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ISSUE 137

MEETING THE ENEMY September 1944

© Getty Keystone press agency photographer Fred Ramage,

BEER BREAK IN THE JUNGLE 1975

© Getty Ser vicemen pose with a puppy

PEDALS BEFORE PANZERS 1939

© Getty German light bicycle infantr y line

ALGERIAN WAR

Algerians battle the French Army and rebellious pieds-noirs paramilitaries during their pursuit of independence from colonial rule

ROOTS OF REVOLUTION

A century of French occupation led to a genocide in Algeria that provoked one of the bloodiest showdowns of the modern age

THE RISE OF ALGERIAN RESISTANCE

How the anti-colonialist struggle around the globe helped inspire Algeria’s liberation movement to organise and fight back

BATTLE OF ALGIERS

When the Front de libération nationale (FLN) took its war to the streets of the capital, France’s military responded with merciless wrath

COUPS & CHAOS

How the French armed forces lost the war in Algeria and almost destroyed French democracy in the process

ARNHEM

For nine days the heroic 1st Airborne fought desperately, waiting vainly for relief that never came

AIRSPEED HORSA GLIDER

This aircraft was the one-way transport for thousands of troops during airborne operations in Sicily, Normandy, the Netherlands and beyond

DWIGHT WBIRDWELL

In the opening hours of the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive, this Specialist Five led his armoured cavalry detachment in repulsing a fierce communist assault against Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon

THE FIVE STRATEGY AND LEADERSHIP

Phillips O’Brien discusses how this quintet of national leaders impacted the course of the Second World War

DON’T MENTION THE WAR!

Named “one of the greatest domestic politicians in American history” by O’Brien, Roosevelt coaxed his reluctant population into the conflict

FORGING A NEW WORLD ORDER

Across conference tables in Tehran and Yalta, the Allied strategists battled to shape the post-war order

FLODDEN

On the morning of 9 September 1513, King James IV of Scotland stood atop Flodden Hill with what seemed an insurmountable advantage over the English. Yet by the day’s end he would lay slain and his army shattered

FERDINAND ‘THE BLOODY’

Known for his brutal martial punishment and execution of his own men, Ferdinand Schörner’s ruthlessness was matched only by his devotion to Nazi ideology

HITLER’S DOGMATIC ‘YES MAN’?

He was denigrated by his comrades as ‘the Fuhrer’s lacky’, but Schörner sometimes disobeyed his leader

BREAKING HISTORY’S WORST SIEGE

In 1943-44 the Wehrmacht had to be levered out of formidable defences in a monumental sacrifice to free Leningrad

MUSE & EVENTS

New releases on Churchill, the restoration of a Cold War icon and how young Ukrainians use social media to document their wartime experiences

SEPTEMBER 1944

To commemorate 80 years since the Second World War, History of War will be taking a look at some of the key events taking place during each month of the conflict

DESERT RAIDS WITH THE SAS

Our pick of the latest military history books

THE WAGNER GROUP

THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF RUSSIA’S NOTORIOUS AND SECRETIVE MERCENARY ARMY

FOUNDER OF SANDHURST

HOW THE BRITISH ARMY’S RENOWNED ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE WAS FOUNDED, AND THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF THE FAR-SIGHTED OFFICER BEHIND IT

GULAG TO SPITFIRE

ONE MAN’S WWII JOURNEY FROM BRUTAL INTERNMENT TO FIGHTER PILOT IS RECOUNTED IN GRIPPING FASHION

IN SEARCH OF THE UNKNOWN

How the remains of an unidentified serviceman became the focal point for national mourning

WAAF SERVICE RECORD

The discharge papers of a WWII radar operator illustrate the vital role of women in Britain’s air defence