Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/November 2023/Articles


 * Theodore II Laskaris (Borsoka) : Per Borsaka's nomination statement, this article concerns "a young Emperor of Nicaea (the most powerful successor state of the Byzantine Empire) who wrote several treatises about theological, historical and philosophical themes. He preferred the company of low born intellectuals which led to conflicts with the Nicaean aristocracy. He expanded the territory of his empire but died young due to a chronic illness, likely cancer. His Great Supplicatory Canon to Our Lady is still sung in Orthodox ceremonies."


 * Foreign volunteers in the Rhodesian Security Forces (Nick-D): The Rhodesian government actively recruited white personnel from other countries from the mid-1970s to address manpower shortages in the Rhodesian Security Forces during the Rhodesian Bush War. It is estimated that between 800 and 2,000 foreign volunteers enlisted, with the exact number not being known. The most common motivation was opposition to governments led by black people, but other volunteers were motivated by anti-communism or a desire for adventure. The volunteers frequently received a hostile response from Rhodesians in the units they were posted to, and many ended their contracts early as a result.


 * Yugoslav torpedo boat T2 (Peacemaker67) : T2 was a seagoing torpedo boat operated by the Royal Yugoslav Navy between 1921 and 1939, after being commissioned in August 1914 and spending World War I in Austro-Hungarian Navy service. The ship undertook convoy, patrol, escort, minesweeping and minelaying tasks, anti-submarine operations, and shore bombardment missions during World War I. In Yugoslav service she undertook training tasks and visited foreign ports, but these activities were constrained by tight budgets. The vessel was scrapped in 1939.


 * American logistics in the Western Allied invasion of Germany (Hawkeye7) : The latest in Hawkeye's series of articles on military logistics covers the work that went into supplying the US Army's contribution to the invasion of Germany during 1944-45. The US Army suffered from shortages of manpower, but generally enjoyed ample supplies of food, fuel, ammunition and other items. Supply units largely managed to keep up with the very rapid pace of the advance across Germany, despite geographic barriers and some tough fighting.


 * History of military logistics (Hawkeye7) : Hawkeye split this article off from Military logistics. In his words, "If you look at a selection of the top level articles in the scope of our project you'll find that little work has been done on them. There are good reasons for this, the major one being that they are very hard to write. This article has to cover 2,000 years of military history. Ideally, it would be a summary of its subarticles, but none of them currently exist. The task of this article is therefore to cover important developments without getting into to much detail, and it degenerating into a catalogue of battles and wars."


 * Yugoslav submarine Mališan (Peacemaker67) : Continuing PM's series on Yugoslav naval vessels, this article focusses an Italian midget submarine captured by the Yugoslavs at the end of World War II. After a brief career in training she became a museum exhibit in Zagreb in 1959. In 2008-09 she was -- somewhat controversially -- restored to her original Italian configuration, becoming the only one of her type to be fully restored inside and out.


 * Central America under Mexican rule (PizzaKing13) : According to nominator PizzaKing, "This article covers a one and a half year period from 1821 to 1823 when the First Mexican Empire (somewhat) controlled most of the nations of modern-Central America. It outlines the struggle between the Mexican government and monarchists who wanted to annex Central America against republicans and nationalists who wanted to remain independent, eventually resulting in Central America regaining its independence in 1823. This article was built entirely from scratch as little to nothing of its content existed on Wikipedia prior to July 2022".


 * Battle of Puketutu (Zawed) : Two years ago Zawed successfully nominated what he believed to be the first article relating to the New Zealand Wars at A-Class review, the Siege of Ngatapa. Continuing in the same vein, the Battle of Puketutu was one of the early engagements in that conflict. It took place in May 1845 during the Flagstaff War in the Bay of Islands region of New Zealand, where British forces commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William Hulme attacked a pā (hillfort) manned by Māori warriors led by Hōne Heke and Te Ruki Kawiti. The British eventually withdrew, giving the Māoris a victory.


 * Battle of Gallipoli (1416) (Cplakidas) : This, the first large-scale naval battle between Ottomans and Venetians, was in Cplakidas' words "the main event of a brief, almost unofficial war between the two powers", which ended in a great victory for the Venetians and death for the Ottoman commander. The most detailed -- if not unbiased -- description of the episode comes from the Venetian commander, Pietro Loredan.


 * Dolwyddelan Castle (A.D.Hope) : A small castle in a remote part of Snowdonia, Wales, Dolwyddelan is notable as an example of a native Welsh fortification and for its associations with Llywelyn the Great and his grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. It was probably begun in the early 13th century. Edward I captured the castle in 1283 and, although it was quickly refortified, its influence declined. Ruinous by the mid-19th century, the keep was restored in the mid-1800s and the castle turned over to the state in 1930. This is A.D. Hope's first A-class article -- congratulations!