John Boitnott got his first taste of war on 7 December 1941 at Pearl Harbor. Serving as a Marine onboard the Northampton-class cruiser USS Chicago, he was wounded during the Japanese aerial attack.
world war l
The Baralong Incident: Decidedly Ungentlemanly Warfare
Published: May 4, 2024 { 9 comments }Our finest strategists earn advanced degrees in the prosecution of modern war, and our military-industrial complex drives technical innovation on an unrivaled scale. And yet at its heart, the true mission of the military is to simply rip the very life out of other human beings who would, in general, really sooner not be there.
Joseph Stalin: The Short-Statured Weatherman who Killed 9 Million People
Published: October 8, 2022 { 21 comments }Stalin was likely personally responsible for the deaths of around 6 million people. His lunatic policies claimed another 3 million lives beyond that.
Fray Bentos: The WW1 British Alamo
Published: January 2, 2022 { 8 comments }The classic WW2 action epic Fury was based upon the WW1 story of Fray Bentos and her crew.
The Cow’s Foot Pistol That Saved the World
Published: June 6, 2020 { 14 comments }Winston Churchill’s C96 pistol likely saved his life at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898. Had it not been for Churchill’s indomitable force of personality England might have fallen during the darkest days of the Battle of Britain. Sometimes the fate of the world turns on the tiniest things.