inspired this post’s title is at Military Times and concerns the fate of HMS Caroline, a light cruiser which was commissioned in 1914 and remains in service as a floating (albeit permanently moored) headquarters and training ship in Belfast. She
