Arsenalen - Swedish Tank Museum

I am in Sweden for a few days on a work trip, so I flew in early for the weekend. I did all the Stockholm museums on my last visit just before the pandemic hit. So, this time I thought I would see a bit of rural Sweden. Two words sum up the countryside here - trees and water. There are a couple of museums that I wanted to see, and the first is the Swedish Tank Museum. It is near a pretty town called Strangnas, about an hour's drive from Stockholm. If you have a car, visit Mariefred at the same time, which is stunning, including a fine castle and a preserved railway.

I was chatting to the curator, who told me they have around 400 AFVs in the collection, with about 100 on display at any one time. They have plenty of German, British, US and Soviet AFVs, but I'll focus on the rarely seen Swedish ones.

This is a Pannsarbil FM/29 armoured car, built-in 1932 for the cavalry regiment. It had a driver at both ends for a quick getaway. Not a success as it was too large and expensive.

This is the Striv FM/31. It had road wheels and tracks, the idea being to save the tracks. However, a better track design meant it never got past the prototype.

Next is the Striv M/37, a Swedish-built version of the Czechoslovak ČKD AH-IV tankette.

The Pansarbil M/31 armoured car was a 4x4 vehicle mainly used for training during WW2.

The Striv M/38 light tank. 216 vehicles of different variants were produced from 1939 through 1944. The vehicle remained in the service of the Swedish army until the 1960s.

The Striv M/42 was a medium tank with a 75mm gun introduced in 1943, although already out of date by wartime standards.

The Pvkv M/43 was a tank destroyer version of the M/42 with a larger calibre 75mm gun. It remained in service until 1970.

The M/42 SKP 'KP-bil' was an armoured truck developed as an APC in 1942. It was called the coffin because of its shape but remained in service until 2004. They saw service with the Swedish element of the UN forces in Cyprus.

The Lvkv FM/43 was an armoured, tracked AA vehicle for use with armoured brigades. It had twin 40mm guns.

The SAV m/43 was a 105mm SPG. Came into service in 1943 and remained until 1973.

The IKV 91 was the replacement tank destroyer for infantry brigades in the 1960s, and it typically carried an infantry section on the rear.

The Pbv 301 was a 1960s APC with a 20mm auto-cannon.

The Strv 74 was a light tank that served from the 1960s until 1984.

The Pbv 302 is an APC. Developed after the Swedish army rejected the M113.

 And finally, the iconic and unique S-tank. 

Upstairs there is also a small regimental museum for the Sodermanlands Regiment. Guns, uniforms, a full-size wargame unit and some very nice flats of a battle against the Russians at Stäket on 13 August 1719.

Overall, an excellent museum, with accommodating and engaging staff. Well worth the effort getting there.

Envoy Extraordinary

 This is the latest in my re-read of Nigel Tranter's novels. This one is again based on Alexander III's period, although, unlike Crusader, this takes the story on to his adult rule. I can't say Alexander III rates as one of the great King of Scots, or that his period of rule is that interesting, so I am not sure why Tranter wrote three novels of the period.

This part of the story is told through another actual historical figure, Patrick, 7th Earl of Dunbar and March, known as The Cospatrick. Like a lot of Tranter's characters, he is portrayed as someone who wanted to steer clear of the nation's affairs and just quietly get on with running his estates. Unlike most great lords, Patrick was very interested in trade, and this features heavily in the story. It gives an excuse to have Patrick travel to Norway, Denmark, the Low Countries and France.

The title comes from his travels as an envoy for King Alexander. He was something of a diplomat in the modern sense. There is one major campaign in the period, King Hakon of Norway's assault on the west coast of Scotland, which was halted at the Battle of Largs in 1263. Hakon died shortly afterwards and the Treaty of Perth brought the Western Isles and the Isle of Man under the Scots crown. This was probably the major achievement of his rule. The English were somewhat distracted during this period with the Barons War and Alexander was married to Henry's daughter.

Alexander's family life was tragic. Not only did his lose his wife but also all his children and even his grandchild who was the last hope for the succession. He died himself riding over a cliff in Fife, leaving no heir. This led to Edward dabbling in Scotland and the start of the wars of independence with Wallace, Bruce et al.

It's a decent read, but not exactly a page turner. 

90 Years of the Indian Air Force

 This is a new book by Sanjay Badri-Maharaj on the Indian Air Force, published by Helion. The title implies that this is a historical look back over the years since the Indian Air Force was created in 1932. However, while it does provide some historical background, it is primarily a study of the Indian Air Force today.

The Indian Air Force was created on 8 October 1932, and the first squadron was formed in April 1933 of Westland Waptis biplanes. The historical chapter covers the expansion of the force during WW2 and the post-war jet age. Most of the post-war aircraft came from Britain, France and later the USSR, but establishing a domestic aviation industry was always a high priority. This started with a basic trainer and developed into combat aircraft, initially building under license and then developing their own designs. This didn't always go well, but that is not unique to India. 

The force took part in three wars against Pakistan in 1948, 1965 and 1971, and several proxy campaigns usually involving disputes over Kashmir, like the Kargil War of 1999. In more recent years, China has been seen as a significant threat, and India's doctrine assumes it will be able to fight an aggressive war against Pakistan and a defensive war against China. Performance in these conflicts varied, and the air force's aircraft were often outdated. Notably the use of MiG-21s long after they were in front-line service elsewhere. As late as the Kargil War, strike operations still relied on unguided munitions. 

Most of the book focuses on the current state of the Indian Air Force. It is the world's fourth-largest air force with 12,000 officers and 140,000 other ranks, flying over 1500 aircraft. It has 31 combat squadrons, marginally down on the peak of 39.5 squadrons, but many of those were flying outdated aircraft. 13 squadrons of interceptors are reliant on Su-30s, plus three squadrons each of MiG-29s and Mirage 2000s. In addition, four squadrons of MiG-21s will serve until 2024. Two squadrons of Dassault Rafale are probably the most potent fighter in the inventory. For strike aircraft, the MiG-27s are being phased out, leaving upgraded Jaguars as the primary aircraft for some time. They also have a wide range of transport aircraft (250) and helicopters (400), including the Indian-built Dhruv.

The remaining chapters discuss how the air force is likely to be modernised, including developing an indigenous fighter, the Tejas. It also describes the extensive ground-based air defence system and India's nuclear weapons. India also has a space program that can launch and intercept satellites. 

This region's actual and potential conflicts are not seen often on the wargame table. I plan to extend my Indo-Pakistan wars forces to the present day, and air combat should be part of that. This book gives all the information you need and is profusely illustrated, including colour plates of the leading aircraft types.

The Army of the Kingdom of Italy 1805-1814

 One of my current projects is a close dive into the Napoleonic wars in the Adriatic. The Kingdom of Italy, created by its King, Napoleon, in 1805, covered not only northwest Italy but also most of the Dalmatian coast. However, it surrendered the Dalmatian territories to the newly created Illyrian Provinces, under Marshall Marmont, in 1809. 

Stephen Ede-Borrett has written a new book for Helion, which covers the uniforms, organisation and campaigns of the Kingdom. 

While there is an introduction and a potted history of the Kingdom lifted from the Encyclopedia Brittanica, this book is primarily about the units and their uniforms. The Italians tend to get a bad rap in Napoleonic wargame rules, certainly in morale rules, which I am not entirely convinced is deserved. Some of my research into the smaller campaigns and sieges on the Adriatic coast appear to show that they were no less robust than French troops. I used to play the Napoleonic fantasy game Flintloque, and the Italians were depicted as toads, which says it all about stereotypes!

The Army of the Kingdom of Italy, not to be confused with the Army of Italy, included some colourful uniforms. In fact, I painted a 28mm unit for my French army only because I was bored painting French line regiments. The Royal Guard was a mini Imperial Guard with all the elements of a French army corps, and they saw extensive service with the viceroy, Napoleon's stepson Eugene. For each unit, you get a history of its organisation and then the uniform and how it developed over the period.

 The line regiments had dragoons and light horse (Cacciatori a Cavallo), who saw service in almost all the main campaigns. The infantry of the line (six regiments) was organised like the French line infantry and again saw service almost everywhere. There were four light infantry regiments and an array of other units, including the Dalmatian Legion, that I recently added to my 28mm French force. Others, like the Bersaglieri di Brescia, were mainly deployed locally. The army also had artillery, engineers and other support units. The book doesn't include the Kingdom's navy but does include several naval units that served on land.

As you would expect from a Helion book, it is lavishly illustrated. The colour plates are by Henri Boisselier (1881-1959) and provide all you need for painting purposes. I am very tempted to do the 4th Cacciatoria a Cavallo Colonel, in pink trousers and shako! If you want to collect an army of the Kingdom of Italy, this is the book for you. Otherwise, probably a bit specialised for the general reader. 

My Italian infantry and artillery in 28mm.

Dalmatian Legion in 28mm

Guerra Fantástica

 I'm on a family holiday in the Lake District this week. While playing a post-dinner trivia game, at which I am hopeless, a question came up on the Seven Years War. Essentially, you had to pick the countries that took part. I was okay with most of them but wasn't sure about Portugal. As England's oldest continental ally (not Britain's as often claimed because, for Scotland, it was France), I thought it was likely, but I couldn't think of a campaign they participated in. The next day, while browsing a second-hand book shop, I came across this Helion book, which covers the Portuguese Army and the Seven Years War. Spooky!

Portugal had attempted to remain neutral, despite attempts by the French to bring them in with Spain. The British fleet engaged the French along the coast of Spain and Portugal and certainly breached neutrality in chasing French ships near Lagos. The British apologised, and the Portuguese chose to protect their maritime empire from the British over the threat of a land invasion from Spain.

The Portuguese army was small, ill-equipped and lacking senior officers. On paper, it had over 40,000 men in 26 regiments. However, in practice, it had less than 15,000 men, most of which were in fortress garrisons. The artillery and cavalry were not much better. There was also a militia of around 25,000 men. The British recommended the Count of Lippe to command the Portuguese army and its British auxiliary corps of 7-8,000 men, which was organised into six infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment (dragoons), and eight artillery companies. 

In 1760, before the intervention in Portugal, the Spanish army had, in total, 43 infantry regiments, 12 of which were made up of foreigners – Walloons, Italians, Irish and Swiss – 20 cavalry regiments and 10 of dragoons, and various artillery and engineering units. In total, around 30,000 men were allocated to the attack on Portugal. In addition, 12 French battalions, under the command of Lieutenant General de Beauvau, united with the Spanish Army, with a total of approximately 10,000 men.

The war was pretty unusual in that there were no significant battles. On 24 February 1762, Carlos III ordered the Marquis of Sarriá to enter Portugal, but it didn't get going until the end of April. They captured the fort of Miranda, but as they advanced inland towards Porto, a guerilla war started, threatening lines of communication through rough terrain; after slow progress, the army withdrew. The next effort, with French support, was on Almeida, which also surrendered far too quickly on 25 August. However, advancing into Portugal was a different prospect than capturing border forts, and the army got stuck trying to cross the Tagus. Eventually, they also withdrew. Hostilities were suspended in December.

Those familiar with the later Peninsular War will recognise that this campaign provided Wellington with the inspiration for his defence of Portugal in 1810-1811. As Charles Esdaile comments in his forward, the scorched-earth tactics, construction of impregnable field fortification, and integration of ‘little war’ with conventional military operations were just as much on show in 1761-1762 as they were some 50 years later. 

I doubt many wargamers will be rushing to build the Portuguese Army of the period based on this campaign. However, if you are tempted, there are colour plates and plenty of illustrations. 

Persians: The Age of the Great Kings

 There have been surprisingly few studies of the ancient Persian Empire. Most of what we think we know has been garnered through the prism of Greek and later writers. In this book, Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones uses genuine, indigenous, ancient Persian sources to tell a very different story from the one moulded around ancient Greek accounts. This is the Persian Version of Persia’s history.

The Persians ruled the largest of all ancient-world empires. Remarkably it ascended out of a minuscule tribal territory in Fārs in southwest Iran. In the Old Persian language, the area was known as ‘Pārs’ or ‘Pārsa’. This was later heard by the ancient Greeks as ‘Persis’, and it is that name which has come down to us as ‘Persia’. The ruling family of the Persian empire, the focus of this book, was the Achaemenids.

The description of how the Empire was organised reminded me a bit of the Ottomans. They didn't impose their religion, respecting local gods, or impose their architecture in the way that the Romans and the British 'branded' their realms. This remarkably modern and enlightened mindset can be summed up by a single Old Persian word that Darius the Great used to describe his empire: vispazanānām (multicultural).

Another reason we know so little about the Persians is that their language was only deciphered in 1837. We, therefore, only had the Bible, Greek and Roman sources to rely on. The classical authors depict Persia in an almost wholly negative light. The Great Kings are shown as lustful, capricious, mad tyrants, and the empire is regarded as an oppressive challenge to the Greek ideals of ‘freedom’ (whatever that meant). The Greeks represent the Persians as cowardly, scheming, effeminate, vindictive, dishonourable - as classic barbarians. Even then, Persian sources say absolutely nothing of Xerxes’ Greek war. Therefore, we are entirely dependent on Greek accounts for the events of 480 BCE and the years that followed.

I confess to having never heard of the Battle of Pasargadae, one of the most significant events in Iran’s history. Here the Persians defeated an invasion by the Medes, helped by their women who turned back retreating soldiers by opening their robes, flashed their genitals, and shouted out to them, ‘Where are you off to, you quitters?! Do you want to crawl back in where you came from?’ Women continued to play a key role in the Empire, some of who you would certainly not want to get the wrong side of. Particularly Darius' mother, Parysatis, who was one of the greatest politicians the Achaemenid dynasty ever encountered. She surreptitiously policed the family’s fortunes with great care and control, attacking and destroying its enemies, and defending and supporting its loyal followers.

The author takes the reader through the different periods and their rulers and gives a detailed breakdown of how the Empire was organised. The Persians had some pretty gruesome punishments and some bizarre ones. For example, a Mede named Arbaces was charged with cowardice and weakness and was given the extraordinary sentence of having to carry a naked prostitute around for an entire day.

A better understanding of ancient Persia won't be found under the current Iranian leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini. He set in motion a systematic butchering of Persia’s ancient past. By shutting down archaeological digs throughout Iran, closing university history programmes, and cordoning off all historical monuments, the theocratic regime began a bloodless crusade against Iran’s past, making the Muslim conquest of Persia by the Arabs the genesis of a new national chronology. The names Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes were anathema and were expunged from school textbooks.

Thankfully, we now have a proper history of ancient Persia to set the record straight.

Modern Turkish Infantry

 To bring my Turkish forces up to date, I have been working on a Modern Bolt Action platoon for the current land forces of Turkey or Türkiye, as we should now call the country. 

The figures are 20mm from the Elhiem range, mainly from the US codes, which are the nearest to the latest infantry uniform and equipment I could find.

A modern Turkish infantry squad has two fireteams of four men each and a squad leader, an NCO (Astsubay Çavuş). They have a variety of weapons and equipment. Typically all have the Turkish MKE MPT-76 Assault Rifle, a pistol, grenades and protective gear. Additional firepower comes from the MKE PMT-76 General Purpose Machine Gun, and one squad member is the designated marksman with a sniper rifle. Anti-tank capability comes from the MKE Carl Gustaf M4 and the ROKETSAN KARAOK Fire-and-Forget ATGM.

Here is a close up of a typical four-man fireteam.

Each squad would have an APC in a mechanised unit. I have M113s from the Cyprus 1974 units, which are still in service. However, for these state of the art infantry, I really need three ACV-15s. These are Turkish manufactured APCs based on the American Advanced Infantry Fighting Vehicle. I can't find anyone who makes a 20mm model of this, but the Dutch YPR-765 is a similar derivation, and Butlers does a 3D print model. I have a Leopard to upgrade the armour from the Turkish M48 I have, but it will need a repaint.

For my mini-battlegroup, I needed some specialists. So here we have a command group, sniper team, MG team, SAM and spotter.

For opponents, I have various East European insurgent types, Russians and a few YPG (Kurds). Really need some Greeks or Cypriot National Guard, but other projects need to be finished first. Famous last words!

Piri Reis

 I picked up this book by Fuat Sezgin in Istanbul, not least because I love maps, and Piri Reis is an early master of the art. The full title is Piri Reis and the Pre-Columbian Discovery of the American Continents by Muslim Seafarers. Piri Reis, whose proper name was Ahmet Muhiddin Piri, was a navigator, geographer and cartographer. Today he is known for his maps and charts collected in his Kitab-i Bahriye (Book of Navigation or the Sea). In the 16th century, he was a ship's captain, rising to Admiral (Reis) in the Ottoman fleet by 1547. 

This book covers the development of Ottoman navigation and Piri Reis's role in editing his masterpiece. The key feature of his maps is how accurate they are for the period and the geographical extent, including the whole of the known world. Whilst he was very well travelled, he obviously didn't map all these regions himself, so he must have collected the information from various sources. It has been argued that he used an Italian book, the Isolario by Benedetto Bordone. However, Piri Reis first published seven years before the Italian, and this could well be part of a lazy assumption that Arab and Turkish cartographers had been dependent on Europeans. It is far more likely that Piri Reis relied on Arabic sources, and the author goes into some detail, taking clues from the Bahriye to explain why. Making comparisons with other maps, it can be seen that Piri Reis was at least 200 years ahead of his European counterparts.

When it comes to the depiction of the American continent, this suggests that seafarers had travelled to the continent before Columbus and even that Columbus relied on a map based on such travels. He is critical of the claims made by Gavin Menzies (1421: The Year China Discovered the World) that these maps were surveyed by the Chinese fleets, pointing out that the Chinese were familiar with Arabic maps. Sezgin explains in some detail why this is unlikely, not least the astonishing level of detail and accuracy, which the Chinese could not have had the time to survey. That is, if they ever got any further than Africa.

There are many stories of ships crossing the ocean from Arabic Spain, although few reliable sources remain. While Piri Reis certainly had access to Portuguese maps of South America, his maps have a level of detail that is greater than the surviving Portuguese maps. The author concludes that Muslim navigators reached the Americas by the beginning of the 15th century and even started to survey it. 

The reader can draw their own conclusion from the evidence here. Either way, it is a beautiful book full of stunning maps.

One of my 1/700th Black Seas ships from the Hagen range.

Defending the Rock

 This is Nicholas Rankin's history of Gibraltar during WW2. Another book I probably wouldn't have read had I not spotted it in our local library. It is a weighty tome at nearly 750 pages, made larger by a lot of padding. I appreciate that this is probably aimed at the general reader, but I could have done without the chapters on the war more generally. A tighter volume on Gibraltar itself would be a better read along with the chapters on Spain during the war, which does include new material.

Gibraltar is one of the few surviving outposts of the Empire, holding a strategic position at the entrance to the Mediterranean but really part of Spain. At the outbreak of WW2, it had several possible enemies, including Germany, Italy, Spain and Vichy France. The job of addressing the many shortfalls in Britain's defences, including Gibraltar, fell to Edmund Ironside. I didn't know that his appointment was opposed by MI5 because he was a suspected fascist sympathiser. Or that his proposed deputy, Major General J.F.C. Fuller (the tank expert), was an extreme right-winger and an anti-semite to boot. 

Like Singapore, Gibraltar was well defended from the sea but much less so from the landward side. The new deputy governor was Major-General Mason-Macfarlane, a gunner who immediately got to work on strengthening them. Another well-known face who spent a lot of time on the Rock was the actor Anthony Quale, who later served with SOE in Albania.

There is a lot in the book on the intelligence war. Rankin also wrote Churchill's Wizards and knows his way around this stuff. The Abwehr had a permanent base on the mainland and a network of agents. As most of Gibraltar's workforce came from Spain each day, this was a security nightmare. Fascist Spain had close ties to the Germans and the Italians throughout the war, although due to the country's state after the civil war, they worked hard to avoid formally joining the Axis.

The Germans sent a team of experts, with Spanish assistance, to do a reconnaissance of the Rock in 1940, which included Rudolf Witzig, the leader of the attack on Fort Eben Emael in Belgium. He concluded that a glider or parachute assault would be suicidal. All plans after that were based on a land attack. The British built an additional 25 miles of tunnels into the rock during WW2 to counter this. Mostly by miners from the UK, joined later by Canadian miners. They also lengthened the runway, although it was still dangerously exposed. The main German plan was named Operation Felix, part of broader involvement in Spain under Fuhrer Directive No.18. By December 1940, Hitler had lost patience with Franco and moved on to other projects. Some argue this was one of his greatest mistakes, as in 1940, Gibraltar, even with a garrison that grew to 10,000 men during the war, was not likely to be able to resist. He later wrote that it was a mistake and Göring wrote similarly from his prison cell in 1945.

The chapters on Spain cover an aspect of the war that hasn't been written about extensively. The Germans made various offers to Franco, some of which didn't go down well because they involved the Germans taking Spanish territory in the Canary Islands. One of Franco's concerns was that the allies would take these islands if he joined the Axis. Other tactics reminded me of Turkey during the war, including long lists of military and other supplies. Spain was starving during the war and relied heavily on food supplies from America. 

Gibraltar was bombed during the war, and it remained an important naval base. It was also attacked by Italian midget submarines, with one team getting within 70 metres of the battleship HMS Barham. Its high point came during Operation Torch when the runway housed more than 200 aircraft. The security issues were immense, and the battles between the intelligence services are covered in detail. More than one Gibraltarian traitor was executed during the war for treason. In addition, there were 58 sabotage attempts by the Germans, nine by the Italians and three by the Spanish Falange.

Franco supplied the Germans with critical minerals (particularly tungsten) and military assistance, including a division of volunteers for the Russian front. Despite this, Churchill shored up Franco's regime when the US favoured collapsing it. The Americans called it Churchill's 'appeasement'. Spain remained under the fascist boot until Franco's death.

Overall, while the book could have been tighter, it's an interesting read. Not just for the history of Gibraltar but for the wartime relations with Spain. 

Cold War Commander 2

 The long-awaited second edition of my go-to micro armour rules for the modern period arrived this week.  Cold War Commander is now produced by Pendraken and is the modern version of the popular WW2 set Blitzkrieg Commander. I have been eagerly waiting for these as I lost my PDF version in a computer transfer and relied on the partial set I printed out.

While the rules are commonly used for 6mm and 10mm games, you can use them for any scale with some amendments to the measurements. A base is usually a platoon, which means most games are played at the regimental scale or a battlegroup in the rules. Although you can again adjust this for smaller-scale games. No rebasing is required, and most of my collection is on 30mm square bases I made for Spearhead. If I was starting from scratch, I would use the small dice frames Pendraken sells, as each base usually takes several hits before being removed from the table. 

The rules start with a useful chapter on the game concepts. This is helpful because it helps the players understand the detailed rules. For example, I played several games before clicking that hits are removed at the end of the active player's turn. 

The basic mechanisms don't appear to have changed. You start with scheduled actions like off-table artillery and airstrikes. Then initiative moves when you are close to the enemy. Finally, the command phase in which you issue orders, move, fire etc. This is the bit some people are not keen on as it is possible to make more than one move or firing action if you roll low enough. In effect, it rewards battlegroups with better command. I found this a bit difficult at first, but the modifiers limit their effectiveness in practice. 

There are a few changes that I don't recall in the first edition. Profiles and the 'gone-to-ground' rule will probably encourage infantry to hunker down, which seems reasonable. There is a similar rule in Bolt Action. Recce used to be an optional rule, but it now has a chapter of its own. The new edition points to optional rules available on the Pendraken forum. Some add granularity, and others appear to be fast-play options. It should also be a good way of making changes as players spot bits that don't work well. 

The command mechanism looks pretty similar, although there are a few more modifiers, and the command blunder table has more variants. The original rules had helpful examples, and these are, if anything, more plentiful in the second edition. The same applies to firing with a similar mechanism and some tweaks to the modifiers. The outcomes are similar with knock-out, suppression and fall-back. I assume close assault has been similarly tweaked, although I used it rarely on the tabletop!

All the specialist equipment you could want is covered AT, artillery, air support, helicopters, engineering etc. In addition, there are 16 generic scenarios, which include solo options using hidden deployment. Something that many players would have found helpful during the lockdown. There are a few army lists in the book, but most will be available as free downloads. This is sensible as it will enable amendments and reflect the discussion on the forum.

I haven't had a chance to play them yet, and I have several modern projects in the lead pile. However, it did inspire me to get at least one unit completed. These are Kurdish YPG fighters for the Syrian conflict. Just a couple of squads, which I will probably use for modern Bolt Action rather than CWC2. The figures are 20mm from the Elhiem range.

IWM Duxford

 On Tuesday, I had a meeting in Cambridge, so it would be rude not to visit the Imperial War Museum's site at Duxford. I haven't been for many years. This is the IWM's collection of aircraft exhibits and much more. It is still a working airfield, and it has a collection of working preserved aircraft. Almost every day, Spitfires roll down the runway. 

Duxford became an airfield during WW1, and in the interwar years, it trained hundreds of RAF pilots. Then, as WW2 beckoned, it was a sector station of 12 Group, playing a key role in the Battle of Britain. This was the 'Big Wing' base of five squadrons, including 310 Squadron led by Douglas Bader. The Americans arrived in 1943, and the Spitfires were replaced by Mustangs and Thunderbolts escorting the bombers over Europe. After the war, it remained a fighter base for Meteors, Hunters and Lightnings before it closed in 1961. In 1968 it was handed over to the IWM.

The main aircraft displays are in hangers where just about every British warplane can be seen and a fair few civil airliners as well.

The Fairey Swordfish

Lysander

The elegant Vulcan

To the ugly Victor

Also in the Air Space Hanger is the Parachute and Air Assualt Museum. One of several sub-museums on site.

I liked the positioning of the Piat and the Milan to show how the AT technology has changed.

And all the different transport paras used.

Then it was outside to watch a Spitfire take off.

Other flying aircraft can be seen in their own hanger used by private and commercial owners.

There is, of course, a Battle of Britain hanger that also has post-war planes.

A downed Me109. The pilot wasn't too bothered about being a PoW because he thought the invasion was imminent!

A WW2 autogyro.

A Mig 21 donated by the Hungarian Air Force

Then there is the USAF memorial and hanger with an astonishing collection of US aircraft all mixed together. Including a B52 Stratofortress, so large that my camera had no chance.

Finally, the Land Warfare Hall, which includes the Anglian Regiment Museum. Putting the exhibits into context is really well done.

A cracking day out. Highly recommended.

The Strykers

 This is the third in the modern military fiction series, Smoke over the Bosporus by Maciej Jonasz. The basic premise is that the Turkish Government moves from a soft power neo-Ottoman position to a hard power version. In the first book, they invade Bulgaria only to be repulsed by a new Balkan League. In the second book, Greece uses the confusion to invade Turkish occupied North Cyprus. This book involves an American armoured infantry company on a NATO exercise in Turkey, which gets drawn into a conflict with the Turkish Armed Forces after taking nuclear weapons from the US Air Force at the Incirlik Air Base.

The Stryker is an eight-wheel AFV built in Canada for the US Army. It was conceived as a family of vehicles forming the backbone of a new medium-weight brigade combat team (BCT) to strike a balance between heavy armour and infantry. It was a controversial concept that has had mixed success. Nevertheless, the company has several variants in the book, including the 105mm gun mounted version.

 When the Turkish invasion of Bulgaria started, the joint exercise was cancelled. Then for unclear reasons, the Turkish military decides to attempt to disarm and intern the Stryker company. The logical move would have been simply to let them go home, but I suppose that wouldn't make a decent story. The Americans learn about the plan and resist because a corporal has a gay relationship with the Turkish liaison officer; really! In parallel, the US Air Force personnel at Incirlik are also detained, and the nuclear bombs are taken away by Turkish intelligence. You would have thought starting a war with Bulgaria and Greece was enough for the Turks without taking on the USA as well! 

The plot gets even more absurd when Turkish intelligence brings the nuclear bombs to the same base as the Stryker company. When you have the whole of Anatolia to choose from, why on earth would you bring them to the one place there are well-armed Americans! Anyway, the Strykers decide to liberate the nukes and fight their way to the coast.

I had some issues with the political context of the first two books, although I thought the military aspects were excellent. Sadly, the author has gone off at the deep end in this book, with all sorts of nonsense rants against diversity and political correctness. The US President is so liberal that he falls over himself to accommodate the Turks and undermine the safety of his troops. We have sub-plots about Muslim extremism in the military and immigration, which are straight out of the most rabid white supremacist mythology. I fear the Bulgarian author's grasp of US politics is based on watching too much Fox News!

You will have gathered that I wasn't impressed. In fairness, the battle scenes are good, but the political context and the plot are just downright silly. One to be avoided.

Prince Eugene of Savoy

 This is James Falkner's new book on one of the outstanding commanders of the 18th century. In Falkner's view, he is in the military genius category. Prince Eugene in the Balkans was the GDWS theme for display games at the Scottish wargame shows back in 2006. So I collected the armies for the main battles at Zenta, Peterwardein and Belgrade. Although I have one that claims to be, Eugene left no memoirs, and there hasn't been a biography of him since McKay (1977) and Henderson (1964). 

James Falkner is the leading historian of the Malburian wars, and Eugene's partnership with Marlborough is how most people think of the Prince. However, there is much more to his military career than Blenheim. I am very familiar with his campaigns against the Ottomans in the Balkans, but less so his Italian campaigns that Falkner also covers.

Even by 18th century pre-nationalist standards, Eugene's climb to fame is extraordinary. He was born in Paris and wanted to join the French army. Only when Louis refused did he join the Habsburgs. It always reminds me of football clubs who release a striker who goes on to glory elsewhere! For an outsider, he was remarkably appointed to command the army in the East at the very young age of 33. Then in 1703, he was appointed President of the Imperial War Council, directing the Austrian war effort on several fronts until he died in 1736.

Several themes run through his service with the Habsburgs. The main one was finance. He was frequently asked to perform miracles with armies that were too small for the task and rarely paid on time. Like Marlborough, he also needed diplomatic skills to keep coalitions together, although he appears to have been less skilled at managing court politics.

There are chapters on campaigns that I wasn't familiar with. These include the march to Turin in 1706, moving his army 250 miles in a passage of arms the equivalent of Marlborough's march to the Danube. The victory was achieved with a force almost half that of the French. Even if less successful, he pulled off another remarkable attack on Toulon against his better judgement the following year.

Unlike some western historians, Falkner does not ignore the Balkan campaigns. The first campaign culminated in the Battle of Zenta in 1697. Some 20,000 Ottoman troops, including the Grand Vizier and the Aga of the Janissaries, were slaughtered, and a further 10,000 drowned. Eugene’s army claimed only 300 dead. This victory was decisive and led to the Treaty of Karlowitz 1699, in which the Habsburgs gained all of Hungary and Transylvania except the Banat of Temesvar.

The second campaign included the relief of Peterwardein and the capture of Belgrade, the key jumping-off point for Ottoman offensives into Hungary and Austria. Even with these campaigns, Falkner digs out some details I hadn't read before. For example, Austrian deserters captured at Belgrade were impaled on Eugene's orders. Campaigning in the east was a more savage affair all round.

By the end of Eugene's period in office, the Habsburg lands had significantly expanded, although expensively bought gains in Italy and the Netherlands would be challenging to sustain. Not least because the finances were not in place. While two million gulden could be found for court costs, the army across the empire had to make do with just eight million.

This is a compelling story of an outstanding military leader. The Frenchman who became an unlikely Austrian hero.

Austrian generals

Austrian infantry facing Ottoman skirmishers

Napoleon's Balkan Troops

 My latest wargame project has been completed, much to the relief of my replenished lead pile. How those lockdown days now seem a long way off! It is timely because I have been playing a lot more Black Powder recently, and more French will be needed for a big game we are planning for the GDWS Napoleonic Open Day on 22 May. The French and Ottomans will be lining up against the British and Ali Pasha. A what-if' before anyone scurries for their history books based on the French-Ottoman rapprochement after 1802.

The French involvement in the Balkans started in 1797 with the brief occupation of the Ionian islands. After Austerlitz in 1805, they acquired former Venetian provinces in Istria, Dalmatia as far as the Bay of Cattaro (Kotor) in modern Montenegro. They also grabbed Ragusa in 1806. Another failed effort against Napoleon by Austria in 1809 resulted in the loss of the rest of Istria and the inland provinces of Carniola, Carinthia and the Croatian military border. In December 1809, these conquests were brought together in the Illyrian Provinces under the command of Marshall Marmont. Small scale warfare continued with the British, Austrians and Ottomans until the French abandoned them in 1814.

As elsewhere in Europe, the French recruited locally raised troops as garrisons. Some of these interesting units form the basis for my latest project. The figures are 28mm and are mostly adapted from the Wargames Foundry range. I prefer the Front rank range, but when I looked for figures, they weren't available due to the transfer to Gripping Beast. I have compromised on the basing between individual basing and my usual three figures on 60mm x 20mm multiple bases. This allows me to use them for Black Powder and Rebels and Patriots, or Sharp Practice. The small war conflicts in this region are more suited to the small battle or skirmish games.

The first unit is chasseurs of the Royal Dalmatian Legion. These troops came from Italy and Dalmatia, some being ex-Austrian soldiers, hence the corsehut, which I particularly like.

The Illyrian Chasseur Regiments were former Grenzer regiments, usually referred to as the Croat regiments. Marmont persuaded Napoleon to recruit these units from the military border and retain their traditional organisation. They rarely operated above battalion level.

The Illyrian Provinces were not exempted from Napoleon's need for extra manpower for the Russian campaign. This led to the expansion of the Illyrian Chasseurs through Croatian Provisional regiments. These figures are Voltigeurs.

Also, in the above picture, we have a small unit of Croatian Hussars. They were still serving in France in 1814.

That will do for now, as I can field a Black Powder brigade of these troops on 22 May. There are some other colourful units I wouldn't mind doing, including Serezaners, which acted as scouts for the Croat units. But, sadly, I can't find a suitable figure. The Albanian Regiment, in the traditional dress, can probably be recruited from Ottoman ranges.

My reference source is the Osprey MAA 410, 'Napoleon's Balkan Troops', by Vladimir Brnardic and illustrated by Darko Pavlovic.

Four Princes

 Four Princes is John Julius Norwich's study of Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, Sulieman the Magnificent and the obsessions that forged modern Europe. I think this was his last book before he sadly passed away in 2018. In my view, he was one of the greatest historical writers, with the ability to make factual history sound like a novel. Normans in the South is my personal favourite.

The four rulers he chose for this study all lived at roughly the same time in the first half of the 16th century. The book seeks to weave the story of their lives together in the context of the vast changes happening around them. He argues:

"Has there, in all European history, been a half-century like it? Here, packed into the space of just fifty years, are the High Renaissance, Luther and the Reformation, the exploration of the Americas, the panoply and pageantry exemplified by the Field of the Cloth of Gold and, above all, those four magnificent, memorable monarchs – each of whom, individually, left his indelible imprint over the land he ruled and who together transformed the civilised world."

It is a decent argument, although I am not entirely convinced with the attempt to weave their stories together. They were also very different personalities, from Henry VIII and his six wives to Charles V, who broke his heart when his Empress died at the age of only thirty-three. He never remarried and was to dress in black for the rest of his life. Norwich concedes the differences but argues together, they dominated the world stage and moulded the continent of Europe. None were truly great rulers, but they all possessed elements of greatness, and each left an indelible footprint on the lands he ruled. Again possibly valid, although I think Sulieman was pretty close to greatness, but that still doesn't bring them together.

The basic history of each ruler is outlined. However, one of his writing strengths is bringing the story to life with colourful anecdotes. For example, Francis I moved his court around the country, which took no fewer than 18,000 horses. When the King visited Bordeaux in 1526, stabling was ordered for 22,500 horses and mules. Another I should have known is an old Hungarian song that tells of a series of domestic disasters; after each comes the chorus: Több is veszett Mohácsnál – ‘but no matter; more was lost on Mohács field’. In modern Hungarian, the line has become a proverb.

The contradictions of rulers in an age when religion was taken seriously are not ignored. Francis I was busy burning protestant heretics while at the same time allying with Sulieman. The siege and capture of Nice was a joint operation of the Franco–Turkish alliance. The sight of Christians fighting Christians with the help of infidels left many deeply shocked but perhaps not surprised at the realpolitik. Given that Francis was surrounded by the Habsburgs to the east and west and a generally hostile Henry to the north. However, the citizens of Toulon were less than enthused to have Barbarossa spending the winter refitting his fleet in their city. Crusades were much discussed but were never going to happen.

Two of the four princes died in the first three months of 1547. Only Sulieman completed his three score years and ten; none of the other three reached even sixty – Francis dying at fifty-two, Henry at fifty-five, Charles at fifty-eight. However, for the period, these were decent innings. Suleiman the Magnificent (or the Lawgiver as he is commonly described in Turkey) was possibly the greatest of the Ottoman Sultans, although I think a good case can be made for this father, Selim. He was a statesman, a legislator and a patron of the arts but primarily a soldier, and he died as all good soldiers wish to die, with his troops on the field of battle. He also had one characteristic that the others didn't, religious tolerance. As the Norwich rightly concludes: 

"an instinctive respect for the beliefs of others and a readiness to allow them their own customs, traditions and forms of worship. In Suleiman’s dominions tolerance was absolute; if only his fellow princes had followed his example, how much happier Europe would have been."

Despite my reservations about the book's premise, this is still a good read. As you would expect from the master's hand.

OK, I am biased when it comes to comparisons. Let's have some Ottomans!

Glorious Misadventures - Russian America

 This is Owen Matthews's book about Nikolai Rezanov and the dream of a Russian America. It was a bit off my usual radar, but I spotted it in my local library.

I had a vague recollection that the Russians sold Alaska to the USA. I didn't realise that by 1812 the border of the Tsar's dominions was just an hour's drive north of San Francisco. They also had a colony in Hawaii.

The base for this expansion was Siberia. From there, Cossack explorers visited the Aleutian islands in forty-foot boats, chasing very profitable pelts and furs. These expeditions fired the imagination of the Russian leadership. This also came to the attention of the Spanish, who had lightly colonised the coast of California, encouraging them to step up security. This included founding a new mission at San Francisco and sending a naval expedition from their naval base at San Blas in Mexico. Captain James Cook, the English explorer, had also visited Hawaii and further north, exciting some interest in London.

The Russian entrepreneur Grigory Shelikhov came up with the idea of creating a crown monopoly along the lines of Britain's Hudson's Bay Company. The Tsar appointed Nikolai Rezanov as his emissary. To give some idea of the distances involved, it took Rezanov seven months to reach the ramshackle Russian port of Okhotsk on the Siberian coast. His vision was much larger, more akin to the East India Company.

The rest of the book covers Rezanov's travels, including Japan, still in its isolationist period. His dreams of trading with Japan were dashed by this policy, not to mention his lack of diplomatic skills. Later the Company's ships attacked the Japanese coast, a decision to effectively declare war that Rezanov took himself. They did strengthen the Russian outposts in Alaska, albeit at great cost to the indigenous tribes. Like other colonial empires, they brought diseases to which the local communities had few immunities. There were also small and some larger-scale conflicts. The Russian Orthodox Church provided priests, which, together with alcoholism, are the two reminders of Russian rule in Alaska today. A staggering three million rubles' of furs were sent back to Russia. The Company's Russian fleet was limited, and colonies often relied on American ships for supplies. Rezanov reported that the Company's shipping was in the hands of alcoholic officers, some manic depressive and others murderous.

The furthest south Rezanov got was San Francisco. Despite the Spanish Government's no trading policy, he was well received by the Spanish authorities. War in Europe would impact this policy, but the news took months to get to these far-flung outposts. Even Mexico was some distance away, and only two or three Spanish ships visited each year. Rezanov even got engaged to the local commander's daughter, Conchita. However, his travels eventually took their toll on Rezanov's health, and he died in March 1807 on his return to St Petersburg. 

North of San Francisco, Fort Ross remained the most southerly outpost of Russian America until 1842. Somewhat renovated, it is a state museum today. Timing is all; as the Spanish Empire crumbled after the Napoleonic Wars, a larger Russian presence could have exploited this. Just after they sold the colony, the Californian gold rush began. Hawaii was abandoned even earlier after the Russians became embroiled in a local civil war. The Company was wound down after many of its officials were involved in the failed plot to depose the Tsar in 1825. From Rezanov's death onwards, Russia never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity in the New World. They offered Alaska to Britain in 1859, but Palmerston decided he had enough uncharted wilderness to deal with in Canada, so it was bought by the USA in 1867.

For the wargamer, there are a few colonial skirmishes with the Russians represented by Cossack types. Eureka Miniatures do one of the Alaskan tribes, the Tlingits, who regularly fought the Russians in 15mm. Varang Miniatures also do them in 28mm, along with Aleuts and Russian trappers. The March edition of Wargames Illustrated has a good article on these conflicts. The 'what-ifs' are more promising. If Russia had properly exploited their colonial outposts, there could have had a conflict with the Spanish. And later, a Russian California would have had an intriguing border with the USA. The prospects are endless there!

28mm Cossacks from my collection.

Crusader

 This is the latest in my re-reading of Nigel Tranter's historical novels. It covers the period of Alexander III's minority, as told through the eyes of his supporter, David de Lindsay. It is a common Tranter ploy to tell the story through a close associate, although on this occasion, he chose an actual historical figure, albeit a lesser-known one.

Alexander III was born in 1241 and became king after his father's death in 1249. At the age of seven, he had regents appointed by Parliament. This was a source of a continuous power struggle between the faction led by Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith, the other by Alan Durward, Earl of Atholl. Relations with England were, as usual, challenging, with Henry III attempting to assert his paramountcy. Alexander was married to Henry's daughter, Margaret, in 1251.

Alexander's father had died while preparing to campaign against Norway to control the Western Isles, an issue that Alexander would resolve much later in his reign. However, his regency period was mostly an issue of internal politics, with the factions vying for control.

David de Lindsay is officially the King's cupbearer but acts as a sort of advisor and tutor in practice. He later became Chamberlain of Scotland. While this is all very worthy, it has to be said that it doesn't make a page-turning read. Most of the action occurs in Lothian and the Borders, Tranter's home turf, so there is plenty of Tranter's descriptive writing of the region and lordly pursuits, but not a lot else.

The book's title, Crusader, is a bit disingenuous. David de Lindsay promises his mother that he will go on crusade,  and he puts this off until Alexander achieves his majority. This was late in the crusading story with King Louis of France's failed Seventh Crusade, following the Battles of Mansura and Fariskur in 1250. With no actual crusade to join, David goes to Acre, where he dies of disease during one of the many sieges of that crusader outpost. That part of the story is simply a short epilogue.

So, an interesting period piece, but not one of Tranter's more gripping stories, and certainly short on action.

Simon de Montfort appears in the story several times. King Henry's brother in law had his own crusading past, as did his father, who led the French forces at the Battle of Muret in 1213. A GDWS display game back in 2013. Simon is the figure with the red flag on the left of this picture.