On November 28, 1973, a largely unknown incident occurred in Soviet airspace on the border with Iran. At that time, Iran belonged to the Western camp, and its territory was an ideal base for spy flights into the soft underbelly of the USSR. As part of the Dark Gene program, reconnaissance flight
Sven Somme was a Norwegian civil servant, in 1940. But in April 1940, the Germans invaded his country and occupied it. Somme was unable to fight, due to age, but, together with his brother Jacob, joined the resistance. Jakob was captured by the Germans, brutally tortured and executed in 1943. Bu
The Requetes, also known as Navarreans, came from the homonymous Spanish province of Navarre, having behind them a heavy tradition of centuries as warriors. The word requet is of French origin and translates as hunting call . The hunters, by extension Reketes, had to present excellent combat act
Getz von Berlichingen he is known as the knight with the iron hand . A revolutionary spirit, outspoken and proud, a bandit but also a defender of the empire, a protector of the weak but also a villain, he became a kind of German Robin Hood fighting his class on behalf of the poor. A scion of the no
How could one characterize the resistance of 55 postal workers, a railroad worker and civilians, including a 10-year-old girl, against the Nazi hordes if not heroic? On September 1, 1939, in what was then Gdansk (now Gdansk, Poland), the citys Polish postmen, expecting a German invasion, had bar
Irina Levchenko, who acted as a nurse, initially, but also as a T-34 crew chief until the end of World War II, was one of the greatest heroines of the Red Army. Irina Levchenko was born on March 15, 1924. She was a student when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. She immediately en
Although dogs are considered mans best friends, one cat, Simon, has proved himself worthy of them. The British Navy still honors the heroic cat, decades after his death. Simon was the mascot of the British frigate HMS Amethyst, which during the final phase of the Chinese Civil War, was trapped by
Having advanced their positions, the nationalists began, in late October 1936, to gather forces with a view to attacking the Spanish capital, Madrid. The moment was in every way suitable for the attack. The Nationalist Army of Africa had swept the militia units of the republic from Seville to the
Julius Caesar was fighting Gaul from 58 BC. After a series of conflicts, with various Galatian and not only tribes, Caesar seemed victorious. However, in 52 BC the Gauls, united under Verkygetorix, decided to face the Romans. The young Gallic leader now had a huge army at his disposal. His cavalr
The Stratigikon attributed to Emperor Maurice (539-602 AD) is one of the most important military writings of all time. Such a timeless work is naturally still applicable today, despite the fact that Cavalry have been replaced by state-of-the-art tanks. Mauritius, a military man himself, had deve
When World War II broke out, on 1 September 1939 two Cavalry Regiments joined the newly formed Cavalry Brigade (TI). Other cavalry regiments were disbanded and their divisions distributed to other formations. TI extended the 1st and 2nd SI, with the above composition. In addition to the two regi
The sarissa was a long spear. It was born very early, as far back as prehistoric times and equipped the Minoan and early Achaean pedestrians in the form of sound. The main difference between the sarissa and the spear was its length, which required the use of both hands of the warrior to use it.
In all the conquered areas the Germans formed armed divisions and units mainly to fight the partisans. One of the worst was the 1st Albanian Division. Albania was occupied by the Italians in April 1939. After the occupation of Greece and Yugoslavia, Italian Albania expanded territorially to include
In 1715 the Turkish danger for the Habsburg Empire and consequently for all of Europe began to be felt again. Turkish ambitions had been revived since 1711, when Mehmet Pasha with 260,000 men defeated Tsar Peter the Greats 40,000 men at the Battle of Prutus. Always following the same expansionis
Erich Maria Remarque, in his excellent work No Younger than the Western Front, presents a shocking scene where a phalanx of draft animals is hit by British artillery. Remarque shows a German soldier trying to kill the wounded animals so that they dont suffer, as he cant bear to hear natures own wail
The term damned soldiers refers to the Polish fighters who resisted the Soviet yoke, from 1944 until the early 1950s. Similar resistance movements existed in all Eastern European countries that passed under the Stalinist yoke, such as in the Baltic countries - Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania - but also i
The idea of vertical bombardment was born in the interwar period. The Germans worked out all the emerging theories and came to the conclusion that vertical bombing provided many more advantages than the conventional way. In principle, it was accurate and allowed to attack the target point, as oppo
In 1715 the Turkish danger again began to be felt on the eastern borders of the Habsburg Empire. Turkish ambitions had been revived since 1711, when Mehmet Pasha with 260,000 men defeated Peter the Greats 40,000 men at the Battle of Prutus. Always following the same expansionist policy, the Turks, v
In 1526 the huge army of Suleiman the Magnificent crushed the small army of the Hungarian king Laios at Mohács in southern Hungary. After this glorious victory, the Ottoman troops, after spreading death and destruction, conquered the rest of Hungary without a fight and reached Vienna, which they uns
The British army, during World War II, was dramatically behind in tank design. But when, in 1942, the heavy German tank Tiger I appeared, terror struck the British tanks. So it was decided to design a new tank, based on the Cromwell tank, which would be equipped with the most powerful British an
What was so magical about the German 88mm gun? Was it this all-powerful cannon, which fired 16 km and sowed terror everywhere, as described by a persistent legend? No. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, the 88 gun was already six years old — and the original model was even older.A former t
The Battle of Foksani is one of the most important of the Austrian and Russian war against the Turks. The war began as a Russo-Turkish war in 1787, but the following year the Habsburg Empire joined Russia on the side. In the mid-summer of 1789 a small Austrian army under the worthy general Princ
Year 615, the Visigoth king Sisebutus he is carrying out a harsh military campaign, naval and land, against the Roman-Byzantine positions in Hispania. Malaca, Malaga, has just fallen into his power. The combats are fierce and the Visigothic army and fleet are imposing themselves on the Romans at th
The history of cryptography is almost as old as that of human language. It is known that the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Indians or Greeks already used more or less sophisticated message encryption methods, as shown by some surviving documentary examples. Generally associated with the military fiel