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Anniversaries for today :
Welcome to Clash of Steel!
Featured battle : Meillerie
Part of The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Date : 21 June 1815
The Allies were slow to get started on France's eastern border. This attack by Austrian cavalry, without any artillery support, threw back an all-arms force and chased it back to Evian.
Featured image :
Lockheed F-104-G Starfighter 64-17756
Although not popular with the USAF, the F104 (in it's C variant) flew in Vietnam in 1965. It saw most service, however, with European air forces in it's G variant. This example with it's distinctive dark colour scheme flew in the Royal Danish Airforce. The F-104 achieved many nicknames throughout it's sometimes controversial career. Initially "The missile with a man in it", after some high profile Lufwaffe crashes it became "The flying coffin" (Fliegender Sarg), Witwenmacher ("Widowmaker") and even "Tent peg" (Erdnagel). These were harsh, as a statistical study in Bowman, Martin W. "Lockheed F-104 Starfighter" 2000 shows that the F-100 had a worse safety record. Operationally, it mounted an M61 20mm Vulcan cannon (Gatling gun) in the fuselage, up to 2,000lbs of bombs on a central pylon, 2 x 1,000lbs of bombs on underwing pylons and 2 x Sidewinder AA Missiles on the wingtips. It could reach 1,450 mph and a max ceiling of 58,000 ft
Gallery updated : 2022-04-04 08:33:43
Featured review :
Running the Gauntlet
Bernard Edwards
I really enjoyed this book, as gripping as a good novel, until it hit home how inappropriate is the word ‘enjoyed’. The men in this book are not fictional characters from some author’s imagination. This is the story of some of the brave men who did a very dangerous job many of whom died in the course of their work. Some were blown to pieces in an instant others died after many days adrift in an open boat or on a Carley float. The job those fellow merchant seamen who survived did, showing courage and skilled seamanship, was crucial to the nation’s survival.
This well researched book covers only a few of the losses to the merchant navy fleet but it is well representative of the service we should never forget.
Once started it is a difficult book to put down and we highly recommend it.
Pen & Sword Maritime, 2022
Reviewed : 2022-04-12 12:45:34
