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The "Today in Military History." Thread.


Belesarius

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May 4th, 1799: The second Siege of Seringapatam, between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company and the Indian princely state of Hyderabad, ends with the successful British storming of the fortress-capitol, achieved after a siege of around a month. British guns had achieved in opening up a breach, helped by mines, in a weaker part of the defenses, which was ultimately stormed by British troops. The result of the battle was the death of the Mysorean leader, the Tipu Sultan, who de-facto led Mysore in place of the Wadiyar dynasty. Following the battle, along with re-adjusting Mysore's borders, the British would re-install the previous Wadiyar dynasty, establishing a princely state protectorate. The ultimate effect of the battle was the end of a significant faction opposed to British influence, helping to secure British control over the southern part of India.

 

 While the extent of Mysore's challenge to the British is debatable (some of the books and sources I have been recently reading bout them take a very pronounced pro-Mysore stance, and in my opinion omit information to attempt to improve their case - ie. over-stating progress in the Mysorean navy's construction schemes by stating only their very ambitious construction goals without stating the actual progress attained, or ignoring military defections), they seem to have generally, at least temporarily under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, have been a surprisingly competent and capable force. It is of course easy to recognize the advantage of modern weapons and to attempt to acquire them, something most states during the colonial age succeeded in, the Europeans always being eager to make a profit and to throw a wrench into the gears of their competitors. However, the Mysorean leadership during the period seems to have had a much better grasp than most of the need for supporting institutional infrastructure behind such military machinery; that in addition to having troops with European guns, one also needs effective officer leadership and operational experience, military training, a local industrial base capable of producing one's own weapons, and that infrastructure projects and economic reforms (standardization of weights and measures, promotion of financial systems) are vital for providing the economic base for these armies - and that your helpful foreign "advisors" should be in general taken with a grain of salt; used, but not enabled to make themselves indispensable. While some books may make excessive claims upon the Mysoreans, claiming them to have been of a similar nationalistic fire as the French, and of the same industry and vigor as the Americans, they do seem to have been substantially more effective than the rather mediocre efforts vis a vis the British of the rest of the Indian states during the era.

 

Of course, in the case of Tipu Sultan, this is in many degrees overshadowed by religious policy; a debate exists between two sides, one of which claims him to be a stern but fair leader between the Hindus and Muslims of Mysore, while the opposing one claims widespread depredations and discriminations against the Hindu population, as well as large-scale outright massacres in conquered states. It is possible that the second one may bear significant influence from the British, who were always very eager to discredit their rivals (as with all colonizers, although the British are probably the best at propaganda from the lot; it was standard operating procedure to portray local leadership as despotic/immoral/tyrannical/backwards/mentally unsound when they were a nuisance (and to portray them as time-honored/progressive/customary/morally upright/in line with the natural order of things when they were in line properly), Belgian policy against kings in Rwanda forms a good example), but regardless I would have to claim my lack of significant reading upon religious policy from academic sources as to avoid making a firm judgement, although claims about some of the contents of his diary which talked of the conquest of the world by Islam put him in a bad light by modern, western eyes.

 

Also reminds me that I should re-read the Sharpe's Tiger, my vague memories involve only escaping some tigers and killing Tipu Sultan. Good romp, sadly the collection I had (most of the series!) was returned to their original bookstore many years ago, although the books are also available online. Reading on a computer is sadly distracting though.

 

o6bIpCG.jpg

 

Tipu's tiger, which also could emanate mock wails of the soldier and growls of the tiger. 

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I said all. I lied.

 

An island called Texel was liberated on May 20th, which had seen heavy fighting between Georgian troops and the German army. More on that here.

 

The last municipality in the Netherlands to be liberated was another island called Schiermonnikoog, which was liberated only on the 11th of June.

 

 

Also, I forgot to say something in my previous post...

 

 

 

Thanks, allies.

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13321918_910391862423940_122825036609839

 

 

23.30hrs 5th June 1944

The Final Embarkation: Four 'stick' commanders of 22nd Independent Parachute Company, British 6th Airborne Division, synchronising their watches in front of an Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle of 295 Squadron, No 38 Group, Royal Air Force, at about 23.30 on the 5th of June, just prior to take off from RAF Harwell, Oxfordshire. This pathfinder unit parachuted into Normandy in advance of the rest of the division in order to mark out the landing zones, and these officers, (left to right, - Lieutenants, Bobby de Lautour, Don Wells, John Vischer and Bob Midwood), were among the first Allied troops to land in France.

 

From WWII Colorized Photos.

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"that wheresoever throughout the civilized world the accounts of this great warfare are read, and down to the latest period of recorded time, in the glorious annals of our common country there will be no brighter page than that which relates THE BATTLES OF GETTYSBURG."

 

 

HO5LSia.jpg

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July 17, 1927, USMC Maj. Ross E. Rowell, leads a flight of five DHs, which are two-seat biplanes, in a strafing and dive bombing attack against bandit forces surrounding a garrison of Marines at Ocotal, Nicaragua.

Although instances of diving attacks occur during World War I and U.S. Marine Corps pilots use the same technique in Haiti in 1919, this attack is considered the first organized dive bombing attack in combat. - Naval History and Heritage Command

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