Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/October 2015/Articles


 * Battle of Agua Dulce (Karanacs) : A skirmish during the Texas Revolution, the Battle of Agua Dulce was fought between Mexican troops and rebellious immigrants to the Mexican province of Texas, known as Texians. As part of the Goliad Campaign to retake the Texas Gulf Coast, Mexican troops ambushed a group of Texians on March 2, 1836. The skirmish began south of San Patricio, in territory belonging to the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. After a brief battle, the main body of the Texian and Tejano troops were defeated.


 * Russian battleship Potemkin (Sturmvogel 66) : Best known for a rebellion of her crew against their oppressive officers in June 1905, and a famous film on the topic directed by Sergei Eisenstein, Potemkin also saw combat during World War I. She was crippled by British forces during the Russian Civil War, and was scrapped in 1923.




 * Clinton Engineer Works (Hawkeye7) : The latest article in Hawkeye's series of articles on the Manhattan Project covers the huge, but highly secretive, facility which produced enriched uranium for the first atomic bombs. The works remain a central part of the US nuclear weapons program as the modern Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.


 * Mortimer Wheeler (Midnightblueowl) : A British archaeologist and army officer, Wheeler served as Director of both the National Museum of Wales and London Museum, Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India, and the founder and Honorary Director of the Institute of Archaeology in London, and wrote twenty-four books on archaeological subjects. He also saw active service in Italy and on the Western Front as an artillery officer during World War I, receiving the Military Cross for his actions during the Allied Hundred Days offensive in the final months of the war. Later, during World War II, Wheeler commanded an artillery regiment in the North African Campaign and a brigade during the Italian Campaign.


 * House of Plantagenet (Norfolkbigfish) : Adding a touch of the classical to our A-class feast this month, Norfolkbigfish's article on the House of Plantagenet explores the topic of a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The Platagenets later held the English throne from 1154, with the accession of Henry II, until 1485, when Richard III died. Under the Plantagenets England was transformed, although this was only partly intentional. The Plantagenet kings were often forced to negotiate compromises such as Magna Carta, which constrained royal power in return for financial and military support.


 * Yugoslav submarine Nebojša (Peacemaker67) : One of three articles Peacemaker pushed to A-class in the month, and part of a small GA-topic (dare we say possibly soon to be featured!) on the Hrabri-class submarines, this article looks at a diesel-electric submarine built in the inter-war years for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which later became Yugoslavia. Despite budgetary constraints, which limited training opportunities, the submarine served throughout the 1930s. During World War II, when Axis forces invaded Yugoslavia, the Nebojša evaded capture by Italian forces, and joined British naval forces in the Mediterranean where she performed a training role. After the war she was taken over by the new Yugoslav government and renamed Tara, continuing to serve until stricken in 1954 and then scrapped in 1958. Watch out for the vessel's sister at A-class review next month!


 * Runaway Scrape (Maile66) : Looking at the period of the Texas Revolution, this article focuses upon the 1836 flight of the ad interim government of the new Republic of Texas, the Provisional Army of Texas and the civilian population from the Mexican Army of Operations. Sitting between the Battle of the Alamo and the decisive Battle of San Jacinto, while the event is possibly not one that is widely known outside of the United States, or even perhaps Texas itself, it nevertheless forms a strong part of the narrative of the Texas Revolution and the article offers a vivid insight into a fascinating time in the development of the United States as a nation.




 * 70th Infantry Division (United Kingdom) (EnigmaMcmxc) : Part of a series of articles that Enigma has been writing on British infantry divisions of the Second World War, this one looks at the 70th, which fought during the Western Desert Campaign, forming part of the Tobruk garrison during the siege after the Australians were withdrawn to fight the Japanese in the Pacific. The division later took part in the Allied breakout from the port during Operation Crusader before being transferred to India. While there, the division formed a reserve to counter possible Japanese landings while it trained in jungle warfare. It also served as a police force, protecting railways and being used to suppress civil disobedience caused by the Quit India Movement. It was later transferred to the Chindits.


 * Gottlob Berger (Peacemaker67) : One of two biographies that Peacemaker was able to successfully take through ACR, this one looks at the life and times of Gottlob Berger, a senior German official who was responsible for SS recruiting during World War II. Serving in the infantry during World War I, Berger was an early Nazi Party member, but did not become active in the organization until the late 1920s. A physical education teacher in civilian life, he assumed responsibility for physical education regionally before being transferred to Heinrich Himmler's staff as head of the sports office. In 1938, he was appointed as head of the recruiting office. During the war, he implemented recruiting structures and policies that assisted the Waffen-SS in circumventing Wehrmacht controls over conscription, and also extended Waffen-SS recruiting to include foreigners and non-Germanic peoples. He had a key role in the administration of occupied territories in Germany's east. In the final stages of the war he commanded several SS units before surrendering to US troops. He was tried and convicted for war crimes, serving six-and-a-half years of a 25-year sentence, before being released and returning to civilian life.


 * August Meyszner (Peacemaker67) : An Austrian Gendarmerie officer and right-wing politician, Meyszner held the post of Higher SS and Police Leader in the German-occupied territory of Serbia from January 1942 to March 1944, during World War II. Beginning his military career in the infantry, Meyszner transferred to the Austrian Gendarmerie in the months before the start of World War I, and subsequently served on the Italian Front during that conflict. During the inter-war years, he continued to serve in the Gendarmerie, and became politically active initially in the right-wing Styrian Home Guard and then the Austrian Nazi Party. Arrested following the July Putsch in 1934, he fled to Yugoslavia and from there he travelled to Germany and became a German citizen. After police postings in Austria, Germany and Norway, he was appointed as Higher SS and Police Leader in Serbia in early 1942. During his tenure, he oversaw regular reprisal killings, and his Gestapo detachment killed thousands of Jewish women and children using a gas van. After the war, the Western Allies extradited Meyszner to Yugoslavia, where he was executed for war crimes in 1947.


 * Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath (Cplakidas) : Another quality article by Cplakidas focusing on early Muslim history, this article details the life and times of Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath. A distinguished Arab nobleman and general under the early Umayyad Caliphate, he was most notable for leading a failed rebellion against the Umayyad viceroy of the east, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, in 700–703.




 * Battle of Prokhorovka (EyeTruth) : Part of the epic Battle of Kursk, the fighting around Prokhorovka on 12 July 1943 occurred when the 5th Guards Tank Army of the Soviet Red Army attacked the German II SS-Panzer Corps in one of the largest tank battles in military history. The 5th Guards Tank Army was decimated in the attack, but succeeded in preventing the Germans from capturing Prokhorovka and breaking through the third defensive belt to achieve operational freedom. The German offensive was later cancelled and their forces were withdrawn. The Red Army went on a general offensive and seized the strategic initiative on the Eastern Front, which it was to hold for the rest of the war.


 * SMS Prinz Adalbert (1901) (Parsecboy) : Yet another quality article on a naval vessel, this one from Parsecboy looks at a German armored cruiser built around the turn of the 20th century. Named after Prince Adalbert of Prussia, SMS Prinz Adalbert was the lead ship of her class. She served in the Baltic during the early years of the First World War, tasked with protecting the German coast from Russian attacks and conducting reconnaissance. In November 1914, she became the flagship of a cruiser squadron and took part in bombarding the port of Libau in support of the German Army. She was torpedoed by a British submarine in July 1915, but was able to return to port for repairs. She was torpedoed a second time on 23 October 1915, in what proved to be the worst German naval disaster in the Baltic during the war. The torpedo detonated her ammunition magazines and destroyed the ship, which sank quickly with heavy loss of life; only three men were rescued from a crew of 675.


 * 12th Light Horse Regiment (Australia) (AustralianRupert) : The light horse is one of the most iconic aspects of Australia's involvement in the First World War; this article focuses upon one of the light horse regiments that were raised throughout the war. Raised from volunteers drawn mainly from the state of New South Wales, the 12th Light Horse Regiment served at Gallipoli as reinforcements, arriving late in the campaign, before being re-formed in Egypt and taking part in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. Throughout 1916–18, the regiment fought major engagements at Beersheba, Jerusalem, Megiddo and Damascus before the armistice. After the war, the regiment became part of Australia's part-time military force and it is currently perpetuated by the 12th/16th Hunter River Lancers.