M18 HELLCAT TANK DESTROYER

Welcome

The M4 Sherman was the most prolific tank

SHOULDER ARMS 1918

© Getty Charlie Chaplin sits with other soldiers

PATROLLING CARENTAN

15 June 1944 © Alamy American paratroopers patrol

TOPPLING SADDAM

2 April 2003 © Alamy Royal Engineers pose

MACHINE GUN CORPS

The British Army creates a new corps of machine gunners, that combines discipline and technology to contribute to Allied victory on the Western Front and beyond

‘WE HAVE THE MAXIM’

Early machine guns were used by British forces during the ‘Scramble for Africa’ but the British Army was slow to fully realise their lethal potential

INFANTRY BRANCH

Of the three branches of the Machine Gun Corps, the largest was the Infantry. Initially formed in each infantry brigade, a machine gun company took on the role of machine gun support to the infantry battalions

MOUNTED & MOTORISED

In October 1915 the Cavalry and Motor branches were created to be more mobile than the infantry brigade companies

LEGACY OF THE CORPS

Despite being at its largest in December 1918, the MGC reduced significantly and swiftly after the armistice and subsequent treaty

SHERMAN

THE MAKING OF A WAR WINNER

THE DEVIL’S PORRIDGE

During World War I, Britain’s female workforce rallied to the war effort, joining munitions and weapons factories. Some of this work was notoriously hazardous…

SHIROYAMA

A final showdown pitting a rebellious samurai clan against a Westernised army of Japanese conscripts launches a new Asian empire

ERNEST ‘SMOKEY’ SMITH

Heroes of the Victoria Cross

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF… T.E. LAWRENCE

In late 1916, a little-known archaeologist arrived in the Red Sea port of Jeddah. What started as a trouble-shooting mission would transform the Middle East

HOW TO FIGHT A WAR

Q+A WITH DR MIKE MARTIN

MUSEUMS & EVENTS

Rebuilding the trebuchet

Defending Danebury

The story of an ancient hill fort in Hampshire is told at the Museum of the Iron Age in Andover

Jewish Military Museum

With thousands of objects in its collection, this unique museum commemorates the services and sacrifices of Jews in Britain’s armed forces

FEBRUARY 1943

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

JIHADI POLITICS

Our pick of the latest military history books

RUSSIA’S WAR ON EVERYBODY

THE STORY OF RUSSIAN AGGRESSION AND HOW AND WHY MOSCOW PUSHES FOR POWER AND INFLUENCE FAR BEYOND UKRAINE

DESERT ARMOUR

TANK WARFARE IN NORTH AFRICA

THE MAN WITH MIRACULOUS HANDS

THE REMARKABLE STORY OF HEINRICH HIMMLER’S PHYSICIAN, FELIX KERSTEN, WHO SAVED MANY NAZI VICTIMS FROM THE FANATICAL BUTCHER AND FORCED HIM TO BETRAY ADOLF HITLER