Jane Haining - A Life of Love and Courage

 The Renfrewshire UNISON branch in Scotland has a Holocaust Memorial project remembering the only Scot who died in a Nazi concentration camp – Jane Haining. UNISON Renfrewshire branch secretary Mark Ferguson said: 'The memorial work we’ve done over the past few years on Jane Haining has been very humbling, and having the opportunity to build a relationship with her family has been so special. We are working on telling the story of someone who lived and worked in our community for a long time, and it’s an incredible story.'

I recently spoke with them about helping with a proposed education pack to support the project's development. I had heard about her story, which has been covered in the Scottish media and was the subject of a BBC documentary. However, for more detail, I turned to Mary Miller's book.

Jane Haining (1897 – 1944) was a Scottish missionary for the Church of Scotland in Budapest, Hungary, who was recognised in 1997 by Yad Vashem in Israel as Righteous Among the Nations for having risked her life to help Jews during the Holocaust. 

Jane came from a small village near Dumfries and went to work in Paisley, hence the link to the Renfrewshire UNISON branch. She was active in the Church of Scotland, and in 1932, she was appointed matron for the girls' hostel attached to its Jewish mission school in Budapest. While there was anti-semitism in Hungary driven by its own fascist party, refugees poured into the country from Germany. Hungary adopted its own anti-Jewish legislation in 1938, along the lines of the Nazi Nuremberg laws. This process accelerated with the outbreak of war, even though Hungary was neutral. Jane was advised to return to Scotland, but she decided to stay to care for the children. 

In December 1941, Britain declared war on Hungary in response to its role in the invasion of the Soviet Union. This made it even more difficult for the school, but Jane continued with her work. That all changed when the Nazis marched into Budapest on 19 March 1944, to stop Hungary pulling out of the war. Jane was denounced by a local Hungarian Nazi to the Gestapo, who arrested her. She was sent to Auschwitz, arriving there on 15 May 1944. We know very little about her time in the camps, and her last letter is dated 15 July 1944. She was probably murdered on 17 July in the gas chambers. The Germans claimed she died in the hospital. 430,000 Hungarian Jews were deported and murdered.

While she is known as the Scot who died at Auschwitz, it is also essential to understand what she did with her life and those she helped. As one of her friends put it, 'If we can do anything in any small measure that Jane did, our world will be a different and much better place.'

Fast and Loose

 The latest in my Nigel Tranter project is out of the ordinary. It was one of his early novels, written in 1951, and instead of covering a broad sweep of Scottish history, it focuses on the events of one small clan in north west Scotland, in the early years of the 18th century.

Tranter bases his story around the eldest son of the clan chief of MacColl, coming back from a grand tour of Europe, although confusingly the cover says he was a hostage at the King's court. Having been robbed, he and his foster brother capture a boat in Dunbarton to get them home. They arrive to find his younger brother Cormac has locked up his father and taken over the clan, and his beloved. The story revolves around the measures he takes to win back the clan.

Tranter usually sticks pretty close to the history, sometimes inventing characters to narrate the story. However, he has invented a whole new history for the MacColls. The place names in the book don't exist, and he has placed them much further north than their traditional territory around Loch Fyne. The MacColls are probably a sept of the MacDonalds (Coll being a popular MacDonald first name) and, like many smaller clans, were squeezed out by the Campbells. After being almost wiped out in the 17th century, they settled in Appin and fought in the 1745 rising as part of the Appin Regiment. One-third of those killed in the regiment had the surname MacColl.

I won't spoil the plot, as this is almost totally fiction. Tranter paints a more realistic picture of clan life and the fighting capabilities of the average member than popular myth. The young MacColl has many challenges in gathering the forces needed to win back his birthright, and his journey takes him across northern Scotland, with Tranter's remarkable ability to describe the scenery. It all makes a cracking read. 

Some of my better-equipped Highlanders of the period

The Jacobite Rising of 1715 and the Murray Family

 For some reason, I have always been more interested in the early Jacobite uprisings than the better-known '45, with Bonnie Prince Charlie et al. This book by Rosalind Anderson was in the Naval and Military sale, and it tied in well with my current stage in the Nigel Tranter project.

The Murray family played a key role in the Jacobite rebellions, although in 1715, they had a foot in both camps. The Duke of Atholl stayed loyal to the Hanoverian Succession, but his sons did not. Contrary to popular myth, the Jacobite rebellions were not Catholic v Protestant affairs. The majority of rebels were, in fact, Episcopalians. The Murrays are a good example of this.

If you are looking for a narrative history of the 1715 rebellion, this book is not it. The author's focus is on the family and their relationships with each other. The author had access to their contemporary letters, or at least those that have survived. Blair Atholl Castle is one of Scotland's best preserved castles and is well worth a visit, just off the A9 if you are heading north. The Duke of Atholl still has his Atholl Highlanders based at the castle, the only legal private army in Europe.

The evidence from these letters clearly paints a picture of the sons acting independently rather than a planned family strategy to keep a foot in both camps. Having spent some time myself trying to decipher 18th-century handwriting in archives, this is an impressive piece of research. The problem is that many of the exchanges are really not that interesting. However, they do show the influence of the women in the family, something that is not always apparent in 18th-century history.

The last few chapters cover the action in the 1715 rebellion and the Battle of Sheriffmuir. The one common factor in all the rebellions was the weather. Every rising was cursed by the weather, which impacted the arrival, or not, of French ships. There was a similar issue with Spanish troops in the 1719 rising, which ended in the Battle of Glen Shiel.

This is an interesting piece of family history, and worth a read if you are planning a visit. However, for a history of the 1715 and 1719 risings, I would look elsewhere. Stuart Reid's, Sheriffmuir 1715, is a good starting point.

Some of my 28mm forces of the period.

Wellington and the British Army's Indian Campaigns 1798-1805

 This is Martin Howard's study of the Indian campaigns during the Napoleonic Wars, with a focus on Wellesley and Lake's campaigns. In 2008/09, I ran a series of GDWS show games based on Mughal India (including an article in Wargames Illustrated), stretching the period to Clive. I have dabbled with extending the period to the Wellesleys, and this book has all I need. Yes, the use of 'Wellington' in the title is wrong, but I suspect that was a marketing preference.

The author starts with a look at British forces in India, a mix of European and native infantry. The East India Company recruited Europeans into their regiments, including French prisoners of war, as the British government wanted to limit the deployment of line regiments. Even 42% of the 'English' regiments were Irish and 24% Scots. There is enough detail in the book, and some colour paintings to get the wargamer started.

The next chapter covers the opposing forces, including the Mysore army of Tipu Sultan. They were huge, but of very mixed quality. They included a tiny European contingent, probably not exceeding 100. The organisation of regular troops was influenced by French practice. The other main opponent was the Maratha confederacy, which actually covered several different rulers, with the British playing divide and rule. The political skills of Wellesley's brother are touched on, but this book is primarily a military history. The strongest was probably Daulat Rao Sindia, who had European officers to command his regular units, and they provided more vigorous opposition.

The various campaigns are covered in detail. Some are well-known, like Gawilghur, Seringhamtam and Assaye, but others have been largely forgotten. In one of those historical turning points, Wellesley was nearly killed when his ship struck a reef in August 1798. The Peninsular and Waterloo without Wellington is a fascinating what-if of history. Wellesley takes much of the credit for British success in India, but this book emphasises the role of General Lake, who has largely been ignored.  He played a central role in the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805), fighting against Scindia and his French-trained army, as well as against Holkar later in the war. Actions included the Battle of Aligarh (September 1803), the capture of Delhi (September 1803), and the Battle of Laswari (November 1803). His only failure was at the Siege of Bharatpur (1805). Lake was a fighting general, respected by his men, and his obscurity is undeserved.

The strongest section of the book is the chapters on how the army fought. There is only one Sepoy memoir, and even that is contested. Still, the author breaks down the tactics used by infantry, cavalry and artillery. He looks at what motivated sepoys to help the British conquer India, which includes consideration of recruitment and regimental pride, as well as regular pay and pensions. This was the period when the British started to develop the military races theory, which favoured Rajputs and Pathans because they were taller, of paler skin and of a higher caste.

This is an excellent study of the period. The wargamer will probably still need the Osprey MAA 453 for the uniform details and colour plates.

Some of my 28mm Sepoys

The always colourful Indian cavalry in 28mm

The Patriot

The latest in my Nigel Tranter project is his novel about Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun (1655-1716). Fletcher is best known for his opposition to the Treaty of Union in 1707, but he had a fascinating backstory before then. I suspect that Tranter enjoyed writing this book more than most, as he was a passionate supporter of Home Rule for Scotland.

Saltoun is in East Lothian, not far from Tranter's home. He was born into a relatively affluent landowning family and was well educated in Scotland and in Europe. He entered politics in 1678 when he was elected as the Commissioner for Haddingtonshire to the Scottish Parliament. Unlike his peers, he rarely moved with the political winds and quickly made enemies of the powerful. He strongly opposed arbitrary actions on the part of the Church or state. In 1683, after being charged (falsely) with plotting against the King, Fletcher fled Scotland to join with English opponents of King Charles (and then James II) in the Netherlands. 

It was there that he met James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, and commanded the cavalry in the Monmouth Rebellion. He shot a local leader of the rebellion, and Monmouth had to dismiss him, which turned out to be a fortunate escape. He escaped to Spain, where he was imprisoned at the request of the English government. However, he escaped and joined the Imperialist army fighting the Ottomans in Hungary. Sadly, we don't know much about this period in his life, and Tranter glosses over it. I, of course, love a Scottish/Balkan connection!

On returning to the Netherlands, he joined the forces of  William of Orange, and returned to Scotland in 1688. However, his alliance with William faded when it became clear William II (as he was in Scotland) was only interested in using the country to help fight foreign wars. Fletcher's views on the limitations of monarchy didn't go down any better with William than they had with Charles or James. He was a promoter of the Darien Scheme, which sought to establish a Scottish colony in Panama. However, by practically ruining the Scottish elite, the Darien scheme increased support for Union with England, bolstered by offers of money to Scots who would support it. He didn't pen the famous words, "Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation", but he would agree with the meaning. As would Tranter.

Fletcher turned from politics after the Union and devoted the rest of his life to farming and agricultural development. He died unmarried in Paris in September 1716. His last words were 'Lord have mercy on my poor country that is so barbarously oppressed'.

Fletcher was an intellectual, so perhaps not the stuff of gripping historical fiction. However, he was not adverse to using the sword, and this story has some action and plenty of plots. The reader is left with admiration for a man of principle, in an era when political principles were rare. 

Some of my English infantry of the period

Yugoslavia 1941-44

 We are being spoiled by Osprey on the subject of Balkan partisan operations. This book by Pier Paolo Battistelli covers anti-partisan operations in Yugoslavia after the German invasion. Unlike the MAA on Greek partisans, this is a campaign guide that focuses on the operations.

As usual, we get a brief introduction and chronology. Then the opposing commanders. German commanders were regularly rotated, much to their relief, I suspect. Austrian officers were often deployed to the Balkans, and some studies suggest they were more likely to engage in war crimes. For example, Redulic was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. However, none came close to the atrocities committed by Croatian fascists, including Slavko Kvaternik. The Italians were less brutal, but not very competent. The partisan commanders are also covered, including the Chetnik leader Mihailovic, who inexplicably has been the subject of revisionist histories that seek to play down his collaboration. Finally, there is Tito, who was eventually backed by the Allies because his units actually fought the Axis occupation forces.

The next chapter covers the opposing forces. The Germans increasingly made use of local troops or White Russians to avoid taking combat units from active fronts. Ethnic Germans were preferred in units such as the SS Prince Eugene Division. They also recruited Muslim troops into the SS Handschar Division, on the basis that anyone who gave them a gun to resist Croatian attacks was acceptable. The Italians also deployed second-line units, who generally performed poorly. The Croatian Ustaše units effectively drove recruits to the partisans with their atrocities, much to the horror of German commanders who regularly complained to Berlin. To little effect. The Partisan structure had to be flexible, but by the end of the war had grown into something approaching a conventional army. The author has made a very good attempt at an order of battle. I have lots of books on this subject, and this is no easy task.

The opposing plans and campaigns cover the primary anti-partisan operations. This is where the Campaign series is strongest, with lovely, clear maps and colour plates. The use of French armour was a particular feature. The detailed maps over two pages help the reader to understand the rugged terrain. I have driven through large parts of Bosnia, and you are immediately drawn to the challenges of fighting up and down river valleys. The island campaigns in the Adriatic were particularly challenging for the Germans, who had limited naval forces. The campaigns concluded with the Red Army arriving in the Balkans, joining with the partisans to liberate the country. This was also a civil war, and many collaborationists died in mass executions.

While partisan operations played a limited strategic role in the war, they did tie down significant numbers of Axis troops, as even the avowedly anti-communist Churchill recognised based on ULTRA intercepts. On that basis, the author is unjustifiably dismissive of their contribution in his conclusion. There are few neutrals in this debate! However, this remains an excellent military history of the campaigns.

Partisans around the campfire from my 28mm collection

Partisan Warfare in Greece 1941-44

 A new Osprey on a Balkan theme is a no-brainer for me. This is a rare, little-explored corner of the Second World War, as well, by Phoebus Atanassiou.

A brief introduction sets the scene following the Greek campaign and the occupation of Greece by German, Italian and Bulgarian troops. Germany's primary interest was less about Greece itself, but instead defending the Romanian oilfields from the Allied bombing. The Axis Powers divided Greece into three occupation zones. Germany controlled the most strategically important areas; Bulgaria occupied (and annexed) eastern Macedonia, western Thrace and the islands of Thassos and Samothraki; and Italy took over the remainder of the Greek mainland, eastern Crete (Lasithi prefecture), and the south Aegean Sea and Ionian Sea islands.

Despite the best efforts of the Allies, there wasn't a unified resistance in Greece. Two broad coalitions dominated partisan warfare in Greece. ELAS was the military arm of EAM, a KKE-dominated loose coalition of pre-war left-wing political parties, all but uprooted in by the repressive regime of Ioannis Metaxas. It moved to the left during the war, dominated by the Communist Party. On the right stood EDES (later renamed EOEA), the brainchild of a group of Athens-based Republican-minded political and military figures. It moved away from liberal politics and became pro-monarchist. Britain supported the monarchist government in exile, but recognised that ELAS was the most effective force on the ground. Both sides fought each other as well as the Axis.

The author describes how both groups were organised. They were much closer to the Yugoslav model than resistance groups in France, with military structures and permanent units. Weapons and uniforms were sourced from the former Greek army stocks, supplemented by Allied air drops, and whatever could be captured from Axis depots. The Italian surrender in 1943 was very helpful in this regard. However, ammunition was always limited. An interesting development was ELAS's small naval fleet, which makes Cruel Seas scenarios possible. Overall, ELAS had around 67,000 men under arms. EDES was much smaller, growing to around 5,000 by the summer of 1943, and 12,000 in 1944. EDES had an effective truce with the Germans in 1943-44. The Allied military mission in Greece fielded no more than 400 men.

The occupation forces are also covered. The success of Allied diversionary operations meant that larger German forces were kept in Greece than needed - 100,000 in 1944. However, other than a core of veterans, they were typically second-line units. The ORBAT is dominated by fortress and jager units, without the usual heavy weapons. The Italian forces were generally poor, and suffered from low morale. Bulgaria annexed their occupation region and enforced the Bulgarisation of the population. Unlike the Italians they actively deported the Jewish population. Bulgaria deployed around 70,000 troops, mostly reservists. The Greek puppet government was allowed to recruit collaborationist units, and nine security battalions were organised by the end of the war.

As you would expect from this series, there are lots of period photographs and colour plates of the main troop types. A very useful addition to the series and plenty of scope for small scale skirmishes on the table-top as well as larger scale anti-partisan sweeps.

Some of my 28mm Bulgarian troops.

The Douglas Bastard

 This was my homeward-bound reading on the plane back from Istanbul. It is J.R. Tomlin's take on the later Scottish-English Wars. Our hero is Archie Douglas, the bastard son of the Black Douglas, overly keen to live up to his father's reputation. 

The story starts during King David II's exile in France after the defeat at the Battle of Halidon Hill in July 1333. Archie is taken on as a squire by a Douglas relative, William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale, and returns to Scotland to take part in the campaigns that largely freed Scotland from English rule. Edward III was distracted by the Hundred Years' War. He is knighted by King David after he also returns to Scotland.  

The Scots army had not learned the lessons of fighting against the English longbow in pitched battles. In 1346, under the terms of the Auld Alliance, David invaded England to try to draw King Edward away from the French, who had been defeated at the Battle of Crécy. After initial success at Hexham, David's army was soundly defeated at the Battle of Neville's Cross on 17 October 1346. Unlike the King, who is wounded and captured, our hero escapes to live another day in the rest of the series.

This is an ideal quick read for a holiday. The action is fast flowing and continuous. Archie is not a flawless hero, and the story captures the divisions among the Scots nobility that plagued the country for centuries after the Bruce's death.

Some of my 28mm Scottish schiltrons of the period

Horse and Pistol

 This novel by Griff Hosker was my outward-bound reading on my recent trip to Moldova. It is set in the reign of James I & VI, so it fits in well with my recent Tranter novels. It is the first in a new series titled "English Mercenary."

This is a period that is little covered, just at the outbreak of the Thirty Years War, rather than the later, better-known, Swedish phase. Our hero is James Bretherton, the son of a minor landowner, who squanders his Hugenot French wife's fortune, leaving James in need of a new career. He decides to join a mercenary band that is recruiting for the European wars. The king supported the Protestant cause but not to the extent of committing significant forces. 

Bretherton serves initially in the Netherlands under Prince Maurice. The band was sent on the ill-fated Bohemian campaign, being destroyed by Tilly at the Battle of White Mountain in November 1620.  Our hero and a friend manage to escape the battlefield. Frederick V of the Palatinate is James I's son-in-law, but that only brought limited support. His army was forced to abandon the Palatinate as well, fleeing to the Dutch.

Our hero acts as an envoy to the court of James, and there are various sub-plots involving Spanish espionage in London. He finally returns to England, somewhat richer, and no doubt ready for the next book in the series.

Griff Hosker has developed some strong characters for the series, and the book has a very Bernard Cornwell feel to it. Plenty of action on and off the battlefield as well as political intrigue. The fighting style of the pike and shot period is well-researched, and the mostly small-scale skirmishing offers Pikeman's Lament scenarios. I really enjoyed this and will undoubtedly read the next one. 

One of my 28mm foot units of the period.

Infantry in Battle 1733-1783

 Of all the many books I read in any year, only a few can be described as outstanding and original. This study of 18th-century infantry by Alexander Burns is such a book. If you have a picture of neat lines of infantry marching towards each other, discharging volleys, then this book is a necessary correction. Instead of relying on the manuals and treatises on infantry tactics, Burns focuses on soldiers' writings of what actually occurred in battle.  He concludes, ‘infantry soldiers in the eighteenth century sometimes disobeyed their officers’ commands and fought in a way that made sense to them. They aimed their weapons, fought as skirmishers, and fired independently and uncontrolled, often at a greater range than their officers preferred.’

Burns starts with a couple of battles from the little-known War of the Polish Succession, fought in Northern Italy in 1734. These actions highlight some of the themes that he tackles later in the book. The first of these is that the firelock musket was not as inaccurate as we have been brought up to believe. A man-sized target could be hit at 100 yards, and a block of infantry or cavalry at much longer ranges. Another is the assumption that peasant soldiers were automatons that carried out their orders to the letter. Burns examines the village world they came from and argues that it was more contentious and litigious than we might think. This led to soldiers questioning absurd orders and, on occasion, doing what seemed sensible rather than adhering to the textbook orders of their officers. They could fire at will, take cover, and utilise terrain. Officers learned that just beating men didn't work; they needed to show inspirational leadership.

We consider skirmishers as part of line regiments, a Napoleonic innovation. However, there is plenty of evidence that flankers developed during the 18th century. Even the Prussians used Heckenfeuer (controlled skirmishing). Officers were able to trust their troops to use aimed fire and skirmishing, a level of initiative and delegation that deviates from the traditional wisdom. How quickly troops could fire has been a subject of significant debate, not least by wargame rule writers. While four or five rounds a minute was achievable on the parade ground, two or three rounds a minute was more realistic on the battlefield. Firefights could go on for a long time, depleting the number of rounds an infantryman carried very quickly. That doesn't mean they necessarily ran out of ammunition very often; armies developed close support by using ammunition wagons and carts. The conclusion being that firepower increasing played a dominant role.

Volley fire demanded effective manoeuvring on the battlefield, and the Prussians led the way. However, speed and dexterity in loading, rather than robotic obedience, gave them an edge. Neat lines may have been achievable on the parade ground but not on even relatively flat battlefields. We are told that many generals, Suvorov springs to mind, favoured the bayonet over the musket. However, while melee combat happened, it was less frequent than imagined. 

Burns finishes with two battles in North America, which reinforce his themes. Although some of the circumstances were different, not least the limited use of cavalry. The conclusions focus on the evidence for writing the history of battle from below. Soldiers rather than officers and manuals. While I might have wished for more examples from Eastern Europe, there is a problem of sources. Russian serfs were not noted for writing memoirs, and there is limited archival evidence from letters home. Nonetheless, this book is an eye-opener on 18th-century warfare, building on the work of the late great Christopher Duffy. 

Some late 18th-century 'Potemkin' Russian infantry from my current project.

Honours Even

 The latest in my Nigel Tranter re-reading project covers the period of Oliver Cromwell's occupation of Scotland between the Regicide and the Restoration. It's a little-known period of Scottish history, with the focus being on the Commonwealth in England.

The story is told through the eyes of an actual, albeit minor, historical character, James Ramsay of Bamff in Perthshire. He came from a Royalist group of families who had supported Montrose and were there to welcome Charles II to his coronation as King of Scots. Charles was somewhat bemused at his reception from the Covenanters, an experience that would play out in the future.

Cromwell's reaction to the coronation was to invade Scotland. He was repulsed outside Edinburgh and retreated to Dunbar, where his army could be supplied by sea. The Battle of Dunbar (1650) was a disaster for the larger Scottish army, the blame largely falling on the Kirk, which interfered with the battle plans of the experienced Scots commander David Leslie. This led to an initial occupation, while the Scottish army accompanied Charles II to raise the Royalist flag in England. This ended badly a year later at the Battle of Worcester. 

Our hero stayed in Scotland and was involved in rescuing the crown jewels, known as the Honours of Scotland, from Edinburgh Castle and its Roundhead garrison. It was decided to take them to Dunnotar Castle, south of Aberdeen, for safety. A significant portion of the book is devoted to the subsequent siege. The Honours were spirited out before the garrison was starved into surrender. 

These are the honours, which are now displayed at Edinburgh Castle.

There are differing stories about how the Honours were removed, and Tranter goes for the version that the local minister's wife hid them when she was allowed to visit the castle. Tranter tells a story about the Roundhead artillery being captured by the MacGregors and sunk in a bog. This may be an embellishment of the novelist, as the Roundheads did manage to get artillery in place.

Either way, Dunnotar is one of Scotland's finest castles, and not to be missed if you are in the north east. 

Our hero is then involved in various attempts to challenge the Roundhead occupation of Scotland. These suffered from the usual divisions within the country and had little impact. It ended with the Restoration after Cromwell's death.

After the books on James I and VI, this was a significant improvement. Plenty of action and a story well told.

Some of my 28mm Roundheads.

Weapons of the Falklands Conflict

 This is Bryan Perrett's book on the weapons systems deployed by both sides in the Falklands War. It was written just after the conflict in 1982, and I picked it up in my local Oxfam bookshop. Not because I don't have a mountain of books on the subject, having written my own book on HMS Ambuscade, but because I was interested in comparing his initial reactions to later studies that have the benefit of data released since the conflict.

After a brief introduction to the conflict, the author divides the weapon systems into three dimensions: naval, air (including helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft), and land. He begins each section with a list of the equipment used, followed by a section on the action.

The sinking of the Belgrano outside the exclusion zone was something of a cause célèbre at the time. Whatever the moral and legal issues, he makes a valid point that, although the Belgrano was an old ship, it had Exocet missiles that could have reached the task force. The sinking also drew the Argentine Navy's attention to the presence of at least one Royal Navy hunter-killer submarine. This resulted in the Argentine Navy remaining in port for the remainder of the conflict. 

His comments on the design of Royal Navy frigates with aluminium upper works are interesting, as HMS Ambuscade was one of those. Aluminium has a lower melting point than steel, but a direct hit from a missile would destroy steel as well. The real lessons centred on electronic warfare (in the absence of AWACS) and the merits of various anti-missile systems. The Gannet could not fly off the smaller carriers. This was the first three-dimensional missile war in naval history, and many lessons have been learned since.

While helicopters were not a new weapon system in 1982, they were crucial to the naval and land battles. One of the roles of the naval Lynx helicopter was to act as a missile decoy. This involved the hair-raising manoeuvre of drawing the missile away from the ship and climbing sharply at the last second. The loss of the Atlantic Conveyor and its heavy Chinook helicopters was a big setback, as they could carry 44 infantrymen in one lift.  

In the air battle, the Argentine aircraft were operating at the limit of their operational radius. This meant limited time over the islands. Perrett draws an interesting analogy with the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain. The Harrier performed exceptionally well in a role for which it was not originally designed. The Argentine Air Force concentrated on the two carriers, while Perrett argues they would have been better concentrating on the landing ships. He might be right, but we now know more about the problems they had with bomb fuses.

Overall, this is an excellent little book, which hasn't dated as much as I expected. I had the benefit of later research, interviews with sailors who were there, and access to the Ministry of Defence files.

The Story of Russia

 I am generally attracted to niche history, specific periods or events. However, I picked up this 'big history' book by Orlando Figes on my travels. My current project involves a significant amount of Russian sources, so I thought it would be a good idea to step back and take a broader view. 

This book has been described as a '300-page breeze through Russian history', so there are compromises. Russia is a big country with a big history. And it is a contested history, certainly over the foundation myths. Let's be clear, the author won't be on Vladimir Putin's Christmas card list (if he has one) because he challenges the Kremlin's version. As he says, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine over Volodymyr/Vladminir as the founder of Russia "is not a genuine historical dispute, but two incompatible foundation myths". The Kievan Rus myth was developed for nationalist purposes, and it is not the first time in Russia's history. 

This is not just a narrative history. The themes are built around some key questions. Why is Russia so big? How was it able to expand and incorporate so many nationalities? And why did it develop as an autocratic state? 

The early Russ probably developed better relations with the Khazar tribes than is generally assumed, initially as vassals. Trading relations with the steppe tribes were important, but it was military power that enabled the Rus to emerge as the Khazar state declined. That expansion and independence were put on hold when the Mongols appeared. While Alexander Nevsky was defeating the Swedes and the Teutonic Knights, he also collaborated with the Mongols in suppressing revolts. That history is a challenge for the chroniclers after he was made a saint. The Mongol and Tatar legacy tends to be downplayed in Russian history, but it is evident in the language, family names, and places. 

The current Russian regime claims that it was never a colonial power. The chapter on Ivan the Terrible's genocidal colonial expansion into Siberia (and Alaska) contradicts this, and Catherine's expansion into the Pontic Steppe, Crimea, and the Caucasus also debunks the myth. None of these lands is ethnically Russian; they were colonised. Russian Tsars, from Peter the Great, saw themselves as a European state, and colonised the indigenous peoples in the same way as others.

When we reach the 19th century, the question of governance comes to the forefront. There were attempts to develop liberal institutions and representative local government. Alexander had liberal sympathies, but Napoleon's invasion put a halt to that. The Decemberist Revolt of 1825 failed, and Nicholas adopted repression as part of his fear of further revolution. The Third Department, a precursor to the KGB and FSB, was established during this period. The revolutions of 1848 confirmed his worst fears, prompting him to intervene in Poland and Hungary. The humiliation of the Crimean War was a further retrenchment in internal reform.

The big chance came in the 1860s, with at least basic education, some liberal institutions, the abolition of serfdom, and a partial form of local democracy. However, the Tsar's assassination in 1881 brought Alexander III to the throne, and all the usual vested interests persuaded him to reverse the reforms. It was downhill from there as he restored the autocratic principle, which inevitably led to revolution, civil war, and eventually the likes of Stalin. Putin is simply the latest iteration of that autocracy. As Figues puts it, 'Twice in the Twentieth century, in 1917 and 1991, the autocratic state has broken down, only to be reborn in a different form." He spends the last chapter exploring why that might be, but in essence, the answer is history. The Ukrainian war shows how dangerous historical myths can be when used by dictators to reinvent their country's past. 

If you want to understand the current state of Russia and its key turning points in history, I recommend this book. Fascinating and very readable.

Some of my Russ cavalry in 28mm

Unicorn Rampant

 The latest in my Nigel Tranter project covers similar ground as the previous few books, the reign of James I and VI. I am reading them broadly chronologically, but Tranter didn't write them that way.

This time, the story is told through the eyes of John Stewart of Methven, the illegitimate son of the Duke of Lennox, and Mary Gray.  He is unwillingly drawn into the English court and James' fundraising efforts. This primarily relates to monopolies, a highly profitable royal grant to companies that were given a monopoly of particular trades. In this case, he identifies a gap in the paper trade and expands Scottish production to meet the demand. He is appointed Keeper of Dumbarton Castle and discovers how the corrupt world of royal financing works in the 17th century. There is also a long-running love interest.

This is the portrait of the Duke of Lennox from my recent trip to the National Portrait Gallery. One of my favourites. 

If this doesn't appear to make a riveting historical novel, you would be right. The story is told well, but it is not exactly a riveting plot. These novels are my bedtime reading, and I have been sleeping very well recently!

 

The Shetland Bus

My library pick this month was David Howarth's story of the secret wartime missions across the North Sea from Shetland to Norway, known as the Shetland Bus.

The Shetland Bus was a clandestine operation during World War II, involving a secret maritime link between Shetland, Scotland and occupied Norway. The operation was named after the fishing boats that ferried agents, refugees, weapons, and supplies across the North Sea.

This was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) mission, later carried out by the Norwegian Navy, starting in 1941. The base was initially located in Lunna, but was later relocated to Scalloway to enhance security. There is a museum and memorial there today. The Shetland Bus was vital in smuggling weapons and supplies into Norway to support resistance activities, infiltrating agents and helping Norwegian refugees and resistance members escape to Britain.

They initially used Norwegian fishing boats crewed by civilian volunteers, many of whom were Norwegian fishermen. These boats made long, dangerous crossings, often in winter, and were frequently hunted by German patrols. Later, faster and more secure submarine chasers (American-built and armed) were used. Several were lost, and crews had to merge with the resistance or make the long trek to neutral Sweden.

David Howarth was an RNVR officer and second-in-command of the base when it was established. He wrote the book in 1951, but it has been reprinted many times since. He tells the story in detail, not sparing many of the challenges they faced, internal and external. British officers knew too much about the SOE operations in Norway and were therefore not allowed to go on missions. The Germans would generally, but not always, execute Norwegian crew caught by them. The crews elected their own skippers, not something the Royal Navy would have approved of! 

Air attack was a constant threat, and the need to maintain radio silence meant that information about a mission's progress could not be relayed back to the base. They just had to wait and see if the boat returned. Coastal Command helped with patrols by Sunderland and Catalina aircraft based at Sullum Voe, today the main oil terminal. The operations also included mine laying, using a special hatch in the hull of a fishing boat.

The book caught my eye because, to commemorate VE Day, six of the historic ships that formed part of the Shetland Bus convoys set sail again from Bergen in Norway, replicating the journey back to Shetland. I vaguely remember the old museum as I used to travel to Shetland for work in the 1990s. The new museum, which opened in 2012, looks excellent. On my list for a return visit.

A typical Norwegian fishing boat.

Poetic Justice

 The latest in my Nigel Tranter project remains in the period of James VI and I. This time, the story is told through the rise of Sir William Alexander of Menstrie.

Alexander came to James' attention as a poet. If you are thinking this doesn't look like a promising storyline, you would be right. The first part of the book covers similar ground to previous books and is quite slow going.

In fairness, it picks up when it starts to cover some significant new elements of James' reign, including the publication of the King James Bible and the early plantations in Ulster. Yes, we have James to blame for the Troubles. Alexander is later tasked with developing British colonies in Canada, specifically Nova Scotia. His baronets provided the Coat of Arms of Nova Scotia and the Flag of Nova Scotia, which are still in use today. An attempt to create a colony in what is today Long Island was something of an overreach.

There is no doubt that Alexander had a remarkable rise to power, from a minor laird to being created 1st Earl of Stirling. He struggled to make this pay for himself personally, despite numerous opportunities to reap a profit. He was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland in 1626 by Charles I, whom he had helped tutor as a child. The weaknesses in the theory of the Divine Right of Kings were obviously not on the curriculum!

The young Charles I. National Portrait Gallery

Alexander was one of the most highly regarded Scottish poets in early seventeenth-century Scotland and England. If seventeenth-century poetry is your thing, this book may be of interest. For me, I struggled.

Gallipoli Sniper

 As if I haven't got enough books about Gallipoli, Dave Lanchester's stall at Carronade enticed me to buy John Hamilton's book about Billy Sing, the Anzac Angel of Death.

Billy Sing served in the Australian 5th Light Horse, a singularly inappropriate unit to send to Gallipoli! Needless to say, they left their horses back in Egypt. The primary sources about Billy Sing are limited, so this book does give a lot of context about the Gallipoli campaign, and sniping in particular. Over 33,500 British Empire troops died on this strip of land in modern Turkey next to the Dardanelles, along with 15,000 French and 87,000 Ottoman troops. More staggering is that the 324,000 Australians who served in WW1 were all volunteers, and 61,829 died, and 157,156 were wounded. All from a total population of less than five million. 

Billy Sing was not a typical Australian volunteer. He was half Chinese at a time when Chinese immigrants faced discriminatory legislation and were deemed unfit for anything other than non-combatant roles. The White Australia Policy was not quite Apartheid, but wasn't far off. Billy was a stockman who could ride and was a skilled marksman, having competed in numerous competitions. It appears that a sympathetic doctor, who had watched him play cricket, turned a blind eye to his ancestry and passed him to join the light horse. Others were not so fortunate and received a certificate with the designation, 'not substantially of European origin'.

When the 5th Light Horse arrived at Gallipoli, Ottoman snipers were picking off the inexperienced troops, including many senior officers. The ranges were close, a few hundred yards, well within the range of standard rifles. The descriptions of the fighting are pretty brutal, along with the appalling conditions the soldiers lived in. The author is a former journalist, and he describes just one Ottoman attack in which 10,000 men were casualties, with the line, 'the sweet nauseating smell of decaying flesh spread like a cloying fog over Gallipoli.'

Billy Sing was one of a team of initially 70 marksmen selected to counter the Ottoman snipers, 'hunting the hunters'. They used the standard Lee-Enfield rifle, but adapted it with homemade periscopes, which were later adopted by the Anzac workshops. The Ottomans sent trench raids to capture some, but the copies made in the Constantinople workshops frequently broke down. They also adapted the sights, strictly against regulations, but most officers recognised it worked. Snipers operated in teams of two with a spotter and managed to gain an ascendancy in this grim struggle. The patience Billy developed while hunting in the bush as a child came in handy in this grim task. They often operated behind camouflaged steel screens, while the equivalent Ottoman ones were made of brick.

The Ottoman equivalent of Billy was nicknamed Abdul the Terrible; aside from an interwar series of sensationalist books by Jack Idress, the evidence appears somewhat limited. Billy was Mentioned in Despatches (later awarded the DCM), having accounted for 201 casualties, although the final tally was probably closer to 300. He survived Gallipoli and a later spell on the Western Front, not without wounds. He married in Edinburgh and later returned (without his wife) to relative obscurity in Australia. He died alone in 1943. 

There is a lot of padding in this book, although it is still a good read, about a remarkable soldier. Happily, now properly remembered in the Australian War Museum.

I have walked over the Anzac and other positions on Gallipoli, a pilgrimage still made by many Australians to this day. You are left with the question: why didn't they just embark and land somewhere else?

Mail Royal

The latest in my Nigel Tranter rereading project takes in the next generation of the Gray family during the reign of James VI & I, after the period when he gained the English throne.

Patrick Master of Gray's son, Andrew, is the Seventh Lord Gray. He has a land steward, David Grey, who is an illegitimate nephew. Tranter uses him as the hook for the story. 

Lord Gray is losing his lucrative appointment as Sheriff of Angus and wants to find the infamous casket letters (last seen in his father's possession) of Mary Queen of Scots to give him some leverage over the king. He sends David to Fast Castle to find them. David strikes up a romance with the daughter of the Home laird, who now owns the castle, and finds the casket. However, it doesn't include the most important letter, which is supposed to include a confession from Mary that the king's real father was her Italian secretary, David Rizzio.

You can visit Fast Castle today, although little remains of the walls that housed the infamous Logan of Restalrig. It is on a remarkable outcrop on the East Coast. I have only been once, and it's pretty challenging to get to, even today. Fast Castle was originally known as Fause (lit. False) Castle because of the lights hung from it, which misled shipping for wreckers to plunder them.

The king doesn't know that the key letter is missing, and David is sent to London with the delicate task of blackmailing him, without seeming to do so. Despite this, the king takes a shine to David, who sorts out a trade issue and is sent to France as part of the embassy to secure the marriage of the French Princess Henrietta Maria to Prince Charles. We get a lengthy insight into the machinations of the court of King Louis 13th. David gets into a few more of the king's projects, including a return to James' interest in witchcraft.

This is a well-told tale of the court of James I and the international situation at the time. There is not a lot of action, but then James was not a big fan of warfare.

 

The Antonine Wall

 My library pick this month was David Breeze's study of the Antonine Wall.

The Antonine Wall was built in what is now Scotland. It stretches across central Scotland from the Firth of Forth (near Edinburgh) in the east to the Firth of Clyde (near Glasgow) in the west, about 39 miles (63 km) long. It was constructed under the orders of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius around AD 142, marking the northernmost boundary of the Roman Empire in Britain at its height. We don't know a lot about Antoninus due to limited contemporary sources. 

Like the better-known Hadrian's Wall to the south, it was built as a defensive fortification to mark the edge of Roman-controlled territory, control movement and trade, and repel attacks from northern tribes, especially the Caledonians. Unlike the stone-built Hadrian’s Wall to the south, the Antonine Wall was made primarily of turf laid on a stone base, with a deep ditch in front. Forts and watchtowers were spaced along its length. The wall was only occupied by the Romans for about 20 years. We assume that due to ongoing resistance and logistical challenges, the Romans retreated to Hadrian’s Wall around AD 162, although the full reasons are not documented.

Numerous forts, distance slabs (inscribed stone markers), and artefacts have been found along the wall since excavations started in 1895. However, there is nothing like the structure of Hadrian's Wall to see. There is a long-distance walk, and I have done bits of it, but again, it is not as well organised. 

There were three legions in Britain during this period: the 2nd, 20th, and 6th. These legions would have done the heavy work on the wall along with auxiliary units (including Gauls), which would have been the main garrison troops. 6-7000 troops would garrison the wall at any one time. The line was picked because it is the shortest distance across Scotland. Breeze argues that this doesn't necessarily mean it was the limit of Roman control; it was just a convenient line. There were undoubtedly outpost forts further north.

You must use a bit of imagination when visiting the forts at Bonnybridge, Twechar, Castlecary, Westerwood and Croy. Easrtworks are all that remain, although the remains of bath houses can be seen at Bearsden and Bar Hill. The book lists all the sites and is small enough to carry on the walk. 

One of my 28mm Imperial Roman legionary units.

The Serbian Army 1876-1878

This is a new edition of Dusan Babac's book on the Serbian Army during the wars for independence. It's unclear why a second edition was necessary, as the preface and content look the same, except for a lovely new cover and better quality paper. So, if you have the 2015 edition, you won't need this one.

Serbia became an autonomous part of the Ottoman Empire after two revolts in 1815. It was de facto independent from the 1830s, and the last Ottoman troops left in the 1860s. After which, Serbia adopted a new constitution. Formal international recognition came with the Congress of Berlin in 1878.  This means the book's premise is a little misleading, as these wars were really about taking advantage of the uprising in Bosnia to expand the Serbian state, with the support of Montenegro. The nationalist tone of the first chapter might be a bit grating to readers outside Serbia, but this is the Balkans!

Putting the nationalist politics aside, this is a book about the Serbian army during these wars. The first war went badly. Serbia was poorly prepared militarily, and the Ottomans inflicted several defeats on the Serbs, most notably at Aleksinac. They were saved by Russian and Great Power intervention. The second war was part of the wider Russo-Turkish War of 1877, in which the Russians and Romanians played the central role.

The book describes the main battles of both wars, but its real value comes from the chapters on weaponry, uniforms, and standards. There is a profusion of period photos and colour plates. In the style of the time, they are mostly posed portraits, but the magazine artwork helps bring the action to life. I particularly enjoyed rereading the chapter on volunteers in the first war, as I gave a talk on this in Belgrade many years ago. Over 500 Russian officers volunteered to fight, and they were joined by Bulgarians, Hungarians and others from further afield. Brigadier-General MacIver was the most famous British volunteer, a remarkable soldier of fortune who fought in many conflicts. Babec says under 18 flags, although his 1888 biographer, W. D. L'Estrange, says 14. Dorothy Anderson wrote an excellent book, The Balkan Volunteers, in 1968. Surprisingly, it isn't in the bibliography, as copies can be found at attractive prices. I also have Philip Salusbury's memoir, which is less valuable. He was a yeomanry officer who made his way to Serbia at the outbreak of war and was given a small cavalry unit to train. However, his description of the actions he was present at spent more time describing the members of the Royal family he met and the food he ate than the action!

This book has everything a wargamer needs. Outpost Games was considering a small range of 28 mm figures for the Serbian army. However, the owner has sadly passed away, and I'm not sure how far he got. Their Bulgarian legion figures are superb. Conversions from the Balkan Wars ranges would not be too challenging, and French or even ACW ranges have figures that would work, particularly in smaller scales. The Ottomans can come straight from the 1877 ranges.

Outpost Bulgarian Legion