Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck is a study not only of the individual but also of how the British Army, Indian Army and the Empire were transformed during his long military career. Auchinleck was commissioned into the Indian Army from 1904 and served with distinction against the Turks in Egypt and the Mesopotamian campaign, earning a DSO. Between the wars he was involved in the pacification of the Northwest Frontier (now Pakistan).
In the Second World War he briefly led a division in the ill-fated Norway campaign before being appointed Commander-in-Chief, India. He is best remembered for his controversial stint in command in North Africa, where he replaced Wavell in July 1941. He halted Rommel at the First Battle of El Alamein but was then replaced by Montgomery and resumed as C-in-C India, where his logistical support for Fourteenth Army was vital to success in Burma. Post-war he planned and oversaw Partition and British withdrawal from India. Here, as in North Africa, interference
War at Sea in the Middle Ages
“What, indeed, is more merciless than a naval battle, where men perish in water and flame!”
– Flavius Vegetius Renatus,
, 5th Century AD
That maritime warfare has been poorly covered in the literature on medieval warfare is beyond doubt. Similarly, there is little question that the medieval era has been inadequately addressed in the literature on naval warfare. In this series of articles, we will nevertheless attempt to bring the phenomenon of medieval maritime warfare to light, drawing on the relatively sparse literature that does exist to paint a picture of naval warfighting during the period from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476 to the onset of the Protestant Reformation in 1513. In so doing, we will not only investigate the changing character of medieval maritime warfare, but also explore some of the more consequential naval engagements of that era. A secondary goal will be to highlight some of the more recent historical dis
FAMILY historians everywhere are eagerly awaiting the 1921 census, which FindMyPast will put online in January next year. It will help chart the huge changes that followed the First World War. For the first time information will be available on divorce, names of employers and and detailed aspects of education. It will throw light on the lives of those living in the aftermath – the widows bringing up families alone, the survivors of the conflict continuing with their lives or striking out in new directions, and the estate owners battling death duties. In fact, the 1921 census did not go smoothly. Originally scheduled for 24 April, it had to be postponed until 19 June due to industrial unrest sparked when mines nationalized during wartime were put back into private hands and miners’ wages were promptly reduced.