The History Network

On July 31st, 1945, the Japanese cruiser Takao sat at anchor in Singapore dockyard. Little did her crew know that beneath the surface of the water, Royal Navy divers prepared to place magnetic mines which would take her out of the war. The Takao-class...

Only one man has ever been awarded both the Victoria Cross and the Iron Cross - Surgeon General William Manley. In 1864 he was awarded a VC for his actions during the siege of Gate Pa during the New Zealand Wars. Then, when the Franco-Prussian War...

When the Second Boer War was declared on October 11th, 1899, governments of colonies from around the British Empire offered to send troops to contribute to the British war effort. This included the governments of the six colonies of Australia...

Benedict Arnold chose treason. In a shocking turn of events, one of the most talented American generals had turned traitor. The news sent shockwaves throughout the rebellious states. Arnold became the most wanted man in America as General George...

Benedict Arnold spent years becoming a respectable merchant in Connecticut and the coming of the American War of Independence presented him with an opportunity to increase his standing even further. His bravery in battle was unquestioned, but his...

Benedict Arnold, a name in the American lexicon that is synonymous with treason. History remembers Arnold solely for his attempted betrayal and his subsequent return to the American War of Independence as a British general, this was only the sudden...

On a clear day in 1960, a conversation took place between the pilot of a South African Airways passenger aircraft and Heathrow Airport's ground control. The pilot had a special request. He wanted to do a low-level circuit in London. In turn, the tower...

The entry for the year AD 991 in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that Olaf Tryggvason (later king of Norway) sailed with a fleet of ninety-three ships and raided the English coast. He began in Kent raiding Folkestone and then Sandwich, and then...

1951 had begun disastrously for the United Nations forces in Korea. On December 31st, 1950, the Chinese 13th Army breached UN defences below the 38th parallel as part of the Third Phase Campaign and, on January 3rd, Seoul was evacuated by the US...

On their seemingly inexorable advance south in 1942, the Japanese had occupied Aitape in northern New Guinea on their advance south. Allied offensives to halt the Japanese advance began in 1943 and in April 1944 units of the United States Army,...