Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/January 2021/Articles


 * Portsmouth War Memorial : The City of Portsmouth War Memorial is a First World War memorial in Portsmouth, Hampshire. It consists of a semi-circular sunken recess (an exedra) with a screen bearing bronze panels listing the names of the dead. Balustrades lead into Guildhall Square, terminating in sculptures of a life-size soldier and sailor with machine guns. The memorial was unveiled on 19 October 1921, before its completion. In the 1970s another wall was created, listing the names of casualties from the Second World War; a monument to that conflict was added in 2005.


 * John Young (astronaut) : John Young was an American astronaut, naval officer, test pilot, and aeronautical engineer. Young flew on the first crewed Gemini mission in 1965, and commanded the 1966 Gemini 10 mission. In 1969, he flew as the command module pilot on Apollo 10. He was the commander of Apollo 16, and became the ninth person to walk on the Moon. Young also commanded STS-1 in 1981, the Space Shuttle program's first launch, and STS-9 in 1983, both of which were on . Young served as Chief of the Astronaut Office from 1974 to 1987.


 * 55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division : A formation of the British Army's Territorial Army established in 1920, it was underfunded and understaffed throughout the 1920s and 1930s. After the outbreak of World War II the 55th remained in the United Kingdom, in a defensive role, training replacements for combat units. It was drained of its assets in 1944 and the remnant was used in Operation Fortitude, a deception effort supporting the invasion of France. At the end of the war, the division was demobilised and not reformed.


 * Battle of Powick Bridge : This was fought on 23 September 1642, during the First English Civil War.  A Royalist convoy carrying valuables took refuge in Worcester. Reinforcements were sent under Prince Rupert and the Parliamentarians sent a detachment. Each force consisted of around 1,000 mounted troops. The Parliamentarians approached from the south and straight into Rupert's force. The Royalist dragoons fired at point-blank range, Rupert's cavalry charged and the Parliamentarian cavalry broke; fleeing 15 miles and causing panic among part of the main Parliamentarian army.


 * Battle of Vrbanja Bridge : The Battle of Vrbanja Bridge occurred on 27 May 1995 between United Nations peacekeepers from the French Army and the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), during the Bosnian War. The VRS seized French-manned UN observation posts in Sarajevo, taking twelve French peacekeepers hostage. Two of them were held at the bridge as human shields. A platoon of 30 French peacekeepers, led by Captain François Lecointre, re-captured the bridge. Three French soldiers were killed and nine wounded. The VRS lost four killed, three wounded and four captured. In 2017, Lecointre, now a general, was appointed French Chief of the Defence Staff.


 * Hitler's prophecy : Hitler's prophecy refers to a speech at the Reichstag on 30 January 1939 where Adolf Hitler predicted "the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe". Hitler continued to invoke the prophecy throughout the World War II and referenced it in his last will and testament. Frequently used by Nazi leaders when alluding to their systematic murder of Jews, the prophecy became a leitmotif of the Final Solution and is the best-known phrase from Hitler's speeches. It is also cited as evidence that Germans were aware that Jews were being exterminated.

All but one of the above articles underwent a MilHist A-class review before achieving featured status.




 * List of avisos of Germany : This entry lists all of the avisos (despatch or "advice" boats) operated by German fleets from the Prussian Navy in the 1840s to a solitary example for Nazi Germany in the 1930s.


 * Clive Hulme (Zawed) : This article continues Zawed's series on Victoria Cross recipients from New Zealand. Clive Hulme served with the 23rd Battalion during the Second World War. It was during the fighting on Crete that he performed the deeds that led to him being awarded the VC. He was wounded while on Crete and their severity saw him eventually repatriated to New Zealand. He was the father of Denny Hulme, Formula One champion in 1967.


 * Battle of Westerplatte (Piotrus) : The Battle of Westerplatte was one of the first battles of the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, marking the start of World War II in Europe. The Polish garrison held out against multiple attacks for seven days, and the battle is regarded as a symbol of resistance in modern Poland. The Polish government is planning to open a dedicated public museum on the site in 2026.


 * 4th Missouri Infantry Regiment (Confederate) (Hog Farm) : The 4th Missouri Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Formed in April 1862, it first saw combat in October that year during the Second Battle of Corinth. Due to the casualties it suffered, the next month the regiment was amalgamated with the 1st Missouri Infantry to form the 1st and 4th Missouri Infantry Regiment (Consolidated).


 * Battle of Trapani (Cplakidas) : The Battle of Trapani took place in 1266 off Trapani, Sicily, between the fleets of the Republic of Genoa and the Republic of Venice, as part of the War of Saint Sabas. During this conflict, the Venetians had held the upper hand in naval confrontations, forcing the Genoese to resort to commerce raiding and avoid fleet battles. The rival fleets met on 22 June 1266, and the Genonese commander decided to take a defensive position. The Venetians attacked the next day, and captured the entire Genoese fleet.


 * French battleship Charles Martel (Parsecboy and Sturmvogel 66) : This collaboration by two of our most prolific editors on warships covers a French pre-dreadnought battleship. Charles Martel was commissioned in 1897 and spent her entire career in the Mediterranean Squadron. She was only in the active element of this force for 5 years, as rapid technological improvements rendered her obsolete, and was held in reserve from 1902 to 1914. Charles Martel was decommissioned in April 1914, and her hull was used to house German prisoners of war and her guns were employed on the Western Front.


 * Charles Green (Australian soldier) (Peacemaker67) : Charles Green was a distinguished Australian Army officer of World War II and the Korean War. After serving in the Greek Campaign (during which he escaped to rejoin Allied forces via Turkey) he became, in March 1945, the Army's youngest infantry battalion commander, aged 29. He was appointed to replace the commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment as it was hurriedly prepared to deploy to the Korean War in 1950, and led the unit successfully. He was killed in November that year, becoming the only Royal Australian Regiment battalion commander to die in combat.


 * Navy of the Independent State of Croatia (Peacemaker67) : This article is about the very small "navy" of the Axis puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia, which operated between April 1941 and the end of World War II. Due to strict limitations imposed by the Italians, who thought of the Adriatic has their own, it initially had only a riverine flotilla, which included a couple of Yugoslav river monitors. After the Italians withdrew from the war in the towel in September 1943, the Germans transferred a few largish sea-going ships to them, but there was the ever-present danger of their crews defecting the Partisans, so after most of the larger vessels were sunk, the Germans brought the crews ashore.


 * Spendius (Gog the Mild) : Spendius (died late 238 BC) was a former Roman slave who led a rebel army against Carthage, in what is known as the Mercenary War. He escaped or was rescued from slavery in Campania and was recruited into the Carthaginian Army during the First Punic War at some point prior to 241 BC. Following the outbreak of the war in 241 BC he led a rebel army against Carthage. Spendius was captured in 238 BC, after which his forces were defeated in the Battle of the Saw (see below). He was crucified by the Carthaginians.


 * Battle of the Saw (Gog the Mild) : The Battle of the Saw was the culminating battle of a campaign fought between a Carthaginian army led by Hamilcar Barca and a rebel force led by Spendius in 238 BC in what is now northern Tunisia. While initially successful, the rebels were trapped in a pass or mountain range by Hamilcar and reduced to cannibalism when supplies ran out. After Spendius was captured, the Carthaginians attacked the leaderless, starving rebels and killed all of them.


 * Haane Manahi (Zawed) : Haane Te Rauawa Manahi was a New Zealand Māori soldier during the Second World War. His gallantry during the Tunisian campaign resulted in a recommendation that he be awarded the Victoria Cross. Despite the support of four generals, his VC nomination was downgraded to an award of a Distinguished Conduct Medal, possibly by the British Chief of the General Staff, General Alan Brooke. His comrades were disappointed, and after Manahi's death they advocated greater recognition of his valour. This eventually resulted in a special award in 2007 of an altar cloth for use in a local church, ceremonial sword and a personal letter from Queen Elizabeth II.