Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/January 2020/Articles


 * Razing of Friesoythe : This article covers the deliberate destruction of a German town by Canadian troops in April 1945, which was motivated by a mistaken belief that a civilian had killed their commanding officer. In the nomination statement, Gog noted that this was "the first article I created (26.1.18), my first GA (24.2.18), and my first A class (14.8.18). After which it languished until, bless him, added Briddiscombe and so provided the underpinning to tie the article together...".


 * Capture of Wakefield : This article describes an episode of the First English Civil War that took place on 21 May 1643, when 1,500 Parliamentarians under Sir Thomas Fairfax captured Wakefield, Yorkshire, from 3,000 Royalists under George Goring. Goring was one of 1,400 Royalists taken prisoner during the engagement. Harrias took the article through A-Class Review before successfully nominating for FA.


 * Battle of Pontvallain ( & ) : Gog's second entry this month, this battle, part of the Hundred Years' War, took place in north-west France on 4 December 1370, when a French army of 5,200 men under Bertrand du Guesclin inflicted a heavy defeat on a similarly sized English force that had broken away from an army commanded by Sir Robert Knolles. In the breathless words of the nomination statement: "The late-Medieval dream-team of SN and Gog bring you this gripping installment of the Hundred Years War. SN took it through GAN in February 2018. It has been thoroughly overhauled since then. SN has dug out every available source and provided the structural underpinning. Gog has installed all the twirly, baroque prose bits on the surface..."


 * William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville : SN's second entry this month or, in his own words, "Next in a series of bad or bonkers barons, here's Lord Bonville... The early part of his career was pretty run of the mill—suing relatives, fighting the French—but in middle age, he found his niche: engaging in a long-running bitter and bloody feud with a more powerful neighbour, the Earl of Devon, in which they both had their share of victories and defeats." Both Bonville and Devon died in the Wars of the Roses, the former losing his head after being captured at the Second Battle of St Albans in February 1461.


 * Brandenburg-class battleship : This class consisted of four pre-dreadnought battleships built for the German Imperial Navy between 1890 and 1894. The ships served with I Squadron of the German fleet for the first few years of their careers. In 1900, they were deployed to China to help combat the Boxer Rebellion, but they arrived after the bulk of the fighting was over. Two of the battleships were sold to the Ottoman Navy in 1910, and saw extensive service during the First Balkan War. During World War I the two German ships were used for defensive duties before being retired. One of the Turkish ships was sunk in 1915, and the other remained in service until 1933. Parsecboy took the article through ACR before negotiating FAC.


 * French battleship Brennus ( & ) : Parsecboy's second entry this month, Brennus was the first modern French battleship, named after the ancient Gaullic chieftain Brennus, known for sacking Rome. Completed in 1893, Brennus was found to be top-heavy and had to be rebuilt over three years before she could enter service. The battleship spent the majority of her career in the Mediterranean Squadron, and was reduced to a training ship in 1909. She was paid off in April 1914 and cannibalised for spare parts during World War I. The article passed ACR before gaining FA status.


 * List of battleships of France : This list includes battleships built by France from the late 1880s to the 1940s, from the early experimental vessels built during a muddled period of French naval philosophy to some advanced designs in the interwar period with the Dunkerque-class battleships and Richelieu-class battleships. The article passed ACR before attaining FL status.


 * Battleships of Japan (, & ) : This 47-article topic is the culmination of a decade of work by members of Operation Majestic Titan.


 * Russian battleship Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya (Sturmvogel 66) : The impressively-named battleship Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya served in the Black Sea during the First World War. Every time she encountered an enemy ship, they disengaged as fast as possible. Other than than she spent the war protecting smaller ships from interference by the larger Ottoman ships as they conducted mining operations and anti-shipping sweeps. The ship was supposed to be turned over the Germans by the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, but she was scuttled by the Soviets instead in 1918.


 * INTERFET logistics (Hawkeye7) : This article covers the effort required to deploy and sustain the Australian-led INTERFET peacekeeping force in East Timor during 1999 and 2000. This was the first large-scale operation led by Australia since World War II, and it revealed serious shortcomings in the Australian Defence Force's logistical capabilities. Nevertheless, the troops from Australia and several other countries enjoyed generally good support and the operation was a success.


 * Teriitaria II (KAVEBEAR) : Teriitaria II was the Queen regnant of Huahine and Mai’ao Queen and Regent of Tahiti between 1815 and 1852 or 1854. She led military forces on several occasions during her reign, and repelled a French invasion in 1846.


 * Arthur Sullivan (Australian soldier) (Peacemaker67) : Arthur Sullivan enlisted to serve in World War I with the Australian Imperial Force, but didn't complete training before the war ended. Instead, he sought discharge and enlisted in the British Army's North Russia Relief Force which was part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. During operations there he saved several members of his unit, including a minor member of the nobility, during an ambush at a river crossing, and was awarded the VC. He returned to Australia and had a successful banking career before dying in an accident while a member of the Australian Coronation Contingent in London in 1937. This is the final article in Peacemaker67's series on Victoria Cross recipients from South Australia.


 * ASV Mark III radar (Maury Markowitz) : This article covers a surface search radar system used by RAF Coastal Command during World War II. It was a slightly modified version of the H2S radar used by RAF Bomber Command, with minor changes to the antenna to make it more useful for the anti-submarine role. It was Coastal Command's primary radar from the spring of 1943 until the end of the war, and played a key role in the Allied victory in the Battle of the Atlantic.


 * Battle of Sourton Down (Harrias) : The Battle of Sourton Down was a well-executed ambush during the First English Civil War conducted by a small Parliamentarian force on a much larger Royalist one. It was another loss for Ralph Hopton, but one of his finest victories was to follow not too long after. Harrias became interested in this topic after visiting the location of the battle as it now stands; a service station just off the A30, the main road in south-west England.


 * French battleship Bouvet (Parsecboy) : Bouvet was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the French Navy that was built in the 1890s. She spent the majority of her peacetime career in the Mediterranean Squadron conducting routine training exercises. In 1903 she was involved in a collision with the battleship Gaulois that saw both ships' captains relieved of command. Bouvet was withdrawn from front-line service in 1907 and used as part of the training fleet until the outbreak of World War I. After escorting troop convoys, she was deployed to the eastern Mediterranean. The battleship sank after striking a mine off Gallipoli on 18 March 1915 with the loss of most of her crew.


 * Bombing of Obersalzberg (Nick-D) : This article covers a largely successful precision attack on the Nazi elite's mountain residences during the last days of World War II in Europe. The operation was conducted by 359 Allied heavy bombers. While Hitler's residence got off lightly, most of the other buildings in the area were flattened. German casualties were remarkably light as the 3000 people present were able to shelter in the sophisticated bunkers built for the use of senior Nazis. The attack was celebrated at the time, but was considered somewhat embarrassing after the war and was often passed-over as a result.


 * Francesco Caracciolo-class battleship (Sturmvogel 66 and Parsecboy) : The Francesco Caracciolo-class battleships were an Italian design begun before the start of World War I in response to the British Queen Elizabeth-class battleships. Had they been completed, they would have been the fastest and most powerful battleships afloat. Even before the Italians joined the war in 1915, shortages of steel and other material significantly slowed their construction and construction. Work on the ships was suspended the following year to build ships that could be completed during the war. Italian financial difficulties after the war prevented their completion, although the navy flirted with the idea of converting the most advanced ship into an ocean liner or an aircraft carrier.


 * Libyan–Egyptian War (Indy beetle) : The Libyan–Egyptian War was a short border conflict that occurred over four days in July 1977. It was a relatively minor conflict, but it represents the much larger fissure between Muammar Gaddafi and Anwar Sadat in the late 1970s. Approximately 500 people were killed or wounded in the fighting, which involved a large Egyptian force and much smaller Libyan forces.


 * 66th Infantry Division (United Kingdom) (EnigmaMcmxc) : EnigmaMcmxc pithily described this as "a short article for a short-lived division". The 66th Infantry Division was formed in September 1939. Due to the rapidly worsening situation, it was used to guard strategic points in the UK before its training and equipment was anywhere near complete. The division was disbanded in June 1940 as part of reforms which aimed to bring the Army's main combat units up to strength and remove unnecessary formations from the order of battle.


 * 55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division (EnigmaMcmxc and Kges1901) : The 55th Division which was raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. On the outbreak of the First World War, the division was drained of resources to reinforce others formations, but was reformed in France during late 1915. It served on the Western Front for the remainder of the war. In the inter-war period, it became part of the Territorial Army (which replaced the Territorial Force) and helped form the second-line 59th (Staffordshire) division on the outbreak of the Second World War. During the war, it remained in the United Kingdom assigned to home defence duties. It had been intended the division would deploy in 1944, but instead it was once again stripped of its assets for use in other formations. The division was maintained as a deception formation until the end of the war.


 * Battle of Lagos (Gog the Mild) : This article covers a naval battle between British and French fleets fought off Portugal over two days in 1759 during the Seven Years' War. The British intercepted the French Mediterranean Fleet as it attempted to reach the West Indies and brought it to battle. The engagement ended in victory for the larger British force, which violated Portugal's neutrality to capture two other French ships and destroy two others after the fighting had concluded.