Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Fortifications task force

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Welcome to the fortifications task force, which covers all sorts of fortifications from Iron Age hill forts to Hitler's bunker, and from medieval castles to Fort Knox. If you have any questions about articles or are generally seeking advice, you're encouraged to ask at the main military history talk page, or you can directly approach one of the task force participants below.

The coordinators of the Military history WikiProject can be contacted here.

Scope
This task force evolved from WikiProject Castles, which was founded in January 2007 and became a task force of the Military history WikiProject in September 2007 with a widened scope. The range of articles includes all geographical locations and time period. The main types can be found at Category:Fortification. Also included are events that took place at fortifications, such as sieges, and individual features such as ramparts.

Any article related to this task force should be marked by adding  or   to the WPMILHIST project banner at the top of its talk page (see the project banner instructions for more details on the exact syntax). This will automatically place it into Category:Fortifications task force articles.


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Participants
''If you approach anyone from this list for advice or help, please check their contributions first to check if they've edited recently. This list may contain people who have not edited Wikipedia in a long time.''


 * 1) (WWI and WWII era European defensive systems, Cold War facilities)
 * 2) (Mainly British, especially Palmerston forts)


 * 1) (Castles, forts, fortifications of Egypt)
 * 2) (Indian Fortifications)
 * 3) (English castles, especially motte and bailey)
 * 4) (German[ic] castles / medieval castles)
 * 5)  (Coast defense forts, primarily in the United States)


 * 1) (particularly German castles)
 * 2) (American coast defense)
 * 3) } (mostly interested in modern fortifications, especially WWII)
 * 4) (French castles)
 * 5) (Mostly Scottish and other British castles and forts)
 * 1) (Mostly Scottish and other British castles and forts)


 * 1) (castles by Burges / Welsh castles / others I know something about)
 * 2) (Scottish castles)


 * 1) (Mainly Austrian castles)
 * 2) (Japanese castles)
 * 3) (Japanese castles)
 * 4) (American Civil War)
 * 5) (medieval castles, Roman forts, Iron Age hill forts)
 * 1) (medieval castles, Roman forts, Iron Age hill forts)
 * 1) (medieval castles, Roman forts, Iron Age hill forts)


 * 1) (Palmerston Forts and other British coastal defences)
 * 2) (Mainly Colonial American Forts, Civil War era)
 * 3) (US seacoast fortifications)
 * 4) (fortifications in Britain, Spain and Central America from ancient times to the Early Modern period)
 * 5) (Ryūkyūan castles)
 * 6) (All types of castles/military forts)
 * 7) (German and British castles)
 * 8) (European fortifications)
 * 9) (Maltese and Sicilian fortifications)
 * 10) (Atlantic Wall, WWII fortifications)
 * 1) (Atlantic Wall, WWII fortifications)

If you wish to identify yourself as a participant of this task force, simply copy and paste this userbox to your user page:  

Resources
Some articles use infoboxes; it's an editorial choice whether you include one in your articles, but the one most appropriate for a fortification is Infobox military structure (the link includes details on how to use it). To see one in use take a look at the article on Caernarfon Castle and how it's put together. The Tower of London article, however, passed at Featured Article review without one, demonstrating that an infobox is not always necessary, so weigh up the pros and cons before you include one in your articles.

As fortifications come in a variety of forms, there are many works that address the subject. Sometimes the bibliography of Wikipedia articles can provide a good starting point, however it depends on the overall quality of the article in the first place. Osprey Publishing has a series called "Fortress" which deals with this area; they're fairly accessible and usually include a starting bibliography at the end.

For articles on castles in England and Wales, this website is invaluable for identifying sources. It includes a pretty comprehensive bibliography on each site, links to some useful websites, as well as some suggestions on general reading.

When you're putting together an article, don't forget that despite this being part of the Military history WikiProject fortifications were not solely military institutions. Iron Age hill forts were proto-urban centres; civilian settlements grew around Roman forts and were an integral part of them; castles were lordly residences; town walls were badges of civic pride.

If you have any suggestions for important general books, please feel free to add them here.

Books

 * Donnell, Clayton. Fortifications of Verdun, 1874–1917.
 * Donnell, Clayton. The Forts of the Meuse in WWI.
 * Donnell, Clayton. The German Fortress of Metz, 1870–1944.