Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/November 2016/Articles


 * Divisional Cavalry Regiment (New Zealand) (Kges1901) : This regiment was the 2nd New Zealand Division's armoured reconnaissance unit during World War II. Formed in 1939 as New Zealand's first armoured unit, it served with the remainder of its division in Greece, North Africa and Italy. In 1944 it was converted to an infantry regiment, and fought in this role until the end of the war. It formed part of New Zealand's contribution to the occupation of Japan before being disbanded in 1947. The article underwent GAN, ACR and PR prior to becoming Kges1901's first Featured Article.


 * SMS Kaiser Karl der Grosse (Parsecboy) : SMS Kaiser Karl der Grosse was a German pre-dreadnought battleship that had only a short period of front-line service before being withdrawn to the reserve as more modern ships became available. She was active during the first months of World War I, but was later withdrawn from service and ended the war as a prison ship. Parsecboy took the article through GAN and ACR before its successful FAC nomination.


 * HMS Alceste (1806) (Ykraps) : This 19th century frigate had an unusual history. Commissioned into the French Navy in 1804, she was captured by the British two years later, and so fought on both sides during the Napoleonic wars. She transported British troops to America during the War of 1812, and later took part in the exploration of the South China Sea. Wrecked in the Java Sea, her crew fought off Malayan pirates before being rescued.


 * Neal Dow (Coemgenus) : A Quaker by birth, Dow was a politician and orator whose efforts to ban alcohol gained him the nicknames the "Napoleon of Temperance" and the "Father of Prohibition". In doing so, according to nominator Coemgenus, "he made and broke political alliances, alienated neighbors and friends, and generally made himself obnoxious to everyone he encountered, but he was (briefly) successful in imposing the first statewide prohibition law in the United States".


 * List of destroyers of India (Krishna Chaitanya Velaga) : After bringing this article to A-class status in September, Krishna Chaitanya Velaga guided it through his first featured list nomination in October. The list summarises the 16 destroyers which have been operated by the Indian Navy. Ten of these ships are currently in commission, and six others have been decommissioned.


 * Asad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri (Cplakidas) : Asad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri was a prominent official of the Umayyad Caliphate who twice served as a governor. He commanded a large number of military operations during his career, including campaigns to suppress revolts and successful efforts to hold off Turkic Turgesh forces. Cplakidas developed this article to GA status in 2013, before taking it further to bring it to A-class standard recently.


 * Devon County War Memorial (HJ Mitchell) : This article forms part of a series on war memorials designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens which HJ Mitchell has developed recently. One of 15 memorials designed by Lutyens to a similar specification, it was unveiled in 1921 to commemorate the approximately 11,600 men and women from Devon killed in the First World War. The memorial and its surrounds has been a listed building since 2009, though this came too late to prevent it from being surrounded by an "unfortunate" set of metal railings.


 * Mikhail Petrovich Petrov (general) (Kges1901) : Mikhail Petrovich Petrov was a Red Army major general. He began his military career in the Tsarist army, before joining the Bolshevik forces. Petrov specialised in armoured warfare, and became a Hero of the Soviet Union for his role in the Spanish Civil War. He was a corps commander at the time of the German invasion of the USSR and soon promoted to lead an army, but died as a result of combat wounds in October 1941.


 * Hawker Hurricane in Yugoslav service (Peacemaker67) : Peacemaker's latest article on the World War II-era Yugoslav military provides a detailed history of the country's use of Hurricane fighters. The Royal Yugoslav Air Force acquired 48 of the type before the German invasion in April 1941, but all of the fighters in service at that time were destroyed or captured. Unusually, the Yugoslav Partisans formed two Hurricane-equipped squadrons in mid-1944 which operated under overall British command for the remainder of the war. One squadron worth of aircraft remained in Yugoslav service after the war, finally being retired in the early 1950s.


 * Operation Leader (Nick-D and Manxruler) : While Nick and Manxruler have worked together on several articles concerning World War II in Norway, this was their first formal joint A-class nomination. Operation Leader was the only offensive operation undertaken by the US Navy in northern European waters during World War II, and involved fighters and dive bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Ranger striking German and Norwegian shipping in the Bodø area. The attack was a true multi-national operation, involving much of the British Home Fleet as well as Norwegian airmen in some of the American planes and Norwegian secret agents on the ground, and resulted in the sinking of five ships and damage to seven others.